February 2012
the
Ranch House
Josh Baum & Ann Gordon
Crazy for Chocolate That’s My Dog! Buon Appetito from Gregorio’s Struck by Taos Lightning
Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Taos
Join us for Valentine’s Day! 3 course menu for $40 appetizer • entrée • dessert call today: 505.455.2000
Mediterranean & Italian Cuisine by Chef Owner Steven Lemon
The coolest place for winter life.
y et rk elr a r w M aa Je rld ry az ry o B l a r i e W e e dh ar us ew po af Bo hap t Pl x J tem fe C C os Fo on Ca r wn e C ell s C ro the to lard n D ido so ge ow l Ve C E l Te t To D e AC E tI an ab Ge oti Be s Is y by Ki cky ede Da t Lu erc And et Fee e t M gh r F ttle g a nin Ni You r Li Sp i l D n u l n i lo O Yo ra’s Gr dian Sa n r n On ndo one a I o li Pa arag iss Ita Fine ife c o y L S z P la n a el s er en P ra ag e P a e R a Pap e P ilks R h str k a F lS T Ri oc nt lfu Tu ella R Sa ou ca B S Te rra k Te in W
Food and Wine specials from 3–6pm daily Pizza and a draft beer combination $12 Tuesday – Saturday • 11am – 9pm Only 15 minutes north of Santa Fe in Pojoaque 86 Cities of Gold Rd. off of 84/285 www.oeatinghouse.com
FEBRUARY 2012
The Historic Railyard District next to Rail Runner’s Santa Fe Depot Mon-Sat 10-6pm Sun 12-5pm
Join us on
2
500 Montezuma Avenue
505.989.9390 • www.sanbusco.com • Santa Fe
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inside:
ON OUR COVER
Josh Baum and Ann Gordon of The Ranch House
Buzz
by Christie Chisholm | 08
It’s the first issue of the new year, and we can’t wait to let you know what’s in, what’s out, what’s hot and what’s not in 2012. We cover Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos and everything in between!
Crazy for Chocolate by Kelly Koepke | 11
Real chocoholics indulge all year long, but isn’t it nice that they have a holiday to call their own? Meet four Albuquerque chocolatiers who are there for you on Valentine’s Day and all year through.
In Love in Santa Fe
by Devon Jackson | 14 Photo: Gabriella Marks
The City Different offers the perfect backdrop for romance. It’s the last in our series of weekend getaways … and it’s just for the two of you.
Gregorio’s
by Barry Fields | 16
The Range and Standard Diner are Albuquerque landmarks— but wait ’til you see Matt DiGregory’s latest offering. He’ll have you singing buon appetito!
KGB Spirits
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…
by John Vollertsen | 24
by James Selby | 20
John Bernasconi, the Renaissance man behind KGB Spirits and the legendary Taos Lightning.
Chef Josh Baum and his wife, Ann, have staked their claim on the Southside culinary scene with their stunning new restaurant, The Ranch House. Join the rush for their downhome barbecue and so much more.
Taos Road Trip
by Paige Gray | 28
If you’re looking for a getaway tailor-made for a group of friends, then Taos is the perfect spot for you. Whether it’s the call of the mountain or the call of the spa, Taos has the answer.
That’s My Dog!
by Gail Snyder | 30
Deborah Tolar brings a whole new dimension to the lives of dogs and their owners with the joy of dog sports.
Albuquerque Road Trip
by Tania Casselle | 34
Fight February cabin fever with a great family weekend in the Duke City. Pack up the kids and dive into these fun ideas.
Still Hungry?
Photos: Kate Russell
by Caitlin Richards | 36
Slow cooking is a hallmark of deep winter pleasures. This month, Chef Frederick Mueller of El Meze in Taos and Chef Christopher McLean of Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe bring their best to the table. February 2012 ~ Publishers Patty & Peter Karlovitz Editor Patty Karlovitz Publisher’s Assistant Caitlin Richards Art Director Jasmine Quinsier Cover photo: Gabriella Marks Advertising: Michelle Moreland 505.699.7369. Mary Brophy 505.231.3181. Leslie Davis Albuquerque 505.933.1345. Prepress: Scott Edwards Ad Design: Alex Hanna Distribution: Southwest Circulation LocalFlavor 223 North Guadalupe #442, Santa Fe, NM 87501 Tel: 505.988.7560 Fax: 988.9663 E-mail: localflavor @earthlink.net Website: www.localflavormagazine.com localflavor welcomes new writers. Send writing samples to localflavor@earthlink.net
localflavor is published 11 times a year: Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan. Subscriptions $24 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. localflavor 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.
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FEBRUARY 2012
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I can’t think of a more joyful cover story for the first issue of 2012: a brand new local restaurant opening on Santa Fe’s burgeoning Southside. Josh Baum and Ann Gordon threw their hat in the culinary ring four years ago when they opened Josh’s BBQ in the San Isidro Plaza, and now, with the opening of The Ranch House, they have truly tied their future to the area. They’re a hardworking young couple who have shown that local restaurants can compete on any and every level and come out on top. (And it’s your continued support of independent business owners that makes it so!) In Matt DiGregory we meet another restaurateur who has captured the loyalty of locals in an even tougher culinary market. In Albuquerque, The Range Cafe is synonymous with great New Mexican home cooking and down-home friendliness, and it’s Matt who made it all happen. Now, with three Range locations and the added success of the Standard Diner under his belt, he’s launching Gregorio’s, an eatery that pays homage to his Italian grandmother. (Believe me, invoking the memory of your Italian grandmother is a serious matter—especially when it comes to food!) It’s new, it’s local and DiGregory knows what he’s doing—and that is a recipe for success. Also in this issue, we continue our series on New Mexicans who are on the cutting edge of a national trend that has seen the return of handcrafted distilleries. We’re delighted to have brought you the stories of the entrepreneurs behind Santa Fe Spirits, the Bitter End, Don Quixote, and now KGB Spirits. Like the other pioneers in this nascent industry, John Bernasconi is a Renaissance man with a passion for his craft and a true sense of connection to New Mexico. But he is equally determined to create a world-class product that can compete in any market, not just locally. We tried to sum it up on the cover with our declaration that we have been “Struck by Taos Lightning!” We haven’t forgotten that February is the month dedicated to love—we just wanted to stretch the idea a bit and extend it to that special love we have for our dogs. We aren’t talking about pampering our pooches or treating them like they’re human; we’re talking about canine sports that inspire a deeper bond between you and your dog than you ever thought possible. This is a very compelling love story and one you won’t want to miss. Recently, both Albuquerque and Santa Fe held their annual “Souper Bowl” events to raise money for the major food banks in our state. It’s a wonderful idea that is celebrated all around our nation and is possible because of the deep generosity of the restaurant community and the spirited enthusiasm of those who attend. The Food Bank in Albuquerque and The Food Depot in Santa Fe collectively raised nearly two hundred thousand dollars for the hungry, for our neighbors, for our own. Congratulations to Chef Christina Martinez of the Artichoke Cafe in Albuquerque and Chef Ahmed Obo of Jambo Café in Santa Fe, both of whom won top chef honors. Actually, top honors go to everyone who cooked and everyone who attended!
Open Daily from 11am till closing 414 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87501 955-0765 | rioChamaSteakhouse.com
Prix FixE $24
course dinner
Menu will change weekly. find the current Menu on our website
125 East Palace, Santa Fe 988.9232 | lacasasena.com
Photo: Kate Russell
Available Sunday - Thursday at La Casa Sena & La Cantina.
The publisher with Souper Bowl winner, Chef Ahmed Obo
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011212 iota lf jan.pdf
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1/23/12
12:22 PM
WELCOMING EXECUTIVE CHEF JUAN BOCHENSKI Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi welcomes Executive Chef Juan Bochenski to the Anasazi Restaurant. With his global experience, most recently at Jumby Bay, A Rosewood Resort in Antigua, Juan is eager to share his passion for international food and create dishes that harmonize with the Restaurant’s rustic yet sophisticated southwestern flavor. Please join us in welcoming Juan.
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Valentine’s Day reservations now available
1 1 3 Wa s h i n g t o n Av e n u e Santa Fe, NM 87501
Join the growing number of readers who enjoy localflavor on line each month. Our hot links make you a click away from menus, maps, hours and more: www.localflavormagazine.com
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A Taste of Life in New Mexico
FEBRUARY 2012
7
Buzz
the by Christie Chisholm
A piece of good news for Nob Hillers and Manhattanites alike: Cecilia’s Café is coming to a place near you. The muchloved New Mexican restaurant downtown has already opened a second location in Nob Hill, taking up residence in the old Chocolate Café & Bakery space. While the decor hasn’t changed from the spot’s previous incarnation, the menu is classic Cecilia’s. I’m not sure why Cecilia’s huevos and stuffed sopaipillas are better than other restaurants’, but they are. Using the same simple ingredients as every other New Mexican joint, Cecilia’s whips up papas, pintos and corn tortillas that somehow seem more flavorful. The eatery has garnered extra attention since Guy Fieri featured it on Diner, Drive-ins and Dives, and it deserves all it gets. Although the details are still in the works, Cecilia’s plans to open another location in Manhattan (!), which, for all its ethnic culinary options, is devoid of decent New Mexican fare. I can’t wait for Cecilia’s to rule that town. 2933 Monte Vista NE, 505.268.1147.
| My Fair Lady I’m just going to admit right now that My Fair Lady is my favorite musical. “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” are two songs that have been perpetually stuck in my head since I was 14, and I still like them. So I’m thrilled to tell you that Eliza Doolittle, ’Enry ’Iggins and Colonel Pickering are all coming to Popejoy Hall from Feb. 10 through 12. Just in case you were raised in a musicalless bubble, the classic story goes a little something like this: Eliza Doolittle is a Cockney flower girl with dreams of a bigger life. One night she stumbles into phoneticist Henry Higgins, who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he could teach her to speak like a “proper lady” within three months. Eliza takes part in the bet, hoping to use her newly crafted pedigree as a means to work in a flower shop. The costumes are all lace and monumentally large hats, the songs are sweet and catchy (obviously), and the story is, well, perfect. Make sure you get your tickets soon, because there are only five 8
FEBRUARY 2012
performances and they’re likely to sell out. Nab those seats at www.popejoypresents. com, www.unmtickets.com or by calling 877.664.8661 or 505.925.5858. Prices range from $47.50 to $72.50. If wine is your business, you’ll want to be at the New Mexico Vine & Wine Society’s annual conference from March 1 through 3. With a host of educational and social networking opportunities (and, for a change, I don’t just mean the online ones), the three days of sessions and workshops will provide you with insights on the latest innovations, business dynamics and research findings in the industry. Early registration is $150 for members and $175 for nonmembers, but there’s also a more affordable way for oenophiles to get in on the action. On Friday, March 2, a Tasting of New Mexico Gold Wines is open to the public for $50. It all happens at Hotel Albuquerque (800 Rio Grande NW). For more information, visit www.vineandwine.org. Something sad: As you’ve probably noticed by now, the Bumble Bee’s location in Nob Hill has closed. Something glad: The spot has been filled by a super exciting new eatery. James Beard Award–winner Chef Mark Kiffin (of the upscale Compound in Santa Fe) just opened a taquería and tequila bar on the corner of Central and Amherst. Just look for the bright blue building bearing the name Zacatecas. The restaurant features soft tacos with organic ingredients and a margarita bar filled with beer and tequilas from Mexico. Kiffin worked with a native Zacatecan chef to craft the recipes, which also cover pastries, appetizers, tortas and other Mexican specialties. If Kiffin’s 11-year track record at the Compound is any indication, Albuquerque’s damn lucky to have this place. I think I’ll go fill up on some tacos and cervezas right now. 3423 Central NE, 505.255.TACO (8226), www.zacatecastacos. com.
