Spring 2018: Highways and Byways

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MEMBER OF EDIBLE COMMUNITIES

SANTA FE ®· ALBUQUERQUE · TAOS THE STORY OF LOCAL FOOD, SEASON BY SEASON IN NEW MEXICO

Highways and byways THE ANNUAL TRAVEL ISSUE

ISSUE 55 · SPRING · APRIL / MAY 2018

photo: doug merriam

radish an dr ye .c om

505.93 0.532 5

FARM IN SPIRED C UI SI NE

NOW OPEN 6910 Montgomery B oulevard NE, Albuquerque  505-508-1899  Southabq.com

HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS: APRIL / MAY DEPARTMENTS 2

GRIST FOR THE MILL

By Willy Carleton and Candolin Cook

39 EDIBLE CRAFT COCKTAIL Spring Thyme by Quinn Stephenson

72 NOTABLES Native Treasures Art Market and Eldorado Studio Tour

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CONTRIBUTORS

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LOCAL HEROES

73 SOURCE GUIDE / EAT LOCAL GUIDE

The Love Apple, Little Toad Creek, Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen, Tia B's La Waffleria

80 LAST BITE

16 20

BACK OF THE HOUSE

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FEATURES

WORTH THE TRIP

48 COWBOYS AND INDIAN TRUCKSTOPS

AT THE CHEF'S TABLE Milad’s Traditional and Experimental Persian Cuisine

by Katherine Mast

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FACES OF FOOD

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FORAGED

Two Natives in a Garden by Mike Barthelemy Nettles in New Mexico by Ellen Zachos

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BEHIND THE BOTTLE Chefs Talk Wine with Marc Quiñones

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#EDIBLENM

edible

MEMBER OF EDIBLE COMMUNITIES

SANTA FE ®· ALBUQUERQUE · TAOS THE STORY OF LOCAL FOOD, SEASON BY SEASON IN NEW MEXICO

Rose Hip Cordial by Stephanie Cameron

Food Fighters by Candolin Cook Where the Wild Things Are by Candolin Cook

ON THE COVER

Eating Like a Trucker on America’s Mother Road

by Willy Carleton

highways and byways THE ANNUAL TRAVEL ISSUE

ISSUE 55 · SPRING · APRIL / MAY 2018

Rhubarb and Rose Petal Tart (see recipe on page 46).

Photo by Stephanie Cameron.

52 LAS VEGAS RENAISSANCE A @TravelNewMexico Photo Essay by Stephanie Cameron, Caitlin Jenkins, and Amy Tishler

60 NEW MEXICO'S ENCHANTMENT TURNS TURQUOISE

By Michael J. Dax

68 CHOW IN THE VALLEY The Taos Ski Valley Is Steeped in History and Food

by Jason Strykowski WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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GRIST FOR THE MILL PUBLISHERS

For several years now, as the first sprouts break through the thawing soil, edible has taken to the wheel to explore some of the region’s lesser-known culinary corners. The open road can mean different things for many people: freedom and possibility, long commutes or long hauls of freight. Whether the road is a means to get away, or a means to get ahead, the food along the way is often no mere afterthought, but a vital part of the trip.

This issue we travel along trade routes, old and new, to explore refashioned historic treasures and under-appreciated new ones. We stop along the old Santa Fe Trail, where new businesses have invested in Las Vegas, and the Turquoise Trail, where old mining towns have reinvented themselves as artist havens and day-trip destinations. We take respite along I-40, beside the historic 66, and discover that a handful of truckstop restaurants are offering some of the best Indian food for hundreds of miles in any direction. We also investigate the Taos Ski Valley, where classic European elegance mixes with modern menus. And going off the beaten path pays off in the remote Cañon de la Madera, where a small farm plays host to some of the most creative cuisine in the state.

As always, we encourage you to traverse our scenic state and stop frequently along the way.

We invite you to explore the back roads and also to re-examine the options along some of our busiest asphalt. Those highways and byways take us out of our comfort zones and away from our everyday fare, allowing us to broaden our physical and culinary horizons. New Mexico’s foodscapes are as diverse as our landscapes, and for those with adventurous spirits and palates, the open road beckons.

Bite Size Media, LLC Stephanie and Walt Cameron

EDITORS Willy Carleton and Candolin Cook

COPY EDITORS Margaret Marti and Briana Olson

DESIGN AND LAYOUT Stephanie Cameron

PHOTO EDITOR Stephanie Cameron

EVENT COORDINATORS Natalie Donnelly and Gina Riccobono

DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Joshua Hinte

VIDEO PRODUCER Walt Cameron

SALES AND MARKETING Kate Collins, Melinda Esquibel, and Gina Riccobono

CONTACT US Mailing Address: 3301-R Coors Boulevard NW #152 Albuquerque, NM 87120

Willy Carleton and Candolin Cook, Editors

info@ediblesantafe.com www.ediblesantafe.com Phone: 505-375-1329

Stephanie and Walt Cameron, Publishers

SUBSCRIBE ∙ BUY AN AD ∙ LETTERS 505-375-1329 WWW.EDIBLENM.COM We welcome your letters. Write to us at the address above, or email us at INFO@EDIBLESANTAFE.COM Bite Size Media, LLC publishes edible Santa Fe six times a year.

We distribute throughout central and northern New Mexico and nationally by subscription. Subscriptions are $32 annually.

Printed at Courier Graphics Corporation Phoenix, Arizona No part of this publication may be used with-

Las Vegas plaza at sunset, photo by Stephanie Cameron.

Winner of James Beard Foundation Award 2011 Publication of the Year

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edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

out the written permission of the publisher. © 2018 All rights reserved.

The Cellar Tapas Beer & Wine

Walk through our doors and travel abroad.

Award-winning Chef James Duke and company are excited to bring you the best Spanish tapas in New Mexico.

1025 Lomas NW, Albuquerque 505.242.3117, thecellartapas.com

CONTRIBUTORS MIKE BARTHELEMY Mike Barthelemy is a PhD student in history at the University of New Mexico.

STEPHANIE CAMERON Stephanie Cameron was raised in Albuquerque and earned a degree in fine arts at the University of New Mexico. After photographing, testing, and designing a cookbook in 2011, she and her husband Walt began pursuing Edible Communities and they found edible Santa Fe in their backyard. Today, Cameron is the art director, head photographer, marketing guru, publisher, and owner of edible Santa Fe. WILLY CARLETON Willy Carleton lives in Albuquerque and is an avid vegetable grower, forager, and editor of edible Santa Fe. He recently completed a dissertation on the agricultural history of twentieth-century New Mexico in the history department at the University of New Mexico.

CANDOLIN COOK Candolin Cook is a history doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico, an associate editor for the New Mexico Historical Review, and editor of edible Santa Fe. On Saturdays, you can find her selling Vida Verde Farm produce at Albuquerque's Downtown Growers' Market. Follow her farm life on Instagram @vidaverdefarmabq and @candolin.

MICHAEL J. DAX Michael J. Dax lives in Santa Fe and writes about environment and culture in the American West. He is the author of Grizzly West: A Failed Attempt to Reintroduce Grizzly Bears in the Mountain West (2015).

KATHERINE MAST Katherine Mast is a freelance science and environmental writer living in Santa Fe, where she dabbles in backyard gardening and vermicomposting.

JASON STRYKOWSKI Jason Strykowski is a freelance writer based in New Mexico.

ELLEN ZACHOS Ellen Zachos is the author of seven books, including The Wildcrafted Cocktail and Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat. She also works with RemyUSA, teaching foraged mixology workshops across the US for The Botanist Gin. Zachos shares recipes and tips about foraging at www.backyardforager.com.

presented by

edible

Fermentation Festival

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2018 AT THE GUTIERREZ-HUBBELL HOUSE

nmfermentationfest.com

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edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

OPENING APRIL 22

Coral and silver necklace, c. 1840. Egypt. Gift of Florence Dibell Bartlett, MOIFA A.1955.86.680. Photo by Blair Clark.

On Museum Hill in Santa Fe InternationalFolkArt.org (505) 476-1200

LOCAL HEROES An edible Local Hero is an exceptional individual or organization working to create innovative, vibrant, and resilient local food systems in New Mexico. Last fall, edible readers nominated and voted for their favorite food artisans, growers, and advocates in nearly two dozen categories—including six new awards. Each issue of edible will contain interviews with several of the winners, spotlighting the important and exciting work they do. It is imperative to the local food movement that we come together as a community to support each other, our local economy, and our environment. Please join us in thanking these local heroes for being at the forefront of that effort.

the love apple AN INTERVIEW WITH JENNIFER HART, OWNER OF THE LOVE APPLE AND MANZANITA MARKET BEST RESTAURANT, GREATER NEW MEXICO Photos by Stephanie Cameron

The Love Apple crew: Emily Rabinowitz, Brenda Steele, Jennifer Hart, Wanda Anderson, and Eli Walters.

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WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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Left to right: Beets on Beets with house ricotta, beet puree, and beet molasses. Grilled pork chop with rhubarb mostarda and green chile grits.

Jennifer Hart began managing restaurants when she was twenty-five for Joseph Wrede of Joseph’s Table in Santa Fe. After ten years of working with Wrede, she started the Love Apple in Taos, a northern New Mexican restaurant that emphasizes local and organic foods made from scratch and with love. She has also recently opened Manzanita Market, an all-organic community café and ice creamery.

While she plays a major part in Taos’s food community, she says her most important roles are as “mama to three intense, vibrant children, Sofia, 13, Lili, 8, and Cass, 3, and as the partner of Jason, a loving support system to us all.”

How did you get to where you are now?

The restaurant business is what I always have done. I started working when I was thirteen and have primarily worked in restaurants in all capacities since then. I started the Love Apple from my own slim pocketbook while I was working at Joseph’s Table. It took me two years to open the Love Apple because I was paying for everything as I earned the money. I stained and reupholstered all my own chairs, which I bought at a yard sale, and put together tables from secondhand stores and pieced it together as I had the time and money. The Love Apple will be ten years old this year. It has been one of the loves of my life. I began the restaurant with an incredible group of inspiring and powerful women—Lisa Lastra, Jenny Ford, and Andrea Meyer, along with many other amazing people. Together we created the res8

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

taurant with a shared vision focused on our community. We wanted to offer a romantic space with warm sophistication and organic local food; to provide a place that supported our local farmers and ranchers; and to give locals an intimate place to come together as a community. We have never compromised on quality, source, or our vision.

Why is sourcing local important to you?

Sourcing local is so important for so many different reasons. Local and seasonal products are superior in flavor and more ethically sound.

Buying local connects us to one another within our community.

When we are working together we are personally committed to one another’s success and achievements—if we do well, so do they. This is what creates a strong ecosystem, a community that people want to be a part of.

Do you have a favorite local ingredient? What do you make with it?

At the Love Apple and Manzanita Market, we only source grass-fed and -finished meat. Among my favorite ranchers are Antonio and Molly of Shepherd’s Lamb. Their sheep graze on wild land only and their lamb is different from any I have ever tasted. It has a subtlety and tenderness that is impossible to find in factory-fed meat. We serve many dishes seasonally prepared with meat from Shepherd’s Lamb, and when we run out we stop making the dish because no other meat compares.

Tacos on housemade tortillas. Chorizo and mezcal slaw on charcoal tortilla. Green pea pancake with crèam fraiche and pea shoots.

Right now we are serving lamb tacos. We slow-braise the lamb with wild fennel seed and serve it on our homemade flour tortillas (made with local Sangre de Cristo flour and ghee), and top it with local arugula, mint jalapeño chimichurri, goat yogurt crema, avocado, and pomegranate seeds. We also just started making beetroot corn tortillas. We made them for Valentine’s Day, because of their beautiful bright pink color, but they are so good we created a new taco for them, made with local maple-glazed pork belly and pickled onions, carrots, and jalapeños, so good!

Who are your biggest culinary influences?

My most direct culinary influences are Joseph Wrede, Andrea Meyer, and Brenda Steele. Joseph was my introduction to the passionate world of food. We began working together when I was a very impressionable twenty-five and his enthusiasm and creativity were— and continue to be—contagious. Andrea is responsible for creating the Love Apple menu. Her touch is simple and pure, she has an effortless sophistication that comes from the intimacy of growing food—she allows food to speak for itself. Brenda has taken over Andrea’s position as menu-creator at the Love Apple. Brenda is so different from Andrea and Joe—her food is wild and diverse with complex layers. She travels the world studying food and culture and cooking; her food is inspired, bold, and adventurous.

What is your perfect day in Taos?

Skiing, when it is dumping snow, with a group of friends and the mountain feels like our own private microcosm. I never thought I would be one of those people who loves skiing. I am not really that extreme when it comes to sports but the feeling the mountain gives you is not like anything else. Or a sunny fall day in October when the weather is perfect and the aspen leaves are turning and my friends Maria and Kevin are making an impromptu dinner in their backyard with late-fall farmers market finds and children are running amuck.

Fill in the Blank: When I make spice blends I always add locally foraged wild seeds to make it extra delicious.

Taos is the perfect place to be free because we are slightly removed from social conformity.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with edible readers?

Support your local farmers and ranchers and fellow community members. When you go out to eat, ask your server, is this meat grass-fed and -finished? Do you have local eggs? Your demand creates change. theloveapple.net WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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LOCAL HEROES

Little toad creek AN INTERVIEW WITH TERESA DAHL-BREDINE AND DAVE CROSLEY, OWNERS BEST BEVERAGE ARTISAN, SPIRITS

Dave Crosley and Teresa Dahl-Bredine. Photo by Stephanie Cameron.

Dave Crosley and Teresa Dahl-Bredine grew up together in Silver City, graduating from Silver High School in 1993. Dahl-Bredine studied theater at Yale University and then returned to Silver City to start a theater company, working in bars and construction to pay the bills. Crosley briefly used his degree in education to teach high school in Truth or Consequences and Hilo, Hawaii. He quit to open a custom motorcycle shop and dream of his one-day brewery. After many separate adventures, Crosley and Dahl-Bredine reunited and started Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery in 2011. They married in 2012 and continue to grow their business together.

Dave works in the brewery and distillery making beer and spirits. We call him the Beer & Booze Overlord. Teresa works with Little Toad 10

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

Creek's tasting rooms, outside sales, events, and marketing. We call her Everything Else.

How did you get to where you are now?

Our business began with the purchase of five acres in a remote area north of Silver City surrounded by the Gila Wilderness. It is a beautiful spot with corrals and barns and fields. We thought we would start a small sheep dairy there. The property also had a hotel and restaurant which we remodeled and quickly opened to have a source of revenue. We put the brewery and distillery in the garage. It had a ten-gallon still and a two-barrel brewing system. Well, the brewery and distillery were the elements of the business that took off, so the dream of sheep cheese had to hit the back burner. In 2013, we

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opened a tasting room in the booming metropolis of downtown Silver City. As a town of ten thousand people, it truly is a metropolis compared to the quiet country road where we began. In 2016, we finally expanded our production facility from “nano” to “micro.” The new production warehouse is in downtown Silver City, where we now have a 15 BBL brewhouse and a three hundred-gallon still. Due to our vastly increased production capacity, we are now looking at growth opportunities, including opening a tasting room in downtown Las Cruces in spring 2018 and dabbling with distribution, which we hope to increase throughout this year.

What makes Little Toad Creek unique?

Handfuls of love. It truly is a local craft mom-and-pop business.

We personally touch every product we make and constantly strive to make them better.

What is a local food issue that is important to you? Why? The pub is the gathering place for a community. Our rural areas have seen a drastic loss of community pubs as the scarce liquor licenses are bought out by the metropolitan bars and restaurants. A little bit of culture is lost with every backroad bar that closes. We are happy that we can provide a community pub with our brewery and distillery licenses, but surely wish New Mexico could figure out a solution to the liquor license problem.

