Where to Eat Breakfast in Oaxaca, Part Two

7 / 27 / 177 / 27 / 17

After late nights in Oaxaca kept up by the creep of the mezcal high, I’m always excited for the rewards in the morning: frothy hot chocolate, fresh juice, crispy-edged fried eggs off the comal. Here are a few places to enjoy breakfast in Oaxaca city. For more, read my first post. Thanks to @oaxacking for introducing me to most of these places.

Casa Estambul

During the rein of Porfirio Díaz (Mexico’s president for three and a half decades prior to the revolution), this building was his hub for illicit activity— his casino—owned by a Turk and called Casa Estambul. The small brothel rooms surrounding a courtyard in the back of the restaurant now house kitchen supplies.

Breakfast Oaxaca Casa Estambul Courtyard

The courtyard is bordered by patterned tiles, and inside the bar area the entire wall is covered with the work of three well known painters. If you walk in and experience mezcal flashbacks, you may be thinking of the owners’ previous speakeasy-like bar Piedra Lumbre. Fer and Betty are also the publishers of Arrecife, a local magazine and guide, and their design sensibilities translate gorgeously off the page.

Breakfast Oaxca Casa Estambul Green Juice

Brunch is a hit here, and I can see why. There’s a big menu, accommodating your friends who “will just have a smoothie bowl” and your pals soaking up a hangover with a torta de chilaquiles. The barista program is on trend, with dirty chais, matcha lattes, and milk substitutions. We had the chilaquiles verdes with tasajo, orange-red from chorizo spices and softened by queso fresco on top. They have three green juices, and I enjoyed the well-balanced number one: pineapple, kale, spinach, celery and coconut water.

Breakfast Oaxaca Casa Estambul Cocktails

Our first salad in two weeks had dried fig, winter melon, almonds, cheese from chiapas, and a tamarind dressing. The cocktail program here is also fun, I enjoyed a clean and refreshing ginger mule called the Mulas Tercas. Note that this is also a great place for an evening cocktail and dinner.

Tierra del Sol

Breakfast Oaxaca Tierra del Sol Chocolate

Breakfast Oaxaca Tierra del Sol Lila Downs Outfits

An ode to unofficial Oaxacan ambassador, Lila Downs, this restaurant is housed in the singer’s childhood home. Private dining rooms are named after songs, and her cropped embroidered blouses and painted knee-high boots are illuminated in a glass case. The garden patio sprawls as cacti-entwined trees and hanging shiny green ceramics open to the kitchen, where fried eggs and tortillas are made on the comal. The only thing uninteresting about this place is that they only play her music (I mean, I like it but it’ll get repetitive quick).

I am a fan of enjoying the subtle ways in which cooks (home and professional) add their takes on simple staples, like chilaquiles. Here they are served with yellow mole, a mild herbal mole that’s poured over chips into a bowl, with two fried eggs.

The waiter will come to your table immediately offering hot chocolate and café de la olla, kept warm over a small grill in the outside patio. There are fresh juices, and some typical breakfasts from the Mixteca region.

This location is just a short drive from the heart of the city but feels like a distant retreat. They recently opened a new location in the centro.

Las Chilmoleras

It’s weird to say that a several thousand-year-old kitchen tool is trending, but is anyone else noticing more molcajetes used as serving bowls? Here at Las Chilmoleras they are filled with bubbling breakfasts, and alongside fresh pastries, juices, and good coffee. Try the huevos estrellados a la chilmolera, fried eggs with thick bacon, enfrijoladas, and salsa. (Tip, don’t scrape a molcajete with your utensils.)

If you’re missing marshmallows while enjoying all that Oaxacan hot chocolate, you’ll find them here.

Breakfast Oaxaca Las Chilmoleras outside

Breakfast Oaxaca Las Chilmoleras Bevereages

This is a casual breakfast joint with a bright lavender and turquoise exterior and a patio that’s right next to the open kitchen. It’s owned by a Colombian chef, who married a Oaxacan. He sent out some freshly baked croissants filled with jam as we were leaving, and it made me want to stay for round two.

