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Mexico City Dining


Blue Heron

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Do start buying El Universal on Thursday morning early because they have augmented the Friday "Estilos" section with a magazine section called Menu! It has a calendar of events, recipes and interviews with the foremost culinary luminaries of  the DF.  It is trying to provide an all inclusive view of all things FOOD.

As for the Slow Food programs there might not be another until October. I will post as soon as I know and hope you can join us next time. I will personally get you  the tickets. Slow Food is in need of  of an infusion of "new blood" here and hopefully you would enjoy yourself so much you might want to join.

Let me say that the food is incredible every time I have been to an event and that the initiated are quick to respond. I will be posting a story on the Xoconostle trip on www.international-iacp.blogspot.com during the next week but the report on the Dia de las Ciruelas is still on the site.  It is at the bottom of the page. It might make "la boca agua" as they say but go ahead risk it.

As well, don't know if you've heard but Chef  Richard (Ricardo) Sandoval is coming back home to the DF. With Maya and Pompano restaurants in NYC , Zengo and Tamayo in DC and Denver  he is about to open right here in my backyard of Condesa!  Sometime in mid-September will be the grand opening of Hippodromo Hotel and Hip Kitchen on Ave. Mexico just north of Ave. Sonora.

More later!

Thanks Ruth..."fast blood" for the Slow Foodies! I'll be there! I live around the corner from the new hotel, and have been watching the progress of the restoration (for those not from the city, the hotel to which Ruth referes is in an Art Deco apartment house which has been beautifully restored). Can't wait for the opening of the restaurant!

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Hippodromo Hotel and Hip Kitchen on Ave. Mexico just north of Ave. Sonora.

Hi Ruth and Nickarte -

I'm planning a trip for November and was thinking of staying in the Condesa. I'm having trouble finding hotels — in fact this is the first I've heard of the Hippodrome.

Would you recommend the Condesa for tourists?

Can you make any hotel recommendations? The Condesa DF is a little out of my price range.

Thank you so much.

Liz

Liz Johnson

Professional:

Food Editor, The Journal News and LoHud.com

Westchester, Rockland and Putnam: The Lower Hudson Valley.

Small Bites, a LoHud culinary blog

Personal:

Sour Cherry Farm.

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Hippodromo Hotel and Hip Kitchen on Ave. Mexico just north of Ave. Sonora.

Hi Ruth and Nickarte -

I'm planning a trip for November and was thinking of staying in the Condesa. I'm having trouble finding hotels — in fact this is the first I've heard of the Hippodrome.

Would you recommend the Condesa for tourists?

Can you make any hotel recommendations? The Condesa DF is a little out of my price range.

Thank you so much.

Liz

Hi Liz - Condesa is a great place for tourists to stay as it is quiet and pretty, convenient to everywhere, lots of places to walk around. I can reccomend the Hotel Roosevelt, located on Insurgentes and Yucatan, a few blocks from Parque Mexico.

Insurgentes Sur No. 287, esquina Yucatan

Hipodromo Condesa

06100 Ciudad de Mexico, Distrito Federal

Ph: +52 (55) 5208-6813 5208-3606

www.hotelroosevelt.com.mx

Just make sure you ask for a room on the quiet side...

I personally, have a small apartment I rent out, but it won't be available when you are here; for the future, the website is www.huichapan.dreamhosters.com.

The rooms are fine, I think a double is about $45 USD.

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What a great studio apartment in Condesa! Have already forwarded this to a few friends for consideration.

As to other options the hotel Maria Cristina on Rio Lerma ( check out yahoo travel) has been Marilyn Tausends ( Culinary Adventures) place to stay for years. The rates are from $50 to $100. Rio Lerma runs parralel to Reforma on the north and if you want to do the museums its all walking distance for the most part. Another try is www.hostelsweb.com that lists a $17 rate for a private room, located on Durango and Tonala it might be an option. I do not know it personally, but will take a look just for my own info.

Hippodromo Hotel will be a LUXURY boutique hotel ( with prices to match) check out the www.modernmexican.com site though because the restaurant should be a WOW.

Have a great trip and do keep asking questions, better prepared is the way to be in our megalopolis.

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What a great studio apartment in Condesa! Have already forwarded this to a few friends for consideration.

