Category: New Mexico

AlbuquerqueMediterranean

Cafe Istanbul – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:43 AM

One of the most common responses given as to why people choose to retire in Santa Fe is “because it’s so different.” While it may be true that the “City Different” is different from where respondents came, some native New Mexicans like my buddy Mike Muller postulate that Santa Fe has become the “City Same.” He’s talking about the architectural standards and city ordinances whose uniformity threaten to make Santa Fe a model of adobe-hued homogeneity. Mike points out that Santa Fe’s boring “sameness” hasn’t quite caught up with Albuquerque which in comparison is the rebellious kid in oversized jeans with underwear exposed to Santa Fe’s straight-laced, Catholic uniform-attired school girl. For evidence he points out two architectural anomalies which would not make it in Santa Fe. One is the United Blood Services building whose sanguine facade can be seen a mile away. The other is the bright yellow building on Wyoming which houses Cafe Istanbul, a Mediterranean Grocery Store and Deli. In truth, Cafe Istanbul isn’t quite as bright today as it was in 2001 when Nick and Del Akkad launched their specialty store and deli. New Mexico’s bright sun has dulled the bright yellow somewhat, but it’s still…

AlbuquerqueRating: N/R (Not Rated)SaladSanta FeVegetarian/Vegan

Vinaigrette – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:20 AM

During a 1994 episode of Seinfeld, Elaine’s boss, Mr. Pitt becomes obsessed with finding a spaceship obfuscated within a stereogram, a computer-generated image that presents an optical illusion in which a 3D image is hidden within a single 2D image to be revealed only when the viewer focuses his or her eyes correctly.  To the detriment of a pressing business deal, Mr. Pitts loses three days trying to find the spaceship.  First he tries blurring his eyes as if staring straight through the picture before eventually finding success by employing an intensely deep focus. Placitas resident Gary W. Priester calls creating 3D stereographic images his “all-consuming passion for almost 15 years.”  Gary has authored three books on stereogram images and is one of two contributors to a Japanese stereogram magazine series which has sold close to four-million copies.  His work is mesmerizing in its ability to captivate the viewer.  Fortunately for those of us who don’t always focus correctly, Gary does us all a favor on his Custom Stereographic Web site by explaining exactly how to see stereograms. Gary’s clarity and focus aren’t  limited solely to stereograms.  He’s become a trusted advisor on dining options I might not otherwise know…

AlbuquerqueItalian

Paisano’s Italian Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno6:20 PM

For years, the Duke City dining scene has been infiltrated by a plethora of cookie cutter Italian “chain gangs.” Despite deep corporate pockets, the flash and panache of Madison Avenue marketing machines and scripted, saccharine service, the chains have failed to drive away the beloved local mom and pop establishments to which Duke City diners remain steadfastly loyal?  One of the very best of the mom-and-pop lot is Paisano’s Italian Restaurant which was launched in the 1970s by  Johnny Camuglia.  Paisano’s gained a faithful following well before the plague-like incursion of the Olive Garden, Johnny Carino’s and others of that ilk. Four decades later under his son Rick, Paisano’s is still going strong thanks to doing things right for Duke City customers. The right things are often the small things such as paying attention to the details, the real difference makers.  It’s things like preparing everything on the premises from scratch.  It’s things like preparing fresh pasta, veal, fish, poultry and beef in the traditional Italian ways.  The motto at Paisano’s is “we cook like your Italian grandma.”  It’s not only an apt description for Paisano’s no short-cuts approach to preparing terrific Italian food, but a tribute to the love with…

AlbuquerqueBetter Call SaulFine DiningRating: Excellent

Savoy Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:16 PM

In 1881, the Savoy Theater in London’s trendy West End was built to showcase the brilliant Victorian era collaboration of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan who composed fourteen comic operas.  The Savoy was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity.  It also has the distinction of being fronted by the only road in Britain where traffic is required by law to drive on the right-hand side. In 2006, the Savoy Bar & Grill was built in Albuquerque to showcase yet another brilliant collaboration, that of identical twin brothers Keith and Kevin Roessler who also own and operate Seasons Rotisserie & Grill in Albuquerque’s Old Town and Zinc Wine Bar & Bisatro in fashionable Nob Hill.  As restaurant impresarios, the Roessler brothers may have no equal in Albuquerque with each of their three restaurants being regarded as among the best in the city, particularly for high-end dining. Savoy, the latest addition to the Roessler restaurant triumvirate, resembles a California wine-country bistro in both ambiance and menu.  That’s a natural considering their uncle and mentor Roger Roessler is a successful restaurateur in Sonoma County, California where the fruit of the vin is showcased in some of…

