{"id":60019,"date":"2024-12-13T17:01:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T23:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=60019"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:46:12","slug":"my-moms-albuquerque-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=60019","title":{"rendered":"My Moms – Albuquerque, New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

“God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.”<\/em>
\n\u2014Rudyard Kipling<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Superstar Chef Marie Yniguez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Should you have the pleasure of getting to know Chef Marie Yniguez, even a little, you’ll come away with three absolute certainties.\u00a0 First, Albuquerque’s arguably most famous celebrity chef is unabashedly herself.\u00a0 The happy, loving, gregarious person you’ve seen on numerous Food Network culinary competitions doesn’t have a pretentious bone in her body.\u00a0 She is as genuine and sincere as they come.\u00a0 Though she left the hardscrabble mining town of Hurley, New Mexico a lifetime ago, she remains a country girl at heart. And even though she was as a semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef – Southwest” honor in 2022, she remains as humble as if she was starting out again at the very bottom of the competitive chef pyramid.<\/p>\n

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My Mom’s is on the First Floor of the Modrall Sperling Building on 4th Street<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Second, it’s an absolute certainty that you’re going to like the effusive chef.\u00a0 She makes it a point to greet guests to her restaurant and traffic permitting, will visit with them to ensure they’re enjoying their experience (not just their meals).\u00a0 Marie is a warm soul with a disarming sense of humor and ability to make everyone feel like a good friend.\u00a0 She has a broad smile and joyful laugh, especially when watching her precocious grandson Isaiah at play.\u00a0 To know her is to like her.\u00a0 You can’t help yourself.<\/p>\n

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Chef-Owner Marie Yniguez Treasures The Moms in Her Life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third–and probably most absolute certainty–is that “familia” is everything to Chef Marie.\u00a0 You’ll probably never meet anyone as proud of a daughter as Marie is about her precious Ryan.\u00a0 Everything she’s building as a restaurateur, she emphasizes, is for her daughter and her cherished grandson.\u00a0 Marie’s eyes also light up when she speaks about the love of her life, her wife Karla.\u00a0 Theirs is one of those rare relationships that bespeak of a forever love.\u00a0 Familia extends to her loyal servers and restaurant staff, many of whom have been with her for years.\u00a0 She laughs easily at the exploits of her four-legged children Betty, a wirehair dachshund and Rose, a pit bull.<\/p>\n

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This Mural Was Painted by Marie’s Daughter Ryan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her broad expanse of familia wouldn’t be complete without the reverence with which she holds the moms in her life.\u00a0 You’ll notice her new restaurant’s name is “My Moms” plural, not “My Mom’s” singular possessive.\u00a0 She didn’t name her restaurant in honor of her mother Olga, but for the moms she holds dearest–her grandmothers, wife Karla, mother Olga and daughter Ryan.\u00a0 A painting of a single red rose with an equally red heart bisects the names of Marie’s treasured moms.<\/p>\n

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The Mother of All Mothers–Very Important to Chef Marie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the “About” section of My Moms Facebook page, Marie explains: “We have learned how to cook from our moms and them from their moms and became moms in the process! So, this is our way of teaching our children! So in turn, our traditions can be passed down for generations to come! Food from New Mexican Moms<\/em>!” The concept of cooking being passed on from mothers to their children is so important to Marie that she and Ryan are writing a book that will celebrate the cooking traditions of moms in her family.\u00a0 She’s awestruck at the thought that the posole it took her grandmother hours to cook over a wood stove can now be prepared in minutes.<\/p>\n

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The Busy Kitchen at My Moms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yet another mom Marie holds in reverence is La Virgen De Guadalupe<\/strong> <\/a>whom she refers to as “the mother of all mothers<\/em>.”\u00a0 In the dining room right next to the name “My Moms” scrawled on the wall is a black and white drawing of the Virgin Mary, patron saint of Mexico.\u00a0 Marie has a similar tattoo on her right arm.\u00a0 She’s quick to point out that directly across 4th Street from My Moms is the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s office.\u00a0 La Virgen de Guadalupe, she believes, offers the dual benefit of protecting the sheriff’s officers as they go out on patrol and of offering solace to criminals in need of a mother’s love.<\/p>\n

