Guillermo Carmona

Guillermo learned his trade inside the cape’s five-star hotels, cooking under the chefs those resorts fly in, and then walked out the service entrance to do the same work in rented villas. He rarely shows up alone: depending on the booking you might meet his fellow chefs or a bartender shaking cantaritos while the ceviche gets plated. For a crowd, that crew is the difference between a dinner and a show.

His food is the Baja greatest-hits reel done properly — sea bass tikin xic, tuna tiradito, fajitas for the pool days — built on organic local ingredients he insists on buying himself. Groups keep him around: one crew of twenty-nine had him running every meal for four days, and the reviews read like thank-you notes.

Formed inside the ultra-luxury resorts of Baja California Sur before striking out with a small brigade of his own.