Coda Bakery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

JP, my former boss at Intel used to pride himself on consistently working “half days.” If you’re thinking you’d like a job where you work only four hours a day, you’ve misinterpreted his definition of “half days.” To him, half days is a literal term meaning twelve hours a day. When most of us are done for after only nine or ten hours, he was just starting what he called his “second shift.” Very few of us have the stamina, initiative and especially the passion for what we do to work “half days.” I know restaurateurs for whom half days (or longer) are standard six or seven days a week. Because they spend so much time in their restaurants tending to the care and feeding of others, they tend not to eat there–when they make time to eat. On their rare days off or when they’re able to make time for a quick escape, they like to visit their fellow restaurateurs, not necessarily to check up on the competition, but to be pampered and fed well. Some restaurateurs would make great restaurant critics though they do tend to be overly “honest” when describing direct competitors, restaurants which serve the same…

Slice & Dice – Albuquerque, New Mexico

You might remember a 2004 documentary called Supersize Me in which writer-producer Morgan Spurlock explored the consequences on his health of a diet consisting solely of McDonald’s food for one month.  Spurlock has nothing on Dan Janssen who as of 2019 had eaten almost nothing but pizza for nearly thirty years.  That’s pizza for lunch and dinner every day of the year for just about three decades.  Janssen is certainly no believer in the old adage that variety is the spice of life because the only spice with which he tops his pizza is oregano.  Nor does variety extend to the type of pizza he enjoys.  Every day he usually consumes one fourteen-inch cheese pizza for lunch and another for dinner. Any dietary diversity he enjoys is through eating at different pizza restaurants–even chains, about which he declares “they’re all pretty bad, but I do frequent them. Pizza is like sex—even when it’s bad, it’s good.”  Ironically, as a teenager Janssen became a vegetarian for “ethical reasons” but determined rather quickly that he didn’t like vegetables.  A pizza diet seemed to make sense.  Just as a diet of nothing but McDonald’s food for a month wreaked havoc on Morgan Spurlock’s health,…

Little Europe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Few natural wonders are as awe-inspiring and spectacular as  the chalky White Cliffs of Dover on the English coast.  Only for a short while are those bright white, natural geological formations visible at night as you’re sailing away toward France on a cross-channel ferry.  Instead, as you depart from Dover’s busy port, you’re treated to an increasingly receding facade as the 350-foot chalk faces dim, their bright white geological features vividly reflecting moonlight.  That’s the view I remember most from my first English crossing some 21 miles away from France.  Along with a busful of eager passengers, we were bound for Calais, the closest point in France to Great Britain. For the Germans, that made it the most logical and heavily fortified location for an Allied invasion. Our “invasion” wasn’t to visit wartime sights most of which are some 230 miles east at Normandy D-Day landing beaches (such as Omaha and Juno). Our excursion was much more peaceful (although not necessarily quiet). We were bound for Auchan, a well-stocked hypermarket (a massive retail establishment that combines a supermarket and a department store under one roof) in Bolulogne-Sur-Mer.  Auchon was reputed to be the ideal place to purchase French wines, cheese…

Banh Me & You – Albuquerque, New Mexico

According to The Tanner Food Group, a a food consultancy focused on international trade, industry preparedness and regulatory activities, there are now nearly 8,000 Vietnamese restaurants stateside.  Food Scientist Michael Murdy, founder of robustkitchen.com attributes the  popularity of Vietnamese food to the “wide range of flavors and textures associated,” specifying that “the combination of sour, sweet, savory, and spicy flavors, as well as the use of fresh herbs and vegetables, makes Vietnamese food particularly attractive to people.” From among the nearly 8,000 Vietnamese restaurants on this side of the pond, it’s a good bet many of their menus are graced with banh mi, the sandwich melding French and Vietnamese flavors and techniques.  I first encountered the banh mi during one of many trips to the Santa Clara-San Jose area courtesy of Intel.  With a significant Vietnamese population, the area was teeming with restaurants, most generally serving pho and other wondrous delights from Vietnam.  At the time (mid 1990s), the San Jose area was starting to see Vietnamese bakeries opening up mostly in areas frequented by Asian populations.  Among them was Lee’s Sandwiches, maybe the first to showcase the banh mi. Lee’s Sandwiches has suffixed its corporate name with “International” and…

