mmm-yoso!!!

Oaxaca (2022) - Jalatlaco, Lunch at El Pozolito, and Dinner at Zandunga

Barrio Jalatlaco was undeniably beautiful. The colors so vibrant. It also seemed sleepy and relaxed compared to Oaxaca Central, almost as if you'd entered a whole different city.

The street art was glorious and it was everywhere.

Some of it was quite modern in tone......like really up to date!

  Jalatlaco was the location of a Zapotec village before the arrival of the Spaniards. Jalatlaco in Zapotec means "Sand Canyon". We were told that Jalatlaco looks basically the same as it did a century ago, which is quite amazing.

It was wonderful just wandering the cobbled streets, enjoying the colors and the street art, with nary another person in sight. There seemed to be something almost magical about the place.

I'm tempted to want to stay in the area next time, but maybe not.......I really don't want to spoil what looks like the true local beauty of the barrio.

Here's a wonderful article on Jalatlaco.

Soon enough, it was time for an "early" lunch. We headed back down to Mercado 20 de Noviembre to see if anything caught our eye.

We wandered around the mercado a bit but nothing caught our attention.

So we decided to take a look elsewhere.

About a block form the mercado we saw this little restaurant.

And you can tell by the name what they specialize in, right?

And the Missus keeps looking for pozole that She enjoys more then what I make at home. So, it seems like we found a place for lunch. It seemed like a place that locals came to eat.

And the pirces were right, the pozole was only $50/MX per bowl - about $2.50/US. Over time the Missus has come to prefer pozole blanco and She was happy that they served that here. I went with the pozole rojo.

All the base "sides" were delivered and two salsas as well. 

And soon enough our bowls of pozole arrived.

It was quite obvious that the meat had been separated from the broth and then placed into the bowl after the soup and "salsa" as some of the pieces of pork were lukewarm. The pozole rojo wasn't bad; a bit on the milder side but that was quickly rectified when I added more salsa rojo. Decently porky and pretty basic and simple overall.

The Missus thought the blanco could have used more porkiness and added a good amount of salt as well.

The Hominy wasn't to the Missus liking as it was too mushy for Her taste. She's become so picky about Her pozole!

Still, it was a really inexpensive lunch and we enjoyed the atmosphere.

El Pozolito
Rayón 102
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

We then went and did a bit of shopping before heading back to our room and taking a nice afternoon nap.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing before heading out to dinner. Of course we left for dinner early as we wanted to check out what was going on at the Zocalo.

And the police were back teaching children how to ride bicycles and running the bike safety puppet show.

And "the Band" was in fine form on this evening!

There was quite a bit going on!

   We headed up Macedonio Alcalá. This was a Saturday evening so there were folks everywhere. Things were lively, but not out of control.

Folks were just hanging with friends, hanging with pooches, listening to music, there seemed to be musicians or bands situated on almost every corner, plaza, and jardin.

We walked up to Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán before heading over one block to our dinner destination.

I had gone ahead and made dinner reservations ahead of time for every other night in Oaxaca. And since this was a Saturday evening, I thought having reservations made sense. I had been interested in trying the cuisine of the Istmus region and after doing a bit of research had made reservations at Zanduga.

Like Los Danzantes the dining area was in a lovely courtyard area.

And just like Los Danzantes, the customer base seemed to be mostly tourists....

We were still fairly full from lunch, so we ordered the Botana Zandunga, a variety of Istmeno appetizers, some soup, and the seasonal fish appetizer.

First to arrive was the Sopa de Frijol, which would turn out to be the our favorite item of the night.

Very beany, smooth, and rich. Nicely seasoned, this went well with the provided avocado slices and tortillas.

The Botana Zandunga was a collection of "greatest hits" if you will.

From the bottom left, the tamal de cambray was dry and bland, the molotes de platano was cold and dry, the guacamole was quite good, the garnaches, which I had been excited to try was dry, cold, and bland, the pico de gallo had dried shrimp which seemed interesting but wasn't anything special.

Last to arrive was the Pescado de Temporada, what basically read as "seasonal fish". Looking at the menu, I saw that it was herb marinated with hoja santa, which the Missus loves. 

Unfortunately, this was too mealy and fishy for the Missus. I didn't think it was too bad, especially with the salsas on tlayudas.

Service was quite good, but the food just wasn't to our taste. Looks like I was oh-fer-two with the places I'd made reservations at.

I remembered when I told Betsy we had reservations here; she told me that having tried Zandunga twice, she wasn't too impressed. She was right.

Zandunga
Calle de Manuel García Vigil 512
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

Of course we passed thru the Zocalo on the way back to our room. The bicycle thing was still going on. Well, it was a Saturday night after all.

A gentleman saw me really enjoying watching the police kids and the public interacting and started talking to me. He told me that once upon a time the police in Oaxaca were among the toughest, meanest, and unfriendly officers in Mexico. Then after dealing with that for years the public voted in a whole different set of politicians. The police created outreach/community relations programs and this changed things. Watching him talk to the officers, I'm sure this gentleman was some kind of neighborhood liaison or politician.

 And here the "Policia Vial" (Road Police) officers were dancing with the public!

Now when was the last time you saw that?

I couldn't help but smile.

Oaxaca (2022) - Breakfast at Boulenc, Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, and La Cosecha Mercado de Organico

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were pretty full after our food tour and ended up not eating dinner. The next morning we decided to grab some breakfast before heading out on our explorations for the day. There was a bakery and restaurant named Boulenc on my list and Betsy from Me Encanta Oaxaca recommended it as well. It was just three blocks up the street from our hotel and pretty much on the way to the sites we'd be visiting.

