{"id":9720,"date":"2011-01-13T13:25:12","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T20:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=9720"},"modified":"2018-07-19T18:42:27","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T00:42:27","slug":"outlook-cafe-rio-rancho-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=9720","title":{"rendered":"Outlook Cafe – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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<\/span> The Outlook Cafe in Rio Rancho<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some would argue that the city of Rio Rancho was spawned as a dubious marketing ploy designed to bilk gullible New Yorkers out of their savings by enticing them to a vast wasteland under the pretext\u00a0 that their\u00a0 “lucrative investment<\/em>” would\u00a0 ensure a comfortable retirement in “among the greenest, most fertile valleys in the world<\/em>.”\u00a0 Others see those pioneers who sought to civilize the wilderness on the plateaus west of Albuquerque as visionaries possessing a clarity and prescience that escapes most of us. <\/span><\/p>\n

Frankly, on our inaugural trek to the Outlook Cafe, we began to question our own sanity as we traversed what seemed to be an endlessly empty enormity of sage and sand beyond any vestige of civilization save for the two-lane Unser Boulevard on which we drove.\u00a0 Any restaurant this far out in Rio Rancho’s vast outskirts would have to be a veritable oasis in a high desert expanse untouched and unsullied by modernity. \u00a0 It would have to be a true destination restaurant, an\u00a0 exclusive enclave far away from the bustling well-beaten and well-eaten path that defines the City of Vision’s dining scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> The interior of the Outlook Cafe<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In truth, from the intersection of Rio Rancho’s Unser and Southern Boulevards, the Outlook Cafe is almost equidistant to the Cottonwood Mall.\u00a0 There are far fewer traffic lights, no traffic snarls and once you’re past the turnoff to Northern, virtually no other traffic and only a couple of residential neighborhoods.\u00a0 So, we could perhaps owe the perception of distance to hunger and the anticipation of quelling it with food Susan, a faithful reader of my blog, described as “WOW!!!” and “great.”\u00a0 Well, there is that, but it also seemed far because our paradigm is that most great restaurants are clustered in populated areas.\u00a0 Our mistake!
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

You’ll know you’re getting close when you’ve driven about three miles north of the\u00a0 Santa Ana Star Center and you see the signage for Mariposa, an environmentally-responsible master-planned community in the northwest outskirts of Rio Rancho.\u00a0 Mariposa blends state-of-the-art homes and community buildings with the natural splendor of the hilly desert topography in which the 6,500-acre community is situated.\u00a0 The delicate balance of nature, architecture and community blend in harmoniously with each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Cheesy Grill’as: Mozzarella-stuffed bruschetta wedges with Home on the Ranch dressing<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Outlook Cafe is ensconced in a 1,200 square-foot corner space in the capacious two-story business center, a modern edifice with plenty of glass to take advantage of wondrous panoramic views.\u00a0 From the ground-level cafe, your views are of the Sandia, Sangre de Cristo, Manzano and Ortiz Mountains, views which seem even more spectacular from the patio.\u00a0 The restaurant’s interior is charming in a contemporary European sort of way.\u00a0 Walls are festooned with photo prints from throughout Europe and the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cafe is the brainchild of Linda Woestendiek who runs the restaurant with her affable husband Uwa and their son.\u00a0 With an outlook that could only be described as optimistic, the Woestendieks launched the Outlook Cafe in March, 2009, seemingly in opposition of one of the rules of restaurant success–“location, location, location.”\u00a0 Less than two years later and with minimal advertising, the cafe is frequented by diners from throughout the metropolitan Albuquerque area, Santa Fe and beyond.\u00a0 One particularly enthusiastic patron from Four Hills visits weekly for the cafe’s lamb chops.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> A cup of goulash, one of three “stoups” on the menu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cafe is also frequented by a bobcat, perhaps drawn in by aromas emanating from the kitchen.