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The Soon to be Crowded Dining Room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though she’s garnered significant national recognition and accolades for Bocadillos<\/strong><\/a>, My Moms is THE restaurant she believes will be her culinary magnus-opus.\u00a0 From her heart, she explains the reason behind the restaurant: “This concept comes from my love for my mom, grandmas, aunties, sister daughter and wife. It\u2019s the love you feel when you go visit, and the first thing out after saying hello, is \u201care you hungry? Have you eaten?\u201d and even if you aren\u2019t hungry, or have already eaten you can\u2019t not eat! Then, when you eat that little bowl of love you feel all warm inside. No matter what it is you feel loved. Only a mom can make you feel that way! Even if your mom can\u2019t cook, even if she just makes you a sandwich, it has nothing but love in it. We grew up with such simple eating and ingredients, nothing fancy, but it was made with love<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

She adds: “We want to share our love of family, food and tradition with you. We want to bring you into our little world and hopefully you can feel our family\u2019s love and passion for food simply done right! To be a mom is so special and to be able to pass our traditions to future generations is our goal. You learn how to cook from your mom and her from grandma and so on down the line. I want to dedicate this restaurant to all the moms out there doing their best to feed their babies. No matter who you are when you walk in our doors, you will feel like home and leave feeling all warm inside<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

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Chocolate Cherry Cake Baked by Ryan (Marie’s Daughter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Until its closure in November, 2022, the beautiful Ryan with whom America fell in love during an episode of Guy Fieri’s Grocery Games was at the helm at Bocadillos.\u00a0 My Moms and Bocadillos were within walking distance of each other in the business district just south of Lomas (lucky Sarita).\u00a0 Marie admits the Cabrona virus has made it a risk to stay in business in an area heavily reliant on walk-in traffic.\u00a0 When the virus forced the world to close, that walk-in traffic became much more scarce as many area workers began working from home.\u00a0 Until she relocated to Las Cruces in 2024, Ryan worked with her mother at My Moms.<\/p>\n

My Moms resides in the first floor of the Modrall Sperling Building which once housed the Bank of America.\u00a0 Signage directing you to Marie’s eatery is subtle in keeping with the tenor of the area.\u00a0 Step inside, however, and the personality of its buoyant owner shines through.\u00a0 Marie and Ryan decorated the space, including the artwork on the tables.\u00a0 It’s a pristine space with west-facing windows facing the sheriff’s office. As at Bocadillos, walk-in traffic is bustling.\u00a0 Marie seems to know everyone who walks in.<\/p>\n

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Award-Winning Chocolate Tres Leches Cake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You’ll place your order at a strategically placed pastry case replete with calorific indulgences sure to get you going in the morning.\u00a0 They all look so good you just might miss what’s scrawled on the bottom of the pastry case: “My Moms All Chingona<\/em>.”\u00a0 Chingona is a Spanish slang term meaning \u201cbad ass woman<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 That’s a sentiment Marie ascribes to all the moms in her life.\u00a0 My Moms, the restaurant, is also “all chingona,” one bad ass restaurant owned and operated by one bad ass woman.<\/p>\n

Admittedly it’s a big of a challenge to study the menu while ogling baked goods so tempting you might want to lick the glass.\u00a0 My advice–order a pastry or five and eat one while perusing the menu.\u00a0 My Moms is open only for breakfast and lunch with breakfast served only until 11AM.\u00a0 You’ll notice that many of the entrees are named for the moms in Marie’s life: Ramona’s breakfast burrito, Marie’s Green Chile Sausage Biscuit\u2019s n Gravy, Olga’s Green Chile Con Carne, Karla’s beans and more.\u00a0 It’s a menu Marie was born to create.<\/p>\n

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Olga’s Flat Red Chile Enchiladas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