The restaurant had a few folks waiting for seats when we arrived, but things moved quickly and we got a table upstairs in about 15 minutes.

Service was efficient and the folks here work hard, running up and down the stairs. The Missus got a Machiatto and I got an Americano, both serviceable.

The Missus, who had never really enjoyed avocado toast, strangely ordered the Aguacate y Cilantro ($70/MX - $3.50/US). 

This was love at first bite! First off, the toasted sourdough bread at Boulenc is outstanding, wonderful yeasty-sour balance, nice and not overly chewy bread, it's a perfect foil for the perfectly ripe and abundant avocado and the wonderful hints of chloropyllic-citrusy tones from the cilantro and microgreens. The Missus loved the inhouse fermented, pickled beets. She loved this so much that we returned two more times during our stay!

I wanted some fruit and yogurt so I got the Turkish Yogurt with Fruits ($80/MX - $4/US).

Loved all the fresh and ripe fruits, nuts, and the yogurt. A perfect breakfast for me and just what I wanted.

Like I wrote earlier; we both really liked Boulenc and ended up coming here three times during our stay. That sourdough bread is fantastic.

Boulenc
Calle Porfirio Díaz 207
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

Here's an interesting post on Boulenc.

After breakfast we headed up to Plaza Santo Domingo. We had already checked out the Cathedral and wanted to do the same with the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

Construction on this church started in 1551, but the final construction was completed in 1666.

The interior and ceiling were very impressive!

No wonder it took so long to complete.

I was fascinated by the bas relief of the family tree of Santo Domingo de Guzman (aka Saint Dominic), who founded the Dominican Order.

Along with the temple is a structure that used to be a Convent and is now a museum. We didn't have enough time to visit, but I'm sure we'll go the next time we're in Oaxaca.

From here we headed over one block and walked past the plaza.

And came across this.....

It was a cute little organic market and food stalls.

I decided to get some cucumber-lime juice from this stand.

It was quite refreshing.

Cheers!

Mercado Organico La Cosecha
Calle Macedonio Alcalá 806
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

Refreshed and revived we walked thru Plaza Cruz de Piedra.

To Calle de Manuel García Vigil and the aqueduct that we had seen the previous day.

We headed up the street to where it turns into Rufino Tamayo and took time to admire the street art that we had only glanced at the previous day.

And then we came across this fella' hanging out at the gate of one of the courtyards.

Little did we know that he was just the "lookout". When he spotted another pooch ambling up the street he sent out "word" and the whole "gang" appeared for a "bark session".

It was hilarious.

There was so much to see if you took your time.

I had planned checking out Xochimilco later on the trip so we'd be heading further up Rufino Tamayo then. So we cut back thru the plaza, then back down Macedonio Alcalá, taking a left down Humboldt.

And came to a park named Parque Juarez El Llano, with a Monument to Benito Juárez in it's center.

We passed folks relaxing in the nice green space as we crossed over to the opposite end. I was looking for a specific street. There is a neighborhood that I read about that was called a "secret jewel" and was named the 17th coolest neighborhood in the world by Timeout in 2019....Jalatlaco. I had seen photos of the street art and it looked so very charming. Betsy had also told us we would enjoy the street art and the "vibe". Two blocks past the park, at the corner of Republica and Miguel Hidalgo, there it was.

Barrio Jalatlaco!

So how was it? Well, you'll have to stay tuned and I'll cover that in my next post on Oaxaca!

Oaxaca (2022) - Me Encanta Oaxaca Food Tour

One of the things I learned during our trip to Emilia-Romagna was the value of a good food tour when visiting the culinary centers of countries. Not having had too much exposure to the cuisine of Oaxaca, I thought that finding a good food tour would do us good. And after doing some research, I found Me Encanta Oaxaca. It just seemed like a good fit for us, so I made reservations. This would turn out to be a fantastic tour as we learned a lot, not only about the cuisine, but the history, and other fun "stuffs" about Oaxaca. One of the owners and the person who would lead our tour Betsaida ("Betsy") contacted us several times to give us info on the tour and also some advice beforehand......"don't eat breakfast....or just enough so that you will be hungry, but not 'hangry'." Along with safety guidelines, etc.

The meeting place was in front of Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán and Betsy was easy to find. We loved that there were only five of us on the tour. We sampled and covered a huge amount of food; so from this point on, I'm going to keep it brief.

First stop was just a block away.

Tacos del Carmen, a very popular street stall.

Man, that Empanada de Mole Amarillo con Flor de Calabaza y Hierba Santa was soooo delici-yoso!

We also got to try the "Taco" de Chile Relleno.

Tacos Del Carmen
Jesús Carranza 110
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

We then headed up a block-and-a-half to the colorful Mercado Sánchez Pascuas.

Here Betsy went over some of the more interesting produce and we had tastes of Aguacate Criollo, Nanche, Curuba, Tuna Roja, and Jiotilla which you see below.

Betsy took us to various stands and we got to meet the folks who made what we'd be tasting....

The tamales were delicious; though the Missus still didn't care for the mole negro....

We got our caffeine fix from one of the stands along with some dulces.

The tour wasn't just food; there was history and sights as well. In fact, Betsy would quiz us on some of the history. I actually answered one of the questions correctly. Of course, I'd already learned a bit about Porfirio Díaz when we were in Guanajuato.

We headed off a block away to Rufino Tamayo.

Did you know that Oaxaca has an aqueduct?

And to go even beyond the history, this "famous" movie was filmed in the area.

In fact you might just recognize the scene filmed here.

