Local Flavor March 2012

March 2012

Get Fit!

Duke City Derby Girls

Yoga in Flight Rugby Brotherhood

Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Taos

Food & Wine specials from 3 to 6 pm daily Pizza & a draft beer combination $12

Mediterranean & Italian Cuisine

by Chef Owner Steven Lemon

call today: 505.455.2000

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

Join us on

tomme

LA

modern bistro

Coq au Vin Pot Pie

PO S A D A

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S A N TA FE

Celery root, carrot, mushrooms, red onion $18

R ESORT & S PA

Southern Fried Chicken

A ROCKRESORT

TM

Potato croquette, brown gravy, bacon braised greens $18

Slow Braised Short Rib Gougeres Point Reyes Blue cheese, apricot gremolata $11

Pan Seared Market Fish of the Day Golden raisins, brown butter, Dr. Loosen Riesling, haricot vert, warm potato salad $19

Cranberry Mousse Cake Brown butter financier, spiced orange sauce, cranberry foam $8

Almond Hot Chocolate

Toasted marshmallow, coconut-chocolate bon bons $6

229 Galisteo St. • Santa Fe Open Tues–Sat • Lunch 11:30am–2:30pm • Dinner 5:30–9:30pm 505-820-2253 • www.tommesf.com

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Join us for the Art of Dining

4 – 11 Restaurant Week March 6—13 Santa Fe’s neighborhood restaurant, Fuego, is celebrating Restaurant Week.

Restaurant Week Prix Fixe menu is $35 per person starting at 5:30pm.

330 E. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe Reservations 505-954-9670 • Opentable.com

Join us for a special evening in Bien Shur rooftop restaurant, with guest Irby Wood of Majestic Fine Wines and a memorable 5-course meal prepared by Chef de Cuisine Marc Quinones, each paired with a selection of Matanzas Creek’s award winning wines Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 7:00pm **

2010 Matanzas Creek, Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma ** Sous Vide Watermelon Peach Puree, Grilled Fig, Wisconsin Cheddar “Cracker” **

2008 Matanzas Creek, Chardonnay, Sonoma Wild Arugula Salad Red Apple, Banana, Vanilla Vinaigrette

**

** 2006 Matanzas Creek, Merlot, Bennett Valley ** Veal Cheeks Cocoa Braised, Herbed Fingerling Potatoes, Wild Mushroom Demi Glace ** 2005 Matanzas Creek, Cabernet Sauvignon, Knights Valley ** Maple-Dijon Roasted Tenderloin of Beef Cinnamon Whipped Potatoes, Blackened Asparagus, Star Anise Veal Reduction ** 2007 Kendall Jackson, Late Harvest Chardonnay, CA ** Mango Pear Mousse Honey Tuile, Crème Anglaise

$75 per person for reservations please call 796-7500

I-25 & Tramway | Albuquerque, NM | 505.796.7500 | 877.272.9199 www.sandiacasino.com

e d i s n i

The Buzz

by Christie Chisholm | 08

ON OUR COVER: Tia Shirley, aka Mothernoose,

of the Duke City Derby’s Hobots

Each and every month we bring you a recap of what’s in, what’s out, what’s hot and what’s not. Everybody reads the buzz!

Duke City Derby

by Gail Snyder

| 10

What a cover! What a story! Wait till you meet the sassy, raucous, gutsy girls of the derby!

Mmmmmm, Chocolate and Coffee

by Gail Snyder | 14

Don’t miss the second annual Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest in Albuquerque, from March 23 to 25. It’s everything you love.

At the Table

by Chef Johnny Vee | 16

A native of Italy’s Lake Como region, Chef Cristian Pontiggia brings his marvelous cooking and charming personality to the venerable Osteria d’Assisi.

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Restaurant Week

by Gail Snyder | 20

It’s back! Restaurant Week kicks off in Santa Fe on March 4, heads to Albuquerque on March 18 and winds up in Taos on March 25. Your challenge: Make it to all three!

Zacatecas

by Greg O’Byrne | 21

Well-known chef Mark Kiffin just opened a deliciously authentic taquería and tequilería in Albuquerque’s booming Nob Hill. Will it be a local favorite?

Love of the Game

by Christie Chisholm

| 26

Rugby is not for the faint of heart. But if you look like a gladiator and can move like a gazelle for eighty straight grueling minutes—you just might have the heart of a rugby player.

On Wings

by Ana June | 31

Welcome to the ethereal world of aerial yoga, “ a real marriage of the arts of aerial circus work and yoga.”

The Malbec Affair

31

Wine expert Philip de Give chronicles the unlikely rise of Argentina’s “forgotten” varietal, Malbec.

Photos in this row: Kate Russell

Photo: Gabriella Marks

by Philip de Give | 34

Still Hungry?

by Caitlin Richards | 36

Localflavor wanted to pack all of the high energy of our fitness issue into four healthy and delicious recipes. You be the referee—see if we scored!

MARCH 2012 ~ Publishers Patty & Peter Karlovitz Editor Patty Karlovitz Publisher’s Assistant Caitlin Richards Art Director Jasmine Quinsier Cover photo: Kate Russell 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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Full Bloom Boutique A Fun & Feminine Place To Shop

New Spring Fashions Arriving Daily

S A N TA F E R E S TA U R A N T W E E K M ARCH 4-11, 2012 Celebrate Santa Fe Restaurant Week with The Anasazi Restaurant.

