Yeooo happy Monday!
It would be appropriate for someone with big ADHD tendencies like me to start another series… after starting two series prior. But I’ve spent the past week in Mexico City and it would be nonsensical for me not to make a post about it right now.
My notes are packed with what there is to talk about, I don’t know where to really begin. I came to CDMX for a two-week trip. The first week to just explore the city and eat as much as possible and the second week was going to be dedicated to doing a collaborative pop-up with our friends at Dooriban - a hot Korean restaurant in Roma Norte. My good friend Yohan and I were planning to do a collaborative menu with the Dooriban crew for two days, for their lunch and dinner service.
Unfortunately, after our first R&D testing, I was deeply humbled by a series of realizations that made me hesitate. I don’t speak Spanish, I don’t know the local produce markets, I’ve only spent 10 hours in CDMX before this trip, and I was not fully confident in our menu. The menu was good… but not great. Not good enough to present at the restaurant with not enough time to revamp it.
Sure, they’re all excuses at the end of the day, but our friends were incredibly generous with us and opened their place of business to us and I didn’t want to do the pop-up unless we were confident that we could knock it out of the park. Doing a solo pop-up somewhere is one thing, but potentially affecting a friend’s business negatively is another thing.
And on a personal note, I feel incredibly rusty. I haven’t cooked on a serious line in several months and frankly… I feel like I’ve lost the sauce. I realized I have to start a pop-up in NYC to not lose it fully and get back into it. I am constantly reminded that burnout takes time to crawl out of and I am forced to reckon with the reality that I am still in the thick of that process, as embarrassing and humbling as that feels. I still struggle with feeling uninspired, jaded, and lacking enthusiasm when it comes to cooking.
So instead I just decided to dedicate the trip to getting inspired again. Eating as much as possible and attempting to get a grasp of the city and the culture so that when we do a pop-up here in the near future, I won’t have any excuses to fall back on.
A week in and I feel like I’ve already dug into what I have been looking for.
Mexico City is incredibly inspiring. This city feels like a city of polarity. Where ideologies, classes, culture, and energies coexist harmoniously, at least from an outsider’s perspective. Mexicans are hustlers yet they know how to rest and play. The culture is unapologetic, colorful, loud, and staunch, yet everyone is very open and welcoming. The city is gritty and the infrastructure has its flaws, yet has beautiful public spaces, incredibly clean, and beautiful.
When it comes to food, this city is the most exciting place to eat. Food meccas like LA, Paris, and NYC honestly do not come close. The food is exciting, creative, efficient, and delicious. Every street corner is popping. All kinds of tacos, gorditas, quesadillas, jugos, local produce, etc. are being served daily. Restaurants range from simple kitchens with humble table settings to beautifully designed concepts that make Williamsburg feel dodgy. The restaurants are seriously good, but what I am constantly amazed by is the pure creativity that these street vendors have.
The quality of food that gets pumped out of these stalls is incredible. Their setups are smart and efficient. The obvious limitations of space and equipment that come with cooking outdoors are circumvented in clever ways. I saw one guy selling pastries on a street corner with a gas range oven that he brought out. The same gas range that you have in your kitchen was brought outside, fueled by a propane tank, used to serve pastries to pedestrians. Pure genius.
Oversized trompos stacked with thin slices of marinated pork, slowly dripping over roasting onions. Massive comals filled to the brim with different cuts of pork and sausages simmering in lard. Large planchas are scattered with blue corn quesadillas. All with buckets of different salsas, minced onions, and cilantro. All worked by talented, kind, and patient chefs.
The Mexican heritage has such a vibrant and rich food culture that is supported by beautiful Mexican produce and talented chefs who carry on their tradition and culture through their food. Many of the restaurants and street food vendors seem to be a family affair. The head chef is either the mother or father and their children work closely with them; carrying on their family’s traditional recipes and family business. The food scene, at least from an outsider’s perspective, seems to be thriving.
But again, CDMX is a city of polarity. A city steeped in rich culture and history that is being thrust into becoming a worldwide destination, a sprawling cosmopolitan city. There are a ton of expats and tourists (like myself) roaming the streets, packing out mezcalerías/bars, coffee shops, and hoarding popular street vendors they might have seen on TV.
