Momoto brings Momo Dumplings to Sunrise Coffee in Nosara

Local Foodies and Visitors to Nosara Delight in a Unique Adventure for the Taste Buds, with a Pura Vida Flare!

In recent years, the humble Momo has taken the western culinary world by storm. Foodies from San Francisco, to Toronto, to New York City, flock to Tibetan and Nepalese locales for a taste of these popular South Asian dumplings.

In Napal, the Momo is the most predominant dish in local cuisine. A traveler can find them in virtually every home and restaurant. But how is it that the Momo has made it’s way to our tiny surf village, here in the jungles of Costa Rica? Well, you can send your thanks to the team at Momoto, whose Founder, Chef Charlotte Sottas, is the visionary behind bringing this new collision of global flavors to Nosara.

Meet Charlotte Sottas, chef extraordinaire and creator of the popular Momoto dining series

Sottas, pictured above, comes from Switzerland, by way of Singapore and Hong Kong. She boasts an impressive culinary résumé, including a post at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, DC. Like many others, Sottas joined our community in 2021, during a lull in pandemic travel restrictions. Shortly after gaining her footing, she began to spread her special brand of “steamy goodness” throughout Nosara, starting with a dumpling popup at North Guiones staple, Yaxa.

Needless to say, the Yaxa popup was a success. It would evolved into what we know today as Momoto — a traveling, popup, dining series that combines the style and techniques of South Asian cuisine with locally sourced ingredients.

In 2024, Sottas and Momoto return to the Nosara circuit, armed with an array of new dishes, as well as a few fan favorites. The dining series will popup at various, Nosara restaurants, but has announced that it’s recurring bi-weekly home will be in collaboration with Flo Rousseau-Dumarcet and Magui Helguera, the founders of Sunrise Coffee, in Playa Pelada, every other Thursday, from 6pm-9pm.

The Momoto x Sunrise Coffee popup, dining series is the place to be, every other Thursday night, for foodies visiting Nosara!

The Momoto x Sunrise popup features a fixed, prix fixe menu, which you can find updated on their instagram prior to each event. Menus change weekly, but always include a first course of dumplings, a larger second course, and finish with a third course of something sweet. The prix fixe can also be accompanied by your choice of wine or cocktails — all made with love from team at Sunrise.

Cooking for the health-minded, Nosara foodie, Momoto makes dumplings with local, all natural ingredients, which are also sugar & preservative free

Make no mistake, Momoto Momos are not your conventional dumplings! These beautiful pouches of steam and love, are all natural, as well as sugar and preservative-free. That’s right, friends! You’ll find no MSG in Chef Sottas’ tool belt. She believes in cooking with what’s fresh, in season and available locally. This means, that all of her food is made by hand, highly sustainable, and assembled with meticulous attention to the dining experience of each guest in attendance.

And on that note, we were certainly not disappointed with our own experience as guests of Momoto. We started our evening with two chilled glasses of Pinot Grigio, that were promptly followed by a plate of six, plump dumplings, in two varieties, around a substantial mound of thinly sliced ginger.

The first dumpling was wrapped in a tender black wonton and filled with miso eggplant in a subtle yet silky, miso-based sauce. The second dumpling, equally as tender, was wrapped in a traditionally colored wonton, filled with spicy beef and peanut, and drizzled with a smooth peanut sauce, with just the right amount of spice. This dish was finished with crushed, toasted peanuts, and a selection of local herbs and portioned perfectly, to leave you feeling satisfied, yet curious about the second course.

Creamy, kimchi risotto that could make even the most picky foodie weep with joy.

The second course was a rich and creamy kimchi risotto topped with pickled cabbage, scallions and toasted sesame seeds. This was the kind of dish that you just want keep eating, well after you’re full. And I did just that!

Kimchi-hesitant guests need not fret, Sottas’ execution of this dish plays down the sharpness of its fermentation. Her expert emulsion with the arboiro rice makes it translate as sweet, with a pleasantly spicy finish. In fact, my dining companion who claims to dislike kimchi, in any form, nearly asked for seconds. And if that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is!?

Momoto desserts, Dark chocolate and Matcha fudge

Creative desserts that are designed to delight are the perfect finale to a great evening!

The menu finished on a whimsical note, with two creamy fudge balls. The first of which was a dreamy Matcha ball that flooded your mouth with a rich custard as it melted. The second, a sophisticated and densely packed dark chocolate ball, which was the perfect finish to a great evening, and would have made a lovely pairing with an after dinner coffee. The combination of the both was a great close to a fantastic meal.

Momoto x Sunrise Coffee have created the vary type of experience that makes Nosara so special

If you’ve continued to read this post to this point, it should be no surprise that the Momoto popup at Sunrise Coffee is an experience that we would highly recommend for our epicuriously-motivated guests. And in my humble opinion, these are exactly the types of experiences that make Nosara so special.

Nosara is a place wherein like-minded people from all over the world have chosen to come together, and as a result of this our community here is a global one. As I looked around the room while we waited for our drinks, I noticed a space filled with people of all ages and ethnicities, surfers sitting along side seniors, Ticos next to yogis, and families sitting side-by-side with some very chic couples. The crowd was clad in flowing sundresses and denim cut-offs, linen pants and board shorts, kimonos and even a couple sports bras — a real mixture of food lovers who had some together in search of something great. What I know for sure, is that on this night — thanks to Sottas and her team — they were sure to find it!

Meet some of the Momoto Nosara team, from left to right Brenda, Maria and Chef Charlotte Sottas, herself!

Sottas and her team do all they can to run Momoto as a venture that fosters community in Nosara through their support of local vendors and farmers. They hope you come out and join them every other Thursday and enjoy some Momos, so they can continue to community-build through serving little pockets of steamy goodness.

Spaces at Momoto x Sunrise are limited so be sure to book your table in advance. You can RSVP through their instagram or by reaching out on WhatsApp at +506-8733-6071. Please note, the menu is a fixed one, so any questions about ingredients should be directed to the Momoto team.

Guests of Villas NIMBU can make their reservations directly through one of the methods above.