Tag: Stir-Fry

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseJapaneseKoreanNew MexicoSushi

East Asian Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Perhaps more than anyone I’ve ever met, my Singaporean friend Ming Lee (God rest his beautiful soul) regarded people by the content of their character, not by physical characteristics.  So, it surprised me to hear him joke “we all look alike.”  It was an unsolicited admission that even he couldn’t always discern the cultural genesis of Asian people he met.  He also joked “at least I can always tell where an Asian restaurant’s food comes from.”  Ming was a bona fide gastronome who introduced me to the cuisine of Singapore and Malaysia.  Like me, he disliked restaurants in which overt homogenization of Asian food was apparent.  Sure, different culinary cultures across Southeast Asia have borrowed from one another over the…

AmericanAsianFusionNew MexicoSanta Fe

Anthony’s Grill – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Some restaurants–especially those with extremely diverse menus–defy categorization.   Food writers usually lump them into the category of “American” restaurants in that American cuisine is a veritable hodgepodge of cuisines from throughout the world.  We weren’t sure what to expect during our first visit to Anthony’s Grill in Santa Fe.  We read that Anthony’s specializes in “Asian fusion” with stir-fry dishes that could be Japanese or Chinese depending on the sauce.  We also learned that Anthony’s offers some of the very best fried chicken and fried catfish in the Land of Enchantment.  So, is Anthony’s an Asian fusion restaurant or is it a Southern restaurant?  Is it both?  Does it reallly matter? What does matter about Anthony’s is that this relatively…