A Chef in Sayulita: Catering & Private Chef

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A Chef in Sayulita: Catering & Private Chef

Name: A Chef in Sayulita: Catering & Private Chef
Address: Sayulita, Nayarit
Telephone: +523222307717
Price range: $$ - $$$
Rating: 4.84

Verified Since 2017

Sayulita, Nayarit 30,724 Visitors

Hours of Operation

Hours

Monday

8AM - 10PM

Tuesday

8AM - 10PM

Wednesday

8AM - 10PM

Thursday

8AM - 10PM

Friday

8AM - 10PM

Saturday

8AM - 10PM

Sunday

8AM - 10PM

Notes: Flexible hours

Highlights

Private Chef & Boutique Catering in Sayulita, San Pancho and all Riviera Nayarit
Wedding Welcome Dinners, Rehearsals & Farewell Brunches
Mobile Bar, Bartender Service, Cocktails & Mocktails
Regional Mexican Cuisine Inspired by Nayarit
Wellness Retreat Dining & Multi-Day Meal Programs
Dietary-Inclusive Menus for Villas, Groups & Celebrations

Description

A Chef in Sayulita | Private Chef, Retreat Dining, Boutique Catering & Mobile Bar

Authentic Mexican Hospitality, Rooted in Nayarit

A Chef in Sayulita is a female-led private chef, boutique catering and mobile bar team creating memorable food and beverage experiences in Sayulita, San Pancho, Punta de Mita and the surrounding Riviera Nayarit.

Led by Chef Ana Cecilia Avalos—nominated Chef Revelation of Nayarit 2025—our cuisine is inspired by the ranch, coast, traditional ingredients and diverse culinary communities of Mexico, with a special connection to Nayarit.

With more than 10 years of experience and over 10,000 guests served, we specialize in private villa dining, wellness retreats, bachelorette celebrations, family gatherings, wedding weekend events and intimate celebrations. From a single special dinner or cocktail service to several days of breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and beverages, every experience is thoughtfully planned around your group, schedule and occasion.

PRIVATE CHEF EXPERIENCES

Relax in your villa while our team handles ingredient sourcing, preparation, table service and kitchen cleanup. Choose from contemporary Mexican dinners, family-style feasts, open-fire taco experiences, brunches and menus inspired by the regional flavors of Mexico.

RETREAT DINING

We provide nourishing, flavorful meal programs for yoga, wellness, creative and transformational retreats. Menus can include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, aguas frescas and non-alcoholic beverages, coordinated around classes, ceremonies, excursions and rest periods.

Our approach to retreat cuisine combines wellness and genuine Mexican flavor. Your guests can eat consciously while still experiencing the ingredients, stories and culinary identity of the place they came to visit.

BOUTIQUE CATERING, CELEBRATIONS & WEDDING WEEKENDS

We create relaxed, full-service catering for bachelorette groups, birthdays, villa celebrations, family gatherings and intimate events.

We also specialize in the celebrations surrounding destination weddings, including welcome dinners, rehearsal dinners, bridal brunches, poolside gatherings, farewell breakfasts and day-after wedding brunches.

Available formats include plated dinners, family-style meals, Mexican feast tables, taco bars, brunch, cocktail gatherings and open-fire experiences. Each event is customized around the size, atmosphere and schedule of your group.

Our wedding services focus on these intimate wedding weekend gatherings rather than wedding-day ceremony or reception catering.

MOBILE BAR & BARTENDER SERVICE

Our mobile bar brings professional beverage service directly to your villa, vacation rental or event venue. It can be booked as a complement to one of our dining experiences or as a standalone service for bachelorette parties, birthdays, welcome parties, rehearsal dinners, poolside celebrations and intimate events.

Beverage menus are customized around your group and occasion, with options that may include classic cocktails, Mexican-inspired signature drinks, margaritas, mezcalitas, refreshing tropical cocktails, mocktails, aguas frescas and other non-alcoholic creations.

