Albuquerque Archives - Page 75 of 82 - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Richard’s Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMay 3, 2008April 3, 20262:46 AM

In 2006 and 2007, the CalorieLab compiled the “fattest state” rankings based on a risk factor assessment provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. CalorieLab determined an overall increase in obesity in all states but California. Garnering the discomfiting dishonor as the fattest state in the union two years in a row was Mississippi. The Magnolia State was the first state ever in which two-thirds of its citizenry or higher were either overweight or obese by CDC standards. Our neighbor to the north, Colorado, ranked as the leanest state in the fruited plain two years running despite the percentage of its citizens now considered obese climbing to 17.6 percent. In many national ratings involving education, health care…

Albuquerque Japanese Rating: N/R (Not Rated)Sushi

Sushi King – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoApril 24, 2008April 6, 20263:15 AM

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. – Robert Frost The path to becoming a sushi aficionado is, in some ways, an assertion of individualism. You might also consider it an expression in audacity. Sushi, as most of us know, is not for everyone. Even the decision to try it the first time can be daunting. Some otherwise intrepid diners will never even get that far, the notion of consuming “raw fish” being too extreme for them. Some will take the safe path and partake primarily or exclusively of “cooked” sushi, grilled fish enrobed in tempura batter and served warm. Others, like my friend Maui…

Albuquerque Mariscos Mexican Rating: Good

Ruben’s Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoApril 19, 2008April 6, 20263:40 AM

During the Mexican Revolution of 1910, many women joined the army both in response to the tremendous need for their service, but also to accompany their husbands, many of whom were conscripted into service. Traveling with the revolutionary armies, it was often the role of women to forage for food and cook meals. As much as possible, the women who followed the armies tried to provide a homey meal experience complete with tablecloth, decorative plates and vases for flowers. As soldaderas, their contributions to the Mexican Revolutionary were not limited to “traditional” roles of the time–serving as caregivers and as cooks. Many women distinguished themselves on the battlefield and are today remembered in such songs as La Adelita. It was…

Albuquerque Buffet Indian

Taj Palace – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoApril 12, 2008May 18, 20193:57 AM

Indian cuisine is one of the world’s most diverse and sophisticated cuisines, fashioned over time by ancient traditions, diversity of religion, climatic variety and the influence of neighboring countries. It is so diverse, in fact, that the characterization “Indian cuisine” would be wholly inaccurate. There are more Indian cuisines than there are regions in this ethnically diverse subcontinent comprising 17.5 percent of the world’s population. While categorization by geographical region–North Indian, South Indian, East Indian and West Indian–is prevalent, such groupings are at least partially exclusionary of cuisines whose basis is religious, especially the Hindu and Muslim faiths. One of the great things about being an aficionado of Indian cuisine is that we can appreciate both its tremendous diversity and…

Albuquerque Mexican New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail Rating: Very Good

El Modelo – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMarch 26, 2008April 3, 20263:25 PM

Growing up in the 60s in a bucolic village in Northern New Mexico, we had no idea about such things as political correctness and multi-culturalism. It would be decades before the ascendency of the “woke” movement. My friends included descendents of Montezuma, scions of the Spanish explorers, Native Americans from a nearby Pueblo and even a few “white” kids. None of us really thought about things like “inclusion” and “diversity.” We lived it! Being kids, there was naturally a lot of good-natured name-calling and teasing, but even when tempers flared, I can’t recall racial stereotype-based derogatory terms ever used in anger. We thought nothing of teasing the “rich” white kids about their “white as them” Rainbo bread sandwiches and they retorted…

Albuquerque Closed in 2011 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican

Las Mañanitas – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMarch 5, 2008July 22, 201812:45 AM

