Tzintzuntzan will serve Mexican brunch and lunch
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A revered Austin Mexican restaurant will be opening a new restaurant next year. Fonda San Miguel is expanding with Tzintzuntzan at the same 2330 West North Loop Boulevard address in the Allandale neighborhood in March 2025
Tzintzuntzan will focus on daytime services for breakfast and lunch — it’s meant to complement Fonda’s dinner-only offerings. Natalie Gazaui, the executive pastry chef of Fonda, will become its executive chef, as reported by Tribeza
Expect Mexican baked goods through the panadería
and takes on regional dishes from Mexican states and cities such as Merida
(Fonda used to serve Sunday brunch for a while
The forthcoming restaurant’s name translates to “place of hummingbirds” in the Purépecha language prevalent in the same-named Mexican region that dates back to the 1300s
Tzintzuntzan also refers to the current town in the Mexican state of Michoacán and the same-named archeological site
It’s pronounced “zin-zoon-zhan” per a press release
Tzintzuntzan is being designed by architecture firm Miró Rivera Architects
Renderings and floor plans show indoor and outdoor dining rooms
The logo includes a hummingbird drinking nectar from a flower with an orange color scheme
Owners of Fonda San Miguel have announced the opening of a new breakfast and lunch concept coming in March 2025
ancient capital of the Purépecha Kingdom, the opening of the Jubilee Year was held
which commemorates the Fifth Centenary of the arrival of Br
Martín de la Coruña and his companions to this portion of the Mexican territory. where the Franciscan Province of the Apostles Peter and Paul of Michoacán
In the face of such an important event for the life of the Province and for the local Church
the Franciscans of Michoacán gathered in this place so symbolic to their history
because there is the memory of those holy men
who spent their lives announcing the Good News of Jesus to the native peoples of this region. and whose bodies still rest in this place.
This great celebration was attended by the Friars Minor
the Secular Franciscans and the people of Tzintzuntzan
for the wonders he has worked throughout these five centuries.
The homily was preached by the Provincial Minister
who invited those present to be grateful to God
who brought to this place the message of salvation
making use of a generation of evangelical men
who detached themselves from everything and came to these lands
first by Jesus and then by their superiors
to sow the Good News in the land of lakes and mountains
the Minister also recalled the works that Br
Jacobo Daciano and other friars who began the mission in this holy place
and which remained throughout history a source of evangelization and culture
and returned to their friaries in Guanajuato
along with a new desire to be better than yesterday
to this city and its people for reminding them that it is worth giving one's life for the proclamation of the Gospel; for when you sow generously
you will reap abundantly afterwards.
One of Austin’s oldest restaurants is trying something new
Fonda San Miguel owner Tom Gilliland has long toyed with ideas for the Allandale property at 2330 N
that is home to his beloved interior Mexican restaurant
He recently announced that he will convert the land east of his restaurant’s garden into a new restaurant called Tzintzuntzan
with a name that translates to “place of hummingbirds,” will focus on meals not offered at Fonda San Miguel: breakfast and lunch
The building and grounds, which will connect to Fonda San Miguel via a courtyard and the existing garden, will be designed in collaboration with Austin firm Miró Rivera Architects, who are currently working on the phase two expansion of the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center near Lady Bird Lake
“It’s long been our aspiration to expand the scope of what Fonda provides its patrons for dinner by creating a new space where our menu offerings would be extended to include regional Mexican dishes for desayuno y almuerzo
along with extraordinary items from a genuine panadería,” Gilliland said in a release
the executive pastry chef at Fonda San Miguel
whose long Austin resume includes work with McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality
Fonda San Miguel changed the way Austinites think about Mexican foodGilliland
whose decades-long love affair with the art
cuisine and culture of Mexico began when he first visited Mexico City as a University of Texas law student in 1967
opened Fonda San Miguel with chef Miguel Ravago in 1975
most Austinites’ thoughts about Mexican food generally included the shredded lettuce
orange cheese and refried beans associated with Tex-Mex
Related: 5 classic Austin restaurants inducted into our new Austin360 Restaurant Hall of Fame
Gilliand and Ravago, who passed in 2017, introduced many diners to the regional cuisines of Puebla, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Yucatan. That meant cochinita pibil, moles and chile rellenos, dishes that are de rigueur at dozens of Austin restaurants now. The restaurant was part of the inaugural class of the Austin360 Restaurant Hall of Fame in 2021
After changing how Austinites thought about Mexican cuisine almost 50 years ago
Gilliland will now attempt to shift the way locals approach morning and daytime dining
A restaurant slinging Cajun-Texan barbecue
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offering dishes like smoked brisket po’ boys
