Postcard from Puebla, Mexico: Sprouting a new crop of enthusiastic chefs

A green and yellow stamp featuring a corn plant and flower, labeled 'FLORA DE MEXICO' and 'maiz' with a moon in the background.

Above: Seafood soup at Mucho Bueno Pesca y Pisto

Our prior trip to Puebla was a decade ago, and the food scene has changed dramatically since then. You will find only one revisited restaurant represented in this alphabetical summary of places we enjoyed. While you might be expecting photos loaded with plates of the region’s famed chiles en nogada, we were not there during their season, which is now.

A bunch of fresh huauzontle, a green herb with small flowering buds, displayed against a white background.
Above: Fresh huauzontles

Chefs’ elevation and celebration of herbs and vegetables native to the Americas has increased, often corn-centric. Several places introduced us to huauzontles, a bushy, wild herb related to quinoa and amaranth.

Augurio compressed huauzontles into breaded patties filled with fresh goat cheese afloat in a pool of chile pasilla mole. The restaurant manages to combine an upscale contemporary feel with traditional ingredients and recipes of “baroque” Puebla.

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Postcard from Bordeaux, France: Boulevardier-style shopping

Competing with the reflections of the building across the street represents a challenge for the bucktoothed bunny trying to sell guitars. But he obviously caught the attention of the photographer reflected below.

A breeze, a forgotten summer, a smile, all can fit into a storefront window.

Dejan Stojanovic, a Serbian poet and journalist

We found Bordeaux about the most pedestrian-friendly city we have ever wandered around, which meant we had ample time for window-shopping as we ambled about. People who have downsized twice have little interest in acquiring anything beyond calories, so it’s an amusing, inexpensive past-time. Often reflections capture our attention as much as the displays.

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