Gotham Gal

Izote, last dinner in Mexico City

This was our last meal in Mexico City.   The restaurant is on the main street in Poblano in a little strip mall.  That is exactly what the restaurant feels like inside too.  The lighting is terrible, there is zero ambiance and there is just something cold and sterile about the place.  That kind of set the tone.  The chef, Patricia Quintana, is I believe an owner in the restaurant too because her name is on the door. 

The menu is vast, too vast.  In a small place with 19 tables I am not so sure you can really be consistent with each dish when there is a main large menu and then a secondary menu which is pretty big too with their specials.  Makes no sense to me. 

As always the sauces adorn each table.

The basket of bread and chips is was nice touch.  The blue corn chips were really nice...crispy, dense and flavorful.

We split the first round of appetizers.  A guacamole which was super spicy and had a seasoning in there I couldn't pinpoint.  Not a fan.

These small tacos were good.  A corn truffle mixture that had the consistency of a black bean paste.  Although heavy in texture the flavor was mild and light. 

My friend went with the shrimp.  This was quite good.  Sweet, spicy and caramelized. 

I had the chicken.  The menu said steamed and roasted chicken.  I truly had no idea what to expect.  This is how the dish came.  Really beautiful.

This is what is looked like inside.  It just was not that good.  The chicken was overcooked and tasted old.  The sauce was way to heavy handed.  I picked my way through it but really did not eat that much.

It was time to leave the next day.  We basically had amazing food at every turn and this is the only place that I would not return too.  Pretty good stats for a short trip if you ask me. 

Susan Kroll, Rare Culture, Woman Entrepreneur

I am surprised that Susan and I have never crossed paths before.  We worked in the garment world for years almost at the same time.  Her experience with it just made us both laugh as we know it all too well.  I had met someone a few months ago who was working with Susan on her company Rare Culture. I introduced them to a jeweler I know and they hit it off so I figured it was time to meet Susan in person.  So very glad I did. 

Susan started her life in Chicago moving to a suburb of Michigan when she was ten.  She admits that she was a wild child growing up with access to Detroit where she would go to small clubs and see the early musicians of the Motown explosion.  Her passion was fashion.  At 16, Susan worked her way in to Affiliated Models in Detroit never telling them her real age.  She started doing fashion shows for them all over the area and was spotted by Hudson's, a retail store in Detroit, to come and work as their fashion coordinator.  She worked for an amazing woman who was from NYC.  After working there four years, her boss literally made her apply to FIT.  She told Susan, you have to go to NYC and you have to go to FIT...and so she did. 

At FIT, at least then, they give you credit for all the work you have done in your career so in essence she could get a degree without even taking a class because she had so much work experience.  It was became of all that experience that she was still driven by working so she took classes in the evening and worked during the day.  She worked for a company called Rosewood Fabrics.  The best thing that came out of that was she met her husband there.

After graduating, Hudsons begged her to come back.  Her boss wouldn't let her.  She said if you go back to Detroit you will never leave.  Instead Susan goes on an interview on the 42nd floor of the Empire State Building.  She walks in to the room and there is a very large man with a cast up to his hip, sitting at his desk doing card tricks.  She notices that there is a huge hole in the window of the room.  They have a wonderful meeting and he hires Susan on the spot to start on Monday as the supposed assistant designer.  She arrives on Monday to find out that she is the designer.  The designer had been having an affair with the owner and they had gone skiing where he fell down and had this accident, they have a huge fight and she had thrown his crutches and other related shit out the window before Susan got to the interview.  Welcome to the world of shmata. 

Susan stayed there for seven years eventually running the business.  After that she left going into a partnership with two other people to build a bit of a better business than she was in before.  Selling to places like Victoria Secret, Spiegel Catalog and the Limited doing private label.  Things began to go sour in the end for a variety of reasons and those golden handcuffs started to come off.  It was time to leave again.

Another company had been courting Susan and she decided to go work with them.  She ran a division for them for 5 years before they sold out to a publicly traded company.  She was part of the partnership and did not want to sell but everyone else did.  After a year they ran the business into the wall and a year later the publicly traded company went belly up too. Next.

VP of Design for Coldwater Creek.  A great experience running the design team and opening up their brick and mortar businesses from 2004-2007.  Then it was just time to pack it in. 

