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Monthly Archives: October 2008

The Flying Star – Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Flying Star on Albuquerque's burgeoning northwest side.

The Flying Star Cafe at the crossroads of Corrales, Albuquerque and Alameda

Formerly known as the “Double Rainbo” and formerly affiliated with San Francisco based franchise of the same name, this burgeoning enterprise continues to be more than competitive despite the relentless onslaught of corporate competition, primarily from the ubiquitous Starbucks. In fact, this Albuquerque based institution appears poised to fight for the lucrative coffee market and has launched several Satellite Coffee stores throughout the city. Although I’m not a coffee drinker, Satellite Coffee has hooked me with an invigorating Mexican hot chocolate.

The city’s eight Flying Star locations throughout the city (and one in Bernalillo which launched in 2008) are a haven for anyone who wants to have fun, relax and enjoy genuinely great food and service. You’ve got to love the laissez faire atmosphere which includes a “come as you are” attitude and an extensive magazine rack (most people eschew the posted browsing etiquette). The Flying Star’s crowd is an eclectic mix of young and old alike whose common denominator is wanting a reasonably priced meal of high quality in a comfortable milieu. The Flying Star delivers and it’s done so for more than two decades.

As the Double Rainbo, it was named in Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine as one of the best places in their routes for the most important meal of the day–dessert. The dessert offerings are lavish indeed, including the ice cream which is sinfully rich and creamy.

The ABC Patty Melt

The Patty Melt with French Fries

A September, 2002 Bon Appetit magazine named The Flying Star one of the “ten favorite places for breakfast in America.” For the most part I couldn’t agree more even though I must admit that it’s rarely for breakfast that we visit the Flying Star. When we do start off our morning at the Flying Star, a favorite entree is the machacado, a New Mexico chopped breakfast casserole or rather a menagerie of great ingredients melded together to form a terrific meal. The machacado includes turkey sausage (free range), bacon, eggs, spicy black beans, cheddar-jack cheese, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and your choice of red or green chile. It’s a feast for the eyes and the taste buds.

The Flying Star’s bakery also makes some of the best artisan bread in the city, particularly the whole wheat variety. The “staff of life” is always fresh and plays host to some of the best and most inventive sandwiches in town.

If you’re craving a moist and juicy green chile cheeseburger, the Flying Star’s New Mexico burger, served on an egg bun, is an excellent (albeit pricey at nearly $9) option. The green chile is only slightly piquant, but the accompanying red onion, lettuce and tomato are garden fresh and the melted Cheddar cheese tops a perfectly seasoned slab of hamburger to form an excellent rendition of New Mexico’s favorite burger.

The Miami Shrimp Stack

The Miami Shrimp Stack

Meatatarians will also appreciate the ABC Patty Melt–”A” as in avocado, “B” as in smoked bacon and “C” as in Jack cheese all served on grilled rye. It’s a beautiful sandwich when ordered medium done with a pinkish hue that would be the envy of many a blushing bride.

Sandwiches and burgers come with your choice of French fries, homemade potato salad, coleslaw or a fresh fruit salad. For a mere pittance you can also substitute a little greens salad or soup. While the fries are actually pretty good, a refreshing alternative is a unique coleslaw flecked with red and green peppers as well as red onion. It’s not overly sweet or creamy and its component parts are invariably fresh and crunchy. Most coleslaw in Albuquerque is boring, but not at the Flying Star.

The Flying Star’s menu provides food for thought with a mission statement professing the restaurant’s concern as to what its patrons put into their mouths. They prove it with a commitment to establishing relationships with producers and growers of sustainable and humanely farmed meats, dairy and eggs. Burgers are crafted with 100% fresh and drug-free beef while the chicken is cage-free, veg-fed and drug-free. Health conscious diners will appreciate the wide variety of inventive fresh salads. All dressings are even made from scratch in the restaurant’s kitchen: Ranch, Bleu Cheese, Caesar, Spicy Sesame or House Vinaigrette.

Papas Got a Brand New Mac

One of my favorite salads anywhere is the Miami Shrimp Stack (pictured above right), a timbale of seasoned shrimp, black beans and fresh avocado chunks drizzled with Ancho BBQ sauce. This salad is served with freshly made blue corn tortilla chips and a crunchy little salad (cucumber, carrots, jicama and green onion). Its pretty as a picture plating resembles an expensive fusion dish and the high quality of ingredients belie the price (under ten dollars). Despite the seemingly disparate ingredients, flavors coalesce to create a happy harmony on your taste buds.

