Published March 8, 2023

From a rooftop roost overlooking San Miguel de Allende, a UNESCO World Heritage Site northwest of Mexico City, cool-as-they-come Fabiola Padilla crafts quaffable culture at her hit bar Bekeb. A champion of Mexican flavour, artisanal and home-grown ingredients, consider her a leading light of the city’s new creative wave, bringing modern edge to a heritage scene. Prior to founding Bekeb – located within boutique hotel Casa Hoyos – the Mexican-born mixologist trained as a lawyer before switching lanes into the bar world. She went on to collaborate with the likes of Enrique Olvera’s lauded Cosme and Public Hotel’s Diego (both in New York), but when the opportunity arose to open her own bar in San Miguel de Allende, it was too good to turn down.

The name comes from the Tzotzil (one of Mexico’s ancestral tongues) for ‘seed’, paying due reverence to the land on which it’s founded. A relaxed space – all cacti, neon and hanging cocoon seating – lets her refined yet simple creations sing. Padilla considers the art of cocktail making akin to alchemy, something firmly rooted in knowledge and research. Her confident vision sees the use of endemic fruits, plants, roots and seeds, not to mention regional agave distillates, to create drinks evocative of the surrounds and help guests connect to the locale. Creative presentation adds to it – the signature cocktail, a medley of mezcal, elderflower liqueur, pineapple, lemon verbena and sotol (another agave distillate), is served in a vessel made from Oaxacan black clay; Mexican gin-based Lavender Sour comes in a bird-shaped cup with added AI experience – a country first – to reveal a botanical-style scene when viewed through your phone. If you can take your eyes off the standout sunsets igniting the mountains that frame the city, that is.

Mesones 14, Zona Centro, 37700 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

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