By Tahona Society
We Care Manifesto
Modern México: Goodbye to Clichés
A group of independent thinkers and entrepreneurs has taken over the “chilango” (Mexican slang for people from and all things Mexico City) creative scene. From the promotion of new aesthetics and curation to local products and gastronomic innovations, this group is reinventing an authentic and defined modern Mexico.
Here are some spots that we chose especially for you if you are looking to see up close what the new magical experience of Mexico City has to offer you.
1. Xinú: Mexican perfumery
Nestled between two secret gardens is a small space where a table is spread with glass, stone, resin, tin, and metal objects. Here lives the botanical spirit of Xinú—a deluxe Mexican perfume brand inspired by the aromatic botany of the American continent.
In addition to transmitting a passion for design and artisanal processes, the Xinú team are committed to sustainability and using only the best raw materials.
Enjoy the refined, intriguing, infinite, exuberant, luminous, elegant, and opulent aromas of their four scents:
• Aguamadera (agave + lime + guayaco wood + cedar)
• Copala (peppercorns + copal + mezquite + Papantla vanilla)
• Monstera (monstera fruit and leaves + “sacred earflower” + angel’s trumpet + orchid)
• Oronardo (Mexican orange tree + night queen flower + marigold + tuberose + yellow oleander)
Alejandro Dumas street, 161, Polanco
Facebook & Instagram: @xinuperfumes
2. Taxonomía: Contemporary Artisanal Soul
This creative and multidisciplinary hot spot, located in the Hotel Carlota, holds a delicate selection of contemporary brands with a Mexican artisanal soul, perfect for a gift or having a unique piece of modern Mexico in your home.
At Taxonomía you will find the proposals, collections, and exclusive pieces of Mexican designers, such as: signature jewelry, accessories, flower pots, clothes, health and beauty products, liquors, glasses, shoes, bags, briefcases, furniture, decorative objects, kitchenware, magazines, and notebooks.
We invite you to live this full design experience and promote initiatives like these that pave the road for hundreds of talented entrepreneurs in the Mexican creative industry.
Río Amazonas 73, Cuauthémoc
Facebook & Instagram: @taxonomiamx
3. Básica Studio: Bicycles For Life
Are you interested in a bike that is tailor-made to your size and needs? Visit Eli Acosta at her workshop and tell her we sent you. She personalizes the bike of your dreams according to your needs. After taking your measurements and preferences, she creates the geometry and conceptualizes the model for your bike. She then orders the tubing, impeccably cuts it by hand, welds it, and polishes it.
Before the bike it painted, Eli and her business partner, Jesús López, will meet with you to brainstorm ideas and make a proposal based on your tastes and preferences. Then they assemble it with wheels, gears, and handlebars. At the end of a month, you will have your personalized, traditionally made bike, that will make your life more practical and simple.
Eli is a talented, 32-year-old chilanga photographer who has loved mechanics since she was very young. She learned from the best and gives life to your bicycle using second-to-none tools along with her creative intuition and eye for aesthetics.
She represents modern Mexico as a part of the “maker” culture, a collective whose members create their own content.
+52 1(55) 8087-9006
Facebook: @basicastudio @elidebicla
Instagram: @basicastudio
4. Atea: Artists Collectives That Break Barriers
Art, workshop, studio, architecture. This is Atea—a project that originates from an architects collective that sought to explore the barriers of the art and exposition field.
What will surely impact you when you visit is the graffiti and murals that surround this abandoned warehouse, where seven years back, the founders decided to create a format that evolved from gallery to art workshops and finally became a self-governed, independent space that you don’t want to miss seeing.
Atea is made up of a community of 20 friends who present their projects there on a changing basis.
One of Atea’s most important spaces is the print production station. You will also find installations, works, and artistic experimentation through analogue photography, collages, screen print, oil on canvas, and gold lamella; welding and knife design by special order; sustainable textile creation (we love their tops and t-shirts) and ceramics; as well as Siembra Merced—a roof garden that began as an installation, where workshops are now given on natural resource management and sustainable urban gardening.