Photo: Gabriella Marks
ALBUQUERQUE
| Mark Kiffin
magazine.com
Red, Wine and Blues is exactly what it sounds like: a food and wine tasting event paired with live blues. That’s probably already enough to get you through the door (who wouldn’t want to nibble on some noshes and sip a Syrah while listening to the guttural wails of a saxophone?), but it gets better. The culinary samplings are from some of Albuquerque’s top chefs and restaurants, there’s beer along with wine, and there are also silent and live auctions to top off the night, which goes from 6 to 9 p.m. If you’ve got the little ones with you, stop by earlier in the day for a Mini Taste of Albuquerque. The 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. event skips the wine and gets right to the food, along with kid-friendly activities and a silent auction of its own. Mini tickets are $25 for a family of four, $10 for a single adult and $5 for kids over two. Red, Wine and Blues tickets are $65 for members and $75 for nonmembers. There’s also a VIP Experience Package available (which will take care of you and nine other guests and provide you with loads of goodies) for a well-rounded $1,500. So go big or ... go smaller. Either way, there’s lots of great food, drinks and music for everyone. All proceeds benefit the Junior League of Albuquerque, and it all goes down at the Crown Plaza Hotel (1901 University NE) on Sunday, February 19. 505.260.0199, www.jlabq.org.
Theatre will host a lineup of selections from Roots Revival by Rainbow Studio Theatre; The Drowsy Chaperone by the Adobe Theatre; Anything Goes by Landmark Musicals; Miss Saigon and Legally Blonde by Musical Theatre Southwest; and Xanadu and Singin’ in the Rain by Albuquerque Little Theatre. The event will also offer a raffle and snacks (who doesn’t love snacks?). Advance reservations are recommended. You can get them by emailing tlc.atg@ gmail.com, calling 505.341.9590 or visiting www.abqtheatre.org/tlc. Tickets are $3 for TLC members, $5 for ATG members and $10 for everyone else. Also, take note that this event starts early at 1:30 p.m. 9813 Fourth Street NW.
There are whispers of a new local food restaurant waiting in the wings. Farm & Table is slated to open on North Fourth, and, as its name suggest, it promises food fresh from its own farm. The details on the budding eatery are sparse right now, but what I can glean from Farm & Table’s Facebook page is this: There will be seasonal menus, beer and wine, art and music, and brunch. There will supposedly be breakfast, lunch and dinner service as well, but brunch is the most important one. We need more brunch spots in this town. Until I find out more about this promising upstart, keep your eyes on the web. 8917 Fourth Street NW, www.facebook.com/farmandtable.
As co-owner Brian Bargsten says of his shop, “Arroyo Vino is a wine store that sells spirits, not a liquor store that sells wine.” That philosophy seeps through every detail in Arroyo Vino, from the allwood racking, hardwood floors and granite countertops that make the place feel special to the kinds of wines Bargsten and partner Mike Mabry put on the shelves. Although Bargsten’s last gig was as the wine director for Las Campanas, he makes it clear that Arroyo Vino offers a large price range that can work with any budget. “We have some great wines for $8 to $10,” he says, adding that any wine they offer that’s under $20 is “extremely well-chosen” to give customers a great value. Mainly, Bargsten looks for wines that “are good examples and expressions of the type of varietal and place that they come from,” he says. So far that’s added up to more than 400 different wines in stock. Perhaps most enticing, though, is Bargsten’s eagerness to help customers find the right fit. He and Mabry gutted the building when they first bought it and rebuilt it as an environment that would inspire discussion. It’s all just 1.9 miles west of Hwy. 599, at 218 Camino la Tierra, 983.2100. www.arroyovino.com.
I love this idea. The Albuquerque Theatre Guild is launching a new event, titled, adorably, TLC: Theatre Lovers Community. The purpose of the event is to showcase tidbits from upcoming performances, like a sample platter. The inaugural theme is The Magic of Musicals. On Saturday, February 4, the Adobe
SANTA FE by Christie Chisholm
| Arroyo Vino
Basically, it’s everything you ever wanted to know about cookies. From the author of Cookie Swap and Ultimate Cookies comes a class with a name that should send us all into an anticipatory sugar high: “Baking
We told you in November that the Inn and Spa at Loretto made Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards for Top Hotel. Now the inn has also earned an impressive 91.4 rating from readers in the magazine’s 2012 Gold List Elite, and it’s the only hotel in New Mexico to garner a place on the list. Eight million votes were cast for the 511 hotels, resorts and cruise lines that rank the best worldwide. Congratulations, Loretto! 211 Old Santa Fe Trail, 866.582.1646, www.innatloretto.com. Whether you’re motivated by the victory garden resurgence, the locavorism craze or just plain common sense, if you want to get your hands into gardening, here’s how. Aimed at beginning gardeners, the Santa Fe Master Gardener Association is sponsoring Gardening 101. Learn about water-wise plant selection, soil building and preparing, composting, watering and all other kinds of novice know-how. It’s Saturday, February 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Santa Fe Center for Spiritual Living (505 Camino de Los Marquez). Pre-registration is required, and a place in the class will cost you $40. 471.4711, www.sfmga.org. Santa Fe Village, a local treasure smack in the middle of our city center has just added a new gem to its twenty-plus shops—a destination for authentic Mexican cuisine. La Cocina de Doña Clara, owned by the charming and vivacious Zambrano family, has a menu to sate your appetite (or curiosity) for the real deal—nopalitos (cactus) gorditas, lengua (tongue) and cabeza (pig’s head) burritos are among the more adventurous (or nostalgic) on the menu. But then there are also breakfast quesadillas, huevos rancheros and tortilla soup for the less adventurous in the crowd. Rest assured that whatever side of the gastronomic spectrum you land on, the food’s going to be great and the ambiance charming. Right across the street from the Hotel St. Francis on Don Gaspar, it’s the sister restaurant to La Cocina de Doña Clara on Airport Road. The New Mexico Collects: Private Treasures exhibit at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art is so popular, the museum has decided to extend it through Sunday, March 11. If you haven’t already, go see the 30 pieces on display from 10 private New Mexico collections. The mediums of the pieces vary, from a massive colonial textile likely woven in the Cuzco or Lake Titicaca region of Alto Peru to a group of intricately carved ivories from the Spanish Philippines. The only piece in the collection
that was commissioned is by renowned Spanish Market artist Victor Goler. In this carving, Goler has crafted the Christ ascending into Heaven accompanied by two angels. 750 Camino Lejo, 982.2226. www. spanishcolonial.org. Fans of nia and yoga will be happy to learn about some additions Studio Nia Santa Fe has made to its weekly lineup. First, there are four new 7:45 a.m. Nia classes, along with a special discounted monthly pass to accompany them. Kundalini yoga classes have also expanded to three days a week, and BodyFlow has bumped up to twice a week. Most exciting, though, is a visit from L.A. guest teacher Randy Miller, who’ll be at the studio from February 10 through 12. Miller will present a series of workshops on the conscious dance practice influenced by Soul Motion. If you have no idea what any of this is, check out the studio’s “7 days for $7” promotion and see what all the fuss is about. 851 San Mateo, 989.1299, www. studioniasantafe.com.
team in style, and with a clear conscience. 2801 Rodeo, Suite A-5, 471.3800, www. joesdinerandpizza.com. February 21 is Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras). Celebrate your last day before fasting (or not) in Creole fashion with a special menu at Blue Corn Brewery’s Southside location. Not only will Blue Corn’s Chef David Sundberg put together a host of Creole-inspired offerings, the restaurant will also feature live bluegrass from the Kitty Jo Creek Band and a bevy of beer specials. Get buzzed, get full, get happy. It all goes from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Just in case, you may want to make reservations. 4056 Cerrillos, 428.1800. www.bluecorncafe.com.
Until now, Garbo’s Restaurant has only been open to members of Rainbow Vision Santa Fe, a private club. The fun news for non-members is that the establishment has just launched a guest membership program that will allow people who don’t live at Rainbow Vision to dine at Garbo’s. And why should you care? Because it’s delicious. And since the menu changes weekly, there are always plenty of new dishes to be discovered. Guest memberships are $2 a month. Add the Starlight Lounge to the mix for $5 a month. Want everything? Get a full fitness center and spa membership, too, and bring the whole thing to a grand total of $45 a month. 500 Rodeo, 428.7777. www. rainbowvisionprop.com. So, you do realize that Sunday, February 5, is the Super Bowl, right? Of course you do. Joe’s knows it, too, and the bar’s hosting a Super Bowl party. Watch the game on a hi-def TV with all the staples—homemade pizza rolls (with pepperoni, pesto and tomato), chicken wings, jalapeño poppers, ribs, burgers, and chips and dip. If you’re not already a regular at Joe’s, here’s something neat you should know about it: Sure, it’s a diner that serves breakfast through dinner as well as a mean Sunday brunch, but it’s also committed to serving food from local farms. So go cheer on your
Yes. It’s all in the name: Mi Amor Chocolat Artisan Café & Chocolate House. Really, this magnificent creation needs no further explanation, but I’ll give it to you anyway. Christon Holtzman has taken up shop in the former Subway space in Eldorado’s La Tienda center and filled it with treasures like Mi Amor Chicken de Chocolat (rustic roasted chicken cooked in a dark chocolate and red wine sauce); baked shrimp wrapped in rosemary ham; frittata with spinach, piñons and green chile; and, of course, Mexican drinking chocolate with flourishes like Marcona almonds, red chile powder and chocolate barks. The eatery also has pizza, sandwiches, salads, muffins, croissants and, well, more delightful options than we can mention here. Frequent this place frequently. 7 Caliente, Eldorado, 466.1442. www.miamorchocolat.com.
TAOS
| Caté at the Wheelwright
Photo: Kate Russell
and Decorating the Ultimate Cookie.” Julia M. Usher covers top-coating, dipping, outlining, flooding, marbling, sanding, beadwork, rubber-stamping, waferpapering, stenciling and appliqué work like embossed fondant and painting. This is serious, folks. See what I’m talking about at www.juliausher.com. Don’t miss it from 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 18, at Las Cosas Kitchen Shoppe & Cooking School (181 Paseo de Peralta). 877.229.7184. Class costs $85.
If you read the Santa Fe New Mexican, you’re probably familiar with cartoonist Ricardo Caté. His cartoon, “Without Reservations,” has been running in the paper since 2006. In addition to putting out his art, Caté has a radio show, teaches GED classes at Kewa Pueblo and is a stand-up comic and filmmaker. On Monday, Feb. 13, he’s also giving a talk at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian library for the Friends of the Wheelwright Museum Lecture Series. Titled, “That Was My Last Cough: The Humor and Cartoons of Ricardo Caté,” the talk starts at 2:30 p.m., with refreshments at 2 p.m. Wheelwright Friends are free and guests are a mere $5. 704 Camino Lejo, 982.4636. www. wheelwright.org. Theater Grottesco presents STORM, a play that is hard to describe. Grottesco says it’s “about environment,” and that it probably is. But through partnering with the Out of Context Orchestra, the musical element to the show is also somewhat improvisational. This, coupled with projections of stenography and abstraction along with realistic images, makes the work sound less like a traditional play and more like an unfolding experiment. Go for the mystery. 551 W. Cordova, Suite 8400, 474.8400. www.theatergrottesco.org.
