Grand Hotel Ciudad Mexico

Our hotel, the Grand Hotel Ciudad Mexico, is a Belle Epoque hotel built right on the Southwest corner of the Zocalo, also called the Plaza de la Constitucion (Constitution Plaza)

The rooms were nice, or rather nice-ish.

When we checked in the bellboy (complete with the red suit and little bellboy hat) took us up to the room in an old-fashioned elevator that does not have buttons at all - you still needed to use the wheel lever to move it. It was not in general use, but only for when guests check in.

As he was going through the room amenities, he came to the thermostat, and said:

"The thermostat is only for the air conditioning. We don't have heat, so if it is too cold, call the front desk and we will bring you another blanket or a space heater."

Nice! 

The front room, a little sitting room, had REALLY high ceilings. The pillars from the lobby were right in that room.

There was little light in that room, and the only time we used it was when one of us couldn't sleep.

 But you simply could not beat the view.

And the location was also perfect for a short trip. We only took a taxi once, and if I would have planned better (Doreen usually does the restaurant planning) we probably would have been able to walk or bike everywhere we wanted to go. 

 The staff was all very friendly, but sometimes their reach exceeded their grasp.

We asked for help in getting reservations at a fancy restaurant, thinking they has some pull (the place was called Pujols.) No joy, there.

We also wrote about a half dozen post cards and asked if we could buy some stamps. No joy there, either, but one of their folks said that he would drop them off on the way home.

We'll see if they get delivered.

Then on the last day of our stay, we didn't have hot water.

We called down to the front desk, and were told that the maintenance people didn't come up until 7:00, and they would come to the room then.

They came to the room, turned on the water, and noticed it was cold.  They looked under the sink (did they think we turned it off ourselves?) and I told them we had hot water the night before.

They left. 

About 20 minutes later, we had hot water. About 20 minutes after that, the front desk called and said we would have hot water in 20 minutes.

In spite of all that, we are very glad we stayed here.

Dinner at La Tecla

If you have heard anything about Mexico City, it is probably that it has very bad air pollution, and very bad traffic. Since we are here over a weekend, the air is not too bad. But the traffic is.

We had 8:00 PM reservations at a place called La Telca in the Roma neighborhood - not too far, maybe five miles from our hotel. We thought it should take no more that 10 minutes to get there.

But it was stop and go, well, stop and stop and go traffic from our hotel. Luckily, nobody in Mexico City takes time too seriously, and few people eat as early at 8:00 PM.

We walked straight by the restaurant even after the taxi driver told us where it was. But once we got settled, it was a pleasant little place with a nice wait staff ready to serve.

We each started with a glass of Reserva de la Famila tequila, and I have to say, it might have been the best I have ever had. I will seek that out again.

We took some time to tease out the menu. My Spanish is not bad, but it has been a very long time since I have had to use it every day. (More on that in a later post)

We liked the idea of sharing some little plates, so we started by ordering the gorditas with beans and pork, along with the figs stuffed with goat cheese and serrano ham. We can get the gorditas in Houston at a place called Hugo's, which is really a Mexico City restaurant more than a TexMex restaurant. 

We were intrigued by the category of "Bajo en Grasa". I really struggled with what this meant. "Bajo" is "below" or "low" and "Grasa" is "Fat" or "grease". I kept thinking to myself, "Below the fat, below the fat" and I decided that it meant "Deep Fat Fried"! Good thinking! But totally and completely wrong. Bajo en Grase means, of  course, when you think about it for just a second more than I did, "Low in fat". 

From that section, we ordered the portabella mushroom carpacio (that should have been a clue) and the stuffed squash blossoms (That is what I used to make my brilliant, yet wrong, deduction. Many places have fried squash blossoms!)

Both were outstanding, but the stuffed squash blossoms (stuffed with goat cheese and walnuts) were the best thing of the night.

We then shared the cazuela of beef, sort of a braised beef recipe. Very good. At this point, we thought we were done, but I ordered one more dish - the albondigas (meatballs) a special for the evening.

Then to top it all off we had a strawberry meringue. It was a TOWER of meringue.

