Mexico City winning culinary capital status
Serious travelers come to Mexico City for the world-class anthropology museum and the massive Baroque cathedral on the Zocalo.
As a culinary destination promising everything from juicy street-stall carnitas to celebrity-chef dining, this teeming capital is topping the charts.
The city’s Uber cars are newer and cleaner than most taxis; drivers materialize instantly and charge rock-bottom fares.
The Red Tree House, a welcoming, well-staffed bed-and-breakfast in the leafy Condesa neighborhood, makes a quiet and almost-too-comfortable base.
From the sidewalk viewing window, you can preview the treat to come as an automatic dispenser spools the batter into a vat of hot oil and a cook deftly shapes it into an enormous coil.
From El Moro, it’s a 15-minute stroll to the Museo de Arte Popular, where the acclaimed collection of folk art includes baskets, death masks, the fantastical papier-mache sculptures known as alebrijes, elaborate clay “trees of life” used by missionaries to teach Bible stories, and a trove of astonishing miniature sculptures that you need a hand lens to view.
Feed your fitness tracker with a 25-minute hike to the headquarters of the Secretaría de Educación Pública, home to three floors of Diego Rivera murals — 100-plus panels painted between 1923 and 1928.
Rivera sympathetically painted the life of everyday people, from miners and potters to rural teachers.
View more Rivera murals in the nearby Palacio de Bellas Artes, an Art Deco theater where the Ballet Folklórico performs.
Claim your 2 p.m. reservation at Contramar, chef Gabriela Cámara’s wildly popular seafood restaurant.
Johnston’s annotated walking tours No. 9 (Parque México) and No. 10 (Avenida Amsterdam) explore the heart of Condesa and Roma, adjacent park-centered neighborhoods alive with dog walkers, cafes, gastropubs, galleries, Art Deco architecture and a weekly street market (pictured).
The 5-year-old Limantour has reignited cocktail culture in the capital, with signature drinks and house-made ingredients like cactus bitters and passion fruit syrup.
From Limantour, it’s a five-minute walk to Rosetta, chef Elena Reygadas’ Italian-inflected restaurant.
The juicy pork loin with a white mole that includes cauliflower and pine nuts, and the peanut ice cream with white chocolate mole reflect Reygadas’ modern vision.
Join in if you dare, but nobody notices if you just perch on a barstool with a cold Negra Modelo and admire the adept couples on the dance floor.