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
Agnes Martin came into fame in the contemporary art world in 1958 New York. But Martin’s work began long before, in the nearly 20 years she spent developing her aesthetic in Taos. In honor of what would be Martin’s 100th birthday, The Harwood Museum of Art and the University of New Mexico are partnering to bring Agnes Martin: Before the Grid to the public. The 30 paintings and drawings in the exhibition were gathered from both private and public collections by curators Tiffany Bell and Jina Brenneman, and many of them have never been shown before. Spanning the ‘40s and ‘50s, the works provide a glimpse into a phase in Martin’s career that is often overlooked. Catch it starting Saturday, Feb. 25, through June 17. 238 Ledoux, Taos, 575.758.9826. www.harwoodmuseum.org.
| Agnes Martin at the Hardwood Museum You know something that’s always welcome? New cupcake shops. Taos has got a brandnew one downtown called Dazzling Delights, and it’s got an assortment of flavors that change out weekly. Find the likes of red chile–chocolate, blueberry delight, orange cinnamon and vanilla mint chocolate. Go check it out and get yourself something sweet. Beware: It’s closed Sunday and Monday. Look for weekly flavors at www.dazzlingdelightstaos.com. 216 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Suite D, 575.758.5000.
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Wagon Mound Ranch Supply Would like to invite you to stop on by & have a look around. You’re sure to find something special for your Valentine! 6855 4th Street NW Los Ranchos, NM 87107 All the way in the back! 505-341-2489 www.wagonmound.com Monday - Saturday 9:30 - 5:30
Choco
Canyon
Artisan Chocolates for the lover of rich aromas and intense flavors. Edible art for the senses and the palate.
Available at La Montanita Co-ops Bookworks in Dietz Farms Michael Thomas Coffee The Grove Cafe • Ohori’s Coffee Casa Rodena Winery Kaune’s • Self Serve 2012 Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest March 23-25, ABQ Convention Center, Booth 208
505-306-3942 • info@chococanyon.com
h Anniversary in New ting Our 10t Mexico Celebra
Hey, Albuquerque, have breakfast with localf lavor! Find us at these local favorites... Annapurna Daily Grind Donut Mart Downtown Java Joe’s Flying Star Friends Café Frontier
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Green Café Grove Market Café Range Café Satellite Coffee Sophia’s Place Winning Coffee
contact Leslie Davis at 505.933.1345 or leslie@localflavomagazine.com
Chocolate
Crazy for s t o r y b y K E L LY K O E P K E
photos by GABRIELLA MARKS
The Candy Lady
C
razy for chocolate? Or crazy like a fox? Sly foxes know that when we need our cocoa fix in Albuquerque, we head to four local chocolatiers molding handcrafted confections that melt our taste buds and turn us into quivering puddles of bliss.
The grande dame of Albuquerque candy confections is also a naughty little minx. For over 30 years (32 to be exact), Deborrah Ball, better known as The Candy Lady, has been handcrafting truffles, fudge, brittle and dipped fruit. All made in-house, her confection selections also include tantalizing adult chocolates for bachelor and bachelorette parties as well as other decidedly R-rated occasions. “We’re the only ones in town that do it,” says Ball of her “behind the curtain” line of milk, white, dark and pink candies. The Candy Lady uses the same high-quality chocolate as the PG versions, too. “We don’t downgrade the adult chocolates. Just because it’s naughty doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be good. Almost everything we sell, 99 percent, is made here. We even hand-dip the fruit.” For Valentine’s Day, most of The Candy Lady’s special truffles, in 10 flavors, feature alcohol—like tequila, rum, Grand Marnier, amaretto and Kahlua. All the truffles have dark chocolate centers enrobed in more dark chocolate for extra richness. “We’ll probably go through 50 flats of strawberries for our chocolate-dipped strawberries, too,” she says. “We’re also doing heart boxes filled with mixed chocolates or fudge.” Ball says her customers prefer a sweeter taste profile, so she sources her chocolate from Merckens Chocolate Company, an American company, instead of using a European-style chocolate, which is more bitter. Ball loves this time of year, when the shop in Old Town has a customer queue out the door. “We’ve developed a reputation in town for great quality and great service. Our chocolate tastes the same or better than 30 years ago. We want it to taste the same as the last time you were here, because consistency is key in the food business.” 524 Romero Street NW, Albuquerque. 505.243.6239. www. thecandylady.com
| Deborrah Ball
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Choco Canyon Newcomer Steve Whitman may share a name synonymous with candy, but the musician and artist only hung out his chocolate shingle in 2010. Operating under the name Choco Canyon, Whitman creates truffles and salted caramels that can be found at Albuquerque’s La Montanita Coop, Michael Thomas Coffee, the Grove Café, Bookworks and Imbibe in Nob Hill. He hopes to be in La Montanita’s Santa Fe location by Valentine’s Day.
| Steve Whitman
“In the summertime, we sell at the growers’ markets in Downtown Albuquerque, in the fall at the market in Nob Hill and this time of year at the Los Ranchos market,” he says of his 12 flavors of truffles, many of which will also be available for Valentine’s Day in heart shapes. “About half my truffles are handcoated with cocoa, and the other half are enrobed with chocolate. I like different flavors, too, like what I call the Lucid Green Faerie, made with absinthe and green sparkles, honey lavender, coconut chai tea and Irish cream.” Other unusual flavors include ginger snap—a center cream from Rasband Dairy infused with fresh ginger and powdered ginger, then rolled in crumbled ginger snap cookies and spiced candied ginger. (Writer’s note: My fingers just twitched in pleasure while typing that last sentence.) Whatever delectable creation your own hands twitch to get their fingers on, know that the self-taught Whitman rolls, coats and dips all his truffles by hand— the only equipment he uses is for tempering the milk, white and dark chocolate from Guittard. And he’s developing a new item for March’s Chocolate and Coffee Festival in Albuquerque. Anyone who loves El Modelo’s chicharrones (and you know who you are), look for them chocolate-covered at the Choco Canyon booth. “My first year was really developing and testing recipes and marketing to wholesale customers,” Whitman says. “Now I need to ramp up production, which I’m doing out of the South Valley Economic Development Center.”
Theobroma Theobroma Chocolatier keeps its back room (where all the molding, hand-dipping and rolling of chocolates and truffles happens) a bit chilly for me, but the space could be uncomfortably warm from the perfect 90-degree temperature that the tempering kettles keep the spinning chocolate. The cooler air helps the chocolate set when it’s out of the kettles, so keeping the room at an ideal temperature is more important than anyone’s personal comfort.
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Chuck and Heidi Weck work hard creating their candy confections. “We make and package almost everything here in the store, using more than 100 molds to create everything from truffles to chocolatedipped Oreos to cocoa haystacks,” says Heidi or
Chocolate Cartel
Chuck. (It’s hard to tell which one; the couple talks over one another in their enthusiasm.) “We’ll go through 40 or 50 flats of strawberries this year and focus on gifts like our chocolate heart boxes filled with truffles or artisan chocolates, chocolate roses and our signature Cortez Crunch.” This dark chocolate bar, named for the Spanish explorer, consists of layers of dark chocolate, caramel and milk chocolate. Other New Mexico–themed confections include the Chaco Pop, caramel or plain popcorn smothered in creamy milk chocolate, and the UFO, a milk or dark chocolate disk with caramel and pecans, drizzled with white chocolate. The name of the store comes from the scientific name of the cacao tree. (It’s also no coincidence that “theobroma” means “food of the gods” in Greek.) Since 1996, Chuck and Heidi’s Swissstyle chocolate recipe, made with Peter’s Chocolate, is smoother and silkier than others. And to make their signature dark, the Wecks blend two kinds of chocolate. “It’s all about the chocolate for us, not the sugar. That’s why even the few items we don’t make in-house—like some foil-wrapped treats and certain truffles—use our chocolate in them,” says Chuck (or was it Heidi?). “There’s a real emotional connection that our customers have with our chocolate. That’s why we win prizes at the Chocolate Fantasy fundraiser, and why we have lines at our booth at the Souper Bowl each year.” 12611 Montgomery Blvd. NE #A-5 in Albuquerque. 505.293.6545 www. theobromachocolatier.com.
Did you know that chocolate contains more than 500 natural compounds? Many of them make us feel good, like caffeine, sugar, theobromine and phenylethylamine. The mood-elevating and pleasureinducing chemicals in chocolate can also be enhanced by spices like ginger and red chile. This is why Tim Van Rixel of Chocolate Cartel won’t share the company’s secret recipe for their chocolate. He will tell you that the chocolate they use in their recipe is a blend from two different companies, into which they add their house spice mix. They also use red chile, chipotle and habañero in their Diablo bar. We like it spicy here in New Mexico—we’re all addicts for the endorphins that | Tim Van Rixel capsaicin releases, aren’t we? Chocolate Cartel’s best sellers at Valentine’s Day will no doubt be their hand-rolled and -dipped truffles, salted chocolate caramels and gianduja—a combination of house-roasted and -ground nuts and milk, dark or white chocolate in a chocolate cup. “Everything is made in-house,” says Tim, who, aside from the fact that he won’t reveal his chocolate recipe, is quite chatty. “We always do chocolate-dipped strawberries for Valentine’s Day. Our signature really is the ultra-dark chocolate truffle. It starts with dark chocolate ganache with more dark chocolate as the coating. For every other of our 30 some flavors, we use the same base ganache then flavor it.” Those other truffle flavors are too numerous to list and can be found, along with their line of chocolate-covered almonds, cocoa powder, hot chocolate mix and chocolate bars, at several retailers. In Taos, try Cid’s Grocery and Garden & Soul on the plaza. In Santa Fe, find everything except the truffles at La Montanita and Whole Foods. For truffles, head to Santa Fe P.S. in the Design Center and Sweet Art on Galisteo. For us here in Albuquerque, the Chocolate Cartel shop has the complete complement of all the company’s items, and La Montanita and Whole Foods can be counted on for a good selection, too. “We talk confidently about the quality of our chocolate,” says Tim. “Anything less than the best chocolate you’ve ever had, for us is disappointing.” 315 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE Ste. A in Albuquerque. 505.797.1193.www.chocolatecartel.com.
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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story by DEVON JACKSON
I
f all romance requires is a little imagination, then that’d mean any place—from the corner booth at Weck’s to the patch of dogrun dirt at Frenchy’s Field—has the potential for romance. Which is as it should be. Because romance depends not just on creativity but also on the unexpected. Santa Fe, though, ain’t just any place. It’s special. There’s the light, the mountains, the sunsets, the spirituality. Not to mention the restaurants and the hotels, the hiking and the skiing, the opera, great art.
Given all these elements, then, both natural and manmade, Santa Fe could just as easily be known as the City Romantic. So trying to suggest romantic things to do or places to go can seem a bit silly—not entirely, but a bit, especially if you also subscribe to the notion that romance is about imagination, as opposed to being something that can be ordered off Orbitz or planned by a concierge or tour guide. Romance, to me, hinges on spontaneity, on one’s ability to being open, at all times, to the moment. The most romantic moment can spring up from the time or place you least expect it. So as synchronistic as Santa Fe is—and Santa Fe’s pretty generous in giving people those synchronistic, i.e., romantic, moments—it helps to have a few places and/or activities in mind that’ll increase one’s odds of summoning up all that latent coming-togetherness. Since it’s still winter, there’s still the likelihood of a winter storm.
