Local Flavor Magazine April 2020

APRIL 2020

SANTA FE ALBUQUERQUE TAOS

A TAS T E O F L I FE I N N EW MEX I CO

Kitty Leaken

Joy Godfrey

INSIDE

Ashley M. Biggers

Permaculture’s wholesystems approach has always resonated with me. In reporting on Farm & Table’s new approach in this time, this value reverberated particularly strongly. These past few weeks have demonstrated just how reliant we are on each other and that the way forward is together.

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Daniel Goodman of El Rancho de las Golondrinas

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Chef John Haas and Damien Lucero of M’tucci’s

Liz Lopez

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Cherie Montoya of Farm & Table

Toner Mitchell

10 Jeremiah Kidd of San Isidro Permaculture

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Stephen Lang

My job at Trout Unlimited involves supporting “sustainable” rural economies in New Mexico, so I appreciated Jeremiah Kidd’s admonition to aim for regeneration over sustainability. Given the long downhill road to the current state of our natural resources, it’s almost suicidal to hold this line; we need to make things better.

ON THE COVER Farm & Table

APRIL 20 20

Cherie Montoya with Danny Lopez photo by JOY GODFREY SANTA FE ALBUQU ERQUE TAOS

FEATURES Growing for the Future | page 10

by Ashley M. Biggers Cherie Montoya, the passionate and visionary owner of Farm & Table restaurant in Albuquerque, once again takes a gamble—this time she’s betting the farm on permaculture.

Kitty Leaken

Daniel Goodman and I had Las Golondrinas all to ourselves for the portrait session, as it had just canceled all of the spring school trips. We were both history majors and as we walked the property, we touched upon the similar frontiers of the early settlers at El Rancho and our experiences today in the early stages of this pandemic. They both require resilience and a redefining of community.

M’tucci’s Empire | page 16

by Mark Oppenheimer In the span of six years, Jeff Spiegel and Katie Gardner have built an Italian food empire in Albuquerque that is powered by a group of talented and ambitious young chefs. Local Flavor writer Mark Oppenheimer joins Executive Chef and Managing Partner John Haas at the table to share a meal.

The Saving Grace of Permaculture | page 21

by Toner Mitchell Jeremiah Kidd has lived and breathed the tenets of permaculture his entire life—not simply in the practical sense of caring for the earth, but also in the explicit embrace of its ethical standards. As writer Toner Mitchell explains, “The practice mandates care of the earth, care of people, and the idea of ‘fair share,’ the distribution of surplus benefits to earth and to people.”

New Mexico’s Homestead Story | page 26

by Lynn Cline Daniel Goodman, the Director of El Rancho de las Golondrinas, reminds us that New Mexicans in particular “have a deep sense of themselves, of selfreliance and an interest in having the ability to keep certain family and cultural traditions alive.” This treasured living history museum has never been more relevant and important to us.

A TA ST E OF LIF E IN NE W ME XI CO

USUAL SUSPECTS Chef ’s Buzz | page 06

by Lynn Cline Thoughts from our favorite local kitchens and some of our favorite people.

Art Beat | page 09

by Mia Rose Poris The world of art thrives.

Top Tix | page 20

by Stephanie Hainsfurther The lights may be dimmed, but the spirit of the theater burns brightly.

On the Road | page 25

by Sharon Niederman Our own itinerant traveler said it best: “Social distancing is necessary but cabin fever is not mandatory.”

Still Hungry? | page 31

by Kelly Koepke Time on your hands? The kitchen calls—and three of your favorite chefs are here to walk you through a spring-inspired recipe.

Liz Lopez

John Haas was such a trooper to fit this photo shoot in with closing down his restaurants and laying off many employees for the foreseeable future.

I could tell it was weighing heavily on him but with a smile on his face we sallied forth and were able to get some shots that still fit with the article and his vision behind many of his dishes. M’tucci’s is still open for take out orders so be sure to sample his delicious food.

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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PUBLISHERS

APRIL 2020

Patty & Peter Karlovitz WRITERS EDITOR Patty Karlovitz ASSOCIATE EDITOR Cullen Curtiss ART DIRECTOR Jasmine Quinsier COPY EDITOR

Ashley M. Biggers Lynn Cline Stephanie Hainsfurther Kelly Koepke Toner Mitchell Sharon Niederman Mark Oppenheimer Mia Rose Poris COVER PHOTO

Molly Boyle

Joy Godfrey

PREPRESS

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Scott Edwards

Joy Godfrey Stephen Lang

AD DESIGN Jasper Dancer

Kitty Leaken Liz Lopez

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Sarah Gartner

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Sponsorships available at: www.farmandtablenm.com

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505.503.7124 Farmandtablenm.com Dinner: Tues-Sat open at 5pm Brunch: sat-sun 9am-2pm magazine.com

Margret spends more time with her horse Kira.

Spring is coming!

My last official outing before the quarantine began was to the Albuquerque Museum to view the great Jim Henson exhibit—so I’m calling this one “Melissa and the Muppets.”

Andrea basking in the glory of Freedom (prior to virus). May we all make it through this healthy and alive! STAY WELL, Santa Fe.

ADV ER TISING Margret Henkels Andrea Nagler Melissa Renteria (ABQ)

505.501.2290 hmargret@gmail.com 505.986.0260 andrea@localflavormagazine.com 505.328.4804 melissa@localflavormagazine.com

223 North Guadalupe #442 Santa Fe, NM 87501 Tel: 505.988.7560 | localflavormagazine.com Subscriptions $35 per year. Mail check to above address. © Edible Adventure Co.‘96. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used without the permission of Edible Adventure Co. Local Flavor accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to be reputable, but can’t guarantee it. All editorial information is gathered from sources understood to be reliable, but printed without responsibility for erroneous, incorrect, or omitted information.

55+ Active Adult Apartment Homes OPENING SPRING 2020!

Letter I

just finished rereading the editor’s letter I wrote for the March issue. As usual, it would have been written at month’s end, the last night before going to press— February 27—a lifetime ago. I’m not sure I recognize the person who wrote it—she seems a bit frivolous, almost girlish in her enthusiasm for the upcoming soccer season, a new brewery in town . . . with some wise words on mental fitness, because it was, after all, our annual fitness issue.

Thirty-plus days later, and it’s time to wrap up the April issue, load the trucks and put it on the street . . . except this month, the magazine is available exclusively online at our website localflavormagazine.com. Many, if not most, of the more than 500 locations to which Local Flavor is ordinarily distributed are eerily quiet and shuttered. What a blessing that we are at least able to deliver it to you online.

It’s the Homestead Issue, and its timing is the ultimate irony. Our writers and photographers captured the deeply moving stories of three New Mexicans who have fully embraced the ethos of permaculture—a way of life that our writer Toner Mitchell describes as “care of the earth, care of people, and the idea of ‘fair share,’ the distribution of surplus benefits to earth and to people.” The essence and spirit of homesteading runs through the veins of the New Mexicans who came before us. It is very much alive in the generation that lives here now, and hopefully, it will be what sustains us in the future.

My co-editor Cullen Curtiss has a backbone of steel, and I could not have gotten through this time without her. She has joined me each day this past month in the Local Flavor offices putting the issue together. We’re thankfully tucked away in the courtyard of a 100-year-old adobe, quite isolated except for the stream of calls and emails from our Art Director, Jasmine Quinsier, who has cheerfully Skyped us through the countless decisions and changes in layout that a magazine demands. My heartfelt and affectionate thanks to them both.

And to you, dear reader, please reach out—patty@localflavormagazine.com—and a heartfelt and affectionate wish for you to be as well as you can be.

Photo depicts actual Overture resident.

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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devotion to staff, diners and the entire community. We hope to see them soon, when we can once again take a seat at our regular table and raise a glass to being together.

James Jones

The team at Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro, Seasons Rotisserie & Grill and Savoy Bar & Grill: All we have at the moment is @$#*%)(^#*%. Be well, stay safe and we can’t wait to see ALL of our family for a toast, hopefully sooner than later!

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Gaelen Casey

Gabriella Marks

Doug Diefenthaler, founding partner and executive vice president of VARA Winery & Distillery: At VARA Winery & Distillery, our family, our community and our world is in jeopardy. If we all do our part, we will get through Terry and Pat Keene of Artichoke and Farina this together. Be clean, considerate and kind.

ALBUQUERQUE Stay calm, drink wine and Chef Pat and Terry Keene, co-owners, carry on.

Doug Diefenthaler of VARA Artichoke Café, Farina Pizzeria and Lauren Kemner, marketing manager, Farina Alto Pizzeria & Wine Bar: Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm: We were all caught off guard by this and had Los Poblanos is using this challenging and confusing to act quickly. At first, it seemed like it was time to get creative and explore new ways to connect with just about hygiene and helping our guests feel our community. We launched Campo Curbside, which comfortable, that we were taking care not to offers family-style meals for pickup Wednesday through spread any illness. As the news became worse, it Saturday, and we are working on more initiatives that are became clear that things were going to change coming soon! quickly. We made the heartbreaking decision to close Artichoke Café on March 15. We have been in business for 30 years and have weathered SANTA FE through recessions and other economic setbacks, as well as the ART project, which cut our business Cheryl Alters Jamison, James Beard awardby 25 percent for a while. This past year we were winning cookbook author: I am so worried for our wildly generous restaurant doing great, having lots of events and sales were community and so many other small businesses that are almost better than ever. Having the rug pulled taking such a hit right now. Please buy a take-out meal, out from under us like this has been something a gift certificate, or contribute to a staff fund, as you can. we never thought we would ever see. Our heart The Food Depot needs our support more than ever, too. As breaks for all of our employees who are out of a home cook, I retreat to my kitchen and cook for friends work, some with nowhere to turn. We’re just and neighbors. I keep myself busy, too, giving loads of trying to hang on through all of this so we can magazine.com

Marilyn Litton, general manager of Herve Wine Bar: We at Herve are so happy to be a part of the amazing Santa Fe food and wine scene. We are collectively getting through this time and know that we will come back stronger than ever, together, when this is over.

DeVere Jones, vice president of Resort Operations, Tesuque Casino: The sizzle of mirepoix in a hot pan, the pitch of a fork dropped on hardwood floors, and the crescendo of guest chatter at peak time. … these are the things we miss most.

Resilience will reset tables and our passion will stoke the flames. Cottonwood Kitchen at Tesuque Casino looks forward to inviting you back with a warm welcome and our signature dishes. Be well, friends.

Chef/Owner Matt Yohalem, Il Piatto Italian Farmhouse Kitchen: In these crazy times, I think it more important than ever that we help each other. In times of prosperity, healthy competition is great. In times like these, we need to stick together, to survive.

It’s an honor and a pleasure to work with those people that are making a difference!

Gabriella Marks

open again when this is all over, but I can tell you this—we will never look at the world the same way again. his month, we hand the We also closed our pizzerias, Farina Downtown and column over to our chefs, restaurateurs Farina Alto on Montgomery. I thought we could do takeand other local business owners struggling out there, but Terry and our other partners just thought the to get through an unprecedented time. We health hazards for our employees were too grave. They were invite them to share their experiences with probably right, in hindsight.

We all just have to stay home us, whether they’re on the front lines offering and stop this virus from spreading, no matter the cost. Now curbside and delivery services, or at home, that the government has announced financial programs having temporarily closed their doors. We which may help us survive while we are closed, we will be know that in their comments below, you’ll find busy applying for funds from SBA to pay our bills and, hope, humor, resilience and an extraordinary hopefully, our employees. Fingers crossed that goes well!

suggestions to my online community about how to shop and cook now. I have a new book coming out in the midst of this, which won’t get a real launch, but personally, I will weather that. I want to send out a prayer to all of the health care workers, like my nurse stepdaughter Heather, who are heroes on the front lines of this massive pandemic.

Chef/Co-owner Renée Fox, Arable: Matt Yohalem of Il Piatto I am overwhelmed with so many emotions right now, but I really believe the top one is gratitude. I’m so grateful that Arable can be a source of highquality food, so much of which is locally sourced and organic. You’ve listened to me preach so many times about the relevance of where our food comes from, how local food supports a thriving local economy, and how we believe food is medicine. I hope that people recognize now more than ever that nutrient density in food is higher the closer it’s grown to home, the healthier the soil is that the food is grown in, and happy pastured Renée Fox of Arable animals give us higher nutritional value.

All of those things are what can boost our immunity and help us age gracefully. I hope in light of the current struggles, more people can see the value in knowing where their food comes from and making their food choices in line with these beliefs. Pay your farmer now, or pay your doctor later.

Genevieve Russell

CHEF’S

b y LY N N C L I N E

Jane Phillips

Chef/Owner Josh Gerwin, Dr. Field Goods Kitchen, Butcher & Bakery: It’s hard to say anything. These are trying times for our industry. I am just looking forward to being open again to serve our wonderful town, and think they will all be happy to come back out also!

Chef/Owner Theo Gio, T-MAC Gourmet Mac & Cheese: After three years we are at the end of our lease, and hope to be a part of the new development in the Railyard just behind Boxcar. We have been sharing the love by providing dinners for many of our first responders, but now wrapping it up. I’m looking at this as just a temporary setback for our beautiful town of Santa Fe. In three or four months, my mac & cheese business is going to rise like a phoenix, newly named MacSantaFe. I wish happy elementals to all my fellow Santa Feans.

Gabriella Marks

Chef Noe Cano, Santa Fe School of Cooking: Times like these are worrisome.

A first for me in 20 years in the restaurant biz. Times are uncertain, but I am optimistic that we will surpass and ride back better than ever. Stay safe, keep cooking!

is to nourish the soul through fine food and wine.

I must admit there is a sense of self gained through isolation, but I find it hard to enjoy, knowing that so many people are suffering and dying. I also acknowledge that for me, this is the easy part. Reopening in a world with a new paradigm is something I am sure is on everybody’s mind. I can’t help but think that the planet is trying to tell us something through this virus, as it seems to have an intelligence. What is it trying to say and why?

good fortune, call it God or luck, that has come my way. And the future expectantly I want in. For now, we Bortles, Wredes and Venns are low and out of the way. My small family OK, and my big one seems the same.

Doug Merriam

Chef/Co-owner Roland Richter, Joe’s Dining: This is a global reset, a challenge like no other, and yes, we will prevail and the planet and its inhabitants will be better for it.

Executive Chef Peter O’Brien, Anasazi Restaurant at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi: I was just thinking how blessed I was to work with the folks at Rosewood again and The Inn of the Anasazi. Some of the best chefs, cooks and most wonderful hospitality folks in Chef Peter O’Brien of Anasazi the world. The most gracious guests lodged and dined with us at The Inn and I was so touched by all of them. It was a blast to WOW them all.

NORTHERN NEW

Stephen Lang

Kitty Leaken

Courtesy of La Fonda

Noe Cano of Santa Fe School Jennifer Kimball, MEXICO of Cooking Executive Chef Tom Kerpon, Chairman of the Board, La Julia at La Posada de Santa Fe: Fonda on the Plaza, and the new Chair of Owner Andy Lynch, These are unusual times. My heart goes out the New Mexico Tourism Commission: Common Fire, in Taos: to all my friends in the industry. I have been Tough times like these really have made me appreciate Reflections on a shutdown: The cleaning my house. Apparently, I have 11 how much we use restaurants and American food distribution system umbrellas. For one person. In the desert. bars as a means of socializing. I provides inexpensive food by miss the laughter, banter and live punishing every worker in the chain.

Starr Bowers, general music generated from our food and Farmworkers live insecure lives in manager/wine director, Chef Tom Kerpon of Julia bar venues. It’s so quiet in the hotel dangerous conditions to earn terrible Joseph’s Culinary Pub: without them. wages. Truck drivers who load and The amazing staff and regular clientele transport that worker-subsidized at Joseph’s is my family, and I miss my Chef/Owner Louis food are likewise punished with family. Hospitality is my life; it’s become Moskow, 315 Restaurant & disrupted family and social lives, almost every part of who I am. To not be Wine Bar: along with grueling hours and only able to provide that right now when the I returned from Vail, Colorado, modest pay. Grocery store workers get town needs it most is the ultimate irony. on Sunday, March 15. I have been shafted on schedule in order to earn I hold hope for this town and all of my in isolation ever since. I found Jennifer Kimball of La Fonda 8 to 12 dollars an hour. Line cooks, very respected colleagues that we will get out that my friend’s sister-in-law, dishwashers, bussers and other toughthrough this, and that our community as a whole who I dined with recently, tested positive for the virus. ass restaurant folks usually need more will be stronger for it.

I feel fine, so not to worry, but I have not been able to than one job and rarely rise to any implement anything at the restaurant while I complete level of real economic security. That’s my isolation. My next step is to start making a specialty Chef/Owner Joseph Wrede, the American deal! Come have fun Joseph’s Culinary Pub: line of potstickers for curbside pickup. This will at my restaurant eating food paid for I think of the animal that released this virus and hopefully allow for some employees to clock in some by the poor! Maybe we can envision wonder if it’s a rattle flag and motto. payable hours and provide a service Andy Lynch of Common Fire reopening with a different deal. Love Capitalism is a slave ship. Glad to take a to our patrons and the people of to all. Solidarity forever. break. A rower my fate. Don’t get me wrong—grateful Santa Fe alike. always to have purpose and place. Grace. Style. Dining Owner Ashlyn Perry, Local, in Chama:

When faced with the question room’s my business. Though I love a good picnic. My What a tough time for all of us! I own Local in of what is the most important family is well. I’m well. Yesterday I ran up and down thing in life, my answer has always Chama, NM. We are a wood-fired oven restaurant.

Picacho Peak past my old friend Eric [DiStefano’s] been purpose. With 315 no longer Chef Matt Wallace and Chef Charles Thompson most excellent restaurant and I ask him, “Anything operating, I feel I have lost my are out gathering wood as a cost-saving measure, so OK?” He said nothing. I’ll probably do the same sense of purpose. I go to bed at instead of buying wood, we are harvesting our own in tomorrow. Cooking each meal in an immortal world night feeling unfulfilled, like order to keep busy during this difficult time. We are leaves the professional chef with a sense of never a last most likely going to open for take-out in April, so stay something is missing. The sense plate. Honestly, at this moment, I’m grateful for all the tuned to social media or our website for any updates. of accomplishment that I have fulfilled my mission in life, which APRIL 2020 A Taste of Life in New Mexico 7 Louis Moskow of 315

I’m free!

