Chiles rellenos come with a tart escabeche. Erik Levya for Gastro Obscura

A meal at chef Celia Florian's rustic-elegant spot, which opened in 1992 near the floridly Baroque church of Santo Domingo de Guzman, is both a sensual pleasure and an essential primer of Oaxacan flavors. Florian is a driving force behind Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca, an association of women who gather to exchange recipes in far-flung communities. Part Zapotec, she is an inspired chef with a preservationist bent; her moles alone are reasons enough to fly to Oaxaca.

Take her famed mole negro, for instance, composed of more than 30 ingredients. The flavors are both stupendously complex and harmonious: the bitter charred undertones of burnt tortillas and chile seeds are balanced by the lush sweetness of plantains and raisins, then heightened with dusky-rich notes of toasted cacao, and skillfully layered with spices and the fruity slow burn of the prized chiles chilhuacles.

Another must-try is her plush estofado de almendras, a prime example of a Spanish-colonial mole that's nutty with almonds and sweet-sour-salty with raisins, capers and olives -- all ingredients introduced from Iberia. As for her mole coloradito it first tastes tomatoey-tart, then hot with chiles, then blossoms in the mouth into something as rounded and complex as a profoundly aged wine.