Eating in Albuquerque

My parents have lived in Albuquerque for ten+ years now, so I am out there fairly regularly. As an added bonus, I have two friends from college who also live in Abq so my visits often have dual purpose. One of them got married over Labor Day weekend, so I took the opportunity to stay for a week as opposed to my normal 3-4 days at Christmastime.

Lavender at Los Poblanos Historic Inn + Organic Farm in the North Valley.

Fortunately, I come from a family that appreciates good food -- it must be in the genes! My parents consider Abq's food scene about where Austin was 10 years ago. There are a bunch of up and coming places, but not as much that is truly WOW like Uchi, which is someplace my parents always insist upon eating when in Austin. But there are still a number of good standbys in Abq, many with distinctive New Mexican touches to them, as well as places that are on the rise.

Burque Bakehouse's cruffin, a croissant/muffin combo which was heavenly.
They also did three different pies for the wedding.

I had lunch at the Flying Star, which has six locations around town, open 7 am - 9 pm.  Breakfast all day, salads, sandwiches, and large desserts, there's something for everyone here, kind of like a Kerbey Lane here in Austin. I was too busy catching up with friends that I neglected to take a picture of my Chinese Crunch salad that would practically feed two people.

Our group of six college friends had Sunday brunch at the Frontier, across from the University of New Mexico campus. Built like a barn, you order at the counter, find a seat (there are five dining rooms -- the place just keeps going back and back), and watch the digital screens to see what order number is up. And open almost all day, from 5 am - 1 am, I am sure many a collegiate hangover has been nursed by this greasy spoon's offerings. Though I have to say, it was much less greasy than I was anticipating. A couple of my friends had the huevos rancheros with green chile, and there were a few giant cinnamon rolls on the table too. I had the breakfast burrito with hash browns, egg, sausage, and the requisite green chile; delicious and not greasy! But also not as photogenic, so here's the huevos rancheros. I didn't love the cinnamon roll, though others did; I thought it was too doughy and the frosting glaze was made with margarine, not butter.

Huevos rancheros and the cinnamon roll in the top left.

Another Abq classic is the Range, with four locations around town, including the newest, which is in Old Town, where we had lunch. I had the green chile chicken stew with blue corn tortilla strips, which was a nice lighter meal.

And here's the New Mexico Benny with green chile turkey sausage and chorizo gravy. There's poached eggs in there somewhere!

Wedding guests were staying at the Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town. It's new sister property is the upscale Hotel Chaco, and we ventured to their rooftop bar, Level 5 for cocktails and panoramic views.

Nob Hill could be compared to Austin's SoCo, with it's hip vibe, plethora of eating places and artsy feel. Former James Beard semifinalist Jennifer James opened her new spot Frenchish about a year ago along Central Ave. My parents have been regulars at her previous spots (now closed), and as the name implies this new one has a French influence to the food but doesn't take itself so seriously. We shared the rabbit terrine, where the lightly pickled carrots gave a nice balance to the strong mustard.

I had the 3-course prix fixe, with a tossed salad, 4 oz petit filet with pomme frites, and a chocolate pot de creme. The salad was dressed perfectly and the steak a nicely done medium rare.

Mom's ratatouille, and Dad had a burger, which you can probably guess what it looked like.

Now the pot de creme was good, but the made to order madelines were incredible. Warm, with crispy edges and a soft crumbly interior, it was an ideal way to end the meal.

Bonus coverage! We went to Santa Fe one afternoon, and had an early dinner at La Boca, a Spanish tapas place just blocks from the main plaza. These little boquerones (white anchovies) with olive oil and citrus were quite fresh.

Loved the Spanish flavors of the mussels in a Romesco broth.

And the bacon-wrapped dates, stuffed with a marcona almond and a cabrales blue cheese sauce on the side were delicious.

And finally, sunset over the Jemez Mountains, between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, as taken from the passenger window of the car on Interstate 25.

Yes, it's the Land of Enchantment. 

First Look at Vinaigrette

The new Vinaigrette opened on Wednesday at 2201 College Avenue (really, it's Live Oak and South Congress, the former Treehouse Grill). A New Mexico import, they have locations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque (which I've been to), and they are so committed to locally sourced items, that they bought a farm in Bastrop to grow their produce for their first Austin location. You might guess by their name, they are salad-centric, so a bounty of produce will be in order!

