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Guide to Oaxaca
By: Nick Greece
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Food
After spending three weeks in Oaxaca over the last few years, I have dialed in places that serve the best food, make the coolest rugs, and produce very good mezcal. Here is a short guide for those interested in visiting Oaxaca city.
The culinary exploits of Oaxaca are world famous. From street tacos to Michelin dining, it has it all. Known for seven moles from the region there are also load of other dishes that delight from tlayudas to enomoladas. You will not be disappointed with much you consume while you are in this foodie’s dream locale.
The list:
Starting out a day at breakfast at the November 20th Market is a sure-fire way to line your stomach for a long day. About a dozen restaurants open early in the large market and welcome diners to sit picnic style to enjoy fresh blended juices, tlayudas, enmoladas and the like. Later in the day the meat market opens up where you can pick out how many pounds of meet you would like cooked for you on a bar-b-que on the spot. Pro tip: you will have to buy your tortillas separately from the tortilla vendors in the same area.
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2) La Popular
Mid-day lunch or early evening affordable dinner check out the aptly named La Popular on Jesús Carranza 110, RUTA INDEPENDENCIA, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oax., Mexico. It serves up delicious, home cooked feeling meals and is usually full. Pro tip is there is an exact replica La Popular up the hill on the same street that can seat more people so if the mother ship is full, just ask for directions to the other spot.
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3) Criollo
A notable fine dining in Oaxaca city, Criollo, started by famous Oaxaca born chef, Enrique Olvera, is worth a long evening, and as the service is quite sporadic long it will be, or drop in at their bar which had to be one of the coolest ambiances forward watering holes I have ever seen. They serve a delicious menu consisting of 6 dishes or so and an available pairing which I would highly recommend.
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Notable mentions that one must hit if they have time
1. Casa Oaxaca
3. La Teca
4. Almu
Bars
1. Selva
2. Mezcalogia
One can pretty much not go wrong with many dining options in Oaxaca…these are just a smattering of places we enjoyed.
Art
Oaxaca is KNOWN for its wood carvings, textile work, printing both in the form of metal (lithography) and wood block, and traditional painting. Oaxaca city is choc’ full of galleries, art retail spaces, and its streets are covered in street art. Every walk through the city immerses you in thoughtful, skilled, and well curated art.
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Block Printing!
Block printing is one of my favorite types of art. I’m not sure if it is my early love of comic books, or the concept behind creating larger amounts of art for the masses that are on the surface the same but simultaneously undeniably different, but I will not stop buying prints. This trip I stumbled across a lithography studio who had a press which was shipped from Paris and used in the late 1800’s by French Impressionist masters.
There is a workshop that right off of Santo Domingo Plaza; Galleria Taller La Maquina. It’s incredible to see what visiting artists can produce with a machine sent from France on a cargo ship just a short time ago.
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Albrijes
Albrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk-art sculptures of fantastical creatures that are completely surreal in their composition and artistic execution. The roots of this folk art go back to Pedro Linares, a Mexican folk artist, who had visions of these colorful creatures during after going unconscious while sick. According to Linares, some of the animals he saw included a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull horns, a lion with an eagle head and all of them were shouting, “¡Alebrijes!, ¡Alebrijes!”
2) Arrazola
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Textiles
Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico
According to AFAR travel magazine Teotitlan del Valle is world-renowned for its production of high-quality woven goods. The weaving tradition in this village dates back to ancient times, when they paid tribute to the Aztecs in weavings, although at that time they wove mostly cotton and used the backstrap loom. The majority of the residents in this community speak Zapotec as well as Spanish and have conserved many of their traditions. On a visit to Teotitlan you can visit a family of weavers and they will show you the whole process of how the rugs are made from spinning the wool to dyeing it (using natural colors such as the cochineal and indigo) and weaving the rugs. Designs range from traditional geometric patterns like those found on the walls of the nearby Mitla archaeological site, to more modern designs such as reproductions of the work of contemporary artists.”
There has been a modern trend with younger weavers working on modern geometric rugs that are really unique. I’m a huge fan of the utilization of traditional techniques applied to a modern esthetic. There are a bunch of great weavers just off the main road heading to the valley. Stop at a few and pick your favorite. All of them offer detailed explanations/shows for how they create the colors using a natural process.
1) Tallerocho8
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Hopefully this blog will serve as a good starting place to experience Oaxaca. This is by no means exhaustive as that would be a coffee table book. If you go or you’ve been what spots would you want others to know about?
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