C

How would you describe Silver City’s local food and drink scene?

Playful, local, real.

What is your favorite event held at Little Toad Creek?

M

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CM

MY

CY

Oktoaderfest! With Bavarian dancers, a keg toss, hammerschlagen, an all-day concert, and our best attempt at loads of German food, what’s not to love?

CMY

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What’s next for the distillery?

We are trying hard to keep up with our specialty aged spirits: Sapo Grande Straight Whiskey, Toad Venom Spiced Rum, and Five Ducks Agave Reposado. So far they’ve only been available in our tasting room. We are aging in very small batches. We can’t wait to get our quantities up so we can share these awesome products with the rest of New Mexico.

Fill in the Blank: My favorite cocktail is the Green Chile Cucumber Gimlet made with Little Toad Creek Diablo Verde.

The question people always ask me is: How do you keep up with it all? But I wish they'd ask me: What’s next?

My favorite thing about New Mexico is it’s still the best kept secret in the world. Laid-back people, unique culture, amazing landscapes—we can’t say enough about how much we love New Mexico. It’s in our blood. It will always be home.

I hope Little Toad Creek’s customers always have fun and feel like part of our neighborhood. www.littletoadcreek.com

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LOCAL HEROES

Sweetwater harvest kitchen AN INTERVIEW WITH FIONA KU WONG AND SOMA FRANKS, CO-OWNERS BEST CAFE, SANTA FE Photos by Douglas Merriam

Left: Soma Franks and Fiona Wong. Right: Grateful Green Paleo Wrap with housemade spinach-andegg tortilla wrapped around chicken, avocado, sweet potato, sauteed kale, and cauliflower rice.

Soma Franks and Fiona Ku Wong, owners of Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen, are a perfect duo despite wildly different backgrounds. Franks worked in restaurant kitchens for thirteen years in Santa Fe, drawing primary inspiration from Katherine Kegel’s local and organic focus at Cafe Pasqual’s as well as her own experiences with different dietary philosophies. Wong moved to Santa Fe in 2006 from Singapore, after a career in fashion and television, with very little sense of where food comes from, but with a great 12

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sense of aesthetic. Franks has worked in restaurants for over thirty years, including some of Santa Fe’s best, where she has been inspired by the dedication and creativity of great chefs and owners. She draws from a diverse ingredient palette for her menus, including everything from sustainably raised meats to nut milks and gluten free grains. The combination of both women’s worldviews has created a restaurant known for creative cuisine using local ingredients and catering to diverse dietary needs.

How did you get to where you are now?

we have a very educated and health-conscious population. We have

Wong: My life changed dramatically when I moved to Santa Fe from Singapore in 2006. I left my position as senior vice president of production for MTV Networks Asia and a career in radio/television, fashion design, and publishing (with eight years in New York). What I found was a vital connection to hands-on mothering and homemaking, as well as food cultivation, a new community, and the cycles of the natural world. My burgeoning interest in gathering people together and serving them nourishing meals led to founding Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen.

made it our mission to serve healthy food choices no matter your

Franks: During my college years I practiced vegetarianism, and I came to my yoga practice in my thirties. Later, I spent some months traveling in Central America and began a meditation practice that opened up many changes in my life. I took a vow to be of service in the world.

My life since then has been a discovery process of how to best embody that vow.

sun, the moon, and our earth. I feel connected to the like-minded

When I became a mother I became even more interested in preparing nourishing foods for my daughter. During her childhood, I considered the ways I could give back to my beloved community of Santa Fe and how to best be a good role model for her. In 2012, I had the good fortune to meet Fiona Ku Wong, who shared a similar vision for creating a restaurant where our community could gather to be nourished and inspired by healthy, consciously sourced, and lovinglyoffered meals.

preference, intolerance, or allergy. We have options for gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and paleo diets. Our staff is educated on ingredients and we strive to provide a safe and nourishing experience for all.

We continue to work to improve our sourcing to provide sustainably grown and ethically raised products at an affordable price.

How does being a Santa Fean inspire your work and passions?

Wong: Being close to nature is inspiring. We live at the foothills of Sun Mountain, so our family is constantly feeling connected to the people of Santa Fe. Food-wise, I love the chiles of New Mexico and how they give dishes the spicy taste that reminds me of home. As Santa Fe is made of up different cultures, we are able to present a menu that is worldly.

Franks: It is a profound blessing to live in a place that I love so much!

I am a mountain girl and hiking in our mountains is a crucial way that I regularly refresh and renew my perspective. I love it that my daughter is growing up skiing and participating in NDI (National Dance Institute). It will soon be twenty years ago that I found our home and community here.

What is a meal you will never get tired of?

Wong: Our Buddha Bowl (the best-selling item on our menu).

How is Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen committed to sustainable business practices?

What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?

Franks: From the beginning, we focused on how we could best be responsible in our decisions regarding sourcing foods, to serve organic and local when possible. We serve fresh, homemade items to our guests so that they feel great and inspired when they leave. We work with a multitude of vendors to source our various ingredients to create our global eclectic menu.

destination.

One of the most unique practices we came up with is our two-percent-giving program. We are committed to supporting our local community by each month working with a different local nonprofit to

I'd like to ask him how he composed The Four Seasons.

share their mission with our guests and donate two percent of all our cash sales to support their work. We are also members of the local Green Chamber of Commerce; we compost all of our food scraps with Reunity Resources; and we participated in a city water audit and are committed to best practices.

Wong: With my dear husband and ten-year-old son, exploring a new Franks: A hike and a hot springs soak and some live music to jump around to!

Fill in the blank: Wong: If I had the chance, I would have lunch with Vivaldi in Venice.

Franks: If I had the chance, I would have lunch with Amma at Sweetwater. I'd like to ask her how I can deepen my practice of service.

Wong: If I weren't doing what I’m doing now, I'd be producing a film about food and pottery.

Franks: If I weren't doing what I’m doing now, I'd be on a meditation retreat.

Wong: We are also the pick-up point for Beneficial Farm’s weekly CSA.

Wong: Most people are surprised to learn that I'd never been in the

What is a local food issue that is important to you?

Is there anything else you would like to share with edible readers?

Wong: Water, and the lack of it.

“Without love in the dream/It will never come true”

Franks: In our world of increasing food allergies and intolerance, we realize more than ever that food can be our medicine. In Santa Fe,

food/restaurant business before starting Sweetwater.

—The Grateful Dead www.sweetwatersf.com WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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LOCAL HEROES

Tia B’s la Waffleria AN INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL BOARDMAN, OWNER; PETRA KELLY LINKLETTER, FRONT OF HOUSE MANAGER; AND JEREMY JOURDIAN, KITCHEN MANAGER BEST CAFE, ALBUQUERQUE Photos by Stacey M. Adams

Tia B's Chicken and Waffles with honey red chile sauce.

Daniel Boardman owns two of Albuquerque’s most popular breakfast and lunch eateries, Tia Betty Blue’s and Tia B’s La Waffleria, as well as the Nob Hill taqueria El Cotorro. He also produces the annual Albuquerque Tango Festival, which is the largest Argentine tango festival of its type in the United States. Boardman is the author of Your First Restaurant – An Essential Guide: How to Plan, Research, Analyze, Finance, Open, and Operate Your Own Wildly Successful Eatery (2017). He shares credit for the success of Tia B’s and its Local Hero Award with Petra Kelly Linkletter, front of house manager, and Jeremy Jourdian, kitchen manager.

How did you get to where you are now?

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Boardman: I began opening restaurants later in life, in my early fifties.

My prior career was commercial real estate brokerage. Among the offerings at my first restaurant, Tia Betty Blue’s, were blue corn waffles.

They were always popular, particularly when served as part of a savory breakfast, as with blue corn waffles rancheros (blue corn waffles, eggs, red and green chile).

When the space that La Waffleria occupies became available, my biggest concern was the kitchen, which was tiny. I was looking for a concept that was feasible with a small kitchen (we’ve expanded it since then) and that I was familiar with, so waffles seemed a good fit for the space, neighborhood, and for my experience.

Owner Daniel Boardman, front of house manager Petra Kelly Linkletter, and kitchen manager Jeremy Jourdian.

Why are waffles the perfect breakfast food?

Boardman: Waffles are an incredibly versatile medium, allowing us to offer both savory and sweet combinations of flavors while allowing for essentially endless creativity and hearty portion size.

What are your favorite local ingredients?

Linkletter and Jourdian: We enjoy incorporating local ingredients, allowing us to offer quality products while supporting our fellow small businesses to create a thriving local economy. We serve coffee from Prosum Roasters, a roastery also based out of Albuquerque that sources their coffee through ethical business practices. We take great pride in our chile. We source both our red and green from M.A. & Sons, a family farm in Hatch that has been growing chile for over fifty years.

It’s the most flavorful chile we’ve found, without sacrificing the heat, which is so important in New Mexican cuisine.

Describe the weirdest waffle you’ve ever made? How was it?

Jourdian: I make a Monte Cristo Waffle, using a french toast bread pudding cooked in the waffle iron, topped with ham, bacon, and swiss cheese, drizzled with our housemade raspberry sauce and powdered sugar. It’s amazing—the perfect balance between sweet, savory, and sharp flavors. It’s a fun twist on an old classic. Come taste it! It is currently on our seasonal spring menu.

What are you most proud of in regard to your business?

Boardman: I think we are all proud that we provide fresh, inventive, highly attractive cuisine at a relatively low price point. The food quality and presentation we offer are more typically associated with a much more expensive experience.

the cultural diversity of the state. I think this respect for diversity comes through in all my restaurants: the names are usually a mixture of Spanish and English, and many of the dishes, like our Blue Corn Rancheros Waffle, are reinterpretations of classic New Mexican fare.

What do you love the most when it comes to your work?

Linkletter and Jourdian: We love the level of creativity that we are able to bring to our work because we are passionate about what we do. Being a small local business, we have a sense of family and community with everyone we work with. Every dish, every coffee is the result of our shared pride and passion.

What is your most important ingredient?

Linkletter and Jourdian: Integrity is our universal ingredient. We always prioritize honoring the guest with every dish. What’s most important about our food is that everything is based in simplicity and executed perfectly.

Fill in the Blank: Albuquerque is the perfect location for Tia B’s La Waffleria because people here appreciate creative and thoughtfully prepared foods offered for a moderate price.

Tia B’s biggest goal for 2018 is continued refinement and improvement.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with edible readers?

What do you love most about being a New Mexican?

Boardman: On Saturday and Sunday, we typically serve about four times the customers that we do on a weekday. By comparison, most breakfast/lunch restaurants serve only about twice as many customers on a Saturday or Sunday as they do on a weekday. So, to avoid the lines, please visit us on a weekday!

Boardman: I grew up in northern New Mexico and have long loved

www.LaWaffleriaABQ.com WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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BACK OF THE HOUSE

Food Fighters CARLOS CONDIT AND ISRAEL RIVERA ON THEIR ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE PATHS INTO ALBUQUERQUE’S FOOD SCENE

By Candolin Cook · Photos by Stephanie Cameron

Left to right: Israel Rivera and Carlos Condit at The Shop eating green chile cheeseburgers and drinking nitro coffee.

A year ago, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight Carlos Condit walked into Albuquerque restaurant The Shop and asked for an opportunity do some kitchen prep to expand his cooking skills. The Shop chef/owner Israel Rivera thought he was joking.

“I knew exactly who he was. I’m a big UFC fan and a fan of Carlos.

I thought, there’s no way this guy wants to come wash potatoes,” recalls Rivera. “He didn’t call me!” says Condit. “So a few days later I had to reach out again and tell him I was serious about wanting to learn from him.” The two became fast friends, bonding over shared passions for making great food and practicing mixed martial arts, as well as similar challenges they’ve faced with sobriety and growing up in Duke City. “It’s easier to get along with people who’ve had similar pasts,” says Rivera. “Plus, we’re both a little bit crazy. You’ve kinda got 16

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to be to fight or to [own] a restaurant. With both, you work all the time, break your body down—but you do it because you love it . . . and because you’re f—king weird.”

Condit grew up on Albuquerque’s Westside, where he says his teenage activities mainly centered around “sports and debauchery.” He admits, “There wasn’t a whole lot to do on the Westside as a teenager, so there was a lot of drinking, getting high, driving fast in the desert.” He eventually channeled some of that reckless energy into combat sports. At fifteen, he found an ad in the Yellow Pages for Jackson’s Ground and Stick Fighting, and began to train in mixed martial arts (MMA). Condit explains, “Albuquerque was actually an early adopter of MMA,” stemming from its long-thriving boxing scene. “Fighting is a point of pride for our city; we don’t have any

professional sports teams. These are our pro athletes,” he says, citing fighters like Johnny Tapia and Holly Holm. Beyond the infrastructure of world-class training facilities, Condit posits that a local penchant for fighting sports is a manifestation of New Mexico’s mythic “Wild West” mentality. Adds Rivera, “I think people here definitely have fighter spirits. We don’t take shit from each other.

People walk around with a chip on their shoulder—which can be annoying—but at the same time it shows we are very resilient.”

By eighteen, Condit competed in his first professional match— a cage fight in Juárez, Mexico. His fighting career quickly built momentum, moving from barns in Las Cruces to stadiums in Japan to securing the welterweight champion title in World Extreme Cagefighting in 2007. After his UFC debut in 2009, Condit garnered an impressive record of victories and the moniker “Natural Born Killer.” He became a fan-favorite for his skills inside the octagon as well as his humble demeanor outside of it. In 2012, he earned an interim UFC welterweight champion title. According to the L.A. Times, Condit’s 2016 match against Robbie Lawler was widely referred to as the UFC "fight of the year"—a thin decision loss for Condit that many believe should have gone the other way.

After threatening retirement in 2016, Condit is again active in the UFC, with a fight against Matt Brown lined up for April.

Touching on his own battles with drug and alcohol abuse, Condit says, “My ability to go out and fight a person in a cage is probably closely related to me being an addict and alcoholic—it stems from the same [demons].” He says he initially got sober in 2011, and though the road hasn’t always been perfect, he’s found a great

W I N E B I ST R O

©insightfoto.com

Like Condit, Rivera encountered his fair share of trouble growing up in Albuquerque, acquiring a criminal record by fifteen.

He says he initially started working in restaurants as a teenager because they didn’t require background checks. Rivera admits to being a sort of incidental chef. “I never thought this would be a career, I just thought it was an easy way to earn a paycheck so I could buy . . . well, booze.” But over time, his strong work ethic, innate cooking skills, and tutelage under a more senior chef encouraged him to start taking his craft seriously. For years, though, the pervasive relationship between alcohol use and the restaurant industry proved counterproductive. “I kept getting into trouble [with the law] and finally a judge said to me, ‘Every single offense you have is alcohol related. Do you think you have a problem?’

And I said, ‘No! I just like to drink and I get caught a lot!’” he says with a laugh. Unconvinced, the judge sentenced Rivera to a recovery program and regular drug and alcohol testing, which—after a few starts and setbacks—helped him forge a path toward sustained sobriety. “I started to put all the energy I used to put into getting f—ked up into making food.” His dedication paid off. The Shop, which features Southern and New Mexican–inspired breakfast and lunch options, has become a local favorite since opening in 2014.

Since late last year, he has added a weekend dinner service offering some of the most exciting elevated comfort foods in the city.

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17

BACK OF THE HOUSE

Duck confit hash breakfast.

network of support in the recovery community, which now includes his friendship with Rivera. Condit says, “Part of [getting sober] is that you put a mirror up to your friends, because if you say that you have a problem and all your friends drink the same way . . .” Rivera jumps in: “People don’t like facing their reality, so a lot of them will shut you out.” Adds Condit, “When Izz and I hang out, we actually have to go do fun, engaging things in order to have a good time. You can’t just add alcohol to any situation—it’s a bummer!” (Both laugh.)