Depending on the selected package, we can coordinate bartending, beverage planning, bar setup, mixers, garnishes, ice and the elements required for service. We will prepare a customized proposal so you know exactly what is included before booking.

Our goal is to make hosting effortless: you enjoy your guests while our team takes care of the drinks, presentation, service and bar-area cleanup.

DIETARY-INCLUSIVE MENUS

Chef Ana Ceci has extensive experience adapting Mexican cuisine for vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free and wellness-focused guests. Religious dietary considerations and additional restrictions can be discussed in advance.

Every group receives a customized proposal designed to make all guests feel included without sacrificing flavor or the shared dining experience.

Non-alcoholic beverage menus can also be created for wellness retreats, family gatherings, sober celebrations and groups that want the experience of a thoughtfully designed bar without alcohol.

SERVING SAYULITA & SAN PANCHO

Our team provides private chef, retreat dining, boutique catering, wedding weekend dining and mobile bar services throughout Sayulita, San Pancho, Punta de Mita, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Bucerías and selected destinations across Riviera Nayarit.

Food and drink are more than part of an event. They are culture, memory, ritual and connection. Let us bring the flavors and hospitality of Mexico to your table—and to your glass.

Please contact us with any questions by clicking the “Email Owner” button.

Amenities

Beer/Wine
Certified
Credit Cards
Delivery
Full Bar

Gift Wrapping
Group/Private Classes
Happy Hour
In-Home Service
Kid Friendly

Local Discounts
Out-of-Area Service
Reserve Online/Phone
Language
- English
- Spanish
Meals
- Breakfast
- Brunch
- Lunch
- Dinner

Locations View Business Map

Reviews

4.8

105 reviews

Write a Review

Value for Money

4.8

Service

4.8

Staff

4.8

Karma Points

4.8

Good Vibes

4.8

Total Score:

Jodi

(Gibsons, BC)

5.0

Wonderful birthday dinner!

We hired Cecelia for a private dinner for 8 to celebrate a 50th birthday. Cecelia prepared a fabulous gourmet taco feast for us and accommodated for a gluten-free guest. The food was delicious and very reasonably priced. Cecelia did all the pre, set the table, packaged the left-overs and cleaned up after our feast. She was a delight to work with and her culinary skills were exemplary.

Experienced: April, 2026

Brian

(Columbus Ohio)

5.0

Magic of Mexican cooking!

We finally put the casa kitchen to good use as with an evening of cooking with local chef Ana Cecilia. We learned the magic of Mexican vegetables, spices, and authentic recipes 😋. Bright red, green, and corn salsas and a velvety chicken mole made with home roasted peppers and chocolate—and yes, churros to finish! It was a fun feast. Highly recommend!!! Perfect balance od fun, education, and relatively easy recipes. 🌶️🫑🧅🌽🍫🌿🍮🍷🇲🇽

Experienced: August, 2025

Jonny K

(San Francisco)

5.0

Cooking Class

We loved the cooking class that Ana provided! She is basically a historian, cultural anthropologist and a cooking teacher, all wrapped into a chill, laid back attitude. It's clear she knows her shit and is happy to go deep on any topic related to meso-American food. Would highly recommend to anyone.

Experienced: August, 2025

Andrea

(CDMX)

5.0

Todo increible!

Nos llevamos un muy buen sabor de boca, la chef Ana Cecilia muy profesional y todo su equipo también. Deliciosa la cena, siempre cuidando la higiene y muy puntual. sin duda volveremos a contratar este servicio con ella

Experienced: August, 2025

Therese Calderon

(Austin, Tx)

5.0

Thanks for great food and evening

Ana was terrific and was very generous with her explanation of the dishes so we could cook them at home. Food was delicious. We enjoyed our evening and dinner so very much!

Experienced: August, 2025

Andreas Pavlou

(Nicosia, Cyprus)

5.0

Chef Ann was lovely!