The cab ride back to the hotel took ten minutes. 

Mexico City, Day One

We decided to take a trip over MLK day weekend. I was very close to the sale of TerraSpark to CGG/Jason, but many things had to fall in place before we would be able to confirm I could leave for a couple of days. Then, I had to be back in Houston to meet with the Board of Directors of a new company that is recruiting me.

So while we had originally wanted to go to Panama on this trip, we chose the closer and more accessible Mexico City (DF, to those in the know)

We got tickets on United and Doreen found us a hotel right ON the Zocalo, or main square in the central historic district of the city.

Blaze was not too happy.

The rooms are pretty nice.

But the hotel suffers from a lack of attention to detail.

For example, when  the shower in the room above us is on, it runs into out tub

The front room of our suite has REALLY all ceilings. But this is because they grabbed some space from the lobby:

But you cannot beat the view. This is out of our window:

and this is a view of the hotel:

These are photos of the lobby:

and finally a panoramic from the room.

More Christmas Dinner

We serve the main course buffet style, as it is too hard to plate everyone's meal - and besides, sometimes folks want more of one thing or another.

It is not quite ready, but it is close:
 

And here is Doreen, looking glamorous as usual!
 

Quinn and Quintessa
 

She is saying, "I am about to eat this!"


Now she is saying, "Yummmm"
 

Eddie made his delicious and beautiful Italian Cream Cake for Doreen's birthday. We sang, but she didn't blow out candles.
 

Lola and Renee
 

Everyone loves a baby
 
and a red hat.
 

Or, two red hats:
 

And we miss the folks who are not here with us
 

What a smile on these two!
 

It seems to me they are hatching a plan
 

It may involve Blaze. Renee looks thrilled!
 

OK, let's make a break for it!

We all ate too much. Some of us had plenty to drink. It was a great meal with great friends and family.

We are truly blessed!

Christmas Dinner

Google+ has taken over my online photos from Picasa. Not really my choice, but it looks like Google is regretting Picasa in favor of the G+ photo capabilities. I won't complain so much, and it add some interesting special effects. You will have to go there to see them.

It takes this photo:
 
and adds sparkles. It adds snow to some others as well.

But that is just an aside.

Here are the green beans after being blanched. They are cooled in ice water to stop the cooking. Later, you saute them with butter, scallions, and some stock. They were excellent. Crispy and flavorful, all at the same time.
 

We didn't do an "in goose" stuffing this year, but made a pear and pancette dressing that was described in the New York Times. It was very good. I like stuffing birds, but the goose is so fatty you have to be very careful what you put inside. I think this dressing was better outside the goose.
 

Every year we make a braised red cabbage. Apples, apple juice, bacon, onions, honey, vinegar, I can't remember what all. This is a tribute to Trouta, (Doreen's momma) who always had red cabbage at Christmas. It is delicious.
 

Oh - chopping pancetta.
 

Bread for the dressing. The recipe calls for a "Pullman Loaf" - I mean, really.



Doreen cooking the cabbage. You can see the sauce in the little pan in front of her.
 
Mushrooms for the dressing. I forgot to mention them above. The recipe calls for fresh chanterelles, but we couldn't find any. So we when with cremini (Criminy!) and dried chanterelles. It was a good combination.
 

Onions and shallots
 

assembled.
 

Doreen always sets a nice table:
 

This is the Greenberg Smoked Turkey from Tyler, TX. If you have never had one, you are missing out on one of life's pleasures. Treat yourself to one sometime next year.
 

Ree and Eddie. That is Eddie's hat on Ree. Wonderful!
 

And Eddie's hat on Eddie:
 

Jon and Trouta. Many people wore red in the spirit of the season. Jon just wore his red hair.


Trouta, Charles, Quinn, Renee, Roxy:
 

The two birds, discussing their fate:


The turkey, carved. Very white meat, very smoky taste.
 

The goose meat on the platter. Notice how I artistically tried to recreate the goose itself:
 

Turkey and Cranberry Relish:

More in the next post.

Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of the beets with the beet vinaigrette and goat cheese foam. It was so delicious and pretty, besides.