Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog
Follow the Culinary Ruminations of New Mexico's Sesquipedalian Sybarite. 1,321 Restaurant Reviews, More Than 13,400 Visitor Comments…And Counting!
In Chinese and Vietnamese cultures, numerology is very important. If you’ve traveled extensively, you may have wondered why the term “Pho” followed by a number is so commonplace. Often these numbers are considered lucky–and not necessarily across an entire culture. A number may be lucky on a personal level, perhaps marking a date that’s special to the restaurant owner. Espy…
Before reading any further, the biggest take-away from this review is that the Local Brewhouse serves the best burger in Rio Rancho. That’s not only what the marquee says. It’s what City of Vision diners know. My Kim and I, too. “Service is horrible” “The management has to train there employees.” “Worst service ever! I can’t stress on how…
Once a year, despite my protestations and whining, I agree to take my Kim to the Olive Garden. It’s a deal we have, albeit one that makes me feel like Faust in the Christopher Marlowe play. Faust, for the non-English majors among you, was a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly…
Several years ago while leading my organization’s e-business marketing and communication effort at Intel, I had the great fortune of hiring a phenomenal Web developer recently arrived from India. In the process of filling out one of our complicated employment forms he transposed his name, writing his last name then his middle initial and first name instead of the way…
A survey of the eating habits and lifestyle preferences of various burrito consumers was recently commissioned by a fast food chain. The survey of than 1,000 respondents between the ages of 13 and 50 unveiled especially surprising revelations about the culinary habits of millennials. As Mic, an online presence which purports to “help young people process the present” noted: “Millennials apparently don’t…
Did you know the Land of Enchantment has an official state lizard? Chastity Bustos does. In fact, in she named her new eatery in honor of that lizard, the New Mexico whiptail (Aspidoscelis neomexicanus). When I asked Chastity if she knew the New Mexico whiptail is a female-only species that doesn’t need male lizards to reproduce, she jokingly replied “it’s…
“In food, as in death, we feel the essential brotherhood of man” – Vietnamese Proverb Western sensitivities cause even those among us who consider ourselves gustatorily open-minded to utter an “ick” or two at what is culinarily acceptable–even considered delicious–in other cultures. Some of us would recoil in disgust at the notion of eating grilled dog, roasted cat, grain-fed mice,…
Imagine a world without sandwiches! That daunting premise would make a pretty fatalistic post-apocalyptic movie in which Dystopian societies exist in a nightmare of deprivation, hopelessness, terror and processed food rations (Soylent Green anyone?). No sandwiches–it’s just too incomprehensible to imagine, especially considering everywhere you turn there’s another Subway. Frankly, my own post-apocalyptic nightmare would be a world in which…
“To break bread together,” a phrase as old as the Bible, captures the power of a meal to forge relationships, bury anger, provoke laughter.” ~The Joy of Food From National Geographic Sharing a meal creates a unique sense of intimacy felt by all who sit together at the table. It’s an act that can spark new friendships, solidify lifetime bonds…
