How the menu at Mexico City’s most venerable Mexican restaurant was created

For nearly sixty years, guidebooks have described Fonda El Refugio in the center of Mexico City as a bastion of authentic Mexican cooking.  Now Nick Gilman explains where that authenticity came from.

Claudio Hall, grandson of the founder, [explains that] . . . grandma was neither an indigenous braided countrywoman nor a chef. A glamorous upper-class lady, she was an astute businesswoman who liked the idea of creating an elegant restaurant that served Mexican food. It took off, and during the ‘época de oro’ of the Zona Rosa the Fonda became a hangout for the likes of Cantinflas and Maria Felix.
“Grandmother never touched a stove in her life”, explains the affable Hall, who speaks in unaccented English.

“Surely the recipes are treasured family secrets?” I ask. “Not a one” he replies. “She was a great collector of classic Mexican cookbooks – we have an amazing library. All our recipes come from books”.

I’m not a bit surprised.  The wealthy in Mexico City, like the wealthy around the world, ate French food. (as I obsessively repeat on this blog).* If they went out to eat, it was to cosmopolitan restaurants, though with great cooks in every well-to-do family, eating out was not the prestigious leisure activity that it now is.

Nick’s blog (link above), if you don’t already know it, is your best bet for up-to-date information on dining in Mexico City.  He covers mainly the central areas.  After all, one man can do only so much in a city of 20 million and that’s the area his readership needs to know about.

• ← Tea Kettle Broth
• Fruit and vegetables for Mexican markets and supermarkets →