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AlbuquerqueKoreanRating: Excellent

Arirang Oriental Market – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:01 PM

“Cuisine is the tactile connection we have to breathing history. History and culture offer us a vibrant living society that we taste through cuisine. All cuisine is a reflection of the society from which it emanates … in the end cuisine is the result of culture” – Clifford Wright If cuisine is the result of culture, then it can certainly be stated that music is the expressive language of that culture. Well before the advent of the written word, music was used to tell stories, impart wisdom, express ideas, share emotions and convey the history and culture of the civilization.…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2019Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSpanishTapas

The Cellar – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:20 PM

While touring Granada, Spain during a 2013 episode of CNN’s Parts Unknown, Emmy award-winning celebrity host Anthony Bourdain bemoaned that “we will never have tapas culture in America.” Then, to emphasize his contention even further (and perhaps to rankle the ire of American foodies who frequent “tapas” restaurants across the fruited plain), he challenged viewers: “You may think you know what a tapa is, like if you’ve had small bites at some fusion hipster bar where they do a whole bunch of little plates. Yeah, that ain’t a tapa.” Bourdain, a best-selling author, world traveler, renowned chef and “poet of…

New MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodSanta Fe

El Comal Cafe – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:22 PM

From a social connectedness perspective, 1995 was the dark ages. The internet as we know and love it today was in its relative infancy. There was no Urbanspoon, no Yelp, no Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog…no trusted online resource to enlighten and entice diners. My only knowledge of Santa Fe’s restaurant scene came from fading memories and a 1994 article on Fortune magazine naming the City Different as one of the fruited plain’s ten best dining destinations. The article listed such stalwarts as the Coyote Cafe, Santacafe and the Tecolote Cafe as among the city’s best. After nearly two decades…

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Olive Branch Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:55 PM

The depiction of a dove in flight with an olive branch in its beak is common in early Christian art and tradition. The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit while the olive branch is seen as a symbol of peace. Christian tradition, as chronicled in Genesis 8:11, describes a dove carrying an olive branch to signal the cessation of flooding throughout the world after forty days and forty nights of rain: “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from…

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Ruth’s Chris Steak House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:35 PM

During a recent Friends of Gil (FOG) outing, a newcomer asked how my Kim and I can afford to eat out as often as we do (about three times week on average). The practice of “dating your mate” is something we began half a lifetime ago when we were stationed in Mississippi and my Air Force salary was, to put it conservatively, considerably less than one-thousand dollars for every year of my life. Despite the fact that I’d been handpicked for the only job of its kind in my career field, a position with significant responsibilities usually accorded to someone…

AmericanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Santa Fe

Museum Hill Cafe – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:35 PM

Widely reputed to have the most spectacular views in Santa Fe and boasting of four world-renowned museums, Museum Hill may be the only location where visitors are more in awe of the site’s breathtaking backdrop than they are of the contents of the magnificent repositories that house the area’s cultural and historical heritage. Set in an idyllic haven surrounded by panoramic views of hills dotted with dessert flora, colorful weather-worn mesas and verdured mountains, Museum Hill inspires awe and wonder. Whether bathed in clear, unobstructed cerulean skies or punctuated by ethereally wispy clouds painted red, yellow and orange by fiery…

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Savory Fare – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:13 PM

Back in the mid 70s, anyone in Albuquerque’s southeast quadrant who wanted privacy knew they could find it at the Burger Chef restaurant in the Gibson and San Mateo area. It was the place seemingly designated for undisturbed break-ups (this was in the dark ages before texting and email were the preferred mediums for breaking-up). Once a burgeoning franchise second only to McDonald’s in the fast food arena, Burger Chef was in a state of rapid decline and even during lunch hours, few diners patronized it. Our inaugural dining experience at Savory Fare rekindled memories of a long-ago visit to…

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A Taste of the Caribbean – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:53 PM

One of the most hilarious from among so many classic Seinfeld vignettes transpired in an episode fittingly entitled “The Comeback” which first aired in 1997. During a business meeting, the ever irascible George Costanza is unabashedly stuffing his face with shrimp when Reilly, a co-worker, notices his gluttony and remarks “Hey, George, the ocean called. They’re running out of shrimp.” Unable to retaliate with a quick retort, the slow-witted George obsesses about the perfect comeback and recreating the encounter so he can deliver it. Ultimately he crafts a rejoinder he finds witty, but which his friends dismiss as nonsensical. Bringing…

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Beto’s Cocina – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:22 PM

It’s a folly of the human condition that we tend to go looking for exciting food in all the shiny new restaurants…only to find it in the venerable restaurants that time has nearly forgotten. The fleeting, fickle nature of our fascination with something new and something different is so strong that some restaurants actually peak in popularity within a few months after opening, particularly after their first glowing reviews. Perhaps indicative of our human need for constant new sources of stimulation and gratification, diners (and restaurant critics) flock to new restaurants like moths to a flame. In our minds, new…

AlbuquerqueMariscosMexicanRating: Excellent

El Zarandeado – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:23 PM

“Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.” – Bubba from Forrest Gump Benjamin Bufford “Bubba” Blue may have thought he knew all there was to know about shrimp, but he didn’t know about camarones and he had no idea about ceviche. In 1967 while Bubba…

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2016Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Desert Grows – Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:00 PM

“And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.” – Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels Had Jonathan Swift not uttered those words of sagacious cynicism, there’s a good chance Armand Saiia would have. It’s a sentiment that resonates with Armand, the effusive chef-owner of Desert Grows. Sensing our confusion as we approached the towering trees providing sweet,…