We walked over to Plaza Cruz de Piedra.

Where there's an interesting stone cross.

As we headed down to Mercado Benito Juárez Betsy went over some history and quizzed us.

Once we got into the bustling market we headed to a bustling stand.

Where we got to try Tejate which was soooo good.

And Betsy took the time to show us some of the other vendors she likes in the market.

We then headed across the street to Mercado 20 de Noviembre where Betsy said "I hope you're hungry now!" And soon enough we were in the famous "Pasillo de Humo" ("Hall of Smoke"). Yes, this is the place that one of  our favorite restaurants in CDMX is named after. And when say "hall of smoke" they ain't kidding.

Here you can choose your meat.....

And they grill it up for you.....

Betsy got us a table and we just enjoyed...well, pasillo de humo......

And soon the food started arriving.....

Gusanos, Chicatanas, and Chapulines. Good stuff!

The proteins....Tasajo, carne, chorizo, tripa.....

A huge Tlayuda.....

A sampler of Mole.....well, the Missus still didn't care for mole, it was too sweet for Her tastebuds, so this was going to be interesting.

She did enjoy the Pan de Yerma and Chocolate de Agua......in fact we'd go shopping for some of that before we returned home.

This was a fantastic tour.

We even got a list of places to try and areas to visit. And best of all, we asked Betsy where to buy hats.......and she gave us a recommendation. So here's the deal, I've never looked good in hats.....never, ever. But we headed to the place she recommended after our tour and I found a hat!

We ate so much that we didn't even bother with dinner. We just took a short walk.

Of course I wore my hat.......

So, if you're ever in Bay Park and you see some middle aged Asian dude wearing a Cowboy Hat and a "Ojai Psychic Friends Network" t-shirt.....well, that would be me.

Make sure to say hello, ok?

Oaxaca (2022) - We Arrive, Cafe Brujula, and Dinner at Los Danzantes

Our flight and transfer from Mexico City went quite smoothly. Our good friend "Alle" had mentioned that Benito Juárez Airport was a hot mess these days; but we didn't encounter any problems. Our transfer was waiting when we arrived and we made it to our hotel; the Hotel Casona Oaxaca with no problems right past check-in time. The hotel's location was great for a first time visit to Oaxaca as it was centrally located, just a block from the Zocalo, basically the heart of the city. The courtyard was quite beautiful and though the room was a bit dated and there was a bit of noise, we had a small balcony of sorts with good natural light.

After freshening up, we headed out to take a quick look at the city. The city was quite vibrant and full of energy. I had read that 60% of the population of Oaxaca is under the age of 30. We decided to just take a stroll and familiarize ourselves with the area a bit.

Like I mentioned above, the Zocalo, officially named Plaza de la Constitución is pretty much the heart of the city. It's a nice public space, with shaded areas, restaurants and shops in the potico lined buildings, and vendor stalls....and of course, there's always something going on.

To the North of the Zocalo is the Cathedral. 

It was a pretty warm day, so we decided to duck in for a quick look.

    Construction of the Cathedral commenced in 1535 and was reconstructed several times because of earthquakes.

There's some nice stained glass windows in the cathedral and it was a good place to cool off a bit.

After a short break we headed up Calle Macedonio Alcalá, which eventually turns into a pedestrian only street. 

We decided to take a caffeine break at Cafe Brujula, which I believe has six locations in the city.

There was nice courtyard seating...many tables were taken up with folks working on laptops and such. But the Missus enjoyed Her Iced Matcha and I thought the cold brew was decent.

Café Brújula Alcalá
C. Macedonio Alcalá 104
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

Once Calle Macedonio Alcalá becomes a pedestrian only street, things really pick up.

And this is where we first really started noticing all the amazing street art.

Yes, there are quite a few tourists; but it's very lively and there seemed to be many locals as well.

We got up to the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán. We had a food tour the following day and we just wanted to make sure we could find the meeting place which was right in front of the church.

From here we headed back to the hotel and relaxed sort of like this fella'.

After a short break we headed out to dinner. We again walked thru the Zocalo and stopped when we saw this.

The police were actually teaching kids how to ride bicycles!

And were also doing a puppet show on bicycle safety.

And a couple of the officers were singing and playing music. It was quite a scene and for some reason I found it so sweet and heartwarming.

I had made dinner reservations at a highly regarded restaurant right on Macedonio Alcalá named Los Danzantes which is named for the famous Bas Reliefs of "Dancers" at Monte Alban which we would see later during the trip.

The main dining area was in a lovely courtyard area.

  The menu used a QR code something that we found everywhere in Mexico. The food seemed a bit of a modern, lighter affair. The service was a bit of hit and miss. As you can see, the customer base seemed to be more tourists/ex-pats though nothing wrong with that if the food is outstanding. 

The cocktails seemed to be a bit short in terms of alcohol.

I enjoyed the different versions of Oaxacan style tortillas, but the Missus didn't care for the crisp, cracker like texture.

The Missus loves Hoja Santa, so we started with the Hoja Santa with Local Queso, and Tomatillo ($155/MX - $7.75/US).

When having Hoja Santa, I expect anise-minty-pungent-grassy tones, but this was on the milder side. The cheese was like mozzarella and not quite milky enough for our taste. The tomatillo salsa ruled the dish; tangy with a pleasant sourness. 

We also ordered the Pulpo Dobladas ($275/MX - $13.75/US).

The octopus was on the tough side, again the Missus doesn't care for Oaxacan style tortillas; though the blue corn version is mighty tasty to me. Loved the avocado, but this was served with a "matcha sauce" that was really mild in the flavor.

