Your home dining experience in Mexico City will take place at Geraldine’s beautiful family home, located in the elegant and historic neighborhood of San Ángel. Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed with a refreshing drink as Geraldine and Mariana share stories of their work as professional food stylists and the rich culinary heritage of Mexican cuisine.
You’ll then be invited to dine in their garden, a serene green oasis where the table is set for a memorable meal. Mariana and Geraldine will prepare a traditional Mexican feast infused with their signature modern flair. You might enjoy dishes such as cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), sopes (savory corn cakes), quesadillas, chiles en nogada (stuffed poblano peppers in walnut sauce), or pork tenderloin with tamarind sauce and Mexican rice.
Your meal will conclude with one of their beloved desserts - perhaps a tres leches cake, creamy flan, or arroz con leche (Mexican rice pudding). Tea and coffee are available upon request.
Mariana and Geraldine will guide you on a visit to the vibrant Melchor Múzquiz market, located just a short walk from their home. This lively neighborhood market offers everything from fresh meats, fruits, vegetables, and aromatic spices to colorful chiles, flowers, prepared foods, and even clothing. Spend 30–45 minutes exploring the stalls alongside your hosts, gaining insight into the ingredients that define traditional Mexican cuisine.
If you've also booked a cooking class, you’ll pick up a few fresh ingredients needed for your meal before returning home to start your hands-on culinary experience.
On Saturdays, there’s also the option to visit the Bazar del Sábado, a charming arts and crafts market within walking distance. If you’d like to explore this artisan market - either in addition to or instead of the produce market - please let us know your preference when booking.
Join Mariana and Geraldine in their home kitchen for a hands-on cooking class in Mexico City, where you'll learn to prepare 2 - 3 of the delicious dishes you'll later enjoy at the table. Your class blends hands-on instruction with expert demonstrations, offering the perfect balance of learning and fun. Expect to spend 1–2 hours cooking before sitting down to share the meal you've helped create, accompanied by lively conversation with your hosts.
In this immersive culinary experience, you might learn to make traditional Mexican sopes with chorizo and chicken, quesadillas filled with zucchini flowers and fresh Oaxaca cheese, spicy salsas, and fresh guacamole.
Please note: Mariana and Geraldine can tailor the class to your preferences - whether you’d like to prepare the full menu or focus on a few select dishes, just let them know when booking.
This Mexico City cooking experience is ideal for food lovers, home cooks, professional chefs, or anyone eager to explore both traditional and modern Mexican cuisine under the guidance of award-winning culinary experts.
1. If you choose to include alcohol for an additional cost, your hosts can offer beer or tequila.
2. Your hosts are happy to accommodate dietary preferences or restrictions, including vegetarian meals - just be sure to share your needs when booking.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Caramel flanFresh and spicy salsasQuesadillas stuffed with zucchini flowers and fresh Oaxaca cheeseSopes (savory corn cakes) with chicken and chorizoMariana and Geraldine are professional chefs and award-winning food stylists with over 18 years of experience in culinary development for magazines, television, radio, and social media. Both discovered their love for cooking at a young age in their family kitchens, later pursuing formal culinary training and specializing in food styling at a prestigious institute in New York.
Geraldine has a passion for sweets, while Mariana gravitates toward bold, salty, and spicy flavors - together, they make the perfect culinary duo. They met at university and have been on a shared journey ever since, combining their deep knowledge and love for food to inspire others.
Proud ambassadors of Mexican cuisine, Mariana and Geraldine are dedicated to preserving and sharing its rich traditions through their cooking.
Their cookbook, a beautifully curated collection of sweet and savory recipes designed to be both visually stunning and easy to prepare, won second place at the 2014 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. It remains a beloved reference and source of inspiration for food lovers around the world.
"Traveling Spoon knocks it out of the park again. This time we ventured to the gorgeous San Angel neighborhood of Mexico City. The neighborhood is best known for their very lively Sábado Mercado, we went on a sleepy Tuesday! Mariana and Geraldine invited us into their stunning home filled with artwork and a back garden filled with shade and birds. We started our time together at the market. They were immensely helpful educating us on mole pastes, powders, chilis and spices. After buying provisions, we headed home to cook. Finally got a good handle on making sopas. Also made salsa, red rice and pibil. They broke the steps down and explained the rationale for various tasks. Highly recommend their class and shopping around the plaza."
"Mariana and Geraldine are professional chefs and food stylists who openly share their culinary expertise and knowledge. Our experience was taken from their recently published cook book where we shopped for ingredients at the local market and prepared dishes together in a well organised and beautifully curated cooking class in their home kitchen. Mariana and Geraldine make cooking effortless, fun and interesting. They share their passion of food openly and delivered a beautiful meal in their garden, a treat that is hard to find in Mexico City. It was an honour to be side by side in the kitchen with both women who are clearly great professionals in the kitchen. We would have this experience again with Mariana and Geraldine so we could tap into their knowledge and enthusiasm. Tip: buy their cookbook if you can. It is full of authentic, local recipes that you can make at home!"
"Mariana and Geraldine hosted us for an amazing night, and we would 100% recommend them to anyone looking to learn a bit more about Mexican cuisine or even just for a fun night of good food and good company! Mariana provided a ton of historical and cultural knowledge as they took us around the market. To have a local show you around immerses you in a way that just isn't otherwise possible (be sure to stop at the tortilla stand for the best fresh off the press tortilla you will ever eat)! We were then welcomed into Geraldine's home and kitchen, taught to make several unique authentic Mexican dishes, and sat down for a lovely meal with two very talented and interesting hosts! All in all, would definitely recommend to anyone on the fence about this experience. Be sure to give yourself time to travel to their place, as it is a bit out of the main touristy parts of the city."
"We had a lovely afternoon with Mariana and Geraldine. The market is an open air market and Mariana does a great job at explaining lots of items that may appear strange/new. The home of Geraldine is in a posh part of town/neighborhood, very quiet, large and has a wonderful back patio and yard for enjoying the lunch. The cooking experience we were thinking we all would have more of a hand in making the dishes but the kitchen space makes it harder for multiple people to be chopping while Mariana is explaining the dish ingredients/method. We mainly watched while they cooked. We did get to chop some onion, help mash salsa and roll/press out the sopes, which my son loved. The food we made during the demonstration all tasted wonderful as well (ceviche, pork, salsa, sopes). And you can bring your own wine to enjoy over lunch as well. Overall a great afternoon."
