Sunday, September 22, 2013

PUEBLA

(includes Atlixco, Cholula & Santa Maria Tonantzintla)

BAKERIES, COFFEE, ICE CREAM, JUICE & TEA
Museo Amparo Cafe – 2 Sur Centro Historico; 011-52-222-229-3850; museoamparo.com; on rooftop; perhaps city’s most romantic spot; great coffee; open at 10:00 a.m.



BARS & NIGHTCLUBS
El Breve Espacio – 8 North 7th Street (Centro); 011-52-222-246-2693; elbreve-espacio.com; “art” bar and cafe.
Hotel Puebla de Antano – 206 East 3rd Street (Centro); 011-52-222-246-2403; hotelpuebladeantano.com; rooftop bar with cathedral views.
La Pasita – 602 East 5th Street (on Plazuela de los Sapos) or 504 South 3rd Street; 011-52-222-232-4422; puebla.travel/es/ver-hacer/espacios-de-ocio/item/bar-la-pasita; oldest cantina in Puebla; not for mezcal or tequila shots; instead, barkeeps pour locally-made liqueurs, such as house’s namesake pasita (sweet raisin liqueur served with salty cheese cube & shriveled grape on toothpick in glass); all of its liqueurs distilled in same way they were at 20th Century’s beginning; popular, tiny hole-in-wall.
Profetica – 701 South 3rd Street (Centro); 011-52-222-246-9101; profetica.com.mx; great place to meet for drinks.
Sapito Pulquero – South 4th Street (between East 5th & 7th Avenues); pulqueria; flavored and plain pulque.
Utopia Belgian Pub – 1B East 9th Avenue (Centro); 011-52-222-130-4909; belgianbeerbistro.webs.com; 80 beer brands and Belgian pub food.



HOTELS
Casa Reyna – 1007 East 2nd Avenue, private (Centro); 011-52-222-232-0032; casareyna.com; 10 suites, colorful and modern; decorated with ceramics and vintage wooden furniture.
Hotel Puebla de Antano – 206 East 3rd Street (Centro); 011-52-222-246-2403; hotelpuebladeantano.com; 19 opulent suites and elegant French restaurant on ground floor; rooftop bar with cathedral views.
La Purificadora – 802 North Callejon de la 10 (Centro, Paseo de San Francisco, Barrio el Alto); former 19th Century water-purifying center (next to Iglesia de San Francisco); design by architects Ricardo Legorreta and his son Victor; black and white are only colors, bringing out construction materials' subtleties (stone from original building, old wood, onyx and custom floor tile, as well as found materials such as bottles and glass fragments, also integrated in hotel’s graphic design); minimalism shouldn’t be confused with lack of luxury: roof terrace and 30-metre pool; 26 guestrooms with spectacular city views; ground-floor restaurant, patio, library, and extensive wine cellar.



RESTAURANTS
Barbacoa de Marcia – Avenida Independencia (Atlixco, at Mercado de Atlixco); slow-roasted mutton stall.
El Breve – 8 North 7th Street (Centro); 011-52-222-246-2693; elbreve-espacio.com; “art” bar and cafe.
Casona de la China Poblana – 2 North 4th Street (Centro); 011-52-222-242-5621; casonadelachinapoblana.com; in courtyard; Mexican breakfasts.
La Conjura – 201 East 9th Street; 011-52-222-232-9693; Spanish food; combinations of old- and new-world ingredients, such as chistorra (Spanish sausage) tapas; menu changes daily, with beef, lamb, and seafood; try arroz negro con calamares (rice with squid cooked in squid’s ink), huachinango en alberino (snapper in wine sauce topped with clams, mussels, and shrimp); attractive, small dining room with low, vaulted ceiling in former bodega.
Fonda la Mexicana – 706 Avenida 16th de Septiembre; 011-52-222-232-6747; unassuming eatery; great mole poblano; set lunch with few options; good-value Puebla and Oaxaca specialties.
Hotel Puebla de Antano – 206 East 3rd Street (Centro); 011-52-222-246-2403; hotelpuebladeantano.com; elegant French restaurant.
Mural de los Poblanos – 506 Calle 16 de Septiembre (Centro Historico); 011-52-222-242-0503; elmuraldelospoblanos.com; attractive, elegant restaurant; archways trimmed with orange, wood beamed ceiling, tile floor, abundance potted greenery, antique mirrors in ornately carved wood frames, and black wrought iron lanterns gracing tiled and stucco walls that illuminate large-scale mural dominating 1 wall; in addition to fine wine list, restaurant has excellent spirits selection, including mezcals and tequilas; excellent, traditional poblano dishes; house specialty is 5 mole types.
Museo Amparo Cafe – 2 Sur Centro Historico; 011-52-222-229-3850; museoamparo.com; on rooftop; perhaps city’s most romantic spot.
Profetica – 701 South 3rd Street (Centro); 011-52-222-246-9101; profetica.com.mx; great place to meet for breakfast.
Las Ranas – 102 West 2nd Avenue; 011-52-222-242-4734; for tacos arabes (marinated pork on flatbread); Lebanese-Mexican.
Taqueria la Oriental – 14th South Avenue; 011-52-222-248-2631; antiguataquerialaoriental.com; 77 years in operation; old favorite; have tacos arabes.



SERVICES
All About Puebla – puebla-mexico.com; English-language website that is best source for event, festival, and food news.