It was pretty warm during our visit in Oaxaca and the Watermelon Salad ($125/MX - $6.25/US) sounded quite good.

 For some reason I thought this would be compressed watermelon, which intensifies the flavor and gives it textural "heft", but it just cubed watermelon, seeds and all. Since it was just cubed watermelon, the ponzu style sauce and orange "gel" overpowered the dish. Spherification was used to create ikura looking strawberry spheres. The best part of the dish were the tomatoes which were sweet and acidic.

The last item we ordered was the Ancho Chile Relleno with Huitlacoche and Tamala Pumpkin Puree ($ 245/MX - $12.25/US)

The roasted ancho chile was delicious, smoky with just a tad of heat, but there wasn't enough  earthy-mushroomy huitlacoche in the filling. The pumpkin puree was too sweet for our taste.

Not the best meal to start off our stay in Oaxaca for us. Just a bit too much going on, which did not bring out the best in the ingredients.

Los Danzantes
C. Macedonio Alcalá 403
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

Oh well.......

We headed back to our room. We walked thru the Zocalo and by now they were taking down the puppet stage and cleaning up. But there were several officers still singing to entertain....hmmm....maybe themselves? 

Things seemed so festive on this Thursday night.

And we were looking forward to our food tour the following day!

Mexico City (2022) - Taco Crawl - El Pescadito, Tacos Hola, La Guerrerense, and El Califa. And a Return to Panadería Almuerzos

Before our trip to CDMX, I had read a really nice cookbook named Made in Mexico by Chef Danny Mena. The cookbook featured based on the Chef's (who is from CDMX) favorite dishes from various restaurants and stands in Mexico City. I loved that there was a separate restaurant index in the back of the cookbook with all the locations. There were a couple that were rather close to where we were staying (Colonia Condesa) and I thought it would be nice to do a sort of taco crawl like we had done in the days before Covid.

We were a bit hungry after visiting the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. And El Pescadito was on the way back to the hotel, so we decided to stop there. I'd seen El Pescadito before as it is right across the street from Tacos Don Juan which we visited before.

Man, this place was quite busy; but they had a pretty awesome system. Order, get a number, find a table, pick up your food when called, and pay before leaving. It seemed like half the customers were non-locals here.

According to what I had read; this place specializes in Tacos de Marlin - smoked fish tacos, here it is smoked tuna. Something I really love. I ordered (left to right), a Tacochango (MarlinTun/Shrimp), MarlinTun, and the item in the book, the Chile Relleno Taco (MalinTun stuff in a Chile).

    So, first the good; man were things fried here good! The batter on the shrimp was crisp and light; the shrimp plump, moist, and tasty. The poblano chile likewise. Sadly, the MarlinTun was dry, fishy, and not very smoky in terms of flavor. The tortillas were decent and up to the task at hand.

    Sadly, I'd have to say I've had better tacos de marlyn here in San Diego!

And while the tacos may have been borderline disappointing; that "dude" to the right was not!

Remember that I've mentioned the amazing dog walkers of Mexico City before? Well this guy was "going for the gold". He had 9 pooches in tow...nine! He saw us jaw agape and even stopped for a photo. Take a look and count 'em.....9. And they were all pretty well behaved. 

El Pescadito
Calle Atlixco 38
06140 Ciudad de México

We headed back to our hotel and relaxed for a bit; then headed back out. We got to Avenida Amsterdam and found what we thought was the correct address, but nope....we asked at a nearby shop and the nice gentleman pointed us in the right direction; to Tacos Hola; a tiny shop which was doing good business.

The Missus got the little table with the two kiddie stools, shades of Hanoi! I went inside to order and found that a bunch of items were sold out!

Luckily, the recommended item; the Tacos de Bistec en Pasilla was still available. And I thought the Missus would enjoy the Tacos Acelgas (Chard).

  Tacos Hola specializes in Tacos Guisados, braised and stewed ingredients for tacos. So, even though it says bistec; it's actually braised beef; really tasty braised beef, with a very bright pasilla chile-tomato based sauce. The Missus really loved the beans here...She still mentions those beans, as in "why can't you make beans like those." The chard was quite tender, but quite mild in flavor....man, I could imagine this with collards! The tortillas were excellent.

I really want to return here.

Tacos Hola El Güero
Amsterdam 135
06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

Our next stop was in a familiar locale; the Parian Condesa Food Hall. Pasillo de Humo is located on the second floor. We've walked past La Guerrerense before.

Here it's the Tacos de Pescado and the Tacos de Camaron that are recommended, so that's what we ordered.

We didn't care for these very much. The fish in the Taco de Pescado was the width of my pinky and not even as long. It's the batter that is supposed to be special; it's made with vodka which is supposed make a delicate, crisp crust. We couldn't make out much.

The shrimp was the better of the two, more flavor, better texture. The tortillas broke apart while eating our tacos.

It was strange; we were the only customers in the place.

La Guerrerense
Avenida Nuevo León 107
06100 Cuauhtemoc, CDMX, Mexico

For our last stop, we decided to go with a favorite from our previous taco crawl, El Califa. 

We enjoyed the Al Pastor here on our previous visit, so we had two each. It did not disappoint.

The Al Pastor had that nice balance of sweet and salty; nice savory tones, the meat had a crispness to it as well. The onions added pungency and that pineapple was icing on the cake! 

Still a favorite of ours.

Taquería El Califa
Altata 22
06170 Ciudad de México

We were tempted to do an Al Pastor comparison and head on over to El Farolito across the street, but we were full and that comparison will have to wait for another day. We were pooped; it was time to hit the hay.