\u00a0 Other<\/span> indigenous wildlife have been spotted in the neighborhood, a realization that the community is truly leaving the area as undisturbed as possible.\u00a0\u00a0 With tables in relatively close proximity to one another, it may not be possible for patrons to have a completely undisturbed dining experience, but as Uwa explains, a unique phenomenon\u00a0 occurs at the Outlook Cafe.\u00a0 Rather than stay to themselves, patrons often join their tables together and make new friends. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The cafe serves lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday and breakfast until 3PM on weekends.\u00a0 The menu is surprisingly ambitious considering the tiny confines.\u00a0 Even more surprising is the concept change that sees a transformation from comfy cafe to sophisticated bistro during dinner hours and a menu featuring such eye-openers as skewered swordfish and portobello stroganoff.\u00a0 If you’re not in an upscale, uptown mood, at eveningtide, there’s also a “pub” menu that includes popular lunch favorites such as burgers and sandwiches.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> An XXL Hot Dog with mustard and relish served with a large pickle<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All menus will have you doing a double-take.\u00a0 There’s not only something for everyone, there’s something different than is offered just about anywhere else.\u00a0 For example, rather than the de rigueuer two or three soups many restaurants serve, the Outlook Cafe serves a variety of “stoups” which are not quite a stew, but more than a soup.\u00a0 If it’s on the menu, the stoup of the day–any day–is the goulash.\u00a0 Uwa explained that this is German-style goulash, the difference being that his rendition is better than conventional goulash.<\/span><\/p>\n

The goulash is fantastic–chunks of beef tenderloin, potatoes, carrots and tomatoes in a well-seasoned broth showcasing the dynamite flavor of Spanish paprika, a lively and piquant seasoning that Uwa roasts himself.\u00a0 Available in cup or bowl sizes (always order a bowl or you’ll find yourself requesting a second cup), the soup arrives at your table steaming hot, a perfect elixir for cold or wet weather.\u00a0 Without exaggeration, this is some of the very best goulash I’ve ever had–and certainly the very best “stoup.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Brie Burger: A third-pound of lean, ground beef stuffed with melted Brie, served with mango salsa<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Few things go as well with a piping-hot stoup as grilled cheese sandwiches and the Outlook Cafe offers an interesting variation.\u00a0 On the “Off The Charts” section of the menu you’ll find Cheesy Grill’as<\/em>, mozzarella-stuffed bruschetta wedges offered with your choice of one of three sauces: Bloody Mary (spicy marinara), Home on the Ranch (a green chile Ranch) and New Orleans Blues (Tabasco blue cheese).\u00a0 The grill’as are sliced thinly and have diagonal grill marks that complement a buttery glisten.\u00a0 Where the Home on the Ranch dressing lacks in piquancy, it makes up for in sheer deliciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

The “Off The Charts” menu also celebrates the diversity of the hot dog, offering four XX hot dogs. The “basic”–onions, relish and condiment–is the least interesting, at least in ingredient composition, but it’s an excellent grilled dog served on bakery bread. The other hot dogs are the German (sauerkraut, grilled onions and stone-ground mustard), Castilian (sauteed sweet peppers and onions) and the Chicago (yellow mustard, sweet relish, green chili (sic), pastrami, chopped onions, dill pickle spear and celery salt. The latter doesn’t quite fit the Windy City hot dog template, but locals will appreciate the green chili.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Panini
<\/span> Panini Marinara with Meatballs: An open-faced, mozzarella-stuffed garlic bruscetta panini topped with four Italian meatballs and marinara sauce<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Panini sandwiches have become so commonplace as to be considered passe.\u00a0 Frankly, there aren’t many surprises in the pressed bread arena.\u00a0 When Outlook’s lunch menu listed some of their panini sandwiches as “original,” we were skeptical, expecting slight variations on the same standard offerings you’ll find just about everywhere.\u00a0 As we quickly discovered, with a little imagination, high-quality ingredients and a willingness to take a departure from the norm, the panini sandwich can be transformed into a surprisingly tasty meal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such is the case with the Panini Marinara with Meatballs<\/em>, a sort of deconstructed-reconstructed rendition of a meatball sandwich.\u00a0 Instead of a few messy meatballs being stuffed into a hoagie type bread, four sizable meaty orbs covered in a rich red marinara and sprinkled with mozzarella rest atop a mozzarella-stuffed garlic bruscetta panini.\u00a0 This is a sandwich you eat with a fork, though it would be excellent on its own right as a cheese sandwich with meatballs on the side.\u00a0 The meatballs are this sandwiches best feature.\u00a0 They’re well-seasoned without a profusion of gritty filler.\u00a0 The marinara has a tangy, fresh tomato taste and would make a great sauce for pasta.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Let