Their concept is a salad base with your choice or proteins: chicken, pork, steak, duck confit, tofu, tuna, scallops, shrimp, roast veggies, there's something for everyone. There are some other veggie-based bar snacks, soups, and sandwiches available too, plus a nice drinks menu with both alcoholic and virgin concoctions.

I rarely go to new restaurants in the first month or two of operation, but a friend had heard me talk about Vinaigrette and wanted to go for our dinner date on Friday night.  When I arrived, I found her at the bar, drinking a Kale Mary, a potent and spicy kale, celery and vodka cocktail that she was thrilled with. When we moved to a table, I ordered a virgin ginger turmeric tonic, requesting strong on the ginger. After tasting mine, my friend ordered one too, though hers seemed to have more a more gingery punch than mine. Hopefully, consistency will reign once they get into their groove.

My friend ordered the mushroom soup, which seemed very wintry, and almost beefy in flavor, but apparently it's got miso in it adding to the umami punch, along with a blend of mushrooms.

I ordered the Asian chopped salad with duck confit. At first glance there didn't seem to be a lot of confit, but as I kept eating, I discovered more and more. Unfortunately, they skipped the dressing -- the actual VINAIGRETTE! -- when the salad was brought over. No wonder it was fairly bland. Once I pointed this out to the waitress, the peanutty miso dressing changed everything, and I really enjoyed it. You sort have to fight your way through the crispy rice noodles, but they do add a nice textural crunch to the salad.

We split a piece of carrot cake for dessert; all desserts are made in house, and this was one of the best pieces of carrot cake I've had in a long time! The frosting was not overly sweet, which I think made it for me.

Vinaigrette is a large space, with a high vaulted ceiling, walls of windows, and a beautiful looking patio under the huge live oak tree. Green tile accents the bar and one wall inside, and they are not without their sense of humor, as evidenced by the restroom markers. Clearly my pictures don't do it justice, but I had to use the flash a little on my camera. I've seen some daylight shots of both the interior and exterior, and it was really nice.

It seems to be a comfortable and unpretentious spot, and I look forward to Vinaigrette as a South Austin addition. Hopefully the small glitches will even out over the coming weeks.

New Mexico Green Chiles

 Okay, time to vent, people. 

There is no such thing as a "Hatch chile" -- let's just get that straight RIGHT NOW, as we're getting into the chile season. They are all variations on New Mexico green chiles, and in New Mexico, they are known as GREEN CHILES. They are predominantly grown in the Mesilla Valley, which stretches about 40ish miles from Las Cruces to the northwest on Interstate 25, to the little town of Hatch. It's a fertile agricultural region, that also sees pecans, lettuce, cotton, onions, all within Dona Ana county.


This whole "Hatch" thing is something that's become trendy here in Austin from the fine marketing people at places like Central Market and Whole Foods -- places where you can buy large quantities of them, and who will dedicate a week or more-long festival to them. Also, the town of Hatch is known for it's Hatch Chile Festival every Labor Day weekend. But they can call it "Hatch" because they're IN Hatch!


Why is this such a pet peeve of mine, you ask? Because, my grandparents were farmers in Las Cruces, and one of the things they raised were green chiles. Furthermore, my great-uncle, was a researcher at the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. Known as "Mr. Chile," he developed several varieties of green chiles, including Big Jim.

Sandias are bred for their heat -- they're long and pointy. Big Jims were bred to be meaty -- a mild to medium flavor, and good for stuffing, like for chile rellenos. Other popular ones are the NuMex 6-4, Rio Grande, even the ordinary Anaheim. A good history of green chiles can be found here.

There's also a movement to preserve the heritage of the green chiles grown in New Mexico, as much of the green chile that's on the market now comes from Mexico, where it's cheaper. NPR even ran a story on the local growers and the NM Chile Association.


The pictures here are ones I took in 2005; the top one is of chile fields, with Picacho Peak in the background. To the east, are the beautiful Organ Mountains, this taken from outside my aunt's house.

Enough on this soapbox (or rather, sack of chile) for the time being. Now, ask me what "Christmas" means in New Mexico.