Comida Central

Two more reasons to visit Mexico City this winter

November 22, 2006—Mexico City is already regarded by many as North America's most happening destination (sorry, Little Rock), and two new restaurants should only add to the rep. The mod cantina La Bipolar, which opens today, has both a celebrity co-owner (actor Diego Luna) and a tasty menu (standouts include rib-eye tacos, marlin tostaditas, and tofu burritos), but the real star is its trashtastic interior, which features aluminum laundry basins reborn as lamp shades, wooden butcher blocks refashioned into tables, and walls made of plastic produce crates. "We want to keep this a place where everybody knows your name," explains La Bipolar principal Carlos Meza Yazpik, who's also a founder of the Mexican streetwear brand NaCo. "Kind of like a Mexican version of Cheers—but with much better food and cooler people." And what's with the name? "There's a famous cantina here called La Polar, which we're similar to but we're a little crazier. Also, bipolarity is really common in Mexico now for some reason." Something in the water?

Visitors in a less manic mood should check out Richard Sandoval's soon-to-open Hip Kitchen, which the chef—who's been busy in the States with New York's Pampano, Denver's Zengo, and Las Vegas's Isla—considers his homecoming. Look for Nuevo Latino cuisine and an instant scene. As for its name? Blame its location, the new Hippodrome Hotel.

La Bipolar, 155 Malitzin, Mexico City, 011-55-50-25-86-17; Hip Kitchen at Hippodrome Hotel, 188 Avenida Mexico, Mexico City.