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jasper@oneminddesign.com

oneminddesign.com

AT RICHARD LEVY GALLERY

levygallery.com The Great Indoors (on the walls and on the web) For nearly three decades, Richard Levy Gallery has brought cutting-edge art by an impressive lineup of renowned artists to Albuquerque and the world. In light of the coronavirus, the gallery is amping up its web presence by moving New Work, paintings, ike all of us, the art world has been affected by the coronavirus drawings and sculpture by longtime artist Jeff Kellar, online for this show. Kellar’s that’s sweeping the globe, and while we may not be able to visit paintings and sculptures delve, through minimalism, into the complex interaction every gallery and museum in person, art thrives despite—and between artwork and viewer, involving space, shape and light. The exhibition features works of minimal Luminism that are created through the often because of—the challenges we face. So Richard Levy Gallery, Jeff Kellar, New Work application of several layers of acrylic resin and clay pigment we look forward to heading back into the great onto paper, aluminum panels and wood blocks. Each layer of artistic indoors as soon as we can. Until then, paint is sanded and buffed, exposing a smooth and modulated we hope you’ll enjoy the art we’re hanging on surface that reflects light as the colors appear to glow. “The effect resembles the way the ocean starts to glow at dawn before the sun our pages from three respected, renowned and is visible on the horizon,” Kellar writes. “The sky lightens and the even revolutionary venues and their artists— water slowly starts to glow as if the light is coming from below.” check out their websites, too. As Richard Levy The bold, colorful and inherently nature-invoked pieces in the Gallery tells us, “We are doing our very best to exhibition comprise five bodies of Kellar’s work.

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provide a visitor experience [online] for this show, regardless of whether the doors are open to the public or not.”

AT LEWALLEN GALLERIES

lewallengalleries.com The man behind the figure: Philip Pearlstein “It is what is painted between the outlines that makes the difference between merely competent painting and really meaningful art,” says Philip Pearlstein, who, in the 1960s, challenged and altered the art world when he reintroduced realism as a mode of modernist art. By that time, the figure had been given the boot.

“Pearlstein reimagined the nude as a serious subject for contemporary art, in a manner that has continued to evolve over the course of his career,” writes LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, which features Pearlstein’s paintings in its gorgeous exhibition, Philip Pearlstein: Resilience of the Real. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Pearlstein has been recognized for his creativity since grade school and has manifested many an impressive feat in the art world, from his studies at Carnegie Institute of Technology—along with his wife Dorothy Cantor and Andy Warhol— to his design work for Life magazine, from his positions as instructor and professor (at Pratt Institute and LewAllen Galleries, Philip Pearlstein, Brooklyn College, respectively) to his Model with Dreadlocks on Inflatable Chair presidency of the American Academy of Arts and Letters from 2003-2006. Pearlstein’s work is featured in prestigious institutions throughout the States, and Resilience of the Real invites the viewer to reconsider how the human body is seen and painted through oil and watercolors created in the last 25 years.

AT ELLSWORTH GALLERY

ellsworthgallery.com The Hazy World

Ellsworth Gallery landed in Santa Fe in 2013 with the beautiful and vital vision of giving voice to contemporary—and often young, up-and-coming—Native artists who comment politically and socially on their ancestry through their art. This mission and vision is in full bloom at Ellsworth, and at ellsworthgallery. com, with work from Diné artist Greg Ballenger in The Hazy World (Łid Bichahałeeł). Ballenger says his work “is inspired by my people’s creation story and cultural teachings about the necessity of harmony. It is dedicated to the importance of architecture beyond any appreciation for beautiful façades, interpretations of blueprints, or property values.” At first and from afar, the paintings appear to be digital illustrations, but upon closer inspection, there they are—intricate and precise brushstrokes, indeed. The exhibit invites the viewer to admire the history and craftsmanship of Navajo creations. Ballenger says, “Water has become more sacred than Christ. Clouds of smog hover like zeppelins across the blue sky and vast clay horizon. Energy companies continue to pollute as they proudly display the spoils of their war. In the face of unprecedented environmental, economic, and cultural change, the people continue on as resilient and creative as their ancestors.”

Did you catch the threads? Out of the real, the oceanic dark and the haze, come resilience, boldness and light.

Ellsworth Gallery, Greg Ballenger, Hazy World (Łid Bichahałeeł): Swaddled in Stone

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Growing stor y by ASHLEY M. BIGGERS photos by JOY GODFREY

for the Future

Farm & Table journeys toward a permaculture farm

“The heart of permaculture is taking care of the soil.”

-Cherie Montoya

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egacy isn’t often the first consideration in business owners’ minds. The “another day, another dollar” outlook can easily prevail.

However, legacy has always been at the heart of Farm & Table. The iconic restaurant in Albuquerque’s North Valley grew out of an act that staked a claim on the future. Now, it’s deepening that philosophy.

Cherie Montoya and Danny Lopez

Beginning in the summer of 2019, owner Cherie Montoya began transitioning the two produce-farmed acres in back of the restaurant to a permaculture field. The move, begun far before a pandemic was on the horizon, seems even more timely these days, as we move through the fog of uncertainty. The futurelooking principle holds fast to what’s lasting and sustainable, with equal measures of environmental consciousness and community mindedness.

“We’ve spent a lot of years pulling from the land. I could see it was getting tired,” Montoya says of her decision to begin rethinking the farming approach. Whereas market farming emphasizes efficiency and production, permaculture emphasizes whole-system thinking and features that mimic natural ecosystems. Australian researcher Bill Mollison and environmental designer David Holmgren coined the term “permaculture” in 1978 as a portmanteau of “permanent,” “agriculture,” and “culture.” More a design principle than a technique, permaculture harmoniously integrates the landscape and agricultural production while emphasizing sustainability and resiliency.

Preservation has always been a crucial part of the Montoya family’s mission.” Montoya’s father, David, bought the nine acres on which Farm & Table and its sister store La Parada sit more than 20 years ago. He wanted to prevent the farmland from being turned into a residential housing development. Since that time, he’s grown alfalfa and raised cattle on the land, and leases two acres to be used as farmland. “My dad has always taken care of things and made sure not to exploit. He’s an example to me,” Montoya says. “This is family land. We’re growing for the future, not just for the next season.”

Even considering that future-mindedness, the move to shift Farm & Table’s home farm to permaculture may appear gutsy.

After all, transitioning the field required bringing vegetable cultivation nearly to a full stop. However, Montoya says the move was a natural one—which she was ready for. “Nothing about [permaculture] doesn’t make sense. It’s the responsible thing to do,” she says. “It’s a little bit scary, but I guess Farm & Table has been unconventional from the get-go. We’ve always been visiondriven and mission-driven.”

Montoya says years of adapting to seasons, weather conditions, and to other factors outside their control has heightened her own and the restaurant’s ability to adjust. She refers to Farm & Table as a “project” rather than a restaurant; that particular word choice conveys that Farm & Table, like a plot of soil, needed tending, and that its role goes far beyond serving plates of beautiful food (though it does that, in spades). “We can never count on one thing working over and over,” she says.

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Farm Manager Casey Williams digging up sunchokes

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Farm & Table’s connections with farmers beyond its own fields and the overall maturity of the agricultural industry in the Rio Grande Valley empowered this evolution. “Eight years into the business, we don’t have a shortage of access to local produce,” Montoya says. With Executive Chef Steve Riley’s kitchen properly supplied, Montoya and a duo of consultants began the field’s evolution.

The timing was fortuitous: Ric Murphy, of Sol Harvest Farm, who had previously farmed the land moved on and Cherie’s partner, Danny Lopez, became the de facto farmer in May 2019.

It was the perfect time for a new approach.

Montoya first called in renowned permaculture designer Dan Halsey. The international consultant spent four days in June of 2019 sampling the soil and creating initial plans. His biggest recommendation was to install a water system, which she did.

With Corrales’ Silverleaf Farms lending a hand, in the summer of 2019, they pulled up most annuals and replaced them with Sunn Hemp, a nitrogen-fixing cover crop. This spring, they are replacing the Sunn Hemp with rye and clover for its equally restorative powers in the soil. “The heart of permaculture is taking care of the soil,” Montoya explains. Newly hired farm manager Casey Williams will oversee the process.

Montoya’s consultant in this project is neighbor and fellow farmer of Nepantla Farms, Sean Ludden, who has been head farmer at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm, farm manager at Rio Grande Community Farms, and project coordinator for Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District.

He brought his considerable experience to bear on the Farm & Table project as a consultant. It’s the first formal role he’s had at Farm & Table, though he’s been behind the scenes in many of its developments. In fact, during an event at La Parada, Ludden was the first to suggest to Montoya that she should farm and open a restaurant on the plot of land where Farm & Table now sits.

In early spring of 2020, Ludden was modifying Dan Halsey’s initial plant list and plans. His goal was to select plants that would succeed in the Rio Grande Valley and Farm & Table’s microclimates. Although the plant list is still being finalized—and the chef ’s wish list taken into consideration—the permaculture field will have areas for annuals, as well as jujube, quince, pecans, pistachios, golden currant, pomegranate, wild plum, and goji trees, along with several varieties of berry bushes.

