Adventures in Mexico City
By: Dahlia Labatte
Our second trip to Mexico, during time that wasn’t spent preparing for The Night Show, we were exploring and getting to know the city. Mexico City offers history, artistic inspiration and wonderful little treasures to discover as you wander about. This guide covers the latter, moments and places we discovered that you can safely add to your bucket list.
We start at the Four Seasons Mexico City: the hotel with its inner courtyard will give you ample reasons to stick around. Hold court by the fountain for lunch or a coffee and croissant for breakfast. You can mix, mingle, and work in various public spaces of the hotel. The Fifty Mils bar is a clear favourite – get as dress as you like and order the Aviation or the traditional margarita on arrival. The hotel is located just around the corner from Chapultepec park, a beautiful space for a walk or run. And for the artful, aim for a visit to the Lago gallery and brunch right next to the lake in the middle of the park. We definitely recommend their americanos and French toast.
Tour galleries, meeting artists, eating amazing food and spending time with friends. Mexico City is an incredible place that is only growing, and has so much to offer. We spent most of our walking time in the Roma and Condesa neighbourhoods where there were so many small shops, cafes, and restaurants it would take months to try them all. The small streets had so much greenery and beautiful architecture, we’d highly recommend spending as much time exploring as driving to destinations.
The city was founded in ~1325 as Tenochtitlan, making it the oldest capital city in the Americas, and one of two founded by Indigenous peoples. Originally built on a group of islands in Lake Texcoco, however was rebuilt by the Spanish after being almost completely destroyed in 1512 in the siege of Tenochtitlan. Many of the buildings in the Roma and Condesa neighbourhoods have beautiful Spanish-inspired architecture. Now the city is huge, with a population of more than 9.2 million (in terms of transportation, walking and Ubers inexpensive and very accessible, we would highly recommend it).
Thanks so much to our partners and collaborators on The Night Show, Carla Bosacki and Renata Chavez for not just their help on the show, but also in helping us get to know Mexico City.
Food & Drink
Pan Dulce
In the Four Seasons hotel
For our mornings, afternoons, and even evenings; it was a daily routine that when not exploring the city we were sitting outside working with our croissants, latte and tea from Pan Dulce. The almost croissant is definitely a repeat order.
Casa Prunes
Chihuahua 78, Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc
IG @casaprunes
Special thanks to Carla for showing us this beautiful bar inside an old apartment building with an open ceiling. Casa Prunes is in the walkable Roma neighbourhood. Decorated in art deco style, the bottom floor has the bar and areas for drinking and eating, the upstairs floor that wraps around the sides of the building has smaller rooms; each meant to maintain their own feeling and purpose. They include: a speakeasy, mezcal tastings, private dining, etc. We would highly recommend their mango champagne, which is made in-house.
Meroma
Colima 150, Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc
IG @meromamx
Our art tour was intercepted with a quaint lunch in Roma Norte, a small restaurant with beautiful decoration and use of space. The first floor is used as a bar, with 2 separate rooms of seating areas, the top one on a deck with a view to the street below. We would highly recommend the rod collins cocktail, the agnolotti, and the blue shrimp.
Ivoire
Av. Emilio Castelar 95, Polanco, Polanco IV Secc, Miguel Hidalgo
IG @ivoiremx
Located within walking distance from the Four Seasons, around 30 mins through Chapultepec park. Located in Polanco, great service and a beautiful breakfast menu for morning meetings.
Art
Special thanks to Renata for her arts tour of Mexico City, through which we saw and met some amazing galleries, studios, and artists.
Saenger Galeria
Calle Manuel Dublán No. 33, Col. Tacubaya ·
IG @saenger_galeria
The gallery occupies a complete building, with several exhibition spaces, and inventory. Showing art from painting to sculpture, and installation it was a beautiful stop on our tour. On our visit, the work of Scott Reader was on display featuring many paintings and ceramics. We would highly recommend a visit.
Fresno 301
IG @fresno301
The top floor of a highschool transformed into several working studio spaces. We got to explore and meet several artists working in Fresno 301, taken over by various canvas, paints, and other supplies. The floor feels like an oasis of art. Some highlights were meetings artists such as Foreman and Jessi Rapp.
Daniela Elbahara galeria
IG @danielaelbahara
A beautiful apartment gallery that shows the work of primarily new and emerging artists. While we were there we saw the work of Mario Zoots, his style reminiscent of pop art in combination with other printing and painting techniques that almost gives the appearance of collage; and Rodrigo Echeverria whose work centers around the practice of painting and how it is affected by life.
JO-HS
Gobernador José Guadalupe Covarrubias 46, San Miguel Chapultepec I Secc, Miguel Hidalgo
IG @_jo_hs
A contemporary gallery and artist residency, held in a gorgeous house in the city. When we were there, the work of Rose Electra Harris was on display; brightly coloured and boldly marked floral painting. We met artist Monica Rezman; one of the artists currently in the residency at JO-HS, who works in various mediums such as leather, fabrics, and cardboard to create various sculptural and hanging forms, and saw the work of Maria Vez; the other artist in residency, a figurative painter.
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Av. Juárez S/N, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc
Ubers are easy and inexpensive in Mexico City. Call one for the Palacio on a Sunday (Sundays are free admission) and enjoy the public palace to see the incredible work of the Mexican muralists: from Siqueiros to Rivera and Orozco. An absolute must to understand Mexican history through art, and the artistic legacy of Mexico.
Walk to the national palace, and eventually look for El Balcon – the top floor has an amazing bar and restaurant, with a view to the national palace.
Discoveries
Under The Volcano Books
Celaya 25, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc
IG @utvbks
On the top floor, above a restaurant, in a building that belonged to the American Legion was a small English bookstore that we just happened to wander past. Filled to the brim with treasures. I would highly recommend a visit.
Trouvé
Avenida Álvaro Obregón 186, Bis B, Roma Norte
IG @trouvemex
Found on a walk around Roma, behind a storefront of small glass panes: a treasure trove of vintage furniture, objects and art from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Full of beautiful one-of-a-kind items, if we didn’t have to transport things back to Canada I definitely would’ve walked out with a few pieces for myself.
Thanks so much to our partners and collaborators on The Night Show, Carla Bosacki and Renata Chavez for not just their help on the show, but also in helping us get to know Mexico City.