We enjoyed a delicious meal and a lovely conversation. Thank you so much for making our trip special with your dinner

Experienced: July, 2025

Angela Doyle

(Dallas, Texas)

5.0

I would book her again!

Chef Anna did a wonderful job. She reached out to communicate at booking, before to get ready, and to confirm day of and at arrival. She speaks English really well. Anna cleaned up afterwards and packed up the food for us. Her service and food were wonderful! I would book her again.

Experienced: July, 2025

Kallie Moulton

(Austin, Texas)

5.0

10/10!

We had a wonderful experience with chef Ana Cecilia! She was so kind from the moment we booked the experience with her. Her food was amazing! We ordered the ceviche, empanadas, tequila lime shrimp, and churros. Everything was delicious. The ceviche was my absolute favorite. One of our group members ended up getting sick before our dinner and when Ana arrived and heard she made her a separate meal with rice and chicken, made her tea, and even helped us find a couple of options for doctors for her to see in the area.

Experienced: June, 2025

Cole Mar

(Dubai)

5.0

Ana was AMAZING!!

The food was delicious and the experience was fantastic. We had a wonderful time sharing stories with Ana while enjoying her exceptional cooking. We would 100% hire her again next time we visit! She was the best chef we’ve had I highly recommend her to others. The food was so good and she was delightful. Thank you Ana!

Experienced: June, 2025

Jessica

(Dallas, TX)

1.0

Exploited and Overcharged in a Foreign Country — Ambushed for Cash With No Clear Bill or Breakdown