The next morning we hit up our favorite croissant stop, Panadería Almuerzos. Man, there was a line! We'd never seen this before. Word must have gotten out!

It was interesting; the two guys in front of us just spoke English and didn't even try to speak Spanish, as did the woman behind us. Like I mentioned in my previous post; we saw many more ex-pat/tourists than we had seen before. Panadería Almuerzos had also spiffed things up. It used to just look like a garage before, now they had a bakery case and everything.

And then I got my croissant and was crestfallen.

It wasn't crisp and flakey enough, lacked butter, was too doughy. 

Here's what it used to look like.

Man, this used to be my favorite croissant outside of France. What happened here? Have they lowered their standards? 

I'm not sure, but I sure was disappointed.

Panadería Almuerzos
Av. Vicente Suárez 64A
Colonia Condesa, CDMX, Mexico

I truly hope this was just a bad day.....but I'm thinking it wasn't. 

Well, I didn't have too much time to dwell on this, we had an Uber on the way and had to get to the airport.

Next stop, Oaxaca!

Mexico City (2022) - It's Tout Chocolate and Pasillo de Humo Yet Again, Fonda Garufa, and a Private Tour of Museo Nacional de Antropologia

**** I though I'd give you all a break from those really long Islay posts and do a couple on our recent trip to CDMX. I've posted on two of the places several times; so perhaps skipping down to our tour of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia might be worthwhile?

Yes, I know we'd already been to Mexico and CDMX earlier in the year. But the Missus had enjoyed that trip so much, San Miguel de Allende and especially Guanajuato was so much fun, that the Missus wanted to do another trip. This time to Oaxaca. However while Volaris, has 2 direct flights from TIJ, well, we really don't like flying Volaris. So, we decided that a layover would be fine one way and we'd go ahead and spend two nights in Mexico City. As a plus, I knew the Missus loved our visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, though it was quite overwhelming, so I booked us a private tour. She was excited about that!

Getting in was the same 'ol routine. We stayed at the same place as on the last three trips. It was quite simple and easy. Like I said, we now had kind of a routine if you will. After checking in, we headed to Tout Chocolate so the Missus could get Her chocolates and some gifts.

Choosing Her chocolates was one of Her most difficult decisions of the trip.

Tout Chocolat
Amsterdam 154
6100 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

In keeping with the routine, we had dinner at a place I've posted on three times already, Pasillo de Humo. So, I'll spare you all the gory details. I will say, that unlike our last visit we weren't misted by vinegar to prevent Covid this time around.

We have an approach that works for us at Pasillo de Humo. We've learned to stay away from the entrees and go for smaller plates.

And we enjoy the cocktails as well.

Two of our favorite dishes, the Memelitas de Cerdo and the Hoya Santa Relleno, were good as always.

But this time we found something we enjoyed even more; the Tripas Tacos!

The pork intestines were fried perfectly; crisp and light......the texture was amazing!

One other reason that I purposely chose to revisit Pasillo de Humo was that we were headed to Oaxaca and I was interested in seeing how the food at our favorite restaurant in CDMX lined up.

Pasillo de Humo
Av Nuevo León 107
06100 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

It was a nice and relaxing start to things. Though I did notice many more "tourists/ex-pats" here then I recalled. And then I started reading articles like this one.

The next morning, before heading to the Museum, we decided to get a croissant from our favorite bakery in the area, but changed our mind when we noticed this place sold croissants and thought we'd try it out.

We then headed on over to Cafe Toscano, our usual morning coffee stop.

Unfortunately, the croissant was overly doughy and lacked the butteriness we like in our croissants.

Fonda Garufa
Avenida Michoacán 93
06140 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

Creatures of habit that we are; we had our typical morning coffee at Cafe Toscano.

Nothing amazing mind you, but a nice way to start the day.

Cafe Toscano
Calle Michoacan sn Mercado Condesa
Hipódromo Condesa, Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

After our caffeine fix we headed out to the Museum. As always, it was a fine walk.

We had really enjoyed our previous visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, so I went ahead and booked a private tour with Mexico a Pie Walking Tours.

Our guide was Andres and he was amazing. The tour was so full of info!

We met Andres at the Tlaloc Statue that sits outside the museum on the corner of Reforma.

Andres met us and after introductions and an overview of what was going to be covered in the tour today, he went over Tlaloc, the Aztec god of water and rain. He noted the key features, the round eyes, the fangs and said that we'd be seeing several different status of Tlaloc during our visit and that many folks think it's of a different go, but keep in mind the key features and it's easy to identify.

Andres covered exactly what we were interested in; the Archaic to the Contact Period. It was so much info; I'm just going to go over a couple of things that really stuck with us.

 

Andres quizzed us as we moved along the museum.

  And yep, if you're thinking that's Tlaloc above, you'd be right. Check out the eyes and the fangs! 

Another interesting story was that of King Pakal of Palenque (K'inich Janaab' Pakal). It is claimed that Pakal ruled for nearly 70 years and in 1952 a tomb was opened in the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque. In it was found a skeleton with an intricate jade mask and clothed as you see to the right. The actual jade mask can be found close by in a replica of the tomb.

We got to another interesting topic was when I asked Andres if Jade was actually found in Mexico and he told us that items like Jade, Turquoise, and Cacao which are not endemic to Mexico. We were then brought to this map which detailed how trade occurred between different peoples!

Turquoise actually came from what is now the American Southwest! Cacao and Jade from what is now Guatemala.

Andres went over the amazing Aztec Codex with us.

And even dispelled a couple of things we thought were true; like this famous object; the Aztec Sun Stone, which many people believe is a just a calendar.