Susan had spent her career traveling the globe.  Sourcing from Russia, China, India, Turkey and other areas depending on what project.  She would meet these amazing artisans who had no idea how to monetize their businesses.  The world was becoming more homogeneous and she wanted to figure out how to change that.  It was if design was being flat-lined. Her friend who was a photographer was seeing the same thing so they decided to create a coffee table book that would sell the wares of artisans around the world.  It was through this project that she started to think about what she wanted to do next. 

Susan found herself at a party talking to Edie Weiner, a futurist on technology and design, and she loved the concept.  She told Susan that she would be on her advisory board and she had to get other amazing people to get involved  The original idea was a semi-annual coffee table book that was a compilation of photographers, writers and artists.  The concept was that this book would be like going on a journey somewhere.  If you went to India what would you want to see, buy, and read. 

It was late 2008 when they started to talk to people about their business plan and the world imploded.  People were no longer writing checks they wanted to see something built first.  The book was first, the website would be second and the partnerships between retailers would be third.  They took 30 artisans and launched the site in December 2010 very quietly.  They did a small friends and family round showing the product at small events for UJA and the Berkshire Theater Festival. They had great feedback.

Now they are up to 52 artisans in 15 countries.  The platform gives artisans the ability to sell their products globally.  Most of these products are geared towarded a high end market with prices starting at $200 up to thousands of dollars.  Susan is also helping mentor the artists.  She wants to see their worked placed in the right hands including hotels and a like. 

I really like what she has created because RareCulture is something that Susan is passionate about and passion is a big part about being a successful entrepreneur.  She has a great eye for design.  I agree with her that at one point the world starting to become homogeneous.  We are seeing that change through places like MouthFoods and Etsy.  People want to buy things are that are not mass produced and connect with who they are.  Susan has created something special.  Check out RareCulture.  Overtime I expect to see the site grow into an incredible rare global market place. 

Mexico City, Day Four

We started the day walking over to the National Museum of Anthropology which is located right on Chapultepec Park.  The museum is huge.  This picture is taken inside the museum where there is a very large courtyard.  The wooden carving holding up the ceiling defines the museum.  Large tombs, statues and pyramids dating back to B.C.  Each area of the museum is on the ground floor and you enter through a door so you can really pick and choose which area you want to see or if you want to see each one.  We made a quick loop and although I am well aware how amazing everything is in there it just isn't my thing.  

Chapultepec is their Central Park.  We sat outside and grabbed a few rays.  These guys were dressed up in Mexican costume and did a dance around a pole.  Then they proceeded to climb to the top, tie their feet with ropes and twirl around in the circle slowly descending to the ground as they moved.  Bold.

We were starving and headed over to Cafe La Blanca for lunch.  Serious history in this place.  Located downtown and they have pretty much not touched the place since 1915 when they opened.  Even the outfits that the staff wears are the same.  We sat ourselves down at the counter and ordered. 

You must have the cafe con leche.  A large glass of steamed warm milk and a big cup of espresso that they pour in.  Best coffee we have had here so far.

We both got eggs which seemed the thing to do at this hour.  I had scrambled eggs with chorizo.

Their bread basket is overwhelming.  Pretty good.  I particularly loved the croissant hidden underneath.  Total meal $12 for both of us.

We opted against the desserts but this woman and the plate - lemon meringue pie there on the right - defines the place.  A step back in time.

This building is across the street.  Old and quite beautiful.

The oldest church in Mexico City is on this street.  As we walked in there was this food stand.  A variety of chips. 

They put the chips in a large white cup and then pour a bunch of sauces over it including lemon soda.  I have never seen anything like it.  We asked a woman about it later and she said it is one of the best street foods available.  Hmmm.

Here is a picture standing inside the church looking outside.  Ruins basically.

This is inside the church.

I like this picture because it defines Mexico City.  Old, new and crumbling.

Down this street is the Palacio de Belles Artes.  An amazing building outside.  Inside it is a little bit institutional but the key is to go all the way to the top to see the murals.

Wow .Murals outline the entire circumference of this floor.  Diego Riveras are jaw dropping. A must to see.

The rest of the day we devoted to art galleries.  This has been a serious art trip.  First stop this afternoon was Yautepec Gallery.  Contemporary young artists.  This installation was from the artist Txema Novela devoted to music.  This is an ode to David Bowie's "let's dance".

