Category: Dog Friendly

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Cafe Lush – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Urban Dictionary, that oft hilarious, veritable cornucopia of slang, jargon and streetwise lingo, defines “lush” as “someone who drinks a lot.” (Actually, there are several pages of similar definitions for “lush” in the “peoples’ dictionary,” but this one was the best fit for this PG-rated blog.) When I asked Sandy Gregory, a self-admitted “food industry lifer” and co-owner of Albuquerque’s Cafe Lush why the name Lush, she laughingly kidded “because we like to drink a lot.” Seeing that her response left my mouth agape, she winked and corrected herself, “because our food is luscious.” You’ve got to love a restaurant owner with whom you can engage in witty repartee. At Cafe Lush, you’ve got two of them. Sandy’s husband and…

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C3’s Bistro – Corrales, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

FROM 3C’s BISTRO’S FACEBOOK PAGE: We regret to announce our final closing. We fought hard and we appreciate all of you who came alongside us. February 5th will be our last day serving from 9am-6pm. A case could be made that “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” the name of a 1977 hit by Santa Esmeralda, could well be a lament about New Mexican cuisine (in addition to being the background music during the classic sword fight between Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu in Kill Bill I).  As frequently chronicled on Red or Green: New Mexico’s Food Scene is on Fire, national print, online and onscreen media continue to refer to the Land of Enchantment’s sacrosanct cuisine as “Mexican food.”  The…

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FORGHEDABOUDIT SOUTHWEST ITALIAN – Las Cruces, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

Genius, it’s oft been said, is ninety-nine-percent perspiration and one-percent inspiration.  Apply that equation to Bob Yacone and you’d be selling him far short.  So would the cliche “giving one-hundred-percent.”  Add a few more hundred percents–for heart, intellect, intuition and confidence–and you’d be approaching what makes him one of the most talented chefs in the Southwest. Let’s break down just a few of the aspects of the totality that is über chef Bob Yacone. Let’s start with his intellect, both in strategic “big picture” thinking (such as pioneering the revolutionary Southwest Italian concept which we’ll discuss later) and in making day-to-day operational decisions.  Bob is blessed with eidetic memory.  He needs only to see a dish prepared or to taste…

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Arrey Cafe – Arrey, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

About halfway between Truth or Consequences and Hatch on I-25, you may have espied a billboard audaciously proclaiming “world’s finest green chile cheeseburger.”  That billboard has always piqued my curiosity and prompted such questions as “where the heck is Arrey?”  Though signage directs motorists to Exit 59, all there is to see beyond the exit are verdant fields to the right and more high desert expanse to the left.  Then, of course, there’s the obvious question “if it’s so darn good, why isn’t it on the New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail?” As one of the quadrumvirate–along with the scintillating James Beard award-winning author Cheryl Jamison;  Kate Manchester, founder of Edible Santa Fe; and former New Mexico Tourism Department Advertising…

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Noodle Works – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

“To witness the birth of a noodle is a glorious thing. I have listened, spellbound, as an 85-year-old noodle chef in Beijing told me why the act of making noodles helped him make sense of the world.” -~Terry Durack, Noodle In the movie Mr. Nice Guy, martial artist cum actor Jackie Chan portrays a  chef with a successful television show.  In the movie’s opening scene, Chef Jackie is presiding over a flour-dusted table, stretching, twisting, and pulling a piece of dough into fine strands of noodles, a process the TV host can only describe as “alchemy.”   For the culinary obsessed among us, that was the highlight of the movie, all the “special effects” we needed.  Later on, Chef Jackie…

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Cazuela’s Mexican Grill – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Here’s an interesting bit of Jeopardy level trivia which you might contemplate the next time you dine at this Rio Rancho spot: In the Spanish golden age, a “cazuela” was the gallery located above the tavern in the back wall of a theater–the area in which women were segregated. Today “cazuela” is a Mexican word for casserole meal. Cazuela’s restaurant is a friendly, family-owned operation, which in 2007 saw significant change, precipitated in part by a motorist crashing through the diminutive dwelling which had been the restaurant’s home for several years. That original site was a tiny, time-worn building imbued with charm and warmth that belied its Lilliputian size. Cazuela’s new location is an expansive edifice which once housed Rio…

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Bosque North Brewery & Taproom – Bernalillo, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

“Are you going to explain how to pronounce “bosque?,” my Kim asked when she espied me working on this review.  Though her Spanish vocabulary is rather limited, she pronounces the five or six hundred Spanish words she knows like a native speaker. For that she credits legendary Associated Press sportswriter Pete Herrera with whom she worked for years.  Explaining that correct pronunciation is part of being respectful of other languages, Pete patiently taught her the nuances and fine points of Spanish.   Today it rankles her ire to hear television talking heads on the local news–especially those with Spanish surnames–mispronouncing rudimentary Spanish words such as bosque.  “Why is it not one single television reporter can pronounce bosque?” my Kim often laments. …

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Guaca Guaca Tacos & Beer – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

What culinary voluptuaries consider exotic and delicious, timorous eaters might find distasteful and even nauseating. With M.F.K Fisher as their muse, culinary voluptuaries–the truly adventurous diners among us–don’t let themselves be drawn into a vortex of memories recalling foods they’ve already experienced. Instead, they live with carpe diem engraved on their hearts, ever in pursuit of their next culinary epiphany, the next “aha” moment when their taste buds awaken to never before experienced symphonies of incredible flavors. Sometimes to achieve the discoveries they crave, they have to reach into the distant past, their culture’s culinary roots. That’s certainly the case in contemporary Mexico where, for the past quarter-century or so, the scions of Montezuma have been frequenting restaurants and markets…

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Curry Leaf – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Leonard: Is it racist that I took you to an Indian restaurant? Priya: It’s okay, I like Indian food. Leonard: Or as you probably call it back home, food. ~Big Bang Theory (Season Four, Episode 18) Queen Rania of Jordan cautioned against judging “through the prism of our own stereotypes.” Ill-founded stereotypes were very much in evidence after my team successfully landed an especially challenging project at Intel…and as with most stereotypes, they were based on faulty assumptions, overarching generalization and lack of experience. When we deliberated where to celebrate our achievement, my suggestion that our repast be held at an Indian restaurant was met with such comments as “Indian food is…too spicy, too rich, too much curry, too vegetarian”…

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Bristol Doughnut Co. – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

While most people speak with fond nostalgia about their first ride on a double-decker bus, the memories of our inaugural trip are tinged with horror that traumatizes us to this day. As with most visitors making their first excursion to London, we wanted to take in all the sights with the best vantage point you can have. That meant sitting on the top deck of a double-decker. These bi-level behemoths ride higher than almost everything else on the road save for those noisy articulated lorries ( what we Yanks call semi-trailer trucks). Despite the congestion that typifies London’s streets, double-deckers provide spectacular, mostly unobstructed views of the city. Though we arrived early to ensure we got seats on the coveted…

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Flamez Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

Hold the pickles Hold the lettuce Special orders don’t upset us All we ask is that you let us serve it your way In 1974, Burger King introduced its most successful and long-standing advertising campaign, the heart of which was “Have It Your Way,” a catchy jingle designed to contrast just how flexible Burger King is compared to its largest competitor, the ubiquitous McDonalds. The earworm-inspiring jingle told us we could have burgers made especially for us—tailor-made, customized, prepared any way we want them. It implied that unlike its rigid and inflexible competitor, Burger King recognizes our uniqueness and they celebrate it with burgers that reflect our individuality, lifestyles and dietary considerations. There are, Burger King tells us, 221,184 ways…