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Landmark interior Mexican restaurant Fonda San Miguel is only open for dinner, but it’s opening a second restaurant on its Allandale property for breakfast and lunch
which translates to “place of hummingbirds” in the Purépecha language
currently the executive pastry chef at Fonda San Miguel
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New York City dive bar Mother’s Ruin is opening an Austin location early this year that will join outposts in Nashville and Chicago
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Location: 915 West Mary StreetKey players: Cavalier co-owners Fox and Chadwick LegerProjected opening date: February 2025
The fun and casual East Austin hangout Cavalier is expanding south to the Bouldin neighborhood with a new restaurant and bar. Previously named the Second Rodeo
the new restaurant has become High Road Delicatexan
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Location: 308 Main StreetKey player: Scott Roberts
The owner of the iconic Driftwood barbecue spot Salt Lick is opening a new restaurant in Buda
Taking inspiration from owner Scott Roberts’ grandmother
Roxie’s will serve hearty family-style meals like chicken-fried steaks
and smoked meats alongside unlimited sides like mashed potatoes
Lunch will be the only time diners can score individual plates like chopped beef sandwiches
The restaurant will also offer fun treats like homemade pies and frozen peach Bellinis at its full bar
an ode to the fresh Hill Country peaches Roxie once put in her cobblers
1:55 p.m.: This article has been updated to remove Bad Larry
which now plans to open its standalone restaurant mid-2025
Researchers now have a fuller picture about the size of an ancient Purépecha city in Michoacán after using laser technology to detect structures hidden under vegetation and the ground
Known structures at the Tzintzuntzan site near Lake Pátzcuaro numbered in the dozens before National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) researchers detected more than 1,000 using the laser surveying method known as LiDAR (light detection and ranging)
we have identified more than 1,000 archaeological elements in an area of 1,075 hectares,” INAH researcher José Luis Punzo Díaz said earlier this year
“We went from knowing of a few dozen monuments to more than a thousand in these first kilometers we’ve explored,” said the head of the LiDAR project
which began in 2021 and is supported by the United States-based National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping and NASA
satellite images and digital mapping models have together given researchers “a more complete image of this ancient city” Punzo said
explaining that the site – whose name means “place of the hummingbirds” in Purépecha – has been the subject of archaeological study by INAH for 90 years
Among the structures detected at Tzintzuntzan – the capital of the vast Purépecha
They are located “on the lower slopes of hills and near Lake Pátzcuaro
and not just in the area near the ritual zone as had been represented on site maps.”
Additional LiDAR surveys are expected to detect even more structures at Tzintzuntzan
located in the municipality of the same name
“This project is going to be very important,” Punzo told the newspaper El Universal earlier this month
“I can say that [what we’ve found so far] is the tip of the iceberg
… LiDAR is the base to study the city in the coming decades
We knew almost nothing about Tzintzuntzan apart from its central area,” he said
The technology emits brief light pulses whose reflection allows researchers to create a 3-D map with GPS and computers of objects that might otherwise be invisible to the naked eye
With reports from El Universal
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we published many inspiring and amazing stories that made us fall in love with the world – and this is one our favourites.)
"This is the legacy of our people," my uncle said as we gazed at the pyramids
in Mexico's south-western state of Michoacán
looming in front of us were uniquely round and made of volcanic stone – perhaps the most intact relics of the P'urhépechas
a pre-Hispanic indigenous group that once reigned here
I'd never heard of them either until a few months ago
when I found out that I was a direct descendant
I grew up unaware of this part of my heritage as it was lost in my family after my grandfather passed away in 1978
My grandmother was left with five kids and no income
she brought my dad and his siblings to the United States in 1983
my father disconnected from our P'urhépecha culture
when I began to be curious about my identity
that I started questioning him about our past
he brought me to Michoacán for the first time
and he revealed that not only were we P'urhépecha
was still alive and living in the small pueblo of Urén nearby
When people think about Mexico before Hernán Cortéz
but what they don't know is that the P'urhépecha existed at the same time – and they were such a mighty kingdom that they were one of the only indigenous groups in Mexico that the Aztecs failed to conquer
that's the most common thing people in Mexico know about them
assistant professor of indigenous environmental history at the University of California
"That's a very usual [way] of referring to the P'urhépechas and their history
but that's because we know that the P'urhépechas were as powerful as the Aztecs," he said
explaining that the Aztecs tried to fight the P'urhépecha in battle
and they all live in the state of Michoacán.)
