Category: New Mexico

AlbuquerqueThai

Mai Thai Thai Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:34 PM

When my buddy Bill Resnik invited me to try a new restaurant called Mai Thai, I immediately wondered if Albuquerque was experiencing a misguided retro renaissance to days gone by when kitschy Polynesian themed night clubs and restaurants were in vogue. For those of you too young to remember, in the 1960s, 70s and even early 80s, Americans held a huge fascination for the South Seas, an interest propelled by veterans returning from the Pacific theater after the second war to end all wars.  Presiding over the “Tiki” movement was an entrepreneur named Victor Bergeron who founded a popular Polynesian themed restaurant chain named Trader Vic’s.  His restaurants provided temporary departures into escapism replete with waterfalls, torches, carved figures and bamboo huts, all designed to evoke an island ambience. Bergeron is also renown for the invention of a vibrant and refreshing rum cocktail called the Mai Tai.  Introducing the Mai Tai to the Hawaiian Islands inspired the slogan for his entire business, “Tahitian for the very best Mai Tai.” Alas, the restaurant Bill invited me to has nothing to do with a faux Polynesian adult beverage and doesn’t even have a liquor license.  It’s also not named “Mai Tai,” but…

New MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: Excellent

El Bruno – Cuba, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:49 AM

Fool that I am, after my first visit to El Bruno’s in 1997, I spent half an hour pondering how best to describe the restaurant in alliterative prose–adobe abode of amazing adovada, beguiling bastion of bountiful burritos, captivating citadel of chile con queso, earthen edifice of enchanting enchiladas–and while El Bruno is all of those and so much more, a simplified yet wholly accurate description would be “one of the five or six best New Mexican restaurants in the state.” El Bruno’s is almost equidistant between Albuquerque and Farmington, about 75 miles away from each. The drive is spectacular with a preponderance of scenic vistas and an unbelievable, multi-hued topography that includes hulking hoodoos (columns or pillars of bizarre shape caused by differential erosion on rocks of different hardness) and the nipple shaped Cabezon Peak, a dramatic 7,785 foot volcanic formation. The vistas, and especially the stratification of multi-hued earthen layers, may remind you of colorful Navajo sand paintings. El Bruno’s is also an excellent stopping point on the way to Chaco Canyon and indeed, on one memorable visit to the epicenter of the Anasazi’s world, we had lunch on the way to Chaco and dinner on the way back. Just…

New MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)Taos County

Taos Pizza Out Back – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:46 PM

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28 It’s unlikely the Taos Chamber of Commerce ever used that New Testament passage to lure visitors to Taos, but it would have made an excellent tourism slogan.  Taos, New Mexico seems to have a mollifying effect on weary souls.  It has been easing burdens and removing the yoke of the heavily laden for more than a millennium. Taos calls its visitors to spiritual odysseys, to commune with incomparable beauty and serenity, to imbibe the exotic melting pot of cultures.  It has inspired dazzling creativity and intoxicated legendary artists such as D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O’Keefe, Mabel Dodge Luhan and Willa Cather. Some have, in fact, described Taos as being more a state of mind than it is a location.  That state of mind would be a little unconventional–relaxed and informal with a “live and let live” element.  It’s that element which has made Taos a haven for counter-culture, an accepting habitat for hippies.  Taos does not follow the normal rules of society.  It is Bohemian in every respect. You’ll experience that Bohemian spirit as you turn off Paseo del Pueblo onto a gravel…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

The Chili Stop – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:54 AM

NOTE:  On November 15th, 2008, Ron Chavez sold the Chili Stop a mere four months after making green chile a religious experience.  I have not visited the Chili Stop since it changed hands and have heard mixed opinions on the Chili Stop post Ron.  I will update this review after my next visit. Over the years it’s been my experience that almost invariably, New Mexican restaurants which violate traditional New Mexican grammar don’t prepare the object of their grammatical faux pas very well.  The grammatical transgression of which I speak is forgetting the “i” before “e” rule and committing the piquant peccadillo of spelling New Mexico’s official state vegetable with two “i’s” and no “e’s.” It’s entirely forgivable that chile is technically a fruit, albeit one which packs an incendiary capsaicin punch, but like many New Mexicans, I feel personally insulted when presented with a menu offering “chili.” That abhorrent spelling brings to mind something long-time New Mexico senator Pete Dominici supposedly once said on the Congressional record. Not one to mince words, “Saint Pete” is credited with saying “chili” is “that inedible mixture of watery tomato soup, dried gristle, half-cooked kidney beans, and a myriad of silly ingredients that…

AlbuquerqueItalianNational ChainRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Bravo! Cucina Italiana – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:21 PM

Perhaps the most memorable slogan to surface during the politics “dirtier than usual” Presidential campaign of 2008 was the frequently used American idiom “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” That expression is intended to mean something akin to putting a fresh coat of paint on a piece of junk and selling it for full price. In other words, it aptly describes most political campaigns which tend to be exhaustingly negative repeats of previous campaigns. I promised myself not to ever let my blog slink and slither into the unappetizing muck and mire of politics and with the exception of the previous paragraph, I won’t. The expression “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig” ties in nicely with my inaugural visit to Bravo! Cucina Italiana. “How so,” you ask. It’s been my experience that you can adorn Italian themed chain restaurants with a pristine veneer and over-the-top flamboyance, but they’re still chains in all their homogeneous fungibility. For the most part, that’s come to mean a stereotypically Italian (Tuscan is a current favorite) ambiance complete with faux artifacts and cheesy murals designed to appear priceless and genuine. So that the…

Closed in 2012Fine DiningFood Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: OutstandingSanta Fe

