Category: Rated 26

ArizonaFilipinoRated 26United States

TAMBAYAN FILIPINO FOOD – Phoenix, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

When my Kim required physical therapy after a brief hospitalization, extraordinary physical therapist Lana Ramos was dispatched to our home where she worked with my Kim for several weeks.  Lana was wonderful–a superb and patient coach for my injured bride and a knowledgeable and patient source of knowledge for me.  Having been around many Air Force colleagues married to Filipino women, I developed a fondness for both the culture and cuisine of the Philippines.  Lana reignited that fondness by answering my questions and clarifying a few misconceptions I had.  When my Kim successfully completed her physical therapy, Lana prepared lumpia for us.  It had been a long time since we’d had lumpia. Lana told us that she and several compatriots…

2023 James Beard Foundation "Best Chef - Southwest" SemifinalistFine DiningJames Beard Foundation (JBF) Award Nominees & WinnersNew MexicoRated 26Taos County

THE LOVE APPLE – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

If the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century had had its way, the tomato might not be a ubiquitous ingredient in the cooking of many cultures today. So, just what is it about the seemingly innocuous tomato that once earned it a scurrilous reputation in the Church, the type of reputation which made it the Paris Hilton of the nightshade family? Brought to Europe by the Spanish conquistadors, it was initially viewed with apprehension, thought not to be edible but purely decorative–and poisonous. Leave it to the French to change that perception by ascribing aphrodisiac properties to what they called pomme d’amour or love apple. This prompted the Roman Catholic Church of the time to declare the tomato the…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2016Fine DiningGone But Not ForgottenRated 26

JENNIFER JAMES 101 – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:06 AM

The number 101 has some very interesting connotations. If you grew up in the 60s, you might remember the Benson & Hedges cigarette jingle, “One, oh, one, one, oh, one, a silly little millimeter longer one, oh, one, a silly millimeter longer.” Talk about ear wax. That jingle was like It’s A Small World and the Gilligan’s Island theme. Once you got it into your head, you couldn’t get rid of it. My brainiac mathematician friend Bill Resnik appreciates that 101 is the 26th prime number. He points out that it’s also a palindromic number (a sequence that reads the same forward and backwards) or rather a palindromic prime. Geekier friends like Craig Stegman and Kenny Sanchez, developers extraordinaire, know…

BarbecueMissouriRated 26United States

Arthur Bryant’s – Kansas City, Missouri

Gil Garduno8:13 PM

Shortly after Arthur Bryant died in 1982, the Kansas City Star published a cartoon showing St. Peter greeting Arthur at the gates of heaven and asking, “Did you bring sauce?” Perhaps not even in Heaven can such a wondrous sauce be concocted. Arthur Bryant’s is probably the most famous barbecue restaurant in the country, if not the world–an institution to which celebrity and political glitterati make pilgrimages. If Schlitz was the “beer that made Milwaukee famous,” then Arthur Bryant’s is the barbecue that made Kansas City one of America’s four pillars of barbecue (along with Memphis, Texas and the Carolinas). In a city where barbecue is exalted, Arthur Bryant’s may no longer be indisputably the one restaurant everyone mentions as…

IllinoisMexicanRated 26United States

Frontera Grill – Chicago, Illinois

Gil Garduno1:20 PM

Not everyone has the relentless drive and impassioned fortitude to parlay their most ardent desires and zealous fervor into a wildly successful thematic venture, but then not everyone is Rick Bayless, America’s Mexican chef and restaurateur nonpareil. His single-minded passion for the Mexican culinary experience is reflected in multimedia ventures such as his successful PBS television series “Cooking Mexican” and “Mexico – One Plate At A Time” as well as his genre-redefining, award-winning books. One of those books, Authentic Mexican was heralded by the New York Times as “the greatest contribution to the Mexican table imaginable” while another, Mexican Kitchen was chosen best cookbook of the year.  Mostly, however, his passion is reflected in his restaurants. In 1987, Bayless launched…

BurgersClosed in 2013Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rated 26Santa FeTravel Channel Eats New Mexico

