Mexico City in 36 Hours
BREAKFAST
Lardo, the latest addition to Elena Reygadas’s empire of restaurants, hums with the hip and well-heeled downing fresh juice — beetroot with pineapple, hibiscus with ginger — and the pastries for which her bakery, Rosetta, is justly known (a flaky turnover filled with fig compote; small, sweet brioche-like buns with rosemary). Sit at a wooden table or the brushed-copper bar and sink into a croque monsieur or poached eggs with hoja santa served in a little enamel casserole. Arrive early to beat the lines. Breakfast is about 200 pesos.
El Hidalguense
(open Friday to Sunday) has families lining up at 7 a.m. for the town's ultimate barbacoa. Fresh lamb from owner Moisés Rodríguez's farm in nearby Hidalgo state is roasted for 12 hours over oak in an underground pit, then served in charred agave leaves. Don't miss a chile-and-lime-spiked consomé(broth), which tastes like the hot-and-sour soup of your dreams.
Saturday Market
Saturdays, hit Colonia Polanco for its tianguis, or open-air market. The range of produce and goods on display is impressive, but the real destination is a several-block-long stretch of street-food vendors. People from all walks of life come here to share masa treats (like the ones above) under towering palms in pastoral Parque Lincoln.
Day trip in way to taxco; Ixtapan de la sala
Just north of Chapultepec Park, glittering Polanco serves as the city's rich and famous playground. Businessmen, politicians, and social elites sip, dine, and shop along Mexico City’s luxury lane and sleep in its colonial mansions. It’s all fun and games, but unless you’re Somebody you should prepare for some challenges—valet parking is obligatory, dress code is most definitely enforced, reservations are required and, sometimes, the hostess might call you "Mr. Nobody."
Neighbored by Zona Rosa's nighttime revelers, Colonia Cuauhtémoc's white-collar crowd, and Centro Histórico's religious pilgrims, Roma Norte’s residents ink their neighborhood’s alleyways, ink their buildings’ brick facades, and ink themselves. In this nearly central expressionist enclave, single speeds help artists save on gas and the spare change helps them buy organic. When not skating, spraying, or conceptualizing, Roma Norte’s locals share late night cigarettes left to smolder outside the neighborhood’s bars and art galleries.
Beloved for its world-class nightlife, Condesa gives posh young Chilangos countless excuses to slip into stilettos or suits. Condesa’s days begin with beautiful people streaming through parks and designer boutiques, pausing to sip lattes al fresco. Its extravagant nights begin once valets take the keys and velvet ropes are pushed aside. Marked by a larger corporate presence than neighboring Roma or Hipódromo, Condesa’s venues might seem all-too-familiar, but the crowd is always fresh.
Spirited debates over the merits of democracy and communism feverishly churn in Coyoacán‘s coffee shops and on its park benches. Sequestered in the south of Mexico City, this fiercely independent and intellectually eager neighborhood actually was independent of the city until fairly recently. The neighborhood’s progressive attitude and unbending countercultural zeal make it a legendary place to visit—not to mention seeing the marks left by legendary figures like Leon Trotsky, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera.
Downtown
Biko
Qunitonil
Lardo Jaso
Husband-and-wife team Jared Reardon and Sonia Arias are the creative force behind this Modern American-meets-artisanal eatery in Polanco. With a menu that changes seasonally (expect delicacies like foie gras ravioli), order a la carte or put yourself in chef Reardon’s hands with the five or seven-course tasting menu. Dig into one of the chocolate desserts that have made Arias one of the top pastry chefs in the country.
Bakea
A cozy, cottage-like setting is the ideal scenery to experience Chef Vicente Etchegaray’s Basque-French menu, featuring hearty dishes like rack of lamb, crab-filled canelloni and eggplant flan. Don’t skip dessert –their orange coulis and Cointreau crepes are spectacular. Intimate and quiet, it’s the kind of spot where you know people aren’t here for the scene, just the food.
