Azul Histórico - Mexico City, Mexico

Lunch - Sunday, December 30, 2012

Ricardo Muñoz Zurita is a chef, but more importantly, a culinary historian. He has built his reputation on resurrecting traditional recipes from around the country, sourcing the best ingredients from their respective regions (indeed, one could envision him as a parallel movement to Sean Brock's revival of Southern cuisine, but on a national scale). From Azul y Oro on the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he has expanded to two other locations - one in the Condesa, and the newest (Azul Histórico) in the historic center of Mexico City (the menu at all three locations is identical).

This newest space is gorgeous - an open courtyard in the middle of a colonial-style building, shaded by a ceiling of pruned leaves from century-old laurel trees. Wooden tables and chairs, and the colours of nature, lend to an organic feel - an oasis from the chaos of the city outside. On the day we visited, the restaurant happened to be celebrating the Alma Jarocha festival, featuring the cuisine of Veracruz (Muñoz's home state).

Quintonil - Mexico City, Mexico

Lunch - Friday, December 28, 2012

Quintonil opened in the spring of 2012, helmed by the young chef Jorge Vallejo (formerly of Pujol). Of the meals we ate on our recent trip to Mexico City, this one stuck with us above all else. The food struck me as an effortless use of indigenous ingredients, fused with progressive technique - a seamless elevation of Mexican cuisine.

The restaurant, situated in the ritzy Polanco neighbourhood, is charming - plenty of natural light falls upon a combination of indoor and outdoor seating. For this lunch, we found ourselves at Quintonil's kitchen table, a secluded outdoor section separated from the shoebox kitchen by a pane of glass.

NB: Credit goes to this Eater interview of Jorge Vallejo (by Gabe Ulla) for first drawing my attention to Quintonil.

Misión 19 - Tijuana, Mexico

Dinner - Saturday, September 1, 2012

Our first experience with Javier Plascencia's cuisine took place earlier this year on American soil, at an El Take it Easy pop-up dinner. There, he presented a short tasting - five dishes representing five of his restaurants. We were impressed.

So, when the Dining Diva (who is well acquainted with Plascencia) volunteered to organize a trip across the border to Misión 19, we jumped at the opportunity. Our motley crew of 12, which also included my friend gastrobits, were mostly Baja novices - indeed, this was my first visit to Mexico ever (I have groused about various visa issues in previous posts). Meeting at the US-Mexico border, we crossed on foot, and cabbed to the restaurant, a scant 5 minute ride away.