I hired this chef months in advance to provide high-quality, nourishing meals for a luxury wellness retreat I was hosting in Mexico. What I received was an unprofessional, disorganized, and manipulative experience that disrupted the flow of my retreat, cost me and my guests money, time, and trust, and left a stain on an otherwise beautiful week.
Red Flag #1: Lack of Clarity and Evasion Around Payment
From the beginning, she was evasive about providing a clear quote. I requested a total several times in the months leading up to the retreat. She dodged each time, insisting she would “work with me” and that we could edit things as we went. I thought her “laid back” approach was cultural. About a month before the retreat, I sent her the final menu and grocery list and asked again for the bill. I tried to pay her in full two weeks before the retreat began—still no total. I asked again on Day 1 of the retreat. Nothing. Day 2? Still no answer. By Day 3, I gave up and assumed she’d provide a final invoice at the end.
She told me to budget $500 USD for stocking the house with groceries based on a detailed, two-page list I provided. Most of those items were never purchased, but she showed up with at least 10 bottles of wine—despite me specifically asking for only four. I can only assume I paid for all of them even though they weren’t all used.
Red Flag #2: Abrupt and Aggressive Cash Demands
The cash demand didn’t come out of nowhere—it came immediately after I told her the tortillas she had left out were moldy and after I gently let her know that I was aware she hadn’t been at the house when she claimed to have checked them. I was not confrontational—I simply stated that my guests had been present and confirmed she wasn’t there. It was a soft but firm boundary after days of being taken advantage of.
Within minutes, she messaged me asking, “Can you come into the kitchen for five minutes? I need to show you something.” What followed was an aggressive and abrupt demand for cash—in pesos, right then and there.
She yelled at me and demanded immediate payment in cash, in pesos—despite previously agreeing to accept Wise. She initially quoted one amount then once I agreed to that amount she suddenly changed the amount to $600 USD more with no explanation. She refused digital payment, saying she didn’t trust I wouldn’t cancel the transaction.
Instead of providing a proper invoice, she sent me a screenshot of a Notes app in Spanish and a pile of unrelated receipts I couldn’t read, with no breakdown, no context, and no clear connection to what I was being charged for. All previous communication had been in English. I still don’t know exactly what I paid for but according to the amounts we had discussed she overcharged me at least $1000, probably more.
I was in a foreign country, trying to host and lead a retreat, and now being cornered, yelled at, and pressured to pull together tens of thousands of pesos in cash on the spot. Two of my guests had to go to the ATM with me just to piece together the money to pay her due to the ATM limits and get her out of the house. It was chaotic, humiliating, and honestly frightening. I had to call in the house staff to witness and record the transaction for evidence that I paid to protect myself.
Red Flag #3: Poor Food Quality, Scarcity, and Questionable Food Safety
The food she prepared was never served hot, was often mediocre, and—worst of all—there was never enough. One morning, we ran out of eggs. A guest politely asked for more and was told there were no extras. Yet when she packed up her belongings to leave, she took multiple full trays of eggs with her. So either I paid for food my guests were denied, or she was stockpiling ingredients for another job.
She routinely left raw meat out on the stove all day, fruit uncovered and swarmed by flies, and large dishes of food sitting out on the dining table overnight. She never once cleaned the kitchen or wiped down the dining table after dinner. Every morning, I had to clean up food scraps myself before my guests came down for breakfast.
Red Flag #4: Disrespect of Shared Space & Potential Misuse of Kitchen
The villa’s kitchen was the only place to access water—yet she repeatedly blocked guests from entering. In our Villa- that we rented!! I strongly suspect she was using my retreat’s kitchen to cook for her other clients. She once told me she was returning to “bake,” even though the only remaining desserts on our retreat menu were sorbet and ice cream—neither of which require baking. She appeared to be using my paid rental and groceries for outside jobs, which is completely unacceptable.One morning, we ran out of eggs at breakfast. A guest politely asked if there were any more available, and the chef told us there were none left. But when she packed up her things to leave after quitting, my guest watched her take multiple full trays of eggs with her. So either she was hoarding ingredients for herself, using them for another job, or I paid for food that my guests were deliberately denied. No matter how you look at it, it was dishonest and disrespectful.
Red Flag #5: Alcohol Service Without Consent
This retreat was intentionally alcohol-light. We had agreed in advance that she would prep mocktails in pitchers, and any alcohol could be added individually by those who wanted it. Instead, she showed up with a bartender on night one—without asking—and started serving full cocktails. My guests were thirsty and wanted a nonalcoholic beverage but instead the bartender was focusing on making alcoholic drinks.
The Final Straw: Moldy Food and a Fabricated Timeline
After a long group hike, I had planned for quesadillas to be served as a post-hike appetizer. I had been clear that one guest had a mushroom allergy, and another strongly disliked them. The chef used mushrooms anyway. What she prepared wasn’t even plated—it was a casserole dish of tortillas, a bowl of cheese, and a bowl of mushroom mix. She told me to assemble them and reheat them in the microwave and insisted on leaving them out unrefrigerated until we returned.
Some guests stayed behind and later discovered that the tortillas were covered in white mold. I messaged her and she tried to claim it was “heirloom corn discoloration.” It was not—it was visible, fuzzy mold. She also claimed she had been at the house until 4 PM and had checked them. But my guests who were present confirmed she had not been there at all.
When I calmly let her know this, she told me, “Can you come into the kitchen? I need to show you something.” That’s when she aggressively demanded cash, and everything unraveled. I missed my scheduled yoga class that night while scrambling to get pesos and document the payment. I also missed the next morning’s yoga session while trying to onboard a replacement chef. Two full sessions were lost—along with peace of mind, emotional safety, and the overall flow of the retreat.
Bottom Line:
This chef exploited my kindness, overcharged me, violated boundaries, and disrupted the retreat I had worked so hard to create. I believe she booked other clients during the same time. According to her social media, she was hosting a brunch at the same time we had a meal time the day following this chaos- she conveniently quit in time to make that event, but not without ripping me off first. She committed to me and used my kitchen, groceries, and time to serve them. She was dishonest, aggressive, and unprofessional—not only to me, but to my guests.

Experienced: May, 2025

Response from Owner/Manager on 05/13/2025

We are truly disappointed by this review, as it contains not only numerous inaccuracies, but also appears to be a deliberate attempt to discredit and distort a service that was delivered with professionalism, care, and integrity.