Many of those fun things involve food, including collaborating on pop-up dinners, co-hosting the food-centric podcast Cast Iron Jabber Jaws, and judging edible’s 2017 Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown. And while Rivera can often be found at the gym practicing mixed martial arts, last year Condit officially entered Rivera’s turf by co-founding a nitro-coffee business, Hundred Hands Coffee. Along with partners Kaitlin and Ryan Hoskinson, Condit saw a niche in Albuquerque’s booming third-wave coffee industry for cold, nitrogen-infused coffee—a frothy, silky, slightly sweet brew that pours like Guinness out of a tap. Currently, Albuquerqueans can find Hundred Hands’ ethically-sourced java at several local coffee shops, taprooms (“It’s really nice if you don’t drink that you can still join your friends at a brewery and enjoy something besides a Shirley Temple”), and restaurants, including The Shop. “I think the kind of people who enjoy Izz’s food are the same type who appreciate our craft coffee,” Condit says. But Condit’s favorite place to sell his cold brew is in person at 18

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

the Downtown Growers Market. “I think I have some carny blood in me; I love calling people over to try it. Meeting tens of thousands of people over the years at autograph signings has helped.”

Despite all their success, Condit and Rivera don’t cite their professional accolades as what they are most proud of. For Condit, it’s “doing something with my life that is unconventional and very improbable coming from where I came from. Turning some not-awesome circumstances into something that, hopefully, inspires other people to follow their dreams.” He turns to Rivera with a wry smile: “Follow that.”

Rivera laughs, then says seriously, “I’m most proud of the fact that I’m still alive. I could tell you all the stories in the world about my crazy childhood, but more than anything it was really dangerous. So the fact that I’m still alive and I’m not in jail, I wake up every day thankful for that. I’m proud that I’m in a place mentally and physically where I control my own life.”

Condit nods approvingly and deadpans, “And you’ve got chickens.”

Listen to our whole (uncensored) conversation with Condit and Rivera on their Cast Iron Jabber Jaws podcast, available on iTunes and SoundCloud.

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19

WORTH THE TRIP

Where the Wild Things Are THE SHED PROJECT IS SOMETHING SPECIAL

By Candolin Cook · Photos by Stephanie Cameron

Johnny Ortiz plates rose fruit, watermelon radishes, and raw cow milk butter. Right: Canyon grape, elk marrow, beet root.

To get to one of the most extraordinary food experiences in the state, you must first locate a hand-painted sign that says “PIGS” on the side of highway 285, about two miles north of Ojo Caliente. Take a left and travel west another five miles to La Madera, population 125.

Look for a building with “Apache Drums” on the facade, turn right, and follow a narrow dirt road until you reach Owl Peak Farm, home to the Shed Project.

Despite its remote location and predominately word-of-mouth advertising, the Shed Project dinner series has quickly become one of New Mexico’s worst-kept culinary secrets. Tickets to the eight-seat, eleven-course, thrice-monthly dinners consistently sell out, sometimes in a matter of hours. After dining there on a recent, unseasonably warm winter evening, it is easy to see why.

20

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

The other guests and I arrive an hour before dinner service to enjoy a mezcal and sumac cocktail, mingle, and explore Owl Peak’s bucolic, high-desert farmland. Eventually, we make our way into the “farmhouse,” an impeccably crafted and decorated adobe abode, with a cozy open floor plan. Diners sit at a large wood table in front of a crackling fireplace and in full view of the room’s small kitchen.

Chef Johnny Ortiz and his sous chef for the evening, his younger sister Allysa Ortiz, are hard at work preparing the first course, but he looks up briefly to give a sweet smile and wave. I’m struck by how young he is. I later discover that Ortiz is a sort of culinary wunderkind sprung from Taos Pueblo. In high school, he began bussing and prepping for Michael’s Kitchen and El Monte Sagrado in Taos, then headed to Chicago at nineteen. After only a couple of months, Ortiz landed every aspiring chef ’s dream job—cooking at Grant Atchaz’s

Alinea (one of the most-celebrated restaurants in the world, boasting three Michelin Stars and a James Beard Award).

As we take our seats at the communal table (which Ortiz made), Leia Layus—tonight’s host, server, sommelier, and educator—pours us a glass of Gruet’s 2011 Blanc de Blancs. Though most of the guests don’t know each other, Layus welcomes us as if we’re all old friends gathering for an intimate dinner party.

The small crew carries out our amuse bouche: a small, beige orb that is delicately balanced atop a white caliche covered volcanic rock. We’re instructed to eat it in one bite, and delighted when the orb explodes in our mouths like a water balloon. Ortiz explains the liquid interior is made with local apple cider and wild sagebrush, and the shell is cocoa butter. This is the kind of combination of molecular gastronomy and presentation that made Alinea famous, but it’s also indicative of Ortiz’s own creativity and use of ingredients and materials gathered from the local landscape.

After leaving Chicago, Ortiz cooked for The Willows Inn, a destination restaurant situated on a small island off the coast of northern Washington. There, he expanded his knowledge of terroir and seasonality through foraging and farming. At twentythree, he secured a sous chef position at Saison—yet another three Michelin-star establishment—in San Francisco. While at Saison, he met Layus, a seasoned server for high-end restaurants. Yearning to collaborate on something “small and independent,” they used Kickstarter to begin the first iteration of the Shed Project in the Bay Area. In 2016, they decided to move the project to Ortiz’s home of Taos. “I wanted to live closer to family and to this land, and have the freedom to create on my own terms,” he says. Several local venues hosted the dinner series until it found its current home when Ortiz, who is now the sole owner of the project, accepted an offer from Owl Peak owner C.C. Culver to become a steward for the nonprofit, educational farm—which largely focuses on soil building and water restoration techniques.

Ortiz says the vision for the project is largely a meditation on time and space. “It is a portrayal of the fleeting nature of time,” he says. “Nothing lasts forever, so it is important to notice nature in the moment. For example, you may only have one chance to gather rose hips after the frosts and before the birds get them all.”

As tonight is a winter dinner, one might expect a dearth of ingredients. But thanks to a large root cellar and a photoshoot-worthy pantry full of dried, foraged plants and preserved produce, we get to taste a full bounty of northern New Mexico’s wilderness.

Ortiz introduces each leisurely-paced course with a list of familiar and obscure local ingredients. Wild caught, smoked trout topped with watercress appears on a crisp potato chip. A delectable morsel of warm sun root, wild seeds, crow weed, and green chile defies definition. Spaghetti squash steeped in joint fir tea and powdered with bear root and a “biscochito” crumble tastes like it could cure whatever ails you.

All come plated on natural materials or micaceous clay and porcelain pottery created by Ortiz. For the Taos Pueblo-born

WORTH THE TRIP

Left: Winter squash, beans, landrace red chile, mushrooms. Right: Cactus fruit granita and goat milk yogurt.

chef and artist, working with clay has a meaningful, cultural significance: “I feel like it’s ingrained in my blood. For generations, my ancestors dug this clay and created pottery. Foraging for food and clay brings me closer to my family as well as the land.”

Throughout the evening, Layus educates us about local wine, talks about the work Ortiz and others do on the farm, and offers visions for mindful and sustainable foodways. Her training as a professional server is clear in her attention to detail and in her ability to invisibly clear a plate and field our endless questions. Layus explains what she believes constitutes good service and a positive dining experience: “Both [guest and server] have carved out time to be present in that moment. Why not approach it as an opportunity to create a genuine connection in a short period of time? Why not use that space to expand knowledge?”

Ortiz says food is his preferred medium to communicate what makes New Mexico special. “The culture, people, history, landscape—we can use food to tell those stories, and to tell our own,” he explains. “But we are purposefully vague about what our guests 22

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

should take away from the dinner, because we want everyone to have their own experience. Some might be inspired to try foraging or take up ceramics, others might have just enjoyed someone’s company. But I hope, at the heart of it, they leave feeling happy, nourished, and more connected to the nature around them.”

With our final course—small dessert tamales made with native plum, Owl Farm blue corn, cedar ash, and licorice root—one of my fellow dinner guests remarks: “This has been so special. Someday we’ll be able to say we experienced this before it was a big deal.” Layus agrees with that sentiment, saying, “Beginnings are special. It’s a place where everything feels so alive.” Ortiz tells me that while he has plans for the project in the future, he is enjoying the intimacy of what it is now. “I think the location naturally filters out people who might take it for granted,” he says. For those who appreciate a powerful connection between their food and the place and people from which it came, the Shed Project is worth the trip. www.shed-project.com

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AT THE CHEF'S TABLE

Milad’s Traditional and Experimental Persian Cuisine

By Katherine Mast · Photos by Douglas Merriam

Left: Vegetarian plate with dolmas, beet falafel, lebna with pistachio-olive tapenade, and hummus.

Right: Stuffed trout with walnuts, barberries, garlic, tarragon, onions, and dill basmati rice.

It’s been a little more than a year since chef Neema Sadeghi opened the doors of Milad Persian Bistro, his first restaurant, and swiftly joined the luminaries of Santa Fe’s Canyon Road eateries. Tucked into a small corner lot abutting El Farol and across the street from Geronimo’s, the inviting space features traditional Iranian cuisine and modern reinventions of dishes from the broader Middle East. Kabobs with saffron rice; flavor-packed small plates; and irresistible specials like the popular trout, served whole and stuffed 24

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

“I’ve always had this idea of doing Persian food, but in a way that is accessible and shown in a different light,” says Sadeghi. “Persians go out for kabobs, specifically, but they don’t go out to eat some of the other dishes I make here—they’d just make them at home.”

found in a family’s kitchen than on the menu of an Iranian restaurant. And while Sadeghi serves his ta’chin as an individual small plate, it’s more often prepared and shared in family-sized portions. Sharing is at the heart of Persian food, says Sadeghi.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy the array of flavors at Milad is to arrive with a group of friends and order a handful of small plates to pass around the table.

For instance, ta’chin—a buttery baked saffron rice cake stuffed with chicken and garnished with barberries—is more often

For novices to Persian food, Sadeghi recommends the kashk e bademjan—a rich eggplant and walnut spread with garlic,

with walnuts, barberries, and fresh tarragon all provide tantalizing options.

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AT THE CHEF'S TABLE

Left: Neema Sadeghi of Milad Persian Bistro. Right: Vegetarian plate.

tart yogurt, and mint—or the sabzi plate, a quintessential Persian assortment of herbs and cheese with pita.

For a more adventurous palate, the jigar (grilled beef liver with pomegranate glaze) offers an experience of unique flavor and texture. To drink, order the yogurt soda, a traditional carbonated, slightly salty beverage that’s “just the drink to have with kabobs,” says Sadeghi. “People have strong reactions to yogurt soda—they either love it or hate it.”

When it comes to sourcing local ingredients, Sadeghi has faced difficulties finding farms that can consistently provide the kind of volume a commercial kitchen demands.

He’s able to find lamb from growers in New 26

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

Mexico and Colorado, and his pistachios come from Alamogordo. He collaborates with other local small businesses: he orders produce through Squash Blossom; offers tea, coffee, and kombucha from New Mexico outfits; and features a cardamom, pistachio, and rose water ice cream made specially for Milad by La Lecheria.

gave much thought then to preparing Persian food, but as he got older and began working all manner of jobs in restaurants, he learned new techniques that he wanted to use on the foods from his heritage. “I started applying that experience in the restaurant industry to understanding how food from my own culture was made,” he says.

Other ingredients, like saffron—the pungent, precious stigmas of crocus flowers—and barberries—sweet/tart fruits that look and taste somewhat like cranberries, are imported directly from Iran.

Now, he’s added another dimension: wine. “Iran is a predominantly Muslim country, so you don’t have a lot of wine drinkers,” he says, though it shows up in the historic poetry of writers like Hafiz.

At Milad, Sadeghi features boutique wines from places like Greece and Macedonia.

Sadeghi grew up preparing food with his grandmother in Washington, DC, which is where his family landed after the Iranian Revolution in the late seventies. He never

Sadeghi hopes to offer a relaxed and comfortable dining experience at a price

Ta'chin: crispy saffron rice and turmeric chicken, garnished with barberries and onions.

that is more accessible than most other restaurants on Canyon Road, but to do so in the spirit of fine dining. He doesn’t sell many high-end wines, for instance, “But when someone orders a $100 bottle, we know how to pour it. We’re prepared for that person,” he says.

Beyond a nuanced and creative approach to Persian food, Sadeghi brings an artistic sensibility to Milad. He’s a musician and photographer, has worked in film, and studied interior and graphic design in Barcelona. That’s part of what allowed him to transform a once run-down empty building into a cozy, inviting space that makes efficient use of a small footprint and an unconventional layout.

“All those different elements of art apply to restaurants,” says Sadeghi. “You get to use all that knowledge. There’s music and lighting involved, language and communication, knowing how people behave in a space.”

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FACES OF FOOD

Two Natives in a Garden INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER'S RESILIENCE GARDEN

By Mike Barthelemy

Left: Resilience Garden at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Right: Bettina Sandoval. Photos courtesy of IPCC.

“Sheez, you Pueblos are kinda too darn much,” I joked with Bettina Sandoval as we looked out on the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s (IPCC) Resilience Garden. She laughed, and we continued to crack jokes for fifteen minutes before getting to the garden project.

We are both Native, myself a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes in western North Dakota, the agricultural nations of the UpperMissouri, and Sandoval is a member of Taos Pueblo, the northernmost Pueblo. Standing outside a now-dormant garden in February, we visited about the weather, our homes, and the importance of gardening to indigenous people with a strong agricultural tradition.

The continuation of farming techniques passed down through generations in the face of colonialism testifies to the resilience of New Mexico’s Native people. This patch of earth along Twelfth Street is more than a garden where Sandoval works the soil from spring to 28

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

fall. It presents an opportunity to share knowledge of Pueblo farming techniques and history with Native and non-Native people in Albuquerque. This spring, the IPCC will once again begin offering their Seasons of Growth Learning Series, which aims to teach the public about a host of traditional gardening techniques, including the handling of Native heirloom seeds, principles of Pueblo agriculture, and composting, in an effort to jumpstart participants’ own gardens in the metro and surrounding lands.

The garden is organized into four separate sections and, in many ways, follows the trajectory of Pueblo history. The first is a foraging garden that represents the diversity of plant life that Pueblo people gathered annually in areas throughout New Mexico to supplement their gardens of planted produce. “Our land is home to diverse native plants, from rich riverbeds lined with cottonwoods to dry deserts speckled with cacti and mountainsides covered

in juniper, piñon, and conifer trees,” a plaque explains. At the time of my visit, only evidence of cotton plants remained in the bed, and I teased Sandoval about how unimpressed I was by the lack of plants in February. “Yeah, I better get with it,” Sandoval fired back.

The second section is a “waffle” garden.

This area is well named because the technique of raised earth around the plants gives the appearance of a waffle in the soil. “We handform their walls to catch previous rainfall, concentrate water around seeds, and keep soil damp during dry weeks.” This method is used to collect rainfall in particularly arid climates such as the southern and western Pueblos.

Water is often scarce in many areas of New Mexico, and the Pueblo people continue to cherish this life-giving resource through ceremonies and dance. Water is an essential element and we cannot afford to waste it. Not only is this garden representative of historical

methods of water collection, but it is also an example of the types of collaboration between the Pueblo people contributing to this garden project. Sandoval tells me that the garden is not only a teaching space but a learning space for those working at the cultural center, who also gain agricultural knowledge by visiting tribal members from different Pueblos.

