Paco Ruano
The Guadalajara chef behind Alcalde, and the reason the Premier ticket buys a different dinner rather than a better view of the same one.
Chef, Premier dining
Who he is
Francisco “Paco” Ruano is a chef from Guadalajara, Jalisco, and the name behind Alcalde — one of the most talked-about restaurants in Mexico. Alcalde was awarded a Michelin star in 2026, and had already been named Best Consolidated Restaurant in Mexico at the 2025 Food & Travel Reader Awards.
He has described himself as a permanent nonconformist, which shows up in the cooking as a refusal to serve regional Mexican food as a heritage exercise. The material is traditional; the treatment is not.
What he changes about your evening
This is the single most useful thing to understand about the ticket tiers. Classic and VIP eat the same food — a generous shared menu of salads, a cheese platter, four mains and desserts. VIP adds a charcuterie platter and swaps the dessert selection. That is the whole difference.
Premier is a different meal entirely. It is Ruano’s menu: plated courses rather than a spread, served with champagne and a wine pairing, in its own area. You are not buying a better seat at the same dinner. You are buying a different dinner that happens to come with the best seats.
Is the upgrade worth it?
Premier runs $91 more per adult than Classic. The honest way to judge that is not as a ticket upgrade but as a restaurant decision — if an evening at a chef’s table in Vallarta would cost you something similar, Premier is not really an extra cost. You are relocating a meal you were going to eat anyway to a cove with a show attached.
If dinner is simply the thing that happens before the performance, Classic feeds you well and the money is better left unspent. See the full menus for exactly what each tier is served, and the tier comparison for everything beyond the food.
The Premier menu changes seasonally and is not published in advance. Ask us when we confirm your booking and we will tell you what is currently being served.