Category: American

AlbuquerqueAmericanDog FriendlyRating: Very Good

D. H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro (Old Town) – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:23 AM

There are varying accounts as to the genesis of wine-making in the United States. While it is widely acknowledged that as early as the 1500s Spanish and French Huguenot settlers in Florida began making wine with a native grape known as muscadine, efforts to plant the classic grapes used to create the great wines of Europe failed because of pests prevalent in wet climates. It wasn’t until Spanish Missionaries discovered the dry climate of New Mexico in 1629 with its sandy soils that the first European Mission grapes brought over from Spain were planted in what is now the United States.  The original grape stocks supposedly remain the source of many of New Mexico’s vinters to this day. Sources relates that in 1629, Franciscan friars planted the first vineyard (for sacramental wine) in New Mexico in defiance to Spanish law prohibiting the growing of grapes for wine in the new world. Those first wines were planted on the east bank of the Rio Grande slightly north of the village of present day San Antonio by Fray Gracia de Zuniga, a Franciscan monk. Despite conflicting accounts, one fact appears incontrovertible–New Mexico is among the oldest wine-making regions in the country. Today the…

BurgersDiners Drive-Ins and DivesDog FriendlyRating: N/R (Not Rated)United StatesUtah

Proper Burger – Salt Lake City, Utah

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Television would have you believe Mars and Venus have different ideas as to what constitutes the proper way to eat a burger.  Representing Venus (women), as depicted in a Wendy’s commercial from the 1980s, is a geriatrically advanced woman who takes a small bite of her juicy burger then daintily wipes off the detritis with a napkin.  Representing Mars (men) is Food Network superstar Guy Fieri.  The platinum-coiffed restaurant impressario’s approach to properly eating a burger is mirrored by most of us Martians.  It’s not for the faint of heart or children and you shouldn’t attempt it without a net. If the burger is what some of us more seasoned folks might call a “Dagwood” (characterized by its skyscraper height and multiple layers of meats, cheeses and condiments), Fieri will first assume the position–what he calls the “hunch.”   First you put your burger on the counter and stand in front of it with your chest about twelve-inches from the edge of the counter.  Lean forward so that your chest is at a 45-degree angle to the counter.  Cradle the burger with both hands, resting your elbows on the counter.  Angle the sandwich at a 45-degree angle to the counter with…

AmericanDog FriendlyRating: N/R (Not Rated)SouthernUnited StatesUtah

Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limeaid

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In 2008, Natchez, Mississippi, was officially named the Biscuit Capital of the World, a process which took three years of research by Chef Regina Charboneau.  Just our luck, the Natchez native and French-trained chef began serving her famous biscuits at her Twin Oaks Bed & Breakfast in Natchez a decade after our last visit to the “Antebellum Capital of the World.”  While we didn’t get to partake of Chef Charboneau’s celebrated biscuits (revered by the Rolling Stones), our breakfasts in Natchez were memorable because biscuits in the Mississippi River town are truly “biscuit capital” worthy. In the quarter-century plus since we lived in Mississippi, we haven’t missed the oppressive humidity or the politics (on par with New Mexico and let’s just leave it at that), but we’ve missed the patriotism, people and…maybe especially the biscuits.  Yes, I know biscuits are made everywhere across the country, but only in the South are biscuits a transformative flaky, buttery and ethereal experience.   Everywhere else most biscuits are floury hockey pucks–dry, tasteless disappointments not worthy of the butter, jam or gravy with which they’re slathered. Not surprisingly, the last truly life-altering biscuit to cross my lips was in Charleston, South Carolina at the James Beard…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastBrunchDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Curious Toast Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“Toasting makes me uncomfortable, but toast I love. Never start the day without a good piece of toast. In fact, let’s toast to toast.” ~George Costanza You might think that only a short, stocky, slow witted bald man would live a life so mundane as to even consider making a toast to a good piece of toast.  That may have been the case even just a few years ago when many of us languished under the covers until the very last second then wolfed down a dry and uninspiring piece of toast while gulping a scalding cup of coffee.  With crumbs cascading down our chins and onto our button-down shirts, we rushed to our appointed rounds, destined to arrive at work two minutes after our designated start time.  Toast hadn’t sated our appetites and worse, contributed to our heartburn. Since Eater designated 2015 as “the year of the avocado toast,” “gourmet toast” has been in an ascendency that’s finally caught up with Albuquerque.   It’s an idea whose time has come.  No longer should diners be satisfied with a cold pat of butter or cream cheese on no personality bread that’s already cool by the time it gets to your table. …