<\/span> “Let Them Eat Bread” – sliced baguette served warm with assorted butters and a vegetable spread<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The menu’s specialty burgers are an enticing invitation to try something safe yet unconventional, familiar yet different.\u00a0 That’s especially true if you think you’ve sampled almost every conceivable ingredient combination possible on a burger.\u00a0 A new one on me was the Brie Burger, a third-pound of lean, ground beef stuffed with melted Brie served with mango salsa, a sliced tomato, large-leaf lettuce and a dill pickle spear on wonderful bakery buns smeared with mayonnaise.\u00a0 The brie is of medium sharpness, a crumbly variety with a nice flavor.\u00a0 The salsa is fresh and delicious, an amalgam of onion, red pepper and juicy mango.\u00a0 This is a find!<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, it’s one thing for a restaurant to excel at lunch.\u00a0 The real test, especially for a small restaurant with an ambitious menu, is to perform exponentially better at dinner.\u00a0 Lunch is like a preliminary bout; dinner is the main event.\u00a0 That’s when expectations are highest.\u00a0 That’s when you know you’ll be shelling out the big bucks, but you also expect to get your money’s worth.\u00a0 Our expectations of the Outlook Cafe were so high from our inaugural lunch that we returned for dinner three nights later.\u00a0 The “little cafe that could”…did.\u00a0 It surpassed our expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs: Four egg halves filled with a creamy deviled egg and crab mixture, topped with red and black lumpfish caviar<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The “Snacks and Starters” section of the Bistro Nights menu includes an appetizer throwback from the 1950s\u00a0 which seems to be making a comeback, even in fine-dining restaurants.\u00a0 Deviled eggs<\/em> are no longer the Rodney Dangerfield of any restaurant’s starter menu.\u00a0 They’re getting respect because chefs are employing their creativity to do more than evoke nostalgia.\u00a0 The Outlook Cafe’s rendition is a beauteous tray showcasing four egg halves\u00a0 filled with a creamy deviled egg and crab mixture topped with red and black lumpfish caviar.\u00a0 They’re as tasty as their plating is elegant.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dinner portion of the Bistro Nights menu features seven entrees, four of which are asterisked with the designation “an Outlook Cafe original.”\u00a0 To say anything is original is an audacious claim, but the Outlook Cafe may just have pulled it off with eye-opening combinations such as the lamb chop entree which helped me understand just why someone would drive from the Four Hills neighborhood for these every week.\u00a0 Now, there’s nothing original about lamb chops.\u00a0 It’s the entire plate that earns that designation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Lamb Chops (ten-ounces) served on a bed of orzo with streams of mint\/jalapeno and roasted pepper sauces<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four lamb chops, ten-ounces in all, are perfectly prepared at medium which means they’re juicy with just a hint of pink inside.\u00a0 These meat lollipops have none of the characteristic gaminess for which lamb chops are often disdained.\u00a0 They’re absolutely delicious, a wonderful foil for the mint and jalapeno sauce.\u00a0 Lamb and meat sauce are meant for one another; jalapeno adds a little zest to the freshness of the mint.\u00a0 This stuff should be bottled and sold.\u00a0 The orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, is buttery and delicious with a creaminess unique to this pasta.\u00a0 The roasted pepper sauce was pure dynamite with more than a hint of piquancy and a nice pepper-flavored intensity.\u00a0 These are lamb chops I’d order again and again and again. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another entree that bears repeating is the Steak Au Poivre<\/em>, a ten-ounce flatiron-style peppered beef tenderloin served with rustic garlic mashed potatoes.