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Kaito del Valle

Mexico City

Recently relocated to the Juárez neighbourhood, Kaito 2.0's design is the brainchild of Taller Marte under the direction of architects Artemio Ronzon and Mara Cabrera (sister of the bar's co-founder and bar director Claudia Cabrera). Despite the bigger digs and the snazzy, secret vending machine entrance, the Kaito ethos remains at its core: a Japanese izakaya dishing up dynamic drinks in informal, intimate settings.

Drawing inspiration from Japan's fabled 'kaito', or female pearl divers, the team is mixing up one-of-a-kind Japanese inflected cocktails... and loving every minute of it. Mezcal aficionado and long-time supporter of women in Mexico's bar scene Cabrera (who was crowned the Roku Industry Icon Award winner for North America's 50 Best Bars 2024) leads her all-female staff by example and strives to ensure that their guests enjoy the experience as much as they do.

Sure, there's an amazing sake collection and an impressive highball list. But Kaito prefers to honour the Japan of post-punk, kawaii cuteness and maneki-neko, with the iconic lucky cat serving as the bar's mascot. The bar is about creativity and joy plus a super cool, seasonally changing menu. Right now it's The Rising Sun Journal with signatures such as the Geisha (tequila, Aperol, sake, grapefruit, strawberry, vanilla, pink peppercorns, citrus, miso salt) as well as a list of twisted classics (think a Tokyo Garibaldi made with sake and matcha) and a selection of frozen cocktails. End the night by heading upstairs to the 15-person karaoke room post libations.

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