AlbuquerqueAmericanBrewery-PubDog FriendlyNew Mexico

Hollow Spirits Distillery – Albuquerque, New Mexico (REDESIGNATED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results.” ~Edward De Bono NOTE:  This review is no longer accurate.   According to The Bite: In other distillery news, Hollow Spirits is moving into the building vacated by Bosque Brewing’s Heights Public House. The third-largest distillery in the state, Hollow Spirits has switched gears more than once with their original downtown Albuquerque location, which now operates strictly as a production facility and events space. Their new spot in the Heights will be open to the public, with a 5,000-foot patio in addition to indoor space, but no reports yet on what will be coming out of the kitchen.  The Land of Enchantment boasts of some 3,500 restaurants, more than 1,000 of which are members of the New Mexico Restaurant Association (NMRA).  Keen competition from among hundreds of outstanding chefs throughout the Land of Enchantment makes being named the NMRA’s Chef of the Year quite an honor.  Read the resume of 2020 Chef of the Year recipient Tristin Rogers  and you just might conclude he didn’t just deserve Chef of the Year honors; he’s worthy of “person of the year” recognition, too.  He doesn’t just transform…

AmericanBreakfastCajunClosed in 2022CorralesDog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Waffology – Corrales, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

FROM WAFFOLOGY’S FACEBOOK PAGE: We regret to announce our final closing. We fought hard and we appreciate all of you who came alongside us. February 5th will be our last day serving from 9am-6pm. In an article for New Mexico Magazine, scintillating four-time James Beard award-winning author Cheryl Alters Jamison proclaimed “Pity the folks who think breakfast is a bowl of cornflakes or some granola and yogurt—talk about starting the day with a yawn! I’m here to tell you that the best, most bodacious wake-up food, bar none, is New Mexico’s breakfast burrito. It doesn’t just break the fast, it blasts it.”  Cheryl may not have called out other American breakfast staples.  She didn’t need to. When my friend Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver (who grew up in Los Angeles but has lived in New Mexico almost half his life) invited me to join him for breakfast at Waffology in beautiful downtown Corrales, we discussed the challenges of breaking the New Mexico breakfast paradigm.  Most New Mexicans enjoy an occasional breakfast of crepes, pancakes, French toast and waffles, but given our druthers we prefer breakfast burritos by just about the same margin with which George Washington won the country’s inaugural Presidential…

AmericanBreakfastClosed in 2022CorralesDog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Corrales Bistro Brewery – Corrales, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

What is it about French words that make them sound haughty and pompous to some people and elegant and refined to others? Think I’m kidding? In Massachusetts, I knew a guy who for two years sported the nickname “Le Cochon” like a badge of honor before someone had the heart to tell him it meant “the pig.” He had thought that sobriquet was a testament to his prowess with the ladies (on second thought, maybe it was). Still questioning my observations on French words? Take an informal poll of men (women are smarter) in the office and ask them what the word “bistro” means. I did and most respondents gave me some variation of “snobbish, hoity-toity, fancy, upscale” restaurant. In truth, a bistro is a small restaurant which typically features simple fare and sometimes provides entertainment. So, if you’re looking for a fancy, upscale French brewery when you see the name “Corrales Bistro” you’ll be in for a disappointment. If, however, you’re looking for terrific sandwiches, burgers, New Mexican food and more you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The Corrales Bistro Brewery (“The Bistro” for short) opened shortly after New Years Day on 2007 at the former site of Essencia, a wonderful…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueNew Mexico

