AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenSeafood

Desert Fish – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:31 PM

If you were entertaining a visitor from Seattle or Portland, would you take them to Long John Silver’s, Captain D’s or even  Pelican’s to show them how the seafood in land-locked Albuquerque measures up to the seafood in those two bastions of fresh, succulent seafood?  Not likely!  You’d probably want to take them to a restaurant which showcases New Mexico’s red and green chile.  For some reason, however, during business trips to Seattle and Portland, my well-intentioned colleagues insist on taking me to Mexican restaurants.  Perhaps they assume that with my Spanish surname and place of residence, I would want to try their Mexican food.  That makes as much sense as expecting me to stay at La Quinta and drive a Ford Fiesta rental car. As a consequence of such faulty (albeit well-meaning) assumptions, I’ve been subjected to such chains as Chevy’s and other restaurants of that ilk where instead of “red or green,” a gloppy brown “sauce” absolutely reeking of the accursed demon spice cumin is ladled on liberally over the overly cheesy entrees.  Perhaps discerning my disdain for chains, my colleagues have also entertained me at such independent, but no less offensive Americanized Mexican restaurants as Macheezmo Mouse (you read…

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Outlook Cafe – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:25 PM

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  that their  “lucrative investment” would  ensure a comfortable retirement in “among the greenest, most fertile valleys in the world.”  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 for the two-lane Unser Boulevard on which we drove.  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.   It would have to be a true destination restaurant, an  exclusive enclave far away from the bustling well-beaten and well-eaten path that defines the City of Vision’s dining scene. In truth, from the intersection of Rio Rancho’s Unser and Southern Boulevards, the Outlook…

AlbuquerqueRating: Very GoodSalvadoran

Pupuseria Y Restaurante Salvadoreño – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:18 AM

In the 1980s, several hundred thousand Salvadorans fled their civil war ravaged nation (courtesy, many would say of America’s attempting to turn El Salvador into the Western hemisphere’s version of Vietnam).  Many migrated to large metropolitan areas in the United States where their culture has quietly flourished.  Those immigrants introduced and hooked Californians on their national snack, a modest street food called the pupusa.  If you’ve never had a pupusa, there’s a chance you may have learned of them on the Food Network’s Diners Drive-Ins and Dives program.  In 2009, host Guy Fieri visited Santa Fe’s Tune-Up Cafe where the garrulous wayfarer was first introduced to pupusas himself. A pupusa is a thick, hand-made corn tortilla stuffed with sundry ingredients, the only limitation as to what each is engorged with being the imagination of the chef preparing them.  Unlike New Mexican tortillas, Salvadorian tortillas are made with no baking powder and very little (if any) salt.  They’re roughly four-inches in diameter and made with a maize masa.  In recent decades, pupuserias have sprung up in many large American cities.  Generally small and family run, pupuserias have been developing a very popular following among college students and adventurous diners. Pupuseria Y Restaurante…

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‘O Eating House – Pojoaque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:57 PM

Until the 1990s, Poeh (also known as the Pueblo of Pojoaque) lived up to its name. In Tewa, the traditional language of six of New Mexico’s eight northern Pueblos, “Poeh” means pathway. That’s all Poeh seemed to be–a pathway to somewhere else.  Located fifteen miles north of Santa Fe on U.S. 84/285, Poeh didn’t seem to draw a second glance from speeding motorists on their way to Taos.  That was the case until the 1990s when the late Poeh governor Jake Viarrial and other tribal visionaries led an economic renaissance that established thriving Pueblo businesses, including flourishing gaming operations. Today Poeh’s numerous tribal enterprises make it a model of prosperity and self-sufficiency. Its empire now includes the Cities of Gold casino, the Buffalo Thunder resort (New Mexico’s largest and most expensive resort), two hotels, two golf courses, a shopping center, a wellness center and a Santa Fe caliber fine-dining restaurant called Ó (pronounced “oh”) Eating House. The restaurant is named for the traditional corn grinding stone, perhaps the most essential of prehistoric cooking implements, at the center of traditional Pueblo kitchens.  Located just east of the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum, the Ó Eating House launched its new dining concept…