It is now believed that the stone is actually a sacrificial altar! Here's something I read after returning from our trip.

It was an amazing nearly four hour experience, with so much information that I've forgotten more than I remember; but those few items stick with me. And we just covered half the museum! I guess we'll have to get the other half done the next time we're in CDMX!

Museo Nacional de Antropologia
Avenida Paseo de la Reforma y Calzada Gandhi s/n
Chapultepec, Mexico City 11560, Mexico

After the tour we took a short break and then we were off. It was time for a taco crawl!

Stay Tuned!

Guanajuato (2022) - Museo Casa Diego Rivera and a Revisit to Mestizo

After doing a good bit of walking earlier in the day, we relaxed and took a short siesta. Upon getting up, we decided to head on out. Guanajuato was a fine place to stroll and just take in the different plazas. Like Plaza de Los Angeles.

We needed to grab something from Oxxo, so we went down the stairs onto busy Avenida Benito Juarez and enjoyed the colorful buildings on the street.

We had made very early dinner reservations with one stop in mind before our meal which was almost right across the street from the restaurant.

Artist Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato and though his family only lived there for a few years, the home he lived in has been made into a a museum.

  Since we had already visited La Casa Azul earlier on the trip, I thought a visit here would be a nice "bookend". The building's restoration and conversion to a museum was initiated by Diego Rivera's daughter, Guadalupe Rivera Marin. As to how many children Diego Rivera had, well the numbers vary based on the source....

The museum is fairly small, but we enjoyed seeing the scope of Diego Rivera's work and the different styles he embraced from Cubism to Impressionism, to Post-Impressionism, and Muralism.

To be perfectly honest, before this trip, while I had read (and seen the movie) and seen the works of Frida Kahlo, I really did not know much about Diego Rivera.

Visiting Casa Azul, Museo Diego Rivera, and reading the various tales like how Leon Trotsky lived with the pair while in exile (Trotsky was assassinated in Coyoacán in 1940).

    According to this wonderful website Rivera feared for his life (it was uncovered in the 1990's that he was a informant for the US) and went the the American Embassy and ended up in San Francisco. During that time Frida and Diego got remarried and he lived out his life in Casa Azul.

Man, talk about real life being more interesting than fiction!

Museo Casa Diego Rivera
Positos 47
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

Even though Mestizo is basically a few buildings over from the museum, it was still a bit early, so we decided to drop off the stuff we got from Oxxo at the hotel. 

We noticed that the Basilica Guanajuato (full name - Basílica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato) was open as we exited the hotel, so we decided to take a peek.

And then headed off to dinner. 

We had enjoyed our previous meal at Mestizo so much that we had made reservations for a follow-up dinner on our last night in the city.

Service was just as friendly this time around and we ordered our favorites from that earlier meal along with one addition.

We did notice something different on this visit. 

The flavors and presentation for the Tartar de Atun en Chile Viejo and the Chinchulines con Guacamole weren't quite as on the mark as on our previous visit.

We tried the Carpaccio de Pulpo con Xoconostle y Polvo de Chili Secos. Basically octopus with prickly pear and chili de arbol powder.

 As before the tortillas were up to the task though not outstanding. The pulpo was on the tougher end of things and we thought more citrus/sour tones were needed as well. We enjoyed the lemony-peppery-slightly anise tones of the epazote.

The one saving grace was that the Tuetano was just as wonderfully buttery and beefy as on the first visit.

So, while it seems that perhaps the "B" team was in charge on this evening, things ended on a high note for us.

Mestizo
Positos 69
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

We then headed to La Clave Azul for a nightcap.

Since this was our last evening in Guanajuato and we had really enjoyed ourselves, we decided to do a little victory lap...starting with Jardin de la Union.

Where folks were out in full force.

We ran into the sweet gal selling cheesecake and we ended up paying for two and asked her to "pay it forward"! 

As we got back to the hotel we noticed an interesting "scene".....

Hmmm, this fella looks familiar, right?

There seems to always be something going on in Guanajuato!

We slept well, got up, packed, and had breakfast at the hotel. The Nopales con Huevo were quite good.

After breakfast, we checked out, and met our driver Aaron, who as always was right on time and got us to the airport. It was time to head on home......

But....I'm sure we'll be back someday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Guanajuato (2022) - Breakfast at Santo Café

On our second full day in Guanajuato, we stretched our boundaries a bit and ended up going from the Southeast side of the city to the Northwest side.

While doing my research on Guanajuato, I noticed several posts on a charming looking café with seating on a bridge overlooking a cobbled street named Santo Café.  We had enjoyed walking in this wonderful city and even though it was a bit of "a truck" to the restaurant, we decided to head on over to Santo Café.

It was a pleasant walk, past places that were now familiar to us, Jardin de la Union, Teatro Juárez, and Templo de San Francisco.

We came across the street where Santo Café was located and walked up the stairs and crossed the bridge to the restaurant. It was fairly early and none of the three tables located on the bridge were taken.

We placed our order and took one of the tables on the bridge. The Missus got a Cortado ($32/MX - $1.55/US) and I got an Americano ($30/MX - $1.50/US) which were decent.

We got the Chilaquiles Verdes agrega dos Huevos ($117/MX - $5.80/US) to share, which ended up being more than enough for the Missus and I.

The eggs were perfectly done, crisp edges, runny yolk. The chips maintained a good crispness, the queso wasn't intrusive, and the Missus loved the tangy, mildly spicy green sauce. The beans were creamy and earthy. A decent breakfast that would hold us until dinner.

