Tag: dining in Mexico City

Mexico City: Architecture & Food

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BARRAGAN’S CASA GILARDI

Today we were on our own with no tours. We did, however, have a late morning reservation to visit Casa Gilardi. Born in Guadalajara in 1902, Luis Barragan was a noted Mexican architect. He worked in a minimalist style and favored very bright colors. His studio is a small museum also in the city, and the last house he built in the late 1970’s, Casa Gilardi, is open for visitors by appointment. Real people live here and one of the sons of that family gave us a brief history of Barragan and the house.

Interior of Casa Gilardi
Red and blue walls next to pool of water


There are almost no furnishings or personal items on display; instead you focus on bright blue and red walls bordering a pool, a hallway that glows in yellow, and on the exterior walls painted an intense magenta and a deep purple. On the open air upper deck, the house envelops a jacaranda tree whose light purple blooms stood out against the magenta wall which is also a backdrop for three tall cacti. Inside is some warm wood flooring, a large leather sectional sofa in a living room and a small wood dining table for four, but that’s pretty much it for furniture. It was fascinating to watch the play of light and shadows on all the colored surfaces, but not a place I’d choose to live.

Outside veranda, Casa Gilardi

DINING OUT

We had lunch at a very popular seafood restaurant in the Roma section of the city. Following our usual pattern, we checked what time Contramar opened and when we noted noon, figured we could arrive about 12:30 for our 1:30 reservation. This way we could assuage our hunger (breakfast for us is always early) and be there ahead of the crowd. And by shortly after 1:00, the dining room was almost full!
The menu had seafood and fish in many forms from whole grilled fish to spicy shrimp soup to tacos of all sorts to seafood salads. We sampled the octopus salad (quite lovely), shrimp soup, the fried kingfish tacos, and their margaritas. All tasty. The Chief Penguin then ordered the traditional flan which he enjoyed. I’m not a fan of flans; to me, it’s of a piece with floating island, rice pudding, and tapioca, all of which I find too bland.

Octopus salad

We attempted to walk back to our hotel and went a few blocks only to discover that not only are all the museums closed on Mondays, but also the big Chapultepec park which is the most direct route to our hotel. Thus stymied, we called an Uber. Fortunately, there are a lot of Ubers in this city and we have now Ubered around four or five times. And, compared to cities like New York, the fares are cheap!

Later we took a walk in Lincoln Park, a small oasis of green with a well equipped children’s play area, and then, for a change of pace, had an early evening nibble at Lardo. This casual Italian restaurant serves lots of small plates plus a few entrees. Not being too hungry, we grazed on mixed olives and almonds, tasty stuffed zucchini blossoms (a rare delicacy), and a mini tomato pizza topped with a few capers and anchovies. Just enough to get us through the night.

Note: All photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Mexico City: First Explorations

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ARRIVING IN MEXICO

On Thursday we were up at 4:15 to get to SRQ for our 7:30 am Atlanta flight and then on to Mexico City. Relatively smooth flights with no delays, even arrived early. The immigration line was quite long, but kept moving and after half an hour we had been admitted to Mexico. We claimed our bags which were already unloaded and then connected with our driver and his compatriot for the 40 minute drive to our hotel. Along the way, many jacaranda trees in bloom, such a lovely shade of purple, and plenty of concrete buildings with plain fronts painted in one solid color—everything from mustard yellow to midnight blue to bright turquoise and even some pinks and magentas.

The Wild Oscar is a small boutique hotel with a slightly funky vibe and so discreetly located, across the street from an elementary school, that you don’t know it’s there until you go down the half hidden steps and see the sign just at the entrance. Furnishings are mostly contemporary in dark woods and black trim and black stone.

Lobby and dining area at the Wild Oscar

We have a smallish room with a balcony and all the usual accoutrements, but only one desk chair inside and one outside chair on the balcony. The hotel is named for Oscar Wilde and I need to inquire why. Each elevator has a quote from Wilde done in cursive in bright paint on the floor, one yellow and one blue. One quote is “Life is too important to be taken seriously,” and the other something like, be yourself because everyone else is taken.

We took a short walk around the neighborhood, Polanco, admiring the upscale shops, the many restaurants and cafes, a small park, and the numerous banks. Traffic is lively and even in a crosswalk you need to exercise great care! There are no stop signs or lights at most intersections . Reminds me a bit of taking your life in your hands crossing the main streets in Hanoi.

We walked to our dinner restaurant, Comedar Jacinta, for a bit of Mexican comfort food. It’s 2 hours earlier here so by 6:30 pm, we were hungry and tired. We ate outside and were a prime target for the rose peddlers, the man with kids’ toys and other street vendors, but being seated there meant we could watch the street scene. After sunset, a gusty wind led to the unfurling of plastic sheets and we were cozy. The beef barbecue and the mixture of beef strips, cubes of cheese and guacamole with cactus served with tortillas were delicious and our two waiters most helpful.

FRIDAY ROAMING

This morning we left the hotel before 9:00 and walked a few blocks and through a small park to the Museo Nacional de Anthropologie. It’s a large and gorgeous modern building with an expansive plaza off of which there are a series of galleries covering the history of Mexico through its various cultures and customs. You could easily spend an entire day here so we were pleased when the woman at the Information Desk pointed out which galleries were the ones not to miss.

We learned about Teotihuacan (AD 100-700) and its influence far beyond its own region. (On Sunday we will visit the pyramids at Teotihuacan). And spent time in the Mexica Hall (or more familiarly known to us as the Aztec empire, AD1200-1521) and then the Maya Hall where we re-appreciated how sophisticated the Mayans were in their development of writing and their use of mathematics. Lastly, we checked out one of the Ethnography Halls on the upper floor. It is an impressive and very well laid out museum. Introductory and some explanatory panels are in English and Spanish, while individual item labels are only in Spanish.

Umbrella shower outside the museum galleries

Our feet were tired and our bodies said it was later than it was so we relaxed on the café terrace with tea and pastry. Our next foray was to walk farther on in the Bosque de Chapultepec, a quiet, pleasant woodland park with winding paths, to locate the Museo de Arte Moderne.

It was a bit farther than we realized and this museum somewhat disappointing. Several small galleries in the main building plus a number of outdoor sculptures seemed to be the bulk of the collection on display.

Having covered a fair bit of ground, we then meandered back through Chapultepec to a main thoroughfare and then to the street with our hotel. We paused on the corner for a relaxing lunch at Saks.

This restaurant has seating inside and on a semicircular terrace which is raised above the traffic. Knowing we would eat Mexican at dinner time, we opted for a bowl of corn chowder, guacamole and chips, and country style chicken cubes over linguini. The box of breads and chips with three saucers of dips was a welcome bonus.

We took an afternoon break at our hotel before going out again. Those activities will be in my next blog post.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).