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Diners Drive-Ins and Dives Food Network Eats New Mexico Mexican Rating: Very Good Taos County

Antonio’s: A Taste of Mexico – Taos, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMay 30, 2009April 5, 202610:16 PM

A traditional corrido from the Mexican coastal state of Veracruz recounts the story of a smiling woman with magic hands. The kitchen is the world of Maria Chuchena and the intoxicating aromas and incomparable flavors she concocts in that world are utterly unforgettable. With her cooking, Maria fills the world with surprises. If corridos have sequels and characters in folk songs bear offspring, Maria Chuchena’s progeny might well be Antonio Matus, chef and owner of the eponymous Antonio’s: A Taste of Mexico in Taos, New Mexico. Like the corrido, Antonio is from Veracruz and like Maria Chuchena, the kitchen is his world. It is where he has been filling Taos with utterly unforgettable surprises for more than a decade. After working in several dining establishments in the Taos area, Antonio launched his self-titled restaurant at the historic El Torreon Hacienda in El Prado, just north of Taos. The hacienda which dates back to 1847 sits on acreage given to the Valdez family by the famous and infamous Padre Antonio José Martínez, the ecclesiastical leader of northern New Mexico whose unique style of Catholicism was in direct opposition to Archbishop Lamy, the French archbishop who reorganized the Catholic Church in the Southwest. In 2005, Antonio’s…

Closed in 2015 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican New Mexico Rio Rancho

Seferino’s – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 20, 2009July 22, 20183:32 AM

One of the first things you notice when you step into Seferino’s New Mexican Restaurant is the large portrait hanging just above the hostess station of an avuncular bearded gentleman with an air of dignity and class. Though he’s been gone for about a decade and a half and the restaurant which bears his name is in a new location, you can almost feel the comforting presence of Seferino Perea looming like a charming host bidding you welcome to his restaurant. Seferino’s daughter Cathy sports the same snowy white halo as her father, dignified argentine locks everyone should be fortunate enough to age into. Cathy, who along with her husband Joe Guitierrez own Seferino’s is a frequent presence at the Rio Rancho restaurant her father helped start. The family patriarch, Seferino managed Perea’s restaurant with his son in Albuquerque before helping Cathy start up the restaurant named for him. For nine years, Seferino’s was located on Rio Rancho’s main north-south thoroughfare, Highway 528. A move to Southern Boulevard placed them in another heavily trafficked area and in an edifice nearly twice as large (4300 square feet) as their previous location (2400 square feet). Those comfortable confines served Seferino’s very well for years,…

Closed in 2022 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican New Mexico Rating: Excellent Santa Fe

Roque’s Carnitas – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 18, 2009March 31, 202611:04 PM

In more cosmopolitan metropolises it isn’t uncommon to see sidewalk vendors plying their trade over chuck wagon stands and proffering high quality fast food such as hot dogs, tacos, gyros and sundry quick meal items. Some of the best food in cities such as Portland, Oregon can be found near city parks where enterprising street vendors concoct culinary magic on portable kitchens and what we typically deride as “roach coaches.” Roque Garcia has made such a business an art form–a very successful one. In fact, Roque claims carnitas paid for his home outside Puerto Vallarta in Mexico and for the Mercedes Benz automobiles he likes to drive. Roque’s cart is stationed on the southeast corner of the Santa Fe plaza where the irresistibly smoky aroma of sizzling, marinated beef draws repeat customers and tourists like a siren’s call. Despite posting a sign explaining what carnitas are, Roque is unfailingly patient with tourists who don’t necessarily know what it is they’re ordering; they only know they can’t resist the intoxicating aromas wafting from the strange cart. During the past decade or so, national publications including the New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, National Geographic, Roadfood and others have waxed poetic about Roque’s…

Food Network Eats New Mexico James Beard Foundation Americas Classic Award Winner New Mexican New Mexico New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail Rating: Outstanding Santa Fe

The Shed – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMay 18, 2009March 31, 20263:50 PM

