Category: New Mexico

AlbuquerqueChineseClosed in 2016Gone But Not Forgotten

Hua Chang – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:21 AM

1943’s Best Picture Academy Award winner Casablanca is replete with memorable quotes and scenes. Toward the end of the movie, reluctant hero Rick Blaine helps the beauteous Ilsa Lund and her husband, underground leader Victor Lazlo, escape to Lisbon. In a tearful farewell, Rick tells Ilsa she would regret it if she stayed. “Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.” Having been tipped off to the escape, Major Strasser of the Luftwaffe drives up and tries to prevent it. Rick shoots and kills him. When the police arrive, the opportunistic French police Captain Renault tells them to “round up the usual suspects,” saving Rick’s life. “Round up the usual suspects” seems to be the unintended mantra of Chowhound and similar foodie message boards. Invariably, a list of “anointed” restaurants is repeated ad nauseam whenever a prospective diner asks where to have a meal. The list of anointed restaurants is short and it’s exclusive. It’s hard to break into the list and once a restaurant is on it, it might take an exposé of roach infestations for the restaurant to come off the list. When it comes to Chinese food in Albuquerque, the…

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Pizza 9 – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:55 AM

My first review of Pizza 9 was written after my inaugural visit in January, 2009 at its original location in Albuquerque’s International District.  Three years later, there are nine Pizza 9 restaurants strewn throughout Albuquerque and Rio Rancho with a Pizza 9 planned for Santa Fe and “sky’s the limit” growth planned beyond that.  Even before Pizza 9 became a ubiquitous Duke City presence, my review engendered a significant number of visits and comments.  Today, this review is the tenth most frequently launched from among nearly 700 reviews on this blog.  More than 20 comments–some favorable and some almost inflammatory in nature–seem to indicate Pizza 9 evokes passion. What’s in a name?  According to an English bard and playwright of some repute, a rose by any name would smell as sweet.  It would be interesting to conjecture what William Shakespeare would have said about pizza, especially since the label “pizza” has come to mean different things, especially to proponents of two vastly different styles of pizza. In New York City, pizza is practically a religion with nearly than 1700 restaurants in “Metropolis” containing the words “pizza” or “pizzeria” in their name.   “New York style pizza”  has come to mean…

AlbuquerqueAmerican

Marble Brewery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:21 PM

Marble Brewery  in Albuquerque serves food, but typically through rotating local food trucks and limited snacks rather than a full in-house kitchen.Here are the details on food at their locations: Downtown (111 Marble Ave NW): Features a revolving lineup of local food trucks, including options like Don Choche, Tikka Spice, and Papa Cano’s Pizza. Westside Tap Room: Offers food trucks, with a permanent arrangement with Ironwood Kitchen nearby to provide food.< NE Heights Tap Room: Features food trucks and is located next to a Slice Parlor, allowing guests to bring in pizza.

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastClosed in 2014Gone But Not Forgotten

Roper’s Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:03 AM

Since the early 1980s when I was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, every vehicle I’ve owned has seemingly had a built-in auto-pilot with the destination 8810 Central, S.E. hard-coded. For years that was the address of the junior-most of two Albuquerque Milton’s restaurants, a classic American diner which consistently serves some of the very best diner entrees in the city. Milton’s was for me and my barracks-dwelling friends what Monk’s Cafe was to Jerry Seinfeld and his friends and what the Central Perk Coffee House was to the Friends cast. It’s where we commiserated with one another after a stressful day and it was where we celebrated good times. When I returned to New Mexico after three years in England, one of the first destinations on my agenda was that familiar address on Old Route 66.  Instead of friends who were no longer stationed at Kirtland, my dining companion was Kim, my bride of two years.  As with many people who grew up in the “Hog butcher for the world,” (one of several nicknames for Chicago in Carl Sandburg’s 1916 poem “Chicago”), Kim is an unabashed meat and potatoes lover.  The menu, an array of hearty and homespun comfort…

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Dragonfly Cafe & Bakery – Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:29 PM

