FOOD SHOP

AN INTERVIEW WITH LIZ GAYLOR, OWNER

Photos by Stephanie Cameron

“Eating seasonally from food grown nearby allows you to eat simply. Fresh food tastes better,” says Liz Gaylor, owner of tiny grocer ABQ. “You can taste the terroir, taste the land—you hardly need salt or seasoning—and the spices and herbs add a layer that is the cultural, emotional, and familial attachment we all have to food.” Gaylor was fortunate to grow up in Albuquerque’s South Valley, eating from her mother’s garden and the pear, cherry, apricot, and apple trees that grew there. Her father raised chickens, so they had fresh eggs, and beef shares came from their neighbor across the street. In the late 1800s, three sets of her great-grandparents settled in what would become New Mexico. “My great-grandpa on my mom’s side was a pig farmer and butcher in Mesilla Valley, and my grandpa on my dad’s side had a dairy in Tierra Amarilla / Chama Valley. Nothing tastes quite like my grandma’s lamb roast or my dad’s pot of beans.”

Talk about the evolution of tiny grocer ABQ. What inspired you to move to Old Town Road and enter the partnership with Tuerta?

The original tiny grocer ABQ location, which opened in August 2020, was 149 square feet of retail space and about 153 square feet of tiny kitchen. At the time, I lived a ten-minute walk from Old Town Herbal, a small apothecary I’d opened the year before. There weren’t any grocery stores nearby, and during the COVID shutdown we were all having a hard time finding flour, eggs, basics. Meanwhile, I knew there were so many farmers close by. So I asked my landlord if I could rent the vacant 300-square-foot shop that shared a patio with Old Town Herbal. The basic premise was to support the grocery with a kitchen and café, using food from the grocery to keep a closed loop for minimal waste—and also to provide premade dishes and frozen and canned goods that people could take home, all using local and regionally sourced food inputs. We did what we could while we were in that space, making a lot of soups, beans, some baked goods, and jams and jellies. But we needed more space: I was dreaming of a walk-in cooler and a gas stovetop.

This past year I lived in the back of one of my shops in Old Town. Every morning, I walked my dog by a restaurant that closed down during the pandemic. Needless to say, I called the second the “For Rent” sign went up. The new location has a full commercial kitchen, and last July I was introduced to Liam Kimball, the chef and owner of Tuerta: A Sandwich Shop. He was moving out of his downtown location and looking for a new kitchen. Liam has a similar food aesthetic: local inputs, comfort food. We moved into this new space in August, and combined Old Town Herbal, tiny grocer ABQ, and Tuerta into one home. We have a clinical herbalist on staff seven days a week, and we offer catering and a daily café menu. We’re excited for a summer of special events on our patio!

How do you manage sourcing from so many different local partners, and how does that approach to stocking influence the pattern of your days and weeks?

It’s fun. It’s exhausting. I love all our local farmers and food makers. Because my goal is to play a supportive role, to take the extras that farmers need to move, it does create a varied grocery section: what we stock changes constantly, based on both seasonality and availability.

You’ve offered an abundance of soups since first opening. Why soup, and what distinguishes yours? Any particular soups that customers might want to stop by for during the early-season months of March and April?

I love soup! Soups are so versatile, something to keep on hand for a quick, easy meal that tastes delicious and is super nourishing. Ours are especially nourishing, not only because of the ingredients but because we make our own vegetable stocks and bone broths. Soups are a great way to showcase ingredients or, conversely, to use up ingredients. Luckily, Liam also loves soups and is an excellent soup chef, so our menu always features soups and stews. I try to keep our posole in stock too; I make a red chile pork posole and a vegan mushroom posole verde.

What else is notable about the daily menu at tiny grocer ABQ?

Our menu changes every day, based on the ingredients we have from the farms, and we serve until we sell out. Lunch is served Monday through Saturday, starting at 11 am. On Sunday, Liam does brunch from 9 am to 1 pm and a lunch menu after 1 pm. We serve housemade breakfast burritos (which began as “Morning Show” at Tuerta) every day starting at 8 am. Our coffee bar serves locally roasted coffee, organic milks, plus house-made cookies, pastries, and other baked goods featuring local flour, and a lot of gluten-free and dairy-free baked goods. We also have local kombucha on tap. Beer and wine are coming soon.

Is there a particular influence, person, or experience that led you to root into the local food community?

My mom.

What are you reading? What do you like to read?

I just finished Where The Children Take Us by Zain Asher and The Promise of a Pencil by Adam Braun. I’m currently reading Bonfire Opera by Danusha Laméris. I usually have food books, cookbooks, and herbal books on my nightstand. Right now it’s Claudia Roden’s Mediterranean and a handbook on making essential oils.

Anything else you’d like to share with edible readers?

In March, we’re opening Romero St. Curry & Chai! With Liam’s inspiration, we’re opening a curry house serving fresh-made curries daily, all of which use local inputs—pinto dal, New Mexico chile and mutton vindaloo, rotating vegetable curries, and house-made chutneys and pickles. The chai we serve at tiny grocer ABQ is custom blended for us by Sonia Masocco, a local ayurvedic practitioner, and we grind it in-house and steep and blend it with local honey. Plus we offer samosas and naan made with local flour and regionally sourced hybridized basmati rice.

1919 Old Town Road NW, #6, Albuquerque, 505-705-1601, oldtownherbal.com/tiny-grocer-abq