Category: Mexico

Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Restaurant Alphabet Vol. II from Le to Tacos

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Above: Guava mole with shrimp and battered cauliflower at Levadura de Olla

Thalía Barrios Garcia is young, 27 years old, yet she has worked her way from a small Oaxacan village to own two widely acclaimed restaurants in the historic center of the state capital. One, Cocina de Humo, is intimate, providing a chance to observe traditional methods of cooking, but you need to make a reservation in advance. So we tried her Levadura de Olla instead.

Tomatoes. The gorgeous display of heirloom tomatoes immediately announces produce is important here. And a woman kept busy flipping fresh tortillas you know are made the ancient way, from dried corn boiled down with ash, nixtamal.

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Postcards from Oaxaca, Mexico: Restaurants from the letter A through Las

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Above: Zandunga chicken at La Biznaga

We’ve been visiting Oaxaca off and on for several decades, yet never tire of the food. For some arbitrary reason, or maybe so as not to appear arbitrary, I’m going to offer up a menu of restaurants in alphabetical order spread over two volumes.

Our first rental on this trip was next door to a new rooftop restaurant and bar that packed people in at night. We went up for lunch though and found Agavero Cocina y Bebidas a rather peaceful outdoor space.

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Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: How many stamps does it take to mail a Beetle?

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“Vocho Mufi,” 1993 Volkswagen Beetle covered with postage stamps, 1999

I know, I know. Visiting a stamp museum seems about the nerdiest, most boring thing to do, but exhibits at the Museo de Filatelia de Oaxaca are truly interesting. The museum doesn’t simply display stamps, it exhibits postage art. And there are a surprising number of imaginative artists who work in this medium, naturally including postcards sometimes.

Take the Volkswagen Beetle above. Not withstanding that all vintage Beetles are cool to begin with, weaving a complex design based on the distinctive needlework of regions of the state of Oaxaca found in the collection of Museo Textil de Oaxaca into this collage of 50,000 stamps stuck on a Bug? That’s pretty impressive and should certainly be enough postage to mail a Beetle almost anywhere.

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