Looking good and eating well in Huatulco

 

I've been living in Huatulco for just a little shy of 8 years now and have only just found the absolute best place to get a hair cut.  If you're on the road or have just arrived in a new town, you know your first few haircuts are going to be hit and miss.  Even checking out the more expensive places is no guarantee that the person responsible for your next first impression is competent or even cares about their job.   The only way you'll ever know is to stick your head under the blades and hope for the best.

  

It took me over a year in the town of Crucecita to find a dependable woman that I could count on to not give me a five minute hack job or charge the special price for foreigners so I stuck with her for years but have recently moved on to Aries Hair and Nails, located downtown in a semi residential street about 3 blocks south of the town center park. 

The place is owned and operated by Mikel and Tammy Aries, a Canadian couple who discovered Huatulco while on vacation and made the decision to come and stay.  I met them both at a party one night and liked their attitude so I put them high on my bucket list and have since become a believer.    Mikel calls himself a hair designer and that is a fair description.  He showed me pictures of wild hair styles guaranteed to leave an impression but nothing I would want for myself.  I was just impressed that, if a person wanted one of these striking designs, Mikel could make it happen.  It felt wisest to leave the decision making to him and he gave me a style that was completely different from what I'm used to but, at the same time, not dangerously radical.  Compliments over it kept pouring in well after the time had come for a refresher.

 

Mikel and Tammy knew they would have to adjust their fees to the local economy before coming here.  That means clients can enjoy a top of the line hair cut at 25% or less of what they would pay back home in Canada for something of similar caliber.   Regular vacationers who have  been coming here long enough to know the best spots for everything make it a point to stop in at least once.  Depending on the length of their stay, often twice.  Word of mouth in a small town has kept Mikel and Tammy thriving.  They know the quality of their work is all the advertising they will ever need.  But that isn't going to stop me from giving them an unsolicited well-earned plug on the blog.

 

 

If you're planning on coming our way this holiday season and you're feeling somewhat shaggy and unkempt, hold off doing anything about it until you arrive.  This is not a drop in type of place.  Appointments are necessary but, in this modern age, Canada to Mexico isn't even a long distance call anymore.  So, give them a ring at 958 587 2322 (you'll probably need the Mexican code) or make an arrangement by email arieshairandnails@outlook.com.  Grab a cab or walk to 417 Colorin.  





 

 

Right beside Aries Hair and Nails, in the same building, is a new-to-me comida corrida by the name of Kahlo that is a big step above the average.  Comida corridas are little restaurants with set prices for a full meal with starter, regional beverage, main course and dessert, usually in the area of 50 pesos although the places in the centre have recently increased their prices but not by much.  They're all different.  I prefer some for the style of food, others for the portions.  This is the first I've been to that gets both quality of food and portion right.  For 50 pesos, on my first visit, I had a rather gourmet meal of a savoury vegetable soup, followed by chicken breast smothered in a white wine mushroom sauce with rice.  I have since returned a couple of times.

 

 

There is only one exterior table for early birds.  The rest of Kahlo is found to the left behind the stairs.

El Sazon: Abimael's new restaurant in Santa Cruz, Huatulco

 

 

 

People who live in the Huatulco area will recognize the young man above.  It's a small town after all. That's Abimael, a former student from UMAR Huatulco, who has opened his first restaurant in Santa Cruz, El Sazon.  Restaurants in Santa Cruz tend to be a bit higher priced than downtown.  Customers are basically paying for that picturesque table right on the beach but for a lot of people, especially those with children, those beach restaurants are not an option, at least not every day.   El Sazon is a comida corrida restaurant, offering quality meals at reasonable prices.

For those whose Spanish is even worse than mine, I think (never trust my Spanish) "comida corrida" translates as fast food but not the McDonald's kind.  It's more like an all-inclusive set menu lunch, the sort that fine dining restaurants offer during promotional festivals but cheaper.

Here we are descending on Santa Cruz from downtown.



That's Hotel Castillo on the right, almost directly opposite La Seva.

 

Here's the new Holiday Inn on the left.  El Sazon is just up ahead.

 

There you are.  You've found it.  As a bonus, this alley offers shade all day long which is perfect for people in need of a break from the sun.

Abimael opens bright and early so if you're in a hurry to hit the sand and want to eat a full breakfast later, bring your travel mug and he'll send you off with some fresh organic coffee direct from Pluma Hidalgo.