AmericanBar & GrillBernalilloClosed in 2013Gone But Not Forgotten

Ancient Spirits Bar & Grille – Bernalillo, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:47 PM

“Ancient spirits dwell in New Mexico, since before the existence of humanity.” – The Husband: A Novel by Dean Koontz FROM THE ANCIENT SPIRITS BLOG ON JULY 17:  Due to unforeseen circumstances Ancient Spirits Bar and Grille has had to close its doors. We have lost one of our owner/investors and are searching for someone to take his place. We are hoping that this is only a temporary setback and that we will be able to open back up very soon. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your support. The presence of ancient spirits is ubiquitous throughout New Mexico.  It’s a presence as palpable as a soft caress or a small, still voice.  You can feel that presence while standing reverently under a canopy of stars when the hushed stillness of an ebony night is punctuated by a gentle breeze.  You can sense those ancient spirits around craggy canyon walls which reach precipitously upwards to cerulean skies.  Contrary to what is popularly postulated, these spirits are earthbound not because of unresolved issues, but because they can’t bear to leave the preternatural beauty of the Land of Enchantment. Some will call it sacrilege, others will argue it’s a tribute,…

BarbecueBreakfastClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRio Rancho

The Smokehouse Barbecue Restaurant (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:38 AM

The very best restaurants–those we’re proud to call our favorites–aren’t always the swankiest and most elegant venues.  They’re not even usually the restaurants you visit on special occasions.  They’re our favorites because for the duration of our meal, all our cares dissipate and our faith that everything will be okay is restored as we’re fed comforting, delicious food by servers we know and trust.  The Smokehouse has been such a refuge to hundreds of Rio Rancho area residents for nearly two and a half decades.  The Smokehouse’s last full day of operation was Saturday, June 22nd, 2013.  Then on Sunday night, June 23rd at 6PM, owner Gary West invited guests to a farewell soiree where he  exhausted his remaining food inventory: amazing smoked turkey, ribs and so much more.  There wasn’t  a charge for the meal though Gary jokingly had a jar in which guests could contribute to his retirement.  Gary will be leaving the desert climes of New Mexico for Hawaii where he plans to lead a life of leisure.  Aloha, Gary.  You and the Smokehouse will be missed. In his headlines segment on April Fools Day 2001, Tonight Show host Jay Leno had a good laugh at the…

AfricanAlbuquerqueClosed in 2014Gone But Not Forgotten

Rafiki Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:00 PM

“Let us break bread and celebrate our diversity.” ~Desmond Tutu Peruvian cuisine…been there, done that!  Moroccan meals…that’s so yesterday.  Persian food…it’s had its day.  Pan Asian dining…erstwhile eating.  Never mind Italian regional cuisine and Spanish tapas.  Once fresh and nouveau, they’re now practically prehistoric.  Who would have thought ten years ago that the Duke City would become so cosmopolitan, so open to multicultural culinary elements from all over the world?  Who would have guessed that cuisine once considered exotic and alien would become just another welcome part of the culinary climate? In contemporary times fashioned by an interconnected world, a community of intrepid diners in Albuquerque has become very receptive and accepting of new foods. We embrace diversity, craving adventurous eating and won’t hesitate to try anything new. In fact, we sometimes prefer to try something new than to return to something we’ve already experienced. We rarely order the same thing twice. Leave the aversion to change and to trying new things to the “chain gangs,” those diners who find comfort in the mundanity of chain restaurants. One of the exotic cuisines which has recently gained a foothold in the Duke City culinary scene is African cuisine though that term…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011

Lumpy’s Burgers – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:44 AM

Of all the adjectives that can be used to describe something or someone, lumpy is certainly not one of the most complimentary.  Think of all the Archie Bunker-like tantrums thrown during holiday meals when lumpy mashed potatoes are served or the breakfast battles that ensue when the oatmeal is lumpy. In fits of pique, seven-time Academy Award nominated actor Richard Burton often called his voluptuous wife Elizabeth Taylor “lumpy,” perhaps one of the reasons Hollywood’s most volatile couple was twice divorced and their relationship generally tumultuous. Perhaps worse than describing something as “lumpy” is giving someone that nickname. Consider the Saturday Night Live skit which poked fun at former University of New Mexico golfer and current PGA tour pro Tim Herron because the “less than svelte” golfer’s nickname is “Lumpy.”  Never mind that the self-deprecating Herron embraces the sobriquet, it’s often the target of derision.  The Leave It To Beaver television series of the 50s and 60s portrayed “Lumpy” Rutherford as a “hefty” teenage dullard who’s a bit of a bully. So why would a hamburger joint on Route 66 christen itself “Lumpy?”  Prospective diners would certainly hope it’s not a descriptive adjective for its burgers.  When owners Jay Kennedy…