Next was Galeria Hilario Galguera.  We loved this gallery.  A family owned business.  Uncle and nephew.  The nephew runs the gallery and he was an absolute delight.  The space is large, open and airy upstairs with a variety of rooms downstairs for an office.  Downstairs they have a lot of different art hanging of all the different artists they represent.  The show that was up was from the artist Guillermo Lorca.  Gorgeous paintings that almost felt like one of the Masters had painted them.  Young guy too, 27. 

We spent some time looking through the back rooms.  On one of the walls was a piece from Benjamin Torres who happened to be in the gallery.  He had taken pieces of confetti and separated them by color, then made these small little pieces and glued them into a grid by color way counting how many of each.  There is something very methodical and beautiful about this piece.  I bought it!

Next stop was Arroniz-Arte.  The mother had started this gallery years ago helping young artists move up in their careers, then her son realized how much he loved the business and joined her garnering his own group of artists. So they have really two sets of artists, more seasoned and slowly emerging.  They were lovely people.  They were in a middle of an installation but we called in advance and they took out a bucnh of work for us to see.  This was a piece they rarely show of the artist Jan Hendrix.  I bought a piece of his earlier in the week.  Every time I turned around I loved this piece more and more.  Now we are figuring out how to shp it back.  The piece is made of enamel baked on like car paint.  The picture does not do it justice.

I liked this work too.  The artist is Moris.  He takes old flea market paintings and cuts out everything but the sky. We did stop by one more gallery but they were in the midst of an installation, literally.  It was the TalCual gallery.  The artist was there and so we did get to hear about his major piece which is always the best.  We can return next time.

It was time to finally try Mezcal.  Stopped in a store to pick up something near our hotel and then went into the bar next door.  Mezcal tastes a bit like Scotch.  Layered and smoky.  They serve it with sliced oranges covered with a chili salty pepper.  Quite good.

This bar is awesome looking.  The mixture of suitcases under the bar reminded me of an installation we saw at the Maxxi Museum in Rome which I still have in my head.  

Next stop, rest and relaxation before dinner. 

 

Restaurant Pujol

Restaurant Pujol is supposedly the best place in Mexico City to eat right now.  There is a ordering menu as well as two tasting menu options.  We opted to just pick from the menu.  The service is incredible and nobody really speaks English so keep that in mind.  There is not an English menu either.  The restaurant is simple understated yet elegant. 

We had a few drinks to start.  I had just a tequila but my friend had a margarita of fresh lime juice that she declared might have been the best margarita she has ever had period.  The signature dish that comes to each table from the chef is served in this wooden coconut.  Inside are two pieces of small corn that are doused with a creamy coffee mixture that is off the charts. 

The corn is just picked up and eaten with your hands.  A unique taste of Mexico.

The bread came with two different types of butter.  One was much saltier than the other.  Since the language barrier nobody bothered to tell us the difference.

This was clever.  A small hot stone that keeps your bread warm.  Nice touch.

My friend started with the mushroom tamale.  Once they brought over the dish they just took a black pepper seasoning and sprinkled it over the top.  Roasted in a black bean sauce and some type of cheese sauce over the top.  A unique tamale.

I had the avocado.  Thinly sliced avocado stuffed with small shrimps and pieces of octopus rolled up served with a cilantro sauce.  Not only is the presentation beautiful it was delicious.  The workmanship is obvious.  Unique.

For a main course my friend had the sea bass.  It was sweet and served with a pineapple cream on the side.

I finally went for the mole.  Small round pieces of turkey, roasted plaintains and a parsnip puree coated with a rich chocolate mole sauce.  The sauce was really layered in flavor but wasn't as intense as it looks. 

I loved how they served the tortillas in this pouch to keep them warm. 

For dessert we split a chocolate cake with popcorn ice cream and a cream.  Didn't love this.  I have yet to find a Mexican dessert that I am loving. 

Didn't really love these treats either.

Loved the restaurant.  Absolute treat.  Nothing was heavy or fancy.  Everything was just simple yet had so many layers of flavors and thought put into the dish.  Why can't we get Mexican food this good in NYC?

Speech at WEF

For anyone who wasn't at the Womens Entrepreneur Festival, here is the speech that I gave to kick off the festival.