In the culinary world, the name James Beard is revered perhaps above all others. Considered the “Dean of American Cookery,” Beard established a legacy of culinary excellence and became a household name to generations of home cooks and professional chefs. The cookbooks he authored between 1940 and 1983 are considered “a slice of American history” because those tomes span America’s culinary regions and served as a premonition of the global epicurean expanse to come. Today, the James Beard Foundation, a national not-for-profit organization is dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and nurturing America’s culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate the appreciation of our culinary excellence. Earning a James Beard award signifies the pinnacle of achievement in the culinary world. It’s the restaurant world’s equivalent of the Academy Award. In 2003, The Shed restaurant earned the Foundation’s “America’s Classics Award,” a prestigious accolade honoring locally owned and operated regional restaurants that have withstood the test of time and are beloved in their communities. The Foundation’s Web site describes The Shed as “A restaurant begun in a burro shed on a dusty alley in a then-sleepy little town might not sound as if it would be – 50 years later – hailed…

Arizona Burgers Closed in 2020 Gone But Not Forgotten United States

Delux Burger – Phoenix, Arizona (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 17, 2009April 26, 20225:07 PM

“I ordered a cheeseburger at lunch the other day. I had never eaten at this particular restaurant before, and whenever I am unsure about the quality of the food at a place, I always order a cheeseburger. How many ways can you foul up something as simple as a cheeseburger? The bread can be too hard, or the meat might not be cooked to your liking, but that can be fixed quite easily. After I ordered my cheeseburger – medium well with a soft bun – the waiter asked me, “Do you want a plain cheeseburger or one of our specialties?” There is such a thing as a specialty cheeseburger? A cheeseburger is a piece of hamburger meat with some cheese on top of it served on a hamburger bun.” Leave it to humorist Lewis Grizzard to succinctly sum up the truth to which “purists” across the fruited plains hold fast about their beloved burgers–that it’s all about the beef with “some” cheese. Alas the burger in which the sacrosanct flavor of beef is the focus rarely earns accolades for its solid, if unspectacular and unadorned qualities. Invariably when you read about a burger earning acclaim as “best in town,” that burger is crowned…

American Arizona Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten Rating: Outstanding United States

Orange Table – Scottsdale, Arizona (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 16, 2009March 31, 20262:22 AM

There are several scenes in the delightfully heartwarming animated Disney movie Ratatouille that resonate with all gastronomes who delight in the sensual pleasures of the dining experience–those for whom food is an enchanting adventure in the discernment and love of its subtle nuances and overt fragrances, tastes, textures and colors. France’s preeminent chef Anton Gasteau, a pivotal character in the movie, describes this sensual adventure best: “Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you. You need only be aware to stop and savor it.” The scene which may resonate best with this gastronome is when Remy (a provincial rat with a heightened sense of smell and with aspirations of becoming a great chef) places a morsel of cheese in his mouth and closes his eyes as the fabulous flavors of the fetid fromage envelop him. His mind’s eye is awash in vivid shapes and colors as his taste buds truly savor the experience. In combination with other ingredients, those vivid shapes and colors become a complex and brilliant kaleidoscope of beautiful symmetry. This symmetry is reality for those who learn to live to eat–those for whom food is so much…

Albuquerque Chinese Closed in 2018 Gone But Not Forgotten

Best Lee’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 13, 2009March 9, 20198:01 AM

When John Lucas, Elizabeth Eisner Reding and Mike Reding, three trusted gastronomes who frequent this blog, heartily recommended I try Best Lee’s, my initial reaction was, “they’ve got to be kidding.” Our sole visit to Best Lee’s in Rio Rancho exemplified the mediocrity and boring “sameness” that plagues many of New Mexico’s Chinese restaurants–a homogeneity my discerning friend Bill Resnik refers to as “copycat menus full of candied, fried and breaded mystery meats that all taste the same.” It’s a good thing Chinese Restaurant News (CRN) doesn’t read my blog. CRN, a highly respected monthly trade publication serving the more than 43,100 Chinese restaurants across America, selected Best Lee’s as one of America’s best Chinese restaurants for 2008. In fact, during the “year of the mouse,” Best Lee’s earned distinction as one the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the categories of “Top 100 Local Favorites” and “Top 100 Overall Excellence.” The latter is the publication’s highest honor. The “Local Favorites” award is presented to restaurants which have “proven their success over many years and through difficult circumstances.” Such honorees must also “maintain an important community presence and have a significant and devoted customer base.” The award for “Overall Excellence” is accorded to restaurants…

Bernalillo Mexican

La Bamba Grill – Bernalillo, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 7, 2009July 22, 20185:42 PM

