It’s not just the food that’s rich and flavoursome at the new Mexico City restaurant Xilote; the interiors are sumptuously layered with texture and serve as an exercise in placemaking.

Xilote is located within LIVIX, a new apartment and retail complex in the tony Granada neighbourhood, aka Nuevo Polanco. This highly walkable area lies north of the upscale Polanco district, with its tree-lined streets and pavement cafés. Granada is undergoing significant redevelopment, shifting from a light industry hub to a vibrant mixed-use zone. It’s within this patchwork that Xilote—meaning ‘hair of corn’ in Nahuatl—occupies a new ground-floor unit on Calle Lago Filt, spanning 120 sq m.

Oaxacan practice Espacio 18 Arquitectura was tasked with crafting the restaurant’s interiors and conjuring a sense of place and history within the blank cube. As Xilote celebrates Oaxacan cuisine, the designers took inspiration from Oaxaca’s beloved farmers’ market, Mercado de 20 de Noviembre, and the street-food mecca Pasillo de Humo, an alleyway lined with hawker stalls.

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Photography: Cesar Belio

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Raw plaster walls evoke the dusty, warm tones of the street, while above, smoke vents criss-cross the ceiling in reference to the alleyway. Volcanic stone and sloping walls also echo the material vernacular of Central Mexico and pre-Hispanic structures, grounding the robust steel elements used in the restaurant’s furniture. Large wooden tables and benches encourage communal dining.

Chef Carlos Omar Galan Figueroa’s menu focuses on seafood and corn-based dishes, putting a modern spin on traditional Oaxacan favourites. Expect tlayudas, mole negro and and memelas with a twist.

C. Lago Filt 7-Local D2-03, Granada, Miguel Hidalgo, 11529 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

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