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In Love Of snow. And snow at night, in particular, seems especially romantic—anywhere right after it snows, when everything’s quiet and it’s late at night and there’s a full or fullish moon. It’s not just quiet then but quiescent. Time (not to mention motion) is in a state of suspension. And expectation. Neige pas? The Plaza, the woods, even a gas station: As otherwise tacky or unromantic as these places can seem, when it’s just snowed, all of them have been anointed. Speaking of anointing, anywhere with water is always conducive to romance. Walking the Santa Fe River on Alameda, when it’s flowing, can be surprisingly idyllic and inspiring. Because wherever there’s water there are usually trees, another linchpin of romance (which is probably why Shakespeare set so many of his characters a-wooing and falling in love in forests). And what usually makes trees so captivating are their leaves, namely, the sound of those leaves catching the wind. If you’re in the forest or far enough off the road—in the Ski Basin or along Alameda—the sound of the wind slows down time. It’s transportive. I admit I find quietude and openness essential to romance, but that element is not necessarily available only in nature. A hockey game, the mosh pit, or the bar at Rio Chama can also be romantic, but the outdoor sitting area behind the Cathedral Basilica, for example is extremely peaceful, embracing and amenable to the joint contemplative ruminations of couples—not just individuals—of all denominations. Or for a purely agnostic outdoor-garden romance, I’d never pass up a half-hour or more among the flowers and the centuries-old tree outside El Zaguán on Canyon Road. Talk about beatific.
in Santa Fe “ omance, to me, R hinges on spontaneity, on one’s ability to being open, at all times, to the moment. The most romantic moment can spring up from the time or place you least expect it.” Images: Dreamstime © Vicki France, Yanlev and Guyerwood
Similarly, the cavernous galleries along the Railyard, such as Gebert Contemporary and Charlotte Jackson, conjure up just as many erotic ideas as monastic or artistic ones (“monastic” being thrown in because these commercial spaces are thankfully, in a way, temples to the art that’s being hawked). Other mood-food enhancers would be The Bull Ring, where the Mad Men–and-martinis pheromones tap into a kind of atavistic 50s-style desire; the dark and darkly lit affair-inducing booths at Jinja (not to mention the suggestive succulence of what’s on the menu); the show tune–belting wait staff at La Casa Sena, which inspires a more boisterous but no less shared sense of passion in its audience; the thoroughly New Mexican charm of the enclosed atrium at La Fonda, where tourists seem to get it, but snobbier locals mistakenly eschew its romantic potential as mawkish or dated, which it most certainly is not, it’s just plain G-rated, is all; the effete romanticism of The Teahouse, where the city’s bohemian cougars can pursue their younger, crunchier prey with politically correct abandon; or, on the completely opposite end of the love spectrum, there’s the brats and buns of Chicago Dog, where no doubt many a longtime crush has led to more intimate trysts. As far as consummating or capitalizing on these romantic moments—or just extending them into more intimate settings—most of the hotels and the B&Bs have their charms. The Inn of the Turquoise Bear, in what used to be the poet Witter Bynner’s old home, is off the beaten path, and while its owner-hosts can sometimes be too up for conversation, the atmosphere of the inn itself is both intimate and down to earth and hands-off but ready to engage its guests at just about whatever speed they’re looking for. On the other hand, the Inn of the Five Graces is all about hedonism—pillows and rugs and warm colors and warm light. It’s practically a harem, and the rose petals on the bed at night are like so many footlights on the road to romancing your partner. But it’s really what you make of it, all this romance business. It’s about effort. If it’s coming from the right place, those rose petals could just as easily be corn chips and still be just as romantic.
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Gregorio’s s t o r y b y B A R RY F I E L D S
p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L
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att DiGregory, who recently opened Gregorio’s Italian Kitchen in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights, entered the restaurant world by accident. Stocky, with curly hair and a full beard, he looks like the quintessential gourmand. He’s also articulate, with obvious knowledge and love for his chosen field.
A seasoned restaurateur and already owner of The Range Café and Standard Diner, DiGregory looks back on his beginnings with a chuckle. It was 1986. “I was in film school in Los Angeles, and my brother 16
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opened up the Prairie Star. I hated L.A. and needed a reason to leave.” So he took a job as a waiter, then bartender. When the pastry chef went on vacation, he came up with some confections that landed him a permanent position, and by 1989 he was making desserts for three restaurants. In those days, Prairie Star served good quality comfort food, which appealed to DiGregory. But the restaurant changed direction, moving toward fine dining, for which it’s known today. “Bernalillo was becoming this cool, trendy place to be, but there were no cool, trendy places to eat,” DiGregory recalls. He rented a Main Street space on little more than a whim, with no business plan or money and just a vague idea of serving gourmet-style comfort food. Fortunately, Tom Fenton, a line cook at Prairie Star, had access to financing. The two became partners in the new venture (which they remain), and The Range was born. “We wondered, what would happen if we took classic French cooking and made meat loaf?” They decided to make everything from scratch—no shortcuts. The doors opened in September 1992 to “instant success.” The world around them has changed, but Main Street and The Range, now a Bernalillo landmark, have stayed largely the same. The Range was the right kind of restaurant for a public seeking down-home ambiance and satisfying food. So many diners were coming from Albuquerque that in 2000 a second Range Café was opened in the Duke City, followed by a third in 2003. As DiGregory travelled to large American cities, he found himself attracted to sophisticated but casual urban restaurants like San Francisco’s Fog City Diner, which looks like a diner but has a stellar reputation for its cuisine, and The Odeon, which helped create New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. He developed the idea of Standard Diner out of admiration for such cosmopolitan, modern eateries. Open since 2006, the restaurant features comfort classics, like burgers and fish and chips, and creative items, such as tempura-battered lobster Caesar salad and bacon-wrapped meat loaf. As exceptional as it is, it didn’t get the same welcoming reception as The Range. DiGregory thinks people weren’t sure what to make of it. It looked like a diner but served quality products at a somewhat higher price point than the name would lead you to expect. It finally began attracting a wider dining audience in 2009, when its virtues were extolled on The Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, with Guy Fieri. It’s now one of Edo’s hotspots. DiGregory has changed over the years. Growing up in Indiana, he had a Midwesterner’s naïve trust in others as a child and young adult. Now, at 50 years old, he’s become a bit more wary. Yet he’s maintained an openness to new experiences, has learned about his own limitations and has come to trust his staff as a source of ideas and inspiration. He also recognizes his own ambitious nature, which he attributes to being a middle child. “I was always trying to please everyone,” he recalls. He opened his fourth restaurant, Rodeo Grill, in 2009, featuring unusual South American cuisine that never caught on. More than any of his other restaurants, Gregorio’s taps into DiGregory’s own roots. He had been wondering what to do with the Rodeo Grill space when he took a trip to Italy in the summer of 2011. He found out an Italian great uncle was a pastry chef, and came back excited about the variety of Italian cuisine, and how a few simple ingredients could be combined to make a wonderful dish bursting with flavor. Did Albuquerque need another Italian restaurant? Yes, he insists. While there are plenty of pizza places, some of them excellent, there are far fewer Italian ones. What emerged from his burst of inspiration was a family-style restaurant he calls “a tribute to my father’s side of the family.” A picture of his father’s mother graces the outdoor sign, a blow-up of an old family photo is on the wall of the vestibule when you open the front door, and small, framed photos of various family members can be seen all over the restaurant. His favorite recipe is the one handed down from his grandmother, spaghetti with meatballs and a sauce that uses a touch of baker’s chocolate for added richness. Gregorio’s serves basic Italian fare made to DiGregory’s exacting specifications: classics like minestrone soup and chicken parmesan, as well as more inventive dishes like sweet potato gnocchi served with gorgonzola cream sauce (“amazingly good” he declares), and upscale salads. It’s comfortable, with spacious seating, high ceilings, chandeliers made from upside down table
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Gregorio’s
lamps, fun posters and art work (check out Pecos Bill in the bar), and drink menus pasted onto wine bottles. Here, as in his other restaurants, DiGregory has created an environment that feels good, with comfort food raised up several notches from the norm. When I ate there before meeting the owner, I found the service attentive, the food delicious and the portions generous. “I try to create hominess and character,” DiGregory emphasizes, and he’s succeeded. He’s trying to appeal to a clientele that appreciates a restaurant “doing things right.” And menu items are reasonably priced. Gregorio’s has hit the mark it was aiming for, yet it faces challenges. Having taken over the old Rodeo Grill space, the restaurant is marked only by an easy-to-miss sign at a roadside shopping center entrance on Wyoming. Given the glowing feedback from customers, he’s certain there would be lines out the door if the place were more visible. As it is, people are finding out about Gregorio’s slowly. But the establishment continues to evolve. “Italy’s diversity of regions is wonderful,” he exclaims. He’s planning to create specials from different regions every week, “so we don’t get stuck in one category.” Getting stuck is the last thing likely to happen to DiGregory. The accidental restaurateur believes in Albuquerque and sees room for more exceptional restaurants, even with the country’s current economic slowdown. He may have come upon his profession by chance, but, he enthuses, “I have passion for restaurants. I really enjoy this business, providing people with a service. Besides, I love the opportunity to be creative, the creation of a new concept.” He has more restaurant ideas in mind and plans to follow through on them once Gregorio’s hits its stride. Which, given the consistency of the food, as well as positive diner reviews on sites like ubanspoon.com, should be soon. Gregorio’s is located at 4200 Wyoming Boulevard NE in Albuquerque. They’re open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 505.323.7633.
| Matt DiGregory
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MAYOR RICHARD J. BERRY invites you to THE OSCAR Party in Albuquerque!
Heat up your Valentine’s Eve with dinner at Albuquerque’s most romantic restaurant!
®
K I MO
at the
T H E A T R E
®
Watch the Academy Awards in a grand movie palace as old as the Academy itself !
Ask about our Valentine’s Special Offered February 10 – 14
Valentine’s Dinner 5–10:30pm 1901 University Blvd. NE in the Crowne Plaza Albuquerque Reservations: 505-889-8071 • theranchersclubofnm.com
Doors open and red carpet broadcast begins at 5:30 p.m.
This Red Carpet/Black Tie event to benefit the Friends for the Library and the KIMO Theatre is the only offficially sanctioned Academy event in New Mexico and only one of 50 nationwide.
Complimentary hors’ douvres Gift Bag and A.M.P.A.S. commemorative program Cash Bar Silent Auction Predict the Winners Contest with Special Grand Prize Hosts for the Evening: Royale Dá
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Sunday, February 26 $75 Single/$125 Couple
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A Taste of Life in New Mexico
FEBRUARY 2012
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John Bernasconi, Steve Jarrett and George Schurman
story by JAMES SELBY photos by KITTY LEAKEN
W
ith this issue, localflavor returns to a series chronicling some of Northern New Mexico’s independent entrepreneurs: wine shops and markets and distillers who offer their customers artisanal creations imbued with the integrity of place and craft.