As Ancestral Puebloans began to settle near water sources, they began to develop extensive irrigation systems, which are showcased in the Resilience Garden’s third section. It is designed to flood, and the varieties of plants grown there are adapted to this technique.

Sandoval always grows chile and the three sisters of Native agriculture, corn, beans, and squash—with variations in the waffle and flood method—as well as a variety of other seasonal vegetables. “We decide at the beginning of the season what plants will go into the garden,” Sandoval says. These varieties are representative of the different Pueblos. The irrigation systems built by Ancestral Puebloans are still used by their descendants today, bridging the past and the present.

In the fourth section of the Resilience Garden, Sandoval explains how Pueblo farming adapted over time. The Spanish arrived in New Mexico in the 1500s, and with them they brought new plants and animal species. These foreign plants poured into the area and soon threatened to overtake the indigenous plant life. As a testament to the strength of the Pueblo people, they quickly adapted, cultivating many of these introduced plants and integrating them into their own diets. At the same time, they retained many of their historical agricultural traditions and connections with the land. This adoption of introduced plants and continual evolution of farming practices shows an adaptable and thriving Pueblo people.

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Nettles in New Mexico HOW TO AVOID THE STING AND ENJOY THE GREEN

By Ellen Zachos

Photos by Ellen Zachos.

FINDING NETTLES I have a knack for finding stinging nettles the hard way. The first time, I was strolling through a grassy field with sandals on, and felt a sharp sting on my foot. It swelled up for a few hours; the redness and itching lasted a little longer. I wasn’t a forager at the time, so I felt only annoyance and pain.

A few years later, I backed into a patch of nettles while trying to take the perfect photograph. As soon as I felt the sting on my calf, I knew what I’d done. By that time I’d become a forager, so I put down my camera and started picking.

In northern New Mexico, Urtica dioica is the most common species of edible nettle. You’ll find it in moist, shady woods; near streams; and in sunny fields as long as there’s adequate moisture. If you’re planning an early summer nettle expedition, consider exploring the Jemez or the Sangres. I’ve found good stands of nettles in both mountain ranges, especially above eight thousand feet.

Nettles can grow to be two to six feet tall; their leaves are bright green and pointy, with serrated edges. The stems and undersides of stinging nettle leaves are covered with tiny, hollow hairs called tri30

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

chomes, which contain chemicals including formic acid and histamine. When these hairs are broken, they release their chemicals, causing the infamous sting.

Nettle flowers are small and white, dangling in short chains from the leaf axils. If you find a nettle plant in flower, the best thing to do is make a mental note and remember the spot for next year. By the time nettles flower, their foliage is too tough and fibrous to be tasty.

You may hear rumors that mature nettles contribute to the formation of kidney stones or irritate the urinary tract. I’ve looked for peerreviewed science to support this, but haven’t found any.

Once you find a good nettle patch, visit early and often. By harvesting every one or two weeks, you can prolong the tasty season.

Removing the top six inches of the plant postpones flowering, and lets you harvest longer. This is how the plant is cultivated as a vegetable in many countries around the world.

I’ve heard a few foragers claim to be able to pick nettles without getting stung, but I take precautions. Use leather gloves (the stinging hairs easily penetrate soft cloth) to pinch off the top several pairs of leaves and stem, or use pruners to make your harvest.

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COOKING NETTLES You may be wondering how such a well-armed plant can be edible. Fortunately, nettle stingers are destroyed by both cooking and drying. Some people dry the leaves, then grind them to make a powder which they use for tea or as a soup base. I think more flavor is preserved by blanching the nettles, which can then be frozen and stored for up to a year.

Bring a large pot of water to a vigorous boil, then add the nettles (using tongs!) and push them under the water. Boil the nettles for one to two minutes, then submerge them in ice water to stop the

cooking. If you’re going to freeze your nettles, eliminate as much water as possible by squeezing the cooked greens.

Stinging nettles reduce when cooked, much the same way spinach does. Cooked nettles have a darker color and richer flavor than spinach, but can nonetheless be used in any way you’d use cooked spinach: in pasta, frittatas, quiches, or to make a rich, emerald green soup full of vitamins A and C, as well as calcium, iron, manganese, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Many nutritionists consider nettles to be a superfood. I confess, that’s not my primary concern; I love nettles because they taste so good.

Photo by Ellen Zachos.

NETTLE SOUP The deep, rich green of nettle soup seems almost too vibrant to be natural. Its flavor is full and wild.

Olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup thinly sliced Jerusalem artichokes (you may substitute thinly sliced potatoes or cooked rice) 2 cups blanched stinging nettles, roughly chopped 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock 1 teaspoon salt Pepper to taste 1/2 cup yogurt, cream, or crème fraiche Heat several tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan, then add the onions and Jerusalem artichoke slices. Cook, stir32

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

ring over medium heat, until the onions become translucent, but don’t let them brown. Add the chopped and blanched nettles, then add the salt, pepper, and stock. Bring the ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20–30 minutes. The Jerusalem artichokes (or potatoes or rice) should now be entirely soft.

Transfer the mixture to a blender, or use an immersion blender, to create a smooth purée. Pour the soup into a saucepan, and stir in the dairy. Taste and adjust your seasoning, and if you want to spice things up, shake a few drops of hot sauce on top.

If freezing your nettle soup, stop before adding the dairy, and resume there just before serving.

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BEHIND THE BOTTLE

Chefs talk wine MÁS TAPAS Y VINO AND DH LESCOMBES Recipe by Marc Quiñones · Photos by Stephanie Cameron

Left: Cherry Elk Tenderloin drizzled in demi-glace. Right: Marc Quiñones.

This year, edible takes you behind the bottle with chefs from around the state who are creating inspired pairings with New Mexico wines.

Each chef creates a dish inspired by the wine and delivers a fresh recipe to our readers.

In this issue, we sit down with Marc Quiñones, executive chef of Hotel Andaluz and MÁS Tapas y Vino in Albuquerque, to talk about New Mexico wines and creating menu pairings. NM Wine delivered bottles of DH Lescombes 2012 Petite Sirah to Quiñones, who created a recipe to match the full-bodied wine.

Tell us about the philosophy at MÁS when pairing wine with tapas.

When I think of food, I think of wine. I have been around wine my entire career and consider myself fortunate to have worked in many places where wine was just as an important part of the menu as the food. Small plates, big flavor, and wine is the concept behind MÁS. How do you navigate that connection of flavors between food and wine?

Whenever I am planning my menus, I try to consider the diner and the whole experience. When thinking about the ingredients on the plate, my mind automatically goes to, “What wine will pair well with 34

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

this?” We spend a lot of time educating our staff to be able to have a conversation with the guests and help them pair a wine with their dinner. Just like food, wine has a lot of soul—I really feel you need to experience wine like you do food, taking the time to understand the flavors and how they go together.

What’s your process around creating dishes to pair with a wine?

John Cuviello, our director of food and beverage [at MÁS], and I really work together to create our menu. His wine choices will inspire directions I take on the menu, and my food will inspire choices he makes in his wine selections.

How important is it to have the chef involved with the wine program?

It is paramount for chefs to be involved in the wine program if you want to be taken seriously as a major player in the restaurant industry.

In your experience, is it hard to convince New Mexicans to drink New Mexico wine?

I do a lot of traveling and bring the flavors of New Mexico to surrounding states; and along with the food, I bring the wine. New

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BEHIND THE BOTTLE Mexicans are very proud of their food and products and really love to support what is created here and that includes the wine.

Boil carrots for 4 minutes, then place into an ice bath.

Do you enjoy wine on a regular basis? If so, which are your favorite styles?

1 egg in a bowl. Whisk together and then add soda water.

Absolutely! My favorite style is pinot grigio because it is fruity, a little tart, and a little sweet. It is a natural pairing for my style of cooking with big flavors, vinegars, salts, garlic, and herbs.

Tell us about your pairing and why you chose this dish for the DH Lescombes 2012 Petite Sirah.

As soon as I cracked open the bottle, I got the flavor of cherries and immediately thought of the elk on our menu. From there I built a dish: cherry, cracked black pepper, herbs with potato, parsley, a little bit of lemon, and the texture of the tempura carrots. All these things coming together works well with the properties of the wine.

For tempura batter, combine rice flour, baking soda, and Salt to taste. Pour enough oil into a medium saucepan to measure about 2 inches. Attach a deep-fry thermometer to the pan; heat the oil to 350°F. Line a plate with a double layer of paper towels. Working in batches, drop carrots into the batter; stir gently to coat. Carefully add carrots to the hot oil. Fry, turning occasionally with chopsticks or a fork, until lightly golden on both sides, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, lift the carrots from the pan.

Transfer to paper towels.

Is there anything else you would like edible readers to know?

MÁS Tapas y Vino will be at the Albuquerque Wine Festival May 26–28 at Balloon Fiesta Park. We will be serving several of our dishes and attendees will be able to create their own pairings.

CHERRY ELK TENDERLOIN Crispy Heirloom Carrots | Boursin Potato Purée | Cracked Black Pepper Parsley Salad | St. Clair Lescombes Petite Sirah Demi-Glace Serves 2 2 center cut elk tenderloins, 7–8 ounces each 1 cup fresh dark cherries, crushed 2 russet potatoes 1 cup Boursin cheese 1 cup heavy cream 3 heirloom carrots, blanched and split 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper 1 half lemon, juiced 3 baby heirloom tomatoes, halved 1 cup parsley, loosely chopped Tempura batter 1 cup flour 1/4 cup baking soda 1 cup soda water Demi-glace 1 1/2 cups petite sirah 1 cup veal stock (or beef stock) 3 cloves garlic 2 sprigs thyme Marinate elk with crushed dark cherries in an airtight container for 4 hours minimum.

For potato purée, peel potatoes, boil until tender, remove from water, then blend with heavy cream and 1 cup Boursin cheese. Set aside.

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Sear elk in a hot sauté pan using 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil until desired temperature and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

For the demi-glace, simmer petite sirah, veal stock, cloves of garlic, and thyme until thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.

For the salad, toss parsley and tomato halves. Season with cracked black pepper and juice of 1 lemon.

Creatively arrange each component on a plate—have a little fun!

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#EDIBLENM ediblesantafe TAG us or use #edibleNM and your pics could be featured here. We always pick a favorite and send them a gift certificate to one of our favorite local joints.

WINNER

oninoodlesnm We’re back tomorrow @marblebrewery Downtown 12-6! #eatlocalabq #edibleNM

chefmq “Bento Box” | Bulgogi Short Rib | Udon Noodle | Charred Corn & Scallion Salad | Umami #EatMAS #ChefMQ @ediblesantafe

mizzbsteele So happy our #robertsinskey wine dinner was such a success, but even happier that I get to work with such stellar human beings that make hard work feel like fun #edibleNM

thekitchengypsy I haven’t eaten eggs in awhile, but I can’t help and show love to these pickled beauties I enjoyed during my time in Taos. #edibleNM

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edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

EDIBLE CRAFT COCKTAIL

SPRING THYME

By Quinn Stephenson Coyote Cafe mixologist and owner, Quinn Stephenson, shakes up this bright cocktail just in time for spring.

2 ounces citrus vodka 4 ounces Granny Smith apple juice (see recipe below) 1/2 ounces thyme syrup (see recipe below) 1/4 ounces lemon juice 1 thyme sprig, for garnish Granny Smith apple juice: 6 Granny Smith apples Core apples and cut into pieces; blend well in a blender.

Strain contents through a fine strainer. Makes enough for 6 cocktails.

Thyme syrup: 6 ounces sugar 12 ounces water 6 ounces fresh thyme, cleaned Mix 6 ounces of sugar with 12 ounces of water, completely dissolving the sugar. Soak the fresh thyme in the liquid overnight in the refrigerator, allowing thyme to macerate. Do not heat the syrup. Strain the next day.

To make the cocktail: Vigorously shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Garnish with a sprig of thyme.

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COOKING FRESH

Cooking with Roses

By Stephanie Cameron

RosĂŠ Granita This edition of Cooking Fresh brings the sweet scent of roses into your kitchen with recipes using fresh rose petals, dried rose petals, or rosewater. The petals and hips of all roses are edible, with more pronounced flavor in darker varieties. Avoid modern rose hybrids in cooking, as the petals are often too thick and bitter. Instead, seek out pesticide/herbicide-free, heirloom varieties from local nurseries 40

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

or local floral suppliers like Floriography. Varieties such as Damasks, Bourbons, Gallicas, and Musks have a more pronounced scent and thinner petals. In addition to using fresh roses, rosewater or dried roses can greatly enhance a meal.

Both can be purchased at spice stores such as Savory Spice Shop in Santa Fe, or you can preserve your own roses for cooking later with the instructions below.

ROSEWATER There are over a hundred different varieties of roses. If you are lucky enough to have roses growing in your garden, you can use them to make rosewater. Pick them in the early morning when the blossoms are most fragrant. You can also purchase roses, but choose an organic source to ensure your finished rosewater is uncontaminated.

1 cup rose petals (about 2 roses) 2 cups distilled water 1 teaspoon vodka (optional; this preserves the rosewater) The fresher your roses are, the better the results. Try to use just one type of rose; each type has its distinctive smell, and you may not get good results by mixing them.

Rinse the roses well to remove any dirt and insects. Pull the petals off the roses and compost the rest of the rose.

Place the petals into a saucepan and pour water over them. Make sure the petals are evenly distributed so that the water level does not rise too far above the petals. If you use too much water, your rosewater will be less fragrant. Add the vodka.

Cover the pot with a lid and set the heat to low. Do not let the water boil; too much heat will ruin the color and affect the flavor. After about 20 minutes, the petals will become paler, and the water will take on the color of the petals.

Place a strainer over a large, sterilized jar. Pour the water and petals through the strainer and into the jar. Store in the refrigerator. The rosewater will keep about 1 month if you added the vodka, and about 1 week if you didn’t.

DRYING ROSE PETALS Harvest freshly opened flowers on a dry and sunny morning, after the dew has evaporated from the petals, but before the heat of the midday sun—this is when they are most fragrant. Pluck the petals from the stems and spread them out onto a flat surface in the shade: a mesh screen or a big, wide basket with lots of air holes will work best, but newsprint or paper will also work.

Cover with screen or cheese cloth so the wind doesn’t carry them away. Leave them for about a week, using your fingertips to toss them every day or so, or until dry and crisp. Store in a canning jar. As with all herbs, they should be stored whole and crushed directly before using to maintain their flavor longer. Keep the jar in a dry place out of the sun.

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COOKING FRESH BREAKFAST POLENTA WITH ROSE-ROASTED RHUBARB Serves 4 Rose-roasted Rhubarb 2 stalks rhubarb, cut into 2-inch pieces 1 teaspoon rosewater 2 tablespoons caster (powdered) sugar Polenta 5 cups whole milk 1 cup blue cornmeal 1 tablespoon agave nectar 2 teaspoons coconut oil 1 tablespoon rosewater 1/4 cup crushed pistachios Preheat oven to 350ยบF. Place the rhubarb on a roasting tray, and sprinkle with the rosewater and sugar. Roast about 20 minutes; rhubarb will be soft but should retain its shape.

Add milk to a large saucepan and set over high heat. Sprinkle in cornmeal while whisking (milk does not have to be boiling). Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until polenta thickens enough that it starts to spit. Lower heat to prevent spitting and continue to cook, stirring frequently with a silicone spatula and scraping bottom to prevent scorching. Cook until polenta becomes thick and pulls away from the side of the saucepan, about 40 minutes.

