Bygone Places in Mexico City / Ambassadeurs: Once Mexico’s Top Restaurant
Renowned white-glove restaurant, a hotspot for high-profile international politicians and elite society.
By Alejandro Pohlenz
Ambassadeurs was the epitome of luxury, elegance, and French cuisine in Mexico City from the 1940s to the 1970s. It was founded by a Spanish (Catalan) immigrant, Dalmau Costa (born 1902), who fled Franco’s Spain and arrived in Mexico with his wife Emma in November 1939.
Located on Avenida Reforma in the Excélsior newspaper building, Ambassadeurs specialized in “French cuisine with Mediterranean touches from the Costa Brava.” “Dalmau Costa revealed authentic French cooking: pheasants arrived by plane from Paris…” (Really?)
A hotspot for the world’s elite
At the entrance, a photo mural testified to the famous visitors: Hollywood stars, artists, foreign politicians, royalty (the Marquise de Soubervielle, the Dukes of Windsor, King Carol of Romania), Mexican presidents (Lázaro Cárdenas, Miguel Alemán, Ruiz Cortines, López Mateos), and celebrated bullfighters—the crème de la crème of international society.
The menu
Presented in Spanish and French, it featured foie gras pâté, sardines, fish soup, oyster cream, red snapper fillet, prawns, lobster à la moresca, Spanish squid, roasted turkey with chambéry, entrecôte, sausages, cheese, kidneys, sweetbreads, and the Empress cake.
Ambiance and other ventures
Before dining, guests were expected to wash their hands in perfumed water. As the sources say, “any notable personality visiting the Aztec capital went to Amba,” as it was affectionately called. Riding the wave of success, Dalmau Costa also opened two other famed restaurants: La Cava and El Lago.
Costa passed away in 1974 from a stroke at the age of 72. Although his partners and Emma tried to continue, Ambassadeurs closed shortly after its founder’s death.
Closed permanently
Reforma 12, Colonia Tabacalera, Mexico City.
