no. 60 CDMX
a stroll through my visit, for inquiring minds
Happy Sunday! My fingers are typing slower than usual as our Brooklyn radiators have begun to falter. My slow January walks through CDMX’s “no weather” weather feel farther away than ever. It’s my favorite feeling; the dry-land equivalent of an ideal ocean swim. The air is so temperate it holds you like skin holds a body, the wholeness and nothingness of it both comforting and unsettling.
Setting the scene… 3-week trip. 5 days were spent with 6 friends in one Airbnb, and the rest I spent with just one friend in a different Airbnb. I lost about 1 week to the flu. I prefer to travel on foot (vs. taxiing around) to maximize STUMBLING POTENTIAL. I hate an itinerary. I’m a gringo, and this was my first visit. We didn’t dine at Contramar et al., and missed the window to secure tickets for most of the popular museums. Oops. This is everything we did (I think). I joke that we still spent a little too much time in Williamsburg. This is my (growing) list for next time. I hope for my new friend Camilo to co-author a guide with me on my next visit.
the shortlist, sent to my group chats
Eating_ Dinner at Expendio de Maiz, the only place we dined twice. No reservation, no menu. All ~6 communal tables in the restaurant receive the same dishes at the same time. You join the flow upon your arrival. Eat until you’re full, then ask for dessert. Get the cocktail of the day, or pulque. I don’t believe in waiting in lines, but I would wait here. Muy sabrosa.
Lunch at El Pialadero de Guadalajara. I wish for everyone to experience the primal cradling of a broth-soaked sandwich through gloved hands. Also does wonders for a hangover.
Shopping_ Donde Clara for rotating handmade goods. Can Can Press for Risograph enthusiasts. OHA for ceramics. Campillo for suiting. Victoria Bazar for vintage and antiques, only if you do NOT buy my dream Leonora Carrington sketch mercilessly trapped in there since the day I responsibly, patiently, finally decided to buy it…the same day they closed without warning…(and are still closed!). I have rounds of visiting friends attempting retrieval.
Activity_ Franz Meyer Museum. Features traditional Mexican ceramics, furniture, and art, but the size is incredibly digestible compared to a behemoth like the anthropology museum. The TANE necklace I purchased is on display there! Tasty precursor to Kelsey and my abridged silver workshop tour of Taxco. Enjoy an orange juice in the courtyard. Walk to the Post Office afterward, and pay the 50 pesos to tour it. Vintage stamps! Reminds me of the Thomas Jefferson Building at home in D.C. Visit the Cómo Hace el Pequeño Cocodrilo statue by my latest artist obsession, Leonora Carrington.
La Lagunilla market for jewelry, traditional Mexican art, ceramics, and vintage (more on that below). Lots of shopping done here, but learning in equal measure, if you’re an avid Google Lens user and like to ask questions.
My most painful forfeitures (some thanks to the flu, some not)_ Max Cetto’s house, Masala Y Maiz, Fuente de Tlaloc, Fugaz, La Botica, the anthropology museum, many “temporarily closed” galleries and libraries, and more time in Taxco.
THE REST
EATING
I ate a lot of tacos, all tasty. I visited Tacos Hola El Güero multiple times out of proximity, and because I’m a creature of habit. If you’re doing the Tacos El Califa de León thing, walk past the Temple of Saint Cosmas and Damian. The tile work is gorgeous, and I saw my first peacock trotting around the parking lot.
I always crave pozole, a red, white, or green soup, made with hominy, meat, and broth. I was over the moon to live in a fleeting reality where “POZOLE NEAR ME” turned up a bountiful, local market instead of Dimes (damning). For New Year’s dinner, we stayed in and shared a haul from Medellin market of pozole, chicken tinga, rice, beans, and all the taco fixings, with fresh flowers for the table.
Lindy for the bone marrow octopus tacos and a big salad. You must ignore, against all sound instincts, that it’s a hotel restaurant with a seemingly Americanized presentation. Go on the earlier side, or sit with your back to the window, because the evening street lights on Av México are blinding. The napkins are also too small. Still, we found the food worth overlooking this series of blights.