In 1989, the tarantula hawk wasp was designated the official state insect of New Mexico, joining the roadrunner (state bird), whiptail lizard (state reptile),  spadefoot (state amphibian), Sandia Hairstreak (state butterfly),  Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (state fish) and the black bear (state animal) as official symbols of our great state.  Ostensibly the state legislature put aside partisan politics and selected these symbols after carefully weighing all options.  A case could certainly have been made for the dragonfly to represent New Mexico.  Not only is the dragonfly a ubiquitous presence–flitting fluidly and gracefully like tiny fairies attired in wardrobes of many colors–they are omnipresent in local lore and legend.  In The Boy Who Made Dragonfly A Zuni Myth retold by New Mexico’s eminent author Tony Hillerman, the dragonfly represents a messenger between children and the gods.  The Zuni consider the dragonfly a shamanistic creature with supernatural powers while to the Navajo, the dragonfly represents pure water. Anyone who’s ever observed these multi-colored frequent fliers as they perform such spectacular aerial feats as loop-the-loops and flying backwards can’t help but be held spellbound by their grace and beauty.  It’s no wonder so many birdwatchers have  become dragonfly watchers that dragonflies have come…

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Tomme – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:34 PM

As the end of an year draws near, the inclination to reflect on the closing year seems natural.  Auld lang syne practically resonates from the pages of most  periodicals as they reflect on the year that was with writers providing their year-end retrospectives.  Quite naturally my favorite reflections are of New Mexico’s continuously evolving, culturally vibrant and deliciously diverse culinary scene.  Several of my favorite writers–and readers–provided an year-end snapshot of the very best dishes they had during 2011.  You can read the latter starting here. There’s generally a wide diversity of opinion among restaurant critics and diners as to what constitutes the “best dishes,” so it behooves us all to pay attention when consensus or near consensus is achieved by any one dish at a restaurant.   Most of my astute readers who contributed their top ten dishes of the year agree on the greatness of Blade’s Bistro, Mary & Tito’s, Budai Gourmet Chinese, Torinos @ Home, San Pedro Middle East Restaurant and Jennifer James 101.  These are all easily among my favorite restaurants and shouldn’t be missed. When two of my very favorite food writers in New Mexico (or anywhere else, for that matter) waxed poetic about the best…

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Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno6:00 PM

Fittingly for a restaurant whose “mascot” is a rotund, sombrero-wearing bee with a smile on his face and maracas in each hand, almost every review you’ll find of the Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill in Santa Fe since it launched in 2004 employed a clever bee-related play on words to describe it.  “What’s all the buzz about in Santa Fe?”  “This new “beestro” offers a refreshing twist on fast food.”  The Bumble Bee opened to such tremendous acclaim that it quickly expanded to two Santa Fe locations and served Albuquerque diners for six years (2005 through 2011) with the same casual dining experiences heretofore available only to residents of the state’s capital.  Those experiences resulted in readers of the Santa Fe Reporter naming it the “best new restaurant in Santa Fe” two consecutive years against formidable competition. Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill is the brainchild of Bob and BJ Weil.  Bob, an avuncular septuagenarian, has been a peripatetic presence at the restaurant since it launched,  seemingly serving simultaneously as greeter, cashier, waiter and busboy, but mostly as the restaurant’s genial ambassador.  If he’s at the restaurant on the day of your visit, you can expect him to stop by your table to…

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Cosmo Tapas – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:34 PM

Some of the world’s most elegant and refined cuisine has its genesis in very humble circumstances.  Today, Spanish tapas are widely regarded as sophisticated and exotic, but they didn’t start off that way.  In fact, Spanish tapas are an excellent embodiment of the axiom that when life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade.  The words “tapa” (singular) or “tapas” (plural) are derived from the Spanish word “tapar,” which means “to cover.”  In Spanish, a tapa is also the literal term for a “lid.”  How the word “tapas” became the term used to describe a popular epicurean craze is an interesting tale. It’s well established that in Spain, it’s traditional for many people to take an afternoon respite from the rigors of their daily lives and jobs to visit the local tavern or inn for snacks and refreshment.  In Old Spain, snacks and refreshment are inseparable, a tradition dating back to the Castilian king Alfonso the Wise who decreed that no wine was to be served in any inn throughout Castile unless accompanied by something to eat.  This precaution was to counteract the adverse effects of alcohol on an empty stomach. Observing that glasses of wine or sherry served to…