I took in everything I could: how she cooks without electricity or a stove; her rows of dishes made from barro (red terracotta clay); and the deep stone pit in the middle of the room where she was preparing a huge pot of nixtamal
corn kernels processed in a specialized way to make tortillas de maíz
Excited about the new knowledge of my ancestry
I asked her where I could go to learn more about my P'urhépecha heritage
She stirred the food and gave my uncle a look of authority as she told him in Spanish
staring in awe at these monuments that our ancestors had built to honour deities like their sun god
the P'urhépechas dominated western Mexico with an estimated population of more than one million; Tzintzuntzan was their capital
and the P'urhépecha empire prevented them from amassing territory to the north and west.)
a geographer and researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico
"The yácatas of Tzintzuntzan – the 'place of hummingbirds' – are the best-preserved pyramidal structures in the region
In addition to learning about the P'urhépecha public architecture
[visitors] will also learn about the way in which the P'urhépecha understood the world and the importance that Lake Pátzcuaro had for them."
The empire chose this area for a reason: the basin is home to a colossal lake with several habitable islands
plentiful fish and a surrounding landscape lush with mountains blanketed in pine trees
The area is so spectacular that the P'urhépechas believed the lake was a gateway to heaven
"This is a very important region for the emergence of the P'urhépecha in the pre-Hispanic state of our history," said Sandra Gutiérrez De Jesus
an indigenous P'urhépecha and professor of Latin American Studies and Chicano/a studies at California State University
cultural and linguistic encounters and exchanges."
But when the Spanish arrived at the Lake Pátzcuaro basin between 1521 and 1522
they captured the P'urhépecha ruler and forced the empire to relinquish its power
historians consider this transition more peaceful than the siege of the Aztecs
The P'urhépecha people were given more autonomy than their Aztec counterparts
and P'urhépecha elites continued to have influence and authority over the region
"Nothing could be done without the permission or allowance of P'urhépecha elites," Pérez Montesinos said
"The traditional way to see things is that the Spaniards came and did as they pleased
but what we know now is that the Spaniards always had to ask and negotiate with P'urhépecha elites in order to remain themselves on top."
The traditional way to see things is that the Spaniards came and did as they pleased
but what we know now is that the Spaniards always had to ask and negotiate with P'urhépecha elites in order to remain themselves on topOne example he gives is the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Salud
"The conventional knowledge is that [Bishop] Vasco De Quiroga built that cathedral
but it was built by P'urhépecha hands," said Pérez Montesinos
He explained that the Spanish did not have to use forced labour to construct the cathedral
as the P'urhépecha community agreed to collaborate and lend their physical labour
"There is this very dominant narrative of trying to downplay the achievements of the everyday P'urhépecha folks by highlighting how it was the Spanish friars who taught them how to make these artisanal works
but in the face of very daunting challenges
the P'urhépecha incorporated new things into their lives to make something original," he said
I started to see P'urhépecha touches in the architecture
Since Michoacán is rich with oak and pine trees
the P'urhépecha Empire became known for its expertise in wood constructions; their most notable buildings were traditional wooden houses called trojes
the P'urhépecha people incorporated their craftsmanship into the Spanish colonial infrastructure that stands today throughout Michoacán
Since the P'urhépecha were able to maintain so much autonomy
the three administrative centres of their power – Tzintzuntzan
and Ihuatzio – remained economic hubs during the colonisation era
"I lived in Pátzcuaro during my childhood and it's the most beautiful place to visit for P'urhépecha history
there's no other place like it," my uncle told me
When we arrived at the town's Plaza Grande
a celebration of P'urhépecha culture was on full display
as is the custom every weekend in Pátzcuaro
Teenage boys performed a traditional dance called Danza de los Viejitos (Dance of the Elderly)
with colourful handmade serapes and straw-like hats that were covered in vibrant rainbow ribbons
They dawdled with canes and donned uncanny masks of elderly men before breaking into a style of Mexican tap dancing called zapateado
This pre-Hispanic dance was originally performed by the elderly as part of a ritual to the ancient gods
but after the P'urhépecha were colonised
which is why the dancers dress up in comical masks during their exaggerated imitation of old men
Even though the empire acquired tremendous power and left behind this incredible legacy
the P'urhépecha Empire has largely been left out of Mexican discourse
"That has to do more with how Mexican nationalism came out in the 19th and 20th Centuries – everything is based around Mexico City
and the narrative of Mexican identity was built around mostly the legacy of the Aztecs," Pérez Montesinos said
because there are more narratives of battles
there is a lot more material for an epic story
you don't have the same type of drama."
