Condesa

The first time I came to Condesa I was supposed to be somewhere else. I had a meeting in Roma Norte and got the metro stop wrong, surfaced on Ámsterdam instead of Sonora, and found myself walking an oval boulevard lined with the kind of buildings that make you stop mid-stride to count the floors. That was three years ago. The meeting, I think, went fine. The walk down Ámsterdam is what stayed with me — that specific afternoon light filtering through plane trees, the smell of coffee drifting from a place called Ocho y Medio, a couple of terriers straining at their leashes in the direction of the park. I understood, immediately and without needing it explained, why half of Mexico City’s creative class had chosen to live within these twelve or so blocks.

Parque México and the Art of Staying Put

Parque México is an ellipse of greenery that the neighborhood has arranged its whole identity around, and rightly so. On a weekday morning it runs at a pleasant hum — joggers circling the outer path, a man selling tamales from a cart near the art deco fountain, a dense scrum of dogs near the off-leash area where the owners stand around comparing notes. On Saturday it escalates: couples, families, cyclists, a yoga class that seems to have no designated end time. I prefer it midweek, from a table at one of the cafes facing the park along Parque México Avenue. Buna has good filter coffee; Quentin has better pastries. I have spent entire mornings at one or the other, ostensibly working, mostly watching the neighborhood pretend the twenty-first century is still negotiable.

The Food, Which Is Not Cheap and Worth It Anyway

Condesa’s restaurant scene has moved decisively upmarket over the past decade, but the quality generally justifies it. Contramar, on Durango, is worth the wait and the price — the tuna tostadas and the red-and-green grilled fish are as good as the mythology suggests. For something less produced, the taquería on the corner of Tamaulipas and Campeche does carnitas on weekend mornings that are gone by noon. I have made the mistake of arriving at twelve-fifteen. I will not repeat it. Wednesday evenings I tend toward Lalo! on Zacatecas — the chiles rellenos are restrained and precise, and the room fills with a crowd that is clearly having a good time without announcing it loudly.

Wandering Ámsterdam

The oval of Ámsterdam — the former hippodrome track, which explains its shape — is the best walking loop in the city as far as I am concerned. It takes about twenty minutes at an easy pace, more if you stop at the flower stalls near the junction with Michoacán, which you should. The architecture along the way shifts between 1930s French Moderne and the occasional intrusive 1970s block, but the trees win the argument overall. Early evening, when the light goes golden and the cafes start filling up, Ámsterdam does something to your mood that I cannot fully account for. It makes the city feel manageable.

Getting There

Condesa sits between the metro stations Chilpancingo (Line 9) and Patriotismo (Line 9), though neither drops you at the park’s edge — expect a ten-minute walk from either. Metrobús Line 1 stops at Sonora, which is more useful. Uber from Roma Norte or Polanco takes five to ten minutes depending on traffic, which in this city is always the variable.