Stir in agave, coconut oil, and rosewater using a whisk. If the polenta forms lumps, beat vigorously with a stiff whisk to remove. If the polenta becomes too firm or begins to set, add a small amount of milk and beat with a whisk until liquid is fully incorporated and no lumps remain. Serve immediately with rose-roasted rhubarb and garnish with pistachios and rose petals.

Scrape any leftover polenta into a casserole dish and chill until set, then cut into pieces for grilling, searing, or frying.

ROSE PETAL HARISSA Makes 1 cup

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Breakfast Polenta with Rhubarb

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018 Rose-roasted

6 ounces dried red chiles 1 teaspoon caraway seeds 1 teaspoon coriander seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste 1/2 cup rose petals, washed (or substitute 1/2 cup dried rose petals) 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste 4 tablespoons rosewater 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for storing

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COOKING FRESH Place the chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes.

While chiles are soaking, toast caraway, coriander, and cumin in a dry skillet over low-medium heat, occasionally shaking or stirring to prevent burning. When the spices are fragrant, remove them from pan. Grind spices in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.

Drain the chiles, reserving the liquid. Remove and discard the stems and seeds from the chiles. (Wearing gloves is recommended to protect your hands.)

Pulse chiles, ground spices, garlic, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add rose petals, tomato paste, and rosewater, and pulse a couple more times. With food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and process to form a smooth and thick paste. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. If a thinner paste is desired, blend in a little of the chile soaking liquid until the paste has reached desired texture. Taste and adjust seasonings. The flavor of the harissa will deepen over the next day or two, but taste it now and add more salt or other optional ingredients to your liking.

Transfer the harissa to a jar and cover with a thin layer of olive oil. Cover the jar and refrigerate for up to a month, adding a fresh layer of olive oil on top each time you use the harissa.

Serve with vegetables, potatoes, chicken, or fish.

ROSÉ GRANITA Serves 6 to 8 3/4 cup sugar 1 bottle Gruet rosé 1/4 cup dried roses 1 teaspoon rosewater 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1 teaspoon beet juice, optional (see instructions below) In a saucepan, stir together sugar and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until sugar has completely dissolved. Once mixture has come to a boil, remove from heat, add roses, and let cool. When mixture has cooled completely, strain out roses and discard. Stir rosé, rosewater, and lime juice into the strained liquid. Add beet juice for eye-popping color— slice 1 red beet and add to pot of water; bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Pour into a large, shallow baking pan making about a 3/4 inch layer across the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic- wrap and put it in the freezer. Every 30 minutes, take the granita out of the freezer and scrape it with a fork, paying particular attention to the sides of the dish as those will be the first to freeze.

After about 3 hours, the granita will be ready to serve.

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edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

Rose Petal Harissa

To serve, spoon granita into small chilled glasses or bowls and garnish with fresh or dried rose petals.

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COOKING FRESH RHUBARB AND ROSE PETAL TART Serves 8 Pastry 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into several pieces 1 large egg 2 large egg yolks Rhubarb 2 cups fresh rhubarb, diced into 1/2-inch pieces 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon rose water 1/4 cup fresh rose petals 1/2 teaspoon cardamom Preheat oven to 375°F. Heavily butter a 10-inch removable bottom tart pan. Be sure to also butter between the two pieces, where the bottom lip touches the insert, because this is where the crust most often sticks when the rhubarb juices seep through the pastry and onto the tart pan.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a food processor. Pulse to cut the butter into dry ingredients; the mixture will be the consistency of coarse sand. Add egg and egg yolks, and pulse briefly, until egg is evenly distributed and pastry clumps together. Gather pastry together with your hands and press it evenly onto the bottom—but not the sides—of the prepared tart pan.

In a medium bowl, combine diced rhubarb, sugar, cardamom, rose petals, and rose water. Let sit for 10–15 minutes, until juices begin to form and mix well. Spoon rhubarb with juices onto the center of the pastry, and then distribute evenly to within 3/4-inch of the edges. The edges must remain clear so that they can rise.

Place the tart pan on an edged baking sheet in the top third of the oven. Bake for 50–55 minutes, until pastry is dark golden brown at the edges and golden brown at the center.

Remove from oven, and let cool for 10 minutes only; removing the outer edge of the tart pan while it’s still warm keeps it from sticking. Let tart cool or serve while still warm.

PRO TIP: When pruning rosebushes, save the rose cane and use to smoke meat for a subtle rose flavor. Smoke any meat with recipes that call for cherry or apple wood.

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Rhubarb and Rose Petal Tart

Rose

edible’s

april 20th, 7pm osuna nursery

pop-up dinner A GATHERED EVENT

Dine among 2,300 roses during Osuna Nursery’s annual Rose Olé Festival. Indulge in a roseinspired, eight course menu, presented by Karina (Planty Sweet), Myaneli Brown (FoodGore), Marjory Sweet (Otter Farms), and Deirdre Lane.

Featuring custom pottery at every place-setting by the Gathered Potter’s Collaborative: Jen DePaolo, Lauren Karle, and Sarah Newberry.

Music by cellist Lisa Donald.

Cost: $85, all inclusive

ediblenm.com/rose-dinner IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Cowboys and Indian Truckstops EATING LIKE A TRUCKER ON AMERICA’S MOTHER ROAD

By Willy Carleton · Photos by Joshua Johnson

“T

Lakhbir Singh (far left) and the rest of the Taste of India kitchen crew at the Taste of India in San Jon, New Mexico. Opposite page: Bhan Kaur (left) cooking in the Truck Stop 40 kitchen and Raj Singh (right), owner of Truck Stop 40.

Tucked away in unassuming garages beside the windswept plains along America’s central artery, these highway eateries offer a quintessential American cuisine.

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M

y empty stomach filled with dread as I considered my options along the expansive stretch of I-40 approaching the Texas panhandle. But then I filled up with gas at the Truck Stop 40 in western Oklahoma, twenty-six miles from the Texas border, and stopped into an unassuming restaurant in a large red garage marked with only a small white sign in Hindi and the words “Indian food” below it. I ordered at the small kitchen window and, five minutes later, received a steaming, made-toorder, savory cauliflower paratha and a homemade chai that, despite its styrofoam cup, rivaled any coffeehouse chai I’d had. That truck stop restaurant, and several others serving north Indian cuisine that I frequented as I drove beside the historic Route 66 on I-40 from western Oklahoma to Gallup, New Mexico, upended my expectations of road food. A surefire way to a great meal on the road, I learned, is to eat like a trucker. A Punjabi trucker.

The American highway, and the truck drivers who know it best, have long served as powerful cultural symbols in this nation. Ever since Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road” on the eve of the American Civil War, Americans have cherished the opportunities of “the long brown path” as central to national ideals of freedom. As post-WWII America bankrolled an interstate highway system and Americans put their shoulders to the wheel, Nat King Cole immortalized this classic western stretch of American asphalt in song. Route 66, the epitome of romance and youthful possibility, became the Mother Road, the Main Street of America.

The American trucker has shared in the lore of the open road. In the popular imagination of the late twentieth-century, truckers had become modern iterations of the idealized hardworking, nomadic

American cowboy. Like the cowboys of yore who drove herds from ranch to market along vast trails that cut across the West, the big-rig teamster symbolized independence and mobility. Countless country songs and popular films celebrated a stereotypically solitary and freewheeling owner-operator, a proud American working man who was always on the road. Just like cowboys, the trucker’s romantic appeal derived from a nostalgic sense that their way of life was vanishing at the hands of modern forces. By the late seventies, a host of writers had declared truck-driving men as “the last American cowboys.”

American truckers have not vanished, but their jobs, and demographics, have changed dramatically over the past four decades. The Teamsters union has lost its might and the percentage of single-truck owner-operators has steadily declined. Profit margins are tighter and hours on the road are longer than ever. Whereas in the 1970s the vast majority of truckers were US-born, today almost twenty percent of truckers are immigrants. This trend is increasing as trucking companies face more difficulty recruiting labor and, more than ever, recruit drivers from places like Punjab, India. Nearly thirty percent of foreign-born truckers come from either Asia or Europe, with most of the rest coming from Latin America.

After my meal at the Oklahoma truckstop, I asked the owner, Raj Singh, about its backstory. Singh told me he worked as a truck driver before opening the restaurant ten years ago. He noticed that an increasing number of Punjabi truck drivers had no good food options along this highway stretch. “I drove I-80, I-10, and I-40 before I figured out this is the right spot,” Singh explained. He also realized that to serve the entire Punjabi trucking community, he needed two restaurants in two separate buildings. “A lot of religious guys don’t trust

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Truck Stop 40 in Sayre, Oklahoma.

a building that cooks meat,” he explained. “So people who are really religious, the people who don’t want eggs or meat, they come here.”

We stood in the restaurant that serves vegetarian food. He motioned his head toward a building on the other side of the gas pumps. “Those that want meat, they go across the street.”

The following day I continued west and pit-stopped in San Jon, a tiny crossroads perched in the heart of dust-bowl country in far eastern New Mexico, where on all sides the distant horizon encircles a dry, brown, open landscape.

San Jon is home to some of the best Punjabi food in New Mexico.

As I stepped into the Taste of India in the Friends Truckstop, it felt like entering any gas station. But soon aromatic wafts of fenugreek, cardamom, cumin, ginger, and mustard from the steaming buffet greeted me. I looked down the aisles at rows of food products from India—multiple brands of ghee, bottles of bitter melon juice, and bags of fried lentil snacks—alongside gear oil and fan belts. Loud Punjabi music emanated from the TVs in the brightly lit dining section. There, truckers, mostly young men in their twenties and thirties, and mostly wearing sweatpants, sandals, and turbans, sat at the eight red booths, quietly eating their meals.

I loaded a plate of lentils, potatoes, basmati rice, and curry at the buffet and sat at the last open booth. In addition to the buffet, which is open from 10am to 11pm daily, a set menu featuring lamb curry, garam masala, chicken biryani, and homemade chai is available twenty-four hours a day. The potato and cauliflower paratha is the “local” favorite.

After my meal, Lakhbir Singh, co-owner of the truckstop and restaurant, told me why he chose this solitary desert town. “There are a lot of Punjabi Sikh truckers that are always on the road,” Singh explained, “They don’t have this kind of food otherwise.” Many drivers, he told me, stop for a meal once or twice a week, as they crisscross the country. The majority of customers are Punjabi, he said, but truckers of all ethnicities and a steady stream of cross-country motorists frequent the spot.

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Singh strives to provide the best possible food for his customers.

Originally a farmer in India, he grew mixed vegetables ranging from ginger and turmeric to beets, rice, sugarcane, wheat, and corn. He splits time in New Mexico with a co-owner, who otherwise lives in India, and when Singh is not in New Mexico, he tends to an almond farm he owns in California. He said he hopes to start growing vegetables in New Mexico for the local community and for his truckstop restaurant. “Two or three acres would be fine,” he said. “The local people here need good, locally produced food.”

Continuing west, the next option for truckstop Punjabi fare is over three hundred miles away in Gallup. There, former truck driver Perminder Singh started the Bombay Restaurant and Grill at the USave Truckstop, off exit 16, in 2011. Although he started it to meet the demand from Punjabi truckers, he soon noticed that a diverse local clientele frequented the eatery. “People come from sixty miles around because it’s the only place to get Indian food.”

Common to each truckstop, beyond the north Indian fare and large TVs with loud Punjabi programming, is a welcoming, receptive spirit from the owners and waitstaff. The owner of each restaurant I visited graciously took the time to sit and tell me his story, and the servers all offered genuine smiles as they picked up my dirty plates.

The friendly vibe, sadly, felt novel in the gas-station atmosphere, filled largely with strangers from elsewhere going somewhere far away.

A close look at this stretch of the Mother Road, beyond the nostalgic neon signs of long-gone burger shacks that still dot the old road, reveals new life on the same open road that has stretched before the American imagination for centuries. Tucked away in unassuming garages beside the windswept plains along America’s central artery, these highway eateries offer a quintessential American cuisine. They express our collective identity, despite current backlash, as a nation of immigrants, and illustrate the “profound lesson of reception” of Whitman’s open road. Next time you hit this stretch of asphalt, consider leaving the sandwiches at home and go get your kicks, and paratha, on Route 66.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND MAY 26–27, 2018 SANTA FE CONVENTION CENTER FREE ADMISSION Join more than 200 invited Native American artists selling their work in an intimate setting. Proceeds benefit the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.

Jewelry, pottery, sculpture, textiles, hanging art, fashion, carvings, basketry, beadwork and more.

Maria Samora (Taos), 2018 MIAC Living Treasure, is the featured artist at Native Treasures. nativetreasures.org

Traditional | Contemporary | Timeless Bracelet by Benson and Brenda Manygoats (Diné (Navajo). Photograph by Carol Franco

Join us for Native Treasures Street Eats, a special food truck event, on Sunday, May 27, 2018 from 11am–3pm, outside the Santa Fe Convention Center. Presented by Native Treasures and the Santa Fe Reporter.

Las Vegas Renaissance A @TRAVELNEWMEXICO PHOTO ESSAY

By Stephanie Cameron, Caitlin Jenkins, and Amy Tishler

“N

New is juxtaposed with old, making Las Vegas a town on the verge, with many cultural, historic, and culinary offerings to explore.

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@TravelNewMexico

In February, I set off on what has become an annual journey with Amy Tischler and Caitlin Jenkins, founders of @TravelNewMexico™ on Instagram, to explore one of New Mexico’s hidden-in-plain-sight cities. @TravelNewMexico documents New Mexico road trips by giving guest instagrammers a chance to take over the account to share their unique experiences through imagery and stories. Last year we visited Silver City and discovered a bustling town that sparkles with artistic, culinary, and historical offerings. As much as we would have enjoyed returning to Silver City, we decided to try the historic Santa Fe Trail town of Las Vegas, and we were not disappointed.

It’s easy to miss Las Vegas while speeding down Interstate 25, but if you slow down and take a look around, there are some great finds

just around the corner. With over nine hundred buildings on the historic register and many native Las Vegans running local business, one is immediately charmed. As the town’s tourism website boasts, it is #DamnAuthentic. The greatest discovery we made in Las Vegas was the renaissance that is happening there. Many next generation adults are returning to their roots and reclaiming their hometown. New is juxtaposed with old, making Las Vegas a town on the verge, with many cultural, historic, and culinary offerings to explore. We left feeling as if we had discovered a gem, hoping we could return soon.

Thanks to @TravelNewMexico for a great road trip collaboration!

Follow them on Instagram as they post more about our Las Vegas trip. www.visitlasvegasnm.com

Charlie’s Spic and Span Bakery & Café

@TravelNewMexico @EdibleSantaFe

@TravelNewMexico

Photo

by Stephanie Cameron. @EdibleSantaFe

Charlie'sn Spic & Spa

@TravelNewMexico

Charlie’s in Las Vegas’s Historic District makes and sells fresh tortillas by the hundreds in addition to fabulous pastries and New Mexican fare. The Spic & Span began operation in the 1950s and got its name because it was so clean. In 1998, Charlie Sandoval purchased the eatery. Charlie’s motto is, “Panza llena corazón contento (belly full, heart happy).” Our selections were the H-Art Attack (a mountain of papitas, red and green chile, and eggs); a Stuffy—stuffed sopapilla with carne adovada; and hot cakes.

@TravelNewMexico WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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@TravelNewMexico

@TravelNewMexico

The Skillet

@TravelNewMexico

@TravelNewMexico

The Skillet

@TravelNewMexico

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edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

@EdibleSantaFe

The Skillet, previously a taco truck in a renovated 1950s Airstream, is now a brick and mortar just off the Las Vegas Plaza. Isaac Sandoval and his wife Shawna have created an experiential dining space with whimsical creatures and murals adorning the walls. Sandoval's art is also on display in his father's popular Charlie's Spic and Span Bakery and CafĂŠ. The son has learned much about his father's business, and he has turned tacos into a fine art. We enjoyed the po'boy shrimp taco, carne asada taco, chicken chicharrones, and green chile fries.