13 January 2023<\/strong>: When My Moms first opened, featured dessers came from the now defunct Rebel Donut.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0While those circular confections were\u00a0 absolutely fabulous, they weren’t the exclusive domain of My Moms; you can find them throughout the city.\u00a0 When Bocadillos closed, too, Ryan began baking at My Mom’s.\u00a0 Among the wonderful desserts she created were the chocolate-cherry cake<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 If you love chocolate (and who doesn’t), you’ll dream about this cake.\u00a0 Baked right into the cake, the cherries are like a pleasant surprise, bursting with flavor without being overly sweet (like those nightmarish cherry cordials).<\/p>\n

13 December 2024<\/strong>:\u00a0 Before Ryan left for the warmer climate of Las Cruces, she taught her successors well.\u00a0 Very well, in fact.\u00a0 During the “Behind The Mask<\/strong><\/a>” fund-raising gala for mental health awareness, My Moms chocolate tres leches<\/strong><\/em> cake<\/strong><\/em> earned the “Judges Choice” award in the sweet category.\u00a0 If you’ve never had or even conceived of a chocolate tres leches cake, you owe it to yourself to visit My Moms to try it.\u00a0 It’s even better than it sounds.\u00a0 The melding of decadent chocolate with the moistness of three milks and a whipped cream frosting topped with almond slivers and berries is diet-devastatingly delicious.\u00a0 Best of all, Marie and her crew are generous with their slices.<\/p>\n

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Patty Melt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When she authored Frommer\u2019s Santa Fe, Taos and Albuquerque Travel Guide<\/strong><\/a>, the wonderful Lesley King listed \u201cNorthern New Mexico Enchiladas<\/em>\u201d as among \u201cthe most unforgettable Northern New Mexico Experiences<\/em>,\u201d indicating that there are few things more New Mexican than the enchilada. I couldn\u2019t agree more and tend to consider enchiladas a good benchmark for restaurants which serve New Mexican food. When visiting for the first time a restaurant featuring New Mexican food, enchiladas are usually what I’ll order.<\/p>\n

16 February 2022<\/strong>:\u00a0 In keeping with that approach, my inaugural entree at My Moms is one named for Marie’s own mom: Olga’s Flat Red Chile Enchiladas<\/em> <\/strong>with an egg on top.\u00a0\u00a0 It didn’t surprise me to see that these enchiladas are served flat which seems to be the standard for home cooks in rustic areas of New Mexico.\u00a0 That’s not an absolute, but it really does seem urban home cooks and restaurants roll their enchiladas.\u00a0 It did surprise me that the red chile wasn’t at all piquant.\u00a0 I had assumed Marie would prepare an incendiary chile.\u00a0 Though lacking heat, it didn’t lack for flavor.\u00a0 More than any red chile in recent memory, Marie’s chile has wondrous smoky qualities and fruity notes that seem to accentuate the sharpness of the Cheddar.\u00a0 It’s a chile that might tempt you to lick the plate….sooo good!<\/p>\n

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Baloney Sandwich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

16 February 2022<\/strong>:\u00a0 Reasoning that since Bocadillos once served the very best sandwiches in the metropolitan area, my Kim scanned the menu and stopped at the NM Patty Melt<\/strong> <\/em>(with Asadero cheese, caramelized onion and green chile).\u00a0 It was an excellent choice.\u00a0 She declared it the best patty melt she’s ever had, pointing out the perfect ratio of beef to bun to condiments.\u00a0 She also noted that the mustard (yes, the mustard) is the ingredient which ties everything together.\u00a0 Marie confirmed it’s just regular French’s mustard (there go my bride’s illusions of homemade mustard).<\/p>\n

While the mustard does indeed shine resplendently, it really is a balanced sandwich offering complimentary and contrasting flavor notes–the sweetness of the caramelized onions, the sharpness of the Asadero, the perfectly seasoned and right-sized beef patty and lightly toasted, buttery bread that holds everything together.\u00a0 Being a burger man myself, I’ve never fully understood the patty melt, reasoning it’s just a sandwich wishing it was a burger.\u00a0 This patty melt may just change my mind.<\/p>\n

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Marie’s Green Chile Sausage Biscuit\u2019s n Gravy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

