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

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

ThalĂ­a 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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Postcard from Valladolid, Spain: Always a bigger fish

Kind of like the grass is always greener, there’s always a bigger fish.

But the older you get, it seems time is the biggest fish.

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Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Food with a Castilian accent

Above: Camarones Gaditanos at El Olivo Gastrobar

With almost every “postcard” from our 2022 trip to Spain delivered, these photos should smooth your, and our, transition to Mexico.

Relatively new on the scene is Casa Celia on Quintana Roo. Although Mexican, the chef spent ten years in restaurants in Barcelona. The menu changes weekly, with paella served most weekends and always options for vegetarians.

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