A haven of understated luxury, considered design style, distinguished culinary experiences and an extensive wine cellar adjacent to pristine jungle – Ka’ana Boutique Resort & Spa: Authentic, Personal, Unique.

So it’s been one of those days where no amount of espresso will keep my mind focused! The hours keep ticking by and my to-do list keeps growing.  Which leads me to a task I always consider one of the easier on my schedule, expanding and updating the playlists for the restaurant and bar.  Seems like a fun job, something fairly straightforward and achievable irrespective of how my mushed my head is, right?  Maybe not… 

When we created La Ceiba Restaurant, the ethos was very much to represent the best of local and regional styles with an international flair.  Chef Kuylen reaches the gastro heights with his understanding of local favorites, doubled with his San Fran experience.  Polo brings the noise with his cocktails, and I’m reasonably happy with our wine offering (which I can’t blame on anyone else!).  We’ll come back another time to discuss design, service etc, but the part of the experience that’s often under-appreciated and overlooked is that of the music.  I chose to go with regional music of all kinds, as well as a few from further afield that we all personally enjoy.  I wanted the music to be chilled-out and loungy, have a latin edge, and wanted stayed away from lyrics (especially English) so as not to take away from the aesthetic of the culinary experience.  In general I opted for more light-hearted, upbeat music to make the experience more enjoyable and carefree.  Think vacations, chilling, summertime, food, cockails, friends and fun! 

Achieving this however is a whole ‘nother thing entirely!  Where to start?  It’s been a long road, a lot of trying and testing and listening and changing.  And it’s ever-evolving.  I cannot wait for our upcoming partnership with the ever-so-cool Stonetree Records, but in the meantime will have to settle for foraging through the internet wilderness, searching for the sweet taste of latin lounge music.  Wish me luck!

In an effort to deliver a high quality food and beverage experience, Ka’anas’ management team and restaurant staff spent the evening in the Martini Lounge Bar with Pamela and John from Rumfish y Vino in Placencia, Belize. Pamela Solomon has been a professional in the wine business in the States for many years before she and her husband decided to buy a restaurant in Belize and start importing wines. Her specialist area is “Italian wines.”

Pictured are Nick, Luky, Alex and Polo from the hotel with Pamela and John and some of their best friends (AKA great Italian wines) As the slurping wore on well into the night and at least 20 different Italian wines from all regions of Italy were checked out you can be assured of some exciting new Italian wines on the list and in the rooms as soon as they are delivered to the resort next week.

This was such a hard part of the staffs day to day work lives but we like to point out that no glasses or wine bottles were injured during the filming of this event. The staff certainly have a new found respect and enjoyment about Italian wines. Ka’ana will follow this up with an organised Italian wine tasting at the end of May also hosted by Pamela and John.

When you head down to Cayo, be sure to stop by the resort even if you are not staying at Ka’ana and ask for our new Italian greats, one thing for sure, drinking Italian wine it’s better than owning a Lamborghini, why? It doesn’t come in Yellow and it can’t give you a heart attack when the check comes………

Hotel guests gathered in the Martini Lounge bar with Ka’ana’s General Manager, Nick Davies to sample some Pinot Grigio. The objective apart from just having a fun little get together was to select a new Pinot Grigio to compliment the existing Santa Margarita which made it onto Ka’ana’s first list and has stayed as a staple favorite ever since. After much chewing and slurping (not a lot of spitting, they were all great), there was a unanimous verdict. Sartori, from Venezie, Italy was the clear winner and will make it onto the new list which will be delivered in a couple weeks. There is still some tasting to be done, so if you are heading Ka’ana’s way, remember to ask what’s on the investigation list! Pictured with Nick are Donna and Fernando from Toronto, Ontario; John and Sally from Indianapolis, Indiana; honeymooners Jonas and Nan from Maryland, and Mike and Cindy from Belize.