Dining Showcase: Gazpacho

Gazpacho

NEW MEXICO COOKING & CANTINA — BRINGING AUTHENTIC NEW MEXICAN CUISINE TO DURANGO SINCE 1991

by Kathleen O’Connor

Longtime Durangoan Matt Arias knows a little something about New Mexican chiles. Both his father and grandfather were born and raised in Albuquerque, amid the rich culinary traditions centered on the iconic red and green chiles that grow there. In fact, New Mexico is the only U.S. state that touts an official state question referencing the passion they have for their chiles: “red or green?” Incidentally, some answer “Christmas!”

Arias, owner of Gazpacho New Mexico Cooking and Cantina, fondly recalls how his grandfather would not eat a meal without a bottle of red chile sauce on the table. “New Mexican food was always a part of our family tradition,” Arias said.

Luckily for both locals and out-of-towners, Arias has artfully woven these family traditions throughout the dishes served at Gazpacho. Many New Mexican favorites can be found on the menu, such as the Santa Fe stacked enchiladas (deemed by one local resident as “the best enchiladas in town”), sweet or savory stuffed sopapillas, and the New Mexican classic carne adovada, prepared with slow-roasted pork in Arias’ authentic red chile, inspired by his grandfather’s own recipe.

The red chile preparation is no feat for the impatient. From deseeding, cleaning, and soaking the red chile pods to pureeing and cooking them, time spent from start to finish is about six hours and well worth the effort. “It takes longer to make but produces a much tastier product,” Arias remarked. While some may espouse the addition of flour-based thickening agents to their red chile, Arias remains true to his New Mexican heritage on the matter. “We don’t use any powders or flour in our red chile. It just produces a different taste,” he said.

But let’s not forget about the green chile! As mid-August hits in New Mexico, and the chiles boast their signature bright-green color, Arias makes one of several trips to the village of Hatch to bring back chiles directly from the farmers to the tables of Gazpacho. In addition to their use in such dishes as the Chile Relleno Plate and Green Chile Cheeseburger (a local favorite as well as a musthave if visiting Gazpacho for the first time), the green chiles are also brought back for roasting in Gazpacho’s Chile Roast Festival. The annual event began as a promotion and quickly gained popularity for those in the area seeking bulk-roasted chiles. Gazpacho recently celebrated the festival’s 30th year.

It has been said that necessity is the

Mark Patrick

Cole Davis

mother of invention, and the shifts Gazpacho has made in response to Covid exemplify this. Perhaps the most significant change made in the restaurant was the transition last year from full table service to a hybrid of table and counter service. Food orders are now taken at the front counter; customers are then seated at a table after ordering. Though orders are no longer taken directly from a server, staff is still there to cater to customers once they’re seated. “If you want more guacamole or another margarita, we have people serving you at the table. And we have found that this really speeds up our service,” Arias said. Though counter ordering is a change for Gazpacho, it does not come at the cost of the dining experience. “We’re still in the service business, and we’re here to make it an enjoyable dining experience for our customers,” Arias said.

Another pandemic adjustment Gazpacho made that proved serendipitous was the hosting of outdoor live music. The introduction of the “Parking Lot Concert Series” originally began as a way to support friends in the music business during the 2020 closures, just as the lockdown started to wane. “We were shut down, and all our musician friends were shut down with no place to play,” Arias said. So Gazpacho hosted its first live music event with to-go food at the ready and people dancing in the parking lot. From there, it grew in popularity. Now when the weather turns warm once more, Gazpacho plans to host more outdoor music events for the community.

For Arias, it’s the community that keeps him doing what he does. Giving back is part of that. Whether it’s serving the patrons with birthday discounts and fun daily specials – such as Taco Tuesdays, when the tacos and Tecate flow – or preparing meals for donation to Boys and Girls Club for a special afternoon celebration, or just hanging out with the locals and staff on a random Sunday afternoon, Arias feels a deep sense of gratitude for this community. “We really are a local restaurant, and our locals have seen us through 30 Durango winters. So we really take care of them,” he said.

Gazpacho’s patrons and staff are more than just what those labels would indicate. They’re also friends. And this speaks not only to the quality of food Gazpacho brings to the table but also to the space’s warmth, friendliness, and inviting nature. As Arias put it, “We do what we do, we try to do it at a consistently high level, and we don’t get too fancy. We don’t get too far outside ourselves, and we give people what they’ve come to expect.”

Can every day at Gazpacho’s be Taco Tuesday? Asking for a community.

Cole Davis