New Mexico is steeped in history. Many scholars, many books, many museums chronicle its rich, complex past. Heritage that we can taste—whether in a bean or a breed or a beverage—makes history much more compelling. It is this link—from ancestor to present, from farm to table—to which we look more and more to sustain our individual cultures, health, life. Recorded history began 5000 years ago, modern history as soon as you finish this article. Is a bottle of Taos Lightning whiskey, bottled in New Mexico, a touchstone of history or a portal to the future? According to John Bernasconi, the president and master distiller of KGB Spirits, located near Alcalde, it’s both. Alcalde is situated on the dry plain north of Española often regarded as a worn welcome mat to the Taos Mountains, a lonesome landscape to traverse on your way to the slopes. This is too bad, because there are greener pastures adjoining the Rio Grande to the west of Highway 68. There sits, for example, the most spectacular 19th-century hacienda in New Mexico, Rancho de los Luceros, the former estate of Mary Cabot Wheelwright, founder of her namesake museum in Santa Fe. Located on the ancestral site of the San Juan Pueblo (which was later occupied by the Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate), the 140-acre Wheelwright property is now a museum and houses Robert Redford’s film institute, Milagro at Los Luceros. Yet despite this lustrous pedigree, Alcalde is still in the boondocks. When I ask Bernasconi for an address I could google, he replies that it wouldn’t help— even the state police can’t find his place. Indeed, it takes a couple of passes by some disdainful cows to get on the right path; I then go across an acequia and along a plowed field with clods the size of laundry baskets until I arrive. The distillery, one of three to receive a license in New Mexico, is housed in a straw bale structure of a former winery. John Bernasconi—slim figured, with mussed, espresso-colored hair with a touch of crema, in plaid shirt and jeans—is waiting in the sunshine. Only after you hear the laundry list of his varied life experiences (including a degree in engineering and another in art; fullon careers in restaurants, hospitality, wine and spirits retail, as well as sales and distribution; time spent developing the distillery) do you begin to fathom the fact that this guy is in his middle age. For someone who has lived in New Mexico for 25 years, Bernasconi is far from laid back. He speaks with such intensity and intellectual acuity it leaves you in awe, like watching Fred Astaire tap dance. After one articulate rhapsody, Steve Jarrett, KGB Foreman and de facto Marketing Director, asks him mischievously, “Is your head about to explode?” The two met when Jarrett was chef/owner of Tulips Restaurant in Santa Fe and Bernasconi sold wine. “Steve brings a great ability to differentiate and extract flavors and contributes immensely in developing the profiles of our spirits,” says Bernasconi. “He’s also a lot neater than I am.” Jarrett, who resembles Andre Agassi, is measuring rare botanicals, spices, and herbs into small muslin “tea bags” to be placed inside one of the two copper alembic stills designed by Bernasconi and custom-built by Arnold-Holstein in Germany. (Those years in engineering school paid off.) The bags will flavor a batch of Los Luceros Hacienda Gin. Like a chemist in an apothecary, Bernasconi has a trove of organics in glass jars and bags: Sicilian bergamot (immature peel of an orange) and manna (or flowering ash), juniper berries from Tuscany, cinnamons from Madagascar and Sri Lanka, and black cumin, considered an ancient medicinal (the same variety was found in King Tut’s tomb). “We’re a local business,” says Bernasconi, “but to make a world-class product—and it has to be, to be competitive in the handcrafted spirits market—we use the best ingredients. I’d love to use local products, but there are 50 types of juniper in New Mexico, most of them poisonous.” Finer quality spices and botanicals have higher essential oil content, producing more intense aroma and flavor. Says Bernasconi, “Who wouldn’t want those in a spirit?” He does have plans for the rustically plowed eight acres in front of the distillery. Sorghum, the stalky grain used to make a type of molasses, will be planted to produce rum, and for Bernasconi, “local” will soon mean “outside his door.”
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KGBSpirits
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Simeon Turley (there’s a name to take your hat off to), a 19th-century distiller in Arroyo Hondo, north of Taos, was a major supplier of grain and spirits to the U.S. Army before being pursued and gunned down by a mob during the Taos Pueblo revolt of 1847. He called his whiskey Taos Lightning; it was the oldest branded name of whiskey in the American West. More than one hundred years later, KGB acquired the trademark for Taos Lightning from a retired jeweler in Taos. “There’s history behind this product and a story to tell,” says Bernasconi. KGB’s product labels, narrow and cannily detailed, were created by Bernasconi. (Those years in art school paid off.) The design for the Hacienda Gin has a filigree border resembling antique money. Historically, spirits were a medium of exchange and are recession-proof. “Ginebra,” an archaic Spanish word for gin, appears in minute print. In homage to KGB’s illustrious neighbor, which you could hit with a sling shot from the distillery, are delicately drawn architectural details of the Rancho de los Lucero’s hacienda porch spandrels. (Taos Lightning has a rendering of the Winchester rifle, though Bernasconi admits the weapon came along a few years after Turley met his demise.) The distillery’s common, neutral spirit is used as the base for its gin, for its soon-to-be-released Brimstone Absinthe, and for its Vodka Viracocha (named for the Inca god of creation; KGB can take their products out into the world, but they can’t take the Santa Fe out of their products, at least not altogether). It is distilled from potato, which gives roundness in the mouth and makes these three offerings easy to sip unadorned. “Bartenders tell me, ‘Let’s make up a cocktail!’ They miss the point. Cocktails were invented during Prohibition to mask the taste of lousy booze. Why distill layers of complexity and wonderful flavors only to have them covered up with passion fruit puree and flambéed?” evangelizes Bernasconi. Newly converted, I taste my way through his collection. Inhaling the distilled aromas from the world’s gardens and then sipping the bracing, pleasurable spirits is rather like taking the first glimpse of actress Rooney Mara on the silver screen: I am stunned by an unorthodox beauty. Subtleties of flavors in the gin and absinthe draw me in. As with fine wine, the intricacies are deep, sensual and cerebral. The craft is evident. Each is superb. Twice during my visit, as if daring himself, Bernasconi picks up an entry application to the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, an annual event held in March for artisan distillers. “If we could win a medal here, it would give us international recognition,” he says. For John Bernasconi, the loquacious, ascetic entrepreneur who has been in near isolation in the New Mexico mountains designing and building a distillery, mastering his craft, it’s time to let the booze do the talking. Note: KGB does not have a tasting room. Products are available at select, independent fine wine and spirits shops and restaurants in New Mexico. To share this article with a friend, tell them to go to www.localflavormagazine.com!
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president and master distiller John Bernasconi
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A Taste of Life in New Mexico
FEBRUARY 2012
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Meanwhile, Back at story by JOHN VOLLERTSEN photos by GABRIELLA MARKS
theRanch... A
s I’m driving out Cerrillos Road to check out the newly opened Ranch House restaurant, a song comes on my CD player. The opening track on the disc begs the timely question in a song memorably performed by Tony Bennett: Are you havin’ any fun? What y’gettin’ out o’ livin’? What good is what you’ve got If you’re not havin’ any fun? Are you havin’ any laughs? Are you gettin’ any lovin’? If other people do, So can you, have a little fun
I find myself hesitating to answer in the affirmative, at least in regard to my involvement in the local hospitality industry. One of my favorite restaurants, Max’s, has just closed, and two others, Balconies on the Plaza and Amavi, recently shuttered their doors with plans to regroup and open in the near future. In the meantime, it’s certainly not any fun for the collective chefs, employees and diners who frequented these spots. While a chef friend and I were recently discussing this unsettling turn of events, we bemoaned the fact that, due to the schizo economy, diners are hanging on to their money tighter, and when they do go out, their expectations are heightened, with a “by golly, if we’re gonna spend the money, it better be good” mentality at play. As a food writer and reviewer, I couldn’t agree with them more, but as someone who has worked on the other side of the scene as a chef, I am also sensitive to the plight of the restaurateur trying to please this hungry, anxious crowd. The restaurant business has always been a “survival of the fittest” industry, and nothing tests an establishment’s vigor like January in Santa Fe. I am happy to report that when I visit with the Ranch House owners, husband-and-wife team Josh Baum and Ann Gordon (formerly of Josh’s BBQ), they’re packing them in—and they appear to be having fun doing it. On the night I first dined there, a couple weeks before my interview with Josh and Ann, the dining room boasted a nice mix of Santa Feans: families, folks in suits, guys in cowboy hats, a member of the La Cienega Fire Department, people dressed up and down, and (surprisingly to me) a few hardcore foodies I knew from the downtown culinary scene. I was reminded that the center of the City Different population is no longer our historic plaza but halfway out of town on Cerrillos—the new Santa Fe Trail. I stopped at the restaurant’s handsome bar, the entrance of which was inscribed with the words “Tap Room & Spirits,” for a drink with a pal. He’s a bourbon aficionado who was happy with the selection, while I, a margarita fan, found myself delighted with my pineapple rendition that included a smoked pineapple-infused tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and (happily) no oversweet pineapple juice. Delish!
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The Ranch House’s large menu incorporates a chunk of Josh’s smoker-prepared goodies but wisely covers a wider range of popular items, burgers, salads, sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, grill items and a smattering of New Mexican specialties. I’m often suspicious when a menu tries to be all things to all people, but Baum, I think, has carefully included popular items he knew his customers would enjoy and made damn sure his interpretation was delicious. The dinner that night was flawless. The service was attentive, and everything we shared was yummy, especially the Pesto Goat Cheese Flatbread, BBQ Chicken & Ribs Combo and crispy tater tots with gooey queso drizzled over them. When served as a side, the tasty tots come in a mini metal basket reminiscent of a fryer basket, very cute and definitely fun. The whole experience was impressive, especially since this was only the second week of operation. After dinner and a luscious slab of warm banana bread pudding, Baum took us on a tour of the large and bustling kitchen. Center stage were the two smokers brought over from his former restaurant’s site. They face into the pantry with their working parts. (The chimney sticks outside the back of the building, and a door leads to a courtyard that holds the wood for fueling up the massive smokers.) Baum explained that each smoker can handle 70 racks of ribs and up to 30 briskets. Texas brown oak is the wood he uses, preferring its lighter smoke to the strong pungent mesquite many BBQ joints use. “I think it’s too strong for Santa Fe’s palate,” he explained. The happy-looking kitchen staff was finishing up service after a busy night. I was watching a welloiled machine at work. When I return again to sit down with the Baums for this interview, they have just completed their second day of lunch service (The Ranch House started with dinners), doing over 100. I recognize a couple of seasoned drinkers at the bar, also from the downtown scene. I recall that I had interviewed Josh for my “At the Table” column just over a year ago. At that time, he had just begun thinking about expanding his business and hinted at the fact he might be doing something on a grander scale. I ask Josh the logistics of the space. “Including our outdoor seating, the space is just under 6000 square feet. We can seat 170 inside and, with the patios, up to 235,” he starts. “We have a staff of 55 and built the place from the ground up.” I ask about the design of the interiors, and Ann jumps in. “We wanted the place to have a homey feel, like you’re dining in an historic Santa Fe home. When we met with Heather Vad Luchene the owner of HVL Interiors, and Mark Haynes from her design team we looked at pictures and books of style ideas, and Josh and I agree they gave us exactly what we wanted. I love the contemporary balance. My favorite feature are the arches over the entranceways.” I ask how they found the space. Josh explains, “Our massage therapist had a client in real estate named John Hancock who was offering this property and told us about it. My lease at Josh’s was coming up for renewal, and I had decided that if I could find the perfect spot I would make the move and expand our concept. We looked at a few other locations but think this is the perfect spot. We searched for and found a full liquor license in Silver City. John recommended a builder, John Rehders, and we worked with Duty and Germanas Architects. It took 6 months to get the building complete, and we are off and running.” I inquire about the expanded menu. “Well the main problem with barbecue is the food cost is high,” says Josh. “I realized if I wanted to attract a bigger crowd and keep the prices down, we would need a more rounded menu. I still use the same quality ingredients, and every single item on the menu is made in-house. We take no short cuts.”
