Cafe Abiquiu – Abiquiu, New Mexico

In her correspondence with her best friend, Georgia O’Keeffe lamented that she “always has a hard time finding words for anything.” When it came to relaying her awe at the sensory wonder surrounding her in Abiquiu, O’Keeffe was never at a loss for words.   With a prosaic ease, she described her isolated idyll as “the most beautiful place you can imagine.  It’s so beautiful there.  It’s ridiculous.”  Her passion for the surreal topography, juniper laden foothills and the sheer energy of the Southwest shimmered with growing vibrancy when she wrote of them.  When her heart finally surrendered to the soul-touching experience of spectacular sunsets giving way to a night air swathed in a canopy of stars, she wrote her friend: “Tonight I walked into the sunset — to mail some letters — the whole sky — and there is so much of it out here — was just blazing — and grey blue clouds were riding all through the holiness of it — and the ugly little buildings and windmills looked great against it.”  Visit the idyll Georgia O’Keeffe called home and like her, you might find yourself lacking words adequate enough to describe what you’re experiencing. One of Georgia…

La Choza Restaurant – Santa Fe, New Mexico

“I have tried to express the terrible passions of humanity by means of red and green.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh Using bold and furious brushstrokes and striking colors (mostly red and green), Van Gogh once created a painting intended to depict humanity at its lowest point. Calling it “Night Cafe” he described it as “…one of the ugliest I have ever done, a collection of clashing colors in the dreariest atmosphere.” To New Mexicans, the notion of red and green being ugly, dreary and clashing in any way is a heretical concept. For denizens of the Land of Enchantment, red and green are absolutely stunning especially when plated together over blue corn enchiladas stuffed with carne adovada. Red and green chile are why New Mexicans celebrate “Christmas” every day of the year. Unlike the dreary and ugly cafe of Van Gogh’s painting, New Mexico’s restaurants tend to be spectacular, especially when their ambiance is perfumed by the wondrous wafting of chile simmering over a stove. This rapturous redolence is the essence of enchantment, a veritable aphrodisiac to chile lovers everywhere. Very few restaurants prepare red and green chile as well as Santa Fe’s La Choza, an inviting domicile of deliciousness…

Bacon Jam – Cedar Crest, New Mexico (CLOSED)

“I think we love bacon because it has all the qualities of an amazing sensory experience. When we cook it, the sizzling sound is so appetizing, the aroma is maddening, the crunch of the texture is so gratifying and the taste delivers every time.” ~Alex Guarnaschelli NOTE: On July 31, 2020, the original Bacon Jam in Albuquerque closed its doors, but the Bacon Jam in Cedar Crest remains open.  While this review is based on visits to the Albuquerque location, I’m confident the Cedar Crest location will serve the same high quality food with the outstanding service we experienced every visit. With all due respect to the Iron Chef, we love bacon because we’re genetically disposed to love bacon!  It’s in our DNA.  We’re hard-wired to love bacon!  In much the same way the brain releases endorphins when we enjoy intensely piquant New Mexico raised chile, bacon’s savory flavor elicits a highly addictive response on our neurochemicals.  In a 2009 article, journalist-editor Arun Gupta of The Indypendent newspaper in New York, revealed that while bacon has eighteen ingredients, six of them are a type of umami, a Japanese term loosely translated to “deliciousness.”  Foods with umami have a meaty, savory…

Abq Grill n Que – Albuquerque, New Mexico

6 October 2020: From the Abq Grill n Que Facebook page – These unique times have forced us to make the very difficult decision to shut down our operations for the foreseeable future. We did not make this decision lightly, and it’s in the best interest of our family and our company’s future.  We will be using the next few months to evaluate our options, as well as augment our business so that we can offer some of our products in alternative ways. Please keep up with our website and social media for more information. “Low and slow.”  That’s not usually a term ascribed to the picturesque village of Corrales, New Mexico.  Well, at least not the “Low” part of the term.  “Slow,” however, is a way of life in Corrales.  Drive through the village at virtually any time of day or night and you can expect to go five, ten and even fifteen miles below the posted speed limit.  Driving through his hometown is the bane of my friend Sr. Plata’s existence.  He assures me the citizenry aren’t cowed by the police; they drive slow to take in all the sights.  Okay, that’s understandable, but not when Abq Grill…

Umami Moto – Albuquerque, New Mexico

In the vernacular of the cannabis culture–as I learned growing up in Northern New Mexico–the term “moto” translates from Spanish to “someone who enjoys “mota,” a slang term for marijuana.”  Visitors to the Duke City from Española, Peñasco, Chimayo and other villages up North would probably giggle if they espied the mobile kitchen (that’s food truck to you, Bob) named Umami Moto.  Though Umami Moto won’t be able to sate the cannabis cravings of any weed wanters, it would certainly take care of their munchies after they’ve scored a lid or two. With all due respect to hippie-lettuce-lovers everywhere, the term “moto” for which the aforementioned mobile kitchen is named is a Japanese term which means: “the cause; the foundation; the basis.”  Umami is also a Japanese term, but it’s one that’s not so easy to define.  You might even say it’s the je ne sais quoi of culinary terms.  At its essence, umami is the “fifth taste,” after salty, sweet, sour, and bitter, but it’s so much more. Writing for New Yorker, Hannah Goldfield defined umami as “that other thing, the thing you didn’t even know needed a concept or a name until someone pointed it out. That deep,…

Pho Kup – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Virtually from infancy, my brother George was a prodigy with Lincoln logs, Erector sets and even Tinkertoys.  He could literally build anything.  That’s when he played indoors.  He preferred being out in the elements where weather-permitting, he would build solid and rainproof club houses and tree houses out of twigs, logs, boards and whatever else he could find.  In the winter, he built Eskimo-worthy igloos.  To no one’s surprise, George became a carpenter, quickly rising to the rank of construction superintendent.  Over a rather luminous career, he’s built stately residences as well as mission-critical structures and facilities at the Los Alamos National Labs.  In his rare spare time, he builds furniture and carves wood into artistic pieces. In entrepreneur Roy Solomon, George has a kindred spirit.  In 2015, Solomon launched a community-oriented commercial plaza constructed entirely with repurposed shipping containers as modular, architectural building blocks.   Christened the Green Jeans Farmery, the unique twist on a shopping plaza is an architectural marvel George would have enjoyed building.  Several among the cluster of shipping container buildings are connected by a bridge.  You can literally walk from one rooftop deck to another.  From the very beginning, Green Jeans Farmery has housed a number…

Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe – Ruidoso, New Mexico

Texas, the Lone Star State slogan tells us, is “like a whole other country.”  Everywhere we turned during our weekend in Ruidoso, we espied oversized pickup trucks sporting Texas license plates.  It almost made us wonder if the “village of the noisy river” had been annexed into that whole other country.  The trend continued at the unholy hour of 8AM on a cool Sunday morning when the license plate for almost every vehicle in The Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe’s parking lot flaunted the familiar “Lone Star State” logo.   Ironically, when we had asked where locals went for breakfast, the answer was almost invariably The Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe. Lest you think I may be a bit xenophobic or paranoid about Texas,  nothing can be further from the truth.  Being around Texans is an opportunity to discuss two of my favorite things in the world–the Dallas Cowboys and Texas barbecue.  Not surprisingly, diners at two of the socially distanced tables under the large tent where we dined were happy to oblige.  In addition to discussing our mutual passions, we discussed the attraction of Ruidoso to denizens of Dallas, Denton, Dalhart and other Texas cities.  “There’s nothing like Ruidoso anywhere in…

