Category: Gone But Not Forgotten

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: ExcellentThai

Siam Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:37 AM

It’s oft been said that “you taste first with your eyes.”  Certainly sight figures in to the enjoyment of food and sets expectations, but the first sensory receptors to engage in taste is the sense of smell.  If you’ve ever experienced a pleasant aroma wafting toward you as you approach a restaurant, you’ll agree.  The Siam Cafe is quite possibly the most aromatically-enticing, olfactory-arousing restaurant in the Duke City.  Its exotic spices and herbs waft like a gentle summer breeze over all diners entering what is conceivably Albuquerque’s best Thai restaurant. For years the marquee named its previous occupant, Pollo Loco, before the owners of the Siam Cafe finally changed the marquee in 2003. With its new signage, this gem declared “Siam, I am!.” The common denominator among all the dishes I’ve had here is consistent excellence, particularly among the curry dishes. Curry is one of those dishes about which inexperienced diners tend to generalize, tending in many cases to believe, for example, that any experiences–good or bad–they may have had with Indian curry will be duplicated with Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese or Malaysian curry. While all curry has an unmistakably pungent fragrance, there are more than subtle differences between the curries…

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…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2024Gone But Not ForgottenSpanishTapas

MAS Tapas Y Vino – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

From Mas Tapas Y Vino’s Facebook Page: It has been a magnificent run, and we’ve been delighted to serve you. However, the time has come for us to close our doors and reimagine our restaurant. Please stay tuned as we unveil an exciting new concept by Hotel Andaluz. Had Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra written Don Quixote in the 21st century instead of in 1605, the title character’s quest in life might not have been to revive the chivalric virtues and values of adventurous knights. His quests might well have instead taken him on tapas bar-hopping adventures throughout Madrid, Spain. In his edible escapades, he would have fought the incursion into Spanish tapas traditions. Instead of tangling with windmills, he would have squared off against golden arches and a creepy crown-wearing burger mascot. Quixote’s sidekick Sancho Panza would have certainly earned his surname. Madrid, perhaps even more than Ernest Hemingway’s beloved Paris is a “moveable feast.” The practice of chasing after those diverse and delicious little dishes known as “tapas” is called a “tapeo” and no city does tapas bar-hopping as well as Madrid. In Madrid tapeos have achieved near cult status. They are a cultural event, a rite of passage…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: Outstanding

Poppy’s Pizzeria & Italian Eatery – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Chef-owner Mario D’Elia knew what he’d be in for when he named his new restaurant Poppy’s Pizzeria & Italian Eatery.  Legions of Seinfeld fans would undoubtedly joke  “Poppy’s a little sloppy,” a reference to Poppie, a restaurateur on the comedy Seinfeld who didn’t wash his hands after using the bathroom.  Sure enough,the jokes came…until the jokesters tasted the seriously outstanding authentic New York style pizza.  Poppy’s pizza is no joking matter.  So why would Mario subject himself to a spate of predictable and hackneyed jokes? Poppy, as you might know, is an affectionate nickname given to a father, grandfather or a male authority figure standing in a similar position.  Mario speaks with reverence and love about his poppy, the nurturing grandfather who encouraged and challenged him to always do his best.  Mario’s Poppy would be very proud of the man his grandson has become.  The precocious child who once giggled as he bounced on his grandfather’s knee has become not just quite a chef, not just quite a dad, but quite a good dude. Born and raised in the same Bronx neighborhood Joe Guzzardi of Joe’s Pasta House also called home, Mario started cooking at age 12.  Because culinary school…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Closed in 2022Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoPizza

Rustico Italian Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

What does it say about a restaurant when it runs out of food?  Nine times out of ten, you’d probably say it’s either brand new and doesn’t yet have a feel for its traffic volume or their inventory management just isn’t very good.  Our inaugural visit to Rustico Italian Kitchen on a bright Sunday morning introduced us to another reason.  The restaurant was so busy the previous night that diners polished off everything on the menu save for pizza and salad.  For denizens of Albuquerque’s far northeast heights, that’s actually reason for celebration.  It means outstanding Italian food has finally made a triumphant return to this quadrant of the city. Not that many years ago, I lamented that with the exception of Paisano’s Italian Restaurant on Eubank and Joe’s Pasta House in Rio Rancho, there was a dearth of great Italian restaurants in the Duke City area. Then came Torinos at Home followed not long thereafter by the M’Tucci’s Italian restaurant dynasty.  Today Duke City area diners who want to mangia bene have a wealth of options.  In March, 2021, Rustico Italian Kitchen entered the fray.  With a dynamic chef at the helm, Rustico began generating enthusiasm even before it…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenJapaneseNew MexicoSushi