| Ann Gordon and Josh Baum
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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... Ann interjects, “You’ve got to try Josh’s red chile sauce—it’s the best in town.” A waiter is summoned, and shortly an enchilada arrives at the table, a nice afternoon snack. And she’s right: The red sauce is rich and deep with flavor. I’m hooked. I compliment the two on the nice touches here and there—a bit of Southwestern, a hint of cowboy, even the mountains are in view from all the windows. Josh tells me, “We all sat in the dining room with the builder as they determined the height of the patio walls, making sure they were high enough to block out the parking lot but allowed the vistas to remain visible.” One of the big comfy booths in the back dining room pays tribute to Daisy, a family dog that went on to that big yard in the sky last April. A shadow box displays her tags, a photo and other mementos—very sweet. The amiable couple is adorable together, finishing each other’s sentences and in total agreement on every topic; I imagine them to be terrific to work for. They offer me a sample of a delicious BBQ Bloody Mary mix, made in-house, from the cocktail list. I opt for it sans vodka but promise to return for a full-throttle version. They both seem very relaxed and confident. Josh summarizes, “We made a major investment here, and we will need to be packed. I’m very encouraged, though. Last Saturday night we did 400 dinners, had a line out the door by 5:30 with just a few hiccups in the kitchen.” I look forward to my next meal at the Ranch House. So much left to sample: smoked chicken wings, lump crab cakes, herb-grilled Atlantic salmon, a burger topped with pulled pork. Driving back to I-25, the quickest way home to downtown, I notice numerous gigantic stretches of cleared and scraped land ready for further development. Methinks Josh has timed it right to get his foot in the door of that area now. These are nice people doing great food and acting as culinary pioneers expanding our edible scene. They deserve their success, and perhaps the secret is having fun in the process. So if you’re stressed and worried about your world, head to the Ranch House and follow Mr. Bennett’s advice: Better have a little fun You ain’t gonna live forever Before you’re old and grey, still okay Have a little fun, son! Have a little fun, hon! Have yourself some fun - JV The Ranch House is located at 2571 Cristos Road in Santa Fe, across from the Auto Park and near Kohl’s. 505.424.8900. They are open Sunday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Closed on Monday. www.theranchhousesantafe.com.
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Simply the Best
Located in the historic El TorrEon HaciEnda, 1017 Paseo del Pueblo Norte (1.2 milEs norTH of THE Taos Plaza) 575.751.3337 | Hours: Mon-Sat 5:30pm-9:30pm | www.elmeze.com
localflavor offers the Taos Inn, The Adobe Bar & Doc Martin’s restaurant a superior avenue to reach locals and visitors alike. The dining info, recipes, interesting facts and human interest stories presented are just what folks are looking for these days. We love the online presence and new customers who come to our establishment after reading localflavor. – Jamie Tedesco Taos Inn
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| Josh Baum
r e s t a u r a n t
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
FEBRUARY 2012
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Road Trip
Taos Getaway s t o r y b y PA I G E G R AY
D
.H. Lawrence tells us, “Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved,” and the words of the ever-quotable writer—and New Mexico admirer—could not be more true, even when it comes to enjoying yourself during the over-commercialized Valentine’s hoopla. The holiday often gets its bum rap from those without a significant other, as they see themselves excluded from its celebrations. However, the occasion needn’t be about reveling in beauty of romantic partnership. Why not slightly redefine the Hallmark-ed fete of heart-shaped boxes as something that simply revels in the uncomplicated bliss of genuine, dependable friendship? Conceivably, Lawrence might just advise us to make this time into something memorable spent among close friends, an opportunity to indulge in festivity and creative rejuvenation. And where else would Lawrence recommend such memory-making but Taos and its surrounding communities, the place where “a new part of the soul” can “w[a]ke up suddenly,” as he describes in the essay “New Mexico.” Indeed, if life is ours to spend, investment in a weekend escape with friends to a place that wakes the soul may be the best Valentine’s bet.
Call of the Mountain
The first thought for many retreating to the Taos altitude during the depths of winter comes in the form of snow. With the Taos Ski Valley, Red River Ski Area, Angel Fire Resort and Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort all nearby, visitors— whether they’re casual mountain-sport experimenters or skilled skiers—have numerous options for frosty outdoor adventures. Each ski area offers a variety of activities, allowing for a weekend of playful options, even for beginning skiers. Rebecca Latham, Tourism and Economic Development Director for the Town of Red River, says a weekend trip with friends serves as an ideal time for learning. “Red River Ski Area has an incredible group of certified instructors that would be great for any group of friends, beginner or advanced.” Latham adds, “If you’ve never tried, this would be a perfect opportunity to learn with your buddies. If you and your group have all skied before and are up for more of a challenge, take a lesson in the steeps or on the bumps.” Red River also offers ice fishing and cross-country skiing. Those who find themselves at Angel Fire February 11-12 can join in on the fun of the resort’s popular shovel races, in which participants race down the mountain to win cash prizes. If speeding down a hill aboard a shovel doesn’t tire out guests, they can hit the slopes after the sun goes down for nighttime skiing and tubing. Over at Sipapu, guests will find the cheapest lift ticket rate in New Mexico ($44 for adults; $37 for teens; $29 for children and seniors) as well as a free lesson for first-time skiers or snowboarders (ages 7 and older) with the purchase of a lift ticket. Of course, part of the fun of any mountain adventure comes with enjoyment of après-ski. In the Taos Ski Valley, locals and guests alike head to the Stray Dog Cantina to relax over refreshing drinks and satisfying Northern New Mexican dishes. Owner Rachele Griego says the restaurant remains a favorite because of its successful execution in combining key ingredients, including their “fantastic chile and margaritas, friendly service, a laid back atmosphere,” and, naturally, “an amazing view of the Taos Ski Valley.” www.redriverskiarea.com www.angelfireresort.com www.sipapunm.com straydogtsv.com 28
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Quintessential Taos Sublime Indulgence The idea and imagery of Taos wrap themselves around its rich history, landscape, and diverse mixture of interesting characters—from artistic visionaries to bedraggled cowboys to optimistic ski bums. Some make pilgrimage to the breathtaking vista of the Rio Grande Gorge while others journey to the serene, solemn surroundings of Taos Pueblo, where adobe structures have been continuously inhabited for nearly 1,000 years. There are those visitors who can simply lose themselves amidst the backdrop of Taos Mountain while strolling around the shops and galleries in Taos Plaza and along Paseo del Pueblo. Fundamental to setting the tone for any getaway comes with the choice of lodging, and for groups of friends wanting to experience a unique Taos outing, the area’s selection of bed-and-breakfasts may prove the most rewarding. The Laughing Horse Inn, with its array of sleeping options housed in distinctive Taos creativity (complete with wood-burning stoves, a solar A-frame penthouse and Jerry Garcia shrine), offers a peek into the community’s spirit through its 1887 adobe setting along Paseo del Pueblo Norte, the main artery of the town. While staying here, guests can walk over to dine at The Love Apple for a truly imaginative, original culinary encounter. Established inside the remains of an old church, the eatery utilizes regional, organic ingredients. After a delicious meal at The Love Apple, or possibly Orlando’s, renowned for their Northern New Mexico cuisine, pals can live up the merriment at Taos Ale House, a new brew pub, the Gorge, a real favorite with locals, or the classic Adobe Bar, located in the Taos Inn. Friends wanting to indulge in both winter sport and artsy quirkiness should consider staying at the Abominable Snowmansion, a ski lodge and hostel farther north in Arroyo Seco, in between Taos and Taos Ski Valley. Besides being a convenient location to the slopes, the Snowmansion affords its guests the opportunity to explore the wholly original workspaces, restaurants and boutiques of Arroyo Seco. Many associate Taos with its storied history as an art colony, and visitors could spend an entire weekend just exploring its galleries. However, with careful planning, small groups can further engage with art and its creation through various painting and photography workshops. Several local artists offer lessons and classes throughout the year, such as contemporary modernist painter Michelle Chrisman. Chrisman explains that “any size group could contact me to set up either a three-hour outdoor landscape (plein air) painting session for a day or weekend. I will take them to ‘off the beaten path’ places to paint around Taos [and] we can all have lunch or dinner together [to] talk art and Taos.” The Fechin Art Workshops offer daily painting with studies of still life and models, intimate, instructive conversation with artists, musical entertainment and gourmet meals. While this event is set for April, interested parties must register by Feb. 24. www.laughinghorseinn.com www.theloveapple.net www.orlandostaos.com www.taosalehouse.com www.taosinn.com/adobe_bar.html www.snowmansion.com www.mmichellechrisman7.fineartstudioonline.com www.fineartservices.info
Understandably, friends may want to use their Taos weekend getaway to fade into luxury. With its elegant accommodations exuding that distinct Taos allure, El Monte Sagrado boasts not only gorgeous guestrooms, suites and casitas, but delectable cuisine, a tranquil spa, lively bar scene and exquisite art gallery—all nestled within the heart of the beautiful, rustic Taos mountain setting. The resort offers several packages to cater to guests’ interests, whether those be El Monte’s spa choices, skiing, hot-air ballooning or art. They even have a special package for guests who wish to include pets on their retreat. For ultimate and incomparable rejuvenation, city-dwellers can head southwest of Taos to Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs and Resort Spa, where the waters were “deemed sacred by indigenous Native Americans of Northern New Mexico” and the springs have served as a “gathering place and a source of healing for hundreds, even thousands of years,” according to the Ojo website. Ojo Caliente visitors can choose from a number of suites, cottages, private homes or rooms in the spa’s historic hotel. From now through the month of April, Ojo is offering a “Ski, Soak and Stay” special in which guests receive 20 percent off either an entry to the spring or 20 percent off lodging by presenting a New Mexico lift ticket or ski pass. www.elmontesagrado.com www.ojospa.com
T
o return to the concept of reinventing Valentine’s Day as a celebratory occasion of friendship, it should be remembered that underlying both the romantic and platonic versions of February 14 exist the ideals of love and beauty. And as Lawrence reminds us, Taos exemplifies such ideals as it awakens “a new part of the soul”—quite a Valentine’s treat.
| Thank you to: Taos Ski Valley, Inc. Ojo Caliente and Taos Chamber of Commerce for the photos. A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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That’’s MyDog!
story by GAIL SNYDER p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L
I
t’s a brisk Saturday morning. The cars arrive promptly for trainer Deborah Tolar’s flyball class, each with a dog excitedly clambering to get out or barking from its crate. But they have to wait. And, by and large, they do, sitting patiently as their owners get out first, greeting each other and then helping Deborah set up the flyball course in her doggie playing field.
Before arriving, I’d imagined an entirely different scenario. In describing this particular class to me over the phone, Deborah had said it would be wild. Oh, good, I’d thought, picturing Dogs En Masse, hordes of dogs, St. Bernards and Pekinese and New Mexico reds all sailing through the air after a single flying object, a Frisbee, maybe, the whole cacophonous canine blur a joyous doggie tribe, their owners watching tolerantly from chairs along the side. Instead, the humans are setting up a line of hurdles, kind of like what we had to leap in P.E., except these are low to the ground, dog-height. Deborah asks them to measure the distance between each hurdle and the next, making sure it’s precisely the same. “That way,” she explains, “the dogs don’t have to stop and think, possibly misjudging and getting hurt.” While the course is being set up, one couple brings out their dog Zen for Deborah to inspect. The night before, they tell her, he was lying with them on the couch when suddenly he yelped; since then, he hasn’t been able to walk on his left front paw. Does she think he’ll be able to play flyball today? She gently massages his paw, which he pulls away. Noting his hunched back, she tells his people, “Zen’s in pain—that’s why he’s holding his back like that. And his paw is swollen on top.” She recommends they get him to the vet. Meanwhile, it’s back to the crate for poor disappointed Zen. “Maybe you should put a blanket over it,” she calls after them, adding to me, “like a parrot!” and laughs sympathetically. So Zen’s benched today, but Mia, Cosmo, Dexter, Rocky and Pepper emerge now from their respective cars, each on a leash. Thrilled, they’re very interestedly inspecting the course. Deborah decides the lineup; it’s Pepper who gets to go first. As he waits and watches, jumping and barking with enthusiasm, his human walks away, stepping over each of the hurdles, “modeling” the course. Then she waits at the end, holding his leash, and as soon as Deborah lets go of his collar, he races down the line, making each leap cleanly and accurately.
