Máximo Bistrot
Eating Alone
Rob Forbes | 1-17-2022
In early December, after a week of fast-paced travel with four friends, I found myself alone on a Friday night in Mexico City. It’s exhilarating to travel with close friends, friends with shared interests and humor, and we had had a grand time. But when traveling in a group, one has to abide by group decisions, follow a plan, show up on time, etc. So it was a bit of a relief to have an unstructured day and night to myself just to horse around my La Condessa ‘hood with no group agenda.
Chef pals had told me about a special local restaurant there, Máximo Bistrot. I had visited one of the farmers who supplied Maximo, Lucio Usobiaga, in nearby Xochimilco, the day before. I was curious about the menu, and to see how farm-to-table experience in Mexico compared with my SF Bay Area food scene. Maximo is a popular place and typically booked weeks in advance, but I figured that if I arrived early, solo, I might snag a bar seat.
So I got there at 6:00 PM (way early for Mexico) only to find that there was no bar and no tables available, save for a late cancel. It didn’t look good, but I was encouraged to take a seat on a sofa in the waiting area. My perch looked out onto the entire interior but had only a narrow coffee table bench as a table. And on this bench was a huge flower arrangement, leaving me about six inches of table space, enough for a drink, but not for a meal. So I ordered a margherita.
Before I had finished it, a staff member had removed the flower arrangement, made up a place setting for me, and delivered a menu. Thoughtful. The menu (attached) was creative and exotic, with dishes like "Sweet onion cooked in whey, Comté Cheese, cruffin". Cruffin? Or “Beer-braised Wagyu beef tongue", “mole de olla”, “Jerusalem artichoke puree”. I ordered my go-to test of a restaurant – a Caesar salad followed by a red snapper with yellow curry entre.
The Caesar came with a Puerco Queso (head cheese) blanketing the lengthy chunks of romaine, a topping that would likely horrify Caesar purists, but was as tasty as it was original. The creative presentation woke me up to the confident and innovative nature of the chef, and it encouraged me to look around and see what else in Maximo reflected the same vibe. I took advantage of the expansive view from my couch.
The space itself included many eclectic elements and textures. The vaulted ceiling was a complex metal structure which seemingly allowed natural light and air to pour in though the far end during daytime. Across from me were two wooden side chairs of a rustic modern character, a tricky aesthetic to pull off and something of an oxymoron, like “sophisticated clunky." They were perfect, really.
I then checked out the range of lighting details: elevated candles, table candles, floor lamps – all seemingly custom designs. Nearby was a grey-blue embossed counter structure where my bar might have been. This added a quirky decorative detail that would easily be missed by most guests as it was below eye level. There were two stately tapestries, a tree, various textured walls, some hanging herbs… Shit, the interior had been designed from head to toe, with custom details, and nothing looked branded. It was way complex yet felt relaxed, natural, simple and genuine.
I’m familiar with the highly visual and artistic Mexican sensibility, and food and dining is a huge part off their culture. But I didn’t know that modern “designer” restaurants were part of their vocabulary. This place stood out, just as Luis Barragan’s architecture stands out against the classic Mexican colonial aesthetic tradition.
Many table structures were made with barn-like cross braces, unacceptably inelegant elements for many modernists. My sparkling water was delivered in its commercial Penafiel bottle, a nod to honesty. (Commercial sparkling water is usually disguised in glass carafes in upscale restaurant in the US). Many aesthetic norms were transcended. The eclectic contemporary aesthetic was “Zuni meets Sea Ranch” in CA. OK. It’s my taste; I am admittedly biased.
The numerous design details might easily have gone under my radar if I had been dining with friends, deep in conversation, or fixated on the food. They were more subtle than what you often see in fancier dining interiors where shiny copper pans, dramatic lighting, and chefs on display are highlighted, and where luxury and sophistication are used to impress. At Maximo, there was so much good design and so little pretense. Being alone allowed me to indulge in these details without being anti-social.
Halfway through my red snapper entre another waitress came by and asked me if I wanted to order dessert. I said “No thanks, but I’d love to know who designed those chairs”. She studied me with direct eye contact for a moment and then said, “A designer from California, Charles de Lisle”. That cracked me up for two reasons. First, I had met Charles a year before in his Sausalito office, and, second – the waitress knew the chair designer? This “waitress” turned out to be the co-owner of Maximo, Gabriela López, married to the chef and close friends with Charles, the designer. “He designed the whole place” she explained. She sat down and we had a nice chat about Maximo’s.
Gaby: “You have the best seat in the house, you know.”
Rob: “Yes, I do know. I’ve taken a ton of photos. Thanks.”
Gaby: “OK, now, can I bring you a dessert?“
Rob: “No thanks. I’m full. But I’d like to check out your Men’s Room.”
Gaby laughed: “It’s the best dessert.”
I often shape my weeks around having drinks and dinners with friends. This habit maybe the richest part of my life, my antidote to loneliness and boredom. But it takes an exceptionally well-designed place like Maximo to wake me up to the extreme pleasure of eating alone.
Best—
Rob
If you are still reading this tome: Mexico is a great travel destination right now, much safer than many parts of the US. Much of the population is not fully vaccinated, so everyone is masked and highly conscious of the virus and the safety of tourists. A great entree into modern Mexico City culture can be found in August - Journals published by Dung Ngo. And for dessert, check out his Instagram feed. Coincidentally, it was Mr. Ngo who had introduced me to Charles de Lisle some years ago.