Cheap Eats
By Carol Schmidt
December 19, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Don’t hit your head

You go up steep stairs to reach both La Fonda the hotel (rooms starting at 250 pesos a night) and Aquí Es México the restaurant, and I hit my head every time. But it’s worth it to find a complete meal even late at night for 45 pesos.

In the mornings the hotel guests in particular enjoy the separate desayuno menu, though from 8am until 10pm every day the three comida corrida choices are the most popular.

Each starts with a large bowl of chicken and veggie or chicken noodle soup, or you may upgrade to Tarasco, mushroom, spinach, huitlacoche or calabaza soup for another 20 pesos.

 The soups are mild, perfect for less adventurous eaters, but you can squeeze in lime and add huajilla salsa to taste if you prefer spicy food. The mushroom soup is thick with slices of fresh mushrooms.

Then you choose either a chile relleno plate with rice and red beans; a large mixed salad; or Aztec chicken in a tomato and huajilla salsa served with nopales and potatoes. The last one specifies on the menu: “Not hot!”

For 60 pesos you can order a platter of four chicken flautas—tightly rolled and fried tacos like little flutes—plus salad and excellent red beans that could just as well appear on a New Orleans Cajun plate.

The rest of the menu goes up in price to 130 pesos for a steak, and they serve chiles en nogada year-round for 90 pesos. Several of their dishes feature their red mole of 20 ingredients, which the menu proudly states has been made in their family’s home for four generations.

House & Garden Tour
By Jennifer Hamilton

Water descends to terraced river in garden of delightful abandon

House & Garden Tour
Sun, Dec 21, tour departs at noon
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
US$15 or 150 pesos
Breakfast at Café Santa Ana starts at 9am

1. This magnificent property on 20 acres of land with 360° views is nestled snugly in the rolling hillsides just outside San Miguel. The country haven was created as a cooking school, yet also as a tranquil place for visitors to enjoy the peaceful ambience of the panoramic landscapes. Splashing fountains are everywhere; old doors were used indoors, at the entranceway and at the back garden; and beautiful pieces of Mexican folk art and color abound. The sala, painted in soft blue tones, is filled with chairs and sofas, huipiles, folk art and retablos. Outside, a rounded cantera millstone gently trickles water down its sides and leads to the large dining room topped by a tunnel-arched ceiling and two chandeliers. Colorful plates and chickens add whimsy and color to a tiled Mexican kitchen. An outside sleeping area with Mexican and Oriental touches looks out onto the pebble-and-stone patio with its two iron beds. Bathrooms are multihued, with beautiful handmade metal-framed floral mirrors. Outside, a gently flow
ing water wall descends through the thickly grassed, rounded garden, feeding a “river” terraced on both sides with pebbles. At the far end is a Romanesque carved chapel wall and a water lily pond filled with goldfish. Another ancient chapel door embedded in the stone wall leads out to a greenhouse for organic herbs and fresh vegetables. Chickens provide guests with fresh eggs every day. 



2. Fun, fun, fun…describes the colorful, creative and incredible compound known as Casa Las Ranas. Visitors are greeted by a blast of color, murals, mosaics, a whimsical fountain and an overgrown garden of delightful abandon. While the owner’s specialty is creating one-of-a-kind assemblages, he is also a master colorist and designer. His vibrant palette creates a visual experience inside and out. Bright mosaics, Buddhas, Day of the Dead objects, art assemblages and collages confront the visitor stepping through the front door. The whole house is an art installation. The kitchen is a celebration of tile beyond description. In one corner is the bodega, a bordello-like alcove with its wonderful mermaid hanging and red light bulbs. Plates by Gorky Gonzalez adorn walls. Huge windows from the living room offer a bucolic view of gardens of local plants, flowers and vegetables. On either side of an altar placed behind the colorful dining room table are two extraordinary assemblages known as “The Stations of the Groove.” The master bedroom, possibly with the largest bóveda ceiling ever, is filled with color, assemblages, two assembled and adorned abuelitas and bric-a-brac of every description. The gardens completely surround the house and contain a tiled Chichimeca calendar patio, arched wooden arbors, walls filled with mosaics and mysterious hidden objects. Even the garden utility building has artistic touches. To the west is an unprecedented view of the Guanajuato Mountains.