Betty Vasquez

Chef Betty Vasquez was born, raised and currently resides in the historic port town of San Blas in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico (located between Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan), where she is executive chef at the El Delfin restaurant in the Hotel Garza Canela. Vasquez developed an interest in the culinary arts at a young age, when she was enchanted by the scents emanating from her mother and grandmother's kitchens.

Despite her early passion for cooking, Vasquez embarked on a career as an air-traffic controller. It lasted only a few months before she headed to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Following her training, Vasquez went to Spain to work under Juan Mari Arzak of the Michelin three-star Restaurante Arzak. Through her schooling and extensive travels abroad, she learned the importance of blending fresh ingredients with simple techniques and new methods of preparation in order to elicit the best flavors from food.

Vasquez's dishes reflect the love of her home in San Blas and appreciation for foods of other countries. Her cuisine is a fusion of traditional and contemporary—a pairing of ancestral Mexican recipes and products with modern techniques and styles.

The menu at El Delfin changes twice a year to emphasize seasonal foods and ingredients. Additionally, because San Blas is a port city, some business travelers visit every week or stay for weeks at a time, so El Delfin offers special menus to these long-term and returning guests.

In our Q&A, Vasquez discusses the importance of fusing traditional recipes with modern influences, and changing people's opinions of Mexican cuisine.

Vasquez also shares her recipes for fish ceviche in orange sauce, with jicama and avocado tartar and tastlihuil, an authentic and signature soup of Riviera Nayarit. —Vanessa Facenda

Featured Recipes from Betty Vasquez

Fish Ceviche in Orange Sauce

Jicama and Avocado Tartar

Tastlihuil

Read More about Chef Vasquez in this exclusive interview: Q & A with Chef Betty Vasquez

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