18 February 2022<\/strong>:\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing insincere or nonsensical about the love of baloney and SPAM. Both have long been favorite among families in rural New Mexico.\u00a0 That’s a realization some restaurants are only now starting to grasp though Marie, who like me grew up in a rural area, grew up eating and loving fried baloney and SPAM sandwiches. Rural New Mexicans love the log-sized baloney we slice ourselves so that it\u2019s three or four times the height of the single-sliced baloney sold in supermarkets. We like to grill or fry it over low heat so that it acquires a smoky char and we love our baloney and SPAM fried and deposited between two lightly toasted slices of bread.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how Marie prepares her baloney sandwich<\/strong><\/em>: two thick slices of grilled baloney, melted cheese, lettuce and mustard. It\u2019s the baloney sandwich of my youth recaptured.\u00a0 I had meant to take the sandwich home for later, but one bite led to ten bites and before you know it, the entire sandwich was gone.\u00a0 It was absolutely delicious.\u00a0 Baloney and SPAM may be\u00a0 the \u201cRodney Dangerfield\u201d of meat products, but if you order a sandwich the way Marie prepares it, you’ll prefer it to caviar and lobster.<\/p>\n

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Carnitas Tacos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

18 February 2022<\/strong>: New Mexicans tend to be blue-collar, meat-and-potatoes eaters (or in the case of breakfast, biscuits-and-gravy (with green chile, of course)).\u00a0 Marie’s green chile sausage biscuits n’ gravy<\/strong> <\/em>is a breakfast offering you’ll want to get up early in the morning for.\u00a0 The biscuits are buttery and fluffy served parted in the middle like the Red Sea courtesy of Moses.\u00a0 Cream green chile sausage gravy is slathered generously atop the biscuit.\u00a0 It’s a substantial meal I couldn’t finish after having devoured the baloney sandwich, but it heats up well.<\/p>\n

18 February 2022<\/strong>: If you don’t want something as substantial as the green chile sausage biscuits and gravy, the carnita tacos<\/strong> <\/em>(queso fresco, pickled red onion, cilantro tomatilllo sauce, chile pequin and avocado crema) are an excellent choice.\u00a0 Served two per order, these tacos are artfully arranged with ingredients splayed out like edible art on soft corn tortillas.\u00a0 They taste as good as they look.<\/p>\n

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Fried SPAM Sandwich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

13 January 2023<\/strong>: In recent years, I’ve perused a number of cookbooks purporting to showcase New Mexican cuisine. \u00a0In that statement lies a problem. \u00a0Most New Mexican home cooks don’t consider the foods they prepare for their families to be “cuisine.” \u00a0Nor do they prepare highbrow foods with fancy seasonings and spices. \u00a0Most New Mexican home cooks prepare foods the way they learned to prepare them at the side of their abuelita’s aprons. \u00a0That means mostly fresh vegetables ameliorated by chile picante. \u00a0That means the integral ingredient for every dish is love.<\/p>\n

More than just about any New Mexican restaurant in the Land of Enchantment, Marie’s kitchen prepares the foods New Mexican mothers prepare for their families. \u00a0Isn’t that fitting? \u00a0You won’t find lobster enchiladas or foie gras burritos at my mom’s kitchen. \u00a0Nor will you find them at My Moms’ kitchen. \u00a0Instead, you’ll find foods Marie and I grew up eating, including foods some might consider pedestrian, maybe even “poor people” food. \u00a0Marie takes great pride in serving these foods and I, an ostensibly sophisticated gastronome, take great pride in enjoying such foods as baloney sandwich and a fried SPAM sandwich<\/strong><\/em> (SPAM, Cheddar, lettuce, mustard on lightly toasted sourdough bread). \u00a0Fried SPAM isn’t just for Hawaiians. \u00a0New Mexicans like Marie and I grew up eating fried SPAM sandwiches. \u00a0Eating one at My Moms took me back to my childhood and the dozens of SPAM sandwiches with which my siblings and I grew up. \u00a0When are we going to see a New Mexican cookbook with recipes for SPAM and baloney sandwiches? \u00a0I can tell you where you’ll find the prototype…just like my mom and My Moms make.<\/p>\n

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Green Chile Cheeseburger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