Nomad’s BBQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As a spindly teenager who hadn’t yet metamorphosed into my (then) scrawny 6’1″ stature, I had grand delusions of someday playing basketball for the University of New Mexico (UNM) Lobos.  There could be no greater aspiration for a twelve-year old from the mountains than to wear the cherry, silver and turquoise and play for UNM Coach Norm Ellenberger.  Back then Coach Ellenberger could do no wrong in my eyes…or in the eyes of every Lobo fan.  A 1974 Sports Illustrated article described him as “the Newman-Redford among coaches, a man of such striking looks and charisma that his picture, hanging in Albuquerque restaurants, must be guarded lest it be defaced with scribbled I love hims.” When my Uncle Fred introduced me to the legendary coach,  I brazenly told him I’d someday play for the Lobos (obviously that didn’t pan out).  I was so starstruck when Coach Ellenberger shook my hand and spoke with me that it’s a wonder I didn’t tell him that I’d never wash that hand again.  That’s just not something aspiring Lobo basketball players do.  Over the years I’ve met and befriended many people I’ve admired and respected, but have never uttered the platitudinous phrase “I may…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBrewery-PubDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Good

Two Cranes Bistro and Brew – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:17 AM

As we wended our way along meandering Rio Grande Boulevard, I commented to my Kim, “I sure miss Ichabod and Katrina.”  “Colleagues of yours at UNM?,” she asked.  “No, not colleagues,” I replied pointing to a large, verdant field, “Ichabod and Katrina were the two sandhill cranes who used to feed in those fields.”  “Oh, I get it,” she responded, “you’re talking about Ichabod and Katrina Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”  She then asked why I’ve always had such a great admiration for Ichabod Crane, a fictional character who basically embodied all the seven deadly sins: greed, glutton, sloth, indolence, wrath, lust and envy. “Yeah, I understand all of that,” I explained, “but Ichabod Crane was a man ahead of his time, an 18th century equivalent of a foodie.”  Washington Irving, described him as “a huge feeder, and though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda.”  Isn’t that the kind of super power we’d all like to have?  He had a voracious appetite but somehow managed to remain thin.  When he saw animals lounging in the fields, his mouth watered, described masterfully by Irving: “In his devouring mind’s eye, he pictured to himself every roasting-pig running about…

AlbuquerqueAmericanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

La Finca Bowls – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:28 AM

Some people just aren’t cut out for the military.  The most incompatible among them usually wash out during basic military training, what is often referred to as “boot camp.” Sometimes it’s the rigor of strenuous physical conditioning that gets to them.  More often than not what proves too much is the stress of being away from home, maybe for the first time, and being yelled at constantly.  Either of these circumstances may ultimately result in a military commander initiating discharge action against new recruits who are not adjusting to the rigors and demands of military life. The most unique case of incompatibility with military service I ever witnessed was a fellow airman who suffered from a severe case of brumotactillophobia.  Essentially he had a fear of different foods touching each other.  Those of you who completed basic military training might recall the orderly process of traversing wordlessly and at attention through long lines at the chow hall and having foods plopped indiscriminately onto your tray.  Despite the fact that the trays are compartmentalized, different foods invariably do more than touch.  Succotash with chocolate pudding anyone? As fussy an eater as he was, it’s a good thing he wasn’t a member…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueFood TruckNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Mighty Mike’s Meats – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:01 PM

Thank you, Mighty Mike! Thank you for restoring our faith in barbecue just one day after my Kim declared “I don’t want to have barbecue for a long time.”  Readers might find it hard to believe, but we uncovered a barbecue restaurant so bad our one visit risked turning us both off barbecue completely (and no, I won’t be reviewing it because if you can’t say anything nice…).  If our lifelong love for barbecue was to be restored, it was really important that our next barbecue experience be absolutely amazing and that it happen quickly (like getting back on the proverbial horse that bucked us off). The very next day, I decided to take my Kim to a food truck whose reputation for stellar smoked meats precedes it.  Thank you, Mighty Mike for living up to the expectations and hype.  Make that thank you for exceeding the expectations and hype! I hate to think that because of one horrendous experience, we might have deprived ourselves of barbecue for a long time, that we might not have experienced what may well be the best barbecue we’ve ever had in Albuquerque.  Thank you, Mighty Mike. Legendary raconteur and television personality Anthony Bourdain…