To maintain the soil health, the plan calls for strip tillage— tilling only the areas with crops. Otherwise, the soil is planted with cover crops. Nearly an acre near the restaurant will be devoted to those alone. Plants are watered with both drip and flood irrigation, the latter of which will help the fruit trees and berry bushes thrive. “We’re balancing ways to utilize the land and protect the land,” Ludden says.

The first trees went into the ground this spring. Although the full vision may take a few years to unfold, the team hopes the finished field will restore the soil, provide sustainable crops and provide an inviting oasis for both wildlife and people.

From the start, permaculture’s central tenets—Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share—resonated with Montoya. She has spent part of her career in nonprofit work, which aligns with her vision of Farm & Table as a community space. The farm 12

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Growingfor the Future

“Permaculture and regenerative farms emphasize the health of land, people, and wildlife, but it’s hard to work efficiently. There’s a lot to think about when it comes to long-term management. It’s a challenge to take on.” -Sean Ludden A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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hosts meditation sessions and yoga classes on its farm deck.

Each summer, Tricklock Company and Duke City Repertory Theater present Theatre on the Farm, during which people sit on hay bales in the fields to watch plays. The permaculture design incorporates how restaurant guests and the public use the farm. Walking paths lead people gently from fruit trees to berry bushes to the greenhouse and back again.

“People are craving real experiences. In this busy time, with so many distractions, it’s a place to find joy, solitude and appreciation,” Montoya says. She’s building three smaller decks around the field, which she calls “chill-out spaces.”

She envisions still more places on the land where people can relax, meditate or read a book. “There’s an element to the restaurant that’s more exclusive. People come here and have a very intentional meal that’s very focused on local food, but not everyone can afford that. This is another way for people to enjoy the space,” she says. “The goal is really to create an environment for everyone.”

Despite the value-based benefits of permaculture, Ludden says few farmers are willing to take this approach. “The biggest challenge compared to market farms is efficiency,” he says.

“Permaculture and regenerative farms emphasize the health of land, people, and wildlife, but it’s hard to work efficiently. The plants are not in a row like they are in the field. It’s difficult to plant, train, prune, and weed. There’s a lot to think about when it comes to long-term management. It’s a challenge to take on.”

Ludden also says that many market farmers hesitate when it comes to permaculture, because they farm leased land and don’t want to sink time into soil restoration in a place they aren’t going to occupy for long. However, he believes permaculture is possible for other fallow agricultural land throughout the Rio Grande Valley. “We still have a lot of valuable land here, ecologically, agriculturally and culturally,” he says.

Although Farm & Table’s mission is clear as it moves toward becoming a permaculture farm, Montoya emphasizes that everything is still in the experimental phase. “The journey is exciting,” she observes. Perhaps that’s Farm & Table’s biggest legacy of all—to set its eyes on the future while adapting along the way.

“Farm & Table has been unconventional from the get-go. We’ve always been vision-driven and mission-driven.”

-Cherie Montoya

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Farm and Table is located at 8917 4th St NW in Albuquerque.

505.503.7124, farmandtablenm.com.

As & o alw rg ays an ic i , wit ng h l red oca ien l ts.

WE ARE OPEN!

...for takeout & curbside pickup.

Tuesday - Saturday, 3:30-7:30pm Menu is updated daily at arablesantafe.com Also, follow us on facebook and twitter @arablesantafe

7 Avenida Vista Grande

Eldorado

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505.303.3816

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

APRIL 2020

15

Empire

M’tucci’s

“It’s humble, and full of all the things your Italian grandmother would make on Sunday night.”

-Chef John Haas 16

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Chef John Haas

stor y by MARK OPPENHEIMER

I

’m old school. To walk into an Italian restaurant, especially where I’m from in Chicago, is to walk back into history.

Not only is Italian cooking a culinary story, but the story of a grand cuisine, with redand-white checkered and oiled tablecloths, wicker-covered bottles of Chianti and its own culture. That’s a culture not commonly found here in the high desert region of New Mexico—Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos.

One would more likely think of Southwest cuisine, and probably not restaurants influenced by Italy, let alone four restaurants specializing in cuisines of specific regions of Italy.

But over the last six years, a group of young ambitious chefs have meticulously and creatively built M’tucci’s, an Italian food empire inspired by the simple foods of Italy. Their endeavors are led by founders Jeff Spiegel and Katie Gardner, in collaboration with soft-spoken Managing Partner and Executive Chef John Haas.

Haas and I sat down to talk shop about his role as Executive Chef/Managing Partner at their latest and most ambitious project M’tucci’s Twenty-Five, featuring the flavors of Tuscany.

“I grew up on the edge of Ames, Iowa,” Haas says when I ask why he felt so at home in Tuscany.

“It’s the heartland of Italy, just like Iowa is the heartland here. I know these people in my bones.

We finished each other’s sentences even as we spoke different languages.”

There’s a quiet wisdom in Haas, a self-taught chef, that resonates deeper than confidence. As he tastes a marinara sauce in a bowl beside a dish of calamari fritti, he comments that it’s good but lacks depth. “It could have roasted another 30 minutes,” he says. “Roasting gives the sauce a more jammy texture and it concentrates the flavors.”

The calamari is the most tender I’ve ever eaten, crispy and perfectly cooked. “The tentacles are my favorite,” I tell Haas. “It’s the buttermilk marinade,” he says. “We soak the calamari for 24 hours in a buttermilk blend.”

Our next highly anticipated course arrives, Seared Scallops with Smoked Bacon, White Beans and Pea Purée. “I think it’s slightly underseasoned,” I comment. Haas agrees. “Now this,” I say, stabbing a gigante bean and bit of escarole with my fork to combine with the scallop, “is a perfect bite.”

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photos by LIZ LOPEZ

“It’s a composed thought,” he explains. “It’s a dish “Which chef do you admire most?” I ask. “Who that speaks to a home-cooked meal more so than a dish influenced you?” of a restaurant. It’s humble, and full of all the things “Thomas Keller is one of my favorite chefs,” he your Italian grandmother would make on Sunday night. says.

Rarely will you taste a dish that is so simple and cozy in We discuss Keller’s philosophy. “Keller is a a restaurant, where the tastes and flavors remind you of master at understanding memory and desire in a something your grandmother made at home.” meal. Something I battle with as a chef is—one of I have interviewed many chefs, yet it’s not often that the things that has stood out my whole life—is you we sit down together, eat, and converse about flavor, want to give people just enough so they wish they cooking styles and life. He shares with me that his recipes had just one more bite. If you can do that, they’ll represent a seeking, soulful journey. “That is the kind of never be tired of it, that’s your goal. But I’m also dish that I love,” he says. “The ones that speak to that occasionally a tongue-in-cheek smartass. I try to find soulful part of me.” the humor in things, too. I battle that approach by Haas left the corporate world of cooking because putting a 32-ounce Bistecca Alla Fiortentina on the he felt “it lacked soul,” although he confesses that the menu. I find humor in that.” experience taught him discipline at a time when he was He continues, “I try and remember this isn’t life a young, unruly chef with little direction. Now, at 39, and death in our industry. We think it is—we take Haas is instrumental in running an organization with it so seriously. We’re so passionate, and so caught up four restaurants and eight managing partners, along with in every little thing that’s wrong, and it feels like it’s a new burgeoning wholesale killing us, but I try to remember business on the horizon. that it’s not really that way, that’s “[We] wanted to “Since we’re on the subject,” what we make it into and to 99 I say. “What do you do to keep percent of our guests, it’s not that preserve old cooking your company soulful? How way for them either.” techniques and forgotten does a company keep its soul?”

The weight of history “Life these days—it’s more ingredients. The starter doesn’t escape his gaze, but he complex than ever before,” Haas also simultaneously looks toward we use is actually a says. “I think the difference is the future. This is most evident that we have a company that 500-year-old starter that as we talk about the bread focuses on having a soul and program started by Cory Gray was brought back from making sure we don’t ever lose and Shawn Cronin. I ask Haas that connection.” He continues, Europe.” -Chef John Haas how he incorporates ideas from “Each individual restaurant the slow food movement that has its own soul, too, and one started in Italy. “They wanted restaurant speaks to people differently than another … to preserve old cooking techniques and forgotten and while many people will occasionally go to two or ingredients. Our baking chefs really started our three, most people have their favorite—that’s part of our bread program, and they were adamant that the way vision, our design.” to make bread is from starter, not yeast,” he said.

Casual in demeanor and Chef Damien Lucero intense in his vision, Haas speaks with a refreshing sense of wonder and delight.

You can sense his intrepid nature in his cooking and ideas about food, which he demonstrates as we continue to inspect the scallop dish.

He’s like a culinary explorer, culling the depths of an ancient cuisine that he loves and wants to share with others.

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M’tucci’s

He’s like a culinary explorer, culling the depths of an ancient cuisine that he loves and wants to share with others.

-Mark Oppenheimer

John Haas and Damien Lucero

Chef Omar Rosas

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“I believe in that, too. The starter we use is actually a 500-year-old starter that was brought back from Europe.”

The gnocchi arrives—Gnocchi with Preserved Turnip Greens, Roasted Carrot, Wild Mushrooms, Caramelized Red Onion and Creamy Mozzarella. “I’ve never really been attracted to gnocchi,” I tell him. “I’m excited to learn about it and get the lowdown.”