In its rustic yet sophisticated Southwestern setting, savor the rich, earthy flavors of unique, American cuisine created by Executive Chef Juan Bochenski.

C

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Y

Three-Course, Prix Fixe Lunch $20 per person

CM

MY

CY

Johnny Was Not Your Daughter’s Jeans

4:15 PM

Three-Course, Prix Fixe Dinner $30 per person

CMY

K

Full menus may be viewed on website Event Calendar.

Komarov and more...

70 W Marcy Street Santa Fe 505-988-9648 Open 7 Days

113 Washington Avenue Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 988-3030 innoftheanasazi.com

Josh’s Barbecue has moved and become

The Ranch House

Enjoy a full bar & expanded menu that includes our famous barbecue and so much more!

2571 Cristos Road, Santa Fe across from the Auto Park near Kohls

505-424-8900 • info@theranchhousesantafe.com

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

MARCH 2012

5

Letter

Local Flavor January_Layout 1 1/26/12 11:53 AM Page 1

Get fit! It’s our mantra for this issue—and we don’t mean a leisurely eighteen holes of golf or treating yourself to an extra half-hour on the massage table. We’re talking about a sweaty, heart-pounding

La Plazuela at La Fonda on the Plaza is a feast for the senses.

The room is stunning and the menu sophisticated, showcasing old favorites with New World twists and authentic Northern New Mexico cuisine.

Our wine list is award-winning, our service is impeccable and, according to the reviewers, you’ll be dining in the “best of Santa Fe style”.

Dinner Reservations: 505.995.2334 505.982.5511 Main

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www.lafondasantafe.com 100 E. San Francisco St. Santa Fe, New Mexico

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Photo: Kate Russell

Come make memories with us!

workout on a rugby field with a band of brothers who are gladiators in build and heart. We’re talking about strapping on a pair of roller skates to tear around a rink at breakneck speed, barreling through a pack of daredevils who just happen to be girls. It’s the March fitness issue on steroids. And boy, did we have fun!

We’ve covered a lot of outdoor activities in localflavor: skiing, fishing, rafting, kayaking, rock climbing—the usual suspects for a state that is so blessed with natural wonders. We’ve also enjoyed doing stories in past issues on nia and kettlebells and horseback riding. But our two main stories this month are about team sports—and there is something very unique about team sports.

Seeing the genuine affection, respect and camaraderie between these team members is the gift that this issue has given to me. I hope that it’s something that inspires you too, because teams are always looking for new players and it’s never too late to suit up.

Our team of food and wine writers was out this month as well, tracking down new chefs to join at the table and finding new wines to ponder and taste. You’ll meet the man who has just taken the helm at Osteria d’Assisi, Cristian Pontiggia. He is as passionate about instilling the restaurant with the ways of Italy’s Cucina Moderna movement as he is about his own Italian heritage. It’s a feel-good story that will have you laughing—and high-tailing it over to the Osteria to taste this ebullient chef ’s food. On the wine side, --one of our most respected writers, Philip de Give, covers an up-and-coming varietal (my new favorite red!) in The Malbec Affair.

Of course, the story of the hour is Zacatecas, the trendy new taquería and tequilería that the Compound’s Mark Kiffin just opened in Albuquerque’s trendy Nob Hill district. All of the great eateries are in the neighborhood—Scalo, Zinc, La Provence, Yanni’s, Flying Star, Il Vicino, Vivace, P’Tit Louis and at least a half-dozen more—so the location is a natural fit. High energy and great expectations: the very things that excite a great chef.

It’s no wonder that Kiffin was drawn to it. We wish him the best of luck in his endeavor, and we’re betting that Zacatecas will quickly become a new local favorite.

As always, there are a few surprises inside, so sit back and enjoy the issue. Then, get up and get fit!

b o o k s • k i d s • lo v e

328 montezuma ave 780-8051 phone tuesday-saturday 10-6 sunday 12-4

localflavor welcomes to santa fe...

Cc Cc p elli C hc cc l a t i e r I advertise in localflavor because it gets results. Our target customer enjoys the good things in life like great food and fine timepieces.

Localflavor is a great match for my business. It has been two years since World Class Watches started advertising in localflavor and our business continues to grow!

– David Perlowin

Come build a

SWEET

tradition with us!

3482 Zafarano Drive • Suite A 505-438-CoCo(2626) • lauren@cocopellisantafe.com www.cocopellisantafe.com

Proprietor World Class Watches

localflavor welcomes to albuquerque...

Katie’s Doggie Bed & Breakfast Day Care or Longer

Patty Prosser Proprietor 1407 Borrego Pass Santa Fe, NM 87507 505.438.0063 pattyprosser.pp@gmail.com

MO PRONTO / CAMPAIGN CONCEPT

A celebration of local food and community is what drives the philosophy at Farm & Table. Join us for dinner or weekend brunch and enjoy seasonal dishes created from scratch with ingredients sourced from local farmers and our on-site farm. Omnivores and vegetarians rejoice!

Also offering gluten and lactose-free options.

8917 4th St NW

Albuquerque, NM 87114

505.503.7124 Farmandtablenm.com

Dinner: Wed-Sat open at 5pm Brunch: sat-sun 9am-2pm

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

MARCH 2012

7

ALBUQUERQUE

by Christie Chisholm

Jaque Fragua continues on his path of world domination, or at least Southwestern domination. You may remember artist/ musician/dancer Fragua from the cover on last year’s August issue, “On Native Ground.”

