After drying off and my last siesta, I made my way down a steep hill and across a very busy main thoroughfare to my final restaurant, Criollo, known for its innovative twist of traditional Oaxacan cooking. One of the first changes from almost all of my dinners was the lack of the terrace, opting instead for a nice patio.

I had a great seat overlooking the main room plus to my immediate right was this big fellow.

His name was Claudio, the restaurant mascot who has recently ended his reign as the cock of the walk and now enjoying his retirement at the ripe old age of 5. I assured him I wasn’t a fan of cockscomb soup which he seemed to appreciate.

There was only a 6 course tasting menu, which was fine as I would have selected that anyway.

Course 1 – 2 amuse bouches

• cauliflower with dried chilies with anchovies and peanuts on a cauliflower puree
• nigiri of blue fin tuna

The first amuse was by far the more interesting of the two, with a wide range of flavors in a couple of bites.

Second course – Jicama and chayote squash salad in a bean sauce. This was light and refreshing with the crunchy raw jicama enhanced nicely with the slightly sweet bean sauce.

The third course was the best example of mixing old and new – a tamal made of guava paste with pickled carrots and cipolino onions and a red mole. I’m usually not a guava fan but it really worked in this case, its sweetness mitigated by the spicy red mole.

Next up was the first of 2 main dishes – sea bass with a masa, sour cream and white wine purée alongside white corn. This was the only real dud of the meal. The combo really didn’t work for me and the fish was rather bland although still quite edible.

Fortunately, the course was a real winner – chicken with a sweet black mole. Unlike the mole negro I had the previous night, as indicated this was a sweet version, which substituted sweet potatoes and yams for the smoked chilies. I’m usually not a fan of such sauces but it really worked here, almost like a gastrique often paired with duck or other game birds.

The traditional palette cleanser was strawberry sorbet with dragonfruit jellies in a prickly pear sauce. This would again not something I’d order but it was (particularly the dragon fruit jellies, which I could have had a bowlful of) a great pre dessert.

As for the actual dessert, it was another winner – pavlova with vanilla cream and passion fruit sauce. It was rich and decadent plus the playful element of cracking through the merengue shell. A fun to the end meal.

By the time I finished the last bit, I was pretty much feeling like my buddy Claudio was at the same moment captured above. I was done, and it was a good thing I was heading home tomorrow as my stomach needed some rest too.

Given the elections the next day and the imposed alcohol ban, it was literally impossible to go somewhere for a nightcap. So that, therefore, effectively ended my time in this special city. I will definitely be back sooner rather later but next time in much cooler weather. Hasta próxima.

Now that I no longer had work, I decided to mix things up a bit and head outside of Centro to check out a highly recommended spot for brunch. Ancestral was up on a hill by a park in what looked like an up and coming part of Oaxaca.

From the chirping birds to the abundant greenery, it certainly was a chance of pace. Known for cooking items on the comal (an ancient version of a plancha basically, I had zeroed in on the chilaquiles with yellow mole.

Now this was some proper-looking chilaquiles, with chips keeping their crispiness against the spicy yellow mole to the oregano pulled chicken. Muy sabrosa!

Since I had no pesos, I asked them to hail a taxi that accepted credit cards. 10 mins later a very friendly driver showed up and after some back and forth about my destination, off we went… until l asked to confirm he took cards. He said they had told him I was paying cash. Great. The driver though graciously pull over on the street that would, eventually, get me to the museum. Close enough I guess.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise (pun intended) as that path allowed me to finally go inside the cathedral. It was at least 20 degrees cooler and many others like myself had taken temporary refuge from the heat and hubbub outside.

As I exited, I hear the distinct echoing music of some sort of marching band and noticed quite the celebration in the square ahead. It turned out to be a birthday party complete with indeed a marching band, giant paper mache heads and some poor kid that had a huge balloon that he had to keep spinning like a globe.

I made my way past the revelers to finally reach my destination, the Museum of Oaxacan Painters. Once again having no cash, they graciously let me in for free (not that it was much – about $4).

The first exhibit was dedicated to the famous Carnival, which takes place in July. I can’t imagine what a mess that must be for the city but very cool at least seeing it in this form.

I appreciated the variety of mediums and style that were featured throughout the small but well curated museum.

My favorite though was a local sculptor who had created these massive “guardians”

After getting my culture on, I took a taxi back up the hill to the bakery I had discovered yesterday, to get a sandwich for the flight home and another one of their yummy carrot coconut muffins. Plus, it was close for a gourmet ice cream shop that sounded like a perfect treat. Alas, it was closed but a chocolate cafe next to it was open. Obviously, the last thing I wanted was a hot chocolate but they also had a cold Oaxacan chocolate malt.

I’m normally not a fan of chocolate malt but once again this was hardly ordinary. Complex and bursting with flavor and giving me a nice buzz from the 50% cacao, I had to stop myself from slurping it down all at once.

I walked down a couple of blocks back to my place and finding the pool empty, hopped in too cool off even further. I needed to regain my strength for my final meal out, which will be the topic for my next (and last for this great city) post. Stay tuned.

Hey did I mention it was hot here? The cumulative days of heat had begun to take a toll on me so being able to grab a sandwich at a small bakery 2 blocks from me sounded good.

While I waited for them to make my lunch, I checked out their wondrous selection of baked goods, choosing what I had been told to was their specialty, almond croissants, along with a carrot/coconut muffin. This great spread was a grand total of $9 and the bacon egg croissant sandwich was exactly what I needed.