As to other options the hotel Maria Cristina on Rio Lerma ( check out yahoo travel) has been Marilyn Tausends ( Culinary Adventures) place to stay for years. The rates are from $50 to $100. Rio Lerma runs parralel to Reforma on the north and if you want to do the museums its all walking distance for the most part. Another try is www.hostelsweb.com that lists a $17 rate for a private room, located on Durango and Tonala it might be an option. I do not know it personally, but will take a look just for my own info.

Hippodromo Hotel will be a LUXURY boutique hotel ( with prices to match)  check out the www.modernmexican.com site though because the restaurant should be a WOW.

Have a great trip and do keep asking questions, better prepared is the way to be in our megalopolis.

I looked at the website but it doesn't mention the restaurant opening here; has anyone tried his places? I never heard of the one in New York (the only US city I frequent (and not so often anymore at that). The jury will be OUT until it opens and we have BEEN! But I sure hope it's good, because as Ruth will agree, we need more good restaurants that cater to grown-ups and that aren't in "Mexico denial" here in the Condesa...We Condechis don't like going to Polanco anymore than old-time Greenwich Villagers balked at traveling to the upper-east-side...

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Nick, Sandoval has been rated highly by the NY Times (**) and people I know who have been to Pompano rave about , what else, his seafood preparations. I haven't been and am waiting anxiously to see what they do here. The opening is set for Sept.8-9? They 've been announcing the opening since April though .... The web site for them mentions the opening under Sandovls bio, perhaps because this is his baby ( you know kid makes good in BIG CITY and now comes home to gloat).

And mil gracias for the loan of Mercado San Juan, will return it today. Where did you get it, I do want my own copy. Talk to soon.

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Maya used to be very good but has slipped a lot over the last few years.

Pampano was very good when it opened; haven't been since.

I'll be curious to see what people in Mexico City think of Sandoval's cooking. I always thought it was sort of "great [Mexican] for New York", but not "great absolute." I personally don't think that Maya at its best was a patch on, say, Aguila y Sol -- although I admit my perceptions may be colored by the two restaurants' respective locations.

Edited by Sneakeater (log)
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Maya used to be very good but has slipped a lot over the last few years.

Pampano was very good when it opened; haven't been since.

I'll be curious to see what people in Mexico City think of Sandoval's cooking.  I always thought it was sort of "great [Mexican] for New York", but not "great absolute."  I personally don't think that Maya at its best was a patch on, say, Aguila y Sol -- although I admit my perceptions may be colored by the two restaurants' respective locations.

Dear Sneakeater,

thank you for your comments. Please (since I am assuming you are still in NYC) give us more on Sandoval and his restaurants. Although I haven't been to Aguila y Sol I absolutely love Enrique Olvera at Pujol restaurant -- I believe that the young and innovative chefs of Mexico City are doing world class cuisine based on their "raices" (thats roots to you). I have already gained about 12 Lbs. in the year I have been in Condesa and its challenging to NOT GO OUT to eat every day!

PS: Chef Olvera has been scheduled as a guest on NBC Today show for Sept.15 "El Grito"/Mexican Independence day. Try and catch him and give us a report . His food is wonderful check out his menu at www.pujol.com.mx.

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PS: Chef Olvera has been scheduled as a guest on NBC Today show for Sept.15 "El Grito"/Mexican Independence day. Try and catch him and give us a report . His food is wonderful check out his menu at www.pujol.com.mx.

I very much enjoyed my meal at Pujol. I will have to remember to try and record it. Thanks for the heads up!

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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This is going to be much more general than what Ruth probably meant to ask for; if I can put together some more specific comments about the food at Richard Sandoval's restaurants in New York, I'll do so -- but it's been a while since I've eaten in any of them.

Mexican food is very problematical in New York. Until fairly recently, there didn't seem to be as significant a Mexican population here as there is in, say, Chicago, to say nothing of LA. Even now, the Mexican population (or at least that part of it that operates and patronizes restaurants) seems to mostly be from Puebla, so most of the "authentic" Mexican restaurants are limited to that region. It's not that I don't love Pueblan food -- I do -- it's just that I don't think you can easily get a broad familiarity with authentic Mexican cooking in New York.

On the other hand, there have long been a bunch of imitation Tex-Mex tequila mills in New York, to which young people go to get drunk and eat gloppy food. But they have few culinary pretentions -- although the glop they serve is probably what most non-Mexican New Yorkers think of "Mexican food" as.

