Hurley’s Coffee, Tea and Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
“May you have food and raiment, a soft pillow for your head. May you be forty years in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead.” — An Irish Blessing Cynics who used to deride Irish food as the worst in the planet would have cautioned you to say a prayer before you ate it, but not necessarily in Thanksgiving for what you were about to receive. For years the Emerald Isle has captured the imagination with its numberless shades of lush greens, smooth as silk whiskey, stout Guinness beer and poetry that can bring you to the depths of desolation or the heights of alacrity. What the land of saints, sinners and poets had not, until recently, ever been known for, however, is its cuisine. Historically, just about the kindest things that were said about Irish food is that it was mundane and uninspired. The stereotypical cavalcade of culinary mediocrity included boiled potatoes, boiled cabbage and boiled corned beef. That, as they say, is then. Conscious of their beloved nation’s reputation, a new breed of creative Irish chefs (“wacky renegade cheese makers, people curing meat, exploring traditional Irish food ways, cooking well” in Anthony Bourdain’s words) has debunked the myth…
