Category: New Mexico

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Level 5 Rooftop Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

For a nearly four-hundred year period, the Anasazi civilization which preceded New Mexico’s Pueblo cultures achieved the pinnacle of its technological and cultural advancement at a magnificent,  deep gorge called Chaco Canyon. Within the walls of Chaco Canyon, construction of multi-level buildings sprung up, some structures accommodating as many as  800 rooms. Not surprisingly, lower walls had to be made massive in order to support heavy stone walls up to five floors high.  It took remarkable planning to locate doors, passageways, kivas and other architectural features.  At five stories high,  Pueblo Bonito was the largest structure and the inspiration for Hotel Chaco’s spectacular restaurant Level 5  in Albuquerque’s Sawmill District. In 2017, local developer Heritage Hotels launched Hotel Chaco on…

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Hello Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

HELLO DELI (to the tune of Hello Dolly) “Hello Deli, this is Joe, Deli would you please send up a nice corned beef on rye. A box of RITZ, Deli and some Schlitz, Deli Some chopped liver and a sliver of your, apple pie. Turkey Legs, Deli hard boiled eggs, Deli and a plate of those potatoes you french fry, oh Don’t be late, Deli I just can’t wait Deli, Deli without breakfast, I’d just die.” ~ Frank Jacobs (Writer for MAD Magazine) In 2016, BBC Travel lamented the imminent demise of the New York City deli.  “Not the corner markets or bodegas that appear on nearly every New York block,” but “the true New York City delicatessen: the brick and…

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Tranquil Buzz Coffee Shop – Silver City, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Where have all the hippies gone?  Long time passing.  Where have all the hippies gone?  Long time ago.  Where have all the hippies gone?  Would you believe they’ve all gone to Tranquil Buzz, a coffee shop with perhaps the best coffee shop vibe in the country.  Boasting of the “best coffee in the cosmos,” Tranquil Buzz lives the motto “Love lives here.”  We practically lived there, too.  Well, at least for the first two hours of our day during the three days we spent in Silver City.  Fortunately the AirBnB at which we stayed was directly across the street from what has become a community meeting place with regular events such as poetry readings, open mic music and written word,…

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Diane’s Bakery & Deli – Silver City, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

In 2011, New Mexico Magazine recruited several local food writers and asked us to introduce readers to ten of “New Mexico’s Best Eats” in several categories:  Best Green Chile Cheeseburger, Best New Mexican Soul Food, Best Fine Dining, Best Enchiladas, Bet Vegetarian New Mexican Food, Best Road Food, Beste Local Seasonal Ingredients, Best Contemporary Native American Food, Best Chocolate and Best Carne Adovada.   For the most part, writers waxed eloquent about “the usual suspects” in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The most noteable exception was Lesley S. King, a distinguished writer who graced New Mexico Magazine’s as the “King of the Road” for years.  Lesley declared The Land of Enchantment’s “Best Road Food” to be the Hatch Benedict from Diane’s…

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Buckhorn Saloon – Pinos Altos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

In 1859, 49ers returning home from California discovered gold among the tall pines (Pinos Altos) north of Silver City. Word spread like wildfire.  In short order, there were more than 700 men prospecting in the area. As with other boom towns, rampant lawlessness made prospectors lives exciting to say the least.  Miners faced an anything goes attitude in the pursuit of gold punctuated by frequent raids by marauding Apaches.  In the “Apache War” of 1861, Cochise joined his father-in-law Mangas Coloradas (an Apache war leader who towered at 6’7″) and some 400 Apache warriors to drive away miners from their traditional homeland. In its early days Pinos Altos saw a veritable who’s who of fame and infamy.   In the…

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La Vie Est Un Bistro – Silver City, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

In 2013, the New York Times published an article titled “Looking for Big Flavors in a Small Town.”  The article extolled the dining scene in “Silver City, an old mining town in the southwestern corner of the state, which has “seen its creative spirit extend to the local food scene.”   Leave it to your roving gastronome to arrive in Silver City ten eleven years too late.  When the New York Times visited, Silver City was home to the Curious Komquat, where Chef Rob Connoley earned  James Beard semi-finalist honors for Best Chef – Southwest.  Chef Connoley, by the way, moved to St. Louis where he garnered another semifinalist nomination in 2022, this time for Best Chef: Midwest.  He repeated that…

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Giovanni’s Pizza & Subs – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Frequent and lengthy business trips to California in 1997 nearly ruined me forever for a food that belongs on America’s food pyramid (never mind the government’s nutritional aspects)–pizza. Despite an open mind and willingness to try anything, the heretical toppings adorning Golden State pizzas quelled and quashed what I had thought to be an everlasting love. Even today, I’m traumatized by nightmares of pesto impregnated crust desecrated with sushi grade sashimi, artichoke and the designer vegetable de jour. Returning to the Land of Enchantment with the taste of pizza parodies fresh on my mind, it was weeks before I could bring myself to even contemplate partaking of the pie Italians (and those who wish they were) consider sacred. Then we…

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East Ocean Chinese & Seafood – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

In 2022, Freddie Wong posted a TikTok video that went viral on several social media platforms. In the video, Wong, purports to find the most “authentic” Chinese food by utilizing restaurant review website Yelp in a unique way.  “The easiest way to find authentic Chinese food, assuming you’re living in a major metropolitan area, is to go on Yelp and to look for restaurants with three-and-a-half stars,” declared Wong in his TikTok video, which garnered an astonishing 7.2 million views in only two days. “Exactly three and a half, not three, not four. Three-and-a-half stars is a sweet spot for authentic Chinese food.” Again, the assumption is based on living in a major metropolitan area where there are a preponderance…

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Saratori’s Italian Bakery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

In 2007 serendipity had a hand in one of the most delicious additions to the Tully’s deli fortunes, an addition that had nothing to do with sandwiches, meats, pastas or other deli deliciousness. Rather than find a new tenant for the recently vacated shop in the same strip mall, Tully’s Deli & Italian Meats owner Johnny Carmuglia converted it into an Italian Pastry Shop which he named by combining the names of his two daughters Sara and Tori. Thus was born Saratori di Tully (since renamed to Saratori Italian Bakery).  In 2023, the Carmuglia family obtained even more space in the strip mall and connected all their operations: The Italian Market, The Italian Bakery, Catering and the Italian Deli.  It’s…

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Tully’s Italian Deli & Meats – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

The sense of smell, more than any of our other senses, influences our ability to recall past events and experience. From among the five senses, fragrance is considered the most potent medium for conjuring up memories. True enough, some of the most enduring sensory memories of my years in the Boston area are reawakened thanks to the amazing aromas that greet me each time I visit Tully’s Italian Deli & Meats on San Mateo. It is with increased rarity that you find an authentic Italian deli which greets you at the door with the incomparable aroma of pastas, meatballs or sausages simmering in a perfect marriage of tomato sauce, garlic, basil and oregano. It’s also rare to find an Italian…

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Western View Diner & Steakhouse – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Since the 1930s, neon signage has been a prominent and vital part of Route 66 as it meanders through Albuquerque. From the foothills of the Sandias in the east to the parched desert expanse of the west, Route 66 is festooned with vibrant neon signage that cuts a luminous swath through the city. The nocturnal spectacle of glowing neon might be the siren’s call that has drawn generations of “cruisers” to Central Avenue. One of Albuquerque’s most prominent neon spangled signs celebrates Route 66 as it spans across all four lanes of Central Avenue near its intersection with Coors Boulevard Southwest. Literally at the shadow of that span is the Western View Diner & Steakhouse which has been pleasing weary…