 

WE Festival Kickoff from ITP on Vimeo.

Mexico City, Day Three

We had a serious day.  We ordered up coffee and a fruit plate for the room before starting off on the day. It is truly fantastic when you call for the coffee and they say "uno momento" and it literally is. 

We are going decadent and had a drive take us over to Merced Market.  The first thing the driver says to us when we get in the car and I tell him where we are going he says "oh no, that is very dangerous for you."  My friend was not thrilled with that one. I told the driver, that is where we are going and it is fine....and it was.  Just driving there was amazing.  This huge street filled with tons of vendors selling goods galore.  We finally got to the market place and found out way through the Market Flore.  Flowers everywhere.  These ones are fake but bright.

We went in deep finally finding the vegetables and fruits.  Wow.  Just wall to wall vegetable and fruit stands.  Not sure what this fruit is but it is certainly beautiful.

Check out these chilis.  I bought some dried chilis and a dried mixture of verde mole.  Smells amazing.

Luscious herbs.

They were so nice at this stand.  One of the guys spoke English and was happy to help.  He had me taste the black mole paste.  It was sweet, spicy and just amazing.  I wish I could figure how to get that home.  Unbelievable.

Potatoes?

I loved pinatas when I was a kid and definitely had them at our kids bday parties when they were young.  Loved how HUGE these were.

Then we stumbled upon the cooked food area.  This big soup was everywhere. 

Every stall had an oversized grill.  They were making us a squash blossom quesadilla with salsa verde for us.  Delicious.

All the tables are set with a table cloth and fixings.  Communal dining going on everywhere.  It almost feels like a long tailgate party.

I saw a lot of these round stuffed savory pastries.  I had this one.  They split it in half and then fill it with fillings.  I went for mushrooms.  Really good.

Then we stumbled into the candy area.  It makes Economy Candy in NYC look like a lightweight.  All the fillings for the pinatas!

There were plastics bags filled with cheetos, chips and even fruit loops that were almost 5 feet tall.  Blows Cosco away.

This isn't a great pic but to give you an idea of the stalls.  This random food stall where they were making food had the table stuck in the middle and people were just hanging out eating.  You can get lost in this place.

Next stop was Frido Kahlo museum.  Such a gorgeous spot.  The blue walls.  Inside there are a bunch of pieces by Kahlo and family pics and of course her history.  A must go.

These little statues were hanging out in a corner.

We went around the neighborhood over to the Leon Trotsky house which is still in its original state.  Trotsky came to Mexico City after being pursued by Stalins crew.  He hung out with Kahlo and Rivera.  This was his kitchen.  He grew catcus and raised chickens on the premises too. 

In the Trotsky museum there was a small gallery.  I really liked these statues. 

This is the main area of the Coyoacan neighborhood where the Kahlo and Trotsky museums are located.  We poked our head in the church where a sermon was going on.

The squares in this area are just beautiful.  We strolled around.

This corner restaurant just looked good.  Lots of locals eating here.  We took a look and took a seat.  It appeared to be a family restaurant.  Also felt like something back in time.  Some people brought tupperware to fill up on the days wares to bring home for the family. 

We had cheese stuffed tamale baked in a light crust and then served in red black bean sauce.  Beautifully prepared.  Really good.

This dish was meatballs with a red sauce and a chopped kale salad.  Like home cooking.  Total cost $5 for both.  We loved this place.

Made our way over to the OMR gallery.  They took us in the back to look at all of the Mexican artists that they represented.  Nothing really grabbed us but this is a gallery worth seeing.  Most of their artists are well along in their careers.

We checked out the Garash Galeria.  The show was the artist Xavier Rodriguez.  He is young and funny.  I thought this was hilarious just didn't know where I'd put it.

This was another piece.  I did think about bringing this home too.  Lots of golf references in this show.

Downstairs from the gallery is a store called Chic by Accident.  Gotta love the name.  A mixture of everything for the home from fabrics to vases to chairs to lighting.  A real eclectic store.  These were from 1960.  Not sure how I would get them home.

Came back to our neighborhood and stopped in Tane out of sheer curiosity.  They make silver objects and jewelry. Wandered a little bit around and stopped in a leather store and a tart store.  Beautiful tarte tartin.  Stopped in the grocery store to see if we could find the tequila that I drank last night.  Instead we picked up a huge papaya split in half for a snack.  $1.

