EDO KOBAYASHI’S BEAUTIFUL MEXICO CITY
Welcome to Edo Kobayashi’s Mexico City. Join him as he takes you, often on two wheels, blurring past the streetside birria, world class kitchens and polished vinyl lounges that make up his city experience. Edo Kobayashi is the quiet force behind Mexico City’s thriving Japanese dining scene — a visionary restaurateur who’s turned a handful of bold ideas into an entire culinary ecosystem. Descended from Japanese immigrants, he’s built a constellation of restaurants and bars that blend meticulous tradition with contemporary Mexican energy, transforming a part of Cuauhtémoc into the city’s own “Little Tokyo.” From exquisite omakase counters to vinyl-spun cocktail bars, Edo isn’t just serving food—he’s reshaping how Mexico experiences Japanese culture. Today Edo meets up with the Condesa Gin team and takes us through a city he has himself shaped, taking in cafes, kitchens and bars that he loves.
By Edo Kobayashi @edo_kobayashi
Written by: Condesa Gin
Prior to meeting us, Edo has his day’s first ritual: coffee – a pourover made in the calm of home. With a creative and professional drive like Edo’s it’s not the only coffee of the day (that’s for sure) – just the slowest. Edo meets us in the cool of the morning at a simple at AParis16 a timeless French bistro tucked into a beautiful building in Juarez, constructed by Mario Pani in 1956. He chats energetically over soft-boiled eggs with Tabasco, salt, and pepper. This place has not changed its menu since 1985 and embodies the best of the city: unpretentious, familiar, always there when you need it.
Edo, dressed in minimalist black, explains how his day can take many different paths. If the day calls for something greener, there’s AEno and its cactus salad with poached eggs. If his morning is spent between meetings and calls, Edo heads to the delightfully cool and irreverent ACucurucho in Polanco or to the counter at Mexico City staple, APanadería Rosetta. There he still finds the perfect corner to focus: a refuge where he can work, surrounded by the smell of fresh bread and the hum of the city outside.
Places mentioned
02. A tradition etched in vinyl
Over coffee, Edo tells us of his lifelong love of music. Growing up in a family with joint Japanese and Mexican heritage, as a child his mother would gather the family around to enjoy their eclectic music collection: Mexican hits and hidden gems would fill the house, and listening together became something of a family tradition. From those early years of family favorites, Edo would later find grunge – he smiles at the memory – a sound that like so many growing up in Mexico City in the 90s, shaped his youth and left a lasting mark. He eventually lost himself in the endless worlds of vinyl, discovering genre after genre with a curiosity and reverence that would eventually lead to his opening of ATokyo Music Bar, his pioneering Japanese-style listening lounge in Cuauhtémoc, hidden among the izakayas he has inspired.
Today, it’s a ritual he shares with his son: flipping through sleeves of vinyl and sampling records at iconic record store ARevancha_DF, growing their collection together and tradition alive.
PLACES MENTIONED
03. In motion
For Edo, the city makes the most sense in motion. Today, his bike is his compass, his way of navigating an often traffic-choked city. AREFORMA, the beautiful central artery of the city, lined with luminaries of Mexico’s past, is our next stop. It serves as a real world timeline of Mexico’s fraught, proud, incredible history. For visitors to the city, just two of the spots to take in on this avenue are the Monument to Cuauhtémoc, the defiant last ruler of the Mexica, slain by Cortez; and the Monumento a la Independencia, home to the remains of Miguel Hidalgo, the symbolic leader of Mexico’s successful struggle for independence.
If he’s not on two pedals, he’ll be gliding through ACUAUHTEMOC passing through AROMA, and AJUAREZ on a skateboard, dodging cracked sidewalks, sudden corners, street vendors and dawdling tourists The bike gives him speed and freedom; the skateboard, intimacy with the asphalt. Between the two, he finds his own way through Mexico City’s chaos.
PLACES MENTIONED
04. Less refined, maybe, but just as delicious
Despite presiding over some of Mexico City’s most refined dining rooms, Edo Kobayashi’s culinary heart beats just as strongly on the street. He has a deep love for the city’s everyday rituals — those moments when flavor and place fuse into something unforgettable. A perfect example is his stop for AJalisco-style birria on the corner of Colima and Río de Janeiro, where three tacos loaded with everything are always accompanied by a steaming cup of rich broth. Afterward, he often loops back to APanadería Rosetta for coffee and a piece of fresh bread, turning a quick taco stop into a leisurely morning ritual. At night, you might find him at ATacos El Triciclo on Río Nazas, tucking into late-night bites shoulder-to-shoulder with locals. And in the early morning hours, Edo seeks out the city’s soul in APlaza Garibaldi, with a comforting bowl of pozole at ABeto y Lety and, if he’s lucky, a tear-jerking performance by a local Juan Gabriel impersonator. This mix of street corner simplicity and culinary sophistication mirrors Edo’s own world — a chef with an equal passion for the street side’s roughly hewn tacos and communal broth as to the elegance of his own celebrated restaurants.