The prolific 20-something hasn’t slowed down. He has a brand-new show opening at the Clarendon Hotel on March 3 in Phoenix, Arizona where he will partner with Ernesto Yerena to paint a mural in conjunction with the show’s opening. Go see him in action if you’ll be in Phoenix, or watch him create a piece in response to the banning of ethnic studies books here: www.bit.ly/yMPzYJ. To keep up with Fragua, follow him at www. fragua.tumblr.com. The stunning mural reproduced on these pages is one of his latest projects—and is in downtown Tucson.

Jessica Fichot melds her French-ChineseAmerican background into her music, stripping the barriers between gypsy jazz, Chinese and Latin American folk, and French chanson traditions. She’ll be in Albuquerque for a night on her way back to her home in Los Angeles, so catch the richly layered talents of the chanteuse, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter while you have a chance. The show starts on Saturday, March 31, at 8 p.m., and if you stick around afterward you’ll get an extra aural treat from local gypsy jazz favorite Le Chat Lunatique. Tickets are a mere $10 in advance or $12 the day of the show. Find it all at Low Spirits. 2823 Second Street NW, 505.886.1251. www.lowspiritslive.com, www. jessicasongs.com.

| Jessica Fichot Heaven and hell. These are the split worlds you’ll be pulled into with Opera Southwest’s newest offering, two of the three one-act operas in Puccini’s Il Trittico. Each act follows a separate life, one on its way to heaven, another to hell and the last to purgatory. Through its staging of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, Opera Southwest brings viewers in the starkness and contrast between two extremes.

There are only four shows at the National

| Mural by Jaque Fragua

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Hispanic Cultural Center’s Albuquerque Journal Theatre from Saturday, March 24, through Sunday, April 1, so make sure you get your tickets in advance. Prices range from $10 to $75.

1701 Fourth Street SW, 505.246.2261. www. operasouthwest.org.

Nearly every community theater ever in existence has at some point put on Shakespeare. It’s like a rite of passage. While it’s good to support those efforts, and while you will occasionally be rewarded for them, nothing compares to seeing one of the Bard’s plays put on by professionals.

That’s why you should see the Aquila Theatre Company’s version of Macbeth, coming to Popejoy Hall on Sunday, March 18. (Side note: Since all the actors are either British or Scottish, they won’t have to face one of the greatest hurdles that comes with Shakespearean performances— accents.) Get a glimpse of betrayal, assassination, sex and war at www.popejoypresents.com, www. unmtickets.com or by calling 505.925.5858.

Show starts at 3 p.m.

| Goya’s The Sleep of Reason You can get a look at some of the most influential pieces of Western art until May 13. Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos is a set of 80 etchings that feature goblins, prostitutes and aristocrats and deal with notions of witchcraft, abuse by the church and the Spanish Inquisition. Published in 1799, they emerged from a time rife with social repression but still glimmered with Enlightenment thinking. Visit the dark side at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.

2000 Mountain NW, 505.243.7255. www.cabq. gov/museum.

It’s possible this will only be exciting to me because I’m a giant nerd, but the Geeks Who Drink Pub Quiz is having its third annual Seinfeld Quiz on Monday, March 5. It’s a Festivus for the rest of us! What celebrity sank his teeth into Kramer’s forearm? What was Mulva’s real name? What ultimately killed George’s fiancée? Show off your Seinfeld skills at O’Niell’s Juan Tabo location from 9 to 11 p.m. Best of all, it’s free. 3301 Juan Tabo NE, 505.293.1122. www.oniells.com.

It’s an amalgam of dance, music, acting and narration. And it sounds pretty cool. The Figueroa Project brings its interpretation of Igor

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Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) to the KiMo Theatre. The plot is simple: A poor Russian solider gives the devil his violin in exchange for a book that predicts the future. You can imagine what kind of mayhem ensues. Toby Appel of National Public Radio serves as the narrator, and the story unfurls and Appel interacts with actors and dancers to the backdrop of Stravinsky’s music. Joe Moncada plays the part of the devil, while Louis Giannini plays the hapless soldier and Courtney Giannini the princess. With choreography by Festival Ballet Albuquerque’s and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70 for strings added to the mix, this promises to be a curious and dazzling performance. Show times are on Saturday, March 10, at 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 11, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 or $50, with the higher ticket price providing preferred seating and a post-performance reception with the artists. 423 Central NW, 505.886.1251. www. figueroaproject.org.

It’s simple but really, really tasty. Flying Star spinoff, Satellite Coffee, has nine locations, and all of them offer some kind of food, but it’s usually standard coffee-shop fare—pastries, burritos and sandwiches made elsewhere and stashed in a nice, cold display case, that sort of thing. The location on University is the only Satellite spot with its own kitchen, and it offers an expanded menu. Of course, this makes everything there a little more delicious because it’s made fresh, but one of the standouts is the soft falafel taco. Grilled bits of falafel are tossed with feta cheese and greens sprinkled in a pomegranate vinaigrette, then drizzled slightly with ranch dressing. The whole thing is served taco-style in a warm piece of flatbread, then sliced in half. And it comes with an adorable bag of baby carrots. It’s one of the best items on any Flying Star / Satellite menu, and I wish the Bernsteins would add it to all the locations.

