City insiders offer their insight, expertise, endorsements and bespoke selections. Angela Goh is glad to be guided off the tourist trail
Start from the historical heart
I KNOW I’m in for a good start when Mexico’s foremost authority on gastronomy, Ruben Hernandez, suggests having breakfast at one of his favourite cafes in Mexico City’s historical centre and walk around the area.
He is a veteran food writer with the well-respected El Universal newspaper and was awarded Best Gastronomic Journalist of 2014 by the Vatel Club, a prominent association of chefs in Mexico.
Cafe La Blanca (5 de Mayo 40), one of the most traditional cafes in the capital, was founded in 1915. A typical breakfast consists of eggs, tortilla, beans, bread and coffee. My order of country style egg omelette, packed with tomatoes and onions, is hearty and flavourful, a welcome break from the uninspiring hostel breakfasts I’ve been having.
We make our way to Madero Street, a major pedestrian thoroughfare, which fascinates him for the diversity it offers. Packed with colonial charm, modern shops, galleries, hotels and offices, the street leads to the Zocalo, the heart of the city.
“The richness and diversity of the city result in a fascinating multifaceted society,” says Hernandez, as we stop to observe the bustle on Madero.
A few blocks away is Plaza Santo Domingo, a small and cosy public square which, unlike the extensive and busy Zocalo, “reflects a slice of life in the colonial days and you can spend hours sitting by the fountain to ponder,” says Hernandez.
The plaza has for a long time been a hub for the printing business and scribes with typewriters still ply their trade there. The tilting 18th-century Santo Domingo church is a victim of the city’s sinking problem, having been built on a lake.
EAT
“Taste wonderful classic cuisine at the markets. For contemporary cuisine, there is Sud 777. For great expressions of traditional Mexican cuisine, there are El Bajio, Pujol and El Cardenal”.
DO
“The historical centre has marvellous architecture and embodies the essence of the city. Xochimilco still reflects rural Mexico. Visit the museums and also the markets, one of which should be Martinez de la Torre, which is in one of the most traditional neighbourhoods, Colonia Guerrero.”
Visual feast for the soul
THE capital’s architecture, both old and contemporary, is sheer spectacle. Ranging from radical to audacious, inspirational and thought-provoking, the visual feast is endless even for the well-travelled. Seeking structures which speak to the soul, I get help from architect Fernando Perez Vera. He is the founder of architecture firm Budic and also organises the food and wine festival Morelia en Boca.
He outlines for me a special “architectural tour through the ages”, starting with the Aztec ruins of Templo Mayor. Its actual beauty lies underground with layers of temples built over each successive versions.
The National Museum of Art or Munal “is a beautiful example of early 20th century eclectic architecture with amazing grand staircases”.
The Anthropology Museum “is a very powerful building that has managed to convey the sense of monumentality from pre-Hispanic architecture. I love how the museum integrates interior and exterior spaces.”
For me, this is the most fascinating of the buildings Vera selects, mainly for the giant water feature in the courtyard. The striking and resounding deluge offers cool respite from the heat just by standing close to it, while the sight and sound display breaks the monotony of the surrounding stark concrete structure.
La Medalla Milagrosa church “is an incredibly thin shell structure designed by Felix Candela as a result of his lifelong study into the performance of structural shapes”.
Luis Barragan's house “conveys an incredible sense of calmness and introspection.” (Viewing is by appointment only. Details at www.casaluisbarragan.org)
Camino Real Hotel in Polanco “shows how the idea of architectural promenade comes to life. I love how you can discover spaces as you walk through the building”. It opened in 1968 to coincide with the Olympic Games in Mexico.
Jumex Museum “is a beautiful example of a very elegant and restrained building with amazing attention to detail. I love its depth in contrast to the much more conspicuous Soumaya Museum, across the street.
EAT
“Merotoro is the best restaurant in town. Osteria 8 has fantastic pasta with in-house-made sausage. Lampuga is good for family lunches. Rosetta for simple elegance and its old world style bakery. Duo for breakfast.”
SEE
“If time is limited, try to include Templo Mayor, the Anthropology Museum and Coyoacan.”
Top taco, artisan chocolate
IN pursuit of the best taco in Mexico City, I get in touch with self-confessed taco connoisseur Rodrigo Lopez Aldana.
Besides his passion for food, he is also a photographer and cinematographer. In 2009, he won a Webby Award for best drama in a web series for The Ten Commandments of La Vida. He then started a food tour company Sabores Mexico.
He is designing a Mexican food and cultural festival that will travel to different cities and is working on a book on traditional cooks of Tlaxcala.
Keeping the best for last, he takes me first to artisanal chocolate cafe and shop Que Bo (Isabel la Catolica 30) in downtown.
Owner Jose Ramon Castillo revives pre-Hispanic methods of appreciating chocolate and also works with farmers, learning from them and exchanging knowledge about the country’s second most popular beverage after coffee.
Traditional in concoction and modern in interpretation, a kaleidoscopic manifestation of chocolate candies line the display shelves. Chocolate drinks, served hot or cold, come with exotic flavours combining chilli, pepper, apricot, corn, rice, among others.
I select Chocolate de Metate Amargo, containing dark chocolate from Oaxaca (wa-ha-ka) region ground with volcanic mortar, and flavoured with cinnamon, hazelnut, almonds and peanuts. The drink is served traditional style in the dried out fruit of the Mexican calabash.
We head for a small eatery El Vilsito (Avenida Universidad 274 and Calle Peten, Narvarte), which serves the best tacos in town, according to this foodie. By day the eatery is a motor workshop and in the evening it morphs into a thriving taco outlet.
With standing room only, I tuck into my order of beef taco (taco de bistec). Since then I have not eaten another better than that.
EAT
“La casa de las Sirenas, Dulcinea, Merotoro for Mexican food. La Casserole for French and Rokai for Japanese.”
DO
“Go on food tours. Dedicate full days to visit Teotihuacan, the Anthropology Museum and Coyoacan. View modern Mexico City in Roma, Condesa and Polanco. The adventurous should go deeper by visiting markets, the neighbourhood of Santa Maria la Ribera and La Merced.”
Volcanic vortex
DESPITE the capital’s thrilling, throbbing and ultra-happening character inspiring spaces for composure and contemplation exist, says visual artist and graphic designer, Luis Alberto Diaz Gordoa.
Better known as Vena2, his art connects cosmic beauty and harmony with nature. At his gallery and studio in Roma, he shows me colourful renditions of floral motifs “borne out of our yearning to reconnect with nature to heal modern ills”. His works have been exhibited around Mexico, in New York and Tokyo.
“We are now trying to reconnect with our roots and spirit. In the process we discover that our ancestors have answers to today’s problems,” says Gordoa, who describes Mexico City as “crazy but interesting”.
His urban sanctum lies at the sculptural space in the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where concrete slabs encircle a volcanic crater.
“The sculpture is a powerful energy vortex built on volcanic rock and reflects the Mexican identity,” he says of the site where art and nature connect.
SEE
“Xochimilco may be touristy but it’s the most stunning sanctuary and nowhere else can connect you so directly to the city’s past. Plaza la Aguilita is for me where the Aztec mythology of the eagle and cactus happened.” (The Aztecs believed in a legend which told them to build their capital where they spot an eagle on a cactus.)