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Borracho’s Craft Booze and Brews

Dick’s Pub

Sara Mathews comes to Las Vegas by way of the Apothecary in Albuquerque. To serve up her craft, she wanted to return to the town where she was born and raised. All the cocktails are made with thoughtfully sourced ingredients, and the bar uses many types of liquor made in New Mexico. They make several unique liquors inhouse, including a green chile-infused vodka, a jasmine gin, a coffee liqueur, a rosemary gin, a cinnamon maple bourbon, a coconut rum, and a limoncello. We enjoyed the La Llorona, a cocktail made with house-infused hibiscus tequila; a house-made triple sec; fresh lime juice; and agave syrup.

The original Dick’s was established as a neighborhood liquor store in 1940 by the Dick Elias family. In 1974 the business was taken over by the Moore family and has grown into a local favorite. They serve up contemporary American cuisine with an emphasis on northern New Mexican classics, locally sourced ingredients, and unique cocktails. Our choices were the steak nachos and the local New Mexico beers on tap from La Cumbre and Marble.

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6 Between Meals There are many discoveries to be made between meals in Las Vegas.

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1. The Dwan Light Sanctuary at the United World College, @TravelNewMexico 2. Historic architecture with nine hundred structures on the historic register, @EdibleSantaFe 3. The Longmire sheriff’s door next to El Zocalo Art Gallery (Stephanie Cameron, Caitlin Jenkins, and Amy Tishler pictured), @TravelNewMexico 4. The Railroad Avenue Historic District, where the La Castaùeda is set to reopen in 2019, @Travel New Mexico 5. The Plaza Hotel, built in 1882; the Range Cafe recently took over the restaurant, @EdibleSantaFe 6. Fort Union Drive-In, open summer through fall, @EdibleSantaFe 7. The City of Las Vegas Museum and Rough Rider Memorial Collection, @EdibleSantaFe 8. The Casa de Cultura Las Vegas murals and many artful, graffitiadorned walls located throughout town, @EdibleSantaFe

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New Mexico's Enchantment Turns Turquoise

By Michael J. Dax · Photos by Stephanie Cameron

“T

Above: Chevrolet relic in Madrid. Opposite page, clockwise: Wagyu beef pastrami with roasted peppers and grilled onions at the Blackbird Saloon in Los Cerrillos; grilled elk and bison smokies with shishito peppers at the Black Bird Saloon; outside the Black Bird Saloon.

The Turquoise Trail’s mixture of historic appeal and modern adaptation bring together northern New Mexico’s disparate charms.

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n mid-February my view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains revealed a mix of brown and green, the full effect of northern New Mexico’s non-winter in plain sight. So instead of heading up to Ski Santa Fe for the sweet powder turns that I relegated to my dreams, I decided to turn my attention south along NM 14. Better known as the Turquoise Trail, the two-lane road runs from Santa Fe’s Southside to Interstate 40 in Albuquerque’s East Mountains, capturing a healthy dose of New Mexico’s history and culture along the way.

While Madrid, the quirky centerpiece of the Turquoise Trail, is well-regarded throughout New Mexico as a funky art community and frequent destination for visiting relatives, on this trip, I was committed to seeing the Trail’s lesser-known attractions, highlights, and pit-stops.

With blue sky and unseasonably warm temperatures to ensure smooth sailing, my girlfriend Sullivan, our cattle dog mix Sadie, and I cruised past the flatlands just beyond the city limits supporting Santa Fe Brewing Company, the main office for the Santa Fe National Forest, and the state penitentiary.

Indicating our first stop for the day, the small cluster of buildings known as San Marcos appeared just as ripples in the form of volcanic hills and arroyos pockmarked by twisted juniper begin to define the landscape.

A local favorite for more than thirty years, the San Marcos Café and Feed Store oozes the kind of rustic cachet that makes Santa Fe’s hinterlands worth exploring.

Originally just a livestock feed store, the low-ceilinged, sprawling adobe building quickly transports diners back in time.

While many Santa Fe establishments strive for this pastoral aesthetic, the café’s roughhewn construction, handsome wood stove, and homey furnishings suggest its authenticity and help comfort diners.

If that’s not enough, the breakfast menu features old classics with a New Mexico twist. Sullivan ordered one of their specialties, a cinnamon roll, which the menu claims to be “the traditional start to your meal.” Without some help, it would be the end of most people’s meals as well. The expansive roll assumed most of the small plate upon which it was served and fully lived up to its reputation. I ordered the biscuits and

gravy, another dish not intended for the faint of heart. Whereas most biscuits and gravy would likely be described as gravy poured over biscuits, my breakfast would have been more aptly characterized as biscuits submerged in gravy.

Semantics aside, we gobbled down our breakfasts, and by the time we finished, we were more than ready to walk off our meal at the next stop—Cerrillos Hills State Park (five-dollar entry fee). Located just north of the town of Los Cerrillos, the small state park boasts five miles of hiking and biking trails that weave around its namesake features as well as defunct turquoise, copper, and manganese mines. The trails provide fantastic views of the Ortiz and Sandia Mountains to the south and the Jemez Mountains to the west.

The Jane Calvin Sanchez Trail merits a mention, as the hike includes interpretive signs providing historical information about the individual mining claims that dot the trail, as well as a broader history of mining in Los Cerrillos and Madrid at the turn of the twentieth century. To add another element to the relatively short walk, hikers can pick up a crossword puzzle at the trailhead and follow

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Top left, clockwise: Antique piano at the Black Bird Saloon; proprietors of the saloon, Patrick and Kelly Torres, leaning on the original bar; relics galore at Los Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum.

the interpretive displays to answer each clue as they walk the mile-long trail.

While far from New Mexico’s most stunning scenery, the small park provided a welcomed opportunity for all of us, especially Sadie, to stretch our legs, and a pleasant respite from what would prove to be a demanding culinary tour. As an added bonus, we watched a young coyote quietly tiptoe along a low ridge above us.

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After our hike, we returned to the small town of Los Cerrillos, where little seems to have changed since Young Guns wrapped up shooting over thirty years ago. Other than its attractive cathedral, dirt roads and hunched adobe homes dominate the town’s three-by-three block matrix, making it easy to see why Hollywood producers would tap it for an 1880s cattle-town set piece. With history on our minds, the next logical stop was the Casa Grande Trading Post and Cer-

rillos Turquoise Mining Museum located, appropriately, at the end of town.

If character is key to San Marcos Café’s cultural currency, then Casa Grande upped the ante. The first room of the similarly low-ceilinged building was packed with turquoise jewelry and crafts, many of which are made from owners Todd and Patricia Brown’s Little Chalchihuitl mining claim in the Cerrillos Hills. I’ve recently developed an

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Top left, clockwise: Cerrillos Opera House, built in 1881; Ale Republic in Cedar Crest; flight of Belgian-style beers at Ale Republic; Mary's Bar, still in operation in Cerrillos.

affinity for bolo ties and couldn’t help but add another to my collection. Continuing into the second room, visitors are greeted by a stockpile of unfinished semi-precious stones—everything from Cerrillos turquoise to jet to variscite mined from another claim worked by the Browns.

In the following room, through the swinging saloon-style doors, is the Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum, a semi-organized treasure trove of mostly local artifacts from the turn of the century, when more than one thousand mining claims were active in the region. Artifacts range from items such as shovels, picks, sluice boxes, wooden barrels, and stoves to pots and pans, glass bottles, and even cardboard cutouts of Smokey Bear, 64

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John Wayne, and Kiefer Sutherland. A cursory pass through the museum easily justifies the two-dollar entry fee, but a more detailed examination is sure to reveal a few diamonds in the rough.

Kelly (wild boar Italian sausage, Dijon, and slaw on a brioche bun) and the Camp Fire Folk Lore (elk and bison smoked sausages with shishito peppers topped with Dijon and smoked sea salt).

Los Cerrillos boasted twenty-six saloons at its peak in the late 1800s, but today, there are only two options, Mary’s Bar and the Black Bird Saloon, which opened in 2016 and occupies a building built in 1885. Black Bird has maintained the saloon’s minimalist, old-timey feel, replete with a restored wooden bar, swinging doors, rustic furnishings, an antique piano, and deer antler tap handles for its draft beers. Its menu also features game meats such as wild boar, elk, and bison, with unique dishes like the Choctaw

After a quick lunch, we continued south toward Madrid. Although our focus was away from the Trail’s most popular stop, which we had visited many times before, we couldn’t resist taking the quarter mile stroll through town, peering in some shops and soaking in the warm temperatures. Before resuming our journey, we made room for some ice cream from Jezebel Studio’s Soda Fountain. Sullivan had black cherry vanilla while I stuck with a personal favorite, cookies ‘n cream. The large deck shared by Jezebel

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Top left, clockwise: Farm fresh eggs and homemade bread served up daily at Rancho Gallina; Mitch Ackerman and Leslie Moody; Rancho Gallina casita; barn that has been converted into the kitchen and breakfast room.

and its neighboring galleries allowed us to leisurely savor our out-of-season treats as Sadie welcomed attention from passersby.

After that, we were back in the car, continuing south to the end of the trail. But before we could make our final stops in Cedar Crest, we felt compelled to make the small detour to the Singing Road, south of I-40 on the old Route 66. While not technically on the Turquoise Trail, this indelible piece of Americana was too tempting to pass-up.

Completed in 2014, the short stretch of eastbound highway has rumble strips that play “America the Beautiful” when cars pass over them at exactly forty-five mph. After 66

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driving west for a few miles, we pulled a u-turn to get in the eastbound lane, turned down the radio, and precisely set the cruise control. When we passed the sign reading “Musical road ahead,” we carefully tuned our ears to listen for the familiar notes, but despite our best efforts, we failed to recognize any discernible melody from the rumble strip’s gentle vibrations.

With more time to spare, we might have turned around for a second pass, but the afternoon was getting on and we were growing thirsty. Driving back north, we passed Greenside Café, a favorite breakfast stop for Turquoise Trail travelers starting their journeys from Albuquerque. But we were in the

mood for something stronger, and navigated our way to Ale Republic, a small, unassuming brewery that opened in Cedar Crest in 2016.

Specializing in Belgian-style ales, Ale Republic combines the refined sensibilities of its niche craft stylings with the more proletarian aesthetic of its taproom to foster an atmosphere complementary to its semirural setting. I had the Diablo de Oro, a Belgian golden strong ale, ringing in at an impressive 9.2% ABV, and Sullivan opted for the Tokyo Black, a stout black ale brewed with green tea. Both beers brought plenty of flavor, and despite its high alcohol content, the Belgian Strong went down dangerously smoothly.

Following a couple beers each, we walked across the parking lot to Ribs BBQ, a locally owned restaurant that proudly describes itself as “a carnivore operation.” Having not fully digested our lunch (or breakfast, for that matter), Sullivan and I shared the half combination platter, which features ribs, smoked brisket, pulled pork, and hot links. Once our carnivore smorgasbord arrived, I had hardly rolled up my sleeves before Sullivan had plowed her way through three ribs—and for good reason! The wellflavored meat easily fell off the bone, and no sooner had I reached for my first rib than all that was left on our plate was a pile of bones. The platter’s other options more than met expectations, but the ribs, appropriately, stood out as the highlight.

Upon eating our monthly meat quota, we headed back home to Santa Fe, but for out-of-towners seeking to fully enmesh themselves in rural New Mexico or locals wanting a quick weekend getaway, Rancho Gallina, a self-described eco-retreat and bed and breakfast, serves up just such an experience. The following weekend I met Mitch Ackerman and Leslie Moody, the husbandwife team who began restoring the historic estate in 2012. Rancho Gallina opened in 2014 and is one of only two properties in New Mexico to earn TripAdvisor’s platinum Green Leader status.

that’s like where we like to stay,” Moody says.

“We cook like we like to eat.”

Ackerman and Moody will work with their guests to develop a menu that fits their wants and needs, but typical dishes include the Croque Gallina. This New Mexico twist on a French classic features a slice of Ackerman’s wild yeast sourdough topped with prosciutto, gruyère, mornay sauce, red chile, and an over easy egg from one of their chickens. Ackerman is also proud of his cocktails, such as the Santa Fe Sazerac, which employs mezcal to provide a hint of Mexican flavor.

Santa Fe Inn & Eco-Retreat

As a former ranch and art colony turned eco-retreat, Rancho Gallina perfectly embodies the Turquoise Trail’s mixture of historic appeal and modern adaptation, bringing together northern New Mexico’s disparate charms. As Ackerman says, “For people who want something rural, a little more rustic and to be out in nature, you get the best of both worlds.” www.turquoisetrail.org www.ranchogallina.com www.blackbirdsaloon.com www.alerepublic.com www.ribsbbq.com

According to Ackerman and Moody, the five-bedroom property, which now features rain catchment tanks to water their garden, solar power, geothermal heating, and a fruit orchard irrigated with greywater, offers an ideal setting for visitors looking for an alternative to the typical Santa Fe experience.

“It’s not like Santa Fe at all,” claims Moody, citing their plentiful wildlife and unadulterated night skies.

After working high-stress jobs in Denver and Washington, DC, for more than twenty years, Moody and Ackerman admit they were burned out and looking for a change. They had been visiting Santa Fe for more than a decade, enjoying its culture and opportunities for outdoor recreation, so when the property became available, they were excited to create a space that would help others fall in love with northern New Mexico, too. “We built a place

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Chow in the Valley THE TAOS SKI VALLEY IS STEEPED IN HISTORY AND FOOD

By Jason Strykowski · Photos by Hattie Brown

“W

Left: Patrick Gharrity from 192 at The Blake.

Right: Jean Mayer from Hotel St. Bernard.

While commuting between established ski areas in his Cessna, Ernie Blake spotted an accumulation of snow near Wheeler Peak. The snow basin was too isolated and too steep, but the Blakes believed they could turn it into a ski destination.

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HOTEL ST. BERNARD Jean Mayer won't admit to working twelve-hour days. Ask and he'll shake it off like snow from recently waxed skis. But the clock doesn't lie. Every day during ski season, Mayer oversees the preparation and serving of three meals at the St. Bernard. In between, he heads to the slopes as technical director of Taos Ski Valley's renowned Ernie Blake Ski School. It may be more than twelve hours, but Mayer doesn't notice. At eighty-three, he's too busy enjoying himself.

Mayer was a champion skier who trained in hospitality in Nice, France. For a time, he served with the United States 10th Mountain Division stationed in France. Mayer also helped refugees escape Hungary during the revolution. Partly because of that service, he had little trouble finding an immigration sponsor in the United States and then his way to the start-up ski area northeast of Taos only a few years after it opened in 1955.

If Mayer is a throwback to another era, so is the Hotel St. Bernard.

Built between 1959 and 1961, the hotel is an unpretentious homage to the Alps. The main dining room features dark-stained wood, low hanging copper pots, a row of cowbells, and a central fireplace surrounded by benches. The lights are dimmed during meals. Similarly, the thirty guest rooms have a chalet feel, with not a single television, because the operators want visitors to spend more time socializing.

Mayer hopes his guests develop rapport with one another.

Even the guests are a little old school, taking advantage of the hotel's ski-week package. For a fixed price, guests can stay, ski, and eat for six days and seven nights. In some ways, the package is a holdover from the early days of Taos Ski Valley, when visitors would arrive on

the train from Chicago and stick around long enough to improve their abilities on the slopes. To keep guests coming back every year, the St. Bernard enticed them with top food and top instruction. Some families have returned for more than three or four generations.

