Month: April 2007

AlbuquerqueChickenNational Chain

Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Shortly after Louisiana and Mississippi were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, one of the local television stations in South Louisiana actually aired an interview with a woman from New Orleans. The interviewer was a woman from a Boston affiliate, so she asked the interviewee how such total and complete devastation of the churches in the area had affected their lives.  The woman replied,” I don’t know about all those other people but we get our chicken from Popeye’s.” The look on the interviewer’s face was priceless.  That anecdote rings with truism Contrary to the images the name might conjure, Popeye’s is not a nautical themed restaurant which serves spinach.  That might be why the restaurant’s full appellation is “Popeye’s Chicken &…

CandyNew MexicoSanta Fe

Señor Murphy Candymaker – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

In the Land of Enchantment, piñon is as valuable as gold if not more, particularly in recent years when drought conditions have ravaged acres of piñon forests.  Piñon trees produce good harvests every seven years or so with the best bounties being found at elevations between six and eight thousand feet.  The roasted flavor of good piñon is intense–sweet with a subtle hint of pine that will transport your mind and taste buds to New Mexico’s pine forests. While nature has increased the scarcity of these nuggets, fortunately they are still plentiful at Señor Murphy’s.  For more than 30 years Señor Murphy has been hand-making some of the most seductively sweet confections in the country and shipping them all over…

Closed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNew Mexico

Consetta’s Green Restaurant – Jemez Springs, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

In 1995 Jemez Springs was selected by the National Civic League as the “All America City” in recognition of its citizens’ collective grass-roots efforts to improve their quality of life. Nowhere is that more evident than at the aptly named Consetta’s Green Restaurant on scenic Route 4 which is traversed annually by more than two million visitors. Consetta’s desire is to provide fine dining at reasonable prices. It is committed to decreasing man’s footprint on the Earth by serving as an avenue for ideas which exemplify how to be better stewards of the Earth’s resources. To that end, the sprawling compound on which Consetta’s sits hosts organic gardens in which are grown to the extent possible, the restaurant’s vegetables, herbs…

JapaneseSushi

Sushi Gen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Years ago I co-managed a project with a diminutive Vietnamese lady who later left the company and moved to San Diego.  What she looked forward to most about moving was not proximity to her family, but the availability of all-you-can-eat (AYCE) sushi bars in Southern California. “How good can AYCE sushi be?” I opined.  We found out during a 2001 visit to Makino in Las Vegas, Nevada that AYCE sushi can be pretty good indeed, especially if your quest is for gigantic portions of inexpensive sushi. It wasn’t until late 2004 that the first AYCE sushi restaurant was launched in Albuquerque and as it turns out, it’s almost on par with Makino, a pretty highly regarded Sin City sushi parlor. Sushi…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008CubanGone But Not Forgotten

Don Yasmany Cuban Restaurant & Bakery – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

Cuando salí de Cuba, dejé mi vida dejé mi amor. Cuando salí de Cuba, dejé enterrado mi corazón. When I left Cuba I left my life, I left my love When I left Cuba I buried my heart. In a powerful expression of hope, frustration, nostalgia and introspection, the song Cuando Sali De Cuba reflects the heartfelt anguish and pain felt by every Cuban I’ve ever met who left their beloved Cuban homeland to escape persecution and oppression. It’s the spirit of Jose Marti, often referred to as the “Apostle of Cuban independence” and renown in literary circles as perhaps the greatest Hispanic poet and writer of all time. Marti posited that “Like bones to the human body, the axle…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenSouthwestern

Casa Chaco – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno

In A.D. 850, the ancient Anasazi began building the pueblos archaeologists posit were the hub of an ancient culture inhabited in its heyday by more than 5,000 people. By A.D. 1000, Chaco Canyon was the flourishing heart of religious and governmental life for an advanced culture that has since been assimilated by Native American pueblos dotting the Rio Grande valley. Using remote sensing technology, archaeologists discovered roads radiating from Chaco Canyon like the spokes of the wheel, connecting the canyon with almost 100 Chacoan outliers. In modern-day Albuquerque, the rambling Hilton hotel has also become a hub of activity (more than 27,000 square feet of flexible meeting space) and like Chaco, is on the intersection of heavily traversed thoroughfares. It’s…