Bobcat Bite – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:38 PM

Update:  In a twist of cruel irony, the Travel Channel’s May 13th airing of the Burger Land program celebrating the Bobcat Bite debuted just a few days after the announcement that the world-famous Bobcat Bite as we all know and love it will be forever changed.  An official statement from Bobcat Bite, issued on May 9th, announced the restaurant renowned for its outstanding green chile cheeseburger would shutter its doors in June, 2013.  The press release read: After 12 years, Bonnie and John Eckre will serve their last famous Bobcat Bite burger at the Old Las Vegas Highway location on June 9. They will be vacating the premises June 14th at the demand of the building’s owners, the Panzer family.” …

Fine DiningNew MexicoRated 26Santa Fe

Geronimo – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:06 AM

Consistency over time, excellence every time–that’s what sets apart the one or two restaurants all the cognoscenti herald as the very best. These few truly extraordinary restaurants don’t so much raise the bar or reinvent themselves continuously as they do maintain the rarefied levels which earned them the distinction of being singled out in the first place.  Almost without exception, the Santa Fe restaurant most consider the best restaurant in a city of great restaurants is Geronimo.  It’s been that way for years.  If you’ve ever dined at Geronimo, your next visit isn’t likely to provide any revelatory surprises unless it’s being surprised at how the restaurant has managed to maintain its exceptional standards over the years.  It’s as flawless…

Closed in 2012Fine DiningGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRated 26

Three Forks at Rancho De San Juan – Ojo Caliente, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:37 AM

Expansive views of the Jemez Mountains and of Georgia O’Keeffe country–whether bathed in pink, coral and gold sunset hues or under New Mexico’s incomparable cerulean skies–combine with the surreal topography of unnaturally contorted rock formations and juniper laden foothills to form the unique vistas which await guests at Rancho de San Juan, New Mexico’s premier country inn and restaurant.  At night those views are obfuscated by a canopy of stars spilling from  an ebony sky so clear and unencumbered that you might swear you can see forever. Secluded in an idyllic setting just off US Highway 285 between Española and Ojo Caliente, Rancho de San Juan pays loving tribute to its tranquil high desert surroundings, blending in as if positioned…

ItalianMassachusettsRated 26Steak

Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse – Boston, Massachusetts

Gil Garduno8:16 PM

“When I talk about a great dish, I often get goose bumps. I’m like, whoa, I’ll never forget that one. The Italians are just like that. It’s not all about food. It’s part of the memory.” ~Mario Batali When discussing my upcoming trip to Boston with Dave Hurayt, it evoked a nostalgic sentiment in a fellow gastronome whose opinion on food I respect.  As a graduate student matriculating at one of the fine universities in the “Cradle of Modern America,” Dave knew where his priorities lay.  Academic pursuits aside, Dave’s priorities included discovering the best restaurants in Boston, a pursuit I engaged in myself when living there from 1977-1979. One of Dave’s favorite Boston restaurants was Davio’s which he describes…

BakeryMassachusettsRated 26

Mike’s Pastry – Boston, Massachusetts

Gil Garduno7:39 PM

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the founder of the Transcendentalist movement of the 19th century, called America the “Utopian product of a culturally and racially mixed “smelting pot.”  Melting pot rapidly became one of the most frequently used metaphors for describing America.  The term describes the fusion of different nationalities, ethnicities, religions and cultures to form a new, ostensibly better community, a heterogeneous whole. Implicit in the term melting pot is the way ingredients in the pot combine so as to subord (but not lose entirely) their discrete identities, yielding a final product with a more uniform flavor and consistency, but which is distinctly different from the original components.  It’s the reason Italian neighborhoods in America have some semblance to, but aren’t…

AmericanClosed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaRated 26United States

Rosemary’s Restaurant – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:58 AM

You might think that a chef and proprietor whose restaurant has garnered almost every conceivable accolade might be almost unapproachable, perhaps even haughty and aloof…that being among the gastronomic glitterati, he wouldn’t make time for admirers of his culinary craft. We learned during a June, 2006 visit that THE Michael Jordan (the other one was a pretty fair basketball player) is one of the nicest, most unassuming and genuinely endearing celebrity chefs we’ve ever met. We had the great fortune of running into Jordan at his restaurant and he wasn’t solely concerned with what we thought of our meal (we loved it, of course). He engaged us in conversation about New Mexico, Chicago, restaurant critics and Chowhound, a Web site…