MEXICO CITY PT. 3
Last month, we had the pleasure of taking a semi-impromptu trip to one of our favorite places to visit: Mexico City. After a long, brutally hot summer, we just had to get out of town to breathe some different air and a trip to CDMX was just too perfect to pass up.
Given that we’d already visited multiple times and have spent time in different neighborhoods, we decided we wanted to go back to our favorite area in the city and stay in Roma Norte. This area in many ways offers what we love most about the city: it’s incredibly walkable (great restaurant and coffee shops everywhere), the physical, architectural scale of the neighborhood is just right, and it’s full of that thing that makes Mexico City feel so unique— that tree-filtered sunlight. But more than anything, it’s one of those neighborhoods where you can walk around and truly feel like a local. We had a go-to coffee shop, visited the same restaurant on our block a couple times, and even started seeing familiar faces on our daily walks.
Another thing to know about Mexico City though— whether you’ve been several times, or if it’s your first time— THIS IS A CITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS. Of course, anytime you travel anywhere you’re going to tap in with your friends, blogs, etc. But we’ve never been quite as loaded with restaurant and bar recommendations as we were this trip. That said, we definitely leaned on the experiences of friends to lead us here and there, but also wanted to make sure we allowed for moments of discovery and created a unique experience for ourselves. So we hope this guide is helpful, but want to remind you that it’s also okay to get a little lost in this wonderful city.
SIGHTSEEING
This trip, we were able to check off longtime spots from our list and even got to visit new ones due to unforeseen circumstances (that really ended up being blessings in disguise).
CASA PEDREGAL
File this visit under the: “Unforeseen Circumstances” category. With plans to hit at least one Luis Barragán project, we were crushed to hear that Casa Gilardi, our target this trip, was closed for renovations. That said, it worked out even better as it brought us to the beautiful Pedregal neighborhood, and specifically to Casa Pedregal.
Having previously visited Casa Barragán, we loved how seemingly different this experience was. On the surface, it almost seemed like the opposite of Casa Barragán—the scale was much bigger, the colors more muted. But the two houses were tied together by what makes all of Barragán’s work so great: his control of light, shadow, and color through minimal form and material.
MUSEO CASA ESTUDIO DIEGO RIVERA Y FRIDA KAHLO + LA CASA O’GORMAN
So since we found ourselves in Pedregal, there was no way we could leave without stopping at this wonderful set of buildings. The home and studio of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, as well as the home of their architect, Juan O’Gorman. There was a beautiful harmony among the buildings and seeing all the original works and artifacts was a real privilege.
BIBLIOTECA VASCONCELOS
Finally. Even before our first trip to Mexico City we had wanted to visit this architectural masterpiece. A little outside the action of the city, our experience inside the library was really special. We got to experience how the building looked/felt during sunshine, cloudiness, and even rain. The way the building morphed so dynamically made our visit worth the wait.
WHERE WE ATE:
EXPENDIO DE MAIZ SIN NOMBRE
“Mas, por favor”. That’s what we kept saying during this unique restaurant experience where they keep bringing out dishes until you tell them to stop. The best part: every stop they delivered two different dishes, so we got to eat “family style” with just two people.
PRO TIP: Bring cash, as they do not accept credit cards
ENO
Recommended to us by our dear friends Marcus and R'El of The Place I Was Telling You About, Eno ended up being a perfect spot to visit while we were going from point A to B. It was a quick visit, but we had some pretty perfect chilaquiles and huevos rancheros.
TETETLAN
It’s crazy to think that the visit to Tetetlán almost didn’t happen. Not until our plans to visit Casa Gilardi fell through due to renovations did we commit to heading out to the Pedregal neighborhood to see Barragan’s Casa Pedregal. Right next door (and very much an extension of the Barragán project) is Tetetlán. It’s a very different vibe than Casa Pedregal, but immediately upon walking in, you realize you’re somewhere special.
FOREVER VEGANO
One of the reasons we love Mexico City (and especially Roma Norte) so much is that you can totally go off-script with dinner plans and pretty easily happen upon a great restaurant. This happened down the street from our Airbnb with Forever Vegano. We were walking back to our Airbnb after a long day of running around, but had to get something to eat before Eddie’s Fantasy Football draft (I know). We had passed by the funky vegan storefront before, and decided to give it a shot. It was so good that we ended up going again that week for another chill, delicious dinner.
EM
We really only made one dinner reservation prior to arriving in Mexico City, and that was to Em. Em is one of those restaurants that we heard about from a barista at a new coffee shop back home, and later found out that SO MANY friends had visited. As soon as we sat down, the first thing that caught our attention was the general vibe. The music was so on point that we wondered if our phones had been hacked to play our playlists. Then the started bringing out the food…
We opted for the chef’s tasting menu with a wine pairing, and were so glad we did. Each course had its own theme and it just hit me as I’m writing this that I don’t think I took or edited a photos of our favorite dish— a blue fin tuna tostada topped with thinly sliced discs of avocado and caviar. Would fly back to Mexico City RIGHT NOW for another bite.
Panaderia Rosetta
Having been to the main restaurant during our last trip to CDMX, it felt only right to finally to dive into the scene (and yes, it is a scene) that is Panaderia Rosetta. We waited for an open table among all the other visitors and handful of locals to see what all the fuss was about—and it did not disappoint. Thankfully, we hadn’t yet eaten that morning, so we had a full spread— savory croissant sandwiches, sweet pastries, coffee, and green juice. Needless to say, everything was delicious.
STREET FOOD
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: We will always make it a point to eat street food when traveling— especially anywhere in Mexico. This time around, we stopped at THE. RIGHT. SPOT. Once again, we were in the middle of a busy day of shopping and didn’t feel like a long, slow meal. So we saw these two ladies whipping it up on a great corner in Roma Norte and couldn’t say no. They offered three things: a torta, a tlacoyo, and a quesadilla. Naturally, we tried one of each and it was some of the best street food we’ve had anywhere in the world. Best believe we will be tracking those ladies down again when we return.
COFFEE
Looking back on it, we didn’t venture too far out of familiar ground when it came to coffee. All the significant coffee shops we visited were Mexican brands we’ve enjoyed before— we just got to visit some new (to us) locations.
WHERE WE SHOPPED
When we travel, we don’t always set out to do a significant amount of shopping, but Mexico City is definitely one of those cities that you want to save extra room in your luggage for. We were fortunate enough to hit so many local galleries, vintage shops, and home goods stores and came home with some great pieces.
BACK TO LIFE VINTAGE
ERRE VINTAGE
TIERRA DE ANCESTROS
XINú PERFUMES
LAGO
WHAT WE WORE
Packing for trips can sometimes be tricky. When we touch down in any city, we usually hit the ground running and start exploring, so finding a balance of being fresh but comfortable is always key. This trip was no different, but we got to take advantage of cooler temperatures than we were experiencing in Dallas and throw on some new pieces and pieces we hadn’t worn in a while.
QUALITY TIME
The Baileys
Among the things we wanted to do most during this trip to CDMX was to spend some quality time with our dear friends John and Diamond Bailey. These two uber-creatives moved to Mexico City about a year ago and have been absolutely thriving. This is most evident inside the walls of their beautiful Polanco home that they’ve masterfully crafted with John at the helm. Our time with these two was really special, as we got to photograph their space, have an amazing dinner and drinks together, and pick up some home goods from some of their favorite local boutiques.