It’s just the right amount of everything. 1131 University NE, 505.247.0662. www.satcoffee. com.

Mother Road Theatre Company has a new show this month, and since it’s one of the best companies in town, that’s always great news.

This time the expert troupe of actors takes on Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer, a dark Irish play about blindness, brotherhood and a game of cards that may lead to a battle over one’s soul.

A little supernatural and absolutely captivating,

the story is in good hands with Vic Browder, Peter Shea Kierst, Shangreaux Lagrave, Tom Schuch and David Sinkus. Performances run March 9 through April 1, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 general admission, $12 for students and seniors and $10 for everyone on Thursdays. As usual, it’s at The Filling Station. 1024 Fourth Street SW, 505.243.0596, www.motherroad.org.

SANTA FE

by Christie Chisholm

| CoCopelli Chocolate It’s all any chocolate lover could want. Handdipped, macadamia-stuffed, sea salt–sprinkled, sugar- or gluten-free, vegan, truffled, caramellaced, cupcaked, boxed, toasted … the newly opened CoCopelli Chocolatier seems to have a slice of just about everything. And if its culinary offerings weren’t enough, it’s also launching a number of classes this month.

From 6 to 7 p.m. on Monday, March 12, and Tuesday, March 13, “All About Tempering Chocolate” will teach you about cocoa content, bean-to-bar processing and tempering methods for $75. Then at the same time on Monday, March 26, and Tuesday, March 27, “Cake Decorating Basics” delves into cupcake design and 6-inch cake design, advancing to intermediate techniques on the second day.

Classes cost $100, and the price includes supplies and cakes for decorating. Keep an eye on CoCopelli’s events page on its website, since the chocolatier also plans to offer private lessons, field trips and tours of its shop in the near future. In the meantime, go and eat something delicious. 3482 Zafarano, Suite A, 505.438.COCO(2626). www.cocopellisantafe. com.

Vinaigrette’s monthly wine dinners are a little hush-hush. The gourmet salad-based restaurant doesn’t advertise the events, and your main means of finding out about them is reading its newsletter—or reading this. Sometime around the third Wednesday of every month, $40 will get you three courses and a flight of five wines.

The wines usually highlight a specific grape varietal or growing region (last month it was Spain). The menu is never the same, but just to give you a taste, February featured ceviche, a spin on the spinach and mushroom salad

from the regular menu, and a braised short rib with cauliflower mash. Reservations are required. Vinaigrette only hosts these dinners from November through March, although it’ll likely add one in April this year. Call for the exact date, which had yet to be set at the time we went to press. 709 Don Cubero Alley, 505.820.9205. www.vinaigretteonline.com.

And speaking of wine dinners, Real Food Nation introduces their newly hired chef, Craig Day, as he pairs four sumptuous courses with the wines of Kermit Lynch on March 14 at 6:30 p.m. Reservations are a must for the wine dinner. A blustery night in March seems like the perfect time to enjoy the ambiance of this intimate jewel of a supper club, and it’s certainly the perfect time to welcome Chef Day! At 624 Old Las Vegas Highway (at the intersection of US Hwy 285 and Old Las Vegas Hwy). 505.466.8636. www.realfoodnation.biz.

For those who like a little variety in their evening’s entertainment, the 25th annual Choreographers’ Showcase hits the stage on Friday, March 16, and Saturday, March 17 (aka St. Patrick’s Day). Produced by the New Mexico Dance Coalition, the event shows off the skills of some of the state’s best choreographers. There’s ballroom and flamenco alongside jazz, modern dance, belly dance and ballet (plus a few surprises). Tickets are only $10 for adults and $5 for kids under 12, and it all starts at 7:30 p.m. on both nights at the Railyard Performance Center. 1611 Paseo De Peralta. www.nmdancecoalition.org.

Six weeks, six burgers. That’s the challenge New York Deli imposed upon itself from Jan. 23 to March 4. It started with a Kobe burger and was followed by Texas buffalo, Chicago, Greek lamb, South of the Border and Paris burgers. Using meats that were all-natural, grass-fed and locally sourced when possible, patties were pressed daily. The results were magnificent. Of course, we wouldn’t be telling you about it if this was all past tense. Due to the success of the burgers, New York Deli has decided to add all of them to its regular menu. And, just for the heck of it, it’s adding a root beer float, too. 420 Catron, 505.982.8900. www.newyorkdelisantafe.com.

How would you like some grilled swordfish with pomegranate molasses? Or some pan-seared duck breast with mango, melted Idiazabal and smoky cashew butter? Goat cheese and piquillo peppers with fig-mustard vinaigrette? Not only can you taste some, you can have it anytime you want. La Boca Chef and Owner James Campbell Caruso’s new cookbook, España: Exploring the Flavors of Spain, includes all of these recipes and more. Combining traditional Spanish cuisine with modern interpretations, the book details how to make tapas, soups, entrées and desserts. It won’t be released until May, but you can pre-order it now at www.labocasf.com. If you want a preview, go to a Santa Fe Restaurant Week cooking demonstration featuring some of the recipes on Saturday, March 10, at 3 p.m. at La Boca.

Tickets are $40. 72 West Marcy, 505.982.3433.