AnnouncementsRed or Green - New Mexico Food Scene is on Fire

2010: The Year In Food

Gil Garduno3:06 AM

Tis the season…for year-end retrospectives in which the good, the bad and the ugly; the triumphs and tragedies; the highs and lows and the ups and downs are revisited ad-infinitum by seemingly every print and cyberspace medium in existence.  It’s the time of year in which the “in-your-face” media practically forces a reminiscence–either fondly or with disgust–about the year that was.  It’s a time for introspection, resolutions and for looking forward with hope to the year to come.  The New Mexico culinary landscape had more highs than it did lows in 2010. Here’s my thrilling (and filling) recap. In January Mary & Tito’s was announced as the 2010 recipient of the Foundation’s “America’s Classics Award,” a prestigious accolade honoring “a restaurant with timeless appeal, beloved in its region for quality food that reflects the character of its community. Mary and her daughter Antoinette, the heart and soul of Mary & Tito’s, picked up their award at New York City’s fabled Lincoln Center in March. Mary & Tito’s has been earning devotees since 1963 with the best, most authentic New Mexican cuisine in the Land of Enchantment.  It is the third restaurant in New Mexico to be honored with the America’s…

AlbuquerqueSeafood

Pelican’s Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:07 AM

The remonstrance from a group of my foodie friends was vocal and animated when I contended that good seafood in the Duke City dining establishments not only exists, some of it borders on greatness.  One ardent detractor asserted that good seafood in our landlocked community is as rare as a good steak was on Gilligan’s Island.  Another argued that only at Pappadeaux, a national chain, could good seafood be found while a third reminisced that in the 1990s there were actually three restaurants–Cafe Oceana, the Rio Grande Yacht Club and Pelican’s–vying perennially for “best seafood” honors. My rejoinder was to remind them of the half-dozen or so mariscos (Mexican seafood) restaurants in the Duke City, most of which serve very good to excellent seafood.  “Duplicity,” they cried, “when we think of seafood, we’re thinking of King crab, Ahi tuna, lobster and halibut.”  I then reminded them that Pelican’s continues to thrive in two Duke City locations–the original on the Heights (9800 Montgomery, N.E.) and a newer location on the burgeoning Northwest side (10022 Coors, N.W.).  They unanimously found merit in the case for Pelican’s, a popular seafood emporium that has served Albuquerque since 1975. That’s more than three and a…

AnnouncementsNew Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

Introducing The New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

Gil Garduno4:39 PM

Charles Darwin, the English naturalist who posited the theory of natural selection concluded that “the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting to their environment.”  Though his theory centered around all species of life, could a case be made that the theory applies to restaurants as well?  Do the very best restaurants stand the test of time because they succeed in adapting to their environment?  I, for one, don’t think so! As restaurants demonstrating longevity often demonstrate, adapting to their environments doesn’t  mean changing with the times to become what they’re not.  Restaurants with a timeless appeal tend to be true to themselves–trendsetters, not followers.  Restaurants with a timeless appeal survive because they generally have a good product to begin with.  They provide good value, excellent service and perhaps most of all, a memorable dining experience. Truly timeless classics traverse the span of years and generations, often creating a bond of shared memories between parents and their children. As celebrity chef Mario Batali says, “it’s not all about food, it’s about memories.” Americans are a nostalgic people.  We long for the good old days and don our rose-colored glasses when we reminisce about…

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GoNuts Donuts – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:26 AM