Since there isn't a long-time tradition of high-quality "authentic" ethnic Mexican restaurants (and to be clear, by that I mean cheap places, mainly aimed at the immigrant community), most non-Mexican New Yorkers lack the kind of deep familiarity with Mexican food that they have with, say, Chinese and other Asian cuisines or Italian or even Cuban. This makes it difficult for us to appreciate, much less to judge, any attempts at Mexican haute cuisine in the City.

Several restaurants have tried. When Richard Sandoval -- an Acapulcan who first attracted notice when cooking at a non-Mexican restaurant here -- opened Maya maybe 10 or so years ago, it was far and away the best such attempt yet in New York. Over time, Maya has gotten a little tired, though, as some restaurants do. Sandoval's second restaurant here was Pampano, a so-called haute Acapulcan sea food place backed by Placido Domingo in a space where a previous Domingo-backed attempt at haute Mexican had failed. If anything, Pampano, at opening, was even better than Maya when it was new -- although, again, neither I nor most of the clientele have the culinary experience to really judge what Sandoval is doing there. I haven't been back recently, so I don't know how well the quality's been maintained.

The thing to say, though, is that the best haute Mexican -- nueva cocina, I guess you guys call it -- in Mexico City pretty much blows Maya and Pampano away. But a large part of the reason for that, it has seemed to me, is the confidence with which the DF restaurants grow from (and play with) tradition. This kind of confidence is precisely what Sandoval is denied here in New York -- not because of anything lacking on his part, but because he cannot assume a knowledgeable clientele (in fact, he can pretty much assume the contrary). He has to worry about toning down elements New Yorkers unfamiliar with Mexican food might find weird, he has to work on the assumption that most of his clientele's expectations of Mexican food are of gloppy versions of dishes like enchiladas suissas, and so his food has to sort of explain itself to the eaters (if you know what I mean by that). So Mexico City is going to be a truer test of Sandoval's capabilities than New York, because there he'll be cooking without restraint for a knowledgeable clientele.

You know, now that I think of it, I really can't wait to try his restaurant there.

Edited by Sneakeater (log)
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Sneakeater, what a great, cogent post!! Your argments makes a heck of a lot of sense.

I have been blown away by the contemporary Mexican in D.F. It's some of the most exciting, not to metion creative, food I've eaten in a long time. I hope Sandoval can do the food he wants, the way he wants, without having to capitulate.

I believe he also had a branch of Maya in San Francisco when I lived there that, like you described in your post, also opened strongly and then faded some as it settled in. I'm not sure it's still open.

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Just to be clear, I don't want to say that Sandoval's "captiluated" to anyone, in the sense that I don't think anyone is forcing anything on him. I just think he must be aware of his audience, and of their expected incomprehension of the food he is cooking. And that that must affect what he ultimately does.

(Thanks for the kind words, BTW.)

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This is a little off-topic, but just to give a concrete example of what I'm talking about (even though it doesn't involve Richard Sandoval):

Last year, Zarela Martinez's son, Aaron Sanchez, opened a haute(ish) Mexican restaurant called Centrico in downtown New York. One of the items on his menu is a pretty strictly traditional Cochinita Pibil. When the restaurant was reviewed in the New York Times, the restaurant critic, Frank Bruni, described that dish (without even naming it) by writing that "Sanchez takes a pork shoulder" and does this and that to it -- as if this classic Yucatecan dish were something that Aaron Sanchez came up with himself.

That's the level of knowledge about Mexican food that the most influential (although, most New Yorkers would agree, not the best credentialed) food critic in New York has.

I think a chef must be able to create with more confidence when he's cooking for a clientele he can assume has knowlege of the premises of his cooking. I also think it must be a bit of a burden when the chef knows he must educate his clientele along with pleasing it.

Edited by Sneakeater (log)
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Sneakeater, i think you hit one of the main problems of Mexican Food not just in NYC, but in most of the US on the head. One other issue that shouldn't be a problem in the DF is the quality of strictly Mexican ingredients. They may be available in NY, but not at the same level of quality as in Mexico. Sandoval may or may not do a great job at his restaurant in Mexico City, but it is more likely that he will there for all the above reasons. Nice summary, Sneakeater!

