Viva Guadalajara: Exploring Mexico’s Culinary Frontier

Our day will start in the epicenter of Guadalajara’s flourishing creative community, the eclectic Americana neighborhood, where we’ll stop by a beloved cafe for some of their freshly-baked breakfast pastries. From there, we’ll make our way to another local favorite, a restaurant run by a woman chef who’s made it her mission to revive recipes and culinary traditions from the surrounding Jalisco region. Here we’ll have some classic regional breakfast dishes that reflect the variety of climates found in Jalisco. We’ll taste more of the region’s – and Mexico’s – unique flavors at our next stop, a small shop that sources some of the finest chocolate throughout the country, flavored with everything from chipotle chiles to grasshoppers. Taking in Guadalajara’s cultural riches, we’ll visit a 19th-century neo-Gothic church that’s considered one of Mexico architectural gems and then at a nearby museum admire stunning murals painted by Jose Clemente Orozco, a revered Guadalajara artist who was a contemporary of Diego Rivera’s. As we continue through the city’s backstreets, we’ll stop at a small fourth-generation family business for one of the most iconic Guadalajara bites: the torta ahogada. Made out of a crusty roll filled with carnitas and chicharon that’s then “drowned” in a fiery red-colored chile salsa, this torta is as delicious as it is messy. Making our way towards Guadalajara’s historic center, we’ll pass through a park designed by another celebrated local – the architect Luis Barragán – and then visit a street stand for a taste of refreshing tejuino, a slightly fermented corn-based drink topped with a scoop of lemon sorbet. From there, we’ll pay our respects at two local shrines – the Guadalajara cathedral, built in 1542, and then at an old-school restaurant thought to be the originator of another classic local dish: birria. We’ll wrap up our day at a venerable cantina for a well deserved drink (or two), accompanied by some live music and some small Guadalajara-style bar bites. By the end of our tour, it will become clear that when it comes to eating, there are no contradictions – Guadalajara is simply a food town that can’t be beat.