Category: Rating: N/R (Not Rated)

AlbuquerqueFusionJapaneseRating: N/R (Not Rated)Sushi

Sushiya Asian Fusion Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:39 PM

“I don’t eat anything that a dog won’t eat. Like sushi. Ever see a dog eat sushi? He just sniffs it and says, “I don’t think so.” And this is an animal that licks between its legs and sniffs fire hydrants.”.“ – Billiam Coronel Sushi has come a long way in America.  There was a time–and not very long ago–that many Americans would have agreed with comedian Billiam Coronel’s assessment of sushi.  Fellow funny-man George Carlin certainly did: “I never eat sushi. I have trouble eating things that are merely unconscious.” The attitudinal shift that has made sushi an explosive…

CaliforniaFine DiningMichelin PlateRating: N/R (Not Rated)Restaurants Which Have Earned Michelin HonorsUnited States

Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar – La Jolla, California

Gil Garduno12:08 PM

My baby sister Anita paid me the ultimate compliment, not as a brother, but as a savvy restaurant essayist. When we ran into her at the Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar in picturesque La Jolla, she told me “I knew you’d find this place,” acknowledgement that she recognizes my prowess in finding the very best restaurants everywhere I travel. Born nine years apart with four siblings in between, Anita and I are anomalies in our family in that we’re passionate gastronomes in a brood which suffers the same dull palate deficiency which afflicts many Americans who prefer chain restaurants. Unbeknownst to…

BarbecueCaliforniaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Phil’s BBQ Restaurant – San Diego, California

Gil Garduno9:39 AM

A few decades ago, the culinary cognoscenti anointed the best bastions of bodacious barbecue–Kansas City, Memphis, Texas and the Carolinas…and there was much rejoicing. Since then, it’s been widely accepted that this exclusive quadrumvirate is where the very best barbecue in America is to be found. Much of this acceptance is because the four regions have deployed their marketing machines to continue reenforcing the notion–some would say myth–that their barbecue is sacrosanct and evermore defines barbecue greatness. There were a number of reasons these four regions were anointed as America’s barbecue capitals. For one, barbecue is more than just another…

CaliforniaMexicanRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

El Agave Restaurante and Tequileria – San Diego, California

Gil Garduno11:02 AM

Tequila has long endured a legacy of scorn, derision and misinformation.  It’s  been a proving ground for manhood among frat boys downing shooters to show their mettle.  Urban myths and legends have long been believed of hallucinogenic worms at the bottom of the bottle.  Because of “ta-kill-ya” induced hangovers (usually the result of poor quality tequila), men with iron-cast constitutions have been known to swear off hard liquor.  With such a reputation, it’s no wonder tequila hasn’t been thought of as an adult beverage of choice for discerning drinkers.   Times have changed.  In recent years, tequila has become a viable…

CaliforniaItalianRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Piatti Ristorante & Bar – La Jolla, California

Gil Garduno9:31 AM

A tavola non si invecchia. Translation: At the table with good friends and family you do not become old. ~ Italian Proverb While this timeless Italian dictum which our friend Sandy Driscoll shared with us resounds with sagacity, a little editing might make it even more accurate for Americans.  Perhaps the proverb should read “At the table with good friends and family, you do not become thin.”  That’s especially true if you’re eating at American Italian restaurants whose profligate portions also ring true with the aphorism “the trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.” In Italy…

CaliforniaMichelin: Bib GourmandPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)Restaurants Which Have Earned Michelin HonorsUnited States

Pizzeria Mozza – Newport Beach, California

Gil Garduno11:25 AM

“Breadmaking is one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world’s sweetest smells –there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music throbbing chapel that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.” ~M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating For those of us geriatrically advanced enough to have had moms who actually baked bread in their ovens, the singular joy of those incredible yeasty bouquets wafting toward us is a treasured memory, one we relive when…

BurgersNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

The Patio – Deming, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:33 AM

Drive past Deming on the interstate and you’ll be bypassing one of New Mexico’s little known gems, a city once bestowed the nickname “New Chicago” in anticipation of its burgeoning growth with the surge of railroad usage.  Although the population boom never happened, there is still much about Deming to enjoy as rock hunters, history buffs and anthropologists will attest.  One of its charms are the duck crossings on the main street through the city.  Deming is home to the great American duck race, an annual event for more than three decades. One thing for which Deming has not been…

ItalianRating: N/R (Not Rated)Santa Fe

Pranzo Italian Grill – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:41 PM

Can you imagine New Mexico Magazine‘s scintillating culinary liaison Cheryl Alters Jamison declaring to the world that Texas chili, that cumin-laden “con carne” bowl of red (insert your favorite epithet here), is superior to New Mexico’s red and green and that our chefs are shamelessly usurping Texas culinary traditions? Not even as an April Fool’s Day joke would she do that…and if she did, her husband Bill would probably have her committed. In May, 2013, an Italian culture minister committed a near treasonous act in declaring that “In Italy we haven’t eaten well for a long time, unfortunately. We have…

New MexicanRating: N/R (Not Rated)San Antonio

San Antonio Crane Mexican Restaurant – San Antonio, New Mexican

Gil Garduno5:28 PM

Though I’m widely credited as being the “godfather of Albuquerque food blogging“(or the “Yoda of food” as the great Jenn Wolhetz once called me), before there was a Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Web, there was another voice calling in the wilderness to alert diners to the Land of Enchantment’s culinary offerings.  Before there was a Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Web, there was John W. Shipman food page and it was the most prominent and highly respected online source of independent restaurant reviews in New Mexico. John Shipman, a software engineer at the New Mexico Institute of Technology, called himself a…

AlbuquerqueRating: N/R (Not Rated)Steak

High Noon Restaurant & Saloon – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:53 PM

“Oh, to be torn twixt love and duty Supposin’ I love my fair haired beauty Look at that big hand movin’ round Nearin’ high noon.” ~ Tex Ritter The 1952 Academy Award winning movie High Noon follows taciturn marshal Will Kane as he single-handedly prepares to face a posse of murderers hellbent on revenge when the clock strikes twelve. Though the memorable showdown between Marshal Kane and the villainous scourges lasts only a few minutes, viewers are held spellbound by the movie’s black-and-white cinematography and hauntingly relentless soundtrack which accentuate the clock’s inexorable ticking down toward the confrontation at high…

AlbuquerqueRating: N/R (Not Rated)Sandwich

Al’s Big Dipper – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:45 AM

Raj: “Actually, in India, the names of constellations are different. Where you have the Big Dipper, we have the Big Curry Pot.” Summer: “You’re making that up.” Raj: “You got me. Now what are you going to do with me?” ~The Big Bang Theory On a clear night, rural northern New Mexico’s ebony night skies are punctuated with a magnificent display of heavenly beauty uninterrupted by light pollution.   Star gazers stand in reverent awe and wonder at the clarity of a celestial sphere in which the jewels of the night sky are arrayed in the fixed patterns which inspired ancient…