Last weekend I got to visit Mexico City with Lou, a good friend who has been working in Mexico for years with farmers helping them develop their mezcal (a type of tequila) for the US markets and Bruce, a mutual friend from the neighborhood. It was a great opportunity to travel to Mexico City with someone who knows the area well, and I have to say it was a really great trip. Mexico City is absolutely huge, 22 million people, and the central business district and neighborhoods were really fantastic, very safe, lots of great food, and lots of great mezcal!
On Friday night we got in and headed straight to Bosphero, a mezcal bar/restaurant where Lou sources some of his best brands. Not alone was it a great atmosphere, but it had probably the best bean soup I ever tasted!
On Saturday, we started off the morning tasting“water chocolate” a Mexican delicacy where they make a chilled Cacao drink with water rather than milk. It was pretty unique and very tasty!
But the highlight of Saturday, had to be our Taco dinner, very artisanal and heritage based, but super delicious, definitely the most unusual and delicious tacos ever, in a place called “Expendio De Maiz” which roughly translates into “the work of maize”
Making tortillas the old fashioned way:
Here’s a picture of myself, Lou and Bruce at “expendio de maiz”
That night it was onto more mezcal, this time with a guy who works directly with farmers, trying to preserve the old distilling ways that are being lost as the younger generation leave the countryside for the easier life of cities.
Here’s the old way of serving mezcal, sucking it up through a pipe and pouring it into glasses. The guy of the right is a Paul, a chef from Humboldt Park in Chicago who recently moved with his Mexican girlfriend to Mexico City.
On Sunday I got up early to enjoy an unexpected delight. Every Sunday in Mexico City they close down the main boulevards to traffic and open it up to cyclists and runners. Its really fun and festive and I was able to cycle through about 10 miles of the city!
Then we went out for more mezcal tasting, this time at a distributors sampling bar. Always interesting to dry so many types of a drink and notice all the subtle differences. Here’s some of the mezcal that we sampled:
All in all a really great trip and a place I really hope I get a chance to visit again, a great city!
Looks like a great trip and fun to have someone who could show you so many cool places to eat/drink! I love the idea of the city streets shutting down on a Sunday morning!
What an interesting trip! So many culinary delights. Sliced radishes make a lovely garnish for bean soup. Tacos like I’ve never seen before. Great idea of shutting down city streets for cyclists and runners on Sunday mornings!
Sounds like great trip alright. Saw a film recently by Rick Stein who visited Mexico and told us all about their original ways of cooking. Fantastic experience for you.