An expatriate of New Orleans – and professional chef – who has lived in Los Angeles since her childhood, blogs about the journey from New Orleans to Los Angeles back to New Orleans, and points along the way.

”Facebook ”Twitter ”LinkedIn ”RSS” ”Pinterest” ”Google+”

My Mexican Adventure Part 3- Mexico City!

By on Oct 17, 2018, 3:31 pm in Food and Drink, Travel | 4 comments

The next segment of my Mexican adventure began with a flight to Mexico City. The plan was to stay over one night with a day to explore the city, and then take a private car to Casa Carmelita, outside of Tlaxcala (about an hour away), where I would be taking several days of private cooking classes.

Mexico City is a booming metropolis of almost 9 million people, so one day is hardly enough time to begin exploring it. And my friend, Adair, of Lentil Breakdown, tells me there are more museums here than any city in the world except for London. So yes, this was only getting my toes wet – the little bit I experienced leaves me ready for a deeper dive soon.

I stayed in La Condessa – an area filled with wide, tree lined boulevards and European style  mini-mansions and apartment buildings, some of which have been turned into boutique hotels – and I was fortunate enough to spend my night in one of them, Villa Condesa. The building was gated off from the street in a completely unassuming manner, but I walked into a dreamlike courtyard with magical gardens and a meditative pool. The decor in the public sitting areas of the hotel were like a well-appointed upscale home. My exploring the city consisted of a food tour in the neighboring Colonia Roma, one of two major culinary hubs in the city.

 

Garden Pool at La Villa Condessa

 

A Public Sitting Area at La Villa Condessa

 

With the expert guidance of my lovely tour guide, Pau, I visited wonderful cutting edge restaurants – one served a vegan take on Ceviche – as well as traditional food stalls, a craft brewery, and an artisan coffee roaster, with a fabulous bakery turning out gorgeous, crusty European style loaves from its wood burning oven. There was a mezcal tasting which was accompanied by the other of the two best dishes tasted in Mexico – a grilled hojo santo leaf with Oaxacan and goat cheeses.

 

Pau

 

Yes, I will be returning – to explore some of the many museums, and for more great food.

Feast your eyes on some of what I saw and tasted:

 

Vegan “Ceviche” of Nopales and Black Beans

 

Grilled Hojo Santo Leaf with Two Cheese

 

Artisan Breads

 

A delicious artisan take on the traditional “Concha”

 

Ah- and two of the fabulous tacos featured in an earlier post.

 

    4 Comments

  1. Did you go to Mercado Roma? Last time I was there I tried to find it but never did and ran out of time. You’d need a month to see everything in MC!

    Adair@LentilBreakdown

    October 17, 2018

  2. No, I didn’t. And you are right, I need much more time. But already thinking about the next trip 😉

    Gisele Perez

    October 17, 2018

  3. Somehow MC has eluded me in all my Mexican travels and love for the country. It’s post (and food) like this that makes me yearn to get my mouth down there. GREG

    sippitysup

    November 2, 2018

    • Yes, the cuisine in Mexico City is very sophisticated,and just one day made me realize I must get back there soon.

      Gisele Perez

      November 2, 2018

Post a Reply

Your email address will not be published.