My name is Lily Espinosa, owner and chef at Rivera Kitchen Tulum, Mexican Culinary Experiences and Food tours in Tulum, México. I discovered my passion for Mexican authentic cuisine at age 7 and now, 47 years later, I am still in love with Mexican food and all the traditions we honor and share. If you’d like to learn more about me and journey with Authentic Mexican Cuisine, please click here.
Ancient Mexican culinary techniques, fresh ingredients, unusual ingredients, tortillas made from scratch, flavors of our traditional ancient Mexico, everything is set and carefully curated for a cultural and gastronomical immersion to the deepest traditions and roots of our Mexican civilizations.
Since 2013, we host Traditional Mexican cooking experiences in a beautiful house nestled among the Yucatán jungle, 10 minutes from downtown Tulum, with a garden and orchard, that provides us with produce and fresh herbs for the class.
On the weekends, we carry out culinary tours, where we experience and enjoy a cultural and gastronomical immersion in the most notable places of Tulum and its neighboring communities.
In these seven years, we have hosted approx. 4,000 cooking experiences and food tours.
HOW THE EXPERIENCE GOES?
In a beautiful Mexican-style house, surrounded by gardens, our gastro-cultural experience starts off with a brief introduction to the essential flavors and ingredients of Mexican cuisine,
We will also have a small mezcal tasting, where we will learn about its main characteristics and the right way to taste it.
Then, we will prepare a traditional Mexican menu with sides, salsa, tortillas, quesadillas and agua fresco. Many of the dishes you will learn and cook come from my own family recipes!
By the end of the class, we sit down in one table to share the food and the experience itself. We always drink the agua fresco we prepared, wine and national beer during lunch or dinner.
This all happens in an ambiance full of joy, music and laughter, recreating the sense of fellowship and warmth of cooking at home with friends.
The cooking experiences take place from Monday to Friday, in two schedules: the lunch schedule runs from 10:30 am to 2 pm, and the dinner schedule runs from 5:30 pm to 9 pm. Times are approximate.
On the weekends, we have food and cultural tours to the most notable places of Tulum and its neighboring communities.
ABOUT US.
We believe hard work has its rewards, Thanks to you all, Rivera Kitchen Tulum has been one of the Top Rated activities on Trip Advisor, top rated since we opened and continue to keep our # 1 place as the best Mexican cooking experience/classes in Tulum and Riviera Maya. Please click here to check our reviews.
Rivera Kitchen Tulum is the first Mexican cooking school established in Tulum, and June 2020 will be our eighth anniversary. Since 2013, we had held classes with over 5,000 guests, who have honored us with their presence, enthusiasm and joy. Every class is truly an awesome experience, laughter, flavors and smells, which bring back memories of great times at the family kitchen, around the stove, tasting as we go and making memories for a lifetime.
As part of our mission to promote ancient Mexican cuisine, we collaborated for a year, and until its closure, with the Playa Times newspaper. We are currently part of the editorial board, in the Gastronomy section, of Hola Tulum Magazine.
Our work has been shared through articles and interview in several publications, like Revista Residente Riviera Maya Cultura Culinaria, Gastro Tour News | Periódico Digital, AAA Magazine, Daily Star Sunday UK, South African Airlines Sawubona Magazine, etc.
The prestigious magazine Condé Nast featured us in the Gastronomy section as one of the “30 must-do experiences.”
Seven years in a row, we have won the “Excellence Certificate” and rated #1 by TripAdvisor, a coveted award by the most influential travel website in the world.
We participated in the filming of MTV’S Ex on the Beach UK, and hosted the Tulum episode of the popular website Tastemade.
In the Easter of 2018, in collaboration with Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, we organized a 2-day Traditional Mexican Culinary and Mezcal Tasting Festival at the entrance of Tulum’s Archaeological Site.
In addition, we were honored to be invited by the Mexican government to represent Tulum at the World Travel Mart, in London, England, 2018. We are proud to be invited frequently to do talks in the region at festivals and Universities, about the corn and its importance and historical place in Mexican food. Book your class with us today to see for yourself why we are the top authentic cooking experience in the Riviera Maya.
Lily Espinosa Rivera, Rivera Kitchen Tulum’s CEO and Founder, is a professional Interpreter and Translator, but her love for ancient Mexican cuisine and its traditions are part of her for as long as she can remember.
She arrived in Quintana Roo in 1987, and has since worked in the hospitality industry. She has over 30 years of experience, which grant her an important know-how. This, combined with her passion for history, cooking and customer service, and her joy and unrepentant sense of humor, make each moment an authentic, unique and memorable gastro-cultural experience.
Pease feel free to reach us at whatsap 984 1292690, or by email
[email protected]
Looking forward to cook with you!