Jugos Cardona

Just like I scout out the good coffee in a new place, I’m always on the outlook for a juice shop in Mexico. Often juice shops are open before cafes in Mexico, which is helpful for this early riser. Anyway, this place is in a central location and will fill all your juice needs and give you a place to sit down. You’ll also learn about the nutritional value of seasonal tropical fruits by reading the hand-written signs on the wall.

Where to Drink in Oaxaca

5 / 20 / 167 / 31 / 16

I should have called this post Where to Drink in Oaxaca If It’s Not From a Plastic Bottle of Mezcal You Got From the Palenque Today. But on the real, there are so many dope places to grab a beverage in Oaxaca it’s hard to choose. Lucky for us the evenings— just like the mezcal pouring—start early and end late so you can hit up a few in one night. Here are a few places to explore for every kind of drinking mood. Note: this is not a complete list and I hope to keep expanding it.

Mezcaloteca
Mood: I’d like to be drinking in a library.

Sit down across from the bookcases of mezcal, under the retro reading lights and enjoy a well curated list of mezcal made by artisanal small producers. Much more than a bar, the team here will guide you through a three course tasting of their collection, each bottle labeled by exactly who made the mezcal, how, and where. Don’t miss the vintage cigarette vending machine in the back. By appointment only. (52) 01 951 514 0082 or email.

In Situ
Mood: Good lawd, help me escape all this mezcal pretension!
177 of the 364 linguistic variations recognized by the Mexican National Institute for Indigenous Languages are spoken in Oaxaca, but that doesn’t include mezcal lingo. Confused by the regions, agave varietals, notes, and other Napa Valley-like chatter you hear at bars? Come here and take a breath, because Ulises and Sandra got you. There’s no pretension at this cozy bar and these two delightful experts will help you pick a mezcal (go for their label) and talk to you about it as much or as little as you’d like. Plus, you can grab one of Ulises’ excellent books on mezcal for some at home reading.

Mezcalogia
Mood: It’s so hot I want to put my face in cocktail.
Just trying to kick it, with or without mezcal? Owned by the El Jolgorio/Nuestra Soledad Mezcal family, this small, relaxed bar originally began as a tasting room and has evolved into one of Oaxaca’s most popular spots for a well-crafted cocktail. That’s in part due to former SF bartender Bobby Baker’s bar program, which doesn’t commit what locals might refer to as sacrilege and offer mezcal cocktails unless you ask him to (but I think you should ask).

Piedra Lumbre
Mood: Feelin artsy.
Exquisite black and white photos of mezcaleros and palenque scenes by co-owner Fer Arce were on display when I was here, not to mention the black and white wall sketches, mosaics and other touches by local artists. Black and white tiled floors welcome you into the gallery and string lights hang over the small patio. It’s enchanting. Look out for mixology nights and special events on their Facebook. They used to keep the party going into the very early morning, but I heard they got regulated on.

Archivo Maguey
Mood: I’m trying to work work work work work… my palate.
Tucked a block up from the 20 de Noviembre market, this is a perfect place to relax after a day of shopping. Archivo is sleek space thanks to owner Chucho’s background in design and he’s equally as thoughtful when it comes to curating mezcal, many of his unusual bottles coming from the Mixteca region. The grandson of a mezcalero, he and the fambam will walk you through their custom tasting method to help you get all the senses and flavors out of your glass. It was a little intense when I was there in the early morning after a solid night of drinking (Am I puckering my lips enough?? Pineapple, am I smelling pineapple?? Omg am I doing the three tastes thing wrong?? Can someone put a taco in my face??) So go when you’ve got some focus. Thanks to Oaxacking for insisting I come here.