Let us address the most serious misrepresentations directly:

1. Transparent Pricing & Deposits
All of our pricing, booking terms, and payment conditions are fully transparent and publicly available. You were charged the same rate as any other client — the only variable was the number of guests, which changed multiple times over several months. A deposit was paid in advance, and as clearly outlined in our policies, the remaining balance was due in cash — a standard practice for all clients. At no point did I avoid your questions; on the contrary, I offered guidance and recommendations knowing it was your first retreat in San Pancho.

2. The Alleged “$600 in Extra Supplies”
These were not hidden charges. They were ingredient purchases you specifically requested, outside the original menu, but still covered under our agreed-upon shopping fee. I even sent the full invoice one day before the retreat started — but you went “offline” and made no effort to review or settle the charges. We asked four times during the retreat to go over the numbers together, but you declined every time. Regarding the wine: we bought exactly what was requested — two bottles per menu option — all of which were consumed.

3. The Cash “Demand”
The request for cash payment came after repeated passive-aggressive comments and an ongoing refusal on your part to communicate or resolve the financials. It was neither abrupt nor aggressive. You made no attempt to offer another payment method and instead escalated the situation by trying to involve house security to remove me from the property — which backfired, as they witnessed the situation and supported me in receiving what I was owed.

4. Snacks and Allergens
The snacks in question were never part of our service or agreement. You did not pay for them, nor were they our responsibility. The proper item breakdown never occurred because you refused to sit down and review it. And regarding receipts — I cannot force Mexican vendors to issue documents in English.

5. Accusations of Aggression
I never yelled, pressured, or cornered you. This is simply not true. Security did not intervene on your behalf because there was no threat. In fact, they assisted me in the kitchen to ensure that my items and space were respected.

6. Food Service and Cleanliness
All meals were served on time and in full. We even secured special early-morning entry permits to access the property by 6 a.m., staying until nearly midnight. We cleaned thoroughly after every service — something the property staff acknowledged and appreciated.

7. Food Quality & Guest Reactions
Several of your guests expressed their appreciation for the food, asked for recipes, and many continue to follow and support our work online. Their experience clearly contradicts your review.

8. Menu Confusion
One day before the retreat, you made significant last-minute menu changes without regard for the dietary restrictions you had previously provided. Out of caution and care, we plated certain ingredients separately to protect your guests. You specifically said you didn’t want eggs because you don’t eat them — that’s the only reason they ran out. The claim that I took trays of eggs with me is false.

9. Brunch & Other Jobs
I was not booked for the brunch in question. I came as a guest on Mother’s Day with my son. I had no other job during your retreat, and even if I had, your flat-rate agreement would not have been affected. I fulfilled every responsibility to the fullest.

10. Meat & Food Storage
Meat was only served once and was never left out. Fruit and other items were stored properly — either in the refrigerator or designated food storage areas. We went beyond our agreed duties by cleaning even outside of our service hours, including items that were not ours.

11. Kitchen Access
We never blocked access to the kitchen. In fact, we created a designated coffee and water station in the bar area to improve guest convenience. I baked every night, using only what belonged to our kitchen. I never took or used anything that wasn’t mine.

12. Alcohol & Bartender
It was agreed in advance that the retreat would be low on alcohol. Those who wished to drink did, and several guests brought their own. My assistant was never hired as a bartender. We did explain that full bar service is a paid add-on, which you declined. That’s why the bartender only came on the first night.

13. The Real Issue
The saddest part of this experience was realizing that the situation escalated not due to miscommunication, but because I refused to take responsibility for something that was neither within my scope nor fairly compensated. I calmly asked to review finances, and instead of dialogue, I was met with verbal aggression and racially charged comments. I was disrespected not because of poor service, but because of prejudice.

In conclusion, this review does not reflect reality. It reflects a personal effort to harm my professional reputation. We stand firmly behind the quality of our food, the commitment of our team, and the integrity of our work. Our track record with clients — and the support of those who were present during this retreat — speaks louder than any review ever could.

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