Waking up to Birdsong at 530am (Colonia Del Valle Centro, CDMX)

I usually wake up around 6 or 615 when the dog scratches my face reminding me it's time for her insulin. Today I got up at 530 for some reason and noticed how loud the birds were. There are birds at 630, too, but it's much more subdued. I *think* this is an every day occurrence that I usually miss because I sleep with earplugs, but I'm not sure. Rainy season also started in recent days, with a decent storm last night. Maybe that heightens activity? Anyway, welcome to our urban jungle.

Slice of Life in la CDMX: Soft Pretzels from De Encuentro (Del Valle)

De Encuentro is a place around the corner from us where we get our weekly loaf of fancy toastin' bread. It's located along the way between our condo and the grocery, so Judy passes it multple times each week. Usually it's busy with people on their laptops, chatting over coffee, hanging out with their dogs, etc. A solid little neighborhood cafe.

Most people seem to like it, including Daniela

Recently Judy noticed they had a new product offering: soft pretzels. Last week or maybe the week before we got one and I agreed it was indeed soft and tasty. Today we decided we were gonna get ourselves more pretzels. However, when we stepped up to the counter we saw a display case with zero pretzels.

Those dark loaves in the plastic bags are the fancy toastin' bread we get

They said they'd be coming later, so we asked if they could set a few aside for us and send us a whatsapp when they came in. De acuerdo.

Judy negotiating the contact details

I took a couple pics of the unusually empty little tables outside.

A little later they messaged us and we went to fetch the pretzels. 4 for $148 MXN.

The end.

Slice of life in la CDMX: Sunday errands in Coyoacán & a Quick Review of Maratea (CDMX)

Been a little while since I posted about local life here in la CDMX. This past Sunday was a nice little outing with the wife. Had some good weather and some things to do, so we headed to Coyoacán. We lived in the Del Carmen / Santa Catarina colonias of Coyoacán between 2017 and 2022. Judy gets back at least once a month I think for errands. And I pass through there every couple of weeks on my errands as well. For a while walking through the center was an every weekend activity. But we don't head there together as often now, so it was nice to get out there for afternoon.

Coyoacán is generally great and charming, of course. But one of the things that Judy misses is the top notch La Comer that we had in the neighborhood. And one of Judy's favorites times of the year here is Temporada Naranja. As I recall it first hit our radar 8, 9, maybe 10 years ago when it was a sale that ran in June with many things offered 2 for 1 or maybe 3 for 2. Specifically I recall giant costco-sized packages of toilet paper stacked to the ceiling in our old market over in Del Valle Sur (formerly La Comer, now a Soriana). Over the years it has grown into a monster promotion that spans multiple months with waves of promotions and huge displays at the grocery.

(Correction: a little googling reminds me it was originally "Julio Regalado", which of course ran in Julio)

We do have a local Sumesa within walking distance of our condo, but since we had other things to do in Coyoacán anyway, we stopped by our old favorite grocery store for a shopping run. This foto below is not staged. Judy was indeed taking a pic of the sign to share her excitement with local friends.

We had a productive run, savoring a full lap of both levels. I noticed the the Cafe Britt coffee and took a shot as a benchmark, since I'll be in Costa Rica next month. I'm curious to see what kind of premium they charge here in México.

We stocked up on various things, including our staple Peñafiel and some non-Britt coffee, which should last me a few weeks.

From there we parked the car on our old street and walked into the center of Coyoacán, heading toward the Mercado, but stopping first for lunch at Maratea.

Judy had been before with friends, but it was my first time. It's nice. Feels a bit like an oasis from all the activity outside on a busy Sunday (aka, a typical Sunday) in Coyoacán. That's a common phenomenon in la CDMX. You can't always see beyond the facade of a place, whether it's a house or a restaurant or even a Notaria. But then you step into a courtyard and a whole other experience from what you were just walking through on the other side of the walls.

It was a relaxed, traditional Sunday lunch with family and friends kind of vibe. Orange trees, water feature, garden pebbles. Very tranquil.

We got a margherita pizza and their version of a caprese salad.

Solid and hit the spot. Their reviews are semi mixed, but we had at least a 4.5 star experience. Pizza, caprese, Topo Chico, una naranjada, and a double espresso for about $650 MXN pre-tip.

During our walk over to the Mercado we passed by the Jardin del Arte Allende where they are still having their weekend dance gatherings.

