Mezcalería La Vela Negra

Push through the heavy curtain on Tamaulipas and Condesa goes quiet. La Vela Negra is a narrow room of candles, dark wood and a turntable behind the bar, with forty small-batch mezcals lined up on the shelves in plain glass bottles.

The bartenders talk you through agave the way a sommelier talks about wine: espadín from the Oaxacan valleys, wild tobalá that tastes of wet stone and fruit, and a pechuga distilled with a chicken breast hanging in the still. Order a flight of three in clay copitas, with orange slices and sal de gusano on the side, and sip slowly.

The back kitchen sends out crisp tlayudas until late, and the records run from son jarocho to old Cuban jazz. It gets busy after 10 on Fridays and Saturdays, so come early for a seat at the bar.