Alameda Central

This morning we woke up gloriously late— kind of. It was about 6:45 here, which is 8:45 at home, so felt like a big sleep in!! Matt worked out, while I showered and did my hair. He got back and we went downstairs for coffee and pastries, gotta use that breakfast credit! The pastries here, so far, have been unreal. We had a cardamom bun with sweetened goat cheese cream, and another kouign-aman style bun filled with dulce de lece, pear and more goat cheese. Coffee was also amaze.

With our pre-breakfast snack tiding us over, we headed to our breakfast destination but realized we forgot the documuments we needed for our morning activity. We walked to a fedex which was closed, so we ubered back to the hotel to grab them and then ubered to breakfast at Superette (https://www.instagram.com/superette_mx/). We got a hotcakes with bacon and eggs for the table (basically a fancy McGriddle), and Matt had pesto eggs (over easy on brown bread with the most amazing tomatoes and pesto— I ate most of the toms) and I had Turkish eggs (poached eggs in garlicky yogurt with roasted cherry tomatoes, chili oil and crostini). Maybe I’m biased, but mine was the best. Would eat every day. I was SO tempted to have a glass of wine (vacation!) as they had a great selection of natties, but I resisted.

We got picked up from there and headed to the Frida Khalo house/museum. Unfortunately, I lost my favorite sweater somewhere along the way. Luckily they still make it so I’ll get a new one. Do not despair. Anywhoo. We made it to the museum and took a wonderful guided tour where we learned so much about her life, her process and her relationship with Diego Rivera. From there, we walked over to the Coyoacan market. It was very cool, with tons of food and produce stalls. We picked a spot with a bunch of people and got some pozole to try. Even though basically no one speaks English anywhere, it’s been pretty easy to communicate. The women who were cooking told us the best way to eat the pozole— crema on the baked tortilla with pozole next and cheese on top. Took it to another level. Very good.

We headed into the town square next and had lunch at Los Danzantes (https://www.losdanzantes.com) which was quite fancy and delicious. The service was on another level. Waiter had your plate and silverware out of the way as you were chewing the last bite of your course. We started with coconut shrimp (Matt can’t not order if it’s in a menu) and a Hoja Santa, which is a pepper leaf stuffed with Oaxaca cheese and smothered in a super citrusy tomatillo sauce. Delicioso!! We also tried their special version on chiles en Nogales, with an ancho pepper instead of a poblano (ancho is a dried poblano) and pink walnut sauce instead of white. It was really quite suite and very spicy so wasn’t a favorite, but the grilled vegetable “salad”, aka a bowl of grilled veggies with olive oil and lime, was grrrreat. Not sure who decided that tapioca belongs there too, but it worked!!

Our guide, Jamie (street name Jimmy Islands— see pic for contact info) met us as the restaurant to drive us to the Xochimilco canals. Along the way, he gave us lots of insight into how Mexico City came to be (there used to be five huge lakes!), some more info about Frida Khalo and pointed out landmarks visible from the backseat of his CRV. He is very knowledgeable with perfect English, highly recommend as a travel guide. We got to the boat and had a private ride with beer/michelada to drink. On the canals, you can do anything from karaoke to private mariachi to hooking a few boats together and having a huge party. There are restaurants and women cooking in their boats, and greenhouses and other shops along the water. It’s very cool, and takes about 45-60 min there and back, and is about 45 min outside of Coyoacan. Jamie dropped us back off at the hotel and we said our goodbyes.

After a quick costume change, we headed out to Local 1, a natural wine bar, for a little pre-dinner bev. (https://local1.mx) The space was very cool, and also functions as an art gallery. Great selection of Mexican natural wines. From there we walked to dinner at Rosetta, which has by far been the most hyped up meal of the trip. Because of this, I was very nervous but from the moment we stepped inside, I knew the hype was real. We had made an indoor reservation, because the weather was supposed to be bad, but when we arrived, we immediately knew we wanted to sit outside on the sidewalk patio. We asked if we could wait, and they said of course. They led us upstairs to the third-floor to the cutest bar with the Degournay, or Degournay-esque at least, wallpaper. I had already noticed the Ginori plates on the tables. This was definitely my kind of place! We had espresso martinis, mine was decaf, both on the rocks, and they were amazing. We sat on little stools, overlooking the street, and it was kind of magical. They quickly sat us outside and we started off with thick sourdough bread and a very appropriate (ie large) amount of sweet butter, and a shaved fennel salad with citrus and pomegranate seeds. Next was an incredibly flavorful and somehow vegan minestrone soup as well as a corn tortellini en brodo. Last course was mushroom risotto and pasta with lobster, bottarga and zucchini. Every. Single. Thing. Was. Perfect. I really can’t say much more!! We had absolutely no room or energy left for dessert, so we headed off to bed.Read more