ItalianRating: N/R (Not Rated)Santa Fe

Pranzo Italian Grill – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:41 PM

Can you imagine New Mexico Magazine‘s scintillating culinary liaison Cheryl Alters Jamison declaring to the world that Texas chili, that cumin-laden “con carne” bowl of red (insert your favorite epithet here), is superior to New Mexico’s red and green and that our chefs are shamelessly usurping Texas culinary traditions? Not even as an April Fool’s Day joke would she do that…and if she did, her husband Bill would probably have her committed. In May, 2013, an Italian culture minister committed a near treasonous act in declaring that “In Italy we haven’t eaten well for a long time, unfortunately. We have chased after the trends, the French, moving away from our idea of cooking.” The latter portion of that comment was especially perfidious to proud Italians, whose cuisine the international culinary community (and especially French propaganda) have long decried as inferior to the haute (and haughty) French cuisine. It would certainly be understandable if the cultural minister had bad-mouthed the Olive Garden, but certainly not the authentic and incomparable cuisine prepared in ristorantes, trattorias, osterias, pizzerias, paninotecas, caffes, saladates and gelaterias across Lo Stivale (the boot). If the emissary of eating doesn’t like the Italian food prepared in its country of…

New MexicanRating: N/R (Not Rated)San Antonio

San Antonio Crane Mexican Restaurant – San Antonio, New Mexican

Gil Garduno5:28 PM

Though I’m widely credited as being the “godfather of Albuquerque food blogging“(or the “Yoda of food” as the great Jenn Wolhetz once called me), before there was a Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Web, there was another voice calling in the wilderness to alert diners to the Land of Enchantment’s culinary offerings.  Before there was a Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Web, there was John W. Shipman food page and it was the most prominent and highly respected online source of independent restaurant reviews in New Mexico. John Shipman, a software engineer at the New Mexico Institute of Technology, called himself a “gourmand in the dessert.”  His reviews were very well written and highly descriptive, reflecting the culinary savvy of a diner who understands food very well: its composition, its provenance, its flavor profiles.  To say John was an inspiration to me is a vast understatement.  He was the “everyman critic” whose prose and style I emulated (though he was much more successful than I at getting right to the point).  Some of his reviews can still be found online though he doesn’t update them very often. To me John W. Shipman commands the type of respect given E. F. Hutton on…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2015Food TruckGone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

El Chicken 100% Carbon – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:13 AM

My environmentally conscious friend Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver doesn’t have a large carbon footprint.  No environmental activist would ever condemn him for fouling the air and water with a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, Sr. Plata leaves large “carbon fingerprints,” the finger-licking kind you get from frequenting restaurants which specialize in pollo al carbon, chicken prepared over charcoal.  Pollo al carbon has spoiled Sr. Plata.  He craves those juicy, golden-skinned birds speckled with black char, chicken so meaty and delicious it makes store-bought rotisserie chickens look positively anorexic in comparison.  Who can blame Sr. Plata?   Pollo al carbon is absolutely addictive.  It’s truly finger-licking good, much better (by legions) than you’ll find at the Colonel’s place. Fortunately the Duke City has several outstanding purveyors of pollo al carbon. Sr. Plata’s current favorite is El Pollo Real Colombiano, but when it comes to great chicken, he’s hardly monogamous.  When the cleverly sobriqueted O-U-8-1-2 responded to Sr. Plata’s plea for more pollo places to try, we knew we’d have to visit El Chicken, a food truck stationed on the southwest corner of San Pedro and Central.  You can tell you’re getting close by the mouth-watering aroma emanating from the large…