Hyper Locavore Project: Raiz Cocina de Estaciones
“There’s a great emphasis on Mexican ingredients right now. The chef here, Arturo Fernández, is young and doing some great, imaginative things,” says Sandoval. The Coronado Institute of Culinary Arts created the restaurant as a school project; its kitchen is staffed predominately by students, who use organic produce from the school’s rooftop garden to create dishes such as seared bass with vegetables and morita chile salsa. raizrestaurante.com
Market Grazing: Mercado San Juan
“This market focuses mostly on seafood and has good little restaurants where you can get really traditional home cooking from mostly women cooks; it’s real Mexican culture.” The three-level indoor market, which opened in 1958, is one of the largest in the country; on its lower level, numerous stands sell the best foods of Guadalajara, like tortas ahogadas (pork sandwiches smothered in chile sauce), posole and tacos. Calle Ernesto Pugibet No. 21.
3 Fonda Fina
With a menu designed by chef Jorge Vallejo (of Quintonil) and executed by Juan Cabrera (they met cooking at Pujol), Fonda Fina is exactly what it claims to be: a very fine fonda. There’s rotisserie chicken with mole, a contemporary take on “sopa seca” fideos, and chocolate cake with very frilly plating. It’s all served in a cozy space where walls are lined with wooden slats and illuminated with warm lighting.
5 Cocina Conchita
Locals drop the “cocina” from the name — it’s simply “Conchita,” with its perpetually open full-length windows that help show off an aquamarine, beige, and green template, lots of hanging plants, and a handsome bar. And it’s popping. Baja, California-inspired plates like ceviches, tostadas, and aguachiles (shrimp ceviches) are perfect for long lunches that spill out onto the sidewalk. After a couple of drinks, head to the chic, new music venue, Departamento, that’s directly above the restaurant.
7 La Docena
You can hear the party from a block away. La Docena is the meet-and-greet destination for the city’s fashionable sect, situated as it is on a corner of Roma Norte’s main avenue, Alvaro Obregon. It’s a brand imported from Guadalajara, drawing in the scenesters, tourists, and chefs alike, all hanging out, slurping oysters from the raw bar, and sipping gin and tonics in hefty wine glasses. Expect an eclectic menu of Spanish ham, oyster po’ boys, hamburgers, and grilled seafood.
9 Hotel Carlota
Joaquín Cardoso and Sofía Cortina are young chefs to keep an eye on. People may come for the urban-chic design of this newly opened boutique hotel, including its rectangular swimming pool with translucent walls, but it’s the finely tuned cooking at Carlota that makes for the return visit. Great bread, cocktails, and desserts round out the experience.
10 Amaya
Jair Tellez’s Merotoro has long been a city hotspotthanks to his delicate Baja, California–style cooking. He’s set for another knockout at Amaya, a wine bar featuring all-natural, organic, and biodynamic wines, with preference for Mexican and Latin American producers. Excellent rose, whites, and funky reds from family’s winery, Bichi, will be on offer; the small kitchen is dominated by a grill.
11 Milán 44
Multi-storied, mixed-used spaces are the business model of the year for Mexico City’s central neighborhoods. Milan 44 is one of the newest, with restaurants, stands from local designers, a yoga studio, and an airy terraza. The city’s most popular fresh juice and açaí bowl destination Ojo de Agua commands a corner, and there’s a charming coffee bar from third-wave proponents Rompeolas, serving Buna coffee from a custom school-bus yellow La Marzocco.
12 Hanky Panky
Hanky Panky, a cocktail bar in La Juarez, follows the speakeasy template with an unlisted address and reservation-only entry. Classic and inventive cocktails are mixed up by the well-dressed staff, with a rotating cast of guest bartenders pouring their signatures. The bar’s namesake, inspired by the 1930s cocktail created at London’s Savoy Hotel by Ada Coleman, features vermouth, gin, and splash of Fernet-Branca, and is good for the first round. Contact them on Facebook for reservations.
Museum-mused arte popular
Lucha libre
Weeekend San angel - art fair street
Zocalo-palace with diego Rivera
Plaza Garibaldi -mariachi bands hang out. Can tell them what songs
Canal time or bike time?