SHOPPING
Legendaria – 207 East 5th Avenue (Centro); 011-52-222-246-3311; hand-rolled puros cigars.
Manos de la Tierra – 4 South 6th Street (Centro); 011-52-222-447-7346; manosdelatierrapuebla.com.mx; silversmith.
La Pasita – 602 East 5th Street (on Plazuela de los Sapos) or 504 South 3rd Street; 011-52-222-232-4422; puebla.travel/es/ver-hacer/espacios-de-ocio/item/bar-la-pasita; oldest cantina in Puebla; not for mezcal or tequila shots; instead, barkeeps pour locally-made liqueurs, such as house’s namesake pasita (sweet raisin liqueur served with salty cheese cube & shriveled grape on toothpick in glass); all of its liqueurs distilled in same way they were at 20th Century’s beginning; popular, tiny hole-in-wall.
Profetica – 701 South 3rd Street; 011-52-222-246-9101; profetica.com.mx; bookstore-library in sprawling 16th Century house.
Siuamej Puebla Crafts Cooperative – Avenida Palafox y 206 Mendoza; 011-52-222-232-3694; traditional textiles made by women; look for quechquemitls (embroidered poncho-looking things) made with natural dyes and woven on backstrap looms, and distinctive tapestries.
Talavera de la Reyna – 2413 Camino a la Carcana (Recta a Cholula); 011-52-222-225-4132; talaveradelareyna.com.mx; ceramics workshop.
Tierra Verde – 601 East 5th Avenue (Centro, Plazuela de los Sapos); facebook.com/groups/2388597751; non-profit; for Pop Art a la Mexicana.



SIGHTS & SITES
Barrio del Artista – North 6th Street y North 6th Avenue; 011-52-222-242-4029; corazondepuebla.com.mx/barriodelartista.html; in 1940, brothers Jose and Angel Figueroa Marquez were part of student group that endorsed outdoor painting; they founded this arts district; tacky yet lovely evening scene, if only for drinks and live music.
Biblioteca Palafoxiana – 5 East 5th Avenue (Casa de Cultura); 011-52-222-777-2581; puebla-mexico.com/juan-de-palafox-y-mendoza; New World’s 1st public library, founded in 1646.
Capilla del Arte – 6 North 2nd Street (Centro); 011-52-222-242-2808; udlap.mx/default.aspx; University of Americas’s loft-like gallery.
Capilla San Juan de Letran (El Hopitalito) – 2nd Avenue South at 7th Avenue East (Centro); 011-52-222-232-9134; puebla.travel/es/ver-hacer/sitios-de-interes/iglesias/item/templo-del-hospitalito; austere; decorated with wooden statute that tell Christ story in gory fashion.
Capilla de San Miguel – Cerro de San Miguel (Atlixco); nice walk to 18th Century chapel.
Cholula Pyramid – San Pedro Cholula; known as Tlachihualtepetl (Nahuatl for “artificial mountain”); New World’s largest archaeological site; traditionally viewed as dedicated to Quetzalcoatl; architectural style linked to Teotihuacan and El Tajín.
Church of Santa Maria Tonantzintla – Avenida Reforma Norte, plaza (Santa Maria Tonantzintla, 3 miles south of Cholula); 16th Century church’s exterior relatively simple, but inside color and swirling shape explosion; to facilitate local conversions, Franciscan monks incorporated elements recalling local goddess Tonantzin cult in chapel’s ornamentation; result is jewel of style known as Churrigueresque; polychrome wood-and-stucco carvings, columns, altarpieces, and main archway completed in late 17th Century; carvings, set off by ornate gold-leaf figures (angels, plant forms, and saints) made by local craftspeople.
Fototeca Juan C. Méndez – 15 East 7th Street; 011-52-222-246-3165; exhibits photography in 2-story house.
Galeria del Palacio – 12 Portal Hidalgo (Centro); 011-52-222-409-7424; imacp.gob.mx; contemporary art.
Iglesia Santo Domingo & Capilla del Rosario – 5 de Mayo at 4 Poniente; 011-222-242-3643; puebla-mexico.com/capilla-del-rosario; completed in 1660; strikingly understated exterior belies extraordinary Mexican Baroque interior of Capilla del Rosario (left of transept); profuse gilding and interlacing in stuccoed wood celebrates Virgin of Rosary (who brings Christians rosary) worshipped by Dominicans.
Mercado de Atlixco – Avenida Independencia (Atlixco); food stalls.
Mercado de Sabores Poblanos – between North 11th & 13th Streets and West 4th & 6th Avenues; food stalls dedicated to indigenous Poblano cooking.
Museo de la Talavera Alarca – lateral sur Recta a Cholula (Cholula); 011-52-222-225-4058; talaveradelareyna.com.mx/alarca.php; pairs contemporary artists’s work with that of traditional artisans to create gorgeous sculptures; museum store sells some of highest-quality work around.
Museo Amparo – 2 Sur Centro Historico; 011-52-222-229-3850; museoamparo.com; among country’s most impressive indigenous and colonial era artifact collections.
Museo Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Mexicanos – 1005 North 11th Street (Centro); 011-52-222-774-0105; museoferrocarriles.org.mx; Sundays are free; outdoor train museum; retired rail cars and steam engines rest on lawn beside former terminal; impressive photography collection documents train lines and railway workers’ lives.
Paseo Bravo – South 11th Street (between West 11th y Reforma Avenidas); among city’s most central spot; founded in 17th Century as alternative neighborhood to Village Center (because outside Spanish influence); originally, 5 blocks that covered large housing estates; monument commemorates Nicolas Bravo; park located opposite Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe.