Tag: Old Town

AlbuquerqueContinentalNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Sandwich

Little Europe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Few natural wonders are as awe-inspiring and spectacular as  the chalky White Cliffs of Dover on the English coast.  Only for a short while are those bright white, natural geological formations visible at night as you’re sailing away toward France on a cross-channel ferry.  Instead, as you depart from Dover’s busy port, you’re treated to an increasingly receding facade as the 350-foot chalk faces dim, their bright white geological features vividly reflecting moonlight.  That’s the view I remember most from my first English crossing some 21 miles away from France.  Along with a busful of eager passengers, we were bound for Calais, the closest point in France to Great Britain. For the Germans, that made it the most logical and heavily fortified location for an Allied invasion. Our “invasion” wasn’t to visit wartime sights most of which are some 230 miles east at Normandy D-Day landing beaches (such as Omaha and Juno). Our excursion was much more peaceful (although not necessarily quiet). We were bound for Auchan, a well-stocked hypermarket (a massive retail establishment that combines a supermarket and a department store under one roof) in Bolulogne-Sur-Mer.  Auchon was reputed to be the ideal place to purchase French wines, cheese…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastBreakfast BurritosCoffeeNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Blackbird Coffee House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“Sing a song of sixpence A pocketful of rye Four and twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie.” One interpretation of this English child’s 16th Century nursery rhyme posits that it was written about entremet, an Old French term referring to dishes served between courses of a meal.  “Dishes” had a very figurative meaning and could represent anything from edible scenic displays to foods designed to amuse or surprise.  One of the more popular amusements was to place live birds in a pie.  An Italian cookbook from 1549 (translated into English in 1598) actually contained such a recipe: “To make pies so that birds may be alive in them and fly out when it is cut up“. I didn’t actually ponder whether or not the pulchritudinous pastries at the Blackbird Coffee House were stuffed with blackbirds, but the notion of entremet did come to mind.  Sadly, when many of us contemplate amusement between or during courses of a meal, it’s the sophomoric practice of a food fight that comes to mind.  That, and maybe filling donuts with mayonnaise or substituting the cream filling in an Oreo with toothpaste.  Obviously when it comes to food pranks and amusement, Americans fall woefully short…

AlbuquerqueBakeryDiners Drive-Ins and DivesDog FriendlyFood Network Eats New MexicoRating: Outstanding

Golden Crown Panaderia – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:34 PM

“Around the world while the city still sleeps, you begin.  Some of you because that’s what your parents did.  Others, you’re the first of your kind.  But all of you are one.  Siblings in an ancient tradition.  You take the time, temperature and love.  You bring them together to make something that brings people together.  You make more than just food.  You make friendships.  You make joy.  And for a hundred years, Dawn has been right there with you.  So this is for you, for bakers everywhere.  Thank you for letting us be part of your story.  Here’s to the next chapter together.  Here’s to bakers.” Albuquerque’s beloved Golden Crown Panaderia was one of five bakeries across the globe selected to be featured in a new spot for Dawn Foods. The advertisement, which showcases the work bakers do each morning, followed the father-son tandem of Pratt and Christopher Morales as they get Albuquerque ready for the day with the best baked goods in town.  It’s a touching tribute to true unsung heroes: Dawn 100 Years | Thank You Although we pride ourselves on keeping a pulse on the local dining scene, it took a nationally syndicated Food Network cable program called Food Finds…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Central Grill and Coffee House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:26 AM

It’s been said that “when you feed those in need, you are feeding your soul.”  That is especially true when the giver is practicing selfless giving, a conscious, intentional approach to giving that not only benefits others, but comes during a time when the giver is in dire need of help as well.  When the New Mexico state government’s approach to the Cabrona Virus virtually closed down or limited restaurant operations across the state, it’s an understatement to say restaurateurs were really hurting.  Dozens of restaurants across the Land of Enchantment closed. Hundreds of employees were laid off.   It was during these trying times that several restaurateurs demonstrated truly heroic altruism, showing precisely what it means to be a great neighbor.   Among the most selfless givers were restaurateurs George and Alicia Griego, owners of Albuquerque’s Central Grill.   In 2020, George and Alicia were named the New Mexico Restaurant Association’s (NMRA) Restaurant Neighbor of the Year for 2020.  Though their popular eatery faced the same unpredictable operating conditions crippling other restaurants, George and Alicia looked for opportunities to help their neighbors.  In the spirit of Luke 10:25, they opened their hearts, providing thousands of boxes to feed school…

AlbuquerqueAmericanDog FriendlyRating: Very Good

D. H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro (Old Town) – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:23 AM

There are varying accounts as to the genesis of wine-making in the United States. While it is widely acknowledged that as early as the 1500s Spanish and French Huguenot settlers in Florida began making wine with a native grape known as muscadine, efforts to plant the classic grapes used to create the great wines of Europe failed because of pests prevalent in wet climates. It wasn’t until Spanish Missionaries discovered the dry climate of New Mexico in 1629 with its sandy soils that the first European Mission grapes brought over from Spain were planted in what is now the United States.  The original grape stocks supposedly remain the source of many of New Mexico’s vinters to this day. Sources relates that in 1629, Franciscan friars planted the first vineyard (for sacramental wine) in New Mexico in defiance to Spanish law prohibiting the growing of grapes for wine in the new world. Those first wines were planted on the east bank of the Rio Grande slightly north of the village of present day San Antonio by Fray Gracia de Zuniga, a Franciscan monk. Despite conflicting accounts, one fact appears incontrovertible–New Mexico is among the oldest wine-making regions in the country. Today the…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBrewery-PubDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Good

Two Cranes Bistro and Brew – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:17 AM

As we wended our way along meandering Rio Grande Boulevard, I commented to my Kim, “I sure miss Ichabod and Katrina.”  “Colleagues of yours at UNM?,” she asked.  “No, not colleagues,” I replied pointing to a large, verdant field, “Ichabod and Katrina were the two sandhill cranes who used to feed in those fields.”  “Oh, I get it,” she responded, “you’re talking about Ichabod and Katrina Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”  She then asked why I’ve always had such a great admiration for Ichabod Crane, a fictional character who basically embodied all the seven deadly sins: greed, glutton, sloth, indolence, wrath, lust and envy. “Yeah, I understand all of that,” I explained, “but Ichabod Crane was a man ahead of his time, an 18th century equivalent of a foodie.”  Washington Irving, described him as “a huge feeder, and though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda.”  Isn’t that the kind of super power we’d all like to have?  He had a voracious appetite but somehow managed to remain thin.  When he saw animals lounging in the fields, his mouth watered, described masterfully by Irving: “In his devouring mind’s eye, he pictured to himself every roasting-pig running about…