From the beginning, the Mayers planned to serve traditional French cuisine with a Californian twist. They made croque monsieurs, lamb Provençale, French onion soup, filet mignon, and pan-fried foie gras.

Their fondue is the stuff of legend, made from three cheeses and served with an assorted platter of pickles, cold cuts, fingerling potatoes, and bread. All the dishes at the St. Bernard are served to share.

Typically, Mayer brings the pots and platters to the group tables asking, “Qu'est-ce que c'est?” Before serving flambé, Mayer will drop the lights all the way down in an attempt to surprise his guests with the flame.

The current menu reads by days of the week, starting on Saturday and ending on Friday. Some of the classic French dishes appear, but also listed are Nova Scotia lobster tail, golden beets, vegetable borscht, and warm gazpacho. The St. Bernard also makes a point of serving New Mexican favorites such as tortilla soup, green chile stew, and huevos rancheros. “Everything that we do offers a lot of flavor. I feel that’s what's lacking in general with the food that is available to most people,” Mayer says.

In the fifties and sixties, Taos Ski Valley could be reached only by a dirt road through the Hondo Canyon. The few restaurants at the Ski Valley struggled to get fresh produce. New Mexico 150 went in in 1972. Today, Mayer brings in fresh food like Chilean sea bass, lamb from Colorado, and humanely fed foie gras from France. Of course,

Left: Meals served family-style at Hotel St. Bernard. Right: Dining room at Hotel St. Bernard.

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the St. Bernard also buys from New Mexican farms. “What we really try to do, actually, and it's quite new this year, is introduce a dish where all the produce comes from within a hundred-mile radius,” says Mayer.

That freshness, Mayer says, is one of the keys to feeding modern skiers. He also likes to keep the menu lighter and will make a point of serving salads with breakfast and soups for lunch. They also prepare produce in a slightly different way: “We don't, per se, peel automatically all the fruits and all the potatoes because that's where the vitamins stay, mostly,” says Mayer. Sometimes, the St. Bernard will bake bread without yeast, which Mayer says is easier to digest.

In the six decades that Mayer has managed the St. Bernard and directed the ski school, both the sport and his clientele have changed.

Americans are better skiers and more informed eaters. But Mayer knew from the moment he reached Taos Ski Valley that the highaltitude canyon would be his home for the rest of his career. The snow was just too good to leave.

COPPER TO POWDER Mayer is a legend, but Ernie Blake is the face of Taos Ski Valley. A German-born skier, Blake served in the United States Army during World War II and then moved with his wife, Rhoda, to New Mexico.

While commuting between established ski areas in his Cessna, Blake spotted an accumulation of snow near Wheeler Peak. The snow basin was too isolated and too steep, but the Blakes believed they could turn it into a ski destination.

Before the Blakes arrived, the Hondo Canyon had witnessed the rise and fall of several boomtowns. The largest and most successful, Twining, had a smelter, hotel, grocery store, and telephone line.

There wasn't enough copper in the mountain to keep the town afloat, though, and the canyon was mostly abandoned. The Blakes found only a few remaining residents and a handful of cabins.

Living off-grid in a used trailer without central sewage or a paved road, the Blakes transformed the old mining town into world-class skiing. They carved trails up the mountain, brought in ski lifts from Europe, and helped the Mayers and others finance and build lodging.

Ernie Blake personally travelled all over the United States giving presentations about the mountain. He took to writing letters to magazines around the country, often under a pseudonym, to describe the glories of the ski area that he’d started. He even woke up every morning in time to phone in the snow report to New Mexico radio stations.

On the mountain, Blake wore a beanie emblazoned with the word “janitor.” Technically, he managed the ski area, but he thought of himself as more of a fixer. Until his death in 1989, he went out of his way to greet skiers personally—a tradition Mayer has kept alive at the St. Bernard.

The Blake family managed Taos Ski Valley until 2013, and their legacy is everywhere. Ski trails are named after episodes in the family’s history.

The new hotel at the center of Taos Ski Valley is appropriately named “The Blake.” The LEED-certified, eighty-room hotel includes a ski rental shop, spa, and plenty of historic photos of the Blake family. (The hallway

At 192, chilled yellowfin tuna with mango-mandarin chutney and sesame seeds, served on crisp rice paper to look like a snowy slope.

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leading to the restaurant holds an exhibit on the history of the 10th Mountain Division, the famed high-altitude, cold-weather unit formed for fighting in the Alps during World War II.) The restaurant at the core of The Blake is named in honor of the little plane Blake was flying when he discovered Twining. 192 serves hearth-baked flatbreads and pizzas, grilled wild salmon, and chilled yellowfin tuna. Mixologists at the accompanying bar make creative cocktails that are invented and perfected in house.

192 opened just over a year ago under the eye of chef and manager Patrick Gharrity. Formerly of La Casa Sena, Gharrity brought three decades of kitchen experience to Taos Ski Valley.

That experience gave him the confidence to rejigger the menu and replace conventional favorites like standard hamburgers with more exotic choices like kobe burgers. “I expanded it into eclectic, global cuisine which is very broad but allows you to play with a lot of different flavors. Obviously, with the hearth/oven we have these great flatbreads and pizzas. We make our own dough and make our own cheese. That is a huge part of the menu, but everything else on it is a little more me,” says Gharrity. The menu is designed for sharing, so that people can order a handful of dishes and get a variety of flavors.

Across the way from the Blake, one bar bears Rhoda's name and another is named for Ernie Blake's prized invention—the Martini Tree. In 1959, Blake created the Martini Tree to lift the spirits of a flagging skier. He asked Rhoda to put a dry martini inside a pouron, which looks like a watering can for gardens but is made of glass.

The pouron is made for convenient ingestion and easy carrying.

They could also be hung from the pines and spruces throughout the valley. Blake’s Martini Trees took over the slopes. According to his official biography, Taos Ski Valley, Ski Pioneers: Ernie Blake, His Friends and the Making of Taos Ski Valley, Blake said, “We have plenty of scotch and sex when we don’t have snow.”

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Taos Ski Valley may have refined creature comforts, but the mountains are as rugged as ever. The first time Blake saw the basin, he couldn't believe how deep the snowpack was.

There was, however, no mistaking the rise of the imposing Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Blakes never apologized for the steep skiing. Even today, more than half of the trails in the 1,300-acre valley are designated for experts.

In the summer, Taos Ski Valley is crisscrossed with hiking trails. Some of the better paths lead to the top of New Mexico's highest mountain or into alpine lakes. Other trails snake past the ruins of mines that shuttered a century ago. www.skitaos.com www.stbernardtaos.com www.skitaos.com/theblake

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EDIBLE NOTABLES

Native Treasures Art Market

Eldorado Studio Tour

Join Native Treasures for the fourteenth annual Native Treasures Art Market, a nationally recognized Native art market and benefit held in Santa Fe on Memorial Day weekend, May 25–27. Native Treasures is produced by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The museum is proud to promote working indigenous artists and help sustain their communities and cultures.

The Eldorado Arts and Crafts Association presents the twenty-seventh annual Eldorado Studio Tour, May 19–20, with an opening reception on Friday, May 18, from 5pm to 7pm, at the Preview Gallery, located at the Max Cole Community Center at 16 Avenida Torreon.

The Preview Gallery will be open from from 9am to 5pm both days.

The open studios are from 10am to 5pm.

Native Treasures Street Eats, a food truck event, will be held on Sunday, May 27, from 11am to 3pm, outside the Santa Fe Convention Center in partnership with the Santa Fe Reporter.

The largest studio tour in New Mexico, the Eldorado Studio Tour features the work of some ninety-nine artists showing and selling their art in their own studios. The artistry encompasses myriad styles, media, and techniques—surely something to appeal to all visitors and art collectors.

Visit with two hundred of the best Native American artists working in the country today—from traditional to contemporary, from emerging to established. Attendees have access to high-quality works from artists representing tribes across the United States. Jewelry, pottery, paintings, basketry, beadwork, carvings, sculptures, and textiles are for sale.

www.eldoradoarts.org/studio-tour

Since its inception in 2005, Native Treasures has generated more than $4 million in sales for Native American artists. Net proceeds from sponsorships, event ticket sales, and a portion of artists’ sales support the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s annual exhibitions and educational programs. www.nativetreasures.org

Pottery by Eric Lewis (Acoma). Photo by Carol Franco.

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Photos courtesy of Eldorado Studio Tour.

edible Marketplace

LOCAL FINDS

Your support for the advertisers listed here allows us to offer this magazine free of charge to readers. Thank you!

deerBrooke

Licensed Irrigation and Backflow Prevention Contractor (NM MSO6 93034) · Green Industry Professional since 1986

We are Tradesmen.

Passionate about conservation, source protection, and efficient water use.

Repairs/ Installations/ Consultations Eugene Sievel · 505-319-5730 · deerBrooke@msn.com

NMLawnsprinklerexperts.com

PALETAS, ICE CREAM TACOS, BEVERAGES, AND AWESOME FOOD! FIND OUR TRUCK OR COME TO OUR SHOP AT THE NATIONAL HISPANIC CULTURAL CENTER! www.Pop-Fizz.net

Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Co. www.santafeoliveoil.com

SMALL BATCHED

+

LOCALLY SOURCED

+

KINDLY CRAFTED 15 Calle Alfredo, Algodones 505.301.9992 algodonesdistillery.com

TRIFECTA

Barrio Brinery S

AN

130 E Marcy St, Santa Fe, 505-795-7878 cheesmongersofsantafe.com

413 Montano NE, Albuquerque 505-803-7579, trifectacoffeecompany.com We roast coffee, and brew it in unique ways utilizing some of the best methods available. All of our baked goods, sweet, and savory are made in house.

co

COFFEE COMPANY

i TA ex FE z New M

Santa Fe's source for fine fermented foods. Our lacto-fermented pickles, sauerkraut, and escabeche are hand-crafted in small batches.

1413-B West Alameda, Santa Fe www.barriobrinery.com ∙ 505-699-9812 WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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Source Guide CATERERS

LODGING

Personal chef service for inspired hosts!

Southeast Asian fusion by award-winning Chef Nath. Organic and health-conscious.

Can accommodate dietary preferences. hellochefnathsf@gmail.com, chefnath.com

20 Buffalo Thunder Trail, Santa Fe, 505-455-5555, buffalothunderresort.com

Nath’s Inspired Khmer Cuisine

FOOD ARTISANS / RETAILER Barrio Brinery

Bringing fine fermented foods to Santa Fe. We make our products by hand-crafting small batches of flavorful goodness using only the finest ingredients.1413-B West Alameda, Santa Fe, 505-699-9812, barriobrinery.com

Cheesemongers of Santa Fe

Specializing in artisan cheese, charcuterie, and specialty foods from farm and field. 130 E Marcy, Santa Fe, 505-798-7878, cheesemongersofsantafe.com

Heidi's Raspberry Farm

600 Andrews, Corrales, 505-898-1784, heidisraspberryfarm.com

La Montañita Coop

3500 Central SE, Albuquerque, 505-2654631; 913 West Alameda, Santa Fe, 505-9842852; 2400 Rio Grande NW, Albuquerque, 505-242-8800; 3601 Old Airport NW, Albuquerque, 505-503-2550, lamontanita.coop

PopFizz

Pop Fizz is a Mexican-style paleteria with an American soda fountain twist. Catering available, book online at pop-fizz.net

Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Company

Balsamic Company offers the finest quality extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegar, gourmet salts, and delicious specialty foods.

116 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, 505-992-1601; 109 Carlisle SE Albuquerque, 505-266-6043; 103 East Plaza Taos, 575-758-4136; santafeoliveoil.com

Savory Spice Shop

Spice specialist with a variety of blends as well as extracts, sauces and specialty foods.

225 Galisteo, Santa Fe, 505-819-5659, savoryspiceshop.com/santafe

Skarsgard Farms

Delivering fresh, local, and organically grown produce and natural groceries to doorsteps across New Mexico. 505-681-4060, skarsgardfarms.com

Talin Market

88 Louisiana SE, Albuquerque, 505-268-0206, talinmarket.com

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edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

Buffalo Thunder, Hilton Santa Fe Casa Gallina

Discover the art of a slow vacation.

613 Callejon, Taos, 575-758-2306, casagallina.net

El Monte Sagrado

Payne’s Nursery

Payne's North, 304 Camino Alire, 505-9888011, Payne's South, 715 St Michael's, 505-988-9626, PAYNE'S ORGANIC Soil Yard, 6037 Agua Fria, 505-424-0336 paynes.com

ORGANIZATIONS, EVENTS, & EDUCATION Durango Tourism Office

802 Main Avenue, Durango, Colorado, 970-247-3500, durango.org

Eldorado Studio Tour

May 19–20 Eldoradoarts.org/studio

Native Treasures

May 26–27, Santa Fe Convention Center, free admission, nativetreasures.org

317 Kit Carson Rd, Taos, 575-758-3502, elmontesagrado.com

New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

1 mile east of El Morro National Monument in Ramah, 505-783-4612, elmorro-nm.com

New Mexico Museum Foundation

113 Washington, Santa Fe, 505-988-3030, rosewoodhotels.com/en/inn-of-the-anasazisanta-fe

New Mexico Wine

El Morro RV Park and Cabin Rental Inn of the Anasazi

Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm

4803 Rio Grande NW, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, 505-344-9297, lospoblanos.com

Rancho Gallina

Located 20 minutes South of town off the Turquoise Trail Scenic Byway, Rancho Gallina is the greenest place to stay in Santa Fe. 31 Bonanza Creek, 505-438-1871, ranchogallina.com

Sarabande B & B

5637 Rio Grande NW, Albuquerque, 505-348-5593, sarabandebnb.com

Sunrise Springs

If you are looking to simply refresh and recharge or immerse in a transformative experience, we invite you to come rest, relax, and rejuvenate at our tranquil oasis in Santa Fe. 242 Los Pinos, Santa Fe, 877-977-8212, sunrisesprings.com

The Historic Taos Inn

125 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, 575-758-2233, taosinn.com

NURSERIES & SERVICES deerBrooke

Licensed irrigation and backflow prevention contractor (NM MS06 93034), green industry professional since 1986, we are tradesmen, passionate about conservation, source protection and efficient water use.

505-319-5730, NMLawnsprinklerexperts.com

Grow Y'Own

505-466-0393, raisedbed.biz

Osuna Nursery

A family-owned and operated nursery, gardening center, and landscaping company. 501 Osuna NE, Albuquerque, 505345-6644, osunanursery.com

505-827-6364, newmexicoculture.org

116 Lincoln, Santa Fe, 505-982-6366 ext.100, museumfoundation.org winecountrynm.com

Red River Chamber of Commerce

Build community, enhance economy, and create tradition. 101 W River, Red River, 575-754-2366, redriverchamber.org

OTHER SERVICES Garcia Auto Group

8449 Lomas NE, Albuquerque, Garciacars.com

Kure

Cannabis wellness. No license needed.

220 North Guadalupe Street, 505-930-5339, kureforlife.com

Los Alamos National Bank

Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, lanb.com

Solarius Spa

12500 Montgomery NE, Suite 107, Albuquerque, 505-299-3116, solariusspa.com

RETAILERS Next Best Thing to Being There 1315 Mountain NW, Albuquerque, beingthereabq.com

Sarabande Home

4022 Rio Grande NW, Albuquerque, 505-344-1253, sarabandehome.com

WINE STORES Arroyo Vino

218 Camino La Tierra, Santa Fe, 505-983-2100, arroyovino.com

Parcht

103 East Plaza, Taos, 575-758-1994, Parcht.com

Susan's Fine Wine and Spirits

1005 S St. Francis, Santa Fe, 505-984-1582, sfwineandspirits.com

Eat & Drink Local Guide ALBUQUERQUE Ajiaco Colombian Bistro

Ajiaco’s varied Colombian cuisine is influenced by the diverse flora and fauna found around Colombia. Cultural traditions of different Colombian ethnic groups play a role in our choice of ingredients. 3216 Silver SE, 505-266-2305, ajiacobistro.com

Artichoke Café

Fresh, local, seasonal ingredients, classic French techniques, extensive wine list, private dining, catering, and great atmosphere. 424 Central SE, 505-243-0200, artichokecafe.com

Campo at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm

Rooted in organic ingredients from our own farm and the Rio Grande Valley. Join us for breakfast daily 7:30–11:30am and dinner Wed–Sun 5–9pm. Reservations requested.