Keegan Crumpacker and his mother, Amy Fagan—who are known for their catering business and the baked goods they sell at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market—have now opened their own restaurant. Crumpackers Café and Bakeshop offers everything from classic huevos rancheros and bagel and lox to a breakfast Monte Cristo (with homemade raspberry-rhubarb jam) and a sizable array of panini, sandwiches and salads. The eatery is also dedicated to using local ingredients wherever possible, says Crumpacker, including the Farmington-grown Valencia flour that goes into all its house-made breads. You can now stop in for your favorite local pastries and other treats anytime you want, or at least anytime Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. 5 Bisbee Court, Suite 108, 505.471.0226. www. crumpackers.com.

In its first year, the Los Alamos Cooperative Market more than tripled its membership, from 500 to 1,800. It also established a bunch of community programs, like the Shop with the Chef cooking classes and the Dinner & Discussion series. These are just a few of the things worth celebrating at the Co-op’s first anniversary party. On Saturday, March 3, from noon to 4 p.m., stop by the Co-op for festivities and food samples. Also look for its “A Taste of Spring” event with Chef Chris McLean from the Bishop’s Lodge on Thursday, March 8, at 6 p.m. Lastly, it’s co-hosting a free workshop on Wednesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. called “Sustainable Los Alamos, Your Sustainable Home” at the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (3540 Orange, Los Alamos, 505.662.0460). Annual co-op membership is $30, but you can shop without it. 95 Entrada, Los Alamos, 505.695.1579. www.losalamos. coop.

The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is back in town with a piece from upstart Juilliard graduate and choreographer Norbert De La Cruz III. He was scooped up by the company at last year’s New York auditions, and ASFB is promoting him as the next big thing in choreography. While you’re there getting an eyeful, see Jorma Elo’s Over Glow and Nicolo Fonte’s Left Unsaid, both of which are also on the program. Catch it Friday, March 16, and Saturday, March 17, at 7:30 p.m. at The Lensic.

211 West San Francisco, 505.988.1234. www. aspensantafeballet.com.

It isn’t shocking that in the age of text messaging and tablets penmanship is suffering. Here’s an opportunity to shape up the signature of your 6- to 16-year-old with a brand-new fountain pen—and do it all for free. At this year’s Santa Fe Pen Fair, Santa Fe Pens is offering free penmanship seminars for kids within that age range. Because the goal is to provide kids with one-on-one attention, instructors will only be taking on three students at a time for 20-minute intervals. As a bonus, students will also get a complimentary new fountain pen. That’s pretty cool. It all happens at Sanbusco Market Center

on Saturday, March 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, March 11, from noon to 4 p.m.

Reservations are required. 505.989.4742. www. santafepens.com.

Classical music fans will have a taste of Russia this month with a visit from the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Presented by the Santa Fe Concert Association, the orchestra is stopping by on its inaugural cross-continental tour of the U.S., following tours in Europe, China and Japan. With Conductor Roman Leontiev at the helm and Alexandre Pirozhenko on piano, the orchestra will perform Wagner’s Overture to The Flying Dutchman, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Don’t miss it on Tuesday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. at The Lensic Performing Arts Center. Tickets range from $20 to $72.

211 West San Francisco, 505.988.1234. www. santafeconcerts.org.

Sharon Niederman’s new guidebook, Signs & Shrines: Spiritual Journeys Across New Mexico, aims to help readers seek out and be inspired by the state’s sacred places. Learn about the Spanish mission churches built upon ruins of Native American kivas. Visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and experience the “power spot” that is Chaco Canyon. The 13 itineraries included in the book are based on more than 20 years of study and research and include comprehensive information on places’ backstories and rituals.

Look for a copy for $19.95 and upcoming book signings at Collected Works in Santa Fe or Bookworks in Albuquerque. www. sharonniederman.com.

The semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards have been announced, and a number of locals made the list. As with the Oscars, it’s a huge honor even to be nominated,

so we’re bursting at the seams for Mark Kiffin and the Compound (Outstanding Service); Ron Cooper from Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal in Ranchos de Taos (Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional); Albuquerque’s Jennifer James of Jennifer James 101 (Best Chef Southwest); Taos’ Frederick Muller from El Meze (Best Chef Southwest); and Martín Rios from Restaurant Martín (Best Chef Southwest).

Winners will be announced on May 7, but you don’t have to wait that long to stop in and congratulate them.

TAOS If you’re a filmmaker in Taos, or if you like film and live in Taos, this is the month for you.

Running concurrently are the Taos Shortz Film Fest and the 48 Hour Film Project. First, the film fest. Now five years running, Taos Shortz is bringing in more than 70 films from all over the globe along with panel discussions and networking parties. And here’s an exciting bit of news: The film fest is applying for accreditation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and if it gets it, anyone who submits a film would have a chance at an Oscar. It all takes place from March 1 through 4. Then from March 2 through 5, it’s the 48 Hour Film Project. Here’s more exciting news. More than 40,000 people from 100 cities compete every year in the film project. The winners from each of those cities will go head-to-head in Taos at Filmapalooza, the project’s grand finale. There are way too many calendar listings, guidelines, prices and other tidbits to list here, so visit www. taosshortz.com and www.48hourfilm.com/ filmapalooza for everything you would ever want to know about anything.

