Category: Announcements

“People who love to eat are always the best people.” – Julia Child When Friends of Gil (FOG) get together, good food happens. So do good times and great conversation among some of the most passionate gastronomes in the Duke City area. El Norteño was the site of the most recent FOG dinner shared by nineteen. Guests included five of the ten most prolific commentators on Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog: Bob of the Village of Los Ranchos, Bruce Schor (with Lady Grayce), Jim Millington (with Janet, the Child Bride), Larry McGoldrick (with the pulchritudinous Chase girls, Barbara and Linda) and John Lucas (with fabulous Kay). We were also graced with the presence of FOG newcomers Sarah and Rolk Dolk. No strangers to the hospitality industry, Sarah and Rol own and operate the Adobe Nido Bed and Breakfast which is very close to Old Town shopping, museums and downtown night life. Joe and Kazzie Guzzardi, the much loved proprietors of Joe’s Pasta House in Rio Rancho joined just as we were about to order dessert. As far as we know, the infamous Suzie Queue was not in attendance. While some of the FOG hadn’t ever dined at El Norteño, others…

“Panza llena, corazon contento,” the pithy Spanish saying which translates to “full belly, happy heart” is the mantra by which many restaurants in New Mexico operate. That sentiment is expressed in other parts of the country as “fubelly,” a diminutive of “full belly” with an implied tone of “happy heart.” On Monday, June 23rd, 2014, Fubelly, an online discovery platform was launched in Albuquerque with the goal of helping Duke City diners achieve fubelly. Fubelly celebrates Albuquerque’s food culture in a medium ideally tailored for story-telling, utilizing videos with a very high production value to showcase some of the Duke City’s very best restaurants, chefs and restaurateurs to help diners engage with food and drink. Through Fubelly you’ll discover places you’ve never been and rediscover places you already love by learning more about them. Eight Duke City area restaurants are currently featured, but the goal is to grow the site to about fifty local restaurants and eventually expand to Santa Fe. The restaurants featured are very high-energy venues owned and operated by very innovation restaurateurs and chefs with a passion for creativity and customer service. No chain restaurants will be featured on Fubelly. In addition to a video narrated by…

One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends. ~ Laurie Colwin On Thursday, 29 May 2014 at 7PM, nineteen of the Duke City’s most passionate gastronomes enjoyed a sumptuous repast and a terrific evening of convivial conversation and humor in the second Friends of Gil (FOG) dinner of 2014. There were no strangers at the event, only friends who hadn’t met in person. Guests included some of the most prolific commentators on Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) blog. With comments such as “so, you’re Larry McGoldrick,” guests had an opportunity to put names to a faces. It was as if we’d all known one another for years. There was widespread speculation as to whether or not infamous commentator Suzie Queue was among us. Most agreed that Suzie Queue is a nom de plume and theories as to her true identity–ranging from Edward Sung to Sr. Plata and even Bob of the Village People–were advanced. In John Baldwin and his lovely bride Zee, Gil found kindred spirits equally passionate in their dislike of cumin. Attending his…

If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart. ~ Cesar Chavez “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.” For the fifteen foodies who gathered at Joe’s Pasta House on Saturday evening, February 22nd, the inaugural “Friends of Gil” dinner started off as a foodie summit, but would up as a celebration among new friends. it was a night of rich laughter, convivial gaiety and great food. It was a night we ended long after the restaurant’s closing hours and only after we noticed we were the only ones left at the restaurant. Joe and Kassie Guzzardi were the consummate hosts, making everyone feel like welcome guests at their home. They graced us with their warmth and hospitality, mingling with everyone at our table and earning several new devotees. The menu showcased some of the Pasta House’s most delicious dishes, meals fit for the most discerning of gastronomes. The conclave of culinarians included some of the most prolific contributors of commentary on the New Mexico dining scene: Bob of the Village of Los Ranchos (407 comments), the ebullient…

Great things are happening in New Mexico’s third most populous city. Rio Rancho has developed an impressive culinary culture, boasting a number of bona fide award-winning destination restaurants. Not only are more and more of the City of Vision’s citizens frequenting restaurants in their hometown, discerning Duke City diners are making the trek “up the hill” to dine in Rio Rancho restaurants. So are residents of Placitas, Corrales, Bernalillo and beyond. Credit the increased popularity and success of Rio Rancho’s restaurants to the city’s many dedicated restaurateurs and their staffs who go the extra mile to keep their guests coming back for more. Many of those restaurateurs and their staffs live in Rio Rancho. They’re friends and neighbors to many of their guests. They’re also culinary consumers themselves, frequenting other restaurants in the City of Vision–not to check out the competition, but because they genuinely like them. It’s indicative of Rio Rancho’s culinary culture that you won’t hear a restaurateur utter a disparaging word about other restaurants in the city. Quite the contrary, they go out of their way to praise their “competition.” Michael Gonzales, the effusive operating partner of Cafe Bella raves about the pinwheels at Davido’s Pizza &…

On Friday, October 25th, 2013, Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog achieved a significant milestone when it received its 5000th published feedback, some sixty-one months after the blog’s launch. The main reason I migrated Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Web site to a blog on September 13, 2008 is because blogs are much more interactive than conventional Web sites. In our increasingly connected and shrinking world, blogs are community while Web sites are islands. Because of a blog’s interactive nature, you, my dear readers, have been able to provide comments about my reviews, recommend new restaurants, and share your experiences on dining adventures good and bad. You’ve let me know when you agree with my recommendations and when you believe I’ve totally missed the mark. Some of you have been complimentary, gracious and kind. Others…not so much, over the years accusing me of being on drugs, being a racist, questioning my parentage and threatening me with bodily harm. Through it all, the blog has championed freedom of speech. For the most part, the only comments censored from the blog have been politically oriented. What has made me most proud is the spirited dialogue between the community of diners who are just as…

Two votes!  That was the margin which decided the Santa Fe restaurant which won the 2013 People’s Choice Green Restaurant award. The Nature Conservancy announced today that the Santa Fe restaurant garnering the Nature’s Plate Award was Vinaigrette which edged out Il Piatto by two votes.  More than 550 votes were cast for the four Santa Fe restaurants vying for the award. The Albuquerque Nature’s Plate winner was Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm followed by Vinaigrette.  563 votes were cast for the four Duke City restaurants in competition for the award.  The Nature Plate contest invited voters to first nominate then vote for their favorite sustainable, organic or farm-to-table restaurant.  A plaque recognizing the 2013 Nature’s Place People’s Choice Green Restaurant winners will be awarded to the two winners.