(Fine Dining Lovers) Mexicans take food seriously, and given the strong Mayan culinary culture with Spanish and Lebanese influences in the Yucatán, Mérida is an obvious destination to host Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. Mexico’s traditional cuisine and milpa agriculture was named Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, thanks to “its ritual practices, age-old skills, culinary techniques and ancestral community customs and manners”, according to Unesco, and the array of street food, market-based loncherías and contemporary dining restaurants in the Yucatán region, in south east Mexico, are testament to that.

Before visiting, get a taste of Mayan food culture by watching the Chef’s Table: BBQ episode featuring barbecue chef Rosalia Chay Chuc, renowned for her cochinita pibil, suckling pig wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked in an underground pit.

Once in Yucatán, and with Mérida as your base, you should also visit some of the satellite towns bursting with colours and flavours, many just 90 minutes away from the regional capital. And with its extensive Gulf of Mexico beaches – Playa Progreso is closest to Mérida – and 3,000 cenotes (natural rock pools), Yucatán is ripe for exploring.

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