AmericanPizzaRating: ExcellentSanta Fe

Joe’s Dining – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:32 AM

In the American vernacular, there is no male name which denotes “average” more than Joe. The terms “Average Joe,” “Ordinary Joe” and “Joe Sixpack” are used to convey a completely average, down-to-earth working class male just as Ordinary, Average or Plain Jane are used to describe average women. These terms are used more as general descriptors than they are for anyone in specific. When someone does something extraordinary or special, the expression “no ordinary Joe” is often used. Joe’s Dining in Santa Fe does its best to define just who Joe is:  Joe is everyman.  He is you, he is me, he is the guy next door, 
the gal next door.  He is José, Giuseppe, Joseph and all female renditions of the name. Joe is the common thread among us and yet he is one of a kind.  He is friendly, unpretentious, straightforward with quietly discriminating tastes. Joe has a robust sense of humor – he loves to laugh, even at himself. He loves good food, good drink and good company. Joe’s Dining is certainly no ordinary Joe.  What sets it apart is a palpable passion for a sustainable, local food supply-food that is wholesome, non-genetically engineered, often “better than organic,”…

AlbuquerqueChineseRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Yummi House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:01 PM

Years ago, I had the misfortune of working with a technical writer who couldn’t spell his way out of a paper bag.  His punctuation was pathetic, his vocabulary vacuous and his writing peppered with malapropisms (the incorrect use of a word by substituting a similar-sounding word with a different meaning).  Some comedians have made an art out of malapropisms, but there wasn’t anything funny about this terrible technical writer.  How he passed English classes at a state school which will remain nameless, much less become a technical writer, is beyond me.  Fortunately it didn’t take our employer long to realize the right thing to do about that writer was to let him go. In mock tribute to our departed former colleague, my friend Ken VanLyssel and I designated an office bulletin the “Don Cruize” (in his honor, his name is misspelled) bulletin board.  Every time we came across slaughtered syntax, shoddy spelling or any grammatical faux pas, we would tack it to that board.  Many of our contributions were courtesy of menus from Albuquerque’s Chinese restaurants.  Chinese restaurant menus, in general, are notorious for grievous grammar and are frequent fodder for Jay Leno’s Headlines segment.  We wondered if some of…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2023Gone But Not ForgottenGreek

Zorba’s Fine Greek Dining – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:53 PM

“Tell me what you do with the food you eat, and I’ll tell you what you are. Some turn their food into fat and manure, some into work and good humor, and others, I’m told, into God.” ~Zorba the Greek The most obvious theme of the Nikos Kazantzakis novel Zorba the Greek is that life should be lived to its fullest–that its pleasures should be pursued with a lusty vigor.  The embodiment of that attitude was the eponymous, life-affirming protagonist Alexis Zorba whose unrestrained joie de vivre didn’t diminish with advancing geriatric progression.  If anything, Zorba’s exuberance and appetite for the pleasures of the flesh become more pronounced with age.  His passions were governed by his senses, not by social mores or even his own intellection.  In a sense Zorba’s attitude is encapsulated in Dionysus, the Greek god of the grape harvest, wine-making, wine, ritual madness and ecstasy.  In the pantheon of Olympian gods, Dionysus may have been the most “human,” a god subject to mortal traits of impetuousness, irrationality and emotionality.  His passions were expressed in such activities as dancing, drinking and eating.  If there was a Greek god of revelry, drunkenness and inebriation, it, too, would have been…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenItalianPizza

Fratelli Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:39 AM

The ingredients with which you can top your pizza are limited only by your imagination. Crocodile and caviar? Been there, done that. In fact, a New York restaurateur will sell you a thousand dollar pie topped with four of the priciest caviars in the world. Blueberries, shrimp, cookies? That’s pretty tame stuff. A Swiss-based pizza chef laces his pizza with spiders and snakes (Jim Stafford, where are you now?). The Japanese propensity for invention is on display with a “mega pizza” monstrosity (Godzilla? Mothra?) that starts with a crust constructed of hot dogs wrapped in bacon and rolls of molten cheese. The center is built with hamburgers, cheese rolls, sausage, bacon, ham, bacon bits, mushroom, onion, pepper, garlic and tomato sauce and it’s topped with ketchup and maple syrup. And you thought Cosmo Kramer’s idea to top his pizza with cucumbers was out-of-bounds! Comparatively New Mexico’s pizzaioli are pretty unimaginative. About the most “extreme” ingredients you’ll find at Farina Pizzeria are eggplant, broccollini and farmhouse goat cheese with leeks. DaVinci’s Gourmet Pizza throws caution to the wind with their toppings offerings of rosemary roasted potatoes, artichoke hearts and barbecue sauce. At Santa Fe’s Rooftop Pizzeria, you can scale the heights…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014ColombianGone But Not Forgotten

El Pollo Real – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:43 PM

Jay : I’m home! Mmm, what smells so good? Gloria : I’m making chunchullo, a traditional Colombian dish, for dinner with the family tonight. Chunchullo. Jay : What is that… like, uh, tacos? Gloria : Yes, like tacos. Manny : No, it isn’t. It’s the small intestine of a pig. Jay : Oh, geez. Why can’t we eat regular food like normal people? Understandably, to this gastronome, the funniest scenes depicting the cultural clash between Gloria Pritchett and her family and friends involve food.  In the true tradition of the Latin stereotype, Gloria, the curvaceous Colombian bombshell portrayed by Sofia Vergara on the hilarious television comedy Modern Family likes her food spicy-painfully so.  Conversely, in true stereotypical “white person” fashion, other characters just can’t handle the heat.  In one memorable episode, Cameron, an exemplar of “Caucasianism,” takes Gloria to one of her favorite purveyors of piquancy in an effort to bond with her.  After one bite, he sprints from the table shouting “I feel like I ate the sun!” Interestingly, Colombian food isn’t especially spicy–at least not in comparison with the cuisine of other Latin American nations.  As with most nations, Colombian cuisine varies by region.  In some regions, such…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenMariscosMexican

La Sirenita – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:15 PM

My good friend and frequent dining companion Bill Resnik is one of the most altruistic and selfless people I have the privilege of knowing. Every year he grows out his naturally white beard so he can portray Santa Claus at hospitals and nursing homes throughout the metropolitan area. Because he stands 6’5″ most of his friends look like elves standing next to him and there’s probably not a chimney he can slide down, but when he dons his padded red and white Santa suit, he IS Santa. With his characteristic light-hearted and whimsical approach, he keeps children of all ages and dispositions spellbound, their wide-eyed wonder reflecting the magic of the season. The rest of the year when he’s not playing Santa, Bill joins me in performing another type of public service. That’s what we call it when we visit a restaurant about which very little information is available (not even on Urbanspoon). Boldly going where no other critic has gone, we’ve discovered some gems over the years—restaurants which remain among our favorites–but we’ve also had more than our share of disappointments, most of which aren’t chronicled on this blog (if you can’t say something nice….). Public service can be…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew MexicanRating: Excellent

Rey’s Place – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:00 PM

Rey’s Place has relocated and now shares space with La Familar, the terrific Mexican restaurant owned by Michael “Rey’s” lovely bride Luz.  La Familiar is located at 1611 4th Street, N.W.  Its menu includes all the wonderful foods you’ve loved for years at Rey’s Place: gorditas, enchiladas, caldo de rez and so much more.  Whether you visit for excellent Mexican food or Michael’s mellifluous guitar and sensational singing voice, Rey’s La Familiar will soon become one of your favorite restaurants.    Call Rey’s La Familiar at 808-242-9661 for more information. Human brains are wired so that the way we perceive the flavor of food is actually a synthesis of how it looks, tastes, smells and feels.  Four senses are actively engaged as we’re masticating, licking, sipping or sucking our food.  The one traditionally recognized method of perception apparently not crucial to enjoying the dining experience is the sense of hearing.  Until rather recently, the effect music has on the enjoyment of our food hadn’t been thoroughly studied scientifically.  In 2011, the Journal of Culinary Science & Technology determined through a series of experiments that food tastes best when served with quiet classical music in the background.  If the music was…