Botanico was appropriately hyped. We enjoyed a group lunch outside, among the cacti, watching the koi and axolotls. Maximo (Kelsey’s birthday dinner) was also appropriately hyped, but embodied a different specific faction of tasty, but confusingly assembled Michelin menus. Everything killed, but the journey there was winding. I.e., getting help from the waiter to edit the daily menu of scallop ceviche, bolognese, a grapefruit burrata salad, BBQ fried chicken, octopus tostadas, a cast-iron sweet onion cooked in whey served with a cruffin, a Tomahawk steak, curry soup, lobster roll, and a market-price Jamón plate into a seamless order. Get the corn martini. There was much discussion of the extremely biteable wine glasses and hearty glass floral water vessels.
El Minutito for coffee. SAN for matcha (a friendly spot to post up and work, as are La Laguna and Disco Cafe). Get a fruit tart or concha at Saint. Get a passionfruit pop tart at Farmacia Internacional if you’re nearby, but don’t go out of your way. Niddo was my favorite when craving a yogurt bowl.
Walk to Café El Jarocho after Frida Kahlo’s house. Enjoy a café de olla in Parque Allende while ruminating on the fact that Frida Kahlo, Isamu Noguchi, Florence Knoll, and Alexander Calder were all somehow contemporaries, and that Noguchi and Kahlo shared a FLEETING ROMANCE!!!
Three new-to-me foods. Pulque, a traditional Mexican beverage, akin to a milky kombucha made from agave sap. I’ve heard natural is more of an acquired taste (and texture) than the refined version. Huitlacoche, which is like if a corn cob grew mushrooms on it. I hate bleu cheese, etc., and love it. I would recommend against Googling a photo of it. Chapulines, crunchy little grasshoppers!!! I didn’t try them because I'm prone to niche allergies, but Kelsey loves them.
Of my influenza ramen tour, I liked Deigo the best. Hyper-specific pull: Carmela’s honeycomb yogurt ice cream flavor is a bloodthirsty $4 competitor to my $12 Culture habit in Park Slope. If you’re craving ice cream, their standard flavors were also the least expensive and best ice cream we had.
SHOPPING
XOLO and Casa Gallo for Mexican vintage clothing and ephemera. Many stores sell American-style vintage. I bought a few things at Delab. I liked Chic by Accident (ridiculous name) more than Originario. Vintage HOE is hit or miss, but the hits are good. Don’t skip the homewares in the back room.
HI-BYE, Vena, Mvndo Varon, Marsella68, and Aurelia Concept Store for a smattering of contemporary Mexican designers. Hoseu, carried at a few of these, also takes studio appointments. There are infinite shops to browse; I most enjoyed Piezas Unicas and Caan Crudo. I finally bought the Moro Joyas butterfly ring I’ve been ogling at Tumbao for the last 15 months. For more jewelry, make appointments at Grosera and Gala Is Love. Gala Is Love and Perla Valtierra are currently located in the stunning Fundacion Marso, but the building just sold (!!), so visit before they relocate in May.
Chava Studio, to expand your mind on how a button-down can feel. I bought mine from Olivia in 2024, and it’s the only button-down I feel the need to own. If you see Pau, tell her I say hi!
La Lagunilla market on Sundays. Vendors start to pack up around 3 pm. Bring cash. I wish I spent more time beforehand practicing my Spanish numbers. Camilo is our razor-sharp silver-collecting friend with the red tablecloth in front of the Super Chedraui market. He and his booth mates, Ricardo and Anel, are a hoot. Camilo also recommended the market at Jardin Dr. Ignacio Chávez, where he sells on some Saturdays, but we didn’t make it this trip.
Look out for (and read up on) “Ex Votos”, little hand-painted prayer signs. I didn’t get one because I’m superstitious about bringing a maligned prayer into my house, but I hope to find one that resonates next time.