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Mr. Tokyo – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:15 AM

In a 2011 interview, Green Bay Packers Superbowl winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed that during the National Football League season, the comments he hears most often from fans and the questions they ask him most have to do with Fantasy Football: “Is Jermichael (Finley) playing this week?” “Who’s starting at running back?” Until rather recently, the questions most frequently asked this humble blogger were “what’s your favorite (restaurant or food)?” and “what restaurant would you recommend for a (birthday, anniversary or special event)?”  Those questions have  been supplanted by curiosity about Bob of the Village of Los Ranchos (BOTVOLR), the most prolific (126 comments as of this writing) commentator to this blog.  “What’s Bob like?”  “Where does Bob get his ideas?” “What are Bob’s favorite foods?” Bob’s comments are not only insightful and entertaining, they often reflect his civic-mindedness.  He’s an unabashed promoter of his adopted hometown of Albuquerque, greeting visitors to our fair city as an ambassador for the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau.  Although he’s quite fearless when it comes to trying new restaurants and food trends, some of his favorites include the old standards which have graced the area for decades: The Monte Carlo Steakhouse, The Dog…

Fine DiningRating: ExcellentSanta Fe

Luminaria – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:14 PM

 Her sunrise could bring light into a blind man. Her sunset could put tears there in his eyes. Her colors are laying there in brush strokes. Underneath those peote skies. –The Bellamy Brothers Santa Fe’s preternatural beauty is so captivating that even the plethora of writers, artists and musicians who pilgrimage to this jewel of the Southwest are at a loss for adjectives to adequately describe it. Perhaps because of their scarcity of synonyms, some of them refer to it as “Fanta Se” as in fantasy, a city so singularly soul-stirring that its mystical qualities seems to transcend reality. Santa Fe’s cuisine is also lavished with laudation. Critics and patrons alike lionize Fanta Se’s restaurants and the world class chefs which preside over traditional earthen ovens, ultra-modern steely stoves and Spanish style tapas grills to prepare the mouth-watering marriage of traditional and contemporary cuisine that has made Santa Fe one of the country’s foremost dining destinations. Every once in a while Santa Fe’s ethereal beauty and a magical dining experience converge to form the type of perfect syzygy planetary alignments would envy.  Such was the case during our inaugural visit to Luminaria, the resplendent shining star restaurant at the Inn…

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Quesadilla Grille – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:58 PM

 Grandma: “Tonight, me and your aunt are gonna go visit some friends and we’re not gonna be back till tomorrow. We’re gettin’ a little low on steak, so I got Lyle comin’ over tomorrow to take care of it.” Napoleon: “Well, what’s there to eat?” Grandma: “Knock it off, Napoleon. Make yourself a dang quesadilla!” Napoleon: “Fine!” “Gosh!”  It took a cult movie about a high school misfit lacking all the skills girls like–such as nunchaku skills, bow hunting skills and computer hacking skills–for the humble quesadilla to became a pop culture meme. Described by movie critic Roger Ebert as “the kind of nerd other nerds avoid,” Napoleon Dynamite was the quintessential dorky loser, a carrot-topped dweeb who lived with his grandmother and subsisted on a diet consisting largely of steak and tater tots. Napoleon’s grandmother not only dissed the quesadilla with the inference that this beloved treat is a dang second rate  afterthought, she had the effrontery to pronounce it “kay-saw-dill-aw,”  a pronunciation waiters and waitresses throughout New Mexico hear every day from visitors not necessarily from Napoleon’s home state of Idaho.  Because of Napoleon’s grandmother, Urban Dictionary now defines the quesadilla as “Something you want to make when…