Stopped by the stand of a contact Judy buys decorative tiles from. She'll be restocking her shelves in Paskwarho with them this coming weekend.

Our final stop was over at Viveros, or, more specifically, within the Mercado de Plantas, where every 2-3 weeks we pick up another 3-4 linear meters of pasto cuernavaca for our balcony (aka, el jardin de perros, aka, our version of an outdoor litter box for the hounds). It's a little bit of a trek and not a small amount of effort, but it's always a nice garden-y vibe there.

Quick Review: 100 Pesos Burger (Del Valle Norte, CDMX)

In the 4 years we have been living in Del Valle Centro this is at least the 3rd incarnation of the location @ Pedro Romero de Terreros and Avenida Coyoacán. First I recall was an Italian / Pizza place that wasn't bad. Then it became a kids clothing store that might also have sold ice cream. Now it's 100 Pesos Burger. Storefront got my attention while under construction as I was walking by what feels like just a couple weeks ago, but I see it already has ~100 reviews.

We reviewed the menu, placed our order, and grabbed a table outside.

Menu is pretty simple.

Do you want a 100g sencilla for 100 pesos or a 200g doble for 150 pesos?

Do you want the default, which is that it comes with everything?

Everything includes ...
Papatinas (potato sticks ... is this becoming a thing? Saw this on the Burger King menu in Lima, but as papas al hilo. Ordered by accident thinking it might be Peruvian spanish for papas a la francesa. Disappointing.)
Jalapeños
Pepinillos
Cebolla
Aderezo
Mostaza
Ketchup
Queso

Maybe a side of papas a la francesa (clearly labeled)?

Do you want one of the 3 aguas de sabores (Fresa, Limon, Chia ... I think?), or a Carta Blanca? All beverages were 50 pesos if I recall correctly. Saw a lot of tables with Carta Blancas on them. Kinda hipster, akin to Mexico's answer to PBR. Don't get me wrong, great value mainstream economy beer that I was enjoying regularly a few years ago. But it's a hipster choice.

Then go wait for your burger. Noticed that the crowd was young and ostensibly cool. The coolification of Del Valle continues apace.

Service was friendly an very much on top of things. Got our order pretty quick. We both went for the dobles.

Para tomar I got the agua limón, Judy went for fresa. Both decent. By comparison, though, the pepino agua we got Sunday at Judy's favorite shrimp taco joint was superior (and 10 pesos less).

I went with everything except the potato sticks. Get outta here with that. They also had a bit of a pepper bar inside, featuring more pickles and jalapeños if you need them. Standard pickle and pepper load turned out to be sufficient.

Burger was tasty. One thing I wouldn't do next time is use the 'salsa de pimienta' (literally, pepper sauce). Wasn't terrible, but I over applied it. Might BYO some hot sauce next time. Or see if I could get extra onions. But it was good.

All told the tab was $450. Two dobles @ $150 c/u. Two aguas @ 50 c/u. And the side of fries for another $50. Fries were pretty great, actually. Crispy, airy, not oily.

Quick Review: LunCHBeria (Colonia Del Valle, CDMX)

We often walk the stretch of Pedro Romero de Terreros between Providencia and Mier y Pesado. The Mercado is over there. My gym is around the corner on Avenida Coyoacán. Judy is at the Sumesa on Mier y Pesado legit 5x/week. But we rarely think to stop and eat at one of the spots lining the south side of the street. We did try Ihui once (it was just okay). Looks now like Ihui might be getting squeezed out by the new place Corteza (which we passed on yesterday as it seemed more like a cafe and was kinda dead vibes). Strolling without any specific destination in mind, we stopped in front of LunCHBeria and the menu got our attention. (See it on Rappi.) An Italian Beef sandwich inspired by the Bear. A breakfast bacon maple sandwich that sounded pretty good. We were intrigued, so we sat down.

Interior seemed friendly / inviting. Though I'd have to try out those bar stools. Think I'd prefer a stool I can move around.

I noticed on their menu they had a big selection of craft beer, a few of which were highlighted on their chalkboard hyping up tomorrow's NFL action.

Chill, local vibes eating on the banqueta.

Judy got the Italian Beef sandwich. I went with la hamburguesa goat. Her papas al romero were great. She liked the sandwich and would get it again, but wished it had a broth to dip it into, like a French dip I guess. My burger was decent. I'd try the clásica if we go back. And I'd skip the pure de camote. Usually that's a lock, but there was almost a licorice-esque note to it that I was not digging.