THINGS NOT HUNGRY, AND MORE FINANCIALLY AUSTERE
Watch the ducks at Parque Mexico. Watch the big + little dogs rumble at Parque España. Watch the dogs everywhere. Notice the tiny food truck in the park that sells dog treats. See a wrestling match at Arena México. Enjoy all the little monkey hats at Chapultepec Park. Walk until you don’t want to walk, watch the swan boats, and lie in the grass with a book. I walked a lot. Fuente de Cibeles, Plaza Rio de Janeiro. Wherever I am in the world, I love walking and sitting.
Patrick Miller is fun if you love 80s new wave and are nostalgic for Manchester’s La Hacienda that you weren’t alive to experience (minus ecstasy, plus ages 21 to 70), which I am. People actually dance. Novel concept. Orbita for drinks if you’re into speaker systems and vinyl DJs. 99 Records to browse, or visit their evening listening room. I love a Saucy Little Bar, of which CDMX has many, but I could have fun with my friends in an empty parking lot, so Hugo, Shh…, Salon Palomilla, are all tied in my mind.
Before you go…
Watch Frida, Y Tu Mamá También, or Amores Perros. If you’re chronically online and love to hate to love everything about I Love LA…watch Rotting in the Sun.
Practical notes. Much like the ocean, the streets of CDMX have these sporadic cold spots that bring a jolt of energy, then a cardigan out of Purse Jail (bring a jacket everywhere regardless of forecast). Unlike water, the air is drier than the Nevada desert. I used an entire bottle of my Dieux moisturizer. I have life-threatening nut allergies, so to whomever this may be helpful, nowhere we dined used anacardo, cajú, or marañón as the word for “cashew”. They all called it nuez de la India. We had a very funny, illuminating multi-server huddle around a photo of a cashew to figure this out. I finally had the brilliant idea to ask my jeweler friend to laser-etch a scrap-metal card with my allergies in English, French, Spanish, and Chinese.
Learn basic phrases and use them, even if terribly executed. I’d like to think this goes without saying, but I felt ashamed every time a local would tell me how many visitors don’t even try when I apologized for bumbling through my limited Spanish. It’s polite, and language learning promotes neuroplasticity.
Re: safety. There are US travel warnings for multiple locations in Mexico, and to that I say, you know where people are also being kidnapped and killed, by federal officials, no less? The US. I took the same reasonable safety measures I’ve followed in New York, Paris, Kosovo, Berlin, Amsterdam, Colombia… lock your accommodations, don’t carry large sums of cash around, don’t wear an open purse to a club, don’t get into unmarked cars, etc. As a woman, I always have safety on my mind when traveling, but the number of questions I received about Mexico’s safety in particular gave me pause…
In fact, the American white men at my undergraduate university have yet to be unseated as the greatest threat to my (and my friends’) health and safety in my lifespan. Sexual assault, GHB, misogyny, racism, drunk driving, physical violence, undisclosed STDs…maybe someday I’ll pen the tale of the man who “accidentally” punched me in the face in the midst of a fight with someone else, then offered to pay me to not tell anyone because he was a “Christian”. I rejected the money and told everyone, but I probably should have taken it and still told everyone.
NEXT TIME: LAGUNILLAS, OUR FUTURE MEXICO WISH LIST, AND THE TAXCO, MEXICO STINT!!!
LEAVE A COMMENT OR TALK RECS / TRIPS IN THE CHAT…JEALOUS OF EVERYONE IMMINENTLY VISITING </3
Heavy on the “you know where people are also being kidnapped and killed, by federal officials, no less? The US.” !!! This a conversation I have with people every time I travel to non-Western countries… it also gives me pause
I moved to CDMX about 6 months ago from the US, and it’s still wild to me how many people ask me about the safety. But people here ask me how I could ever have sent my kids to school in the US when all they hear about it is how many shooting there are. So, yes, completely agree with you.
And I’m so glad you enjoyed your first time here!!! she’s a magical city full of surprise.