Fodor's Expert Review Evoka

One of the best restaurants in Mexico is in the sleepy town of Apizaco, in Tlaxcala state, a quick 20 km (12 miles) from the capital city of Tlaxcala. Opened in 2011, Evoka shows that Mexico's gastronomic revolution, which celebrates local ingredients, small producers, and traditional techniques, isn't limited to the big cities. With a simply elegant dining room, impeccable service, and a clientele largely consisting of in-the-know foodies from Puebla and Mexico City, Evoka could be the hottest restaurant anywhere, but could only exist in the Valle de Tlaxcala, from where its ingredients, and chef-owner Francisco Molina, come. The tasting menu is a must, where you might find aged rib eye in a mole sauce of huitlacoche (corn fungus) and amaranth with plantain dumplings, or a salad of tiny wild tomatoes and local cheese with powdered, root-beer-like hoja santa herb shaken table-side over the top.