Calle Topacio 25, La Merced
Facebook: @ArteTallerEstudioArquitectura
Instagram: @ateacdmx
5. Xaman Bar: Ancient Nature Captured in a Drink
This bar creates a new cocktail experience based on shamanism (ritualsthat evoke the beliefs and practices of shamans, who make predictions, invoke spirits, and cure illnesses through occult rituals and natural elements). Xaman Bar focuses on the curative power of herbs and plants, and its philosophy is based on respecting nature and the importance of space and place as a catalyst for states of consciousness.
Their menu is a celebration of prehispanic cultural heritage and the millennial knowledge of local plants. Enjoy the mystical aesthetics and ambiance of the place, its thematic and private spaces as well as the “Laboratoriode los Xamanes,” an herbs and essences bar.
Copenhague 6, Juárez
Facebook: @xamanbar
Instagram: @xamanbar
6. Mezcalería La Clandestina: A“Modern” Mexican Pueblito Shop
From the moment you enter Mezcalería La Clandestina, you will feel like you have entered a small town in México. The place is full of shelves packed with popular groceries and large jugs of a wide variety of mezcal with different organoleptic profiles.
Have a look at the ambiance, the lamps, benches, and floors and listen to the music that completes the pueblo feeling. You will be sure to notice the handicrafts and paintings by contemporary Mexican artists, providing a modern and very chic contrast.
Take the time to carefully look through the fascinating and fun list of 22 different mezcals, especially if you are planning on a precopeo(theMexican term for a pre-party drink). You will find from espadín blanco to espadín reposado, that vary from 31% to 54.7% alcohol content.
In addition to explaining the elaboration and distillation processes, as well as clearing up the many myths that exist around distillation, you will notice that the bartenders recommend that you choose a mezcal according to the feeling that you want to leave with. As the Mexican saying goes, “Para cada mal, hay un buen mezcal” (Meaning, for every bad, there is a good mezcal, which also rhymes very nicely in Spanish.)
Álvaro Obregón 298, Esquina con Sonora. Condesa
+52 5525 1100
Facebook: @laclandestinamezcaleria
7. Lorea: Tailor Made Kitchen
Have you ever had a fine dining experience where you are offered a menu personalized to your individual table? In Lorea, you can have this experience as your food is prepared in the moment, with the available, fresh, selected ingredients that are produced from peninsula to peninsula, Baja California to Yucatán.
So that your experience can be truly unique, personalized and memorable, the team, led by chef Oswaldo Oliva, will explore your emotions, feelings, and senses to give life to the tasting menu that is modified every day and is accompanied by an incredible pairing of drinks that you must taste.
The textures and flavors of the dishes are beautifully done—you taste the freshness and the unexpected details will surprise you. The service is impeccable. We are positive that you will discover Mexican ingredients and preparations that you had never imagined. This makes Lorea a must if you want an up-close look at the authentic gastronomic experience in the best modern Mexican style.
Sinaloa 141.
Roma Norte.
+52(55)9130 7786
Facebook: @loreamx
Instagram: @loreamx
8. Mercado Roma: Gourmet Tradition in the XXI Century
This is a gourmet market where you can see traditions transmitted through a new proposal, not only of food and ingredients, but also of ambiance, setting, architecture, and design. It is the perfect place for sharing with the community, where you can sit and share good food and a glass of wine, and meet new culinary talents and local producers who love what they do. It is the perfect place to meet and try new ingredients prepared in traditional dishes. In Mercado Roma you will find a chic and authentic touch from the setting to the flavors.
It is best when discovered in person, but here is a sneak peek in the meantime. You will find tacos and barbacoa (delicious meat served in broth), Spanish and Asian food, pizzas and hamburgers; coffee, wine, tea, and beer; chocolates, churros (doughnuts) and ice cream; and even a pet boutique, bookstore, home décor shop and artisanal skin care products.
Querétaro 225, Roma
+52(55)5564 1396
Facebook: @mercadoromaMX
Instagram: @mercadoroma