And for some reason, we enjoyed the view. A few folks even waved at us as they passed!

Santo Cafe
Del Campanero 4
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

From here, we decided to head on out to of all places a cemetery. One of the most visited placed in Guanajuato is the Museo de las Momias, the mummy museum. The Missus wasn't interested in visiting, though during our walking tour, Susana mentioned that the cemetery where the mummies were found was actually next door to the museum. We decided to get some steps in and visit the cemetery.

So we headed on out.

One interesting tidbit about Guanajuato. Miguel Cervantes is quite popular here and Don Quixote even more so.

There's even the La Casa del Quijote, the Don Quixote Museum.

 There's a Cervantes Festival in Guanajuato. And the Wikipedia page on the festival also mentions some of the background of why Cervantes is such a big part of the city.

Walking past Teatro Juárez and Iglesia de San Diego during the day provides a different view of things. At night, this is a bustling, lively area of the city and it's easy to miss things.

Like the two statues below. The one on the left is called "La Giganta". The one on the right is of a Rondalla Singer.

From the center of town we made our way Northwest, past Mercado Hidalgo, then up the one of the hills that surround the town. Right past the Mummy Museum is Panteón Municipal Santa Paula, the cemetery.

Which was quite large.....

It was in this cemetery that the mummies for the museum were found. Apparently, there was a "burial tax" that had to be paid for perpetual burial. When taxes were not paid, the bodies were disinterred and stored in a nearby building. The environment of Guanajuato is conducive to mummification.

While walking amongst the graves we noticed this pooch.....

Who seemed to be on a mission. So we followed.....

Apparently, this pup has a favorite spot in the cemetery where it just went and took a nap.

All in all, an interesting visit.

From here we headed back into town.

Down the colorful streets of Guanajuato.

It was time for a nice siesta. So we could enjoy our last afternoon and evening in this colorful city.

Guanajuato (2022) - La Table de Andrée and La Clave Azul

After our walking tour and lunch at La Vela, we did a bit of shopping, then returned to our room for a short nap. Soon enough it as dinner time. On the evening we had dinner at Mestizo, there was a restaurant we noticed across the street named La Table de Andrée. It was a French restaurant....in Guanajuato......we looked over the menu and decided why not? After our dinner we strolled over and made dinner reservations.

We had early reservations and were the first customers in the restaurant. The staff was really friendly and accommodating.

The Missus got a glass of wine which She enjoyed and we placed our order.

The baguette was interesting; it was super light almost like banh mi.

The amuse was bacon wrapped dates.....not a bad start.

We ordered the Pate de Cerdo al Cognac - pork pate.

This was not bad; porky, slightly sweet, boozy-winey, nicely chilled and moist, a bit on the crumbly side. It went well with the whole grain mustard which added a bit of pungent-spice. The portion size was quite generous as well.

The Missus got the Camarones a la Persillada - shrimp with parsley sauce.

The shrimp was a tad overcooked and the risotto was on the hard side. The sauce was nicely flavored though.

I went with the Hachis Parmentier, a classic French dish that uses leftover Beef Stew topped with mashed potato and baked.

This version used a very flavorful leftover Beef Bourguignon, super tender and beefy, and I believe there was come chorizo as well in this. It was topped with buttery mashed potatoes and cheese which was nicely broiled adding a wonderful texture to things. his was quite good!

The Missus enjoyed Her dessert.

Overall, the dinner was better than we thought it would be. I'm thinking that being a college town, there might be a diverse clientele......as we noticed some French speakers, a German couple among the other customers.

La Table de Andrée
Positos 66
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

After dinner we decided to head on over to the bar Susana recommended and we were glad we did.

    It was somewhat divey, the bartender was super friendly, the decor was quirky and eclectic. The music was what I often call the Unites States' greatest export...rock 'n roll.

I enjoyed my Victoria and chased it with some local Mezcal. Guanajuato is one of the nine states within Mexico that have DO (Denomination of Origin) to produce Mezcal. This was a nice Espadin the bartender picked out for me.

We really liked the bartender and the vibe and would end up returning here the following evening.

La Clave Azul
Segunda De Cantaritos 31
Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

We then headed on over to Jardin de la Union....all cities have their central plaza, where folks gather during the day (and night). For Guanajuato it's Jardin de la Union. Things were bustling and alive.

Folks walking and chatting....Mariachi working the crowds. We ran into a young lady selling cheesecakes who walked up to us and spoke perfect English. She is from Texas, but returned with Her Dad to Guanajuato. She helps out the family by selling the dad's cheesecakes, which were terrible, but of course we bought some. I wish I could remember her name; she was so sweet.

It was a lively scene.

We were enjoying our time in Guanajuato.

Thanks for stopping by!

Guanajuato (2022) - Doing a Private Walking Tour and Lunch at La Vela

When planning to visit Guanajuato the Missus and I realized that we really didn't know much about the city. So, I did a bit of research and scheduled a private walking tour of the city. It would turn out to a be a highlight of our trip.

We started out the day by having breakfast at the hotel - Chilaquiles and fruit.

After breakfast we headed off to our designated meeting spot near the Hotel Real Guanajuato. Our guide Susana was a treasure; born and raised in Guanajuato, she gave us a in depth history, as well as local insights. There was just so much that I'll just provide a mild outline. In fact, I recommended Susana to FOY "RonR" who also did a tour and from what I understand enjoyed it as well. Susana took us to all the main sights, went thru the history and significance, gave us some recommendations. 

