Casa Roma

Colonia Roma in Mexico City is a bohemian, still partly colonial neighborhood with breath taking architecture. One can almost hear the horse carriages while walking around the quiet streets filled with art galleries and book stores. The best part about Roma is that it seams to be always an upcoming neighborhood; however, it still manages to keep its charm attracting the artsy and alternative genres of Mexican and foreign crowds. But yesterday I though that maybe it really is upcoming and well on its way to become the next "hip Condesa".

I went there with a few friends to a new restaurant called "Casa Roma".
The concept of Casa Roma is directly taken from the secret places of New York where one feels privileged to "be seen". The restaurant is located in an old bohemian house with a regular, unmarked entrance. We knocked on the door and were greeted by a distinguished "mayordomo", who immediately asked whether we had a reservation. You see one can only access Casa Roma by invitation or reservation; hence the feeling of importance, which by the way is a great marketing tool for the "fresa" crowd around the world really. We entered into the beautiful and cozy looking house and were sited by our table. Soft jazz playing in the background was a perfect condiment for both occasion and place.

I am not sure whether it was because the place is new or because it is really meant to be a party place at the end, but the menu was very scarce and without much theme. We could choose from about five different tapas and a soup. We ordered a bottle of red wine, Spanish tortilla, and mussels. Ok, so maybe it will be a party place at the end. I mean the food was ok, but the tortilla had overly thick pieces of potatoes and not enough salt and the mussels were covered with cheese. For those of you who like to eat well you should agree that one simply does not cover seafood with cheese. It should be illegal. In any case, gorgeous atmosphere, impeccably entertaining company and a bottle of good wine made the trip worth the effort. I would certainly go back. It is not about the gourmet food in Casa Roma, it’s about the senses of seeing and hearing, and perhaps sometimes even feeling but I will leave this one up to you. There are a lot of private rooms and one can make a splendid party. Hmmmm... a Luis IV costume party in the colonial architecture of Casa Roma?

And the secret address is: Orizaba 76, Colonia Roma, Mexico DF. Go on, have a ball.