“It’s all about the balance,” he says. He refers to that word often. “We sear our gnocchi and caramelize the edges, which gives it a crunchy texture with a soft belly and a lot of ridges. Again, balance. It always comes back to balance. When I look at how we twist or play with tradition, I thrive on the constraint of trying to balance my vision with the practicalities of bringing value to the customer and still feeling that I’m feeding the deepest parts of my creativity.”

I bring up the subject of menu design as I savor the taste and texture of the gnocchi. “I’ve always been curious about how much attention a restaurant really puts into the design and concept of something so ubiquitous. I think, generally, it’s sadly overlooked.” He explains that M’tucci’s Twenty-Five is the first time he

and his partners were given full creative control over design.

“We had the ability to do what we wanted to do,” he says. “This was by far the most thoughtful endeavor we’ve ever done.” Every detail, including on the menu, has a reason behind it.

“I wanted the font to have an Old World feel,” he explains about the menu.

“I want people to perhaps connect to their favorite old-time Italian red-sauce restaurant. Perhaps one they went to as a kid. The Old World elements of the menu and other aspects of the restaurant, like slow food and old food-making techniques, work in conjunction with the modern structure and sleek decor of the building. I wanted to play off the new look but still let people know that the core, the soul of this restaurant is very old.”

Each restaurant in the group’s orbit has a similar Old World trattoria feel in a modern space. “You’re standing on the precipice of a small restaurant empire,” I tell him. “What’s your vision for the future of the company and yourself?”

“I always want to see the people around me succeed. I want to feel rich from the people that are around me,” he says. “There’s nothing about anything we’ve done in this company that I feel I’m doing just for myself.

My personal philosophy is: I can’t succeed if others don’t.”

We finish eating. It feels good to talk about food and life, as they’re pretty much the same for me right now. We sit there silently for a minute, the world quickly changing around us in ways we don’t yet know. Haas breaks the silence.

“I feel you always have to step back from any moment in life and see the truth in it. Other people push me on this, but I can’t think about what I’m trying to accomplish if I’m not helping others around me succeed first. They’re one and the same for me.

Once I help others accomplish what they want, then I get what I wanted. It’s an endless journey, and, I think, worthy of a life’s work.”

There are four M’tucci’s locations: Twenty-Five at 4939 Pan American Hwy NW, 505.554.2660; Italian at Coors and Montaño, 505.503.7327; M’tucci’s @ Lava Rock Brewery 2220 Unser Blvd, 505.836.1022 all in Albuquerque and Moderno at 1908 Wellspring Ave SE in Rio Rancho, 505.891.2432, mtuccis.com.

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Savvy Readers… and Very Smart Advertisers

A taste of life in New Mexico

Santa Fe & Taos c a l 352.282.6288 flavorm gazine.com Brendal oFannon: •abrenda@localflavormagazine.com Margret Henkels: 505.501.2290 • hmargret@gmail.com Andrea Nagler: 505.986.0260 • andrea@localflavormagazine.com A Taste of Life in New Mexico

Albuquerque

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by STEPHANIE HAINSFURTHER

Stephanie Hainsfurther has covered the performing arts scene in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, as a critic, feature writer, and publisher for a dozen years.

Drama class trips to Broadway got her attention. Singing and acting on stage built her confidence. Thank you, Mr. Sine and Mr. Corelli.

“

“There is a great anticipation that precedes going to a concert and, of course, a feeling of disappointment when plans change. … First of all, stay safe. Take care of yourself and take care of others. We are a communitysupported performing arts center and there is nothing more important to us than seeing our amazing Lensic supporters and friends back when these clouds lift.”

—Joel Aalberts, Executive Director, Lensic Performing Arts Center, lensic.org “March 12 was one of the worst days in my career—as I shut down the production of La Traviata, there were tears in people’s eyes all around the room. … The stereotype of the starving artist exists for a reason, and many now will not have a next paycheck. … Economic relief efforts currently proposed in Washington, D.C. and Santa Fe are not geared to aid the nonprofit performing arts. … I suggest an emergency grant program administered by the National Endowment for the Arts, with grants as large as $250,000 (and greater for state arts councils) for arts organizations that have been impacted by cancellations due to the coronavirus. This will help them keep the lights on, help pay artists some of the income they have lost and help reschedule performances that have been disrupted by the coronavirus.”

—Tony Zancanella, Executive Director, Opera Southwest and Chatter, operasouthwest.org, chatterABQ.org

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Lloyd Dirks

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s I wrote this column for April, the closings and reschedulings started to roll in like a bleak wave.

Here are some thoughts from people on the frontlines of producing the live performances we can’t live without, about cancellations due to the pandemic and how they affect us all.

“The day we announced the closure of Popejoy— Thursday, March 12, 2020—we had crews on stage loading in the touring Broadway show Escape to Margaritaville. They had started at 8 that morning. …

By 10, [UNM administration] decided to shut down events larger than 100 people on the campus. We told the crew that they would have to load everything back on their trucks.

The show had four trucks and 20 people on their crew. We had hired 60 more locally for the load-in.

Those crew members have not worked since that day. In our state, more than 43,000 New Mexicans are employed in the arts [as of 2017; http://www.newmexicoculture. org/assets/files/reports/Summary-Impact-Report-Pages. pdf ]. In total, they earn more in wages than the total paid to hotel and restaurant workers in the state.”

—Terry Davis, Marketing Manager, Popejoy Hall, popejoypresents.com “Since we are an intimate house, we went forward with the Irish celebration (after cancelling Outside Mullingar). And we are so happy we did. … Around 20 people gathered to listen to incredible music. The event ended with all of us singing “Wild Mountain Thyme,” the theme song for our postponed play. Many were moved to tears. But the experience reinforced our belief in the human spirit, our need to gather and share, and the certainty that we will come through this with greater strength and determination.” —Brenda Lynn Bynum, Artistic Director, The Oasis Theatre Company, theoasistheatre.com “Because of the present global situation, Teatro Paraguas has canceled all events in both venues for the next two months. … We are exploring fundraising strategies with Theatre Santa Fe, a nonprofit organization which supports theater in Santa Fe. Because there are a lot of theater companies but very few affordable theater venues, we feel it is important to work together as a theater community to have an integrated response to the pandemic and emerge as strong as possible once the danger is over.

magazine.com

This will be a make-or-break moment for Teatro Paraguas, the most serious and unprecedented challenge in our 16-year history. It is not a time for panic and fear; rather, it is a time for common sense and perseverance, and acceptance of what we cannot control. And compassion for everyone.” —Argos MacCallum, Founding Member, Teatro Paraguas, teatroparaguas.org

“On Saturday the 14 of March (Pi Day), we postponed our new show The Other, which was scheduled to premiere … at the Swan Theater in Santa Fe. The Other grew out of 14 months of research. … We have approximately $30,000 invested in the play, a major portion of our annual budget. …

We’ve been reluctant to ask patrons for help, knowing that many have already committed discretionary money to the political campaign and are now hunkering down because of the pandemic. Instead, we are pursuing streaming programming so that we still might offer a theatrical experience but live on your screen at home.

None of us has ever lived through a pandemic, and as a small nonprofit, we are facing an uncertain future. More importantly, the artists are immediately impacted. Most have outside part-time or full-time jobs, and all of those jobs have been immediately reduced or terminated. None have a safety net of any kind.” —John Flax, Founding Artistic Director, Theater Grottesco, theatergrottesco.org “I think arts organizations are in the habit of being creative, not just on stages and in galleries, but in their arts presenting practices.

If creativity is coupled with disciplined, smart action, arts orgs will survive. They may look different on the other side—engaging with the world in new ways—but I believe that strong leadership and community support will enable orgs to protect their art and to continue to bring the arts forward to humanity. We need it. We feed on it. Creativity will always grow.”

—Mary G. Madigan, Executive Director, Santa Fe Pro Musica, sfpromusica.org “[For the New Mexico Actors Lab], 2020 was going to be a watershed year in our growth. … The plans for the expanded 2020 season were enthusiastically received by our growing audience. … Now, the pandemic has thrown a monkey wrench into these ambitious plans. …

It is a tremendous challenge under very trying circumstances. But we are confident that NMAL will survive and continue to prosper. Our solution to this problem will be announced in mid-April on our website, nmactorslab.com.”

—Robert Benedetti, Managing Director, New Mexico Actors Lab “I think the efforts to present via streaming are fantastic and yielding some very creative approaches. That said, I don’t think anything can/will take the place of live performance— the energy of the audience in a hall, seeing and feeling the performers interact and breathe together—as well as for music, of course, the sound quality! When we resume, I think we will all be the more grateful for the ability to gather to experience our communal cultural expressions.” —Nancy Laupheimer, Executive Director, Taos Chamber Music Group, taoschambermusicgroup.org

The Saving Grace of

Permaculture

stor y by TONER MITCHELL photos by STEPHEN LANG

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orn, squash and beans, Pueblo culture’s venerable Three Sisters, epitomize the symbiotic relationships Jeremiah Kidd sees throughout nature. Squash leaves shade the soil, inhibiting weeds while enabling beans to take root before climbing toward the sun on nearby cornstalks. The bean plant, meanwhile, fixes nitrogen in the soil. Humans have nurtured this relationship since time immemorial. As its most significant beneficiaries, we are part of this life-giving system as well.

