2 Best Places to Shop in Mexico City, Mexico

Owner and chocolatier Luis Robledo, who trained with Daniel Boulud in New York and at the prestigious L'école de Grand Chocolat in Paris, was named best pastry chef in Latin America in a República del Cacao competition. In his light and cheerful boutique on Avendia Amsterdam, you can shop for exquisite bonbons in intriguing flavors (cardamom--chocolate ganache, calamansi, mezcal-sea salt, and pineapple-ginger), or have a seat and sip a lusciously rich hot chocolate or mocha. There's also a selection of cakes, cookies, and French macarons.

You could easily miss this tiny artisanal chocolate shop if you walked by too quickly, but there's a pretty good chance the brightly colored handmade bonbons in the display cases might catch your eye. These beautiful little gems with speckles and swirls that look like abstract paintings have distinctive fillings like passionfruit, pistachio, chipotle, and tamarind---more than 50 varieties in all. The boxes of assorted flavors make lovely gifts. You can also order hot chocolate, lattes, and teas to enjoy on one of the handful of sidewalk seats.