Dave’s High Desert Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico
It’s easier, by far, to define and describe Japanese and Chinese cuisines than the melting pot (literally and figuratively) that is American cuisine. It’s the same with French cuisine and Italian cuisine. Virtually every cultural culinary tradition had been influenced by the traditions of neighboring countries while managing to retain elements that are unique to that particular cuisine. American cuisine, on-the-other-hand is pretty much a mishmash of every other cuisine, near or far. To say American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States is to sell that cuisine short. Immigrants, in particular, have created a diverse cuisine that often varies by region. As if American cuisine sounds like a catch-all term, a phalanx of restaurants are increasingly self-glossing as “New American” restaurants, a term Scottsdale chef Dom Ruggiero of Hush Public House says “let’s me do whatever I want.” Also known as “Contemporary American cuisine” or “Modern American Cuisine,” this evolved cuisine is primarily served at upscale fine dining eateries across the fruited plain. It’s essentially a fusion cuisine which assimilates flavors from the conflation of multicultural foods and often components of molecular gastronomy with a focus on fresh, local and seasonal farm-to-table…