Dion’s Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Toga! Toga! Toga! Ever since the misfit Delta Tau Chi fraternity threw the most debaucherous toga party ever in the 1978 “teensploitation” comedy Animal House, the toga party has been ingrained in the college party culture. The genesis of the toga party goes back much, much further than Animal House. Toga parties, in fact, precede collegiate life in the fruited plain by many hundred years. The first toga party was actually organized in ancient Greece in honor of the Greek god Dionysus, the deity of the grape harvest, wine-making and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theater and religious ecstasy (that’s quite a job description, even for a god). Dionysus literally had a cult following of men and women who worshiped him. Together this vagabond group became some of history’s first true party animals, holding orgiastic celebrations where they danced to frenzied music and behaved like crazed San Diego State basketball fans. It was during this revelry that Dionysus invented both the toga party and the first drinking games. You might not know it but the Dion’s Pizza franchise that has become ubiquitous in the Duke City area, is actually named for that rapscallion god Dionysus (albeit a shortened version of…

Kaufman’s New York – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

“I’ll have what she’s having.”  Can it really be 35 years since Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal created their famous fake orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally?  The scene was filmed at New York City’s Katz’s Delicatessen where sumptuous sandwiches are skyscraper tall and absolutely delicious (my sole visit was in 1978).  Unlike Meg’s character, most of us wouldn’t have to fake our “excitement” with one gander of the sheer size of Katz’s pastrami sandwich.  A Katz’s, the world-famous pastrami sandwich is enormous, featuring about one pound (12–16 ounces) of hand-carved meat stacked between rye bread. The sandwich stands roughly five-inches tall and is often considered large enough for two people to share.  Obviously that doesn’t include me; I wouldn’t share it with anyone. When my friend and frequent dining companion Bill Resnik invited me for lunch at Kaufman’s New York Diner, we hoped for some facsimile of the excitement and size of Katz’s .   We’re both realists, however, and recognize that parsimonious portions are standard at most New Mexico sandwich shops.  We did, however, hope and expect that the pastrami be imported from New York City or, even better, made on the premises in the tradition of Jewish sandwich…

That’s My Rez Sandwich – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Has life on the rez suddenly become mainstream? Increased exposure certainly seems to indicate that may be the case. In 2023, the novel Rez Ball received prestigious literary recognition, including the American Indian Youth Literature Award.  PowWows.com described the novel as “rooted in the reservations, Rez Ball is a fast-paced and fiercely competitive form of basketball that showcases the spirit of Indigenous identity. Its aggressive defense and quick transitions reflect the strength and pride of Native American players, making it a powerful expression of culture.” In 2024, the subsequent movie, also titled Rez Ball, also earned accolades. Centered in New Mexico, the movie follow the Chuska Warriors, a Navajo high school basketball team, as they overcome personal challenges in pursuit of a state championship. “Without Reservations,” a popular daily comic strip by Santo Domingo artist Ricardo Caté has been featured in the Santa Fe New Mexican and Taos News since 2006. It’s the only Native American cartoon in a mainstream newspaper, using humor and satire to highlight Indigenous life, culture, and issues. Caté has been creating six cartoons a week, teaching, revealing and explaining the Native American experience to people one panel at a time.  Caté’s impact goes beyond the…

