AmericanClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoTaos County

Gypsy 360 Cafe & Espresso Bar – Arroyo Seco, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:16 PM

Whether bathed by the sunshine of a dazzling daytime sun or illuminated by the shimmering glow of a starry moonlit night, the 360 degree views from the village of Arroyo Seco are enticing enough to convince any weary sojourner, wandering vagabond or peripatetic gypsy to end their nomadic ways and settle down. Your vantage points to the immediate north and distant south include sacred snow capped Tiwa mountains reaching majestically for New Mexico’s incomparable cobalt skies. Verdant fields present a dramatic east facing panorama while prominent vast expanses of stark terrain seem to go on forever on your western perspective. It’s truly an idyllic setting for a gastronomic paradise in which creative ingredients play a mellifluous tune on your taste buds. The menu is worldly sophistication and eclectic with several Asiatic appetizers and entrees holding court. We tried several of them and came away impressed. Thai beef lettuce wraps featuring grilled and marinated beef sautéed with red onion nested in cool lettuce leafs are garnished with cilantro and peanuts then served with a Vietnamese sweet and sour dipping sauce. They are messy but magnificent. Nowadays it seems every restaurant serves sushi (usually of inferior quality) and Gypsy 360 is no…

AmericanClosed in 2007Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSanta Fe

Señor Lucky’s – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:40 PM

Senor Lucky’s closed in February 2006. A thriving gambling hall, bordello and saloon once occupied the space in which Señor Lucky’s is now situated. It was operated by 19th-century matriarch, Gertrudes Barcelo (better known as Doña Tules) who entertained guests with dances, drink and cards, amassing a fortune as one of Santa Fe’s most infamous and enterprising citizens. Historians believe she collaborated with the U.S. Army, loaning money to its officers money so they could pay the American soldiers occupying Santa Fe around the time of the American takeover. Local lore also indicates she not only got paid back by the government, but also got back most of her original loan via the gambling losses of soldiers who frequented her popular establishment. Doña Tules has long since passed away, but her establishment has continued to thrive, albeit not as a sala of questionable repute. It has served as a formal restaurant since 1961 when the Victorian stylings of The Palace began showcasing one of the city’s most leisurely and romantic ambiences, one that hearkened back to a San Francisco restaurant of 100 years ago. Replete with starched linen tablecloths, dim lighting, fresh flowers and a sophisticated menu, it was also…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenIce CreamNational Chain

Ben & Jerry’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:31 AM

Ben & Jerry’s is a different kind of restaurant–one with a social conscience–serving premium ice cream. Founded on and dedicated to a sustainable corporate concept of linked prosperity, its mission consists of three interrelated parts–a product mission, an economic mission and a social mission. Its product mission is to make, distribute and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the Environment. Irrespective of your political bent, you’ve got to respect that. In New Mexico, Ben & Jerry scoop shops support various nonprofit programs including the restoration of the Rio Grande Bosque. Founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in Burlington, Vermont, Ben & Jerry’s has since expanded to nearly 250 shops in the United States as well as in France, Israel, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. By year’s end (2004), there were three Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops in the Duke City where grocery stores have sold these wonderful ice cream concoctions for years. The restaurant features more than 50 ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet products and it’s a safe bet to assume they’re…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014FrenchGone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Le Cafe Miche – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:37 AM

Cafe Miche has been regarded as one of Albuquerque’s best restaurants since its 1996 launch and according to the Zagat Survey, was the number one rated French restaurant in the state for three consecutive years. Honored with an Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator magazine and boasting of one of the city’s best wine lists, Cafe Miche has a passionate following of faithful followers. I suspect some of them visit almost as much for the wonderful cuisine as to enjoy the company of effusive chef Claus Hjortkjaer and his statuesque wife and partner Linda, both of whom seem to know most of their patrons (and if they don’t know you, they still make you feel quite at home). A great Dane who studied classic French cuisine in Denmark, Claus has an impressive pedigree that includes previous stints at several highly regarded restaurants in New Mexico. In 2005, he began hosting a Sunday morning radio show on a local FM station, adding to the “Miche Man’s” celebrity status. When we complimented him on that show, he remarked that anyone could do it if they’re “full of it.” Full of talent might be more like it. He can meld seemingly disparate and…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanNew Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

