How I Came To Call Cozumel Home, A Series by Island Residents byKris Wallenta, Kinta & Kondesa Restaurants

It was the summer of 1996, I had just graduated high school, and I was arriving to Cozumel to spend the summer working with my uncle Adolfo in Guido’s (at that time still named Pizza Rolandi’s ).  That summer was a dream.  I spent my days working in the kitchen of Guido’s, peeling, chopping, cleaning and helping out in any way I could.  My afternoons were spent relaxing by the pool or ocean and my evenings dancing and partying through the old Carlos n’ Charlie’s.  That summer flew by like a flying fish. And from that moment on I had been injected with the Cozumel chip.

Just about every vacation and school break there after  I found a way back to Cozumel to recapture those magical moments.  However, it was not until I graduated college that I was able to spend another extended period of time in Cozumel.  That was the summer of 2001, and it was during that two month stay, that I consciously made the decision that I wanted to live full time in paradise.  After a month of spanish school in Cuernavaca and 6 months at the French Culinary Institute, in New York City, I made my way back to Cozumel for good in February of 2002.

After more than 5 years of working in Guido’s, I left those hallowed halls with enough experience and passion to open Kinta Mexican Bistro.  Kinta has been a dream come true and certainly the most difficult and fulfilling adventure of my life.   Whether i am in the kitchen creating new recipes or attending customers in the dining room, I truly love what I do.  Kinta has grown in many ways since that first December evening of 2007, and I could never thank Cozumel, its locals and visitors enough.

In December of this year Kinta turns 6 and Kinta’s baby sister, Kondesa will turn 3.  Who knows what the future holds, but after 10 years on this beautiful island, Cozumel is still home, and still paradise for me.

Got a a great Cozumel story?    We’re always on the hunt for positive, fun stories about the island of Cozumel.  Contact Laura at llaura@czm4you.com.

This story originally appeared in the weekly Cozumel 4 You NEWS – the island’s number one source of positive information about our island!  Be sure and subscribe to the weekly NEWS to find out all the island events!…

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Laura Wilkinson

Author at Cozumel 4 You

An ex-Connecticut Yankee who has called Cozumel home for over 18 years, Laura ran away to the Caribbean years ago, bumped around the islands teaching SCUBA diving, lost some time in Jamaica, and finally stopped in Cozumel for a 2 week vacation that hasn’t ended yet. With a degree in Journalism from a fancy private college she convinced her parents to pay for, Laura writes, edits, and creates the weeklyCozumel 4 You news,social media, and promotional articles about the island, as well as moderates the Cozumel 4 You Facebook group, which currently has over 25,000 members. Her long suffering husband, Fabian, has long since resigned himself to having zero private life, as he’s been involved in her various schemes and plots since his arrival. Proud parents to a variety of rescue dogs and cats, Laura continues to be the bane of her traditional Mexican mother-in-law’s existence, as she muses her way through life in the Mexican Caribbean.
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Una ex yanqui de Connecticut quien llama hogar a Cozumel desde hace más de 15 años. Laura escapó al Caribe hace años, desplazándose de una isla a otra dando clases de BUCEO. Se dedicó a perder el tiempo en Jamaica y finalmente se detuvo en Cozumel para pasar unas vacaciones de 2 semanas que aún no terminan. Convenciendo a sus padres que pagaran una elegante universidad privada, obtuvo su título en Periodismo y Laura crea semanalmente Cozumel 4You, medios sociales y artículos promocionales sobre la Isla y también es moderadora en el grupo Cozumel 4 You en Facebook que actualmente cuenta con 25,000 miembros. Fabián, s umuy tolerante marido, desde hace mucho tiempo se resignó a no tener vida privada, pues se ha visto implicado en los diversos proyectos y planes que urde Laura. Son orgullosos padres de diversos perros y gatos rescatados. Mientras contempla su paso a través de la vida en el Caribe mexicano,Laura continúa siendo la pesadilla en la existencia de su muy tradicional suegra mexicana.

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