Category: Farmington

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Juniper Coffee & Eatery – Farmington, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Before heading off for an overnight stay in Farmington, I scoured the internet for suggestions on where to have breakfast.  My criteria was simple:  preferably a Navajo owned-and-operated eatery; restaurants who spell New Mexico’s official state vegetable “chili” wouldn’t be considered.  Yelp came through on its listing of the ten best restaurants for breakfast in Farmington.  At the very top of that list was Juniper Coffee and Eatery on College Blvd.  Little did i know how enthusiastically and overwhelmingly that choice would be endorsed later by people with whom I shared a dinner table and many laughs.  Serendipity certainly played a role in my breakfast venue of choice.  Serendipity also played a role in that the address for the LorAmy’s…

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Pioche Food Group – Fruitland, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Having devoured all the Tony and Ann Hillerman books centered in and around the Navajo Nation, I thought I knew quite a bit about the Diné.  That was until Brian Schwartz, an extraordinary food writer from Oklahoma, offered me his ticket to an event showcasing the talents of James Beard Best Chef – Southwest nominee Justin Pioche.  I immediately took stock of just what I knew about Navajo culinary traditions.  I knew the Navajo are widely credited with the “invention” of fry bread during their brutal internment at Bosque Redondo.  History taught me that lush Navajo peach orchards were destroyed during a scorched earth campaign by Kit Carson.  I knew from personal experience that Navajo cooks prepare the best mutton…

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Clancy’s Pub – Farmington, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Characterized by writer Tom Wolfe as the “Me Decade” and derided by cynics as the “Disco Era,” the 1970s witnessed an explosion of copycat fast food chain restaurants and the birth of innovative fusion cuisine in many contemporary restaurants. Fusion cuisine is the inventive combination of diverse, sometimes disparate culinary traditions, techniques and ingredients to form an entirely new genre. In large metropolitan areas, particularly throughout California, the fusion of different cuisines became commonplace. Restaurants featuring the melding of French and Chinese cuisine were especially popular. Still other restaurants had their own ideas as to what constituted fusion cuisine. Instead of intermixing ingredients, they featured menus showcasing the cuisine of several genres. One such restaurant is Clancy’s Pub in Farmington,…