marfil – Postcards from Barton Springs

Postcard from Marfil, Guanajuato, Mexico: Artists gave new life to ancient hacienda

March 24, 2019 postcardsfromsanantonio1 Comment

Silver from el Minero de Santiago Marfil afforded one of the Spanish elite settling in Mexico to purchase land above the Rio Guanajuato and oriented toward a church for a luxurious hacienda in the late 1700s.

Centuries later in the 1960s when Canadian artist Gene Byron (1910-1987) and her husband Virgil Fernandez del Real purchased the ex-hacienda Santa Anna, Marfil was somewhat of a ghost town. The couple transformed the ancient buildings and grounds into a showcase for their collections of Colonial art and the results of their own artistic endeavors. In addition to her painting, Byron learned to craft handsome punched tin and copper pieces that are found throughout the house museum her husband opened to the public after her death.

The museum often hosts live classical or jazz concerts on Sundays in an intimate setting. During the week, wandering through the house with a docent often is a private tour.

There is a restaurant on site, but we visited on a Monday when it was closed. Although the road through no longer-sleepy Marfil has traffic speeding along, we walked along the narrow sidewalk to ascend to the colorful church perched above and then passed by the ancient statue-topped dam across the river on our way to score an incredible Italian feast at Piccato di Gola, fifteen minutes away at the other end of town.

Postcard from Marfil, Guanajuato, Mexico: Wait, are you sure we are not in Italy?

December 10, 2018 postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

The creamy rich black rice risotto above was one of the best risotti we had in Italy. Wait. We were not in Italy any longer. We were in Guanajuato.

But Peccato di Gola is so good, I dare plop a post about it right here in the middle of “postcards” from Italy. We went to Marfil on the edge of Guanajuato to visit the Casa Museo Gene Byron (more to come about it after delayed Italian posts are delivered). People rave about the food at the museum’s restaurant, but it was closed on a Monday – often an issue when traveling.

So we walked past the ancient dam to the other side of Marfil, not a major hike, to an at-first unappealing strip of restaurants right on the side of the roadway. But stepping inside the comfortably furnished Peccato di Gola quickly altered that first impression.

We were considering opting for pizza, but the owner/chef (who we think is from Rome) piped up that Monday was our lucky day. On Mondays the restaurant offers a 300-peso (about $15) fixed-price lunch. This is not your normal fixed-price offering; no, it is one inviting you to fully understand the restaurant’s name. For our 300-peso per person investment, we could order anything on the menu, except steaks, until we wanted nothing more. Peccato di Gola translates as the sin of gluttony. And we fully consented to commit it.

With a large selection on the menu, we sat back and let him pick our starters while we tried not to fill up on the freshly baked olive bread. The chef definitely had my attention when he bypassed the wood-fired stove to a smoldering grill and placed something over the coals for us. Oh my, grilled octopi. He followed that with fried zucchini blossoms filled with gorgonzola and topped with shrimp. And then a plate layered with rounds of salmon carpaccio and a board bearing caprese salad.

Did we stop there? No, not I said the glutton. We sampled lobster ravioli, again topped with shrimp. And perfectly cooked salmon. Then he brought out a dessert board for us.

I do promise, though, that these photos are from more than one meal. We sinned twice, and then went back one more time to try the pizza.

grilled octopus

dessert trio

gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce

salmon

vegetable pizza

roasted romaine salad

lobster ravioli topped with shrimp

salmon carpaccio

fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with gorgonzola

Although the pizza topped with vegetables popped out from the wood-burning oven looking perfect, it actually was our least favorite dish there. The crust had good texture but had the issue we generally find true in Mexico. Pizza crusts in Mexico often have too much of a white-flour taste compared to what we are accustomed. While not up to Italian standards, this still was the best pizza we found in Guanajuato.

But no matter what day you decide to head to Marfil – a short and inexpensive cab ride from downtown – let Peccato di Gola transport you to Italy. Aside from the pizza, everything we sampled on the menu comes highly recommended.

Oh, to have the opportunity to sin like that again.

Postcard from Guanajuato, Mexico: Mines funded ex hacienda

September 28, 2016 postcardsfromsanantonio2 Comments

A 15th-century gilded sculptural altar from Spain covers one wall of a chapel at the Ex Hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera on the outskirts of Guanajuato toward Marfil. Enriched by his family’s mining interests, Captain Gabriel de Barrera built a compound of haciendas and gardens at the end of the 17th century.

In addition to the main house were chapels, stables, aqueducts, chapels and housing for laborers. While some of remaining tall rock walls are now roofless, the main casa was turned into a house museum in 1979.