Tag: Bread

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Diane’s Bakery & Deli – Silver City, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

In 2011, New Mexico Magazine recruited several local food writers and asked us to introduce readers to ten of “New Mexico’s Best Eats” in several categories:  Best Green Chile Cheeseburger, Best New Mexican Soul Food, Best Fine Dining, Best Enchiladas, Bet Vegetarian New Mexican Food, Best Road Food, Beste Local Seasonal Ingredients, Best Contemporary Native American Food, Best Chocolate and Best Carne Adovada.   For the most part, writers waxed eloquent about “the usual suspects” in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The most noteable exception was Lesley S. King, a distinguished writer who graced New Mexico Magazine’s as the “King of the Road” for years.  Lesley declared The Land of Enchantment’s “Best Road Food” to be the Hatch Benedict from Diane’s…

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Joe’s Pasta House – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Much as they might wish for it to happen, no restaurateur can make their restaurant THE hometown favorite.  It happens organically and it happens only by the unanimous will and consent of the people.  Similarly, it takes the acclamation of the dining public for a restaurant to become THE heartbeat of a community–where residents go to interact with one another in a convivial spirit of sharing a great meal. A restaurant has to prove itself every single time with every single guest.  It must offer a combination of memorable food, a homey look and feel and mostly personable, attentive service.  There can be no such thing as a “bad day.”  To find the template for how a restaurant becomes the…

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Sage Bakehouse – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Bread.  We’ve been told it’s bad for our health, that it’s loaded with carbs and gluten.  Western doctors admonish caloric-overachievers to reduce our consumption of bread.  These dispensers of dietary information are at a loss to explain Emma Tillman.  When she passed away in 2007, the daughter of former slaves was an American supercentenarian and, for a few days, the world’s oldest living person.  She passed away at the young age of  114 years and 67 days.  Emma Tillman ran her own baking and catering service for about sixty years.  She prepared the staff of life for dignitaries in the state of North Carolina which proclaimed an “Emma Tillman Day” to commemorate her 110th birthday. Eleven years after Emma Tillman…

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Pioche Food Group – Fruitland, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Having devoured all the Tony and Ann Hillerman books centered in and around the Navajo Nation, I thought I knew quite a bit about the Diné.  That was until Brian Schwartz, an extraordinary food writer from Oklahoma, offered me his ticket to an event showcasing the talents of James Beard Best Chef – Southwest nominee Justin Pioche.  I immediately took stock of just what I knew about Navajo culinary traditions.  I knew the Navajo are widely credited with the “invention” of fry bread during their brutal internment at Bosque Redondo.  History taught me that lush Navajo peach orchards were destroyed during a scorched earth campaign by Kit Carson.  I knew from personal experience that Navajo cooks prepare the best mutton…