Culver’s – Payson, Arizona

In the summer of 2022, two of my sisters spent a nearly three weeks in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. They visited the breathtaking snow-capped mountains of the Alps and took Europe’s highest cable car to the top of the Matterhorn.  They walked in picturesque villages reminiscent of your favorite fairy-tale as well as medieval towns resplendent with covered bridges, waterfront promenades, historic buildings replete with frescoes painted by the masters, and sun-drenched plazas with bubbling fountains.  Naturally, my questions about their vacation were centered on cuisine.  Dolores, one of my sisters, recalled most fondly the bread and butter served with every meal on their excursion.  She’s a Garduño after my own heart. During our years in Europe, my Kim and I were surprised at the ubiquity of butter on sandwiches.  It didn’t matter what other ingredients were used in the construction of a sandwich; each slice of bread was buttered lavishly.  Our favorite was a buttered floury bap with Branston pickle and Cheddar cheese.  We also grew to love butter sandwiches with bacon.  Frankly, a butter sandwich with extra butter was also quite good. As common as butter was in England (where we lived), the French slathered it on even more generously.…

The Mouse Hole – Albuquerque, New Mexico

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, corruption and collusion among the political cabal; more pollution, gentrification, traffic congestion, etc. Neither one of us wants Albuquerque to become another Big Cheese like Phoenix (though increasingly we’ve grown to love the Valley of the Sun’s restaurants). We would, however, love a Big Cheese shop like one in Toronto. If you’ve tuned in to a Hulu series called “Cheese: A Love Story,” you know of what I speak. The series centers around Afrim Pristine, one of the youngest maître fromagiers (cheese masters) in the world. That means he really is a big cheese…so much more than a turophile (a gourmet/ connoisseur of cheese) like me. His appreciation for and knowledge of cheese puts me to shame. As in every métier, it took significant time and effort to achieve his level of expertise. It did help that he was born…