La Ingrata
Mood: Where’s the good beer at?
This extensive beer menu highlighting the growing craft brew scene in Mexico comes accompanied by some quality snacks at approachable prices (including a several-course lunch special). They also have a mezcal, cider, pulque and live music.

Txalaparta
Mood: I’m so full of love (alcohol) that I want to run into everyone I know in Oaxaca.

While this is the place most folks (including tourists) end up at towards the end of the night, it’s actually a cool bar worth checking out during the day and they even serve an affordable daily lunch menu. Each room is a treasure chest of funky art, the rooftop patio is fun on a hot night, and a glowing shrine towers over the mezcaleria in the middle of the first floor.

Salon de La Fama & La Giralda
Mood: Whatever happened to the good ol’ days of just going to a regular bar?

Read my post linked above for info about these mellow cantinas.

Salud!

Talking Oaxaca’s Culinary Traditions with Celia Florián

5 / 13 / 16

I haven’t spent enough time in Oaxaca to make an accurate count but seems like these days there’s a new restaurant or mezcal bar popping up in the centro with the frequency of daytime fireworks (they go off way more often than you think here!)

But restaurant Las Quince Letras, just a few blocks from the Templo de Santo Domingo, has been around for 23 years. I went to lunch with owner Celia Florián, who continues to make her grandmother’s recipes. She’s like a fairy godmother of Oaxacan culinary traditions, leading the Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca and working closely with farmers to supply her restaurant with seasonal products. By coincidence, while I was there the daughter of one of her chilhuacle chile suppliers stopped by to talk about the devastating loss of their crop to a flash storm. She invited her to sit with us so we could brainstorm how to help.

Here’s a brief interview with Celia about changes she’s seen in Oaxacan cuisine and her work outside of the restaurant.

Tell me how things have changed in the Oaxacan dining scene since you opened.

When we opened 23 years ago there were no restaurants around us, but now there are 12 right around us. It’s great, the fact that we’re still here means we are doing something right. We’ve kept offering a daily lunch special, and our clientele hasn’t gone down.

How has the restaurant changed since you opened? Has your food changed?

One thing that’s been drastic is that people are healthier now. I used to have a lot of steamed or raw vegetables on the menu because that’s what I grew up eating, but people always objected to it. And I had a woman in here once that told me I was an idiot because I didn’t overcook her vegetables like she was accustomed to. Now people ask for things with less sugar and want more vegetables, which I think is great.

Tell me about your role with the Cocineras Tradicionales and what that group is about?

We work with women from communities across Oaxaca who know a lot about cooking. They have the taste, the skills, the recipes. They are the ones carrying the traditions from their towns. But it’s hard for them to get access to publicity. We go to events across the country and then they get invited to do things separately and get business opportunities.

What are some of the challenges the group faces?

We often don’t have enough funds to make these trips realistic for women, if an event doesn’t pay lodging and transportation we are on our own to fundraise so that can be a major barrier to including everyone.

Is there anything that you think threatens keeping these traditional recipes alive— climate change or more affordable but less quality ingredients, for example?

I’ve seen women stop using chilhuacle in mole negro because it is more expensive, they use guajillo instead. [Chilhuacle is a chile that’s only grown by 4 to 5 producers now and is challenging to grow, but essential to some traditional mole recipes].

For reasons like that, we support local producers and avoid using a middle man. I think it’s important to support both the producers supplying the ingredients and the people cooking them.

At the time of our interview Las Quince Letras was undergoing renovations in the patio but I got a sneak peek, hopefully you’ll get to enjoy it. The restaurant is good for lunch, prices are mid-range. Visit Las Quince Letras here: http://lasquinceletras.mx and follow the Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca here. Thanks to Andrea for the introduction!

Where to Eat Breakfast in Oaxaca

5 / 5 / 1611 / 27 / 16

I love breakfast. My boyfriend is not a big fan. Anytime I ask him if a certain place is good for breakfast he says, “I don’t know, it’s breakfast,” with a shrug that indicates I might as well be asking him about the differences between the orange and red packets of top ramen.