The Yeller Sub – Albuquerque, New Mexico

In the town where I was born… Lived a man who sailed to sea… And he told us of his life… In the land of submarines… – The Beatles: Yellow Submarine The phantasmagorical 1966 Beatles song Yellow Submarine may or may not have been the inspiration for Albuquerque’s venerable Yeller Sub, but one thing’s for certain.  Since it launched in 1979, the Yeller Sub has been the Duke City’s land of  oversized sub and torpedo sandwiches. Long-time residents will remember that the Yeller Sub was first located on Juan Tabo not too far from Manzano High School. Today it resides in the Louisiana Plaza Shopping Center off Montgomery.  Its current corner storefront has remained a popular dining destination for more than two decades. The restaurant’s familiar marquee includes a cartoonish Beatles style yellow submarine sliced in half with piled high sandwich ingredients forming the “body” of the submarine.   Original Beatles “action figures” (my Star Wars loving friend Ken gets upset if they’re called figurines or dolls), some featuring the famous yellow submarine, can be seen on the counters.  Many of them were gifts from faithful customers and remain in their original wrapped boxes.  Should you opt to dine in, you’ll…

El Guero Canelo – Tucson, Arizona

If asked to participate in a word association exercise, any well-traveled foodie undergoing psychoanalysis would find it easy to name the first food that comes to mind when a city is mentioned: Philadelphia – the Philly cheesesteak sandwich; Boston – baked beans; Chicago – Italian beef sandwiches; San Francisco – sourdough bread; Milwaukee – butter burgers; San Antonio, New Mexico – green chile cheeseburgers.  You get the point.  Some foodies might not know that Philadelphia is the birthplace of liberty, but they know about Geno’s and Pat’s King of Steaks and their decades-long battle for Philly cheesesteak supremacy. You might find it strange that seemingly pedestrian foods would be the defining cuisine of burgeoning cosmopolitan cities, historically significant metropolises and tiny hamlets in the desert, but it’s not solely foodies who associate foods with places. Anthropologist Maribel Alvarez of the University of Arizona says the “quintessential food of Tucson” is the Sonoran hot dog, explaining that instead of taking guests to high-end restaurants, locals will bring their out-of-towners to one of the city’s purveyors of Sonoran hot dogs. Hot dogs, like baseball and barbecue, aren’t exclusively the domain of Americans any more.  In fact, they never were. Before you call…

Ted’s Hot Dogs – Tempe, Arizona

Reading Becky Mercuri’s magnificent Great American Hot Dog Book had the same effect on me that Fifty Shades of Grey had on soccer moms throughout the country.   How can someone so food obsessed not delight in such beautiful prose as “Western New York is definitely hot dog country and the preferred method of cooking is charcoal grilled.”  Charcoal grilled!  There goes another foodgasm.  New Mexicans don’t have to travel all the way to Buffalo, New York to experience these magnificent charcoal grilled libido activators.  We only have to go to Tempe, Arizona to sate our hunger…or lust, in some cases. Ted’s Hot Dogs was a precursor to the modern food truck.  In 1927, Theodore “Ted” Spiro Liaros began operating a horse-drawn cart in a park on Buffalo’s west side in close proximity to a large construction site.  Originally known as “Ted’s Red Hots,” Ted’s is still going strong nearly a century after launching.  It’s a beloved Buffalo area institution with eight locations in Western New York and one outlier in Tempe.  The secrets to Ted’s success is strict adherence to the methods and traditions that have won over generations of hot dog lovers. One tradition not likely to ever…

Richie B’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico

If you’ve ever wondered why New Yorkers fold their pizza slices in half lengthwise (aka the “fold hold”) and if you’ve ever attributed that practice to Big Apple quirkiness, you owe it to yourself to visit Richie B’s, a New York-style pizzeria on Unser in the Duke City’s Northwest quadrant. Now, the Albuquerque metropolitan area has plenty of claimants to New York-style pizza, but can you name a single one in which you’ve actually HAD to utilize the fold hold to eat a slice? New Yorkers have mastered the fold hold because true New York-style pizza is thin-crusted and cut into wide slices (usually wider than your face) which taper down to a perfectly pointed (and invariably “floppy”) bottom. I’ve seen friends and colleagues employ the fold hold simply to double the amount of pizza they can consume in one bite (then wonder why they finished off their pizza twice as fast). I’ve also seen them utilize “The Travolta” method—layering one slice on top of another and eating both simultaneously—again, to double the amount of pizza in each bite. I’ve also seen the more “civilized” (or haughty) among us (Former New York City Mayor di Blasio should have been impeached…