Announcements

Break The Chain Visits Paco’s International Smoked Cuisine

Gil Garduno3:51 PM

When Break The Chain host Ryan Scott learned that a CIA trained chef was operating in the Duke City, he knew he’d have to investigate.  His sleuthing didn’t reveal any clandestine menus or covert cooking, but he did discover a chef with some pretty deft knife-wielding skills.  Throughout Ryan’s interrogation, the chef maintained no cloak of subterfuge or secrecy.  In fact, Chef Paco Aceves was rather forthcoming about his training and his not-so-secret mission here in the Duke City.  Chef Aceves’s mission is to introduce Albuquerque to a range of international smoked foods including some of the most popular American BBQ specialties. His eponymous restaurant, Paco’s International Smoked Cuisine is not your typical BBQ restaurant in that it he utilizes smoking techniques to prepare a menu of rotating dishes from various countries.  Oh, and Chef Aceves was trained by the CIA, but not that CIA.  He’s a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, the other CIA.  The CIA  Chef Aceves attended is America’s most respected school for culinary arts training. In the third YouTube channel episode of Break the Chain, Ryan joins Chef Aceves in the kitchen where the chef displays his formidable culinary skills in preparing a delicious pork…

New MexicoRating: ExcellentSanta FeSouthwestern

La Cantina at Casa Sena – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:12 PM

In the dark ages of 1979 when the world wasn’t nearly as connected as it is today, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ruled the airwaves throughout the United Kingdom just as it had since its founding in 1922. Young listeners complained that the monopoly of control had forged a monotony in programming. For Yanks like me, however, the so-called “monotony” provided the most interesting diversion. In perhaps trying to appeal to listeners of all demographics with a one-size-fits-all approach, the BBC’s programming didn’t seem to make any sense…at least by American standards. My own musical tastes tend to be very eclectic, but the BBC sometimes stretched eclectic beyond logical sense. One of my favorite examples of the “diversity” of the BBC’s music programming was a succession of songs that included True Love by Bing Crosby, Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon and If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body by the Bellamy Brothers. This example of the BBC’s programming was antithetical to that of American radio stations which then and now subscribe to fairly predictable programming formats. Country music stations will play country music, Oldies music stations will play oldies and so forth. Never the twain (not Shania) shall…

AlbuquerqueAsianRating: Very GoodThai

Krung Thai – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:00 AM

At 75 years of age, Grandma remains as energetic and feisty as ever though she’s quite unhappy that her well-intentioned and loving family have made her take Saturdays off. She’d just as soon work six days a week at the Krung Thai Restaurant on Menaul. Grandma’s not only an accomplished cook, she’s got several treasured family recipes locked in her vault of a memory. One of those recipes is for some of the very best Lao sausage in the Duke City. Launched on New Year’s Eve in 2003, Krung Thai translates to “Thai City,” but the restaurant’s menu extends well beyond Thai cuisine. You’ll find Vietnamese and Chinese entrees, too, and you already know about the Lao sausage. Krung Thai is a family owned and operated gem resplendent with traditional Thai decor. The first thing you see when you walk into the restaurant is Suvannamaccha, a mermaid princess. Rivulets of water cascade down her body in a calming cadence. The bright orange-red colored walls are festooned with wall tapestries of ornately attired elephants, the national symbol of Thailand and a symbol of good luck. A number of restaurants have held court at Krung Thai’s comfortable confines, diminutive digs which might…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoVietnamese

Pho Hoa – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:18 AM

Though it ended in 1975, the Vietnam war was still very fresh in the minds of Americans when I enlisted in the Air Force two years later.  Many of my senior colleagues had served in Vietnam and regaled me with tales of their adventures.  It wasn’t man’s inhumanity to man they took away from the experience, but the goodness of people brought together by exigent circumstances.  It is very telling of the high character of my colleagues that despite the ravages of war, they had fallen in love with Vietnam: its people, culture and its food.  Several of my friends sponsored Vietnamese families fleeing the beleaguered nation. One of my friends told me the beauty of Vietnam was best seen in the bright colors of its flowers, the innocence of its children and the femininity of women attired in ao dai, the form-fitting silk tunic worn over pantaloons.  Two of the elements which best exemplify the beauty of Vietnam in my friend’s estimation were fully on display during my inaugural visit to the Pho Hoa Vietnamese Restaurant on Fourth Street. Attired  in colorful ao dai which contours elegantly to their lithe bodies, Monica and Lisa, the delightful servers at Pho…