Mexican Worms & WondersOne of the world's most exciting destinations lies literally at our doorstep, and most Americans don't even know it. It is the largest city in the world, it is the oldest city in the Western hemisphere, it is unique in its size; a blend of the colonial old and the futuristic new. It is called Mexico City by the world, or simply Mexico by its residents who are the heart and soul of their nation.
Home to 25 million people, Mexico City is a showplace of 3,000 years of cultural and historic achievement. For a feeling of its heritage, walk down quaint Reforma Avenue; for a look at its modern face, visit the Zona Rosa (Pink Zone)--24 blocks of the finest shops, restaurants, and night spots.
The city's most prestigious hotels, El Presidente Inter-Continental, is 42 spacious floors of pure contentment. By design, it individually caters to both vacation and business travelers. Beautiful after a $15 million remodeling, its rooms are lavishly furnished and accessorized with Mexican art. Amenities are state-of-the-art technologies, most importantly purified water.
Eating takes on a whole new dimension in the Latin south. Every meal means something here--the day built around the rather late and flexible hours most people choose to dine. The only consensus seems to be during power breakfasts when business is conducted.
And nowhere in the city has such an enviable collection of restaurants been established than the Presidente. The Fruita y Flores is a 24-hour cafe serving international and local buffet in a casual setting (in Mexico City, this means well-dressed). La Chimenea is a tastefully elegant Mexican-style dining room offering modern and age-old cuisine mixed with European influences. Young Mexican chef (he's only 32) Victor Teran gets VERY adventurous--he'll even cook up a tasty dish of grasshoppers or cactus worms (the ones you see in tequila bottles)! One of the hotels most delightful places is El Cafe, a quaint European-style restaurant.
Some of the Presidente's most popular restaurants have imported their expertise from other places. The Balmoral Tea Room is an authentic recreation of a typical, upper class British tea room, and even serves clotted cream for their scones. Maxims de Paris, one of only two authentic Maxim's outside of Paris, is an Art Nouveau treasure you can enjoy three meals a day. And if you must have that platter of hearty steak or lobster, you can dine at the famous Palm operated by Monty Smith, hailing from the Chicago Palm.
Wandering around town, we stopped into Wolfgang Puck's Spago for his patented varied, but strange menu. Two other must-sees in town are the Thretron, at the rear of the Auditoro Nacional, which is separated into two surreal areas--the Inferno Bar and Cielo (heaven) Restaurant reached via a colossal Brazilian wood staircase. The restaurant El Candelero looks small outside, but the interior houses a vast recreation of a small turn-of-the-century village similar to a Mexican bordello.
Finally, that beautiful pink Spanish building fitting into the Moorish local architecture is really the Four Seasons Hotel. A fashionably elegant atmosphere awaits from the welcome greetings to the warm good-byes. All of the chic rooms look inward to lush courtyard gardens and a lyrical fountain. El Restaurante, presided over by American chef Glen Eastman, is excellent, marred only by Mexico's tolerance of chain smoking anywhere anytime, even when partaking of a superb meal in a first-class restaurant.
GETTING THERETraveling to Mexico City from almost any American airport is as pleasant as air travel can get. One of the most obliging is AeroMexico, departing non-stop from New York. AeroMexico also boasts luxurious, fully frilled Premier Class accommodations, including the galley. Also leaving from the Big Apple is Mexicana Air, stopping in Cancun with no first-class. After you see Mexico City, inquire about AreoMexico's catalog of specialty tours. Call 800-245-8585.
SI TO SHINING SI ---
Mexico's growth as an international trade and tourist center has ushered in a welcome propensity for sharpened culinary skills. On a showcase tour of the native food and drink, I checked into Mexico City's Inter-Continental Presidente, and while there chose one of their seven restaurants--Alfredos de Roma (one of only four outside Rome), a place for authentic haute Italian cuisine. It proved to be a capital experience.
Next day, I toured the historic center with its 400-year old cathedral, municipal buildings, and opera house. Liberty Market was next--a festive circus of activity where you can buy anything from candy to handicrafts. Flash pesos, not dollars, if it's bargains you desire.
Back to the hotel for a tour of their new wine cellar (25,000 bottles worth more than $1 million U. S.), a collection worthy of Mexico's dedication to fine labels, abutting a substantial stock of outstanding international pressings.
I lunched al fresco in the European-setting of Le Cafe, on a well-constructed Crab Tian appetizer and juicy veal rib-eye, and then visited the farmer's market, an energetic melange of fresh produce and foods at outstanding prices. I returned to the hotel for high tea at Balmoral, their English tea room with delicious pastries, crustless sandwiches and pots of steaming tea. Dinner was at La Chimenea, where authentic Mexican fare is served amid a stucco and Indian-influenced decor. Next morning, breakfast was at Frutas y Flores--a diverse Mexican buffet, with prepared and made-to-order items in sunny surroundings.
Having canvassed Mexico City, I moved on, hopping a plane for Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, in the region of mariachi, tequila, and rodeos. The Inter-Continental Presidente-Guadalajara is a prestige hotel with two notable restaurants--the Arco Iris serving a buffet loaded with luscious, locally grown food. La Morena is an attractive, more formal dining room, further enhanced by a sophisticated menu and gracious service.
A pleasing terminus to my Mexican jaunt, I found Guadalajara to be a lively city with a modest climate, possessing its own historic center and central market-- along with bargain-priced silver and Mexican crafts.
HOW TO GET THERE
The warm Mexican hospitality of Aeromexico, a full-service airline offering non-stop flights to Mexico City, package tours, business traveler programs, and good in-cabin food and service, suited us just fine. For info call (800) AEROMEX.