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This season, the table to get in Cabo will surely be Market, the new restaurant opened at the One & Only Palmilla by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The Alsatian-born Vongerichten—the powerhouse chef behind such culinary temples as Jean-Georges, Nougatine and Spice Market in New York—was lured to Mexico for the first time by his interest in the local cuisine and cooking techniques. (He also had previously collaborated with One & Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas, where he created Dune restaurant.) “I’ve worked with Asian food all my life, so the idea of exploring Mexican and South American food was an adventure,” he says.

Housed in the original white-washed hacienda at the heart of the Palmilla, Market is split into several spaces, all designed by Adam Tihany, including the restaurant, a slender sushi bar and groovy lounge area presided over by a huge chandelier. The building’s large white arches were left open, so diners can snack on black pepper shrimp and tuna wasabi pizza while listening to the crashing waves of the Sea of Cortez below. “What’s better than eating sushi accompanied by the sound of the sea?” marvels Vongerichten, who brought a Japanese sushi chef from Tokyo to oversee the opening. Thanks to the fact that Cabo remains one of the great deep-see fishing spots in the world, there’s no shortage of ultra-fresh tuna, marlin and mahi mahi for the menu. “The other day, we got an almost 200-pound tuna that was literally just out of the sea, its eyes still shiny,” says Vongerichten. “The sushi chef was beyond excited. He cut the fish open, grabbed my hand and put it inside the belly to show me that it was still warm. Finding quality like that has become so rare in our overfished seas.”

There are several different menus—Vongerichten also created the in-house dining and dishes for poolside restaurant Breeze—all featuring a memorable mix of traditional Mexican and innovative interpretations. You can get a number of classic ceviches (lime and cilantro, tomatillo and avocado) but you should also try Vongerichten’s cheeky “suviches” (a sushi-ceviche combo), including salmon with lemon and soy, and tuna with radish and ginger. As expected, the menu at Market features lots of seafood, though meat dishes with local flavors, like roasted veal chop with a chipotle glaze, are equally delectable. “There’s a little bit of heat in everything,” says Vongerichten, who plans on introducing some of the newly acquired Mexican skills and tastes to the menus at some of his New York restaurants. “What I love about my job is the dialogue between giving something to an area but also bringing something back.”

Mexico may just be the beginning for Vongerichten’s journey south of the border: “I’m dying to go to Argentina and South America altogether,” he says, though for the moment restaurants in six countries are keeping him busy (next year, he will open in Canada, at the Shangri-La in Vancouver). It’s safe to assume that he will explore South America via a different mode of transportation than when he rode through Southeast Asia on a motorcycle in the early eighties. But his appetite for new flavor combinations, cooking techniques and learning about the culinary heritage of different places remains unquenched. “What’s fascinating about food is that you can constantly reinvent,” he says. “Add a little licorice to a chicken and suddenly, it’s a whole new chicken.”

Coming Soon: an in-depth destination report on Cabo, including reviews of the One & Only Palmilla, Las Ventanas and Esperanza.

Read about Sir Terence Conran’s new Boundary complex in London.