MEXICO CITY — We were sitting in Elora Restaurant, in a city of 21 million people, when I realized just how small the world can be.
To explain: My husband and I had checked into the Hotel Volga in Mexico City. The newly built, nine-story structure boasts a hulking brutalist exterior and sleek modern interior whose soaring atrium extends upward from the basement restaurant to the roof deck.
“We think of it as an urban cenote,” explained our bartender, as we peered down from the rooftop lounge to the tables below. Indeed, the basement-level restaurant’s textured concrete wall, sporting air plants and dripping with moss, evokes a cenote in the Yucatan, a below-ground sinkhole usually illuminated by a circle of sky above.
This interior atrium is the focus of the hotel, and all 49 rooms and suites have windows and a doorway to a private patio overlooking the dramatic space. With no street-facing windows, we felt cocooned in our stylish, elegant room (with marble bathroom and rainfall shower), protected from bustling city sounds. As we were out exploring the city most of the day, we didn’t use the room’s sitting area, though we took advantage of the Nespresso machine. (I always need room coffee to get me to the breakfast coffee.)
Advertisement
The narrow roof deck lap pool was a favorite amenity, best used for swimming before late afternoon when cocktail-sipping guests loll in the water and on sunbeds. Additional amenities include a concept store with clothes and gifts by local designers, a small workout space, and morning yoga and mat pilates sundeck sessions. A sub-sub-basement space houses Minos, a late-night, intimate bar and music space playing electronic house DJ sets and special programming three nights a week. You know when a place is “cool” when A. There’s no outside signage; B. Reservations are required; and C. It’s often sold out.
Located on a one-way street off another one-way street, the hotel is adjacent to Avenida Paseo de la Reforma in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, a walkable, eclectic borough home to historic sites and modern skyscrapers, within walking distance to the museums and gardens in Cuauhtémoc Park.
But I digress. Our dinner at Elora surprised us — in a good way — though if I had done five minutes of research beforehand I wouldn’t have been so surprised. A collaboration between renowned Mexico City restaurateur Edo Kobayashi and chef Juan Manuel González, the menu offers cuisine with Spanish, French, Italian, and Greek influences crafted with Mexican ingredients. For example: shrimp tartar blended with jocoque (a Mexican fermented dairy product), dill, red onion, and capers, was squeezed through a tube in concentric circles, topped with salmon roe and served with warm pita. Strangely beautiful. Tasted amazing.
Advertisement
At the end of the meal, we sent kudos to the chef, who unexpectedly bounded from the kitchen to say hello. After answering questions about where he cooked before Elora (in many, many distinguished restaurants in Mexico, it seems), he asked if this was our first visit to Mexico City. (No.) And where were we going next? (Mazatlan.) “Mazatlan! That’s my wife’s hometown.” We offered that our favorite restaurant there was NAO Kitchen & Bar, with chef Andrea Lizzaraga. “My wife’s best friend!,” he said. He whipped out his cellphone to take a selfie with us, then texted the image to Andrea, who immediately wrote back. “Necee and Jim! Tell them I hope to see them soon.”
And that’s when a city of millions felt like a cozy living room.
Hotel Volga, Calle Río Volga 105, Col. Cuauhtémoc. +52-55-4359-9021, www.hotelvolga.mx/en Rates from $315, includes a la carte breakfast.
Necee Regis can be reached at [email protected].