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Once everybody’s warmed up, each dog practices the series of steps involved and then they run the full course. It’s a relay race. Each dog runs, jumping hurdles, to the end, banks a swimmer’s turn with its paws against the box, grabbing the tennis ball and running back, joyously reuniting with its human as the next dog takes a turn. Almost any dog can play flyball—as well as rally, agility, nosework and a host of other dog sports. All they have to do is want to have fun, with each other and with their humans. “Each dog is an individual,” one owner explains. Some enjoy hiking in the mountains or going to the dog park. But not all dogs play well with others; not all humans are capable of making strenuous hikes on a daily basis. And, as another owner remarks, “Participating in dog sports with your dog changes your relationship from caregiver to play-buddy. It’s a much closer bond.” And it deepens as time goes on. “This is a different kind of exercise than walking,” another agrees. “It’s active. It’s playful. It’s not just body slamming. My dog relates to me in a whole other way out here than when it’s just him on the leash, peeing.” Deborah, who describes herself as living in “a dogcentric world” (“I’m a dog geek!”), says that too often, we think of our dogs as our “little furry children.” But they’re not—they’re a whole other species we invited to live in our homes! On top of that, she notes, society now tells us we should get our dogs from the shelter. “But it’s not enough to just give the dog a place to sleep. Shelter dogs often didn’t get what they needed in the developmental stage. So they may have some problems. And, too often, people get frustrated by behaviors that they don’t understand. Because of that, they don’t like their dog any more.” But a dog’s behavior can be normalized. Deborah describes a rescue dog she once had. “He was semiferal. If you tried to touch him, he’d shut down and go catatonic. I had to put aside my notions of what a ‘pet dog’ should be and deal with him as he was. It was a lovely project. He learned to take food from my hand, make eye contact and allow himself to be confined in my yard.” Zen’s people say he tends to get nervous around kids. “He’s fine with adults, but with kids he’ll growl, bark and start snarling. We were really concerned about that behavior. But when we asked Deborah, she told us that’s his warning system. She said, ‘What’s he got left if we take away his warning system, but to bite?’” Who knows what happened early on in Zen’s life to make him need to keep his distance from kids? It’s not good or bad; it’s just a part of who he is. “We learned to take him on his own terms, but Deborah gave us exercises to help him get over his fears.” Rather than trying to completely change who the dog is, Deborah believes in working to the dog’s individual strengths. “I’ve worked with easily hundreds of dogs in Santa Fe,” she says, maintaining that this is by far the best approach, just as with teaching people. Many dogs, she says, are just bored unless they’re given a job. Otherwise, they’ll find their own amusement—and you may not like it. “Especially border collies, the herders. If you don’t engage them, they’ll take your keys and drive your car away!”
“Participating in dog sports with your dog changes your relationship from caregiver to play-buddy. It’s a much closer bond.”
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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on the right, Deborah Tolar
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Six years ago, there were no dog sports in Santa Fe. In order for dogs to live successfully in the human world, they have to find focusing on their human to be rewarding. Dog sports, Deborah says, help dogs be more focused. They encourage development of your dog’s creativity and sense of exploration; they release endorphins in your dog’s system, creating that happy, satisfied, tired feeling at the end of the games. And playing helps humans become better readers of their dog’s body language. That way, the dog trusts its human better and the human better trusts the dog. “I was walking Dexter on leash the other day, and we ran into a couple of coyotes,” says Dexter’s person. “Because I trust him, I knew he was focused on me, not them, so he wouldn’t tangle with them. And he didn’t!” “With the games, we become more important than the distraction,” agrees Pepper’s human, adding that Pepper, at age 11, is much healthier as a result of his games-playing than most dogs of his advanced years. “And because we mostly use crazy-happy as a reward when we’re playing together,” agrees Rocky’s person, “I know he’s thinking, ‘Oh, my God, she really likes me!’” At the end of the hour and a half of flyball, all the dogs are bushed—and still raring to go, at least in spirit if not in body. As Dexter’s buddy carries him to the car, talking to him, Dexter is so relaxed he’s melting into his human’s arms. Both dog and owner look quietly ecstatic.
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Graphics: Burning Books
Dog!
That’’s My
To contact Deborah about her classes go to www.santafedog.com. 505.983.4632. deborah@santafedog.com.
the
theater grottesco and out of context orchestra
in
STORM
February 17– February 26, 2012 “one of the most exciting theater pieces to come along in memory”
CCA Muñoz Waxman Gallery 1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe Fridays & Saturdays at 7 pm Saturdays & Sundays at 2 pm $25 general admission • $10 students Sundays: Pay What You Wish Opening Night Gala Friday, February 17 Catered Champagne Reception 6 pm Performance at 7 pm • Tickets $100 Saturday, February 18, 2 pm performance partial proceeds benefit the Bioneers For tickets: 505.474.8400 or www.theatergrottesco.org This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission and the 1% Lodgers’ tax.
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Katie’s Doggie Bed & Breakfast Day Care or Longer
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Amanda Trothier & Rachel Weiderman What: St. Elizabeth Shelter’s Resource Center Where: Santa Fe Resource and Opportunity Center (SF ROC) When: Tuesdays or Fridays Why: “We’re with Americorps and are on our Christmas break, so we decided to come visit Santa Fe and volunteer.”
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contact Leslie Davis at 505.933.1345 or leslie@localflavomagazine.com
www.steshelter.org
You can join our volunteer team by emailing volunteer@steshelter.org or calling Rosario at 505-982-6611. Compliments of localflavor magazine
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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Albuquerque Fa mily
Road Trip s t o r y b y TA N I A C A S S E L L E
A
fter enduring the first part of a cold winter and with spring still around the corner, make a break for it and hit the road to the Duke City. The family that plays together stays together, and Albuquerque has plenty to entertain everyone, from a rousing basketball game to high-flying balloon adventures or a quiet moonlight hike spotting wildlife in the bosque. Check out our picks for February family fun, and keep in mind that because Albuquerque is reliably milder than Rio Grande regions farther north, you might just decide to stay on until the thaw. Don’t say we didn’t warn you…
© Dingelstad | Dreamstime.com
Pa rk In n by Ra disson Hotel an d Wate r Pa rk
Had enough of the snow? Go with the flow at New Mexico’s only hotel with a water park. No worries if it’s chilly outside—the water park is indo ors and there should be oceans of space for splashing around, as it is solely for use by overnight guests. In out-of-season February, stay on a weekend; on Friday or Saturday nights, guests can enjoy the water park for the duration of their visit. (The rest of the week the water park is closed, although it’s open daily in summer.) Ask for the water park room package, then dive into 30,0 00 square feet of fun, with 26 water play features, including a lazy river, slides, sprays, inner tubes and basketball hoops. Adults relax in the whirlpool spa, while teens head for the FlowRider, a wave feature that gives budding surfers the chance to get their feet wet. Younger tots enjoy the wading pool with a tipping bucket. The hotel is under new management and plans some renovation s, but it’s business as usual for visitors, if you can only remember where you put your swim suit. 2500 Carlisle Boulevard NE. in Albuquerque. 505.888.
3311. www.parkinn.com/hotel-albuquerque.
Italian food ily sharing a meal at this all-you-can-eat fam of ions erat gen ral seve see to ly like You’re ices to suit ire a mortgage, there’s a variety of cho requ sn’t doe ck che the as g, risin surp bar. That’s not lity food (without fast food, kids chow down on fresh, qua everyone’s tastes and, in this version of ary space has a grownchild-friendly, the bright and contempor is e Caf ato Tom h oug Alth it). g izin real n love mix-andwine keeps adults happy, too. Childre or beer sip to on opti the and , here up atmosp as (with a choice of et of soups, salads, pizzas, various past matching their own meals from the buff stamp on their hand. of toppings. Every child gets a tomato six sauces) and ice cream with their pick ude meatballs, a in young!) Menu faves for regulars incl and pag pro e duc pro h fres the k snea rs return (Way to the open kitchen—and some custome in e mad a pizz ni pero pep and p sou vegetarian posole ver buffet food to Cafe earns extra props for donating lefto just for the Italian green beans. Tomato .69 for dinner, and dinner. Adults pay $8.69 for lunch, $10 and h lunc for n Ope s. eles hom the feed er eat for free. kids vary by age. Tots aged 2 and und there’s a $1 senior discount. Prices for . 505.821.9300. www.tomatocafe.com.
5920 Holly Avenue NE in Albuquerque
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© Fdoimages | Dream-
To m at o Ca fe
Rio Gra nde Nat ure Center
© Isselee | Dreamstime.com
back to nature with free guided bird walks on Saturday If you’ve been cooped up indoors, here’s a place to shrug off winter and ease imagine getting the family there that early, join a and Sunday mornings (9 a.m. in February, 8:30 a.m. in March). If you can’t twilight walks on full moon nights offer a chance to nature walk through the Bosque each Sunday at 1 p.m. until May. Monthly in advance for these evening walks, which are quiet to spot nocturnal wildlife; the next ones are February 7 and March 8. Reserve quiet as they can while scouting for coyotes and owls. avoid scaring the critters away. Make it an adventure for the kids to keep as e Predock, with its kid-friendly exhibits and a super On any day of the week drop into the cool visitor center designed by Antoin wildlife. On a fine day, it’s hard to beat a ramble observation room set low in a three-acre pond, for a close-up view of aquatic through the cottonwoods on the river trail. 2901 Candelaria Rd NW in Albuquerque. 505.344.7240. www.rgnc.org.
UNM Bas ketball Ga me
On University Boulevard at the Avenida Cesar Chavez intersection in Albuquerque. LOBO. www.thelobopit.com.
Photo: David Benyak/UNM Communications
Illustrated Let off steam supporting your team at University Arena, aka The Pit. Sports shared the list named The Pit one of the top twenty sports venues of the 20th century (it gussied the has ion renovat with Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field), and a $60 million all games basketb iconic Pit up even further. Book fast for the nine Lobos or Lady Lobos on February 10. scheduled through March 3, or the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition game at The Pit to Then teach the kids to howl like wolves and join the famously fervent fans s. Seriously. earplug become a part of Albuquerque’s hoops history. Sensitive hearing? Take 505.925.
Exp lora
Photo: Explora
You can fool yourself that you’re just going to Explora for the kids, but once you get your mitts on the absorbing array of science, technology and arts exhibits, it’ll probab ly be down to the youngsters to drag you out the door at closing time. With 250 active exhibits, there’s bound to be something to spark curiosit y, as families go hands-on with activities and experiments and aspiring inventors unleash their imaginations without fear of blowing anything up. Depending when you go, you might find yourself dissecting owl pellets, building a motor, creating music, explori ng the shape of sounds or making batteries from fruit and vegetables. A new exhibit, “Math Moves,” opens on February 11, and since Explora is on Museum Row in Old Town, it’s easy to pop next door to say hi to the dinosaurs at the New Mexico Museum of Natura l History and Science, or combine a visit with a stroll around Albuquerque’s historic plaza. 1701 Mountain Road NW in Albuquerque. 505.224.8300. www.explora.us.