Aqua Santa – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:49 AM

“But the moment I saw the brilliant, proud morning shine high up over the deserts of Santa Fe, something stood still in my soul, and I started to attend. There was a certain magnificence in the high-up day, a certain eagle-like royalty, so different from the equally pure, equally pristine and lovely morning of Australia, which is so soft, so utterly pure in its softness, and betrayed by green parrot flying. But in the lovely morning of Australia one went into a dream. In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly, and the old world gave way to a new.” In a 1928 essay called “New Mexico,” prolific writer D.H. Lawrence wrote that “New Mexico was the greatest experience from the outside world that I have ever had.”  Lawrence believed New Mexico liberated him from the present era of civilization.  In a sense, the Land of Enchantment healed his spirit. There is so much about New Mexico that is salubrious to the health of mind. body and spirit.  What spirit wouldn’t be buoyed by our cobalt skies with their endless depth of  graduating color intensity as they are…

BreakfastClosed in 2017Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanSanta Fe

Guadalupe Cafe – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:07 PM

1974, Mexico’s Nobel laureate Octavio Paz wrote that “the Mexican people, after more than two centuries of experiments, have faith only in the Virgin of Guadalupe and the National Lottery.” Though perhaps not to the same degree of reverence as people of Mexican descent have for Our Lady of Guadalupe, many diners literally make pilgrimages to Santa Fe’s Guadalupe Cafe. You might say they trek to this beloved institution with a type of fervor which could be considered almost spiritual. The Guadalupe Cafe, long removed from Santa Fe’s Guadalupe District and Guadalupe Street, does indeed inspire a fierce devotion. It is one of the most popular restaurants in Santa Fe, a venue often included in discussions about the best New Mexican restaurants in Northern New Mexico. It’s not uncommon to find yourself seated next to families who drove from Albuquerque or Taos (as has been our experience) just for breakfast at this institution. It’s not uncommon for tourists to make this the first restaurant they visit when they return to Santa Fe (and the City Different always inspires return visits).a During a return visit to Santa Fe for her Tasty Travels show, the effervescent kitchen diva Rachael Ray touted the…

BurgersClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSanta Fe

Honnell’s Late Nite Burger – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:50 AM

“America’s celebrity psychologist” Dr. Phil McGraw posits that how you interact with your partner in the first four minutes can set the tone for the day.  Those first and most crucial 240 seconds of each and every day can, in essence, dictate your entire mood and, in the long run, either keep your relationship intact or destroy it.  I’d add that even the first four minutes of your workday can have a profound impact on the rest of your day. If the first person with whom you interact is what Dilbert creator Scott Adams would describe as an “office vampire” your entire day will be impacted.  Office vampires are those people from whom a cheery “good morning” greeting will elicit a “what’s good about it” retort. They embody the axiom that misery loves company and are generally avoided like the plague.  Restaurants don’t have 240 seconds to set the tone for their patrons’ dining experiences. It’s been my experience that restaurants have about ten seconds to set the tone for your entire experience.  Restaurants have their own versions of the office vampire. These are generally the greeters whose chief (maybe sole) responsibility is to welcome diners and escort them to…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2009New Mexican

Marlene’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:32 AM

And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. And what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house. It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit. – Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923 For far too many people, work is a drudgery, a tedious, tiring and torturous routine done solely to earn a living. It is mentally draining and monotonous, physically exhausting even if not menial in the least. It makes getting up in the morning a prodigious challenge knowing you’re about fo face more of the same. It is a curse and a misfortune. It is a necessary evil. Conversely when you love your job and are able to work at something about which you are passionate, work is something to look forward to and relish. Kahlil Gibran described it best in saying “work is love…

Closed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanSanta Fe

Los Mayas – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:35 PM

Diego de Landa Calderón, the former Bishop of Yucatán, is a dichotomous figure in the history of the new world.  On one hand, he is recognized as an invaluable source of information on pre-Columbian Mayan civilizations, but on the other, he was directly responsible for destroying much of that civilization’s history, literature and traditions. Given the responsibility of converting the indigenous Maya to Roman Catholicism, he instituted an Inquisition that ultimately ended with the notorious auto de fé, a ritual of public penance for condemned heretics.  Mayas who continued to practice “idol worship” after having been “converted” to Catholicism were the recipients of this torturous rite.  During one ceremony, he also burned more than 5,000 Maya cult images and a significant number of Maya codices which would have filled in many blanks as to Maya history and culture. In 1566 upon his return to Spain, Landa authored a book in which he catalogued the Maya language, culture, religion and system of writing.  From his writings, we now know just how much the ancient Maya diet contributed to our own modern foodstuffs.  While some of the foods of the Maya (and frankly of their modern-day descendants) are unfamiliar to many Americans, other foods are commonplace at the supermarket.  These include…

BakeryBreakfastNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodTaos County

Michael’s Kitchen – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:56 PM

Murphy’s Law postulates that “if anything can go wrong, it will.” This rather pessimistic and oft-quoted expression has become a catch-all when everything seems to go askew. Murphy’s Law is blamed when you’re in the slowest line at a grocery store behind people who can’t find their checkbooks. It’s the reason the toast you accidentally drop off the table lands butter side down. It’s why the loudest and rudest people always sit in front of you at a movie theater. Murphy’s Law is also the reason the restaurant you brag most about will invariably have an “off night” on the day people you most want to impress visit. It never fails! This immutable law works like compound interest. The more you brag about a restaurant, the worse it will be for your guests. My brother George whose opinion on everything I value had told me for years that Michael’s Kitchen was one of the best restaurants in northern New Mexico. He appreciated its portion size, value and the quality of its New Mexican food (which the menu listed as “Spanish”). Our inaugural visit was compounded by mistakes. Going out on a rainy July night in 2003 when the Taos fiestas…