Ikigai ABQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

While ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) may sound like what grade school girls called me many years ago, in Japanese the term ikigai is a Japanese concept combining the terms “iki,” meaning “alive” or “life,” and “gai,” meaning “benefit” or “worth.”  Though there is no direct English translation, when combined these terms embody “that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose.”  Essentially, ikigai is the reason why you get up in the morning. It makes a lot of sense therefore that the signage for Ikigai, a sushi restaurant ensconced in a Lilliputian pod within the El Vado Motel complex, would be subtitled “a sushi shop with purpose.”  For some of us, sushi gives life worth, meaning and purpose.  Sushi was the reason we got up early on the Sunday morning of our inaugural visit, an indulgence that came very highly recommended by my friend  Howie “the Duke of the Duke City” Kaibel, Community Director for Yelp. Leave it to that fiendishly clever Howie to contemplate the existential in his Yelp review of Ikigai: “I’m pretty sure I’ll spend the better part of eternity seeking out so-called Balance, and failing miserably. There’s food I consider Healthy and all the rest that doesn’t…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2023Food TruckGone But Not ForgottenMiddle EasternNew Mexico

Mama Zahira Foodies – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:00 AM

FROM THE BITE:  “In Albuquerque alone, there are too many places doing falafel for us to dine at them in quick succession. That’s despite the Wacky Iraqi’s temporary relocation to Michigan (he tells us he hopes to return in a few years). It’s so easy to be judgmental, to take things at face value…to assume.  As my friend Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver and I approached Mama Zahira Foodies’ order window, we espied the self-deprecating term “The Wacky Iraqi in Albuquerque” scrawled by the vehicle’s rear wheel well.  The term “wacky” made us wary.  It’s just not a term we associate with great food.  No sooner had we reached the window when we were greeted by Riadh Seheem, a thickly accented, very gregarious gentleman who couldn’t wait to tell us about his food truck.  Talking a mile a minute with the unfettered enthusiasm of a child at Christmas, he raved about his truck’s menu.  Yes, it would have been far too easy to be judgmental, but what a mistake that would have been. A quote from French emperor and brilliant military strategist Napoleon Bonaparte now comes to mind and it has nothing to do with an enemy’s tendencies in battle.  That…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2022Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoVietnamese

Bamboo Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In his 30s, curmudgeonly London food critic Jay Rayner who’s been called the “enfant terrible (literally “terrifying child) of the gastronomic scene,” came to the realization that he hated hangovers more than he hated being drunk.  During a visit to a Vietnamese restaurant in London, he achieved an epiphany:  “huge steaming bowls of a deeply aromatic beef broth called pho, bobbing with slivers of meat and wide rice noodles – would prove a perfect cure. The head pain would ease. The pitch and roll of the stomach would steady. A gentle, soft comfy cloud of well being would descend. And all this for not very much money at all.” A 2017 article from the travel experts of Lonely Planet also believes pho is “an excellent hangover cure.”  In fact, pho appears first on a list of personal tips on how to survive a hangover on the road.  The article’s editor expounded further: “The broth rehydrates, the sodium gives you a little pick-me-up, and the freshly cooked beef adds protein in wafer-thin slices (which is all I can usually stomach in this state).”   The article concludes: “Even an image of a steamy bowl of pho can cure that headache for…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2023Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Seafood

Salty Catch – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:24 PM

As children growing up in landlocked and agrarian Peñasco, my siblings and I led a very sheltered life. Our extremely provincial experience with “seafood” was limited to Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks which we dipped in Kraft’s sandwich spread (we didn’t know about tartar sauce) and (gasp, the horror) Mrs. Paul’s fried shrimp. Sure, we snared the legal limit (yeah, right) of German brown trout, cutthroat trout and rainbow trout in the cold, rocky waters of the mountain streams in our backyard, but that wasn’t “seafood.” That was fish! One commonality among the “seafood” and even the “fish” we experienced was that it was all fried. Okay, so the Mrs. Paul’s seafood was already breaded and fried when we removed it from its hermetically sealed container. All we had to do was put it on a baking pan and bake it “until crispy and browned.” Despite my mom following the instructions on the box, both the fish sticks and shrimp had a mushy and oily texture. It certainly didn’t have the wonderful mouth-feel of the fish she fried for us. One memorable school trip to the “big city” of Albuquerque included a visit to Sizzler, a “fancy” steakhouse chain that would…

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Urbano Pasta Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:14 AM

“To break bread together,” a phrase as old as the Bible, captures the power of a meal to forge relationships, bury anger, provoke laughter.” ~The Joy of Food From National Geographic Sharing a meal creates a unique sense of intimacy felt by all who sit together at the table.  It’s an act that can spark new friendships, solidify lifetime bonds and serve as the backdrop for new memories.   Dining together is the most communal and binding action humans can take–an act The Atlantic describes  as “a quintessential human experience.”  It’s a universal act that transcends cultures, borders and geopolitical divides and it’s been practiced since the dawn of time.   Or at least for 300,000 years  according to archaeologists who unearthed evidence of ancient meals where diners gathered to eat together at a cave near Tel Aviv. Professor Ayelet Fishbach published a study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology that showed colleagues who ate similar foods together experienced higher rates of trust and closeness than those who ate alone.   If you’ve ever worked in a team environment, you can relate to that finding.  It’s amazing just how many agreements are brokered and how many ideas are conceived when two…