Buzz Feature: The semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards have been announced, and a number of locals made the list. As with the Oscars, it’s a huge honor even to be nominated, so we’re bursting at the seams for Mark Kiffin and the Compound (Outstanding Service); Ron Cooper from Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal in Ranchos de Taos (Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional); Albuquerque’s Jennifer James of Jennifer James 101 (Best Chef Southwest); Taos’ Frederick Muller from El Meze (Best Chef Southwest); and Martín Rios from Restaurant Martín (Best Chef Southwest). Winners will be announced on May 7, but you don’t have to wait that long to stop in and congratulate them.

| Left to right: The Compound, Ron Cooper, Jennifer James, Frederick Muller and Martín Rios.

Photos: Gabriella Marks, Kate Russell and Lenny Foster

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

MARCH 2012

9

Skate

GOTTA S

o you think just because you went to that girl’s roller rink party in third grade, you looked cool in the skates’ laceup boots and you loved it, you’re qualified to be a Derby Girl?

Well, it’s possible—you could be. After about seven or eight months’ worth of dedicated hardcore practice.

We’re talkin’ virtual never-say-die roller warrior women, all ages, sizes and shapes, skating full maniac speed, gliding in and out of the pack in a hypnotic cobra dance, a whole string of teammates passing a skater hand to hand like she’s a baton, one skater screeching to a halt at a human wall, belligerently elbowing through, falling but right back up again and, crouched, running on the tips of her skates in long-legged lunges to catch up to the pack.

Derby girls never lose their signature sassy, gutsy audacity, a raucous knock-’em-down, nothin’-personal style, with infectious high spirits and humor. It’s gravity defying; it’s been dubbed “brutiful.” It’s Where the Wild Things Are—and they’re on eight wheels.

“From the sidelines, it can look like an aggressive sport,” says Santa Fe Disco Brawlers captain Angela “Killer Queen” Reece, “but, for the most part, the other skaters are like chess pieces to me. I very, very rarely look at the opponent as someone I don’t like or want to hurt.

It’s more of an attitude of ‘that person is in my jammer’s way and I need to move her’ or ‘that jammer needs to be stopped.’ It’s such a mental game, and it changes from second to second.”

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Left to right: Vanessa Valadez-Anderson aka B. Tona Brat, Carson Stradford aka Carson B. Demented, Grace Isner aka Taint Frances, Kelly Ard aka Kells Inferno, Aaron Marie aka Kandy Warhol, Jacqui Ellzey aka Jacks 2 win and Tia Shirley aka Mothernoose.

story by GAIL SNYDER p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

“I love that derby is utterly unprissy with an underground edge to it. It’s a very serious sport now—none of the fake fights like there used to be—but there’s still a sense of fun and bad behavior.” Jenni “Hella Gizella” Higginbotham

Newbie Jenni “Hella Gizella” Higginbotham, an artist working for a local fine art publisher, has been a Disco Brawler since last summer. She’s never previously played any sports. “The women in this league are so friendly and supportive—it really is an honor skating with them,” she says. “I showed up at my first practice in some terrible $40 skates, and they lent me the rest of the equipment I would need for the day. I love that derby is utterly unprissy with an underground edge to it. It’s a very serious sport now—none of the fake fights like there used to be—but there’s still a sense of fun and bad behavior.”

While roller derby doesn’t compromise its integrity for superficial entertainment value, Jenni explains, “there’s still an element of performance to the games. Many skaters wear uniforms with a punk rock aesthetic. There’s something rebellious about painting your face, wearing ripped up fishnets, some crazy hot pants, and careening into people on roller skates.

At least, that’s what I plan on doing!”

The season goes March through October. During the winter, teams hone their skills and teach new recruits the basics. Angela, an event planner for a local catering company who’s starting her sixth year of skating, had to commute to Albuquerque when she first joined the Duke City Derby girls, formed in 2005. She loved it so much, she brought derby up to Santa Fe. Last year, the Brawlers won the league championship with only eight skaters (a normal roster can consist of up to 14).

“It was a brutal game,” Angela says, “but we came through it being a stronger team, knowing that we can really work together. That’s the reason why we won.” Her goal is to bring them another championship—“and more than eight skaters on the team!”

Derby teams typically practice a daunting six hours a week or more. “It can be a lot,” Angela admits. “But! I’m in the best shape now that I’ve ever been in my life. One of my most favorite things about derby is it’s so challenging. It’s helping motivate me to cross train so I can reach my full potential.”

Everybody at a recent Monday night practice is wearing ultimate protection: knee and elbow pads, wrist and mouth guards, helmets, and flashes of fluorescent-colored duct tape wrapped around their boots. They’re dressed in shorts, skirts, leotards, you name it; piercings and in-your-face tattoos are rampant. As everybody slowly stretches the kinks out during warm-up, there’s lots of laughter and a barrage of banter (“This better give me a butt!” “I’ll be 43 tomorrow—remind me again why I do this?!”). Throughout the nonstop two hours, no one ever loses that kidlike good cheer.

In fact, mid-way through, as the coach whips them into further frenzy and it seems as if all reserves of energy must surely by now be spent, the skaters are inspired beyond the

beyond-beyond by one fanatic visitor from the Taos Whiplashes. With short, cowlicky hair and an almost lunatic focus, this Peppermint Patty–like skater literally launches herself faster and faster around the ring, glancing back over her shoulder at her sisters, a glint of joyous abandon in her eyes, as if exhorting them all to follow in hurtling themselves off a cliff. I’m suddenly reminded of this plaque a friend gave me: “Be reckless in the expression of your ideal and it will never betray you.” This x-treme depth of aliveness, foreign to most mortals, is absolutely, charismatically compelling.