“Permaculture honors our predecessors by recognizing what made their communities function better and endure.” -Jeremiah Kidd

Kidd is the owner of Santa Fe-based San Isidro Permaculture, which specializes in designing, building and maintaining regenerative landscapes according to the principles of permaculture—the art and science of designing human systems in harmony with nature.

Kidd founded the company in 2000, after he came from Oregon to Santa Fe via Taos. San Isidro’s projects— property layout, active water harvesting, irrigation installation, soil amending, edible landscaping, and native plant revegetation—are informed by wholesystems thinking, which Kidd describes as recognizing and studying natural patterns and relationships, then incorporating such knowledge into human systems.

Kidd believes that his upbringing in rural Silverton, Oregon, predisposed him to such thinking. His family, whom he describes as survivalists or honest-to-goodness preppers, lived on an 8-acre farm. In practice if not by name, they hewed to the permaculture concept, as it was a design-based, small-scale agrarian economic model that would see them through the aftermath of the apocalypse.

“We’re all plumbers and builders, too,” he says. “I learned how water moved and behaved. I learned how to make things and fix them.”

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Permaculture

Photo courtesy of Jeremiah Kidd

Fundamentally, however, Kidd’s people were simply farmers, living in a community whose workforce was its children. When the strawberries were ripe, the schools emptied out, and Kidd and his two older brothers joined every other youngster to bring in the harvest and do other necessary tasks for the good of the community. Living so intimately with his surroundings taught Kidd how beings and processes fit together and interacted.

And also how they didn’t.

“When I worked briefly in the logging industry in high school, we’d change the oil in our trucks right next to the stream,” Kidd recalls. “I remember doing this once and then seeing salmon spawning. Despite knowing nothing of environmentalism, the disconnect was pretty obvious to me.”

Perhaps in response (or due to his natural wanderlust), Kidd left Silverton and landed in Breitenbush Hot Springs, a holistic retreat community in the heart of Oregon’s logging country. There he applied his skills to harnessing hydropower energy and geothermal water to heat the community. It was the early 90s, when the spotted owl infamously became the symbol for the tensions between environmentalists and logging interests.

His next stop was Taos, where he landed work building off-the-grid earthships. Again, his informal training in how to integrate functions and processes proved vital. In such a water-deprived environment, he lived in a different kind of survivalist context than he’d been used to back home. Water limited everything: the size of one’s community, how much food could be produced, and perhaps most important, a community’s narrow margin for wasteful mistakes. Kidd studied permaculture design during those years, developing skills that have enabled his clients to live in rhythm with the New Mexico landscape.

Upon meeting Jeremiah Kidd, one is struck by his humility and modesty. And after conversing with him, I find it difficult to believe that a true permaculturist could present himself any other way. In contrast to other restorative practices, which might imply or suggest ethical aspects, permaculture explicitly addresses ethics. The practice mandates care of the earth, care of people, and the idea of “fair share,” the distribution of surplus benefits to earth and to people. Like ecology and traditional cultures that have endured for centuries, permaculture places community above other interests. One natural product of such a practice is humility, or the practice of seeing oneself as part of something greater.

Caring for the earth seems easy enough in concept: stop using fossil fuels, protect endangered species, reject single-use plastic. Permaculture is a practice that privileges an honest, active role in caring for the earth.

Photo courtesy of Jeremiah Kidd

Kidd says, “I’m concerned about the use of the word ‘sustainable’ these days, because it suggests that where we are is where we need to be. That we produce our food organically is far less important than whether our farming is regenerative. Organic should be a given, though—not spraying poison on our food. We need to regenerate, not sustain as though it’s on life support.”

In this vein, Kidd bemoans how noninvasive cover cropping has yet to become standard practice. “Even on most organic farms, you still see a lot of plowing, which releases much of the carbon you may have sequestered in the previous growing season. We know this, yet we continue to do it. Focusing on perennial crops is the only way we can minimize agriculture’s effects on the climate while feeding 10 billion people by 2050.”

Perhaps justifiably, mainstream environmental thinking focuses on humanity’s destructive propensities. Permaculture, on the other hand, celebrates our constructive potential as the earth’s most dominant species, and values built ecosystems that are ecologically sound and economically viable. That we would seek to meddle in nature’s process—considering the dubious effects of our meddling throughout history—might seem hubristic to many nature lovers.

Jeremiah Kidd might remind us, however, that permaculture is more of a new word than a new concept. Indeed, it borrows most of its design principles from enduring traditional cultures that manipulated their surroundings substantially. Their designed environments reflected deep knowledge of natural rhythms along with basic common sense. Much of this knowledge has been misplaced in humankind’s rush towards industrialization.

“Permaculture honors our predecessors by recognizing what made their communities function better and endure.”

A blend of the two words, permaculture suggests the possibility of permanent agriculture, though the idea of permanent culture also seems appropriate. Either way, the standing of humans in the permaculture vision—and set of ethics—is rightfully prominent.

Fruit trees not only contribute to a delicious apple pie, but feed birds that control insects, disperse seed, and add phosphorus to the soil with their droppings. Mycorrhizal fungi nourish the soil and support plant growth. While becoming our food, plants also generate sugars to feed the fungi.

In the context of multidimensional habitats, the designer takes this mutually beneficial dynamic to heart, recognizing his or her own role as a beneficiary, and participant, in a functioning relationship.

Honoring the third pillar of permaculture ethics—sharing one’s surplus—Kidd travels internationally and volunteers his wisdom in training rural communities in the fundamentals of permaculture.

In Africa, Mexico, Asia, Jamaica, and other places, he’s empowered communities to design farm layouts, harvest irrigation and potable water, and build living soil through erosion control, composting and crop rotation. As a result, the communities he’s worked in have gained food security while generating economic opportunity. This is what “fair share” means.

As a permaculture practitioner in a small city, Kidd understands that his regenerative designs must be scaled to landscapes where the full suite of permaculture treatments cannot be contemplated. Not A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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All photos on this page: courtesy of Jeremiah Kidd

every Santa Fe property can accommodate a food forest, chicken coop, and an array of water-harvesting features, and not every client will even want all of those things.

Nonetheless, his permaculture vision—in the spirit of earth care, human care, and fair share—can still be applied to the smallest of homes. When visiting a prospective client, Kidd first discusses the goals or possible problems the client is hoping to address. While surveying the property, he identifies opportunities for creating or enhancing relationships, perhaps through something so simple as an active water harvesting system or the introduction of native plants. Maybe the client wants so see more food production for the household or for local birds and wildlife, maybe just a more robust ecosystem.

Most of Kidd’s workforce has been with San Isidro Permaculture for more than five years, which is a testament to his adherence to the fair share ethic.

He strives to make their work lives as personally and financially rewarding as possible, sharing the company’s surplus by investing in their professional development and paying livable wages. Out of gratitude for their hard and skilled work, Kidd remains vigilant for opportunities to add additional benefits to their jobs.

That’s no easy task in a city with such a high cost of living, as well as a competitive landscaping industry in which Kidd is dedicated to providing quality services at an affordable price.

Kidd sums up his practices this way: “At its best, permaculture maximizes mutually beneficial relationships between different elements in our sphere to increase yields while reducing labor and material inputs.”

In other words, we can think of the economy as permaculture’s value proposition, a distillation of working smarter and not harder. This is why the armchair ecologist in me loves the promise of permaculture, because it speaks of a living world, an evolving, adaptable earth in perpetual motion. The fact that we are part of it, that our living spaces are and have always been ecosystems, thrills me to no end.

San Isidro Permaculture is located at 29 Hidden Valley Road in Santa Fe. 505.983.3841, sipermaculture.com.

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Northeast Maxwell

Las Vegas

Northwest

Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge Bring your binoculars. More than 250 migratory bird species and 14 species of raptors locate here throughout the year. Drive the 8-mile auto loop through the heart of the refuge and learn from interpretive panels. An easy 1.75-mile walk through the Gallinas Nature Trail is open and free. 575.425.3581.

Grants

El Malpais National Monument Located in El Malpais National Monument, the Zuni-Acoma Trail follows an ancient footpath between the two pueblos. Strong shoes are necessary to hike the 7.5-mile rocky cairn-to-cairn trail, which can take all day. Bring plenty of water. The trail moves from easy to moderate to difficult.

505.876.2783.

Capulin

Farmington

Grants El Malpais National Monument

Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Zuni-Acoma Trail This remote 45,000 acres of wind-sculpted varicolored shale and sandstone is as unearthly as a moonscape. The best formations may be found 2 miles east of the parking area. Open for hiking. Please bring a compass. It’s easy to get turned around here. 505.599.8900; 505.827.4400.

Orilla Verde Recreation Area

Access the turnoff to this gorgeous green and serene area off NM 68 (the “Low Road”) 16 miles south of Taos. Twenty-two miles of rim and river trails with easy to intermediate ratings await amid dramatic lava flows in this underappreciated corner of glory.

The road follows the winding course of the Rio Grande, with picnic areas, fishing spots, fine birding and wildlife viewing. It’s a true getaway. Orilla Verde Recreation Area is located within the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument and along the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River.

Capulin Volcano National Monument The road to the top of the volcano is open 8:30 a.m.−4 p.m. All trails are open to the public, including the 1-mile Rim Trail overlooking four states and much of the Raton-Clayton volcanic field.

