01Eat
Lux Central — Phoenix
USA
The Phoenix coffee shop that feels like a living room. A converted auto showroom, exposed brick, good light, and the kind of room you can actually work in for hours. I come for the flat white and stay for the people-watching.
02Eat
El Charro Café — Tucson
USA
The oldest family-run Mexican restaurant in the United States, and the birthplace of the carne seca sundial. Tucson's Sonoran food culture lives here. Order the carne seca platter and a margarita and you understand the whole city.
03Stay
L'Auberge de Sedona
USA
A creekside resort tucked under the red rocks. The cottages on Oak Creek are where I go to disappear for a weekend — the sound of water, cottonwood trees, and the kind of quiet that resets your eyes.
04Wander
Chapultepec
Mexico City, Mexico
The great green lung of Mexico City — a castle-topped hill, forest trails, and a lake where families row on Sundays.
05Eat
Talavera — Four Seasons Scottsdale
USA
The Sonoran steakhouse with a view of Pinnacle Peak at golden hour. Mesquite-grilled, patagonia-wine list, and a patio you don't want to leave. It's the special-occasion table in north Scottsdale.
06See
Desert Chapel Road
Arizona, USA
The long road south of Tucson — saguaro silhouettes and a sky that turns every color.
07Eat
Café Avellaneda — Roma Norte, Mexico City
Mexico
A tiny, romantic coffee bar on a Roma corner — the kind of place where the barista remembers your order and the espresso is serious. My first stop every trip, before anything else.
08Eat
Rooftop at Centro
Mexico City, Mexico
String lights, slow mezcal, and the city laid out below like a circuit.
09Eat
Pujol — Polanco, Mexico City
Mexico
Enrique Olvera's modern Mexican temple. The mole madre — a mole that's been simmering for years — is a dish you think about for months after. Book well ahead; it's worth the planning.
10Wander
Coyoacán Market — Mexico City
Mexico
The old market and plaza where Frida Kahlo walked. Stalls of mole pastes, fresh chiles, and hand-pressed tortillas, plus the leafy jardín. Come hungry, leave with a bag of spices and a full heart.
11Wander
Polanco
Mexico City, Mexico
Mexico City's most polished neighborhood — leafy Avenida Presidente Masaryk, world-class galleries, and the best dinner reservations in town.
12Shop
Bazaar Sábado — San Ángel, Mexico City
Mexico
The Saturday artisan market in a colonial plaza — silver, ceramics, textiles, and folk art from all over Mexico. It's where I source the hand-fired clay and volcanic stone I bring home for the interiors.
13Wander
Condesa, Mexico City
Mexico
The leafier, quieter sister to Roma Norte — Art Deco apartments, dog-walkers in the park, and a brunch scene that spills onto every sidewalk. Walk slow.
14Wander
Roma Norte, Mexico City
Mexico
Tree-lined boulevards, Art Nouveau facades, and the best third-wave coffee in the city. Wander toward Parque México at golden hour, then duck into a mezcaleria that has no sign.