Net: love the concept and the ambition. Service was super friendly. Next time we'll stop by on a Sunday to watch a little football with one of their craft beers.

Quick Review: Chick In (Del Valle Centro, CDMX)

A few weeks ago we ventured out to find a place called 'Chick It' that Judy thought she saw near our place. That turned into a trip to HM Hamburguesas. Yesterday we were walking around on Insurgentes for some reason that currently escapes me and we walked past Chickin, recently opened. So recently opened that they didn't have any furniture. Or customers. Or a location in Google Maps. So I'll link to the Condesa location here as reference. Can't find any trace of them online besides this modest instagram account.

We had already eaten lunch, so we noted the opening and decided to come back today. Still pretty empty this afternoon, but at least they had a few tables brought in. ALL the signs in english. I think the menu was all in english, too, which is a little weird. It's common to see the occasional bit of english sprinkled into some advertising, especially with some aspirational car billboards and whatnot. But a chicken sandwich joint?

The vibe was like a Food Network show pop-up restaurant competition that wasn't quite ready for service.

They had a promo going. Standard Chickin sandwich, fries, and a drink (can, no soda fountain), for $119MXN. We got two.

Pretty solid. They maybe make them to order. Took about 7-8 minutes and we were literally the only people there. Sandwich was hot and tasty. Fries were also fresh. Maybe a bit over-seasoned for me. Like the fact that they are generous with the salsas (2 per order).

Hot honey was a good call on the sandwich. Should have gotten something else for the fries. But I will make use of the chipotle habanero with my breakfast tacos.

Verdict: pretty good. Next time I'll just go with the sandwich.

A nice and productive Friday

After some delays thanks to IKEA's shit customer service, yesterday was the day we could change out the display shelves at our shop in San Ángel.

We have had these shelves along our long wall for maybe 3 years now.

And they were okay. Solid, clean, well-lit. But earlier this year one of our neighbors in the Bazar put up a huge table in the middle of our room and having to navigate around that has impacted people's sightlines toward our display. With our old display you couldn't really see down or off to the periphery as everything was blocked by wooden shelves or the sides of each unit. So the idea was to get something more open. Glass shelves. No solid sides.

Step one was ordering them from IKEA. Step two was having to drive out to IKEA to clean up the 40% of the order they couldn't manage to properly deliver. Step three was getting a day sorted with Daniel to transport them over to the shop and set everything up. (Side note on Daniel: We met him as the handyman who managed the house we rented here 2015-2017. Ever since then he's been our go-to guy for a variety of projects. Lucha and Mia, our dogs, have known him since they were puppies and still get very excited when he comes to work on something at the apartment).

So things lined up for Friday, August 15th. Daniel got the shelves secured to his car and we were off into Friday traffic in la CDMX.

(Side note about this Burger King. I remember many times driving home on the upper level in this part of the city. You cruise through an aroma wave of french fries and whoppers.)

After getting everything off the old shevles and cleaning up a few years of dust balls, we got the new shelves set up.

In that middle section that has an opening the idea is to custom order a typical Michoacán shelving unit like the one we have in out kitchen:

But we will have it painted yellow to complement the end pieces of the shelving unit.

I thought the lights we had in the old shelves could be re-purposed. But I didn't realize they were actually too long to install in the new shelves. So we have a temporary situation where the new shelves will be a bit dim until I can track down an appropriate lighting solution. But I'm happy with the new direction.

All that done by about 2pm or so, I enjoyed a Friday afternoon nap with the hounds followed by a quick visit to the gym before meeting some friends for dinner. Coincidentally, we met these friends when they were shopping in San Ángel a few years ago and stopped in our shop.

We picked Sapore d'Italia, which I have passed by and wondered about a number of times.

It is down the street from La Parillita, which we've had a couple of nice meals at. Down the street in the other direction is Ocehntaocho Cemitas, which we have enjoyed more than others apparently, given its 3.9 rating (won't stop us from another visit when we want a cemita).

The restaurant was bigger than I expected, with a split dining room. It felt charming. We all agreed it felt a bit like a neighborhood place you could find in the US. They had a full house. And the service was friendly, as noted repeatedly among the nearly 3000 reviews they have (impressive given its lowish-profile neighborhood location). Our collective verdict was it was okay. A nice setting for a meal and to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in a few months. But I don't think anyone was overly impressed with their meal. Judy and I would go back and try a pizza another time. Glad we went, but it is not being added to our must-go list or regular rotation.