Can an Abandoned Crumbling Structure Be a Restaurant? Chamber Music

It hasn’t been inhabited for 50 years. A lot of the structure has literally fallen down. Yet, MH opened as a restaurant 9 days ago.  They have fewer licensing requirements in Mexico than in the U.S. You do need bathrooms, must have a kitchen, have to have water and gas supply. They are spared underground utility costs here because water is delivered by tanker trucks that pump water into huge round vats. These are usually on roofs, almost no roof here, so the holding tank is tucked into an unobtrusive corner. A different tanker truck delivers the gas. Another large holding tank is located in the kitchen area for the gas. They built a bar and bathrooms, built their own tables and chairs tastefully out of plywood and metal, and combined typically Mexican kitchen equipment with some modern equipment. Voila, Presto! A restaurant. You can see it is unlike most any other restaurant you have seen.

We are consistently fascinated by decaying rock and paint. Oaxaca has plenty of that, as does MH. The colors and sculptural aspects created by age are organically pleasing to the eye, and would be hard to replicate intentionally. There are plans to do some mezcal distillation on the property. We spent 2 hours at MH tonight. The flavors of the food were sublime, the music was great, as was the staff, and even some of the patrons were friendly and fun.

One of the owners has a mezcal distillery, and the restaurant features 10 of his mezcals. With all of their free space they are wanting to have a mini mezcal distillation going on in house. For dessert we had the Sierra Negra and the Coyote mezcals. We have slowly been learning to appreciate the complexity of mezcal. It is similar to the whiskeys of Scotland in that their are a few different flavor profiles. For me the Coyote had a smoother mouth feel and a slightly butterscotch taste. The Sierra Negra was more of a traditional smoky profile.

We discovered MH walking past 2 mornings ago. We were peaking inside from the sidewalk and Leo, the manager, came out to speak with us. He was telling us that one of the owners hade a mezcal business when a Harley pulled up outside. The rider walked through the door and introduced himself.  This is mainly notable because, although small motorbikes are abundant in Oaxaca, it is extremely rare to see a full sized bike. Even more rare is to see a Harley.

We went to what was advertised as a chamber music concert 2 nights ago.  While I am not generally a classical music fan, I am a chamber music fan. Usually, with chamber music, a single player performs any given part in the music. There can be many instrument combinations in a chamber ensemble. The stripped down format puts pressure on the composer and individual musicians to shine under close observation that is not the same as having multiple instrument backing to carry the individual efforts.

Unfortunately for me, last night was a 14 piece chamber? ensemble. There were 2 bassoons, 2 flutes, 2 french horns, a viola, a cello and 6 violins, a mini orchestra.  They were joined at intervals by a guest trumpet player. The intimate, private, detailed interplay of chamber music was over run by symphonic bombast. I missed the meticulous interplay and uniquely layered combination of delicacy and richness I expect of a good chamber ensemble.

I acknowledge that as far as I could tell the musicianship was good, just not what I expected.

Both nights we walked home at close to 9pm with no need for coats. That, to me, is a real luxury.