buttery

Thanks for that report, phoenikia -- that does sound good! Could I ask what the range of prices was for appetizers, pizzas, and mains?

Kent, the El Bajio in Polanco has menus available in English (and I'm assuming the other locations do as well), though even with very limited Spanish I found the Spanish-language menus to be often more comprehensible. (For example, I know what an enchilada is, but reading the translation of "enchilada" made it sound like something completely unknown.) At Pujol, the servers were definitely prepared to converse with us in English; I imagine the same is probably true at the other high-end, well-known restaurants. We also visited some mercados, like the one in Cholula, and there, it's a different story; over a year later we still spend time speculating about what it was we ate.

Ruth gave me some great suggestions during the summer -- and I've been meaning to follow up with my notes on DF and Puebla... But briefly -- we loved El Bajio, ate there three times (two dinners and one breakfast/brunch). I found La Purificadora (Enrique Olivera's restaurant in Puebla) somewhat underwhelming foodwise. The combinations were inventive, but some worked better than others, and the main dishes in particular felt a little too ordinary (duck with orange sauce, chicken with pipian verde) in comparison with other, less known restaurants. Could be that my expectations were too high. But the setting and service were AMAZING. If you make it to Cholula (which I recommend if you have more than a day in Puebla -- it's less than a 10-mile cab ride from Puebla), there's a wonderful mercado about 2 blocks off the zocalo/main square. Enjoy!

Great topic... but doesn't $130 USD buy around 103 euros? Then again, if I had a choice, I definitely prefer your math to mine.

It was also offered as the "Gibier du jour" at Violon d'Ingres yesterday (October 11) dinner. Can't comment on how it was, though I'm sure it was probably very good; the server seemed to recommend it with particular fondness.

Does La Grande Épicerie have any tables or counters available for those who'd like to sample what they've just purchased at the market? Or are they only for those ordering from a menu?

Thanks so much, Ruth, for those suggestions! And I'm just shocked about Aguila y Sol!! - I thought that the chef was very talented, though, so hopefully we will hear more (positive news) about her in the future. Right now I am holding a dinner reservation for Izote, so perhaps I'll just leave it, unless others think that this is a mistake. And yes, El Bajio is very much on my list - in fact, I'm scheming to find ways of eating there more than once. But we did want at least one "alta cocina" dinner in DF, since we are treating relatives, and wanted to do something extra special. I've also heard such good things about Azul y Oro, so will keep that in mind if we find ourselves in the UNAM area. Thanks again!

I'm facing the happy quandary of deciding where to have a special dinner in Mexico City, and have narrowed it down to Izote, Aguila y Sol, and Pujol. My not altogether informed sense is that Izote offers a somewhat more traditional interpretation of Mexican cuisine, while the other two are more experimental. I ate at Aguila y Sol a year ago, and really liked it - but would be interested in trying something new, unless it is far and away the best of the three. The other factor that comes into consideration is that I will probably just have eaten at Enrique Olvera's restaurant in Puebla, La Purificadora, so am wondering whether it would feel redundant to eat a few days later at Pujol? (Has anyone been to La Purificadora? I'm having trouble finding detailed reviews.) And from what I gather, all of these are in about the same price range, correct? Which would you choose, and why? Thanks in advance!

I was at Susur a couple months ago. We were presented with one menu, which displayed 2 different 7-course tasting menu choices; both included meat. (I'm assuming that a vegetarian menu would have been offered if we had asked.) Each menu was priced at $120. There were no other options shown (no 5-course menu, no à la carte options). Wines by the glass were available, with some starting around $10 per glass. There was also a wine pairing available, around $70 for 4 glasses, I believe.

I'm wondering -- has anyone tried bringing young, unpasteurized cheeses back into Canada with them from, say, a trip to France? Does the 60 days of aging rule apply as well to imports for personal consumption?

IKEA now has a small line of enamelled, cast-iron cookware -- shallow saucepans in large and small, and a casserole/dutch oven-type pan in large (though more like a medium if you compare it to something like Le Creuset) and small. All pieces only in red. All made in France. We bought the large pan for around $45, I think, and have been pretty happy with it, but it gets fairly light use in our house. Has anyone else seen these or tried them out? Opinions? (my first post ever on egullet... )