There was a bit of research that I did before the tour. I knew that Guanajuato was once the home of the most productive silver mine in the world. And that combined with the obvious wealth which in turn created some wonderful structures has gotten Guanajuato a UNESCO listing. I also knew that the city played an important role in the Mexican War of Independence. In fact, the first stop was the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, now the Regional Museum of Guanajuato. Susana wove a tail of how the royalist barricaded themselves in the building, which was a granary. A battle ensued ensued and the building by the insurgents lead by an unlikely hero. More on that later. Sadly, I was so taken by the story that I forgot to take photos of the building! I thought I took photos, but sadly did not.

Next stop was the ever busy and huge Mercado Hidalgo.

Here we were introduced to the most important item in the market; the shrine of Mary.

As we walked among the food stands Susana said hello to a gentleman. She then told us, "he is the chef for my favorite restaurant in the city" and the we should eat there. The name of the place? Mestizo! We had a good laugh when we told her that we had dinner there the previous evening! Susana seemed to know quite a few people. She told us that her grandfather ran a bakery in town for many years. She then pointed to the church across from Mercado Hidalgo....

And told us; "I was baptized here...." This is the Parroquia y Templo de Belén.

We strolled thru several plazas and there were stories......

Susana recommended that we stop by this place for a drink and we ended up returning twice.

Susana was great when we inquired about various monuments we saw.

The statue above is of Enrique Ruelas Espinosa who founded the University of Guanajuato Theatre and also established the Cervantes Festival.....yes, Guanajuato has a "thing" about Don Quixote.

There were just so may interesting places and stories.

    We walked down one of the side streets and came to a point where two buildings were a mere two feet apart. This was the scene of a tragic, "Romeo and Juliette" story. Thus giving the spot the name "Callejón del Beso" (Alley of the Kiss). To quote the story in Atlas Obscura:

"According to local legend a wealthy family lived in one of the buildings that helped create the alley, and their daughter, whose bedroom window looked out onto the alley, fell in love with a young man from the wrong side of the tracks. The young man rented out the room in the building across from hers with a window that was directly across from her own as well. Then they would secretly meet and kiss across the tiny alley. Unfortunately, the girl’s father found out, and in a fit of rage, stabbed his daughter to death. Most accounts of the story end it there, but some go a bit further, saying the young man then threw himself to his death in the alley below."

More versions of the story here and here.

We got there and watched a couple walk up to the steps, their three children cheering them on, taking photos, and giggling until they kissed!

In my previous post I mentioned that much of the traffic in Guanajuato is diverted underground.

We left the colorful streets of Guanajuato and went down stairs.

And into the underground tunnels.

  Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was that this was a product of the silver mining days of the city. Which was incorrect. These tunnels were actually created in the late 19th century to divert the Guanajuato River which had flooded the city several times. In fact, Susana went and showed us markers of the height of the waters of several historic floods in the city's history.

I guess expert miners would be pretty good with creating tunnels, right? When it was decided that traffic should run under the city, another deeper set of tunnels were created to divert the river.

As we got to Teatro Juárez, the last leg of our tour was set to start.

We were given the choice of taking the funicular or walking up the hill to the statue of El Pipila.

Well, you know what the Missus chose, right? Actually, it was a fun walk, especially checking out all the pooches along the way.

And at the top was a spectacular view of the city.

And above it all was the statue of El Pipila.

El Pipila was of course a nickname. The gentleman's real name was Juan José de los Reyes Martínez Amaro. It is said that he was given the moniker "El Pipila", which means "the turkey" either because he had a certain complexion or more popularly, because he was born with a birth defect that affected the way he walked. So, what did El Pipila do? Well, El Pipila was a miner, who during the siege of Alhóndiga de Granaditas, when things were at a standstill, El Pipila tied a stone slab to his back to repel arrows and bullets and rushed the door of the granary. He carried with him a torch and tar. He coated the door with tar and set fire to the door. The smoke from the fire meant the garrison in the granary could not accurately aim, folks outside gained entrance to the building and the garrison was defeated. And the Mexican Independence movement gained momentum. And the legend of El Pipila was born.

We enjoyed the street art on the walk back down.

It was a wonderful walking tour. Susana bade us farewell at Teatro Juárez and we did a bit of shopping and decided to grabbing some lunch. Close by was a place I had on my list....a Mariscos shop named La Vela.

One of my favorite things was what I believe is the shop pooch? He started inside....

And then when he saw us. he decided to "hang" with us and get some sun.

Of course things soon got pretty warm out on the street so he grabbed a spot near us.

As for the food....well, from what I had read, one of the specialties of La Vela was the "marlin", smoked fish. And you know how the Missus loves Her smoked fish.

We started with some Flautas de Marlin ($80/MX - $4/US)

Loved the greens, but the tortillas were too chewy and the marlin really dry.

I was curious about the Caldo de Pescado ($95/Mx - $4.75/US) having had my share of mariscos "consomme" over the years.

Man, this had a greasy tongue feel, and was very bland.

The highlight of the meal was the gigantic Empanada de Marlin con Queso ($60/MX - $3/US)

    Nice and crisp exterior, the smoked fish was really the star of the show here. It was moist, smokey, not overly salty, with great savory tones. The queso was used sparingly, which was actually a good thing. Look at all that smoked fish!

So, perhaps not the best lunch we've ever had. But it ended on a high note. Plus, that pooch entertained us. Now, if only that Asian dude at the other table on a call, telling folks he's from "Irvine"  and went to "Xxxx University" and how he knows everything could have used his inside voice....well, it might have been a nicer meal.

La Vela
36000, Constancia 6
Guanajuato, Gto., Mexico

Well, I know this is  a rather long post. So thanks for reading!