13 January 2023<\/strong>: \u00a0If you grew up in rural New Mexico shall we say in the last century, it’s likely you didn’t always have burger buns. \u00a0Instead, burgers were constructed on tortillas, sopaipillas (not the fad some restaurants would have you believe) or best case, store bread. \u00a0Yeah, Rainbo bread! \u00a0As with our baloney and fried SPAM sandwiches, burgers weren’t constructed with chichi ingredients. \u00a0The one must-have ingredient on every burger was green chile. \u00a0Long before there was a New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, denizens of the Land of Enchantment were having homestyle green chile cheeseburgers and they were delicious.<\/p>\n

My Moms’ green chile cheeseburger<\/strong><\/em> (autumn roast green chile, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, Cheddar) is much like the burgers with which I grew up. \u00a0It’s the essence of simplicity, the pith of perfection. \u00a0It all starts with two lightly toasted (perhaps lightly buttered) slices of sourdough bread thick enough to hold in all the moist ingredients without falling apart and thin enough that they don’t dominate the flavor profile of the burger. \u00a0This is a burger about beef and green chile, an autumn roast with piquancy, smokiness and flavor. \u00a0The beef patty is thin, but substantial and seasoned beautifully. \u00a0This is a burger worthy of the New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail.<\/p>\n

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My Mom’s Little Bowl Of Love<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

13 December 2024<\/strong>:\u00a0 In my review of La Finca Bowls<\/strong><\/a>, I introduced you to the concept of brumotactillophobia, <\/em>\u00a0the fear of different foods touching each other.\u00a0 The opposite of brumotactillophobia is My Moms Little Bowl of Love<\/strong><\/em>, a wonderful dish available only at My Moms.\u00a0 Like me, Marie isn’t afraid of different foods touching each other.\u00a0 The Little Bowl of Love is several foods–chile con carne, fideos, pinto beans, calabasitas and shredded Cheddar–in the same bowl where they’re touching each other like swingers at an orgy.\u00a0 You’ll be surprised at just how good this dish is.\u00a0 It’s served with a large tortilla for fashioning New Mexico spoons to scoop up all that deliciousness.\u00a0 Though available with green chile, our friend Sarita has been raving about Marie’s red chile being the next best thing to Mary & Tito’s<\/strong><\/a> legendary red.\u00a0 As always, my favorite redhead is spot on.\u00a0 The chile has a perfectly piquant bite that touches every morself of this dish sure to be loved.<\/p>\n

13 December 2024<\/strong>:\u00a0 As an independent observer of New Mexico’s culinary condition, it’s been my pleasure (and detriment to my waistline) to see how much Cubanos have improved over the years throughout New Mexico’s restaurants.\u00a0 The Cubano<\/strong><\/em>, a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich sounds simple enough, but only in recent years has it been a “must have” with restaurants like Sammy’s Cafe & Deli<\/strong><\/a> flexing their sandwich-making prowess to make The Cubano a must have.\u00a0 Enter into the fray My Mom’s whose Cubano is right up there with Sammy’s for “best of the city” honors.\u00a0 This Cubano is replete with slow-roasted beef, ham, cheese, red onions, mustard, honey and sweet (yes, sweet) pickles.\u00a0 It offers and explosion of delicious flavors on a hoagie bun.\u00a0 My Kim had hers with bacon to make it a true trio.<\/p>\n

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Cubano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aficionados of Bocadillos and the very best sandwiches in Albuquerque should visit My Moms on Thursday–or as Marie calls it “Throwback Thursday,” a day in which at least one of the sandwiches made famous at Bocadillos is featured. \u00a0On Thursday, January 12th, it was the 505 Filthy, a favorite of one and all. \u00a0Naturally, I had to ask about the Bocadillos Reuben, maybe the very best I’ve ever had. \u00a0Marie told us she’s hoping the price of corned beef comes down soon so she can keep it affordable for her guests.<\/p>\n

