Mexico City Black Book
An extensive, highly specific, super edited list from our CDMX friends to help you (and us!) navigate this sprawling, exciting, always evolving city
It’s the time of year when we want to give you our version of a holiday gift—a Black Book you’ve been asking for! Last year we did NYC, but Mexico City might be the most intimidating Black Book we’ve tackled so far. First—the size (573 square miles!! bigger than NYC and LA). And then the fact that most of us who are visiting it are probably spending a week max, and many much less—pairing it with a trip somewhere else within the country. We’ve literally received a Mexico City List that was circulating in our friend group that was 40+ pages long. Which, if you were moving there for a while, would be great—but for most of us…it’s just too overwhelming.
So what we wanted to do with our list is to ask our friends who live there, or lived there recently, what their very specific favorites are–taking into account that most people are going to have max 7 lunches and 7 dinners…and 7 cocktail hours. “It’s very hard to see all of Mexico City in a short time. Between the traffic and long lunches, it’s very ambitious to visit every gallery, museum or site if you only have a few days,” said my friend Karla Martinez de Salas, who I used to work with at Condé Nast and who moved to Mexico to be the editor in chief of Vogue Mexico. While we broke the list into categories like we always do, and neighborhoods within that (roughly north to south, as accurately as we could figure!), I loved that Karla offered a game plan, breaking down how to group things together in such a doable way. She writes:
“One of my favorite things to do is start the day early and have a good breakfast. I recommend Expendio Maíz, which isn’t very touristy and has delicious tortillas, all handmade and with non refined corn. Or you could go to another classic, El Cardenal—on Palmas (like a local), or downtown. They have the best bolillos (Mexican style rolls) and nata (clotted cream). You can either have them alone or as designer Jonathan Cohen’s mom has them, with salsa verde. Head to Luis Barragán Studio and House and walk around San Miguel Chapultepec, where you can visit the best art galleries in Mexico—LABOR, Kurimanzutto, RGR, Taller 36 (a ceramic gallery) and pick gifts up at Expendio Doméstico. For lunch, try one of Mexico's most famous cantinas—Cantina del Bosque; order the potato quesadillas and the baked fish. If you manage to keep lunch under 2 hours, finish your gallery hopping at OMR and Marianne Ibrahim.
Another great day would start at Arca Tierra’s sunrise breakfast in Xochimilco. Head over to the Anahuacali museum, where you can see Diego Rivera’s impressive collection of Pre Columbian artifacts. Have lunch at San Ángel Inn and order the classic margarita. It’s the best in the city! Stay and enjoy the beautiful garden and walk around San Angel to Diego and Frida’s studio across the street. Take a nap and have dinner at EM—Lucho Martinez’ delicious bistro of Mexican dishes with a European touch.”
We could end there—it’s so nice to have a three-day prescription like that. But we know how important it is to have options, so we asked all the people whose intel we crave—from winemakers to chefs to designers to photographers to hoteliers—and we’re so excited about this list. And if you do want to use Mexico City as a jumping off point, have a look back at our Costa Meno Mexico list of beach hotels here.
This is our last post of the year—we’re going to take a couple weeks off to travel and plan for next year (exciting things coming including…a real functioning website!). We’re so grateful to our amazing Yolo community for your support! Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday.
—Yolanda, Alex, Carly, and Linda
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
April Valencia is a cook, photographer and founder of Masa Memory, a kitchen based in Los Angeles that honors family food traditions and Mexican culinary heritage.
Amanda Blakley is a constant tourist, travel writer & trip curator, raising two boys in Southern California. With such proximity to Mexico and family south of the border, Mexico City has become her spiritual home for almost two decades.
Carlos Huber is a Mexico City native and the founder of Arquiste, a boutique fragrance brand that draws on his expertise in architectural history and inspiration from his travels around the globe.
Eduardo Plaschinski is co-founder of niddo in Mexico City. He spends a good amount of his time traveling throughout Mexico to try new hotels and restaurants.
Elizabeth Daniels is an architectural and travel photographer based in LA whose work has appeared in AD, The New York Times, and Condé Nast Traveler.
Eugenia Gonzalez is a Berlin-based freelance writer for Vogue México & Latinoamérica, who last wrote about Marseille for Yolo.
Karla Martinez de Salas is the editor-in-chief of Vogue Mexico and Latin America.
Marc Kosberg was born and raised in Mexico City, and is now a travel curator and bon-vivant specializing in authentic experiences. He provides his clients with special access to the best properties and deep insight on the best addresses.
Molly Zaidman is a portrait and travel photographer who spent the past two years living in Mexico City. Recently, she started an online print store with a selection of travel images.
Nils Bernstein is a food, drink, and travel writer based in Mexico City and food editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine, whose multi-page doc of deeply researched favorites in CDMX is passed along among friends like a well-guarded secret. He’s the co-author of Made in Mexico (Rizzoli, 2019) and, most recently, The Joy of Oysters (Artisan, 2023).
Olivia Lopez is a frequent flier based between Los Angeles and New York. She is the host of The Art of Travel podcast and founder of Bon Weekender, a full-service creative studio.
Rafael Micha is a founding and managing partner at Grupo Habita, the design-centric Mexican hospitality company whose latest venture is OTRO Oaxaca in Oaxaca City.
Rafael Shin is the founder of Agua Magica Mezcal, a mezcal project with the mission of redefining mezcal as a fine spirit and developing independent producers in the region of San Juan del Rio. He was born in Seoul, grew up in Mexico City, and currently lives between NY and Oaxaca.
Rodman Primack is design-world royalty—he runs the textile and interiors studio RP Miller, and together with his partner, Rudy Weissenberg, co-founded AGO Projects gallery in Mexico City, where they live part-time.
Rosa Cienfuegos is a Mexican-born, Sydney-based chef and author. Her new book, CDMX: The Food of Mexico City, was just published by Smith Street Books (from which her recommendations are adapted). It’s a celebration of the dishes that Rosa grew up eating and now recreates in her two Sydney restaurants: Tamaleria and Icatate.
Sam Youkilis is a photographer and filmmaker known for his captivating videos of people and street scenes around the world. His first book of still photography, Somewhere, traces the arc of a day across the planet.
Veronica Ortuño, a vibrant artist and designer, blends her Mexican heritage, travel, thrift store finds, music and fashion to create an elegant and kaleidoscopic vision. As the owner of Casa Veronica and Las Cruxes, she has a remarkable appreciation for the unexpectedly beautiful.
Xavier Cervantes is the proprietor of Cervantes Family Vineyards and lives in Napa Valley, but he keeps a pied-à-terre in Mexico City to keep enjoying family, friends, culture and its wonderful gastronomy.