In Baja Sur, a Chef Turns a Historic Property Into a Compound for His Creative Community

It’s a pleasant May night in Todos Santos, Mexico, as most are this time of year in coastal Baja California Sur. In the courtyard at chef Ernesto Kut Gomez’s tucked-away home toward the edge of the historic downtown, he and his assistant are preparing dinner in an outdoor kitchen. They set dishes on a slatted-wood table, starting with bean tostadas and ending with slow-cooked lamb stew and baskets of warm tortillas.

Before we eat, Ernesto provides a little backstory about the environs. Established as a mission in 1724, Todos Santos was gradually abandoned after the missions were secularized, but by the middle of the century it had been resurrected by sugarcane growers. "People settled here because it was an oasis," he says.

Its fertile grounds and its history are what attracted Ernesto to the area, which some know better for its surfing beaches, gringo outpost Hotel California, or boutique retreats like Hotel San Cristóbal and the Paradero. He’d been making regular trips between Vancouver, which he calls home, and Mexico City, where his parents live, when, seven years ago, he stopped in Todos Santos to see a friend. "I fell in love with the place," Ernesto says. "I loved the beach and the ruggedness and everything. And I’ve always loved historical buildings."