\u00a0 This is a remarkable steak with a nice crust derived from the peppercorns which provide its pleasant pungency, a complementary counterpoint to the beef’s rich flavor.\u00a0 This steak is tender and delicious with a gravy-like pan sauce hinting of perhaps a cognac reduction.\u00a0 By design, the rustic mashed potatoes have a lump here and there, but they’re so darned deliciously garlicky you won’t care.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Steak Au Poivre – Flatiron-style peppered beef tenderloin served with rustic mashed potatoes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dinners include a complementary serving of “let them eat bread<\/em>,” a sliced baguette served warm with assorted butters and a vegetable spread.\u00a0 On the night of our inaugural visit, our bread was accompanied by an herb butter, a cream cheese with garlic spread and a third spread which escapes me.\u00a0 The baguette is terrific–a hard-crusted beauty with a soft, airy inside.<\/span><\/p>\n

Desserts are housemade treats showcased under glass.\u00a0 Linda is the inspired genius responsible for such gems as cinnamon roll cookies.\u00a0 Bite into these orbs of deliciousness and you’ll see a cinnamon swirl that just seems so right considering these cookies are topped with an orange-flavored glaze.\u00a0 Another excellent sweet treat is the blueberry cheesecake, a not-so-traditional confection that starts with a bar cookie which is topped with a blueberry-infused cheesecake. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cinnamon
<\/span> Cinnamon Roll Cookies and Blueberry Cheesecake<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s interesting that with our appetites sated and our taste buds contented, the “endlessly empty enormity of sage and sand” seemed suddenly rich with beauty. As Rio Rancho continues its expansion and more people discover this little gem, the road to the Outlook Cafe will be a bit more congested and the topography won’t seem as blessedly, desolately empty. It’s a drive we’ll take more often to what is truly an off-the-beaten path jewel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outlook Cafe<\/strong>
\n2500 Parkway Avenue, N.E., Suite 104
\nRio Rancho, New Mexico<\/strong>
\nLATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 13 January 2011
\n1st VISIT<\/strong>:\u00a0 31 October 2010
\n# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 3
\nRATING<\/strong>: 22<\/strong><\/span>
\nCOST<\/strong>: $$
\nBEST BET<\/strong>:\u00a0 Cheesy Grill’as, Goulash, XXL Hot Dog, Brie Burger, Cinnamon Roll Cookies, Blueberry Cheesecake, Panini Marinara with Meatballs, “Let Them Eat Bread”, Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs, Lamb Chops, Steak Au Poivre <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some would argue that the city of Rio Rancho was spawned as a dubious marketing ploy designed to bilk gullible New Yorkers out of their savings by enticing them to a vast wasteland under the pretext\u00a0 that their\u00a0 “lucrative investment” would\u00a0 ensure a comfortable retirement in “among the greenest, most fertile valleys in the world.”\u00a0 Others see those pioneers who sought to civilize the wilderness on the plateaus west of Albuquerque as visionaries possessing a clarity and prescience that escapes most of us. Frankly, on our inaugural trek to the Outlook Cafe, we began to question our own sanity as we traversed what seemed to be an endlessly empty enormity of sage and sand beyond any vestige of civilization save…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47176,"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":[21,540,165,582,262,265],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american","category-breakfast","category-brunch","category-closed-in-2011","category-closed","category-rio-rancho"],"yoast_head":"\nOutlook Cafe - Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED) - 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=9720\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Outlook Cafe - Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED) - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some would argue that the city of Rio Rancho was spawned as a dubious marketing ploy designed to bilk gullible New Yorkers out of their savings by enticing them to a vast wasteland under the pretext\u00a0 that their\u00a0 “lucrative investment” would\u00a0 ensure a comfortable retirement in “among the greenest, most fertile valleys in the world.”\u00a0 Others see those pioneers who sought to civilize the wilderness on the plateaus west of Albuquerque as visionaries possessing a clarity and prescience that escapes most of us. 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