El Farallón

El Farallón is the cliff-top dining room of the Waldorf Astoria Pedregal. The cliff-top luxury resort on the Pacific cliff face west of downtown Cabo San Lucas, opened in 2014. And is the most photographed dining setting in Baja California Sur. The restaurant occupies a series of lantern-lit terraces stepping down the cliff face above the open Pacific surf; the dining room and its ten-table terrace cluster sit fifteen metres above the breaking waves.

The cuisine is sea-to-table. Chef Gustavo Pinet selects the day's whole fish (snapper, grouper, halibut, snook, tuna) live from a tableside seafood-and-ice tray and prepares it to the diner's preference (whole-grilled, ceviche, tartare, salt-crust, à la veracruzana). Other anchors include a Cabo-style chocolate clam cocktail; a Mazatlán-shrimp aguachile; a Pacific-octopus carpaccio; a slow-roasted Baja-coast lamb shoulder; a Tarte Tatin with Mexican vanilla.

The wine list runs to 600 references with deep Mexican Valle de Guadalupe smallholder coverage (Casa Madero, Vinos Lecheros, La Carrodilla), a respectable American-Pacific section, and a tightly chosen Champagne section.

The dining room and cliff-top terrace together hold ninety-six covers; the kitchen times the dessert course with the sunset for diners booked on the western edge of the terrace at the appropriate evening hour. Service is Waldorf-grade. Uniformed captains, choreographed plate-arrival, exact pacing.

El Farallón is the proposal-grade table on the Mexican Pacific. The cliff-top terrace with the Pacific surf below at sunset is among the most photographed dinner settings on earth, the Waldorf Astoria pedigree settles the institutional question, and the sea-to-table whole-fish format is the conversation. Brief the captain three days ahead and ask for a corner two-top at the western edge of the cliff terrace.