New York Meets Tulum, Mexico… Amansala Restaurant
New York Meets Tulum, Mexico… Amansala Restaurant
By Bill Milligan
That infamous September 11th in American history became a turning point for Melissa Perlman. From that day she sat her sights on leaving New York City and following her passion for cooking and fusing cuisines. Thus began her journey into Buddhism, yoga, travel, Tokyo restaurant ownership and lastly her arrival to the picturesque Mayan fishing village of Tulum, Mexico, approximately 60 miles south of Cancun.
Having spent eight years in Tulum, she has had a variety of learning experiences in the restaurant business, not all positive. Her first venture did not work out well for a variety of reasons and other avenues were pursued. Amansala followed, allowing her an open aired restaurant sitting on a pristine Tulum beach with 6 cabanas initially, growing to 24 and dedicated to combinations of yoga, meditation and cardio workouts.
This yoga, meditation, cardio trio became known as “Bikini Bootcamp,” where one has five hours of daily bootcamp combined with plenty of leisure time. She says it typically takes about three days for New Yorkers to really chill. As this is an all inclusive retreat, one eats fresh and as organic as is possible, ensuring healthy food for the bootcampers. Melissa’s cuisine is lighter than the standard Mexican, utilizing olive oil in place of butter or lard. Everything is kept as light and healthy as possible. Sampling one of her salads, we knew this was special food prepared by someone who loves their art.
She has 24 cabanas done in palapa, wooden pole frame style, all set on hurricane proof concrete floors, with large comfortable beds, mosquito netting, thatched (palapa) roofs, nice bathrooms and overhead fans. Forget telephones, TV and internet, you don’t go there for aural/visual stimulation. De-pollution is the goal.
Melissa has a quite impressive sized yoga area on the second floor under a huge palapa roof, which she apparently keeps well filled according to her census. High season usually remains filled with the exception of last year at 80 percent, her lowest. The North East corridor is her largest clientele followed by Canadians then Europeans. She quotes 70 percent as repeaters and with only word of mouth advertising.
She has worked with the community in promoting recycling, composting and a conference on sustainability. She buys only the best and freshest produce from local farmers, fish is caught and bought the same day and everything prepared meticulously. The combination of “Bikini Bootcamp” and simply prepared delicious cuisine is a winner. Very highly recommended.