Estas son las mañanitas, que cantaba el Rey David, Hoy por ser día de tu santo, te las cantamos a ti, Despierta, mi bien, despierta, mira que ya amaneció, Ya los pajarillos cantan, la luna ya se metió. This is the morning song that King David sang Because today is your saint’s day we’re singing it for you Wake up, my dear, wake up, look it is already dawn The birds are already singing and the moon has set Las Mañanitas, the traditional Mexican birthday song often sung in Catholic churches and birthday parties is one of my very favorite songs of any genre. It offers the recipient a good-morning wish just as King David himself might have. During early…

Albuquerque Closed in 2009 Gone But Not Forgotten Greek

Athens Eclectic Greek – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoFebruary 6, 2008July 22, 20183:52 AM

There’s an expression in Greece that all roads lead to Athens. If restaurateur Gus Petropoulos has his way, all Albuquerque streets will take diners to Athens Eclectic Greek Cuisine, the restaurant he launched in August, 2007. Petropoulos is a veteran of culinary competition, having owned six restaurants in Florida before setting up shop in the Duke City. His new venture is located in the Far North Shopping Center where, just scant years ago, this was about as far north as you could go in Albuquerque. The eclectic in the restaurant’s name means you’ll find so much more than gyros, Kalamata olives, feta cheese and all the other standards we’ve come to expect from Greek restaurants. It means fresh seafood flown…

Albuquerque American Breakfast Closed in 2010 Gone But Not Forgotten

Chef Jim White’s Cafe & Catering – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJanuary 24, 2008July 22, 20181:43 AM

Long before the Food Network made chefs legitimate on-air celebrity icons, Albuquerque had its own larger-than-life, media-savvy celebrity chef who, it seemed, spent almost as much time on the airwaves as behind the stove. Chef Jim White was a peripatetic presence on television where he hosted short cooking segments on two Duke City television news programs in addition to having a three-minute format airing in a San Diego station. He also wrote a highly-regarded food column for the Albuquerque Journal. So well known was (and is) Chef Jim White that in Albuquerque his name is always prefaced with his title, “Chef.” In society, only doctors and professors seem to earn that level of respect and in Hollywood, the celebrity equivalent…

Albuquerque Closed in 2008 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico

Downtown Gourmet – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJanuary 23, 2008July 22, 201811:01 AM

“People who know nothing about cheeses reel away from Camembert, Roquefort, and Stilton because the plebeian proboscis is not equipped to differentiate between the sordid and the sublime.” – Harvey Day I don’t know whether or not Mr. Day intended his quote as a condescending affront toward those lacking appreciation for some of the world’s most fetid fromage, but the truth is, not everyone really “gets it” when it comes to stinky cheeses. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. That’s because there really is a cheese for everyone. It’s one of the world’s most versatile and beloved foods and it has been since the very first cheese was made somewhere in the Middle East around 6000 B.C. Its versatility ranges…

Albuquerque American Bakery Closed in 2008 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico

Have Your Cake Bakery & Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJanuary 16, 2008July 22, 201811:20 AM

Leave it to the wonderfully irascible and irreverent comedian George Carlin to put things in perspective in his retort to a popular English idiom. “When people say, ‘Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too.’ What good is a cake you can’t eat? What should I eat, someone else’s cake instead?“. The idiom “to have one’s cake and eat it, too or simply have one’s cake and eat it” actually means wanting more than one can handle or deserves, or to trying to have two incompatible things. Still, Carlin makes a sage point. In Albuquerque’s Far North Valley, Albuquerque diners can have their cake and they can eat it, too. They can also have and eat…

Albuquerque New Mexican Rating: Good

El Charritos – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 22, 2007April 3, 202610:32 PM

New Mexico born Hispanics of my generation grew up watching not only American “shoot ’em up” Westerns featuring rugged cowboys, rowdy rustlers, round-ups and home on the range, but the Mexican equivalent–movies featuring the exploits of charros, the traditional cowboys of central and northern Mexico. Despite my admiration for the charros of the cinema, it took more than 20 years before my first visit to a restaurant named for the dashing Mexican horsemen who were equally adept with a lasso as they were with a gun. I had driven past the Central Avenue location of El Charritos for years, first when it was on the south side of Central then after it moved across the street to a modern, capacious…