Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog
Follow the Culinary Ruminations of New Mexico's Sesquipedalian Sybarite. 1,332 Restaurant Reviews, More Than 13,450 Visitor Comments…And Counting!
For many New Mexicans, Durango, Colorado is much more familiar than Durango, Mexico. In truth, however, Mexico’s Durango may actually have more historical significance and ties to the Land of Enchantment than its like-named resort town in Colorado. That’s especially true for the Catholic Churches of New Mexico. Episcopal jurisdiction for the Catholic church in New Mexico was placed in…
My Chicago born-and-bred bride and I often debate the merits and pitfalls of the Albuquerque metropolitan growing large enough to support more cultural opportunities, larger sports venues and ethnic restaurants we don’t currently have. Having grown up with those amenities, she knows more urban growth also means an increase in crime (as if we didn’t have enough already); more cronyism,…
Seinfeld: “What is that smell?” Kramer: “That’s East River.” Seinfeld: “You’re swimming in the East River? The most heavily trafficked, overly contaminated waterway on the eastern seaboard?” Kramer: “Technically Norfolk has more gross tonnage.” When I lived in the Boston area for two years immediately following high school, those of us in the Bay State (even temporary residents) refused to…
For years now, my Kim and I have largely eschewed American television, especially its sophomoric, lowbrow and “meant for voyeurs” reality shows. We’ve been increasingly gravitating to an almost exclusive viewership of British television which we’ve found to be meant for grown-ups rather than children. British television programs offer a sophistication direly absent in American programming. British programs tend to…
In the inspirational 1989 movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner stars as an Iowa farmer named Ray Kinsella. As a farmer, Ray has fallen on hard times. While standing in his corn field one day, he has a vision of a baseball field where part of his cornfield is. A disembodied voice (credited by IMDB to “The Voice”) tells him,…
Inasmuch as they’re both Romance languages, there are a lot of similarities between Spanish and Italian. Because Spanish was my first language, if spoken slowly enough I can probably understand thirty-percent of what is spoken in Italian. Alas, not all Spanish and Italian terms are lexical cognates. That is, they don’t have the same etymology or derivation. For example, the…
In a Phoenix.org feature published in November, 2022, David Tynda declared that Phoenix is a top city for pizza. “I say to people that I believe Phoenix is the pizza capital of the U.S. and I wait for them to slap me across the face,” said Tyda, the co-manager of Phoenix Festivals. The Matador Network agreed: “Phoenix is a slice…
Number one in the entire country. Highest rated from about 90-million restaurant reviews. Topping Yelp’s 9th annual list of the top 100 restaurants in the United States for 2022 is “Cocina Madrigal, a “father-and-son-owned eatery serving Oaxaca fundido and beef birria enchiladas to lucky residents of Phoenix, Arizona (who’ve responded with more 5-star reviews than we can count).” Cocina Madrigal wasn’t on…
“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight.” ~ M.F.K. Fischer A colleague who was recently struck with a second bout of the Cabrona virus confided that while he could tolerate the malaise, coughing and body aches, what bothered him most was temporarily losing his sense of…
Can you imagine the outcry if Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham tried to abolish New Mexico’s sacrosanct red and green chile because the Department of Cultural Affairs Secretary convinced her that chile doesn’t bring out the best in New Mexicans? Such a treasonous and heretical act would probably provoke outrage, if not an outright revolution. Thankfully our Governor is a tremendous…
Just prior to a planned visit to Rome, Saint Monica and her son, Saint Augustine, discovered that Saturday was observed as a day of fasting in Rome. It was not, however, a fast day in their hometown of Milan. They consulted Saint Ambrose who advised: “When I am here (in Milan) I do not fast. On Saturday, when in Rome…