Marie, who calls among her greatest joys representing the Land of Enchantment once again made us proud. \u00a0On December 10th, 2022, NBC\u2019s TODAY show hosted a marathon called \u201cThe Great American Holiday Cookie Swap\u201d in which chefs from all fifty states (plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.) shared a unique cookie recipe that represents their home state. \u00a0There could be no choice for the Land of Enchantment\u2019s holiday cookie. \u00a0That would be the biscochito, New Mexico\u2019s official state cookie. \u00a0Sharing her family\u2019s recipe for the biscochito, was Marie who\u00a0 explained that her family bakes up a big batch of these anise-kissed cookies. \u00a0Not surprisingly, it’s got some unique Marie Yniguez touches.<\/p>\n

Author Mitch Albom wrote \u201cI don’t know what it is about food your mother makes for you, especially when it’s something that anyone can make – pancakes, meat loaf, tuna salad – but it carries a certain taste of memory<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Thanks to the influence of the moms in her life, Chef Marie Yniguez creates the taste of memory for all diners who visit her restaurants.\u00a0 She is a credit to all moms.<\/p>\n

My Moms<\/strong>
\n500 4th Street, N.W.
\nAlbuquerque, New Mexico<\/strong>
\n(505) 247-2943
\nFacebook Page<\/strong><\/a>
\nLATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 13 December 2024
\n1st VISIT<\/strong>: 16 February 2022
\n# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 4
\nRATING<\/strong>: Outstanding<\/strong><\/span>\u2013A stand-out; delivers a memorable dining experience through a harmonious blend of exceptional food, attentive service, and consistent quality
\nCOST<\/strong>: $$
\nBEST BET<\/strong>: Olga’s Flat Red Chile Enchiladas, Patty Melt, Rebel Donuts, Chocolate Cherry Cake, Carnitas Tacos, Fried Baloney Sandwich, Marie’s Green Chile Sausage Biscuit\u2019s n Gravy, Fried SPAM Sandwich, Green Chile Cheeseburger, Cubano, My Mom’s Little Bowl of Love
\nREVIEW<\/strong>#1258 <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” \u2014Rudyard Kipling Should you have the pleasure of getting to know Chef Marie Yniguez, even a little, you’ll come away with three absolute certainties.\u00a0 First, Albuquerque’s arguably most famous celebrity chef is unabashedly herself.\u00a0 The happy, loving, gregarious person you’ve seen on numerous Food Network culinary competitions doesn’t have a pretentious bone in her body.\u00a0 She is as genuine and sincere as they come.\u00a0 Though she left the hardscrabble mining town of Hurley, New Mexico a lifetime ago, she remains a country girl at heart. And even though she was as a semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef – Southwest” honor in 2022, she remains as humble as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3628,440,540,2836,112,141,561],"tags":[1685,1686,1687,2308,1677,1682,1701,1678,2594,842,1457,1679,1683,1684,1681,1680],"class_list":["post-60019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-james-beard-foundation-best-chef-southwest-semifinalist-2022","category-albuquerque","category-breakfast","category-james-beard-award-best-chef-restaurants","category-new-mexican","category-new-mexico","category-rating-outstanding","tag-baloney-sandwich","tag-biscuits-and-green-chile-gravy","tag-carnitas-tacos","tag-carrot-cake","tag-chef-marie-yniguez","tag-chocolate-cherry-cake","tag-diners-drive-ins-and-dives","tag-food-network","tag-fried-spam-sandwich","tag-green-chile-cheeseburger","tag-james-beard-best-chef-nominee","tag-moms","tag-olgas-flat-red-chile-enchiladas","tag-patty-melt","tag-rebel-donut","tag-virgen-de-guadalupe"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Moms - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=60019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Moms - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” \u2014Rudyard Kipling Should you have the pleasure of getting to know Chef Marie Yniguez, even a little, you’ll come away with three absolute certainties.\u00a0 First, Albuquerque’s arguably most famous celebrity chef is unabashedly herself.\u00a0 The happy, loving, gregarious person you’ve seen on numerous Food Network culinary competitions doesn’t have a pretentious bone in her body.\u00a0 She is as genuine and sincere as they come.\u00a0 Though she left the hardscrabble mining town of Hurley, New Mexico a lifetime ago, she remains a country girl at heart. 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