Cafe Rio Pizza – Ruidoso, New Mexico

You might think that a beautiful town whose very name translates from Spanish to “noisy” would be boisterous and braggadocious abut all there is to see and do in that town.  Not so according to writer Tania Casselle.  Penning a piece for New Mexico Magazine Tania contends that “Ruidoso flies under a lot of people’s radar, even though regular vacationers are intensely loyal—and probably don’t want too many people to know about it.” Whether or not it truly it truly flies under a lot of people’s radar, Ruidoso is indeed an idyllic location, an enchanted mountain oasis of incomparable beauty.  It’s an year-round mountain playground in which deer, elk, turkey, quail, bear and lots of Texans roam the golf courses and streets.  Those are the qualities for which Ruidoso is known…at least by vacationers who probably don’t want too many people to know about it.  What Ruidoso hasn’t been widely known for–at least until rather recently–is its culinary scene. Denizens of the Land of Enchantment know the best green chile cheeseburgers in the universe can only be found within our state’s borders. We esteem our green chile cheeseburgers with such high regard that our state’s Department of Tourism promotes a…

Oso Grill – Capitan, New Mexico

When we pulled up to the order window at the Oso Grill’s drive-through lane, Misty, our sweet server handed us a menu and contritely explained that the restaurant had run out of shrimp.  “Why,” I asked “would anyone visit the Oso Grill for shrimp when they can have one of the very best green chile cheeseburgers in the Land of Enchantment.”  With apologies to Smokey Bear, that green chile cheeseburger is the reason many of us drive to Capitan, New Mexico.  Since, however, most New Mexicans consider Smokey one of our state’s upstanding citizens, we can enjoy a fantastic burger at Oso Grill then cross the street to pay our respects to the living symbol of fire protection.  Smokey is buried in the Smokey Bear Historical Park about one-tenth of a mile from the Oso Grill. The Oso Grill might have remained one of those secrets only denizens of the Lincoln county area know about.  Then came an invitation in 2017 from the New Mexico State Fair soliciting “ten established (brick and mortar) restaurants” to participate its annual New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge which “pits restaurant against restaurant to vie for the prestigious title of “green chile cheeseburger champion.” …

Tia Betty Blue’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Tia Betty.  If the name conjures images of a dowdy old woman, a face etched with wrinkles and thinning grey hair pulled back neatly into a bun, you’re probably not alone.  Not even the youthfully ribald nonagenarian Betty White can alter the contemporary stereotypes ascribed to the increasingly anachronistic name Betty.  It wasn’t always the case.  In fact, there was a time  Betty was one of the most popular girl’s name in America and not just as a diminutive of Elizabeth or Bethany. According to the Social Security Administration, Betty was the fourth most popular girl’s name in the 1920s with more than 283,000 babies so christened.  Betty was an even more popular name in the 1930s when it ranked second among all girl’s names and was given to more than 300,000 infant girls.  The name declined in popularity in successive decades–from 11th in the 1940s, 35th in the 1950s,  102nd in the 1960s–before dropping from among the 200 most popular girl’s names cataloged by the federal government. There was also a time the name Betty conveyed images of voluptuous sexiness, especially on the big screen (though not even animated features were exempt).  The most enduring sex symbol of the…

The Paleta Bar – Bernalillo, New Mexico

A few decades ago, Mad Magazine (or was it Cracked) published a two-panel cartoon depicting a couple of gringo turistas visiting Mexico on a stifling summer day.  On the first panel, one turista tells the other that he heard Mexican Coke is much stronger than Coke bottled across the border in the states.  When the second turista opens the bottle, a fizzy carbonated explosion knocks down a bird flying overhead…proving, of course, that Mexican Coke is definitely stronger (not to mention better tasting). Even a camel would get thirsty in Mexico on a sweltering July day when temperatures flirt with the century mark and there are no cacti in sight to provide shade.  No matter how thirsty that infernal dry heat may leave you, don’t ever try to down an entire Mexican Coke in one swig.  My sole attempt at doing so left me convulsing and writhing like a wounded beast, thrashing out and roaring in pain.  After that, I swore off Mexican “soft” drinks–and since everyone knows that you don’t drink the water in Mexico, I had to find a delicious alternative to slake my thirst and ward off heat in Mexico.  Fortunately, Mexico is the birthplace of paletas,…