proud of this newfound knowledge about my heritage
I was so enthused that I returned to Mexico six months later with my dad and sat down with my great-grandmother to pick up where we left off
"Can you teach me P'urhépecha?" I asked
"He can teach you." I turned around and realised she was pointing at my dad
You know how to speak P'urhépecha?" I asked in disbelief
But Juana countered him: "You can teach her," she said
BBC Travel's Lost Civilisations delves into little-known facts about past worlds
dispelling any false myths and narratives that have previously surrounded them
Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram
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The partially collapsed pyramid at the the Ihuatzio Archaeological Zone
Heavy rains in Mexico’s Michoacán state have caused the partial collapse of an ancient pre-Columbian pyramid at the Ihuatzio archaeological site
and the following day staff from a regional outpost of the federal Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) visited the site to assess the damage
An INAH announcement attributed the collapse in part to the use of outdated materials and techniques during prior restoration efforts at the site
It also cited pervasive drought conditions in the region that had made it easier for water to infiltrate and undermine the structure
Ihuatzio was developed and inhabited between the 10th and 16th centuries
and reached the peak of its activity and influence as the capital of the Purépecha groups that came to dominate the region around Pátzcuaro Lake
from the 13th century until the arrival of Europeans in the region in the early 16th century
The complex at Ihuatzio is one of several major archaeological sites in the region
which also includes Tzintzuntzan and Tingambato
It features two wide elevated walkways known as huatziri that delineate a large central square
At the plaza’s western end stand two large
Overhead view of the partially collapsed pyramid at the Ihuatzio Archaeological Zone Photo: Ramiro Aguayo
The southernmost of these two pyramids is the one that partially collapsed last month
INAH has insurance policies for the sites it manages and filed a claim with its insurer
the day after the incident at Ihuatzio; the resulting funds will help support restoration efforts at the site
Prior to the downpour in late July, the region surrounding Pátzcuaro Lake had been experiencing a severe drought, and had lost more than 50% of its volume
"The climate crisis will set the priorities of sites and collections to protect,” the report stated. “Some of the unknowns related to climate change are how our buildings and the environments in them will respond."
news25 October 2023Extreme drought in the Amazon reveals ancient rock carvingsThe carvings
news9 February 202430 archaeological artefacts returned to Mexican authorities in Los Angeles ceremonyObjects ranging from the 1st century to the 15th century were handed over at the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles earlier this month
Locals and tourists gather at these important spots each year
in a high-tech laser mapping of the ancient city have found out that the ancient city had as many buildings as the New York’s Manhattan
The map was laid out using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scanner that directs a rapid succession of laser pulses at the ground from an aircraft
Earlier this month researchers revealed it had been used to discover an ancient Mayan city within the dense jungles of Guatemala
while it has also helped archaeologists to map the city of Caracol – another Mayan metropolis
researchers have used the technique to reveal the full extent of an ancient city in western Mexico
“To think that this massive city existed in the heartland of Mexico for all this time and nobody knew it was there is kind of amazing,” said Chris Fisher
an archaeologist at Colorado State University who is presenting the latest findings from the study at the conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Austin
the Purépecha were a major civilization in central Mexico in the early 16th century
before Europeans arrived and wreaked havoc through war and disease
Purépecha cities included an imperial capital called Tzintzuntzan that lies on the edge of Lake Pátzcuaro in western Mexico
an area in which modern Purépecha communities still live
researchers have found that the recently-discovered city
was more than double the size of Tzintzuntzan – although probably not as densely populated – extending over 26 km2 of ground that was covered by a lava flow thousands of years ago
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