As we all may know since Covid hit CDMX has become a hot spot for Americans. Tech bros and zoom warriors that have newfound freedoms of remote work have flocked here to stretch their dollars and take advantage of the low cost of living. Being here now and experiencing it for myself has been interesting to take note of. Though locals are incredibly kind and patient, it’s clear to see that they are nervous.
Sure, we Americans are currently getting totally shafted by negligent and irresponsible city and state governments that are allowing corporate land developers and landlords fuck us over with unadulterated rent hikes. Our economy is going to shit as interest rates have quickly risen with a massive recession looming. Food cost and gas inflation are becoming uncomfortable and the cherry on top of a Supreme Court that has totally gone haywire slamming incredibly backward and abstruse rulings that are actively blurring the lines of church and state, actively stripping the rights of millions of women, loosening already too loose gun regulation, and dismantling climate change regulations to allow corporations to push the boundaries of their emissions. All with a president and a congress who seems to have their thumb up their asses asking for more money from the people who they are directly hurting.
It’s bleak at home.
But to run to our neighboring country (which has been villainized, slandered, and bore the brunt of a xenophobic nation (Us…)) so that we can take a break from the problems at home can obviously be seen as problematic by the local population. I’m saying this as someone who is probably contributing to the problem. I’m not on any high horse, I am an American who is currently here. But I am trying to be mindful and respectful.
I don’t want to be one waving a flag to friends back at home that says “come on down, it’s cheap, it’s fun, it’s amazing!”. Mexico obviously benefits from tourism and is proud that the world finally sees that CDMX has been a robust, modern, and beautiful city that everyone wants to be in. But I am just hoping that I can at least be more aware to not leave a negative footprint during my time here. As of right now, I don’t know what that looks like. But maybe it’s in all the little things that we can be mindful of and that we can control.
Tip your servers well. Try to speak Spanish if you don’t know how to and respectfully ask if they speak English if you don’t. Wear your mask in respect to the locals because Covid is obviously still around and Mexicans have been way more on top of being vigilant about it than we have in the States. Don’t leave a mess wherever you go. Don’t try to haggle at street markets and flea markets. Try to contribute, talk to people, open up, smile and be someone who is aware that you’re in someone else’s home. These are the things that I personally am trying to do because I do not want to contribute to the already terrible reputations that we Americans have when we travel abroad.
I want to capture all the beauty. I want to take all the photos and videos of all the food, architecture, art, and culture. I want to highlight my favorite bites and restaurants. I will keep posting and talking about them, but I don’t want to flagrantly talk about how affordable it is here compared to the States, I don’t want to be ignorant, and I don’t want to take up space here.
If we are suffering from the exploitations of corporate greed and capitalist arrogance, why would we want to impose and bring that energy to our neighbors who want none of it?
Again, I apologize for my rant and if it comes off in a condescending tone. I am trying to navigate these waters like everyone else but it just pains me to see American ignorance and arrogance brought into borders beyond our own. I don’t want this series to be as simple as “HOT RESTAURANTS YOU GOT TO HIT” and this is a far cry from being someone that is saying that we should all just pick up and move here. I just hope I can share spaces that I am inspired by without exploiting them in any capacity.
As of right now, I’ve hit 26 spots. For today, I won’t get into the spots just yet. Throughout the next couple of weeks, I will be sending out the spots I hit in 1-2 day increments. Restaurants, street food stalls, museums, galleries, shops, etc. The works. After scouring websites for days, asking friends who have spent lived there, and locals of where to eat… 26 spots is really only a drop in the bucket.
Throughout the next couple of weeks, I will be posting a couple of times a week and each will be primarily about where I’ve eaten, visited, and enjoyed. I’m still debating on how to categorize them - either a day-by-day breakdown, by neighborhood, or by types of spots. But make sure to subscribe to stay in the loop, and I will be posting more for paid subscribers so consider becoming one as well!
Thank you for taking the time to read today and I hope that these recommendations will be helpful for any future trips you may take to this incredible city.
All love,
Edmond
wonderful and thoughtful post, i loved reading this. thanks for sharing ❤️