Greek Archives - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Albuquerque Fine Dining Greek Mediterranean New Mexico

Dorothea – Fine Greek: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoAugust 21, 2025August 24, 202512:01 AM

“What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” ~Hans Urs von Balthasar, Prayer The appellation Dorothea literally means “gift of God.” It’s a name derived from the words dōron (gift) and theos (god). While the name itself is ancient Greek, there is surprisingly (especially considering the easily titillated denizens of Mount Olympus) no figure in pagan Greek mythology with the name Dorothea. Instead, Dorothea is the name of a prominent Christian saint, one christened the patron saint of florists, gardeners, and brides. She is often depicted with a basket of roses and fruit. The name Dorothea has variants in many different languages, including Dorothée, Dorotea, Dorota, Dorrit, Doretta and more. It has also inspired…

Albuquerque American Breakfast Burgers Dog Friendly Greek

Vic’s Daily Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJune 13, 2025June 14, 202512:02 AM

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?” “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.” Unlike the great philosopher Winnie the Pooh, many Americans, it seems, don’t equate breakfast with excitement. Studies show that far too many of us fuel our bodies with a “gobble and go” mentality that typifies our frenetic lifestyles. In 2007, one food service industry research firm concluded that most Americans spend no more than three minutes shopping for breakfast (at such paragons of nutritional virtue as McDonald’s and Starbucks).…

Albuquerque Greek Mediterranean New Mexico

The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoFebruary 14, 2025February 15, 202512:01 AM

As a precocious stripling growing up long before Star Wars, Back to the Future and the Marvel Universe, my heroes were the gods of Mount Olympus. In Greek mythology, the gods were incredibly powerful beings who controlled the forces of nature and human beings. Their whims–often childish and unpredictable–dictated whether or not empires and human beings thrived or led lives replete with strife and woe. These puerile gods possessed supernatural powers such as the ability to control the weather (Zeus), make others pregnant or get pregnant herself (Hera) and manipulate travel, paths, and sports (Hermes). While Spiderman may have understood that with great power comes great responsibility, the gods were prone to fits of pique. In such moments, they were…

Albuquerque American Dog Friendly Greek New Mexico

Tula’s Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 8, 2024November 10, 202412:01 AM

Tula: “My mom was always cooking foods filled with warmth and wisdom… and never forgetting that side dish of steaming-hot guilt.” As it celebrates its twenty year anniversary the 2002 Rom-Com “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” remains as timeless and funny as it was when it debuted. Moreover, it’s still a heart-warming movie with which some of us can relate. In my estimation, it could easily have been called “My Big Fat Northern New Mexican Wedding” and it could have been set in Peñasco. The similarities between Greek families and Northern New Mexican families around which I grew up were startling. That’s especially true about the food, family and eccentricities, the latter especially prominent among the movie’s well-meaning and hovering aunts…

Albuquerque Greek Mediterranean New Mexico

Gyros Shack – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMarch 12, 2024March 26, 202412:01 AM

When my dear friend Adelchi Parisella introduced me to Greek food at Gyros Mediterranean back in the early ’80s, I thought to myself “now this is the food of the gods.” As curious as any cat, I naturally researched whether or not the Greek gods of Mount Olympus actually did eat gyros and patates. The only two “foods” I could recall the gods eating were ambrosia and nectar. Research revealed that while ambrosia and nectar were the gods main source of substance, the haughty mythological beings actually consumed other foods, none of which were gyros and patates. Dionysius, the the god of wine and pleasure and Priapus (a minor rustic fertility God, who protected the male reproductive organs) were fond…

Albuquerque Breakfast Brunch Dog Friendly Greek New Mexico Rated 23

Meraki Coffee + Market – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoAugust 19, 2022July 18, 202312:01 AM

“I saw Sisyphus in violent torment, seeking to raise a monstrous stone with both his hands. Verily he would brace himself with hands and feet, and thrust the stone toward the crest of a hill, but as often as he was about to heave it over the top, the weight would turn it back, and then down again to the plain would come rolling the ruthless stone. But he would strain again and thrust it back, and the sweat flowed down from his limbs, and dust rose up from his head.” ~Homer, The Odyssey Even those among us most satisfied with our jobs sometimes feel work is our personal Sisyphean ordeal. That’s especially true on days in which work seems…