As inventive as the menu tends to be, it’s always a surprise to find something that is less than titillating. Considering we found the Mac & Cheese (Cheddar-jack and Velveeta cheeses melted into butter and cream then tossed with Curly Q imported cavatappi) boring and not nearly up to the restaurant’s high standards, we shouldn’t have been surprised that “Papa’s Gotta Brand New Mac” would be more of the same…with a twist. That would be the addition of sauteed crimini mushrooms, green onions and crispy chicken breast to the Curly Q cavatappi and creamy cheese sauce. The highlight of this adult macaroni and cheese is actually the crispy chicken breast which is tender and delicious. The chicken breast would make an excellent sandwich offering. I’d scrap the Velveeta and try a more flavorful cheese.

One of the Flying Star's decadent desserts

Okay, now to desserts, something for which the Flying Star is famous. In its Food and Wine issue (May 2007), Albuquerque The Magazine (ATM) accorded a “Hot Plate” award to the restaurant’s Raspberry Blackout, a decadent dessert worthy of adulation. A display case showcases some of the best looking desserts you’ll see anywhere. They’re so “pretty as a picture” perfect you might think they’re wax imitations of the real thing. Thankfully they don’t taste waxy.

Singling out one dessert at Flying Star is akin to singling out a single star from a Northern New Mexico night sky. It’s a daunting task sure to invite deliciously contentious debate. One choice might be the the turtle sundae (undoubtedly featuring New Mexican grown pecans), among the best anywhere.

You can almost imagine Mary Ann in her tight, skimpy shorts serving you the coconut cream pie, which like the one served on Gilligan’s Island isn’t overpoweringly sweet as some of its genre tend to be. The caramel apple pie topped with sumptuous vanilla ice cream is “mom worthy.” Still, my vote might go to a gigantic wedge of bread pudding cake, served with a luscious caramel sauce. The adjective decadent has nothing on this oh so rich dessert. It’s so rich you’ll have to share it with a dining companion.

Chocolate shake

Chocolate Shake

Make sure your meal also includes a chocolate shake. It’s served cold and thick with what doesn’t fit in the glass served to you in a steely vessel. The chocolate isn’t overly sweet as might be served at a fast food chain.

Being the proud father of the two most beautiful dachshunds ever conceived, I also appreciate the Flying Star Cafe’s commitment to our four-legged children who sometimes eat from the floor. The restaurant is helping the Animal Humane Association of New Mexico build a low-cost or free medical treatment center for pets. The center will help families who can’t afford to provide even basic medical care for their beloved pets. How can you not love this altruism?

As one of our favorite fun places to dine, I’d say the Flying Star really is a star that’s landed.

The Flying Star
3416 Central, S.E.
Albuquerque, NM
255-6633

LATEST VISIT: 25 October 2008
# OF VISITS: 14
RATING: 20
COST: $$
BEST BET: Turtle Sundae, Machacado, Baked Bread, New Mexico Burger, Coleslaw, Raspberry Blackout, Bread Pudding, ABC Patty Melt, Miami Shrimp Stack

Flying Star Cafe on Urbanspoon

Olympia Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Olympia Cafe on Central Avenue

For culinary diversity, it’s hard to beat the University of New Mexico (UNM) area in which restaurants with a broad socioeconomic appeal are congregated. Aside from academic enrichment, this area is nurturing a refreshing open-mindedness toward the cuisines of the world.  That seems to be a commonality in areas within easy walking distance of large urban universities.  Perhaps restaurateurs recognize that students are not only willing to open up their minds to new knowledge, but their wallets and their minds to new culinary experiences.

The UNM area inaugurated many of us from rural parts of the state to wonderful new taste sensations.  The heretofore enigmatic mysteries of the Orient unraveled themselves the first time we tasted the sweet and sour variations of Chinese food and braved cultural taboos to actually consume raw fish.  The first time we sampled real pizza, we cursed Chef Boyardee and Pizza Hut for deigning to call their tomato sauce slathered cardboard “pizza.”  We lost a bit of our naivete and innocence with each bite of each and every new culinary adventure we experienced.  Life for many of us would never be the same.

I dare say that for many UNM students, especially those from rural areas, their first tastes of Greek cuisine occurred at the Olympia Cafe on Central Avenue.  The Olympia Cafe is a venerable elder statesman among UNM area restaurants, launching in 1972.  That’s when Spiros and Marina Counelis began serving Greek cuisine directly across the street from New Mexico’s largest university.

Hummus plate with olives, pita bread and pepperonici

Nearly four decades later, Spiros and his restaurant are still going strong though he’s admittedly tried to retire.  About the closest he’s been able to do is close the restaurant for a month each summer so he can return to Greece.  The Olympia Cafe is open only Monday through Friday from 11AM through 10PM, an accommodating schedule for students and employees of nearby businesses, but those of us from the outskirts feel a bit left out because the Cafe isn’t open on weekends.