In its April, 2009 edition Saveur magazine feted “12 restaurants that matter,” profiling a dozen restaurants that “represent the best of dining in America today.” Although that title may at first browse sound a bit condescending, the premise of the article was that restaurants are special places. “Everybody has to eat, but going out to eat is a choice.” Americans certainly exercise that freedom of choice with their wallets and purses. According to the National Restaurant Association, forty-five percent of adults surveyed indicate restaurants are an integral part of their lifestyle and one in three say they’re not eating out as often as they would like. The Association reports that nearly half of Americans’ food budget in 2009 will be spent in restaurants, accounting for a total economic impact of $1.5 trillion. New Mexico’s restaurants are forecast to post the fourth highest restaurant sales growth in the country during 2009 with a 3.3 percent increase (amounting to $2.7 billion). Given her choice, fellow gastronome Barbara Trembath will choose, like me, to spend much of her disposable income at mom-and-pop restaurants. With tastes very similar to mine, she often eschews the “anointed” restaurants everyone visits and combs through off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods for culinary…

Albuquerque Closed in 2009 New Mexican

Sabroso’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 5, 2009July 22, 20189:37 AM

From the moment they first set foot in the Land of Enchantment, some people just “get it” or perhaps more precisely, New Mexico gets to them. It weaves its preternatural spell and stirs something deeply in those open enough to its calling. D. H. Lawrence said it best, “In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly, and the old world gave way to a new.” Other people don’t get it–and maybe they never will. In the early 1980s while attending the University of New Mexico, I encountered several “dormitory rats” who whined incessantly that “there’s nothing to do or see in New Mexico.” I befriended some of them, determined to help them discover the Land of Enchantment they were perhaps too close-minded to see. That usually entailed a day trip or two to the north-central mountains of New Mexico, but not to tourist laden Taos or Santa Fe. Northern New Mexico is a spectacular canvass on which God painted perhaps the most awe-inspiring scenery in the state. Two break-taking drives, the High Road to Taos and the Enchanted Circle–are well known, but an even more wondrous peregrination starts…

Albuquerque American Closed in 2013 Gone But Not Forgotten

Coyote Diner – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 4, 2009July 25, 20183:04 PM

Restaurant critics, whether we write online reviews or are published in print somewhere, must think we’re so smart. We use polysyllabic (there’s one) words when a more prosaic (another one) word will do. We endeavor (yet another one, but you get the picture) to wax eloquent every time we describe something we obviously like or disdain. Here’s one critic who’s eating humble pie courtesy of Erica Ruth, an erudite (I can’t stop myself) Duke City diner who, in recommending a favorite restaurant, gave me one of the best reviews I’ve read in a long time. When Erica wrote to me and told me of an “amazing hidden treasure in the Heights” serving the “best burgers I have had in Albuquerque,” I asked her what it was about those burgers that made them the best. Here’s her reply. “I think they’re great because they’re one, the perfect size–not so thick that you can’t take a big bite out of them, and not so skimpy in width that the bun envelopes it. Two, they are always cooked to perfection. I am pretty sure the patties are hand formed. When you order them, they don’t have any filler, so they ALMOST fall apart–almost…

Albuquerque Cajun

Mardi Gras Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMarch 21, 2009July 22, 20185:47 PM

Over the centuries, Mardi Gras has evolved in America from a sedate French Catholic tradition to a hedonist’s holiday in which revelers indulge–and overindulge–the day before Ash Wednesday. Every year Mardi Gras celebrations lure millions of rollickers and revelers to New Orleans where Mardi Gras is celebrated in grand scale. Extravagant parades, masked balls, raucous convivality and copious consumption are hallmarks of the Crescent City event where shouts of “Laissez les bon temps rouler” (Let the good times roll) resound from rooftops and alleyways. Laissez les bon temps rouler is also now the resounding sentiment from Albuquerque’s South Valley where in February, 2009, a new Cajun restaurant opened for business. Now Duke City diners can celebrate “Fat Tuesday” five days a week instead of once a year. Appropriately, Albuquerque’s newest Cajun eating emporium is named the Mardi Gras Grill. Situated on the southeast intersection of Avenida Caesar Chavez and Broadway, the Mardi Gras Grill is an example of a neighborhood revitalization and community development program that is working. The South Broadway neighborhood was once among the city’s most undesirable with substance abuse and gang violence a thriving part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Proprietor Josh Salaz is proud of his…