November 2024 - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Island Vibes Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 30, 2024December 5, 202412:02 AM

“Come on JamaicaIn Jamaica all dayDancing with your darlingDo Jamaica jerk-off that way Come on JamaicaEverybody sayWe’re all happy in JamaicaDo Jamaica jerk-off that way.” ~Jamaica Jerk Off by Elton John On the surface, Elton John’s 1973 hit Jamaica Jerk Off seems to be about “enjoying yourself by yourself” while in Jamaica. That’s the way many of us interpret it. It can also be interpreted as an ode to the joys of goofing off in a tropical island location. Lyrics seem to indicate the flamboyant troubadour was indeed expressing his appreciation for the island’s pulsating energy. As a culinary observer, I prefer to believe the playful tune is about leaving off just a bit of Jamaican jerk seasoning to…

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Lavender Cocinita – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 23, 2024November 30, 202412:01 AM

According to Simply Beyond Herbs, “many people find lavender’s gentle fragrance helps center their thoughts and enhance cognitive abilities. It can provide a sense of mental freshness, enabling one to think and make decisions more clearly; this is particularly beneficial during intense work, studying, or when facing challenging tasks requiring heightened concentration. Whether used as an essential oil, dried flowers, or as part of a relaxing environment, lavender’s influence on mental clarity is valued by many who seek improved focus and a clearer mind.” Hmm, sounds like something we all can use. If you’ve ever attended Los Ranchos De Albuquerque’s annual Lavender Festival, you can probably benefit from lavender’s calming effect as you vie for a parking spot up close…

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Level 5 Rooftop Restaurant at Hotel Chaco – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 19, 2024November 15, 202512:01 AM

The Hotel For a nearly four-hundred year period, the Anasazi civilization which preceded New Mexico’s Pueblo cultures achieved the pinnacle of its technological and cultural advancement at a magnificent, deep gorge called Chaco Canyon. Within the walls of Chaco Canyon, construction of multi-level buildings sprung up, some structures accommodating as many as 800 rooms. Not surprisingly, lower walls had to be made massive in order to support heavy stone walls up to five floors high. It took remarkable planning to locate doors, passageways, kivas and other architectural features. At five stories high, Pueblo Bonito was the largest structure and the inspiration for Hotel Chaco’s spectacular venue in Albuquerque’s Sawmill District. In 2017, local developer Heritage Hotels launched Hotel Chaco on…

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Craft Republic – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 18, 2024November 25, 202412:01 AM

For several months every four years, Americans are subjected to a seemingly interminable number of television commercials, radio ads and social media postings advocating for candidates running for political office. Opposing idealogies would have you believe the “other guy or gal” was of dubious character with “extreme” points of view. One-minute snippets pandering primarily to “undecided” voters may have unintentionally created even more cynics and malcontents among eligible voters. Some of us wished the sadistic “mean season” was as simple and decisive as selecting the winner of the annual New Mexico State Fair Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge. While the New Mexico State Fair hosts a number of food related competitions, none garner as much attention as the green chile cheeseburger…

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Herencia – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 16, 2024June 12, 202512:01 AM

When he founded Los Equipales in 1996, restaurant impresario Henrique Valdovinos admitted “I wouldn’t have tried this ten years ago, but I think people are ready for it.” As recently as a quarter-century ago, two types of Mexican restaurants existed across the fruited plain. Most common were those sharing reciprocal expectations with diners who expected and received such stereotyped “Mexican” food as fajitas; hard-shelled tacos filled with ground beef, cheese, lettuce and sour cream; chiles rellenos made with bell peppers and enough yellow cheese to clog a dinosaur’s arteries. Denizens under the spacious skies didn’t know any better and enjoyed the watered down versions of the real deal. This “Mexican” food became mainstream. The other type of Mexican food restaurants…

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Noodle Works – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 9, 2024November 11, 20247:11 PM

“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…

Albuquerque American Dog Friendly Greek New Mexico

Tula’s Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 8, 2024November 10, 202412:01 AM

Tula: “My mom was always cooking foods filled with warmth and wisdom… and never forgetting that side dish of steaming-hot guilt.” As it celebrates its twenty year anniversary the 2002 Rom-Com “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” remains as timeless and funny as it was when it debuted. Moreover, it’s still a heart-warming movie with which some of us can relate. In my estimation, it could easily have been called “My Big Fat Northern New Mexican Wedding” and it could have been set in Peñasco. The similarities between Greek families and Northern New Mexican families around which I grew up were startling. That’s especially true about the food, family and eccentricities, the latter especially prominent among the movie’s well-meaning and hovering aunts…

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Coda Bakery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoNovember 5, 2024July 10, 202512:01 AM

JP, my former boss at Intel used to pride himself on consistently working “half days.” If you’re thinking you’d like a job where you work only four hours a day, you’ve misinterpreted his definition of “half days.” To him, half days is a literal term meaning twelve hours a day. When most of us are done for after only nine or ten hours, he was just starting what he called his “second shift.” Very few of us have the stamina, initiative and especially the passion for what we do to work “half days.” I know restaurateurs for whom half days (or longer) are standard six or seven days a week. Because they spend so much time in their restaurants tending…