La Placita Dining Rooms – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:35 AM

For convenience, if not for fiery New Mexico authenticity, you can’t beat La Placita, a yawning restaurant housed in the historic Casa de Armijo hacienda on Old Town Plaza. The Casa de Armijo was built in 1706 and occupied for many generations by the prominent Armijo family. Over the course of its three hundred year existence, the three foot thick adobe walled structure also served as a fort and a refuge before housing Armijo’s mercantile store in which gentlemen’s linen underwear could be purchased for $1 and dainty ladies’ lace gloves sold for 10 cents a pair. The Casa de Armijo was restored to its present condition in 1930 when it was remodeled in conformity to its venerable character. Serving as the La Placita dining Rooms since 1931, it is one of the oldest continuous serving restaurants in New Mexico. Today, the sprawling edifice houses several dining rooms, each replete with excellent examples of Southwestern art. La Placita also plays host to interesting paranormal phenomena. In the foyer is a magnificent staircase imported from Spain by the family patriarch for his daughter’s wedding in 1872. The daughter’s wedding dress had a 30-foot train which must have draped from top to…

BrunchNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSanta FeSteak

Rio Chama Steakhouse – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:56 PM

The murky Rio Chama meanders through the high plateaus of northwestern New Mexico surrounded by multi-colored sandstone cliffs reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe’s landscape paintings in which colors seem to defy nature. The ambiance at the Rio Chama Steakhouse is of muted earth tones and subdued Southwestern patinas. Exquisite elegance is in evidence throughout the restaurant as this truly fine dining establishment exudes class and wealth. Serving prime and choice dry aged steaks, chops and seafood, this high-end and classy establishment has garnered accolades since its inception–Cocinita Magazine’s Critics’ Choice Award in 2001 and the Santa Fe Reporter Readers’ Choice award for best new restaurant in 2001 and 2002. It is the sister restaurant to Santa Fe restaurants La Casa Sena and the Blue Corn Cafe as well as Albuquerque’s Chama River Brewing Company, all properties of Santa Fe Dining, the restaurant company owned by Santa Fe art dealer and developer Gerald Peters. We don’t always concur with pundits and their salivating effusion, but after our inaugural visit to the Rio Chama Steakhouse, we began to evangelize on its behalf with the passion of a fiery preacher. Subsequent visits have proven this isn’t a “one hit wonder.” An excellent lunch, brunch…

IllinoisMexicanMichelin: One StarRating: ExtraordinaryRestaurants Which Have Earned Michelin HonorsUnited States

TOPOLOBAMPO – Chicago, Illinois

Gil Garduno4:26 AM

A quote attributed to Marcel Marceau, the French mime famous for his sad-faced clown, aptly describes my attempts at describing a meal at Topolobampo: “Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words.” Life’s vicissitudes often include moments which move you deeply and stir your very soul. Our inaugural dining experience at Topolobampo was not so profound and cathartic as to move us to drastically change our lives, but it certainly prompted a stirring awakening as we experienced what was conceivably the best restaurant meal we’ve ever had. Perhaps more impressively, a second visit affirmed that opinion with an equally stunning array of unsurpassed delights. Several of the other effusive reviews I’ve written are mere hyperbole in comparison to what I’d like to say about Topolobampo if I was skilled enough to do so. Topolobampo is simply the best restaurant in which we’ve dined, so far superior to other restaurants I previously thought were outstanding that I scaled down my ratings for many of them. The sister restaurant of Frontera Grill, “Topolo” shares its front door and bar with its sibling, but is even more classy and elegant, more than a notch above. On the day…

