Tag: Orange Scone

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…

BakeryRating: Very GoodSandwich

Roma Bakery & Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:02 AM

Galdamez and Albertine. If you saw those names on a building, you might expect to see them appended with “Attorneys at Law.” That’s especially true if the building is in the area immediately north of Albuquerque’s burgeoning downtown district, an area teeming with lawyers’ offices and bail bondsmen (is bondspeople the politically correct term?). Instead, the building in which Oscar Galdamez and Bruce Albertine ply their own noble trade houses a diminutive and charming dining establishment, Roma Bakery and Deli. You won’t see their named displayed in any officious self-aggrandizement manner, but it’s a good bet you’ll get to know their names soon enough. That’s because frequent return visits are imminent, especially for hungry patrons lucky enough to live or work close to the restaurant. The Roma Bakery and Deli launched in the summer of 2006 and despite seating for only about 40 patrons, this comfy, cozy diner has established itself as a very popular dining destination. Visit during the lunch hour and you’ll find yourself standing in a line that extends from the entrance to the counter at which you place your order. There is no menu overhead, but most of the patrons don’t seem to need it. That…