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Villa Torél

Ensenada

Producers and food connections coming together on the plate

On the Pass

Alfredo Villanueva

Pastry Chef

María Fernanda Rodríguez Jasso

What is it about? Villa Torél was born in 2019 as the restaurant of the Santo Tomás vineyard, one of the oldest in the Baja California region and in all of Mexico, located in San Antonio de las Minas. It is a restaurant with no fine dining pretensions, focusing instead on a short, well-thought menu served in a lovely venue, showing utmost respect to the producers and neighbouring Valle de Guadalupe food projects.

Who’s in the kitchen? Born in Mexico City, chef Alfredo Villanueva moved to Monterrey when he was young and lived there for more than 20 years. He is well-known in the Mexican food scene as a chef of great values, a creator of memorable flavours and a master of rice and fire. He moved to Ensenada with his wife Denise to open Villa Torél and created a place where food doesn’t only gather people around the table, but also generates community and positive opportunities for everyone involved. He calls his concept ‘proximity cuisine’.

The setting: A beautiful terrace with views of the vineyards and the mountains complements the food experience, which is always relaxing and created for sharing. The luxury of being in contact with nature and a fun atmosphere are both main ingredients for Villa Torél.

Bonus point: In 2022, the team came up with the concept for Liernes, a combination of the Spanish words for Monday (lunes) and Friday (viernes). It’s an experience that sees different chefs from Baja California and other parts of the country come to Villa Torél to celebrate a party to start the week. 

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