But breakfast has the potential to make or break my morning, and when I only have a few mornings in a certain place, I’m looking for something that gets more than a shrug. Here are a few places to start your day in Oaxaca.

Jugos La Huerta (on the corner of Armenta y Lopez and Rayon)

Never has paying $10 and up for a juice in L.A. hurt so bad after coming here. This was my spot. Not only because it was one of the only morning beverage places in Oaxaca open before 8 a.m. but because all the juices were so well balanced. The minute you walk in a team of young guys and a woman in orange polos will ask you what you’d like, and if you want a half or whole liter. Sometimes if you get a half they’ll have extra in the blender and encourage you to drink some there so they can top you off. There’s a jumpin little before-work crowd, most people hang in the doorway and take juices to go but there are a few bar stools to sit.

It looks like they blend the fruit so that there’s some pulp, which actually makes the juices healthier. My favorites:

Anemia: pineapple, alfalfa, apple, amaranth, spirulina.
Verde: orange or grapefruit, celery, parsley, cucumber, nopal, chard, aloe, spirulina.
Vampiro (this is a classic combo in Mexico): orange, carrot, pineapple, beet, apple. You can get extras too, like bee pollen for a few pesos.

Open at 6:30 a.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. on weekends.

Fonda Florecita

This family-owned food stall in the La Merced market is no secret to the blogosphere, but I thought I’d join the chorus. This market is a relief from the crowded markets in the centro— you see where the produce and goods section ends and begins, and can easily wander through to the food stalls. Fonda Florecita is recognizable from the white wall signed by visitors and the bright pink piggy banks marked para los cocineros (for the cooks). I actually mostly went for lunch, but I know breakfast is their busy time. With a huitlacoche quesadilla and anything in their coloradito, you’ll be well on your way to a beautiful day.

Boulenc

I almost didn’t take my friend here because why go to a French bakery in Mexico when you have an abundance of them at home in California? Because this bakery is very good. A few cats from northern Mexico opened this spot up and it’s no wonder there’s a crowd of people cradling their red clay coffee mugs every morning. I got in the habit of grabbing a quick pastry, the caramel-colored rolls and fruit-topped pastries always hard to choose from. But you can also sit here, order some breakfast and coffee and watch the bakery at work from the wood bar. The bread loaves are rustic and beautiful, scored with leafy flourishes, and the baguettes— fluffy, airy, with a crumbly crust— are great road snacks with some lengua from Gourmand just up the street.

Pan:am

I’ll admit I was confused by Pan:am at first. I walked in one early morning and there was no bread on the shelves. A bakery not overflowing with bread and pastries first thing in the morning is usually a bad sign. However, my confusion turned to satisfaction while sitting in the colorful patio. I didn’t care where the bread was as long as some of it would make it to me. It was one of my last days in Oaxaca and to be honest, the heavy moles, meat and quesadillas were getting a little tired. So while avocado toast with salad and a garden omelette might not sound like anything special, believe me it was.

Itanoni

Itanoni specializes in heirloom corn varieties. In a time when it’s increasingly hard to find a good tortilla in Oaxaca, their menu couldn’t be more relevant. It’s an open patio restaurant, with the comal right in the middle, so you can watch the women work as they press and pat down a menu full of masa creations. The food here is simple, with a priority on letting the main ingredient shine: corn. The breakfast packages include juice and a hot beverage but don’t leave without trying the tascalate, a cold drink from Chiapas made of ground toasted corn, cacao, achiote, pine nuts, and cinnamon with milk or water.

It’s with some reservations that I recommend this place due to the abysmal service I had one time. There was this gringa we made fun of because at one point she was getting up and following around the waiter with a complaint, but then after 30 minutes and not even a cup of coffee I too was that annoying gringa. Damn. The other few times I’ve been the service was fine. So… go on a weekday?