4803 Rio Grande NW, 505-344-9297, lospoblanos.com

Farina

Starting with the finest organic flour, our pizza crusts are made by hand and topped with the freshest ingredients, including artisan cured meats. 510 Central SE, 505243-0130, farinapizzeria.com

Farina Alto

Farina Alto offers fresh, creative fare.

Gather over a glass of wine, a good story, and a phenomenal plate of food.

10721 Montgomery NE, 505-298-0035, farinaalto.com

Farm & Table

A wonderful dining experience! Enjoy delectable seasonal dishes created from scratch, sourced from local farmers and our beautiful on-site farm. 8917 Fourth Street NW, 505-503-7124, farmandtablenm.com

Flying Star

Fine cuisine in a coffee shop scene. Our talented cooks, passionate bakers, dedicated counter servers and service attendants share a love of delicious foods and desserts, freshly roasted coffee, and creating connections through our friendly service. Six locations in Albuquerque, flyingstarcafe.com

Humble Coffee

Extraordinary coffee. Friendly service. A thoughtfully designed, relaxed space.

A craft coffee shop specializing in singleorigin espresso and brews. 505 Central SE and 4200 Lomas, humblecoffeeco.com

Il Vicino

Authentic wood oven pizza, hearty oven baked pasta, house made soups and salads, savory panini and piadine, and delectable desserts and drinks at multiple locations in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. ilvicino.com

505 Central Ave NW | 4200 Lomas Blvd NE

Albuquerque • @humblecoffee

Level 5 - Rooftop Restaurant & Lounge

Located on the top floor of Hotel Chaco— experience a refined, chic, and contemporary atmosphere. 2000 Bellamah NW, 505-246-9989, hotelchaco.com

Salt and Board

Salt and Board, a charcuterie-based cork and tap room in the heart of the Brick Light District. We specialize in cured meat and cheese boards, gourmet toasts, pressed sandwiches, and salads. We also feature an approachable wine list and craft beers you won’t find everywhere else. 115 Harvard SE, 505-219-2001, saltandboard.com

Savoy Bar & Grill

California wine country in the Northeast Heights. Farm-to-table dining from the area's best farms. Wine tastings and happy hour. 10601 Montgomery NE, 505-294-9463, savoyabq.com

Seasons Rotisserie & Grill

Oak-fired grill, local ingredients, and the best patio dining in Old Town! 2031 Mountain NW, 505-766-5100, seasonsabq.com

SOUTH Bourbon + Kitchen

Southern inspired. 6910 Montgomery NE, 505-508-1899, southabq.com

TFK Smokehouse

Now open in our new location! We serve BBQ and other specialty smoked meats as well as salads, sandwiches, and a variety of great appetizers. 400 Washington SE, Albuquerque, 505-369-8668, tfksmokehouse505.com

The Acre

The Acre is a farm-to-table restaurant offering fresh, local, seasonal, organic vegetarian food that will delight even the most devoted carnivores. 4410 Wyoming NE, Albuquerque, 505-366-3878, theacrerestaurant.com

The Cellar

Featuring a large variety of Spanish style authentic tapas and a large selection of local beers, wines, and sangria. 1025 Lomas NW, Albuquerque, 505-242-3117, thecellartapas.com

TFK Smokehouse 400 Washington St SE, Albuquerque 505-639-5669 | tfksmokehouse.com

colombian bistro

now open

tuesday-saturday 11am-8pm

3216 Silver SE, Albuquerque 505-266-2305, www.ajiacobistro.com Ajiaco’s varied Colombian cuisine is influenced by a diverse flora and fauna found around Colombia. Cultural traditions of different Colombian ethnic groups play a role in our choice of ingredients.

Art, Culture, History and Beyond

Join The Circles Explorers, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s newest membership level, tailor-made for those with an adventurous spirit.

We’re pioneering a new way to engage in the art, culture and history of our four state museums in Santa Fe and seven historic sites statewide.

Become a Circles Explorer today!

For more information call Cara O’Brien, Director of The Circles, at 505.982.6366, ext. 118, email cara@museumfoundation.org or visit museumfoundation.org/explorers 76

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

South Indian cuisine

The Grove Cafe & Market

The Grove features a bustling café experience serving breakfast, brunch, and lunch.

Local, seasonal, organic foods, Intelligentsia coffee and tea, beer, wine, and signature sweets. 600 Central SE, 505-248-9800, thegrovecafemarket.com

The Shop Breakfast & Lunch

Come in for breakfast or lunch, creative American classics with Latin and creole influences, made from local and organic ingredients. 2933 Monte Vista NE, 505-433-2795, theshopbreakfastandlunch.com

Trifecta Coffee Company

We roast coffee and brew it in unique ways utilizing some of the best methods available. All of our baked goods, sweet and savory, are made in house.

413 Montano NE, 505-803-7579, trifectacoffeecompany.com

Zacatecas

Zacatecas, a real taquería, features recipes handed down from generation to generation with flavors that are true to the history and culture of Mexico. 3423 Central NE, 505-255-8226, zacatecastacos.com

Zinc Restaurant & Wine Bar

A three-level bistro featuring contemporary cuisine with a French flair. Dinner daily, weekend brunch, fabulous cocktails, and tasty bar bites! 3009 Central NE, 505-254-9462, zincabq.com

SANTA FE 35˚ North Coffee

Roasting java in house, plus espresso, baked goods, and creative sandwiches.

60 E San Francisco, 505-983-6138, 35northcoffee.com

Anasazi Restaurant & Bar

The Anasazi Restaurant executive chef Edgar Beas offers old world techniques with modern, innovative recipes and artful plating. 113 Washington, 505-988-3030, rosewoodhotels.com/en/inn-of-the-anasazisanta-fe/dining

Arable

Inspired by the bounty of New Mexico, and the small community of Eldorado, Arable was born. 7 Avenida Vista Grande, Santa Fe, 505-303-3816, arablesantafe.com

Arroyo Vino

Arroyo Vino, voted a top 100 restaurant in America by OpenTable reviewers, serves progressive American fare inspired by our on-premise garden and local purveyors.

218 Camino La Tierra, 505-983-2100, arroyovino.com

Blue Heron Restaurant

Dining at Sunrise Springs is a unique experience that may change the way you think and feel about food. Lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch are now open to the public in the newly-restored, historic Blue Heron Restaurant overlooking the spring-fed pond.

242 Los Pinos, 877-977-8212, sunrisesprings.com

Bodega Prime

As a restaurant, caterer, and retail store, Bodega Prime seeks to provide a memorable food experience in Santa Fe for locals and visitors alike. 1291 San Felipe, 505-303-3535, bodegaprime.com

Coyote Cafe & Rooftop Cantina

teas, pastries, donuts, burritos, chocolates, and more. 505 Cerrillos and 1098 St. Francis, 505-982-9692, ohoriscoffee.com

Opuntia Tea, food, and botanical curiosities in Santa Fe's Baca Railyard. 922 Shoofly, opuntia.cafe

Paper Dosa Paper Dosa brings fresh, authentic homestyle south Indian dishes to your table.

These bright and exciting flavors will leave you wanting more. 551 W Cordova, 505-930-5521, paper-dosa.com

Radish & Rye Farm-inspired cuisine: simple yet innovative food and drinks sourced locally whenever possible. We work closely with local farmers and ranchers to build our menu. 548 Agua Fria, 505-930-5325, radishandrye.com

Red Sage

Elegant eatery featuring local cuisine with Southwestern flair, cocktails, and a rooftop bar. 132 W Water, 505-983-1615, coyotecafe.com

Red Sage at Buffalo Thunder is perfect for your next romantic night out. Fare rotates seasonally. Enjoy the extensive wine list.

20 Buffalo Thunder Trail, 505-819-2056, buffalothunderresort.com

Eloisa

TerraCotta

Creative, elevated takes on traditional New Mexican fare plus tasting menus and craft cocktails. 228 E Palace, 505-982-0883, eloisasantafe.com

Loyal Hound

Locally sourced modern comfort food paired with craft beer, cider, and wine.

730 St. Michaels, 505-471-0440, loyalhoundpub.com

Milad Persian Bistro

Nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, within the historic fine art corridor of Santa Fe, Milad Bistro brings authentic middle eastern cuisine to the American southwest. Traditional Persian dishes are counterbalanced by modern interpretations. 802 Canyon, 505-303-3581, miladbistro.com

Ohori's Coffee Roasters The original specialty, local micro-roasted coffee source since 1984. Along with our fresh beans, we serve espresso, pour-over,

A smart, casual restaurant located in a charming one-hundred-year-old adobe.

Seasonally changing, globally inspired cuisine and an extensive, value-priced wine list.

304 Johnson, 505-989-1166, terracottawinebistro.com

The Compound Restaurant Chef Mark Kiffin preserves a landmark tradition of elegant food and service at his Canyon Road institution. 653 Canyon, 505982-4353, compoundrestaurant.com

The Palace Restaurant Santa Fe's premier dining club.

142 W Palace, 505-428-0690, palacesantafe.com

A festival of flavor, culture and exploration! slowfoodnations.org

JULY 13 –15, 2018

Denver,Colorado

Parties • Tastings • Workshops • Family Activities • Taste Marketplace • Talks

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edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

TAOS Doc Martin’s

Creative Casual Cuisine 221 Highway 165, Placitas 505-771-0695, www.bladesbistro.com Chef and owner Kevin Bladergroen brings together fine and fresh ingredients, artistic vision, and European flair in every dish.

Sunday brunch, fabulous cocktails, and an award-winning wine list.

TAOS DINER I & II

908 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, 575-758-2374 216 B Paseo del Pueblo Sur, 575-751-1989 www.taosdinner.com Home to New Mexican and American homemade, homegrown, and organic breakfast, lunch, and dinners. Gluten-free choices. Beer and wine.

Serving lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch.

Patio dining, fresh local foods, award-winning wines, and margaritas. Try our signature chile rellenos. 125 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, 575-758-1977, taosinn.com

Parcht /pärCHt/= the physical condition resulting from the need to drink wine, eat good food, and shop…in Taos. 103 E Plaza, 575-758-1994, parcht.com

Taos Diner I & II Home to New Mexican and American homemade, homegrown, and organic breakfast, lunch, and dinners. Gluten-free choices.

Beer and wine. 908 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, 575-758-2374; 216 B Paseo del Pueblo Sur, 575-751-1989, taosdinner.com

The Gorge: Bar and Grill

Algodones, 505-301-9992, algodonesdistillery.com

Ancient Way Cafe

A unique outpost offering great meals from scratch and fresh baked goods. Located 1 mile east of El Morro National Monument in Ramah, 505-783-4612, elmorro-nm.com

Black Bird Saloon

Pull up a chair and settle in. Indulge yourself in the grub, Wild West style, perhaps a juicy and flavorful El Chivato Burger or a Black Jack Ketchum. Offerings here are genuine, simple, and good. 28 Main Street, Los Cerrillos, 505-438-1821, blackbirdsaloon.com

Blades’ Bistro

Chef and owner Kevin Bladergroen brings together fine and fresh ingredients, artistic vision, and European flair in every dish.

Sunday brunch, fabulous cocktails, and an award-winning wine list. 221 Highway 165, Placitas, 505-771-0695, bladesbistro.com

Our menu is straightforward, yet eclectic, and chock-full of favorites made from scratch using as many fresh and local ingredients as possible. 103 E Plaza, 575-7588866, thegorgebarandgrill.com

Greenhouse Bistro

GREATER NEW MEXICO

Pajarito Brewpub & Grill

Algodones Distillery

Algodones products are available at our Tasting Room and in many fine retailers, bars, and restaurants. 15 Cll Alfredo,

Good food always puts you in a good mood! Fresh, seasonal ingredients provide the basis for a meal that promotes healthy living. 5 Thomas, Los Lunas, 505-866-1936, greenhousebistro.com Open for lunch Tuesday–Sunday. Open for dinner every day. Happy hour Tuesday– Sunday 2–5pm. 30 craft beers on tap.

614 Trinity, Los Alamos, 505-662-8877, pajaritobrewpubandgrill.com

WWW.EDIBLENM.COM

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LAST BITE

ROSE HIP CORDIAL Makes about 2 quarts This cordial can be made with wild rose hips, fresh or dried.

1 pound fresh rose hips, or 1/2 pound dried 3 cups granulated white sugar 6 cups water If using dried rose hips, soak in the 6 cups water overnight. Boil them in their rose hip-soaked water for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 2 hours. Strain and discard the hips.

If using fresh rose hips, wash the rose hips and roughly chop in a food processor; then place in 6 cups of water and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 2 hours. Let rose hips strain through cheese80

edible Santa Fe | SPRING 2018

cloth over a large bowl for a of a couple of hours, then squeeze to get all the essence. Place strained liquid into new, double-layered cheesecloth one more time to ensure all the little hairs from the hips have been caught.

Pour rose liquid into a saucepan and add sugar. Warm to dissolve. Bottle when cool. It will keep for up to 3 months in the refrigerator.

Rose hip syrup can be served as part of a cocktail recipe or poured over pancakes, waffles, or ice cream.

ROSE HIP COCKTAIL 3 ounces white rum 3 ounces rose hip cordial 1 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed Pour all ingredients over ice and stir. Garnish with fresh rose petals.

Photo by Eba Brown

NEW MEXICO COCKTAILS & CULTURE

Chef & Shaker Challenge SATURDAY, JUNE 2 Drury Plaza Hotel, Santa Fe FEATURING: Kai Autenrieth, Terra Ayan Diop, Mema's Food For The Soul James Campbell Caruso, La Boca David Gaspar de Alba, Artichoke Cafe Shane Alexander, El Farol Chris Cook, Sister Bar Renee Fox, Arable Nathan Mayes, Paloma John Sedlar, Eloisa Gilbert Aragon, Hotel Albuquerque At Old Town Chef Johnny Vee, Las Cosas Cooking School Jon Jerman, Julia's @ La Posada de Santa Fe Marc Quiñones, MÁS Tapas y Vino Edgar Beas, Anasazi Restaurant, Bar & Lounge Eduardo Rodriguez, Coyote Cafe Mark Connell, State Capital Kitchen

The Liquid Muse Presents…

The Fourth Annual NM Cocktails & Culture Culinary Festival FRIDAY, JUNE 1 Taco Wars! (6-9 pm) SATURDAY, JUNE 2 Mind Body Spirit(s) Yoga Mixology Seminars Tasting Area Dale DeGroff Live Show CHEF & SHAKER CHALLENGE (7-10 pm) SUNDAY, JUNE 3 HDRF Fundraising Bike Ride Bloody Battle & Cocktail Brunch (12-3 pm) Portion of ticket sales benefits Cooking With Kids

7 –10 pm

media sponsor

edible

INDIVIDUAL EVENT TICKETS AND VIP WEEKEND PASSES AVAILABLE AT:

NMCocktailCulture.com

F O R E V E R Y D AY O C C A S I O N S

505.983.2100 ∙ ARROYOVINO.COM 6 Y E A R S I N S A N TA F E