AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenItalianPizza

Fratelli Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:39 AM

The ingredients with which you can top your pizza are limited only by your imagination. Crocodile and caviar? Been there, done that. In fact, a New York restaurateur will sell you a thousand dollar pie topped with four of the priciest caviars in the world. Blueberries, shrimp, cookies? That’s pretty tame stuff. A Swiss-based pizza chef laces his pizza with spiders and snakes (Jim Stafford, where are you now?). The Japanese propensity for invention is on display with a “mega pizza” monstrosity (Godzilla? Mothra?) that starts with a crust constructed of hot dogs wrapped in bacon and rolls of molten cheese. The center is built with hamburgers, cheese rolls, sausage, bacon, ham, bacon bits, mushroom, onion, pepper, garlic and tomato…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014ColombianGone But Not Forgotten

El Pollo Real – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:43 PM

Jay : I’m home! Mmm, what smells so good? Gloria : I’m making chunchullo, a traditional Colombian dish, for dinner with the family tonight. Chunchullo. Jay : What is that… like, uh, tacos? Gloria : Yes, like tacos. Manny : No, it isn’t. It’s the small intestine of a pig. Jay : Oh, geez. Why can’t we eat regular food like normal people? Understandably, to this gastronome, the funniest scenes depicting the cultural clash between Gloria Pritchett and her family and friends involve food.  In the true tradition of the Latin stereotype, Gloria, the curvaceous Colombian bombshell portrayed by Sofia Vergara on the hilarious television comedy Modern Family likes her food spicy-painfully so.  Conversely, in true stereotypical “white person” fashion,…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenMariscosMexican

La Sirenita – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:15 PM

My good friend and frequent dining companion Bill Resnik is one of the most altruistic and selfless people I have the privilege of knowing. Every year he grows out his naturally white beard so he can portray Santa Claus at hospitals and nursing homes throughout the metropolitan area. Because he stands 6’5″ most of his friends look like elves standing next to him and there’s probably not a chimney he can slide down, but when he dons his padded red and white Santa suit, he IS Santa. With his characteristic light-hearted and whimsical approach, he keeps children of all ages and dispositions spellbound, their wide-eyed wonder reflecting the magic of the season. The rest of the year when he’s not…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew MexicanRating: Excellent

Rey’s Place – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:00 PM

Rey’s Place has relocated and now shares space with La Familar, the terrific Mexican restaurant owned by Michael “Rey’s” lovely bride Luz.  La Familiar is located at 1611 4th Street, N.W.  Its menu includes all the wonderful foods you’ve loved for years at Rey’s Place: gorditas, enchiladas, caldo de rez and so much more.  Whether you visit for excellent Mexican food or Michael’s mellifluous guitar and sensational singing voice, Rey’s La Familiar will soon become one of your favorite restaurants.    Call Rey’s La Familiar at 808-242-9661 for more information. Human brains are wired so that the way we perceive the flavor of food is actually a synthesis of how it looks, tastes, smells and feels.  Four senses are actively…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenRating: ExcellentVietnamese

Kim Long Asian Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED 1 JULY 2015)

Gil Garduno11:24 AM

Growing up on a relatively unsophisticated Northern New Mexican diet featuring such staples as beans, tortillas and chile could hardly be considered a training ground for gastronomic appreciation. Though I thoroughly enjoyed my mom’s cooking it was hardly with the realization that I was feasting on one of America’s very best regional cuisines. Frankly, in the 1960s, only someone with prescience would have thought New Mexican cuisine could eventually garner worldwide acclaim. My siblings and I actually thought we were deprived because we weren’t eating Wonder bread sandwiches, pizza and Big Macs. Similarly, my friend and Intel colleague Huu Vu who grew up in Vietnam had no realization that the simple foods on which he was raised would someday be…

Closed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoRating: OutstandingSanta Fe

Il Piatto Italian Farmhouse Kitchen – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:10 AM

As an independent observer of the New Mexico culinary condition, I used to think the most prominent delta in quality between restaurants in the Land of Enchantment and those in large metropolitan cities are in the areas of seafood, barbecue and Italian food. It’s easy to understand the dearth in outstanding seafood restaurants. We are, after all, a landlocked state some 800 miles or so from the nearest ocean. While many New Mexican restaurants have fresh seafood flown in frequently, it’s not quite the same as having seafood literally off the boat and onto your plate. In recent years, the launch of several very good to excellent barbecue joints has done much to narrow the gap in the barbecue arena:…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009

Route 66 Malt Shop – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:21 AM

In a May, 2009 edition of New Mexico Magazine feature celebrating “20 reasons Rail is Cool Now,” the magazine’s staff and contributors shared the best things to experience via the New Mexico Railrunner Express.”  A Duke City notable was root beer at the Route 66 Malt Shop and Grill, then about three miles from the nearest Railrunner depot.  The magazine encouraged readers to “order a frosty mug of homemade award-winning root beer, or make it a float.”  While you’re at it, the magazine suggested “sinking your teeth into the signature Blue Cheese Green Chile Burger.  Dee-lish.” Ironically just as the magazine was hitting the newsstands, the Route 66 Malt Shop’s west-facing windows were scrawled with the alarming words “Lost Our Lease,…

AmericanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodSanta Fe

San Marcos Cafe – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:37 PM

Contrary to some popular opinion, roosters don’t crow just to be noisy or annoying. They crow as a sign of territorial advertising; they’re protecting their turf. At San Marcos Cafe, the cacophonous din of crowing roosters is understandable considering the throngs of hungry patrons infringing on their turf. There was one famous fowl at the San Marcos Cafe who didn’t chicken out at the sight of guests.  Buddy the Chicken, master of all he surveyed, served as the restaurant’s unofficial valet parking attendant and maitre de.  Nattily attired in polychromatic plumage and a black bow tie, Buddy welcomed one all and actually answered to his name.  When he passed away in 1996, he received an above-the-fold obituary in the newspaper.…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanNew Mexico

Prickly Pear Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:37 PM

Philip Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield offered the following advice to his son: “There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time.” To Chesterfield, focusing on a singular task was not only a practical way of structuring one’s time; it was a sign of intelligence. “This steady and undissipated attention to one object, is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind.”  In university life as in the workforce of the 21st century, the notion that to…

EspañolaNew MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: Very Good

El Parasol – Española, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:10 AM

If you were in a hurry, driving through Española on a hot summer day in the early 1980s might have raised the diastolic level (the lower number) of your blood pressure to the level of the temperature gauge. That’s because on Sunday afternoons, Española’s main thoroughfares were the domain of the lowriders, elaborately painted late-model cars (many with intricate religious murals on the hood) whose suspension is replaced with hydraulic cylinders to allow the car to be drastically lowered when parked and raised back up for travel. Española etiquette dictated that no one, not even the law, interfered with the low-and-slow (sounds like barbecue) pace these sparkling cars set as they hugged the pavement on both lanes for the entire…

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Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog Up and Running…Again (And This Time For Good)

Gil Garduno4:51 PM

Dear Readers As many of you know, back in August a malicious invader infected my virtual private server with a malware virus, the second such incident in four years.  To prevent a future recurrence, I paid the company which hosted my server to move my site to a “more secure” hosting environment.  Alas, no good deed goes unpunished.  The move caused the site to become unstable with frequent and unexplained outages.  Because my hosting provider didn’t take ownership for issues they caused during the move, I began searching for a new company to host Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog.  In ZippyKid, I found the very best hosting company there is.  It’s a very reputable company with tremendous technical expertise, but…