Mexico City
Paco Ponce makes the best paella in Mexico City. (At least I think he does.) Usually he makes it for private parties, for groups of 20 or more people. But periodically he cooks it at a small restaurant in Colonia Roma called La Chicha, at Orizaba 171, almost at the corner of San Luís Potosí. Don't miss your chance this Saturday the 8th, from about 2 pm. That's him in the foreground, next to the pan. I haven't a clue as to who's talking on the telephone.
A very tired man selling statues of Santa Muerte and Christ at the cantina Tio Pepe, December 2013.
A former colleague, Jimena Gil, teamed up with with a friend of hers to begin Mexican Food Tours, a company which offers walking tours in the Polanco neighborhood. The tours include not only history and folklore, but samples from six different places to eat.
Because I mostly associate Polanco with high-end restaurants, I wasn't sure how well it would lend itself to such a tour. In Polanco there is far less street food as in other areas of the city. Instead, Jimena takes people to restaurants, such as Barro Negro, where three different kinds of mole are sampled.
At La Surtidora, you can try a taco villamelón, and at Karisma, you get a bowl of goat cheese and black bean soup. Pulque and mezcal are also sampled. Even with two desserts, at the end of the tour I felt richly satisfied rather than grossly overstuffed. Plus enlightened by some of the facts about the area that were previously unknown to me.
I liked the, um, literal translation on this guy's T shirt. Happy New Year to all.
When I arrived in Mexico City in 1990, there were perhaps two or three places in the centro where you could find a good espresso. Most of the rest of the city was a wasteland. What they called coffee was brown dishwater, and most chilangos seemed to subscribe to the belief that things go better with Coke. All that has changed. Now the city is crawling with cafes, including hundreds of Starbucks, as well as their Mexican competitors Cielito Querido Café and Café Punto del Cielo.
My favorites are still the old ones. If you find yourself in the vicinity of the corner of Luis Moya and Manuel Marquez in the centro -- down the street from the San Juan Market -- and you want a coffee, don't miss this little gem of a cafe called Picolina.
It's very old school, with somber, serious waiters. They have a huge menu of special coffees with things like condensed milk and honey, which are not my thing, but their espressos and americanos are terrific.
Snacks are also available.