My final day of work done along with my requisite siesta, I headed down the hill into a much more boisterous Centro now that the weekend was here. My destination was one of the stations of the cross for foodies – Casa Oaxaca.

I had a pretty spectacular table overlooking the cathedral where a female opera singer was playing the hits. Soon, a server approached me to create a custom salsa from a variety of ingredients. At last I could actually have a salsa without garlic! I picked out my selections, and he proceeded to ground and mix them all together in my very own salsa.

After I placed my order for my starter, I was given a large blue corn tostada with crumbled quesillo for my new salsa. It was a great way to enjoy it and a perfect kickoff to the meal

Soon after, my starter arrived – mushroom quesadilla with radishes and greens. This was definitely the fanciest quesadilla I had ever had and one of the best. The earthy mushrooms were beautifully mixed with the ubiquitous quesillo along with the perfectly crisped tortilla. Superb.

But I was really here for only one thing – the world famous Casa Oaxaca mole negro with turkey, which is the traditional protein pairing. The mole is made of 52 ingredients, including a custom chocolate spice blend created for the chef via a local market.

The aroma of the mole alone was captivating but when I actually tasted it, my mind was blown. The depth and the complexity of the mole made me realize I really had never truly had mole negro. It was sweet, bitter, savory, rich and unlike anything I had ever have. It even made my least favorite protein- white turkey meat – delicious. Now I know why it’s so sought out. Incredible.

I didn’t really want a true dessert but it was finally cool-ish enough to try the famous Oaxacan hot chocolate. A local had told me the other day it’s actually better to do it with water versus milk as it brings out the spices more. The server smiled when I chose that option and soon my steaming hot cup arrived.

Similar to the mole, it was like I had never really had hot chocolate. The spice and complexity was truly something with the water indeed making the flavors stand out more. It was a great way to end one of the best dinners I’ve ever had in Mexico. I will be back someday.

Still buzzed from both that experience and the high octane chocolate, I walked a few blocks away from Centro to the Oaxaca Brewery.

As I entered, it was readily apparent there was no A/C with a fan blowing essentially hot air around the room. With that in mind, I opted for the taster of their hazy IPA since that was definitely not something I was expecting to have. It was a nice thirst quencher.

After I had a few sips and had cooled down a bit, it was time for what had immediately caught my attention as a dark beee lover – the cacao nibs Pilsner. Pilsner was actually a very smart choice for this as it wasn’t as heavy as a porter or stout. This was a home run with the great Oaxacan cacao nibs adding some depth and complexity to the beer.

Chatting with the bartender, he told me that because of the presidential elections on Sunday, as of tomorrow, no alcohol would be served until Monday. That made this beer the perfect way to end my journey with the great variety of alcohol in Oaxaca. I made my way back to mi casa to get some rest for the last hurrah of my final day/night.

After working in the morning, I headed out to the first of 2 restaurants run by female chefs. Given the hot weather, it was perfect time to get the famous Oaxacan tomato salad at Levadura de Olla. I had a 1pm reservation and accidentally entered as the chef was doing final preparations for service, which was fun to see.

The restaurant was in a beautiful courtyard which was thankfully shaded. I had wanted to try one of the ancient Oaxacan drinks and they had a full page of them. I opted for the tepache, which was made with smoked rind of pineapple, chili powder and honey, which is then fermented for 2 weeks. Hadn’t really had anything quite like it – a blend of sour and sweet with just enough alcohol for a tiny buzz. Very refreshing.

Soon it was time for the reason I was there. There were 8 different Oaxacan tomatoes/tomatillos, which had been carefully sliced and placed on top of a roasted beet sauce. So simple but oh so delicious. Some of the tomatoes were sweet, some tangy and all complemented beautifully by the sauce, which was so good, I used it as a sauce with my chips too after I had eaten all of the tomatoes. A great lunch.

After work and the requisite siesta, it was off to dinner for my second female chef restaurant, Tierra del Sol, which funny enough, turned out to be right around the corner from Levadura. After briefly touring their fantastic bakery, I was led to a room to sit down and enjoy a fresh tortilla they were currently making for me. The hostess said there were 4 salts to choose from ranging from tradition to one with chapulines and one with maguey worms. I decided to mix the sea salt with a bit of the chapulines one. Delicious.

Next, I was led upstairs to the beautiful terrace with a stunning backdrop. The weather was now basically perfect, which allowed me to the ignore the large family table next to me with kiddos running around. Needing some roughage, I chose the Premixtal (ancient Mexico) salad of various local greens with a pepita vinaigrette. It was a great mix of floral and bitter greens with the dressing adding some nice acid.

It was wise to start light like that as my main course was anything but that – “aromatic mole” the chef’s own red mole blend with braised pork shank. This was very decadent with the meat falling off the bone into the deep, complex mole. After a few bites, I took my server’s suggestion and used the fresh blue corn tortillas to make a very different taco. That was enough for me to raise the white flag and eschew what looked like some great chocolate (por supuesto) desserts.

It was still early enough so I headed over to Sabina Sante, a bar my friend Ed had loved when here, for a night cap. I posted up in the corner and told the bartender I wanted a smoky mezcal cocktail. He suggested one of his favorites as the basis for a mezcal margarita. I’m usually not a fan of those but trusted him. I’m glad I did as the smoky mezcal was nicely blended with the traditional margarita profile.

Restricting myself to just one, I headed back home while taking a few pics of the great street art along my walk home. Tomorrow would be my final day of work (huzzah!) and a visit to the Mole Master.