Chilhuacle Rojo

Omelet with quesillo and hoja santa rolls, ranch tomatoes, grasshopper sauce

Read my other post about this place here.

Provecho!

Drink the Day Away at These Two Cantinas in Oaxaca

4 / 26 / 167 / 31 / 16

I like cantinas, as I do dive bars, especially when I’m traveling. I like being in them during the day, the feeling that I should be doing something productive wearing off after my first beer. I like that while we’re the ones inside, joyful and too honest and slipping off barstools while the sun is high, it’s the world outside that seems disorderly. Because here there will always be someone older than me and younger than me by a decade having a good time— and it’s pretty easy to make friends. That confusing concoction of a house drink that makes no sense when you arrive? It tastes good after a while. The light comes in through the swinging saloon doors and if you’re kind the stories come out from the dusty collectables behind the bar. The beer is constantly in front of you, it costs little, and the snacks, so low-key they’re genius, arrive in divine timing. There is an order at these types of bars you can usually depend on, no matter where you are.

Here are two cantinas I enjoyed in Oaxaca.

Salón de la Fama
Established in 1958, Salón de la Fama reels you in in true Oaxacan style: eye-catching color (a bright royal blue paint job outside) and casual charm (a tasty bottle of mezcal labeled with scribbles in sharpie). Above the bar you’ll find three photos of “El Chato” capturing the different eras of this legendary owner/cantinero’s life. He’s now in his 80s so while you might not catch him shaking cocktails, he’s certainly left a tradition of good hospitality among the young guys running the bar.

My favorite thing about eating at cantinas is that you never know what you’re going to get— maybe some black market caracol, maybe some refried beans and stale chips, or maybe some delicious oily yellow potatoes dipped in bottled green habanero salsa. The latter was the case at Salón, my toothpick repeatedly reaching for another bite of salt, warmth, spice and a brief crunch. Apart from botanas, they have a full bar, and two signature drinks: the pink panther (a frothy vodka and grapefruit cocktail) and a pineapple and rum drink. I mostly drank beer.

Salón de la Fama is not a well-kept secret from tourists, but locals come here too. It’s here where I met the people behind the La Salada pop-up, who bring their mezcal, Aguas del Corazon, and a small menu of ceviche, empanadas and tacos to various bars around the city. More on them will follow in another blog post.

Hours: 12 pm until the crowds mellow, but not any later than 2 am. Closed Sunday.

La Giralda
While at Salón de la Fama, Andrea, co-owner of La Salada, invited me to her dad’s bar. La Giralda is a good twenty minutes from the centro, a quiet oasis from the streets that narrow and the heat that thickens as you leave the city’s heart.

It’s been around for 70 years, Andrea’s father Carlos inheriting it from his father. There’s a four person bar, white plastic chairs and tables, and a TV and boombox playing music videos the mute colors of 1980s VHI.

I asked Carlos if it’s changed much. “A little to catch up with the times, but not really,” he said as he pulled out a giant garrafon of mezcal infused with a leafy, emerald-green plant. It’s lemon verbena, and it tinged the air with a medicinal, citrusy scent. That and whiskey were always popular back in the day. He pours it in a house-labeled bottle called “pinche mezcal,” which is refreshingly to the point.

At the start I was given a little plate of salted peanuts, dried chile, and lime. Then a small bowl of caldo de camaron (shrimp soup) with four tiny shrimps on the shell: it was brick red with a rich flavor, the color of the orange bubbles of oil leaping out of the spoon. Very quickly I grew a small collection of michelada, victoria, and mezcal to wash it down. They have regular lunch specials, and La Salada pops up here too (Carlos held their menu like a very proud Dad when I asked to take a picture).

Hours: M-S 12 pm to 10 pm, Sunday 12 pm to 7 pm

Thanks to Oaxacking and Andrea for introducing me to these places.