The unmistakable aromas of well-seasoned Greek cuisine wafts onto Central Avenue, offering a welcome respite from the choking haze of automobile emissions.  Step into the restaurant and the first thing you see is a counter in which you place your orders.  The specials of the day are scrawled on a slate board on a restaurant wall while the daily menu is situated just above the counter.  Framed reviews are prominently displayed on one wall, including a 1991 Albuquerque Journal article proclaiming the Olympia Cafe one of Albuquerque’s 12 best restaurants.

After the aromas, the next thing you’ll notice is the restaurant’s liveliness.  The Olympia Cafe is characteristic of some family owned and operated Greek restaurants where animated dialogue emanates from the busy kitchen.  It’s all part of the restaurant’s charm.  As for ambiance, some would say there isn’t any.  Others appreciate the Mediterranean blue touches on the walls an the stereotypical Greek art which tends to focus on Olympian deities.  Lighting is good and seating is austere.

The Olympia Platter is a veritable feast of deliciousness Greek style.

You won’t be seated long before your number is called and you can walk to the counter to pick up your order.  Portion sizes are prolific.  It may take two of you to carry back the serving trays and their bounteous loads.  That’s especially true if you order one of the restaurant’s terrific appetizers and a dessert, too.

Among the former, a very good option is the taramasalata, what some people call “poor man’s caviar.”  The menu describes it as “pink caviar” and indeed it does have a pinkish-orange hue. Taramasalata is made from the salted and cured roe of either carp or cod.   The roe is mixed with various ingredients including vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice.  Though somewhat salty and some would say an acquired taste, if you learn to like taramasalata, it’s hard not to order it when it’s on the menu.

The Olympia Cafe’s rendition is quite good.  It is served in a small serving dish circumnavigated by four triangular wedges of warm, homemade pita bread, Kalamata olives, pepperonici and two dolmathes (grapevine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs).  This is a classic Greek appetizer sure to please aficionados of one of civilization’s oldest cuisines.  The dolmathes are especially flavorful.  You can discern the hint of cinnamon and maybe allspice among the spices used in the rice stuffing.

The restaurant is renown for its pita bread.  It’s made in-house and is served warm.  It might be the best pita bread in town (not withstanding the fact that many restaurants offering pita get it from a distributor and don’t bake it in-house).  No matter what you order, always request pita on the side.

Gyros

The best way to maximize your experience and appreciation of Greek cuisine is by ordering one of the menu’s combination combos (there are three combo platters on the menu, including one vegetarian).  The most diverse of those combo platters is the Olympia combo, a combination platter of Moussaka, Pastichio, Gyros meat with tzatziki sauce and dolmathes.  A small Greek salad replete with feta cheese is also part of this platter.

Pastichio might be described as the Greek answer to lasagna.  It’s a baked macaroni casserole layered with ground beef and topped with cheese and a cream topping.  All too often this entree is surprisingly dry, sometimes the byproduct of over-heating. That’s not the case at Olympia where it is moist and delicious, even tasting made to order.

Another casserole dish on the Olympia combo is Moussaka, a baked eggplant and ground beef casserole also topped with a cream sauce.  Moussaka is a very common dish in the Mediterranean region, but it’s vastly different in every country in which it is served.  The Greek version is my favorite.  Made correctly, the filling has a smooth and rich consistency and the eggplant is baked to perfection (not an easy feat).  Undercooked eggplant may leave your mouth with an inky taste sensation that can last for hours.  At Olympia, the sole sensation you’ll experience is the desire for a second portion.

Perhaps the most popular entree at the Olympia Cafe as at other Greek restaurants are gyros, slices of beef and lamb broiled on a vertical split then wrapped in a pita with tomatoes, onions and tzatziki sauce.  The beef and lamb amalgam is moist, tender and very well seasoned, but what enlivens it with flavor is the tzatziki which is made of finely chopped cucumber and dill and mixed with natural yoghurt.  There’s a tinge of sweetness to the yoghurt along with the fresh, cool taste of the cucumber that goes very well with the meat.  If anything, we would have appreciated even more of the tzatziki.

Galatoboureko, baked custard between crisp filo topped with a light syrup

If you have any room left over, dessert options abound.  My favorite Greek dessert even though I’m still not able to pronounce it is Galatoboureko, baked custard between crisp phyllo topped with a light honeyed syrup.  The custard is rich and delicious but not at all cloying.  Galatoboureko is a Cypriot delicacy and one of the best desserts anywhere.

If your own life broadening experiences have yet to include Greek cuisine, the Olympia Cafe is a great restaurant in which to experience one of the world’s first and most delicious cuisines.

Olympia Cafe
2210 Central Avenue, S.E.
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 166-5222
LATEST VISIT: 20 October 2008
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: *
COST: $$
BEST BET: Olympia Combo, Gyros, Taramasalata, Galatoboureko

Olympia Cafe on Urbanspoon