Article

Explore Panama City’s Culinary Heritage With This Luxurious Historic Hotel

Serving as the land bridge between North and South America, the narrow nation of Panama is home to a wealth of lush rainforests mingled with verdant valleys—and all of its fertile farmland gives rise to some truly incredible food and drink opportunities. While there’s no shortage of top-tier dining to be found all across the nation, Panama City showcases the country’s full culinary potential, with the stunning Hotel La Compañía providing a firsthand look into the surrounding scene.
Explore Panama City’s Culinary Heritage With This Luxurious Historic Hotel

Officially opened in April 2022, this palatial property is one of the finest to grace Panama City’s Casco Viejo district, equipped with an open-air rooftop pool, a rooftop spa, and 88 refined guest rooms and suites. Home to three distinct segments built across the past four centuries, the Hotel La Compañía has been carefully curated to honor each section’s origins, with dedicated French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, and American flourishes accenting each individual wing. In terms of drinking and dining, the property is home to five restaurants and two bars, providing guests with a fascinating array of dishes that highlight Panama’s diverse food scene.

“Panamanian cuisine is unique because it isn’t limited to Latin American flavors, but capitalizes on international gastronomic influences, too,” says Luis Carlos Artigas, Executive Chef at Hotel La Compañía. While Artigas notes that Panama’s lengthy era of Spanish colonization has had a major influence on the national dining scene—dishes like ropa vieja and arroz en leche serving as prominent examples of its impact—that’s far from the only culinary culture that’s present across the city. In Panama City’s Barrio Chino, Cantonese siu mai is a popular breakfast dish, while rondón has roots in Panama’s West African diaspora—and for a deep dive into the ingredients that go into this complex array of cuisines, a curated Market Experience is a must-try.

Kicking off in the Hotel La Compañía lobby, this excursion provides guests with an opportunity to explore some of Panama City’s most vibrant markets, each one packed with fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, herbs, and spices used to craft traditional Panamanian cuisine. The tour includes two historic market visits, with the famous century-old Mercado San Felipe being a particular highlight of the trip. And to sweeten the deal, guests are accompanied by Chef Artigas himself throughout the entire journey, providing an opportunity to gain firsthand information on the history and intricacies of Panama’s food scene. As visitors tour the market, Chef Artigas will peruse the stalls and handpick ingredients, ultimately crafting a carefully-curated meal back at the hotel to end the experience with a bang.

Jared Ranahan

Contributor

Similar articles

How Rome's New Six Senses and Bulgari Properties Are Leveling Up the City's Hotel Scene

How Rome's New Six Senses and Bulgari Properties Are Leveling Up the City's Hotel Scene

The arrival of new Six Senses and Bulgari locations in Rome over the next few months represents a big step forward for a city that is evidently prioritizing high-end brands that pull in a spendier, more exclusive crowd. The Six Senses Rome, which opens this month just off the commercial Via del Corso, is the first truly urban property for the wellness-and-sustainability brand.