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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PS: Chef Olvera has been scheduled as a guest on NBC Today show for Sept.15 "El Grito"/Mexican Independence day. Try and catch him and give us a report . His food is wonderful check out his menu at www.pujol.com.mx.

I very much enjoyed my meal at Pujol. I will have to remember to try and record it. Thanks for the heads up!

Please do try and catch the show -- one of the few things I miss is not being able to see certain TV apperances by my favorite chefs. As a point of interest, I always wanted to catch the Rick Bayless season 2006 that featured 2 episodes dealing with the Distrito Federal (AKA Mexico City) one was "Mothers of Invention" which was filmed at El Bajio restaurant and had Carmen "Titita" Ramirez Degollado and other women chefs. The second episode was "Condesa -- Capital of Hip" my own neighborhood! Well of course no one I know has yet to master recording from a TV and when I inquired of www.fronteragrill.com THOSE WERE THE ONLY 2 EPISODES NOT INCLUDED IN THE BOXED SET FOR SALE!!! What gives???

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  • 3 weeks later...

PS: Chef Olvera has been scheduled as a guest on NBC Today show for Sept.15 "El Grito"/Mexican Independence day. Try and catch him and give us a report . His food is wonderful check out his menu at www.pujol.com.mx.

I very much enjoyed my meal at Pujol. I will have to remember to try and record it. Thanks for the heads up!

Please do try and catch the show -- one of the few things I miss is not being able to see certain TV apperances by my favorite chefs. As a point of interest, I always wanted to catch the Rick Bayless season 2006 that featured 2 episodes dealing with the Distrito Federal (AKA Mexico City) one was "Mothers of Invention" which was filmed at El Bajio restaurant and had Carmen "Titita" Ramirez Degollado and other women chefs. The second episode was "Condesa -- Capital of Hip" my own neighborhood! Well of course no one I know has yet to master recording from a TV and when I inquired of www.fronteragrill.com THOSE WERE THE ONLY 2 EPISODES NOT INCLUDED IN THE BOXED SET FOR SALE!!! What gives???

Reminder that Chef Olvera will be on NBC's Today tomorrow.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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PS: Chef Olvera has been scheduled as a guest on NBC Today show for Sept.15 "El Grito"/Mexican Independence day. Try and catch him and give us a report . His food is wonderful check out his menu at www.pujol.com.mx.

I very much enjoyed my meal at Pujol. I will have to remember to try and record it. Thanks for the heads up!

Please do try and catch the show -- one of the few things I miss is not being able to see certain TV apperances by my favorite chefs. As a point of interest, I always wanted to catch the Rick Bayless season 2006 that featured 2 episodes dealing with the Distrito Federal (AKA Mexico City) one was "Mothers of Invention" which was filmed at El Bajio restaurant and had Carmen "Titita" Ramirez Degollado and other women chefs. The second episode was "Condesa -- Capital of Hip" my own neighborhood! Well of course no one I know has yet to master recording from a TV and when I inquired of www.fronteragrill.com THOSE WERE THE ONLY 2 EPISODES NOT INCLUDED IN THE BOXED SET FOR SALE!!! What gives???

Reminder that Chef Olvera will be on NBC's Today tomorrow.

Well, I recorded the show on DVR and just finished watching it. I am sorely disappointed to say that Chef Olvera was not on the show. Richard Sandoval was on instead. Nothing against Sandoval - his dishes looked tasty, at least from the very quick peak we were given of them - but I was looking for Olvera.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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As usual more "misinformation", but hey we are 2086 miles (3357 km) from NYC.

Am sure that the culinary sound bite does nothing for the food, but lots for the super chef image.

Today being "El Grito"(Hidalgo's Cry for Independence) at midnight I hope that you also will join in--

Que Viva Mexico, libre y independiente!

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As usual more "misinformation", but hey we are 2086 miles (3357 km) from NYC.

Am sure that the culinary sound bite does nothing for the food, but lots for the super chef image. 

Today being "El Grito"(Hidalgo's Cry for Independence) at midnight I hope that you also will join in--

Que Viva Mexico, libre y independiente!

I suspect that the plan was to have him, but for whatever reason, they wound up substituting Sandoval. Tengan una buena fiesta!

