a city sized shade garden
We spent the last three days in Mexico City. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for years, and finally got the chance.
I was astounded by how beautiful it is. I am a plant person through and through, and this is plant city. Because it’s both relatively overcast and not too hot, the whole town is like a giant shade garden, at least where I went.
The camellones (planted street medians) and the banquetas arbolas (sidewalk gardens) explode with life, making a huge concrete jungle feel less oppressive and more lush and wild. The ficus, magnolia, and rubber trees are old and tall - their roots bust up the sidewalks everywhere. They give beautiful filtered shade to the streets.
Every other block, there are parks surrounding monuments with fountains and gardens. This city is old, and so are the buildings. A layer of patina covers almost everything. Corner taquerias, street cafes, fruit stands and boutiques are woven in with a bunch of Michelin-star restaurants and urban residential.
We stayed at a historic hotel in Juarez, very close to both Roma Norte & Condessa. Hotel Geneve was built in 1912 and has hosted Winston Churchill, Charles Lindbergh & Sophia Lauren, to name a few. It had some quirks, but we love that kind of thing. They don't build them like they used to.
Hotel Geneve
Chapultepec Park was within walking distance from the hotel, a vast forested park with 5 different museums, several luchador mask vendors, and bold squirrels. We went to the top of the Ritz Carlton to get a birds-eye of things before heading to Castillo de Chapultepec in the center of the park—another great hilltop view from this castle/museum with floor-to-ceiling stained glass.
Castillo de Chapultepec
We didn’t have a bad meal; it’s a very food-centric city. Med-inspired brunch at Lardo, French at Havre 77, and unreal sweet potato tamales and mushroom ravioli from Rosetta - all pure magic.
Excuse my trash cell phone photography. Trust me, it was the best
Something we noticed is that many large old homes have been converted into boutiques featuring a variety of merchants. These boutiques often feature a mix of products, maybe menswear, jewelry, coffee, kitchenware, and textiles, arranged together across 800 square feet. But it did not feel at all hodgepodge, just interesting and eclectic.
It always helps to have tremendous historic infrastructure—especially Roma & Condessa. No stone mason is carving these today; it is a finite supply. Just needs paint, tacos, or pastries, and you're rolling.
Roma Norte
The entire area we explored feels very much like a city on the rise; there is a palpable pride and momentum everywhere. Buildings being revitalized, new concepts are moving in, film crews shutting down streets, servers smile at you knowingly at how good your mouthful is. Reminds me of 2010 Nashville or 2015 Lisbon. Getting on the map.
If I were trying to extract some lessons from my time here, it would be:
1. Less but better (as my friend Isaac French says). The best taco we had was from a taqueria that sold 1 type of taco. The best coffee we had was from a space that couldn’t have been more than 10x10.
2. Greenery makes everything better. To be enclosed and enveloped in greenery is always refreshing and renewing. Whether it’s streets, parks, homes, medians, or cafes, it’s a cheat code every time. A screening mechanism that protects those on the inside and creates a sense of mystery for those on the outside. Win-win.
