Chef José Luis Hinostroza, who trained at Pujol in Mexico City and Noma in Copenhagen, opened Arca to take wood-fire cooking further than its more famous neighbour Hartwood. The kitchen is built around an open fire pit, and the menu is short, contemporary, and changes often: smoked octopus tostada, blue corn tortillas with marrow, snapper roasted in banana leaf.
The setting is more polished than the jungle-canteen ethos elsewhere on the beach road — a long open-air dining room under a high palapa roof, with a serious cocktail bar at one end. Prices are high by any standard, but the food is consistently among the best on the coast. Reserve well ahead.