Ironwood Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico
I’m not sure Matt Moody could sell milk to the lactose intolerant or ice to an eskimo, but it would be hard to bet against him. The genial owner of the Ironwood Kitchen on Albuquerque’s sprawling far northwest, Matt has a rare enthusiasm for both his restaurant and his recipes. He won’t just describe a dish on the menu, he’ll tell you how it’s prepared and may even give you the genesis of its ingredients. That type of enthusiasm and confidence is infectious. Matt is also wise and experienced enough to understand the customer is always right…even if he doesn’t agree with them. When my friend Bill Resnik and I practically accused him of being a “Cuminista” for using cumin on his red chile, he listened to our diatribe then related his long history in having prepared that chile to much popular acclaim in the Mesilla Valley Kitchen restaurant in Las Cruces. Despite the success of his chile recipe in the Las Cruces area, he researched the Duke City market, determined we’re quite a bit more finicky about the purity of our chile and removed cumin from his recipe. You’ve got to like a restaurateur who caters to the market. …