Restrooms at the top of the volcano are open. Free. 575.278.2201.

Mills Canyon

Melvin W. Mills, influential Territorial lawyer, Santa Fe ringleader and entrepreneur, ran a flourishing fruit and stagecoach business in the 1880s that was flooded out in 1904. The remains of his enterprise is tucked away in Mills Canyon on the Canadian River. You can find ruins of Mills’ ranch buildings and in spring, blossoming fruit and nut trees that have survived. There’s even a remote primitive campground.

This backroader’s back road is 10 miles from Roy, your last chance for gas and supplies.

Charlie McDonald

BLM New Mexico

Social distancing is necessary, but cabin fever is not mandatory.

with SHARON NIEDERMAN

Nick Guarino

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hen I walk my Airedale, Kelsey, in the late afternoon at the Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge, I have it all to myself—aside from flights of ducks and geese honking as they flock to the lake for the night, the chatter of redwing blackbirds nesting in the cattails and the warble of meadowlarks.

Fresh air and sunshine have healing and protective benefits, and Kelsey insists on her walk every day at this time.

Sunset is not canceled. Out here, mauve, rose and tangerine light set the 360-degree stage for the appearance of the evening star and crescent moon. I arrive home having kept my social distance, but feeling ever so much closer to the beauty that surrounds us wherever we roam in New Mexico.

Perhaps sometime this spring, we will be able to gather again. In the meantime, we can fill the car with gas, pack a picnic, grab the camera and hit that long and winding road.

There are hikes to take and two-lane roads to explore. This is a good time to visit places you’ve always meant to go but haven’t gotten around to. Visitor centers may be closed, but trails are open. (But do call or check Facebook before you go.)

Or plan a drive on one of New Mexico’s 25 scenic byways—maybe one you haven’t done, like Quebradas Backcountry Byways.

Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge This Central Flyway bird sanctuary and feeding area of 3,500 acres of rolling prairie, short grass meadows, and lakes is favored locally for trout, catfish and walleye fishing. Extraordinary bird watching; miles of expansive walking trails. Free. 575.375.2331.

Southwest

Lori Jurado

Magdalena

Get your ghost hunt on at Kelly Mine, 2 miles north of Magdalena. While a persistent rumor has it that Gustave Eiffel—yes, that Eiffel—designed the mining headframe here, that is just one of those amusing bits of local lore, along with the story that Eiffel designed the kit from which the frame was built. Once a booming mining town of 3,000, dusty and deserted Kelly is ripe for exploration, with fascinating abandoned structures and traces of smithsonite, the blue-green mineral that was mined here and used in paint color. Tularosa

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

Cloudcroft

Cloudcroft Sacramento Mountains

There’s such good hiking around Cloudcroft, a gem in the Sacramento Mountains. The New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association, dedicated to creating hiking trails along abandoned tracks, has built the Trestle AA 49 along the Cloud-Climbing Railroad track, the high trestle bridge used until 1947 to carry logs out to build railroad tracks. All levels of hiking are available in this green mountain paradise. The Sacramento Rim National Recreation Trail south of Cloudcroft follows the rim of the Sacramento Mountains 14 miles. It’s a moderate hike with views of the Tularosa Basin 5,000 feet below. 575.682.2733.

Mills Canyon

Southeast Tularosa

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site This site lies midway between Carrizozo and Tularosa. A half-mile trail reveals outstanding examples of rock art in its 21,000 petroglyphs carved into the volcanic rock by the Mogollon people more than 1,000 years ago. Free.

575.585.3457.

Roswell

Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge This exquisite Pecos River wetlands refuge is home to one of North America’s most diverse and bountiful populations of dragonflies and damselflies. Easy walking trails reveal many varieties of butterflies as well. In addition, over 350 bird species dwell here. Bring your bike to cruise the 8-mile gravel road.

Free. 575.622.6755.

Here’s hoping you will get out and explore while staying safe. See you down the road.

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NewMexico’s Homestead Story

s t o r y b y LY N N C L I N E photos by KITTY LEAKEN

S

pend a little time with Daniel Goodman, and you’ll find that he’s a perfect fit for El Rancho de las Golondrinas, New Mexico’s treasured living history museum celebrating Hispano homesteaders in the 18th and 19th centuries. Deeply passionate about American history, Goodman joined the “The Ranch of the Swallows” (as its Spanish name translates) in 2012 as curator of collections.

Four years later, he became the museum’s director of education and collections. In 2017, he became the fourth director of the museum, which opened in 1972. Goodman’s enthusiasm for what he does is hard to resist, even if you think you’re not remotely interested in history. Read on, and you’ll see what we mean.

You grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. What drew you to New Mexico?

St. Louis is at the other end of the Santa Fe Trail. I grew up going to a lot of different museums in St. Louis, one of which is the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, and they have a collection there that relates to New Mexico. … So I grew up knowing about New Mexico and what it means. Also, my great-grandfather had a ranch outside of Tucumcari, but then the family ended up moving back to the Midwest. I also visited Philmont Scout Ranch and the Valle Vidal. It had a profound effect on me, and so New Mexico has always been on my mind, I guess you could say. Since moving here, my son was born here, so New Mexico is now home for me, my wife and my son. I love the history, I love the cultures and I love being part of an institution that’s been underrepresented.

Where does your love of history come from?

My mother was looking for things to do with me and my older brother, and museums were free entertainment. We have great museums in St. Louis—the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, the Museum of Transportation, Shaw’s Gardens.

We would go to them all the time … and I would just get lost in these museums and have a chance to see incredible things from the past. There was always a story attached. I was not interested in objects, I was interested in whose sword or helmet that was, and who painted that painting. … I remember being in elementary school and doing social studies, and I was like, “This is so boring, when are we going to get to the good stuff?” My love of history may be a combination of nature and nurture. My father had a huge love of history, and so he was always reading books about history.

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We live in a time dominated by a frenzy of TV streaming, 24/7 news, video games and other distractions. Why does history still matter? What can history give us?

History is inescapable. It helps all of us—individuals, societies— understand who we are and why we are.

Do you have a favorite figure in history, or a favorite historian?

I do not have a favorite figure in history, but one of my favorite historians would be our very own Thomas Chávez [author and former Executive Director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center and Director of the Palace of the Governors], who’s just written a new book, Timeless Caravan: The Story of a Spanish-American Family. He’s a great mentor and he has an ability to really bring history to life and to make it relatable to everyone. He’s a real master of that. He’s also bringing attention to New Mexico history and its importance and place in what I refer to as the American story. This is important history. It’s fascinating and everybody in the United States should know about it. For Americans, it’s deep history. There’s been incredible human habitation for thousands of years here.

Las Golondrinas showcases homesteading in New Mexico during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Today, homesteading is back in vogue, not just in New Mexico but across the country. Why do you think it’s on the rise?

There’s always a pendulum swing, but I think inherently it doesn’t matter where you’re from in the United States or what your cultural background is—Americans have a deep sense of themselves, of self-reliance and an interest in having the ability to keep certain family and cultural traditions alive. You’ve got people that do everything from canning whatever it is that they grew in the ground to having knowledge of flood irrigation off an acequia. This has always been alive in New Mexico, we just showcase it at Las Golondrinas. There appears to be a lot more interest in it, but people have always been keeping these traditions alive. Clearly there are more people that have a desire to learn this stuff. People want to know what’s the source, where did it come from, how did it grow, what best practices were used. It’s human nature to want to grow your own produce.

There’s more interest in homesteading, and we know more. We know more about the benefit of these kind of things. And the millennials, they’ve had the hardest go of it.

They came into an economy where there were no jobs, there was nothing and they had to be self-reliant. Now we’ve got people making boutique-beautiful things, providing exceptional food, growing products that we just didn’t have before. Recent generations are taking it to the next level and I would say out of necessity, they’ve taken it to the next level.

Dryland Wilds, for instance, is made up of two women who use Old World fragrance-extraction techniques. They do wildcrafting, and they utilize our property to gather things in a sustainable way to extract fragrance to make products—fragrances, body products that are all-natural, utilizing the best ingredients they can. Their products are sold in our gift shop and online. They make all of their own fragrances and they literally smell of New Mexico and like the Southwest. Their biggest product is an allnatural deodorant made with natural botanicals and oils that have antiseptic qualities that A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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NewMexico’s Homestead Story

fight the bacteria that creates body odor. Everybody here uses it. We are powered

by Dryland Wilds. They created a Las Golondrinas fragrance using apples, green chile roasted here, cottonwoods. It was amazing. They look at the property totally differently. One of the women, Cebastien, pointed out, “You know, over there by your wild licorice patch,” and I was like, “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” They know what’s on the property and what is it used for. They’re real homesteaders.

Why has cultural preservation become important to us today?

Culture is a very wide topic. You’re talking about documenting and appreciating cultural heritage, everything from crafts to art to traditions to dances to language. Culture is who we are and it tells us where we came from. So it’s important. Cultural heritage really reflects values, beliefs, aspirations of people, it defines our identity. It’s important to preserve that because it keeps our integrity as a people. When you’re talking about buildings or a space like Las Golondrinas, a physical space, the whole idea of culture can be elusive, so you can’t always put your finger on it. Historic places, physical places, immersive environments are all powerful in preserving history. … We’re talking about an emotional response, and it can be different for everyone. Someone could hear a line from a poem or song, look at a painting or hear a word that they have not heard in a long time that somehow connects them to place, to people, to history, to their culture.