Allow ample time to visit the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. There’s enough to keep you busy for hours, even on repeat visits. For one, you’ll find yourself learning more about ballooning history than you ever thought you wanted to know—and loving it! Did you know women were early adopters of this first form of human flight in the 1700s? Can you imagine the first Pacific Ocean balloon crossing in the precarious looking Double Eagle V gondola? See the original here, as well as other recordsetting craft. Secondly, the balloon simulator is addictive. Though it’s firmly fixed on the ground, you’ll discover just how tricky it is to navigate by pulleys, catching the right breeze to fly toward the target on the video screen. To see the real thing in action, turn up at the sunrise Friends and Lovers Balloon Rally on the Valentine’s weekend mornings of February 11 and 12 at Balloon Fiesta Park. Or if you’re truly going stir crazy and crave a change of scene, take to the skies yourself! Rainbow Ryders is one of the best-known Albuquerque balloon companies, after spending years as the official balloon ride operator for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum: 9201 Balloon Museum NE in Albuquerque. 505.768.6020. www.cabq.gov/balloon. Friends and Lovers Balloon Rally: www.hotairballooning.org. Rainbow Ryders: 800.725.2477. www.rainbowryders.com. A Taste of Life in New Mexico
FEBRUARY 2012
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Photo: Balloon Museum Staff
Bea utif ul Balloon s
StillHungry? story by CAITLIN RICHARDS
S
low cooking. Aromas wafting through the house for hours, tantalizing the senses. Meat that is so tender it falls apart at the touch of a fork. Food so flavor-rich in every bite it just makes you want to close your eyes and purr with pleasure. A minimum of prep work—put it in a pot or in the oven and walk away. Read a book, clean the house, take a bath. Dinner is cooking. Localflavor asked two local chefs to provide us with a slow-cooked dish and a complementary side. Then, to spice things up, we decided to offer some wine pairings as well. So put one of these dishes on the stove, open some wine and enjoy the bath while dinner cooks!
Photo: Nikesha Breeze
Photo: Courtesy Christopher McLean
Wine Pairings
F
or Chef Muller, cooking is more than creating great dishes. He practices what he calls “la comida de las Sierras,” or “the food of the mountains.” Before he creates a recipe he first immerses himself in the culture and history of an area, and his food is truly regional. The food he creates reflects “who we are culturally.” Chef Muller moved to New Mexico in 1994 “because of the chiles.” As he told me, “‘Adovada’ is a term not found in other languages. It comes from adobo, [which means] marinate.” Marinating meat in red chile was a way of preserving it. In this adovada recipe, Chef Muller uses buffalo, rather than the more traditional pork, as a “tribute to the ciboleros” (buffalo hunters) who brought down buffalo using lances and arrows. The addition of the smoked Spanish paprika adds a Moorish element and gives the adovada a richer, smokier flavor, while cutting back on some of the heat that is found in straight red chile adovada. The green beans with the blue cheese dressing are a great accompaniment. Serve with a nice flat bread. 36
FEBRUARY 2012
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hef McLean came to Santa Fe from a three-year stint in Africa, where he cooked for royalty and heads of state on a weekly basis. Did he have to change his style of cooking dramatically when he arrived in New Mexico? “Yes,” he says. “It wasn’t an easy transition, but now I’m in love with all the chiles and other local ingredients. This is a really fun part of my career.” He’s also cooked in Holland, Germany and California, and each location represented a new challenge. Chef McLean believes that regional cooking is very important; he specializes in using fresh, local ingredients and incorporating local traditions. From his kitchen at Bishop’s Lodge he offers us two recipes that are both “fun, ranchstyle creations”: a lamb chile full of rich Southwestern ingredients and a rustic, homestyle strawberry shortcake for dessert.
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Since Christopher McLean is a certified sommelier (and the first sommelier to introduce wine and food pairings at the Presidential Palace in Ghana), I asked what he would sip with his New Mexico Lamb Chile. “Definitely a Syrah.” The spice-and-pepper flavor of the Syrah is a good complement and plays well with braised meats. “You can enjoy a good glass of wine that won’t overpower the chile.” Syrah is a “good late winter, early spring” wine. I went to Renee Fox, another certified sommelier, and asked what she would pair with Chef Muller’s Buffalo Short Ribs Adovada. It’s a “hearty, rustic style dish, full of flavor. In this case I would recommend a similar style of wine. My first thought is to go to Spain; in the up-and-coming area of Montsant, there are lots of red blends full of ripe fruit and enough structure to pair with the bold flavors in this dish. If I were to pair a domestic wine, it would most definitely be Zinfandel, or a Zin-based blend. Here, again, it’s the ripeness of fruit, weight of the wine and moderate presence of tannins that make it a harmonious match for this meal. For less than $15, a bottle of Bula Montsant from Spain, or Marietta Old Vine Zin from California, would be what I would drink.”
Buffalo Short Ribs Adovada and Ejotes
New Mexico Lamb Chile and Ranch-Style Strawberry Shortcakes
Created by Chef Frederick Muller, of El Meze
Created by Executive Chef and Certified Sommelier Christopher McLean, of Bishop’s Lodge
Buffalo Short Ribs Adovada Make 6 servings
New Mexico Lamb Chile Makes 8 servings
Ingredients 5 pounds buffalo short ribs 5 cups water ¾ Tablespoon minced garlic 1½ teaspoons salt 1 heaping teaspoon Mexican oregano ¾ cup smoked Spanish paprika ¾ cup mild red chile powder
Ingredients 1 onion 1 pound New Mexico lamb (medium diced) 6 cloves garlic 1 medium sized dry ancho chile (de-seeded and broken into small pieces) 1 Tablespoon chipotle Tabasco® 12 to 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes 1 Tablespoon ground cumin 2 Tablespoons dried oregano 1½ teaspoons salt black pepper to taste
Directions Cut ribs individually and place in large roasting pan. In a blender, blend water, garlic, salt, oregano, paprika and chile until smooth. Pour over ribs and toss so that ribs are coated thoroughly. Cover roasting pan with foil. Bake at 350 for 4-5 hours or until tender. Ejotes (Green Beans) Makes 6 servings Ingredients 1 pound green beans (preferably haricot verts), trimmed ¼ cup olive oil 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon lavender 2 Tablespoon flat leaf parsley, finely chopped 2 teaspoons garlic, minced 8 ounces blue cheese ¾ cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped ½ lemon Directions Fill a large pot ¾ with salted water and bring to a boil. Place half of the green beans in pot and blanch for 2 minutes, just so they are tender and al dente. Using a slotted spoon, remove beans and place into a colander; run cold water over them to stop them from cooking. Repeat the process with the other half of the beans. In a large frying pan, add the olive oil and heat until hot. Add green beans, tossing until coated. Add herbs and garlic; toss and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add blue cheese and toss so it starts to melt slightly. Pour into serving bowl and top with hazelnuts. Finish off by squeezing half a lemon over all. Enjoy Chef Muller’s cooking at El Meze Restaurant, 1017 Paseo del Pueblo Norte in El Prado. 575.751.3337, www.elmeze.com.
Directions In a large pot on medium heat, brown onion with 2 tablespoons of blended oil for 5 minutes. Add the lamb and garlic and sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the meat has browned nicely. Add the chile, Tabasco®, tomatoes, cumin, and oregano. Cook 15 minutes more. Pour in 1 quart of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours until the meat is perfectly tender and the chili is thick. Keep an eye on the liquid (more can be added a bit at a time if needed) and stir now and then. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with Old Windmill Dairy goat cheese and serve with corn bread. (Old Windmill Dairy is a dairy out of Estancia and is sold at most local farmers’ markets.) If you like beans in your chile, they can be added (if already cooked) in the last 15 minutes. Anasazi beans are a great choice. Ranch-Style Strawberry Shortcakes Makes 8 servings Ingredients 1½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda 4 Tablespoons cold butter chunks (small dice-size) ½ cup buttermilk 2 Tablespoons milk ¼ cup sugar Directions Sift and mix all dry ingredients. Add butter chunks (cold) and mix with paddle attachment until the butter is the size of peas or smaller. Add milk products and finish dough. Chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling and cutting. Roll dough about 1” thick and cut with a 4” round cookie cutter. In preheated 350-degree oven, bake for 10 minutes. For the strawberries, slice one to two containers of berries and mix with ¼ cup sugar. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, while stirring every 10 minutes. This will create the best natural liquid for the shortcakes. Spoon strawberries into the middle of the split shortcakes and top with whipped cream. Chef McLean’s creations can be enjoyed at Las Fuentes Restaurant at Bishop’s Lodge, 1297 Bishop’s Lodge Road in Santa Fe. 505.629.4822, www.bishopslodge.com.
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Celebrate LOVE in 19 Languages this
Valentine’s Day
at The Compound Restaurant with Mark Kiffin, James Beard Award-Winner Best Chef of the Southwest
Reservations 982.4353
653 Canyon Road
compoundrestaurant.com
“New Deal Art: CCC Furniture and Tinwork” on view March 24th - September 30th, 2012 “Transformations in Tin: Tinwork of Spanish Market Artists” on view January 28th - September 30th, 2012 Spanish Colonial Arts Society at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art ~ 750 Camino Lejo On Museum Hill Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ 505-982-2226 ~ www.spanishcolonial.org
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
FEBRUARY 2012
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This exhibition and its public programming will reflect upon the human experience behind enacted policies and laws on Pueblo communities by other governments. It will add to a well-documented history of Pueblo resilience since the time of Emergence. Interviews with Pueblo members will provide visitors with historical and personal reflections to help them understand and appreciate these historic challenges, often imposed through policy and laws, all intended to purposefully remove Pueblo people away from their core values. More details at IndianPueblo.org/100years
Panel Discussions in conjunction with our new exhibition “100 Years� - 5:30-7:00pm - Free ADmission Supported by the WK Kellogg Foundation March 14 - Changing Roles: Women in Leadership, Health, Education and Art Panelists: Rosemary Lonewolf, Santa Clara Pueblo, Lela Kaskalla, Nambe Pueblo, Katherine Augustine, Laguna Pueblo, Glenabah Martinez, Taos Pueblo/Navajo April 18 - New Pueblo Direction: Young Voices Respond to 100 Years of State and Federal Policy Panelists: Lee Francis IV, Laguna Pueblo, Jodi Burshia, Laguna Pueblo May 16 - Indigenous Science/Cross-Cultural Science: Teaching for the Future Panelists: Dr. Shelly Valdez of Laguna Pueblo, Kirby Gchachu of Zuni Pueblo June 20 - Indian Reorganization Act and its Impact on the Pueblo of Laguna Speaker: Former Pueblo of Laguna Governor, Roland Johnson July 18 - Maintaining Pueblo Languages: The Challenges posed by 100 years of policy Speaker: Dr. Christine Sims of Acoma Pueblo, Linguist and Educator August 22 - Mt. Taylor: Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) on the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties Panelists: Theresa Pasqual (Acoma Pueblo) of the Acoma Historic Preservation Office, Shelly Chimoni, (Zuni Pueblo) & Executive Director to the All Indian Pueblo Council September 12 - The Return of Taos Blue Lake: Religious Freedom and Cultural Identity Panelists: Gilbert Suazo, Sr., Taos Pueblo, Linda Bernal Yardley, Taos Pueblo November 14 - Pueblo Indian Suffrage and the Legacy of Miguel Trujillo Speaker Josephine Waconda, Daughter of Miguel Trujillo Indian Pueblo Cultural Center 2401 12th St. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 IndianPueblo.org/100years