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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:rolleyes:

Our "Grito" was a bit subdued, we stayed home and had an "empanada de mole" (puff pastry wrapped shredded chicken mole in lasagne pan), tricolored antojito of nopalitos with tomato, onion, radish and tomato along side of the thinnest chicharron ever (from Mercado Medallin) and thin strands of queso Oaxaca! Poor us? :wub:

As to the Hippodromo Hotel and Hip Kitchen, the opening is set for next Wed. evening and the staff has been hard at working doing mock run throughs and tasting menus. Staff is knowlegable and I have a very good feeling about the "fusion" style that seems to be the theme. Our local newspaper had the recipe for Richard Sandovals' " Salmon Maya" and the fact that he uses a black bean reduction as the base for the salmon and then a gratin of chayote says to me that the local ingredients will not be neglected.

Fresh and local, the way to go!

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:rolleyes:

Our "Grito" was a bit subdued, we stayed home and had an "empanada de mole" (puff pastry wrapped shredded chicken mole in lasagne pan), tricolored antojito of nopalitos with tomato, onion, radish and tomato along side of the thinnest chicharron ever (from Mercado Medallin) and thin strands of queso Oaxaca!  Poor us?  :wub:

As to the Hippodromo Hotel and Hip Kitchen, the opening is set for next Wed. evening and the staff has been hard at working doing mock run throughs and tasting menus. Staff is knowlegable and I have a very good feeling about the "fusion" style that seems to be the theme. Our local newspaper had the recipe for Richard Sandovals' " Salmon Maya"  and the fact that he uses a black bean reduction as the base for the salmon and then a gratin of chayote says to me that the local ingredients will not be neglected.

Fresh and local, the way to go!

And may I add prepared by an authentic (albeit glamorous) Mexican abuela!

For those on their way to visit Mexico in the next few weeks, we are in the height of wild mushroom season; a trip to the Mercado San Juan (c/Ernesto Pugibet in the centro) is a must, and you can buy dried morrells which are OK with customs, I have found.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am making my first trip to Mexico City about a week from now, I have done some searches and picked out some restaurants. Now I would like to refine the list.

I like the idea of traditional & new mexican restaurants with some great food in a variety of settings. Any recommendations on which to eliminate?

Any great one of these that I missed?

Also a bakery in Zona Rosa would be nice?

Historic area

•Fonda Don Chon - Regina 160 (@Jesus Maria) Aztec food

•Panaderia Ideal – N side of Republic de Uruguay W of Eje Central ? or some other bakery

•El Cardenal / Sherton Centro Historico, 9a-7p Palma 23

•Café de Tacuba - Tacuba 28 at Allende [Col Centro/Historic area]

Coyoacan

•Restaurante Los Danzantes Plaza Jardín Centenario No. 12, Col. Villa Coyoacán

Zona rosa

•Tezka, Amberes 78 @Liverpool,

•Fonda El Refugio Liverpool 166 @ Amberes, Zona Rosa

•Cicero-Centenario Londres 195

Are there any bakeries or good breakfast spots.

Polonco

•Aguila y Sol Molière 42 and Masaryk Col.

•Fonda del Claustro (was Fonda del Santa Clara) Homero 1910

•Hacienda los Morales - Vazquez de Mella 525

•Pujol - Francisco Petrarca 254.

San Angel

La Fonda del Recuerdo

Other:

El Bajio: address is Av. Cuitlahuac 2709

The first night plan to go to dinner on the way from the airport, are there any of these were it would be okay to come in with a 19in travel bag.

Any help would be appreciated?

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I am making my first trip to Mexico City about a week from now, I have done some searches and picked out some restaurants.  Now I would like to refine the list.

I like the idea of traditional & new mexican restaurants with some great food in  a variety of settings.  Any recommendations on which to eliminate?

Any great one of these that I missed?

Also a bakery in Zona Rosa would be nice?

Historic area

•Fonda Don Chon - Regina 160 (@Jesus Maria) Aztec food

•Panaderia Ideal – N side of Republic de Uruguay W of Eje Central ? or some other bakery

•El Cardenal / Sherton Centro Historico, 9a-7p Palma 23

•Café de Tacuba - Tacuba 28 at Allende [Col Centro/Historic area]

Coyoacan

•Restaurante Los Danzantes Plaza Jardín Centenario No. 12, Col. Villa Coyoacán

Zona rosa

•Tezka, Amberes 78 @Liverpool,

•Fonda El Refugio Liverpool 166 @ Amberes, Zona Rosa

•Cicero-Centenario Londres 195

Are there any bakeries or good breakfast spots.