IllinoisRating: ExcellentSeafoodUnited States

Bob Chinn’s Crab House – Wheeling, Illinois

Gil Garduno11:09 PM

Over 900,000 customers in 1999 couldn’t be wrong when they spent over $28M, the third largest revenue for the year among independent (non-chain) restaurants at Bob Chinn’s Crab House in land-locked Wheeling, Illinois. In 2004, Bob Chinn’s was fifth in revenue among America’s independents. Fresh seafood flown in daily to a capacious restaurant is the reason why. Turn-away throngs of patrons line up to order their favorite fish feast from a fabulous menu. Many indulge on one of the shrimp lovers choices, all of which are perfectly seasoned (or sweetened as in the case of the wonderful coconut shrimp) with a generous amount of right-sized, de-veined, peel and eat shrimp. You can have your shrimp hot and spicy or bathed in enough garlic to ward off the blood lust of even the most heinous vampire. In fact, if you’re a garlic aficionado, this is the restaurant for you. Bob Chinn’s garlic rolls are the best in America and the main reason we terminated our Adkins Diet during a visit in 2000. Those garlic rolls are dripping in butter and caked with garlic. An appetizer sided platter of New Zealand green lip mussels features the biggest mussels we’ve ever had. Naturally,…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenMexican

El Bandido Hideaway Del Valle – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:03 PM

Armed with Andrea Lin’s terrific Duke City Fix review of the El Bandido restaurant on Central, we set off on a Friday night to visit a branch of a restaurant at which we hadn’t dined since 1999. El Bandido Hideaway del Valle, we figured was affiliated with the Central Avenue restaurant renown for its creative advertising (stationing a sign carrying man wearing a Mexican wrestling mask on the busy median). Alas, while the affiliation no longer exists, the North Valley restaurant’s name remains unchanged. That, as it turns out, was perfectly okay because we uncovered a real find. Some people have a passion for their culinary craft. Not all of them have the opportunity or desire to ply their craft to quasi-celebrity status at restaurants anointed by reviewers as the places to dine. In Javier Rocha we uncovered just such an artist. A chef for more than 15 years, Javier attended to us personally while simultaneously feeding a room full of boisterous barflies. Thankfully the dining room was segregated from the combination dance hall and bar area in which a mostly Latino crowd grew increasingly louder as the evening wore on and the alcohol exerted its influence. Chef Rocha is…

AlbuquerqueCajunClosed in 2007Gone But Not Forgotten

The Blue Dragon – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:04 PM

In truth, the Blue Dragon is a coffee house in the style of New Orleans or San Francisco more so than it is a Cajun restaurant, but since it serves better Cajun food than anyone else in Albuquerque, Cajun is as good a category as any in which to place it. This Dragon serves up the best muffalatta in town, by far–just the right amount of Italian olive salad on four slices of bread (two slices if you wimp out and have only a half muffalatta) with Genoa salami, ham, baby Swiss cheese and provolone. The Dragon doesn’t use the traditional muffalatta round bread, substituting instead with Po’ Boy French bread made by the Paris Bakery just minutes away. During two visits the restaurant was out of Po’ Boy bread but the substitutes–chile cheese bread and sourdough bread–were fabulous. Want an interesting pizza? Try the muffalatta pizza, replete with olive salad just dripping with flavor (literally). The Mediterranean pizza with Kalamata olives and feta cheese is also quite savory. Pizza can be ordered with a traditional red sauce (marinara with fresh basil, Italian herbs), a Cajun pesto sauce (pesto glaze sun dried tomato, red chile) or the white glaze sauce…

Closed in 2012Gone But Not ForgottenOregonThaiUnited States

Typhoon – Portland, Oregon (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:44 AM

Among restaurant critics the term “edible art” is so overused it’s become trite, but it really is an apt description for the incredible Thai cuisine crafted by chef Bo Kline. Hailed by Bon Appetit as “one of the hottest chefs in America,” Kline has become somewhat of a regional impresario with six successful Typhoon restaurants in the Pacific Northwest. Kline’s restaurant’s menu is inspired by the humble pushcarts of the peasants and the opulent palaces of her native Thailand where an incomparably delicious balance of sweet, salty, sour and bitter flavors in all their glorious combinations, subtleties and exotic explosiveness has been perfected over the millennia. At Typhoon, traditional dishes share the spotlight with cutting-edge nouvelle cuisine in an inviting setting that features a muted patina, mirrored walls and busts of Buddha (in Thailand, there are more Buddha statues than its 60 million plus inhabitants). Intoxicating aromas tease your olfactory senses while your eyes are visually aroused by a menu unlike any I’ve seen in the Southwest. Introduce all your senses to Miang Kum, a rare Thai peasant dish which requires tactile dexterity as you wrap or roll (children of the 60s will be well acquainted with the technique) a…