Although it seems Albuquerque’s population experiences an unprecedented population growth every decade, perhaps the ten-year period which most transformed the Duke City from an expansive frontier cow town to a modern metropolitan city was the 1950s. At the start of the decade, the city’s population was 96,815, but bolstered by a post-World War II boom, the population more than doubled…
Month: July 2012
Orchid Thai Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sydney, Australia has “Thai Tanic” and “Thai to Remember.” In Manila, The Philippines, it’s “Thai Kingdom Come.” Arlington, Virginia boasts of “ThaiPhoon.” “Thai One On” is a Salt Lake City favorite. San Francisco diners frequent “Thai Me Up,” while in Mildenhall, England “En-Thai-Sing” is all the rage. Then there’s “Beau Thai” in Portland, Oregon; “Bow Thai” in Margate, Florida; and…
In-N-Out Burger – Chandler, Arizona
During a 2011 episode of Break the Chain, the enlightening and entertaining food-centric radio program hosted by the brilliant Ryan Scott, Larry McGoldrick, the professor with the pulchritudinous palate, made some rather unkind comments about Blake’s Lotaburger, an exclusively New Mexico institution. I cautioned him that local listeners might show up at the radio station armed with pitchforks and torches.…
Indigo Moon Cafe, Wine and Cheese Shop – Cambria, California
It might be easy to dismiss Cambria as a “jumping off” point to some of California’s most spectacular and popular sites…until you actually visit Cambria. That’s when you discover that there is plenty to see and do in this picturesque seaside village on the Central California Coast which Forbes.com declared “one of America’s prettiest towns.” It’s a town virtually surrounded…
Nepenthe Restaurant – Big Sur, California
With all the travails and vicissitudes of modern life, we can all use a respite or safe harbor to which we can escape…where we can take a break from all our worries. Big Sur, California, which most would consider an escape in and of itself has a dining destination which has been nourishing diners both physically and spiritually for more…
Schooners Coastal Kitchen & Bar – Monterey, California
Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.” ~John Steinbeck Cannery Row, 1945 During basic military training in the Air Force, several of us who could speak multiple languages were asked to take the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB), the test the…
Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn – Big Sur, California
Famous French mime Marcel Marceau once remarked “do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words.” Without words, a rare state for someone who uses so many of them, aptly describes my reaction at gazing for the first time upon Big Sur with an awe and reverence few sights outside of New Mexico have ever…
Casanova Restaurant – Carmel, California
For they could not love you But still your love was true And when no hope was left inside On that starry, starry night You took your life as lovers often do But I could have told you, Vincent This world was never meant For one as beautiful as you ~Don McLean When Vincent van Gogh painted “The Starry Night”…
Bobcat Bite – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)
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…