Polonco

•Aguila y Sol Molière 42 and Masaryk Col.

•Fonda del Claustro (was Fonda del Santa Clara) Homero 1910

•Hacienda los Morales - Vazquez de Mella 525

•Pujol - Francisco Petrarca 254.

San Angel

La Fonda del Recuerdo

Other:

El Bajio: address is Av. Cuitlahuac 2709

The first night plan to go to dinner on the way from the airport, are there any of these were it would be okay to come in with a 19in travel bag.

Any help would be appreciated?

http://www.restaurantesdemexico.com.mx/ for looking up phone numbers and addresses.

Some of your list is definite "not to be missed places". But I would be cautious on picking the right time to go since the Day of the Dead puente (long holiday) means more people in the city on vacation. First Don Chon is not in the Centro Historico, it is in the the Merced market area, closed Saturday and open from noon till about 5/6 PM. The rough atmosphere in the area would prompt me to recommend that you go with someone and to use public transport since this is a nightmare to navigate by car (taxi). Its fame as a place for pre-hispanic though, for me, is overblown. Do you really want to eat armadillio, crocodile or insects that must be in season for optimum flavor?

El Cardenal (there are two in the Centro Historico, one is the original) and Cafe Tacuba (the bullet hole story is still a good one) -- go so you can say you were there but I wouldn't rave.

You might do better at :

Hostería Santo Domingo (city's oldest - 1860)

Teléfono: 55 26 52 76 / 55 10 14 34

Dirección: Belisario Domínguez 72

Colonia:Centro Histórico

Referencia: entre República de Chile y República de Brasil

Horario: Lun. a Dom. de 9:00 a 22:30 hrs.

they have Chiles en Nogadas all year around and I wouldn't miss them even though you're supposed to eat them in September only.

The best in Cafes is the Cafe El Popular at Avenida 5 de Mayo #52, tel. 5518-6081. They are open 24 hours and the food is good and inexpensive. There is always a wait during "comida" hours, usually 2-4 PM. Breakfasts are hearty, well prepared and a great way to start the tour of the Centro Historic for me.

Coyoacan -- the Danzantes right on the plaza is great for people watching and for sampling 140 of the finest mezcals Mexico has to offer. The food can be super or just so-so, and I wouldn't take the risk if this were my only meal in this area. I would go instead to

El Tajin

Teléfono: 56 59 57 59 / 56 59 44 47

Dirección: Miguel Ángel de Quevedo, Num. 687

Colonia:Cuadrante de San Francisco

Referencia: dentro del Centro Cultural Veracruzano

Horario: Lun. a Dom. de 13:00 a 18:00 hrs.

where the owner Alicia De'Angeli has been wowing them for years. The grand dame of the cities culinary scene does Veracruzan style exquisitely.

Or just go to the Mercado Coyoacan after the Museo de Culturas Populares, the Day of the Dead in the patio has altares, ofrendas and food stalls and go to the food area and take your pick. Outside on the corner of Allende and Malitzin is the Jardin del pulpo for the best ceviches, vuelva a la vida and seafood in any number of ways. Communal tables makes it easy to see what every one else is having.

Tezka -- not going to Spain any time soon? Be prepared to dress up or be shunned.

Perhaps its my still lingering dislike of what the Zona Rosa has become that makes me head to Colonia Condesa (oh right, I even moved here!) but hey you can't have a bad meal in my nabe, even if you all you did was eat at the local puestos (street side vendors).Where do I start , oops I can't, my hubby needs dinner!

Will try to get back to this or send me an e-mail. :wacko:

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The Cardenal in the Sheraton is convenient if you are near Bellas Artes, Alameda, Franz Mayer house. The one in Palma is the original

Don Chon is more an anthropological experience than a culinary one. La Merced and the sorrounding area can be very interesting to visit.

Can you eat good chiles in nogada after the end of the pomegranate season?

The bullet hole story refers to Cantina La Opera (in Av Cinco de Mayo), not to Cafe Tacuba.

I'm surprised that Izote is not in the list under Polanco.

Is there a branch of Fonda del Recuerdo in San Angel? The original is in Colonia Veronica Anzures, in a different part of town.

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