Their Points of View. ‘Twixt optimist and pessimist The difference is droll; The optimist the doughnut sees – The pessimist the hole. – New York Sun, 1904 It’s almost deliciously ironic that the “Optimist’s Creed” references the oft-maligned donut. In recent years, donuts and their high-carb brethren have been damned and all but banned by the “nutritionally correct” who believe America should supplant these decadent orbs of sugary deliciousness with tofu, celery sticks, carrots and beef juice.  Donuts went through a period in which they were nearly as popular as terrorist extremists at a New York City fire department party.  Even the once sanctified Krispy Kreme saw its stock prices plummet. In such a climate of adversity, it is donut purveyors who have to be eternal optimists even as their product is assailed and vilified. Albuquerque has in recent years seen the demise, departure or diminished numbers of Krispy Kreme, Shipley’s Donuts, Winchell’s Donuts and even Dunkin’ Donuts. Whether it was an onslaught of health-crazed fanatics, reduced ranks in the police force or a combination of other factors, the Duke City can hardly be called the Donut City. In an article for Saveur, writer extraordinaire John T. Edge, who spent…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseClosed in 2016Gone But Not Forgotten

China Best – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:27 PM

In the United States Navy and Coast Guard, no one is as revered, respected or admired as a sailor promoted within the enlisted naval ranks to Chief Petty Officer.  The “Chief” is expected to be a source of sagacity, a paragon of good will, an authority on personnel relations and the undisputed technical expert.  In the Navy, if you want to get something done, everyone knows to ask the Chief. Sailors in the three Chief Petty Officer ranks are accorded distinctive privileges such as a separate lounge, sleeping area and galley (kitchen for you landlubbers) on board  large naval vessels.  These areas reserved for Chiefs are known as the “goat locker” and by tradition all other personnel–up to and including the commanding officer–must request permission to enter the goat locker. If someone is invited to dine in the Chief’s Mess (a military dining room, for you civilians), it is customary to eat everything on the plate, regardless of what condiments may be added by members of the Mess to “enhance” the dining experience.  From the late 1800s to the  early 1960s, the United States Navy, in respect and recognition of the senior position of the Chief Petty Officer provided durable,…

AmericanClosed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanRio Rancho

Sevyn’s Cafe – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:15 AM

During a 1996 episode of Seinfeld, George Costanza, a self-proclaimed “short, balding, unattractive man” made the mistake of telling his fiancee he wanted to name his child “Seven” after his idol Mickey Mantle.  To George’s chagrin, his fiancee’s cousins liked the idea so much they decided to name their own child Seven.  Even as the female cousin was being wheeled by an orderly into the delivery room, George tried in vain to convince them to name the child something else.  Six,  Thirteen, Fourteen, even…Soda.  “it’s bubbly, it’s refreshing!,” he cried. Driving by the familiar yellow roofed building that previously housed the now defunct Mad Max’s BBQ, I couldn’t help but laugh while recalling that hilarious episode.  There on that yellow roof was new signage for a cafe named Sevyn’s Cafe–George Costanza’s coveted baby name only spelled differently.  Sevyn’s Cafe opened for business on Wednesday, November 5th, 2010, the retirement dream of Pamela and Ralph Hartsock.  Pamela, a nurse, and Ralph, who’s in the construction clean-up business, haven’t retired yet, but it’s never too early to start planning. Pamela explained that the cafe is named for her granddaughter, jokingly adding that her son picked the name in recognition of the seven…

AlbuquerqueIndianRating: ExcellentVegetarian/Vegan

Annapurna Ayurvedic Cuisine – Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:14 AM

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.” Anthony Bourdain’s dour diatribe on the “evils” of vegeterians and vegans is hardly unwonted.  The internet is rife with mean-spirited assailments against people who choose a plant-based diet that includes fruits, cereal grains, seeds, nuts and vegetables and may or may not exclude dairy products and eggs.  Reciprocation in kind is also well represented on the Internet by vegetarians and vegans who lambast the carnivorous cravings of meat-eaters. This lack of civility and parochial discourse is usually reserved for politics and ideologues (on both sides of the aisle) who can’t concede any merit whatsoever about the opposing viewpoint.  It’s not enough to disagree with someone else’s opinion or choice, dissenters on both sides seem to have a base need to resort to derisive pejoratives. So, just how do you resolve differences of opinion without…