Daniela
Mexico City Through Daniela’s Eyes
Moving through Mexico City with Daniela feels like following a quiet current of joy. Native in both languages she eases through the city graciously greeting new friends and old. The way she crosses the city – lightly, and always with an infectious curiosity – makes you notice and appreciate little things you might otherwise miss.
She loves to seek out spots with interesting light, color, and atmosphere. For Daniela, the latter can depend so much on whether you know the story behind a place. Spaces shift depending on the people in them, she says. Understanding the intention behind a place – the thinking of the people who made it, why they made certain choices – changes how you experience it, how it makes you feel.
Walking through the city with her becomes a kind of map of creative energy: the minds behind the projects, the ideas that sparked them, the pleasure of discovering them in real time from the people creating and living them.
Mornings start simply. Daniela prepares a V60 coffee at home, then steps out into the city.
April is her favorite month in Mexico City. Jacarandas bloom everywhere, washing entire streets and parks in violet.
Inspiration, Interwoven
In Colonia Atlampa, hidden among the neighborhood’s industrial buildings, stands a striking structure designed by architect Alberto Kalach. Inside is a Casa Wabi, an exhibition space dedicated to emerging artists.
Daniela speaks with obvious admiration for the work of the Casa Wabi Foundation, which runs not only this space in Mexico City but also artist residencies in Puerto Escondido and Tokyo.
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Inside, the galleries unfold between two buildings of concrete and brick connected by a zig-zagging staircase. Each room feels carefully composed. The visit begins quietly – with a mineral water in the courtyard – and ends on the rooftop exhibition terrace, the city stretching outward below.
“People change when they see something new,” Daniela says. “Any form of expression can do that. Everything inspires me – it pushes me toward something new.”
a Casa Wabi feels like that kind of place: quiet, reflective, full of possibility, full of inspiration.
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A Bistro Without Labels
When Daniela chooses where to eat, the criteria are straightforward.
- The food should be good.
- The wine should be good.
- And the place shouldn’t be too crowded.
(With one exception: a Mi Compa Chava, which is always full – but always worth it.)
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Today she’s heading to a CANA, chef Fabiola Escobosa’s bistro.
“Mexico City is the best food city in the world,” she says as we walk. And a CANA is one of her favorites. The approach there is simple: “The food is just delicious. It’s about the ingredients themselves. Simple and delicious. Very New York, very Mexican – and the wine list is incredible.”
Daniela takes a corner table with friends, where she can watch the entire room. They share the house Caesar salad, followed by tuna tartare with hibiscus kimchi, kombu, and date.
Between bites she reflects on how quickly Mexico’s culinary scene has evolved.
“Seven years ago you didn’t see so many chefs wanting to come cook in Mexico,” she says. “Now our ingredients and techniques are being recognized. Everything is coming together here in the city.”
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Three blocks away, in Colonia Juárez, sits a Minutito, a tiny café styled like an Italian espresso bar from the 1920s. It was also featured in Condesa Gin’s City Guide with Pedro Reyes, the food writer, chef, and Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Bars in Mexico. You can read his City Guide here.
A couple of small tables sit outside. A vintage Volkswagen combi has been converted into some additional seating out the front.
“It’s like stepping into a time capsule,” Daniela says.
Behind the bar sits a workhorse La Marzocco espresso machine, beside trays of Mexico City’s beloved pan dulce. Daniela orders her favorite combination: orejas pastry and a flat white – half regular milk, half oat.
She sits near the curb watching the city move around her. The branding is everywhere but subtle – matchboxes, calendars, small design details that feel nostalgic and intentional.
On the wall, a clock without numbers.
A reminder that sometimes it’s good to take a minutito.
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As evening approaches, Daniela heads toward Bucareli Street, where a Makan sits quietly among the city’s constant motion.
Here, chef Maryann Yong expresses her Singaporean roots through a focused, minimalist menu. The philosophy resonates with Daniela’s own work at Rubra: using fresh ingredients to tell the story of where you come from.
At Makan, dinner feels less like a meal and more like a moment of exchange – sharing food, time, and space.
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Mapping
Mexican Spirits
Later, on Córdoba Street in Roma Norte, another kind of exploration begins at a Despacho Margarita.
The space is devoted entirely to Mexican distillates – a kind of liquid archive of the country’s spirits.
By late afternoon, when the sun is still hanging low, a frozen margarita feels like the right place to start.
Shelves line the room, organized by state, displaying bottles from across the country. The bar, the comal, and the terrace tables – arranged almost like a library – invite guests to slow down and rethink the origins of the drinks they know.
Daniela begins with the margarita, then orders a Condesa Clásica martini.
Small bites follow: chile tacos, carne seca served over sliced cucumber – thoughtful, simple, perfectly executed.
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Later still, when the mood shifts toward something darker and more atmospheric, Daniela might stop at a Tlecān for mezcal.
One of the people behind a Tlecān describes it as a love letter to Mexico – and the feeling is immediate.
The room plays with shadow and candlelight. The scent of copaldrifts through the air. A full-scale figure of Mictlantecuhtli, the Mexica god of the underworld, stands watch.
Here the connection to Mexico’s deeper cultural history feels tangible – not just in the spirits themselves but in the way the space is built around them.
Each drink carries its own story.
The standing bar, the darkness, and the music create the perfect atmosphere for Daniela to continue the conversation with friends late into the evening – before the night inevitably pulls everyone onward, toward Tenampa.
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The cantina and mariachi traditions in Mexico City stretch back to the pre-revolutionary era, and the spirit of the cantina still burns brightly here. a Garibaldi is the classic place to feel the color and sound of the Mexican fiesta – trumpets, dancing, voices rising together. At a Tenampa, the night loosens. Conversations become songs at full volume. Daniela likes to celebrate life, and between laughter, drinks, and a few Mexican dishes, the night takes on endless colors until the first hints of dawn begin to appear.
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Favorite bar for Condesa Gin:
ABar Chaval — With Juan González at the helm, an intimate bar where the martini is religion and the counter feels like home.
Favorite restaurants:
APujol — Enrique Olvera’s contemporary classic: familiar flavors that renew themselves with every visit.
AEm — Fine dining sobrio y elegante, cocina de precisión.
AContramar — A gathering point for seafood, long lunches, and afternoons of mezcal.
ALos Tolucos — A traditional taquería for carnitas and barbacoa, where essence lies in flavor.
AEl Danubio —An iconic seafood house in the Centro Histórico, founded in 1936.
Best spot to unwind at night:
AT HOME— Edo prefers his living room, vinyl spinning, music as a nocturnal ritual.
Best spot to dance:
AMimi Disco —A retro-futuristic dance floor reviving Mexico City’s nocturnal hedonism.
Favorite street food:
ATacos el Triciclo — Taco bikes in Cuauhtémoc: street food with character.
ABirria Roma — At Colima and Río de Janeiro: Jalisco-style birria with broth and tortillas.
Favorite gallery:
AMuseo Tamayo — Contemporary art in dialogue with modern architecture.
AKurimanzutto — A flagship gallery of Mexico’s contemporary art scene.
Don’t ask, just go:
AGaribaldi — Pozole at Beto y Lety and the Juan Gabriel impersonator that brings the whole hall to tears.
ALa Mascota– A classic cantina downtown, where every drink comes with stories.