Albuquerque Bar & Grill Closed in 2023 Fine Dining Gone But Not Forgotten Greek New Mexican

Nick & Jimmy’s Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoDecember 17, 2021January 5, 202311:46 AM

Legendary American chef, author and television personality Julia Child was often exasperated with what she perceived as American’s propensity for culinary laziness, once commenting that “the trend in the U.S.A. was toward speed and the elimination of work.” “Americans,” she noted, equated as “gourmet” such “horrible glop” as “TV dinners, frozen vegetables, canned mushrooms, fish sticks, Jell-O salads, marshmallows and spray-can whipped cream.“ Julia Child obviously didn’t know Dave Hurayt, a good friend and fellow gastronome who’s shared some wonderful recipes with me. While Dave may not have spent two years and nearly 300 pounds of flour attempting to bake the perfect loaf of French bread as Julia Child once did, he experiments painstakingly with the recipes he creates, laboring…

Albuquerque Greek Mediterranean

Gyros Mediterranean – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMarch 20, 2021April 5, 20212:39 AM

It’s not easy being a gastronome about town when you make less than a thousand dollars a month and have a car payment, rent and a social life. Stationed at Kirtland in the early 1980s, my Air Force salary pretty much dictated that most of my meals were at the base’s chow hall (which thankfully was legions better than mystery meat meals at the Peñasco High School cafeteria). The little that was left of my meager monthly take-home pay meant social outings were pretty much of the cheap eats variety. The epicenter for many of my off-site meals seemed to be Cornell Drive where it was possible to find restaurants with a broad socioeconomic appeal–restaurants which nurtured a refreshing open-mindedness…

Albuquerque Closed in 2024 Dog Friendly Gone But Not Forgotten Greek Mediterranean New Mexico

Mykonos Cafe And Taverna – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 29, 2018August 21, 202412:24 AM

Jose Villegas, my friend and colleague at Hanscom Air Force Base, earned the most ignominious nickname. Everyone called him “Jose Viernes” which fans of the 1960s television series Dragnet might recognize is the Spanish translation for “Joe Friday.” We didn’t call him Jose Viernes because he was a “just the facts” kind of guy. He earned that sobriquet because he lived for Fridays. Jose kept a perpetual calendar in his head, constantly reminding us that there are “only XXX days until Friday.” Quite naturally, his favorite expression was “TGIF” which he could be overheard exclaiming ad-infinitum when his favorite day of the week finally arrived. Conversely, for him (as it is for many Americans), Monday was the most dreaded way…

Albuquerque Greek New Mexico

Olympia Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoSeptember 6, 2017October 13, 20189:41 PM

For culinary diversity, it’s hard to beat the University of New Mexico (UNM) area in which restaurants with a broad socioeconomic appeal are congregated. Aside from academic enrichment, this area is nurturing a refreshing open-mindedness toward the cuisines of the world. That seems to be a commonality in areas within easy walking distance of large urban universities. Perhaps restaurateurs recognize that students–especially the oft-maligned millennials–are not only willing to open up their minds to new knowledge, but their wallets and their minds to new culinary experiences. The UNM area inaugurated many of us from rural parts of the state to wonderful new taste sensations. The heretofore enigmatic mysteries of the Orient unraveled themselves the first time we tasted the sweet…

Albuquerque Closed in 2017 Gone But Not Forgotten Greek Italian Mediterranean New Mexico Pizza

Olive Branch Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 4, 2016July 12, 20187:55 PM

The depiction of a dove in flight with an olive branch in its beak is common in early Christian art and tradition. The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit while the olive branch is seen as a symbol of peace. Christian tradition, as chronicled in Genesis 8:11, describes a dove carrying an olive branch to signal the cessation of flooding throughout the world after forty days and forty nights of rain: “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” Greek mythology mentions the olive branch numerous times, including during a tale of a competition between Athena,…