PLACES MENTIONED
AJalisco-style birria
ATacos el triciclo
GPlaza garibaldi
ABeto y lety
05. A table that embraces: Pujol and chosen family
It’s sitting over this bowl of birria with the Condesa Gin team where we get a phone call from one of his – and the world’s – favorite culinary destinations: Pujol. Head Chef Daniel Núñez cheerfully tells us to come on over – they have something they’d love to share with us.
In this sometimes overwhelming city, there are places that feel like a refuge. For Edo, and for a number of lucky people, one of them is APujol, where hospitality itself becomes a practiced, perfected ritual. Chef Núñez greets our party like family, opening up his world renowned kitchen to us and excitedly bringing plate after plate to the table. In this rarified, beautifully decorated space, each visit is different, with the kitchen dazzling in its details yet the feeling is always the same: being at home.
Sidenote: With our City Guides collaborations growing, we realize one constant: there is often such a delightful crossover between the most talented and the most most open, warm, inviting and sharing professionals in our industry. Eager to share, to listen, with no pretense, no closely guarded secrets – just the passion that has got them to where they are. It’s something we are so grateful for, and allows us to share these experiences beyond their own communities.
Over a final spoonful of rice pudding, the conversation drifts to Edo’s other fine-dining haunts. When the mood calls for something elevated, he heads to AEm, chef Lucho Martínez’s Michelin-starred gem — the kind of place where you slip off your jacket, drape it over the chair, and let the conversation stretch long into the night. When the soul needs a reset, nothing beats the honest seafood and bustling energy of AContramar. And for a date with a touch of old-school glamour, it’s ACipriani with a martini or ASan Ángel Inn, timeless as a postcard.
PLACES MENTIONED
06. Night in measures
After dinner, Edo’s nights can follow a few different paths. It often begins at ATicuchi and winds down — or lingers on — at ATokyo Music Bar, Edo’s iconic listening lounge, which recently toured New York with Condesa Gin (Radio Condesa vol. 16 by Tokio Music Bar, NBetween and Mr Melo available here).
If the mood strikes, he’ll head over to AMimi Disco; or if he craves a sofa and the crackle of a needle, he retreats to his own living room to listen to vinyl. An essential stop along the way in either case is ABar Chaval by Juan González — where you can find a proper martini, a friendly crowd and a sense of easy conviviality. “I always have family there,” he says with a smile. And for the night’s B-side, when the city takes on its after-hours glow, there’s always AClub San Luis – one of a few late-night institutions in Mexico City that feels both timeless and a little secretive — part dive, part dancehall, part living room for the city’s creative crowd.
PLACES MENTIONED
BTicuchi
BTokyo Music Bar
BMimi Disco
AClub San Luis
07. The next day: a cultural wander through the city
The next morning arrives gently, filtered through soft city light and the lingering haze of mezcal and disco. Mexico City shifts gears in daylight; its pace stretches, its edges soften. We wander through AMuseo Tamayo, letting the cool stillness of contemporary art steady our senses, before slipping into AKurimanzutto, where the city’s creative pulse hums quietly between white walls. A stroll through ALa Lagunilla always turns up something new and interesting — vintage jackets, odd trinkets, stories in the making — followed by a stop at the AFCE bookstore, where the smell of paper and ink is its own kind of refuge. A day like this can often lead Edo to AVans for a spot of shopping or a lazy loop through AParque de chapultepec. By late afternoon, the sun begins its descent, and the day folds in on itself. It’s time to gather again — this time around the fire at Kasina BBQ.
PLACES MENTIONED
08. Korean warmth: Minae and the shared fire
We arrive at AKasina BBQ, a mother-and-daughter–run Korean BBQ restaurant in Roma Norte that feels more like a gathering than a restaurant. It is a communal room with fire at its center. There, Minae welcomes us with a glowing grill, an open smile, and a broth that seems made to heal the soul. The air hums with the sound of sizzling meat and quiet laughter, a choreography of tongs, plates, and hands reaching across the table. The ritual unfolds in gestures: passing the lettuce leaves, wrapping a taco for the person beside you, sharing the same smoke, the same table, the same meal In that atmosphere, Edo finds an echo of what he values most: food as a pretext to gather, to let your guard down, to truly share. Our thanks to Edo for opening his world to us — for the meals, the stories, and the creative fire. We wish him nothing but the best on the journey ahead – glittering as we know it will be.
PLACES MENTIONED
Quickfire favorites
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 — Great tacos 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.
