Alfonsina

Tables under a canopy of trees in a backyard half an hour south of Oaxaca city, down dirt roads convincing enough to make you turn around twice. Alfonsina is a reservation-only tasting menu run by a chef and his mother, which is exactly as warm as it sounds. The food is traditional Oaxacan, the pacing is leisurely, and the tortillas come straight off the comal. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Four honors, in evidence: