Departures Middle East Summer 2019

Right: chef Donnie Masterton at
The Restaurant; below: a beef rib
taco at Jacinto 1930; opposite:
a guest room at Hotel Amparo
I watched the older American expat couples (who seemed
as excited for the holiday as the Mexican children) hand
out treats to swarms of kids.
“You have to remember that San Miguel’s expat
community originated from that first group of
people who came down here to study the arts,”
said Jeffry Weisman, who bought a place here
in 2011 with his husband and business partner, Andrew
Fisher. The San Francisco-based designers, known for their
opulent interiors, had always loved Mexico but assumed
they would buy near the beach. “But then my sister came
down here for a bridge tournament and told us we’d fall
in love with it,” recalled Weisman. Once they discovered
a former tannery for sale, they traded in their Sonoma
Valley ranch for San Miguel de Allende. The façade of their
property looks simple enough, but after you pass through
the wooden doors, it’s an architectural extravaganza.
They’ve added stone terraces, statement chandeliers and
hulking stone fireplaces. All of the rooms look out onto
a lush garden that leads to a pool with a guest casita and
100-year-old jacaranda trees, which were what clinched it
for Weisman. But it was also the weather. “It’s 75 and clear
most of the year,” he said. “I love the old-world scale too.
None of the buildings are taller than two storeys, and it’s
still cobblestoned streets.”
It’s proven to be an ideal place to work. With so
many family factories and craftsmen in the region, the
designers can produce many of their pieces there. Fisher,
who is also a painter and sculptor, has a loftlike studio
in town and spends nearly all his time in San Miguel.
The pair recently finished work on Casa Blanca 7, an
intimate new hotel just off the main plaza, where they added
SAN MIGUEL ESSENTIALS
Hotels
The town’s classic hotels include BELMOND CASA
DE SIERRA NEVADA ( belmond​.com) spread out
across six historic mansions, with a hidden pool and
a cooking school; and ROSEWOOD SAN MIGUEL DE
ALLENDE ( rosewood​hotels.com), which includes
67 rooms done in classical hacienda style, three pools
and a popular rooftop lounge. There is also a slew
of newer boutique properties, such as HOTEL CASA
BLANCA 7 (casablanca7.com), a renovated 300-yearold
residence with Fatima 7, Donnie Masterton’s
Mediterranean-inspired restaurant; HOTEL AMPARO
(hotelamparo.com), which features five eclectic guest
rooms as well as a coffee joint; and L’ÔTEL AT DÔCE
18 CONCEPT HOUSE (l-otelgroup.com), a ten-room
boutique hotel with a rooftop pool.
Restaurants
EL PEGASO ( Corregidora 6) serves hearty dishes
like chiles en nogada stuffed with meat and
raisins and a fragrant chicken soup. JACINTO 1930
(jacinto1930.mx) serves modern Mexican dishes ; try
LA PARADA ( laparadasma.com) for delicious ceviche.
Donnie Masterton’s THE RESTAURANT (therestaurant
sanmiguel.com) offers fresh global comfort food.
Shops
DÔCE 18 CONCEPT HOUSE (doce-18.com) sells
wares from all over Mexico. For hand-dyed textiles
and pottery, check out EVOKE THE SPIRIT (evoke
thespirit.com). FÁBRICA LA AURORA (fabrica​la​
aurora.com) is a former factory filled with galleries
and shops, including gems like Cantadora, for antiques,
and Galería Noyola Fernández. Head to TAO STUDIO
GALLERY (taostudio.net) for high-end furnishings
by Mexican artisans.
DEPARTURES
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