Mexico City, Day 2

We started out our day having breakfast in a bookstore, Cafebreria El Pendulo. Can’t beat that.  Reminded me a bit of the first big Barnes and Noble in Union Square where they had an incredible cafe so you could spend your entire day there.

Fred went in for the Huevos Rancheros.

Today was a day for art and eating.  We returned to the galleries that I loved when I was here last time.  Galeria de Arte Mexicano was our first art stop.  I love this gallery.  They have art from so many different artists and the price points range.  The actual gallery is an incredible building as well.  These sculptures are from a young artist, first show, Carlos Garcia-Noriego Bueno.  We talked about them all day long.

This is a piece of furniture with the attached globe by Mathias Goeritz with the nod to Luis Barragan.

Our next stop was Tout Chocolat.  The bakery in the back was pretty amazing.  There was nothing in there that I would not have tried.

I had bought a photograph at Patricia Conde Galeria last time and so we returned to her new space on this trip. They moved in March.  The installation was a mixture of Cuban and Mexican artists.  This is Rene Pena who shoots photos of himself from Cuba.

Galeria Arroniz Arte Contemporareo was another spot.  The owners were not there so we didn’t stay long but this is by Icaro Zorbar.

I had also bought work at Galeria Hilario Galguera.  Really amazing space.  This is a permanent piece in the gallery.

The artist we had purchased last time was Benjamin Torres.  They have just had a show of his work and a few pieces were still available.  It is always great to be able to follow and buy an artists work through each phase….until of course they get too expensive.

Yautepec was next.  This gallery really supports young artists although I think their prices are too high for the work.  The installation by Natalia Ibanez Lario is called Internet Famous specifically around how social media is changing everything.  These shoes were an ode to the #shoes that hit the airways for awhile.

Time for lunch.  We went to Nicos.  A totally old school feeling place that takes classic Mexican dishes and makes them a bit more modern.  The food here is incredible.  Lots of drinking going on at lunch.

We began with a small dish of spicy corn soup.  All different kinds of kernels.  Delicious.

Very good guacamole with spices and chips.

We split two dishes.  Finding ourselves not our usual empty stomaches.  This is pulled duck.

This was off the charts.  Crispy soft shell crabs in this interesting crust.  Poured over it was a green tomatillo mole sauce with pumpkin seeds.  This had just the right hit of spice.  Incredible and so different.

I just wanted to try a dessert.  Mango 3 ways.  Plain with cinnamon over the top, flan and a light clear mango soup.  Perfect.  Our waiter told us to come back for breakfast.  Supposedly amazing.

We went back to our neighborhood to walk around.  Stopped in a few galleries not worth noting.  The park in Poblano is beautiful.  Abraham Lincoln stands tall there.

Now time for some R&R.  Dinner was at Quintonil.  A beautiful restaurant.  We did not do the tasting menu, thank god because it takes 3 hours.  I’d love to say that everything was OMG but it wasn’t.  The two best things that were off the charts were the main courses.  Roasted chicken with perfectly crispy skin with a small garden salad with peas, tomatoes, onion juice and tiny mushrooms.  Right after they put the dish down the waiter poured a dark chili sauce over the top.  Very French.  Delicious.

The other was the catch of the day.  Snapper with the skin crispy and smoky served with dots of squash puree and thin slices of pineapple.  The fish melted in our mouths.  Doing fish right is not easy.

We walked home which was the call.