What's cooking in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica? Innovative, organic cuisine!

[Shannon Farley]

It’s a simple recipe: Fresh, good food.

The Buddha Eyes Restaurant at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica has that recipe down to perfection.

Now it’s even better. Known in the popular beach town for its fresh, healthy, innovative cuisine, Buddha Eyes Restaurant recently changed its dinner menu to bring back old favorites and give diners new dishes to look forward to trying.

“Over the years, many different chefs had brought their influences to the hotel menu. We wanted to find 12 star dishes that really identified Pranamar that we could return to with our dinner menu,” commented Pranamar restaurant manager Randall Gamboa.

Dishes like Garlic Prawns Pasta in a delicious zucchini and mint cream – a specialty of Pranamar head chef Claudio “Ciccio” Mazzone. Or local white fish in an exquisite lemon cream accompanied with potato puree and local vegetables, and chicken cacciatore cooked with red wine and kalamata olives accompanied with herbal risotto and local vegetables.

The new menu is a blend of Costa Rican flavors, and Mediterranean specialties by chef Claudio “Ciccio” Mazzone from Rome, Italy. There are two selections each of vegetarian, white fish, tuna, shrimp, chicken and beef dishes. Every day there are specials, like Napoli Salad with buffalo mozzarella, Italian salami, kalamata olives, and cherry tomatoes with mixed greens; or eggplant parmesan, from Mazzone’s own grandmother’s prized recipe.

Pranamar’s restaurant sources the freshest ingredients, using organic and locally produced products whenever possible – such as fresh produce grown naturally and hydroponically at local organic farm Hacienda Okhra. Pranamar buys fish fresh each day from local fishermen in Santa Teresa and Malpais. Regional southern Nicoya Peninsula farmers provide the hotel with grass-fed beef and free-range chicken and eggs. The beachfront Santa Teresa Costa Rica hotel also grows some of its vegetables, herbs and fruit.

Gamboa said they are more than happy to accommodate special dietary needs – vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc. The menu notes dishes which can be gluten or dairy free.

Overlooking the lagoon-style pool at the Costa Rica beach resort, the open-air Buddha Eyes Restaurant sports relaxed elegance under beautiful high bamboo ceilings. It’s a place where you can feel at home. Kick your shoes off on the tropical wood floor and relax.

“We are a personalized restaurant where we welcome people like family,” said Gamboa. “We’ve brought together a team of people who are local, well-trained, and who value dedication to work. We work together, surf together and have fun together. We’re like family and we want guests to feel like family with us when they come here.”

The Buddha Eyes Restaurant is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. For reservations, call 2640-0852.

Or better yet, be a guest at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and have insider access to the fabulous restaurant.

The gorgeous, Bali-style boutique hotel is right on the beach at Playa Hermosa of Santa Teresa with elaborate beachfront villas and luxury two-story villas built around a free-form pool and tropical gardens. Playa Hermosa recently was honored once again with the Costa Rica Ecological Blue Flag Award for being one of the cleanest beaches in the country.

Pranamar Villas Costa Rica specializes in yoga classes and yoga retreats, and Costa Rica surf holidays. The hotel recently was awarded TripAdvisor’s 2015 Certificate of Excellence, and was named a Top 5 Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica by Travel & Leisure Magazine.