Back to the hotel for a little rest before dins.  This was in our room when we got there.  Nice touch.

 

 

Azul Condessa

Azul Condessa and Azul Y Oro are two restaurants of the same.  The chef, Richard Munoz Zurita started with Azul Y Oro that was located inside the Universite.  He then opened Azul Condessa with the same menu yet in a different location with longer hours.  I would have loved to go to the original for lunch but it wasn't in the cards.

The menu is divided into a few categories.  Specialties of the house, what is on the menu and a monthly festival menu.  The festival menu last night was stuffed chiles.  Lots of vegetarian options.  Just a really Mexican food with the right balance of spices. 

I had a tequila to start.  Maestro Reposada.  So good and smooth.  We split a few appetizers.  Squash blossom tamale in a red sauce and a few dots of goat cheese.  There was an amazing red spicy sauce on the table if you wanted to heat up the dish.  The tamale was almost thick like a meatball.  Really interesting flavors.

The ceviche was a combination of seafood in a liquidy avocado sauce.

Excellent guacamole and the chips were probably made about 10 minutes before they served them to us.

For a main I had the pulled pork.  A tad spicy and lots of flavor served with blue tortillas, black beans and of course salsa.  Delicious.  A speciality of the house.

The fish was beautifully served.  Roasted white fish with a nice spicy sauce on top almost like tamarind, sliced avocados over the top and fresh chopped salsa. 

Just really well done food.  I felt like we were eating at someones home who just was a super good cook.  Worth going to. 

Mexico City, Day Two

After a leisurely morning at the hotel we headed out to Casa Luis Barragan.  His home is a UNESCO site.  A modernist, an engineer and a man obsessed with light.  The place is absolutely worth going to and you need a reservation.  The hanging stairs, the Mexican colors, the large glass windows and nothing is perfectly placed.  There is one room with a tiny window at the base of the floor while other windows butt up against a wall.  A unique home where you can see where many other modern architects got their ideas. FYI..no pics except on the terrace/roof which had these incredibly tall walls so nobody can see you in there.  You can an idea of the concrete fabric of every wall in the house from this photo and the mixture of colors. 

Next stop was GAM, Galeria de Arte Mexicano. This was the first established place to ever represent artists in Mexico City hence the first gallery.  The building is absolutely magnificent.  They carry a variety of artists.  They were in between exhibits so there was alot of art just hanging and wrapped. 

I bought this fantastic metal piece by the artist Jan Hendrix.  I got the one with the four flowers. Really loved this place and would go back again.  Super nice people. 

We left this area and went over to the Condessa neighborhood.  Although a lot is written about this neighborhood it is very spread out and mostly residential.  Not worth walking around but definitely worth eating at Contramar.  The place was packed for lunch so make a reservation. Nice vibe and an airy feel. 

We started off with two glasses of sangria.  Yum.

This comes on each table.  Nice spice to add to anything. 

Tuna tostados and octopus tostados.  The octopus was chopped up like a salad and placed on the tortilla.  The tuna was out of this world.  Sliced rare tuna with a hint of lime juice, sliced avocado and crispy fried leeks on top.  I could eat those tuna tostadas every day. 

Shrimp salad was quite good too.  Grilled baby shrimp over a salad of arugula, orange segments and more avocado. 

They brought over the dessert platter.  I truly just wanted a fork so I could take a bite of each.  We opted for the mango.  Kind of funny how in the midst of all those desserts there was one mango too.

The mango might have been the best mango I have ever had.  Seriously ripe and juicy.

After lunch we went over to the store Common People.  A concept shop that is three stories tall.  We each bought these funky dolls made out of paper mache to sit on a book shelf.  The store is funky.  Lots of jewelry and edgy in this kind of dark way.  Worth checking out.

This was the piece on the wall when you leave.  A Swakorski crystal needle with black chairs hanging over it.  Wild.

We went back over to the Patricia Conde Gallery to buy the piece we saw yesterday.  My friend bought it.  Then there was a new piece that just called out to me so I bought it.  This young girl is standing in front of a painting in a closed down history museum.  The animals are stuffed.  It is as if time has stood still.  I love the mystery of the piece and the little girl is so beautiful and haunting and very Mexican.  Hard to see with the light coming in the gallery and the camera.

