COX Newspapers Washington Bureau

Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > December > 10

Monday, December 10, 2007

High cuisine in Mexico City

By Jeremy Schwartz | Monday, December 10, 2007, 10:38 AM

Over the weekend I passed over from the Larry Bird year to the Big Papi year (translation: I turned 34, and yes, I’m from Boston) and to celebrate we ate at one of Mexico City’s most amazing restaurants. Mexico City is enjoying a culinary renaissance with a good half dozen restaurants that are re-inventing modern Mexican food. The unspoken gospel here is that street food is often better than anything you’ll find in a restaurant, but these eateries and their cutting-edge twists on Mexican classics are turning that rule on its head.

The best of the lot, or so we were told, is Pujol, a restaurant founded by culinary savant Enrique Olvera in 2000 when he was just 23-years-old. The restaurant is sparse and simple and doesn’t have the look of the place that is becoming a legend. But the food truly was an out-of-this world experience. We ordered the avocado raviolis, which were made with chunks of smokey shrimp, and a some buttery short ribs that were topped with a reduction of mole sauce that tasted like no mole I’ve ever had. It was the type of meal where you linger over every bite, chewing longer than usual just to keep the flavors coming. I’m still partial to street tacos, but a splurge like Pujol every once in a while is no sin.

The best part about the place might be that chef Olvera actually offers cooking lessons through his satellite restaurant TEO. The classes are limited to 12 lucky people and reportedly fill up months in advance.

Do you have any Mexico City eating recommendations? Let us know, we’d love to hear about them.

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment