Category: Closed in 2017

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenGreekItalianMediterraneanNew MexicoPizza

Olive Branch Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:55 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, the goddess of the wisdom and Poseidon, the god of the sea. With both immortals vying to become the patron deity of Athens, the victor and recipient of the city itself would be determined by which of the immortals bestowed the city with the best gift. Poseidon stuck his massive trident into the ground to create a well of briny sea water, a fairly useless gift. The wise Athena then planted a simple yet infinitely more useful olive tree beside…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSoul FoodSouthern

Bucketheadz – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:44 AM

“I think it’s easy to dismiss Southern food as nothing but grease and grits. I happen to like both grease and grits, And if you call them lardo and polenta, no one would have a problem with it.” ~John T. Edge Author John T. Edge acknowledges that negative stereotypes are rampant about Southern food, crediting some of those perceptions to how Southern food is marketed. Instead of Southern food being presented as one of America’s great culinary traditions, all too often it’s presented as bumpkinly and backwater. Instead of focusing on its soul-warming deliciousness and comforting properties, it’s presented as fatty, fried and laden with butter. It could well be argued that Southern cooking is the Rodney Dangerfield of American cuisine; it gets no respect. Credit media, particularly the aptly named “boob tube” for perpetuating unsavory—and often inaccurate–stereotypes. If you were a product of the ‘60s and 70s, your perceptions of Southern cuisine were probably gleaned from such television shows as The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, The Andy Griffith Show and The Waltons. While these programs were generally family-oriented and depicted homespun values, they often portrayed Southern food in a condescending light. Who, for example, can ever forget the typical…

AfricanAlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Karibu Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:15 PM

During the dry season in Africa, the protective shade of majestic trees casting their cooling shadows are prized–and not only for their impressive and assiduous statures. For generations, the “palaver tree” has served as a meeting place in which the community comes together to discuss issues of common interest, listen to stories and resolve problems and conflicts. Unlike many of the conference room melees…er, meetings of contemporary work life, meetings under the palaver tree are conducted with the utmost of mutual respect and trust. The palaver tree is a symbol of peace and reconciliation, symbolizing the spirit of acceptance and compromise. Much of village life—weddings, rituals and rites, and sharing of news—takes place under the palaver tree. Among Swahili speaking people, visitors to the palaver tree are greeted with the salutation “karibu” which translates to English as “welcome.” Under the palaver tree, the contribution of each member is welcome, driven by a common search for what is real, true and good. While the concept of the palaver tree may not be alive and well in Albuquerque, you’ll find the welcoming spirit of the palaver tree at a restaurant in the Northeast Heights. Fittingly known as the Karibu Café, it serves…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSteak

Kasey’s Restaurant & Pub – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:25 PM

Thematically, it’s usually pretty easy to tell what some restaurants have to offer. Seafood restaurants, for example, tend to have nautical-themed “tells” such as fish nets, buoys and oars designed to evoke the salty, briny look and feel of the sea. The “template” for barbecue restaurants seems to include red and white checkered cloth tablecloths adorning oak tables, cute ceramic pig figurines on the counters and country music blaring from a tinny stereo. Irish pubs typically are accentuated with dark woods and perhaps more importantly, Guinness draft imported directly from Dublin where it is brewed. By design and deliberation, the overarching concept of theme restaurants touches the architecture, decor, music, menu and the overall “feel” of the place. Unfortunately, in far too many cases the food appears to be a secondary consideration, taking a backseat to the faux and fantasy of all-encompassing theme. Much like an amusement park, the theme often brings in customers based solely on their expectations for an implied experiential premise (we’re so easily entertained). On Washington, about half a mile south of Central, stands a curiously out-of-place edifice that can only be described as barn-like. (albeit sans weather vane). There is no exterior signage that tells…

Closed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoTruth or Consequences

Cafe Bella Luca – Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:11 PM

“The qualities of an exceptional cook are akin to those of a successful tightrope walker; an abiding passion for the task, courage to go out on a limb and an impeccable sense of balance” – Bryan Miller Former New York Times food critic The qualities of a truly exceptional cook do not include plying his or her trade under the spotlight of a heavily trafficked metropolitan restaurant frequented by the glitterati and anointed by the cognoscenti or the Food Network. Truly exceptional cooks can shine brightly even outside the big city and media spotlight. Some of the very best cooks and chefs in the fruited plain are relatively unheralded by the teeming masses and remain undiscovered by the the saccharine television food programs. Some of them toil far from the well-beaten-and-well-eaten path and care more about the craft than they do the pursuit of celebrity. Truly exceptional cooks shine so brightly that their reputations for exceedingly high standards and inventive cuisine precede the media stampede. The very best among these exceptional chefs maintain those standards after they’ve been discovered. Though they may appreciate any newfound attention, their focus remains on proving themselves with every single meal and to every single…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBar & GrillClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

The Library – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:58 PM

Although my Kim has now lived in New Mexico for more than twenty years, her functional Spanish hasn’t improved much (sadly this places her in the company of many native New Mexicans). She sings Spanish hymns like a songbird in church, perfectly enunciating each nuanced word, even when she has to roll her “R’s.” On rare but well-deserved occasions she can direct a slew of choice Spanish expletives at moronic motorists. She can also order all her favorite dishes at Mexican and New Mexican restaurants with fluency. What she can’t do is carry on or even understand a coherent conversation in Spanish. During her first visit to the Land of Enchantment, my Kim inventoried her vocabulary of Spanish words and terms in anticipation of meeting my mostly Spanish-speaking grandmothers. Interestingly, her limited vocabulary included such tongue-twisting words as “albondigas” (meatballs) and the phrase “donde esta la biblioteca” (where is the library?). Neither would serve her well in discourse with my grandmothers who were as worried about their command of the confounding English language as Kim had been about her Spanish. One early September morning, she asked if i had any suggestions for lunch. My response “vamos a la biblioteca” (let’s…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueBreakfastClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

Sandia Chile Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:26 AM

If perspiration is (as the proverbial “they” have declared) the mother of invention, Mickey and Clinton Coker may just be two of the most glistening guys in the Duke City. Since 2004, the Cokers have “reinvented” their restaurant four times. If you’re thinking, they’re just try, try, trying again until they get it right, you couldn’t be more wrong. Mickey Coker, the entrepreneur behind the four make-overs, started with a culinary concept that was so wildly successful, it prompted almost immediate growth. His second effort, a brick-and-mortar operation, also achieved significant acclaim. Some might have considered the third Coker transition strictly a sideline…until it started garnering one award after the other. The fourth step in the evolution of the Sandia Grill may be the most revolutionary of all. For Mickey Coker, the route to entrepreneur was inauspicious. He got his start selling New Mexican food at a gas station-convenience store. Yes, the very notion of a gas station-convenience store food conjures images of salty, cylindrically shaped dry meat snacks with the texture of sawdust and air-filled bags of Cool Ranch Doritos. Now mention New Mexican food and gas station in the same sentence and the likely image would make all…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Q Burger – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:57 PM

“Q.” It’s the seventeenth letter of the English alphabet, a consonant. Only two letters (“X” and “Z”) occur less frequently as first letters of words found in the English dictionary. It’s the only letter not to appear in any of the names of the fifty states of America. As with its 25 alphabetical colleagues, it’s an onomatopoeia. It’s both the name of an omnipotent entity in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the title given to the nerdy-techy head of the British Secret Service who comes up with all the cool gadgets used by James Bond to thwart rottenness. If a former mayor of Albuquerque had had his way, “The Q” would have also been yet another city sobriquet, joining Duke City and Burque as nicknames on which to hang our hats. Several years ago, then Albuquerque mayor Martin Chavez attempted a commercially-driven re-branding of the city, an effort which was (to put it mildly) very unpopular with the citizenry. Some surmise that “The Q” reminded people of “queue” as in the seemingly interminable lines at the Motor Vehicle Department and Social Security office. Others opine that “The Q” made the spelling-challenged among us feel patronized for abbreviating the city’s…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Diners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenItalianRating: Outstanding

Torinos @ Home – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:18 PM

On Monday, October 21st, 2013 in a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode entitled “Aces of Authenticity,” the Food Network introduced Torinos @ Home to the world. Just four years earlier–on 22 December 2009–i was one of, if not the very first critics to see greatness in what was then a tiny Italian eatery coaxing amazing flavors from its humble menu. Then ensconced in diminutive digs, it was obvious Torinos @ Home was destined for far better things. During my many return visits over the years, Torinos has never ceased to impress–even amaze–me. Quite simply it’s one of the very best restaurants of any genre in the Land of Enchantment. So what makes Torinos @ Home stand out from among so many Italian restaurants in New Mexico. It starts and ends with owners Chef Maxime and Daniela Bouneou who are absolutely passionate about what they do. They have a sincere desire to please their patrons with the very best food they can prepare and they strive to present it as a work of edible art. They relish the challenge of knowing that they have to win over each guest one meal at a time and recognize they can never have an…

Bar & GrillBrazilianClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenRating: OutstandingSanta Fe

Omira Bar & Grill – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:59 PM

HOLLY: I can’t believe you’ve never taken anybody here before. JERRY: Well, I’m not really that much of a meat eater. HOLLY: . . . You don’t eat meat? Are you one of those. . . JERRY: Well, no, I’m not one of those. ~ Seinfeld “One of those!” Around my Chicago born and bred Kim and her family, that term fits me to a tee. As with many Midwestern families, my in-laws are rapacious carnivores. Their dining room table is a pantheon of pork and a bastion of beef. It’s a Bacchanalian feast of multitudinous meats. Similarly, meals at Windy City restaurants are veritable meat-fests where diners unleash their innermost meat-eating-machine. In the city’s chophouses (what every other city calls a steakhouse) heavily marbled flesh is displayed under glass, trophies of edible excess. Is it any wonder the city’s defining foods include humongous Italian beef sandwiches, slabs of Flintstonian-sized ribs and steaks the size of manhole covers. This obsession with meat isn’t solely a Midwestern phenomena. People throughout the world are eating more meat and fat than ever with worldwide meat consumption expected to double by 2020. In the western world alone, the per capita consumption of meat is…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew Mexico

Chicharroneria Orozco – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:40 PM

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air ~Hotel California – The Eagles Among the many alluring olfactory temptations emanating from dilapidated and timeworn food stalls and colorful restaurant storefronts throughout Mexico is the warm smell of colitas. They beckon passers-by to experience the aromas, sights, sounds and flavors of one of the Land of Montezuma’s most intriguing and unique dishes, one which will require timorous diners to renounce the heinous malefaction of consuming aartery-clogging and fatty foods. For many Americans, colitas have a major “ick” factor so they stick with the “safe” foods: tacos, tortas, tostadas and tamales (the “T” food group)…and wisely, they don’t drink the water. To intrepid gastronomes intimate with Mexican food, “the warm smell of colitas rising up through the air” has a different meaning than the colitas about which The Eagles sang. Though often interpreted as sexual slang (colitas translates to “little tails”) or a reference to marijuana (cannabis buds), band member Don Felder once explained the colitas referenced in the song are “a plant that grows in the desert that blooms at night, and it has this kind of pungent, almost funky…