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.