04 Jan Breakfast with Grandma: Cafe del Bosque

An invitation for breakfast. Simple enough. The family picked me up around 10 am and we meandered the busy streets of Mexico City to Chapultepec, one of the largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere. We arrived at the beautiful Del Bosque restaurant after navigating several one ways, the wrong way. 

The restaurant had large windows covering 2⁄3 of its perimeter overlooking a lake with ducks and even larger ducks, who were impersonating white swans. Food was delicious and the service impeccably professional. The piano player took many of our requests and thanked us personally for making good choices, probably because he knew the songs we asked for. We dallied for almost an hour after the meal was done listening to his skillful playing. 

We then left the park and joined the busy traffic on the wide boulevards around it. We drove through Lomas de Chapultepec, a region of mostly enormous estate homes. Now I knew why that area of CDMX rarely had airbnb offerings. These owners did not want to share their wealth or riches. It reminded me of driving through Beverly Hills. After several attempts we found our way to Los Pinos, the Mexican equivalent of the White House, now no longer used by the new president AMLO but opened as a museum for all people to visit. Unfortunately the parking situation has yet to be figured out; we abandoned the idea of going in and left for our hostess-of-the-day Cristina’s home. 

On the way Cristina called her housemaid and cook to prepare a meal. I had no idea we were hungry again. We stopped to buy dessert just before reaching her home – Michoacan ice cream (reputed to be the best anywhere in Mexico) and ice cream cones, a novel idea that turned out to be a great dessert. The cook Conchita came through with a bistec specialty from Oaxaca her home. We ate it with rice and fresh tortillas, and chased it down with tamarindo punch. Then the luscious strawberry ice cream cones. 

After much conversation and rooftop viewing of the incredible Valley of Mexico, it was time to wrap it up. Cristina announced she was tired, (she has a right to be at 85 and a full day of activities), but it did not stop her or the rest of the family from bringing me home over 30 minutes away in busy Friday night traffic. 

I was stunned. A simple invitation for breakfast had morphed several times, and the day was filled with family, vitality, discovery and conversation. It had started at 10 am and I reached home about 8:30 pm. The day was a grand lesson in gently enjoying life and the people we are blessed to share it with.