Strolled around the area.  Saw this very cool wood table.  The whole store had a bunch of stuff made from local artisans.  Looking into shipping this table back. 

We then checked out two other galleries.  Oscar Roman which was a mish mash of stuff and art everywhere.  Kind of hard to even get a feel for what they are showing.  The other one was Juan Martin.  Didn't love the exhibit they had but a nice gallery.  The piece is above.

Then we wandered into another gallery which was under major construction.  This piece was pretty interesting. 
 

All and all...a great day. 

Dulce Patria

Last night we had dinner at Dulce Patria.  The restaurant is located right around the corner from the hotel we are staying at even though it is part of the hotel.  Kind of nice how they do that.   I apologize for the photos in advance.  The lighting in there was strange.  The decor was basically white and red and for some reason the lighting had this red hue.  The place was packed and the food coming out of the kitchen was beautiful.

We began with a classic margarita.  They had a bunch of different variations but we went with the classic.  Beautiful presentation too.  Edible flower.

We split everything.  This was corn kites with a tuna ceviche.  The tuna was mixed with spicy peppers and lime juice served over tiny tortilla chips.  Really nice.

The salmon had the same concept but was mixed with a spicy mayo.  Light and good.

Grilled red and green tomatoes topped with the Oaxaca cheese ( which is like a mozzarella ) melted and a very sweet balsamic glaze dripped over the top.   Parmesan cracker for dipping.   I liked this.  Not what I expected when the menu said grilled green and red tomato salad. 

It was time for another drink.  This is called sangrita.  They serve tequila straight with shooters on the side.  Spicy tomato, borscht and something like a verde salsa.  Truth is I like my tequila straight but I appreciate the concept.

For our main course we split the red snapper.  Simple poached with a spicy red tomato sauce with Mexican spices. I like how they took off the skin and then flash fried it and used it as part of the look.

We passed on dessert but they served us this tiny house with little treats on each shelf.  Nothing rocked my boat but loved the concept.

Worth going to.  The food is tasty yet simple and a real nod to creativity.  Again, so sorry about the lousy pics. 

Mexico City, Day one

I am in Mexico City with my very best friend celebrating her birthday.  Why Mexico City?  A few reasons.  Warmth, Art, Food, Culture and we have both wanted to go for many years.  You certainly need to be relatively aware of where you are and what you are doing but Rio is the same and NYC used to be much more so. 

We are staying at Las Alcobas.  Great hotel in the perfect location.  Any area you can stroll around and is right off the park.  Simple modern rooms.  Also a great restaurant, Dulce Patria that we are going to tonight. 

We walked around the corner for lunch and had ate Urbana.  Loved this.  Cucumber water.  Like being at a spa. 

Grilled shrimp with this sweet sauce with pieces of pineapple.  The rice was amazing.  Tasted like cilantro for those of you who like cilantro.  I do.

Split the grilled asparagus wrapped in an Oaxaca cheese that was just baked to perfect over a mixture of sauces.

Took a stroll through the neighborhood.  The architecture is pretty cool.  We walked into this building and this was the ceiling of the foyer.

Benessere is a concept shop.  Really put together well.  Clothes, furnishings, soaps, tea...you name it.

The building around the corner had a chocolate shop, a Japanese restaurant, an outdoor bar, a clothing store and a furniture store.  Architecturally just awesome.  An old building redone in a modern style. Check out this floor when you walk into the building.  All glass.

This is part of the building too.  Saw this from outside. 

The chocolate store, Fuga was there too.  Loved these tiny little chocolates.  They look like tiny cupcakes but they are made of chocolate. The sign inside said...chocolate doesn't make the world go round but it makes the ride worthwhile.  So true.

Stopped in this cute store that carried work from local artisans.  Food too.  Arte Indigena Contemporane

Kept walking and ended up in a gallery.  A photography gallery, Patricia Conde Galleria.  Loved this piece.  One of us is going to buy it.  They took us in the back and showed us everything they carried.  It was really interesting seeing all the Mexican photographers they carried.  Most of the work didn't resonate with me but was interesting their look on life in Mexico.

Back to the hotel for some r and r before dins...