Talk about your relationship with the volunteers at Golondrinas, the longtime docents who spin wool, make candles, shear sheep and work as blacksmiths. What keeps them coming back year after year?

They’re volunteers but they’re our friends. It’s not just the educators who know the volunteers, it’s the entire staff. We’re a tight group here, we all like to hang out after work, we’re all friends.

Our volunteers are our friends. We know their families, their kids, we know where they’re going on vacation. We don’t just do tours here, we have nine festivals a year, so these relationships have been forged over years under intense pressure. The tour season, the open season, the festival season at Golondrinas, it’s very stressful and it’s a lot of work to pull these festivals off. Both the staff and the volunteers work together on these. We’re in the hot seat together. Over the years, we’ve formed these close bonds together. Golondrinas is a real place, and so these are all people with a very intense history together and they have a chance to both explore it and to share it. It’s an incredible property.

What do you hope visitors take away from their experience at Golondrinas?

I hope that people take away a better understanding of New Mexico’s history and the different cultures that live here, and that they take away an understanding of New Mexico’s place in the American story.

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What’s in the future for Las Golondrinas?

We’re currently wrapping up a master plan for the entire property and it will set the course for projects and improvements to the property for years to come.

It’s covering everything from our infrastructure to our interpretation to the way people move around the property, along with other resources needed to share the history of Golondrinas. We’re looking at improving our parking lot, we’re looking at the entrance into Las Golondrinas, especially when it comes to festivals. There’s also the possibility of a new education center, and we’re looking at a series of different trail loops that will give people access to parts of the property that they currently don’t have access to. The master plan will allow us to provide a richer interpretation of the museum and greater ADA access, getting people safely down the hill across the creek to the other areas. Also, we have our 50th anniversary coming up in 2022.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas is located at 334 Los Pinos Road in Santa Fe. 505.471.2261. golondrinas.org.

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Still Hungry?

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pring in New Mexico can be a fickle goddess. She huffs and blows and shakes and freezes blooms and buds and tender stalks. Intrepid farmers use hoop- or greenhouses to get a hedge on warmer weather that we know is riiiight around the corner. For many chefs, April is a time of planning for what local growers offer as first-of-the-season choices. We’re all hungry for bright, fresh flavors after months of hearty braises, stews and heavy sauces. We asked three local chefs about how they embrace new beginnings with their menus, how dishes change with the seasons and what they are looking forward to with the arrival of spring.

Julia at La Posada de Santa Fe

s t o r y b y K E L LY K O E P K E

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Executive Chef Tom Kerpon has a hankering for fresh fish in spring. Specifically, he looks to the Alaska halibut, whose season began in mid-March. “I’m always excited to get out of the cold of winter—and it’s been cold this winter,” says the Executive Chef of Julia, the restaurant at La Posada de Santa Fe. He’s playing with the bar menu, too, adding tempura-fried veggies and what he calls “snuffer fries”— cheese fries with bacon, green onions and jalapeños. Green for spring, yes?

“I love when the first baby carrots and first greens come out, too. You go, alright, that’s fun. What can we do with this?” he laughs. “But back to the halibut. We’ll turn the halibut into ceviche when the weather really warms. For right now, this recipe with sundried tomatoes and fennel is really delicious, and says spring to me with the artichoke and fresh herbs in the sauce.”

PAN-ROASTED WILD-CAUGHT ALASKAN HALIBUT SERVES 1

Ingredients:

Method:

6-7 oz halibut 1 bulb fennel, julienned and blanched ¼ cup sundried tomato, julienned 1 artichoke, cleaned, blanched, and quartered Clarified butter Love Sauce (see recipe)

Heat a heavy skillet very hot with a couple of ounces of canola oil. The worst thing you can do with a beautiful piece of halibut is to put it in an insufficiently hot pan.

Do not make this mistake. Season the fish with Kosher salt and white pepper. Sear the halibut.

When the fish is nicely browned, flip it over and lower the heat. Let your fish finish on the stovetop (finishing the fish in the oven is also acceptable).

In another skillet heat the clarified butter, then add the fennel, tomato, and artichoke. Get them warm, season, and set aside.

Put whatever starch you’re having in the middle of your plate or bowl. Place the halibut on top of the starch.

Put a teaspoon of the sauce on top and spread it around.

Spoon your warmed vegetables in butter over that.

Love Sauce: (makes lots, keep in refrigerator) 1 bunch scallions, chopped 4 oz fresh ginger, peeled and grated 1 bunch cilantro, chopped ½ cup sesame oil 3 cups canola oil ½ cup lime juice 1 cup rice wine vinegar 1 Tablespoons fish sauce 2 Tablespoons Sambal

Barmalini

with lots of extra sauce

Blend all the ingredients together and refrigerate overnight.

La Posada is located at 330 East Palace Avenue in Santa Fe. 505.986.0000, laposadasantafe.com.

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Still Hungry?

Farm & Table For Farm & Table Executive Chef Steve Riley, spring is about new beginnings. “Everything is starting over again for the year, coming back to life. All those nice green blossoms!” Riley’s especially looking forward to peas, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns and the first tender fava beans of the season.

Riley’s philosophy is that with good ingredients, the goal is to complement them as best he can. He lets them shine on their own and do their own thing. By talking with as many farmers as he can to get ideas of what they’ll have soon, he’s planning a seasonal menu to highlight the first fresh ingredients.

As a New Mexico native, Riley also knows we tend to get late frosts that affect what will and can grow. “We just put a Silver Leaf Farms cucumber salad on the menu. Cukes are starting to pop and I really like those, they are so crisp and green-tasting. Spring is about transitioning out of heavy sauces and braises and going to more lighter choices.”

Farm & Table Persian Cucumber Salad Ingredients:

SERVES 1-2 6-8 Persian cucumbers 1 purple daikon radish 2 Tablespoons preserved lemon vinaigrette (see recipe) 10 oil-cured olives ½ cup Tucumcari feta cheese 1 teaspoon nigella seeds, toasted 2 teaspoons sunflower seeds, toasted ½ teaspoon sumac Pinch of salt Method:

Thinly shave cucumbers lengthwise into ribbons on a mandoline. Shave daikon into rings and cut in half to create half-moons. Place cucumbers and daikon in a small mixing bowl with olives, the preserved lemon vinaigrette and a pinch of salt. Mix gently as to not break up cucumbers. Place in serving bowl gently. Crumble feta cheese over top, then sprinkle with nigella and sunflower seeds. Add a dusting of sumac and enjoy.

Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette Ingredients:

1/4 cup Champagne vinegar 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon honey ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 clove garlic 1 small shallot Pinch of salt 1½ cups olive oil

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Place all ingredients except for olive oil in a blender.

With the blender running slowly, drizzle in olive oil.

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Farm & Table is located at 8917 4th St NW in Albuquerque. 505.503.7124, farmandtablenm.com.

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M’tucci’s Italian Cory Gray, chef and partner at M’tucci’s Italian, has learned that spring brings energy, new life, a new culinary year and cycle. “From a historical point, and still even some places today, spring has always meant that you made it through the winter months and survived. Spring brought hope and the bounty of life’s nutritional treasures with the know-how to gather to feast on them,” he says.

Gray likes to eat lots of salads with fresh vegetables in spring —radishes, beans and microgreens—and to preserve spring’s bounty by pickling and fermenting other veggies. He saw these techniques in Italy, where each town has its own ingredients, flavors and methods. Garlic scapes (delicious and nutritious), peppers, cucumbers, carrots and mushrooms are ideal, he says, for light pickling.

“We’re playing with a take on kimchi at M’tucci’s Twenty-Five, an Italian version. And we’re taking the fermenting liquid to use as steak marinades. Spring is like a candy store for a chef!” he adds.

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M’tucci’s Ravioli with Lemon Basil Cream Sauce

SERVES 1

Ingredients: 10 M’tucci’s three-cheese red chile raviolis* 1 roasted red bell pepper, julienned 1 oz haricots verts (can substitute green beans) ½ small onion, caramelized 3 oz lemon basil cream sauce* 1 teaspoon garlic, minced ½ oz arugula 1 teaspoon olive oil Shaved Parmesan Salt and pepper to taste Method:

Vaivirga

Bring 1 gallon of water to boil. Add sea salt so that the water tastes like the ocean. Add ravioli and boil for three minutes.

In sauté pan, heat olive oil. Add haricots verts, caramelized onion, roasted red bell pepper and garlic. Sauté for two minutes, then add lemon basil cream sauce. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Once everything is incorporated, add raviolis and toss.

Garnish with shaved Parmesan and arugula. *Ravioli and lemon cream sauce can be purchased at M’tucci’s Italian. Or substitute another prepared ravioli and sauce.

There are four M’tucci’s locations: Twenty-Five at 4939 Pan American Hwy NW, 505.554.2660; Italian at Coors and Montaño, 505.503.7327; M’tucci’s @ Lava Rock Brewery 2220 Unser Blvd, 505.836.1022 all in Albuquerque and Moderno at 1908 Wellspring Ave SE in Rio Rancho, 505.891.2432, mtuccis.com.

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