Reckless is a good thing? Hell, yeah!

Not surprisingly, there’s always a risk of danger— skaters can get teeth knocked out, thumbs broken and worse. But no fighting is allowed, there’s always a minimum of six referees on the track at all times during games, and they have no hesitation about sending miscreants to the penalty box.

To join the team, you have to pass a skills test that includes memorizing 40 pages of rules. Asked to provide a derby-for-dummies version, Angela says, “We skate in a pack around the track. The jammers, one from each team, have to pass through the pack a first time.” This is when opposite team members link together in pairs and groups, forming walls to block the other team’s jammer. “After they’ve passed through the pack, then lapped it, every skater the jammers pass from the other team is one point. They can keep lapping the pack, or trying, for up to two minutes of the jam.”

Besides the Ho-Bots, Dooms Dames and DIA (Derby Intelligence Agency) in Albuquerque, the Taos Whiplashes and Santa Fe’s Disco Brawlers, there’s a traveling team, the Munecas Muertas, made up of

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

MARCH 2012

11

members of these five teams. Their jammer is “HBomb,” aka Heidi Romanshek, who began in 2004 as a blocker with the Minnesota Rollergirls. When she took a several year break from derby to become a massage therapist, she missed it terribly: “I even cried.”

She loves the instant community that forms among the players and the opportunities to meet adults outside of work or school. “Duke City Derby has a reputation for being scrappy, independent, tough and thriving on few resources.

We train in some pretty tough conditions—on a concrete basketball court outside in January at high altitude. That gives us a competitive edge, in my opinion.”

“My team is the best,” says Angela, about the Disco Brawlers.

“We have minimal to no drama and we all respect and really like each other. I consider my teammates to be my family. I would do anything for them.”

Whiplashes’ Luz “Ruca de Reckless” Peralta-Pino, Forest Service employee and mother of two, started skating about a year ago. “My 10-year-old daughter adores what we do. She wants us to start a kids’ junior league up here!”

Undeniably, the biggest confirmation of roller derby’s appeal comes from one young player who keeps sidelining herself during practice. “I just had my tonsils out,” she explains. “I’m not supposed to do any physical activity for two weeks. But,” she grins, coughing as she heads back to the floor, “I can’t help myself. I gotta skate!”

To learn more about roller derby in New Mexico go to: www. dukecityderby.com

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NOVEMBER 2011

magazine.com

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

MARCH 2012

13

Mmmmm,

J

ust in time for spring, the Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest arrives at the Albuquerque Convention Center, March 23-25. After an interminably long winter’s nap, we’re way ready to be lured out of our caves in celebration of two of our favorite substances, and this year’s event—expanded to include almost a hundred vendors from across the Southwest—promises to deliver!

The current festival space is five times the size of previous venues, with a giant 20-foot fountain of liquid chocolate commanding attention in the middle of the room. (“Sorry,” says event organizer Dean Strober, of Blue River Productions, “no dipping, due to health department rules.”) With so much going on, you’ll definitely want to check the website beforehand so you don’t succumb to overwhelm.

Expect the unexpected. A definite highlight of the festival will be the baking demonstrations line-up. Look for featured chefs such as Jonathan Perno of Los Poblanos engaging his audience in the secrets of tempering chocolate; Dave Dewitt, representing The Fiery Food Show, who cooks up a sweet and savory chile-chocolate dish; and The Candy Lady, the Dessert Divas and the Specialty Shop, all making exquisite candy concoctions before your very eyes. And, of course, there’s lots more (see the entire list at the website).

Don’t miss Friday night’s adult playtime offering, the Alien Tequila After Dark Chocolate Party! Attendance is limited to just a few hundred, which means that from 5 to 8 p.m. there’ll be no wading through crowds at the vendors’ booths. Enjoy the sounds of DJ Matt as you watch the special cooking demonstrations; buy exotic Easter candy gifts; sample delicious blends of coffee, tea and all things chocolate; and score a “Bad Coffee Sucks” mug from Madrid’s Java Junction booth. At 8 p.m. you’ll be treated to an aerial trapeze dance performance and live music with the one and only local Felonious Groove Foundation. There will be lots of drink specials, too, in the Alien Tequila lounge and the lounges for New Mexico beer and Black Mesa wine.

There are also tons of kid-friendly activities (although, when asked if families can split up, Dean replies, “Well, in a world of chocolate, I wouldn’t leave the kids alone too long!”). Sure to be a hit are the live performances from Musical Theater Southwest, with scenes from the musical based on that classic paean to chocolate, Willy Wonka. Also scheduled are live cow-milking demonstrations by the Southwest Dairy Farmers, ever-popular eating contests and a dedicated kids’ zone with carnival games and bounce houses.

For Dean, the most exciting aspect of this year’s festival is the range of baking contests. “We have three divisions: professional, home and young baker (open to ages 8-18). Not only are there sizable cash prizes, but the winner of the Best Home Baker contest will also be awarded small business development support from the Mixing Bowl Entrepreneurship program. That means that with guidance, support and time spent in their commercial kitchen, one great home baker will receive everything they need to launch their own business!”

The Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest’s commitment to local small businesses is evident throughout the planned line-up—just another reason to indulge! www.chocolateandcoffeefest.com 14

MARCH 2012

magazine.com

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story by CHEF JOHNNY VEE photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

a t t h e t able with

D

espite the wealth of culinary talent our city possesses, it’s always good news when a newcomer joins the gastronomic ranks and adds their food and inspiration to the edible mix. As a food writer, reviewer and profiler, I get a kick out of meeting these newbies too—more material for my features!

| Cristian Pontiggia

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I first met Osteria D’Assisi’s (Cristian Pontiggia) when I emceed a chef ’s competition event during last November’s Autumn Harvest Festival. A native of Italy, Pontiggia had only been in Santa Fe eight days but joined in on the fun and made himself right at home amongst the top local chefs. Despite the fact he didn’t win, I was impressed with his calm confidence in what could have been very intimidating circumstances.

With the new year in full swing, I thought he would be a perfect candidate for my column. I’m already a huge fan of his boss Lino Pertusini, whom I profiled in 2010 after the opening of his second restaurant, Pizzeria da Lino. I was curious to see how this young chef was going about leaving his personal mark on the well-established Osteria d’Assisi.

Knowing that chefs don’t get out of the kitchen enough, I invited Cristian to join me for lunch at the beautiful Encantado Resort. I hadn’t sampled Chef Charles Dale’s wonderful cookery lately and thought the new kid on the block would enjoy meeting a compadre of Dale’s renown. (It turned out they shared an uncanny connection—but more on that later.)

When I pick Cristian up at Osteria, he forgets that he still has his apron on and laughingly admits that he feels naked without it. A short drive later, we are seated in the comfy bar at the luxurious resort (lunch is served here during the winter), and we let Chef Dale order us some of his favorites—lamb quesadillas with jalapeño jelly, goat cheese and squash enchiladas, and grilled jumbo shrimp on a veggie stir fry. Yum, yum and yum.

I start by asking Cristian where he was born.

“In the city of Sondrio in Lombardy, in the north, between Lake Como and the Swiss border,” he replies. His accent is thick and fabulous, and although his English is impeccable after only three years in America, I really need to listen closely to get all the words. In true Italian fashion, his speech is prestissimo, with bursts of volume and lots of excitement. “My father has a bar in the center of the historic area of my town: Café de Centro.

My grandfather had it before him. They have a very small kitchen that serves simple food to the customers at the bar. It is there my grandfather shared with me his passion for food when I was a boy. He taught me all about cheeses and salumi.”

Cristian took that passion and pursued an education in cooking. As he explains, “I went to a

a i g g i t n o P n a i t s Cri high school of culinaria and started apprenticing from the age of 14.

By the time I was 18, I was the chef of a three-star hotel with 500 rooms. I was even making more money than my mother and father,” he adds with a chuckle. “I worked in many, many kitchens and ended up as a chef in the Bellagio Hotel on Lake Como. My experience there was fantastic. You are cooking for people from all over the world; the best ingredients are brought in; and you cook with chefs of many nationalities.”

I ask Cristian if he had heard of Lino Pertusini at that time, since he also lives on the famous lake part time. “I think I had heard of him but never met him until I came to Taos,” he replies.

A vacation to the U.S.A. inspired the young chef to carry out the paper work needed to be able to return and work here. “I came to L.A. first and visited friends there. I also visited Las Vegas and was supposed to stay a week. I only lasted three days—it was too crazy.

We have a belief in Italy that the north is calm and peaceful, while the center, where Rome is, is wild. When I visited New Mexico, I felt it had the same energy of the region I grew up in; it reminds me of home.”

Cristian came to New Mexico when he was hired as a consultant for Taos’ Stakeout Restaurant, of which Lino is the landlord. “The concept there was more of a steakhouse, but I added a few of my own touches, including a green chile­–buffalo lasagna. The first time I tasted green chile, it was like opening a new book. Oh my God, it was so delicious. There was an illumination of light. I was mad I had never known it existed. I love it.”

During Cristian’s tenure at The Stakeout, Lino sampled his talents and eventually invited him south to Santa Fe. During a porcini hunt in the Taos Mountains, Cristian met a young woman who was hiking. She was curious as to what the handsome chef was going to do with the fungi he was in search of. “I, of course, had to cook her dinner with the porcinis, and she became my wife.” We joke about the power that good cooking (and porcinis) has over love. Mrs. Pontiggia is a schoolteacher in Santa Fe, while her hubby chef sets about the task of adding his vision to Lino’s 17-year-old Osteria.

I ask Cristian what it’s like working with Lino as a mentor.

“With Lino, first we have respect. I am young; some of the suggestions he makes to me I like, some I don’t. But I immediately liked the food at Osteria. It is real Italian. I am doing the specials and adding some modern ideas, like the Cucina Moderna movement in Italy. When we fight I tell him, ‘If I fight with you, I am fighting for the restaurant.’ It is like an Italian comedy sometimes.”

The relationship appears to be working. I had carefully watched the two interact during a photo shoot the week before our lunch.

Papa Lino seemed proud and confident with his new chef.

What are Cristian’s favorite cooking ingredients?

“A good Italian olive oil of course. I couldn’t cook without it.

Recently a friend sent me a very tasty one from California. I was impressed. I am crazy for ravioli; it is the best invention in the world. Someone asked me once what I would want to be stranded on a desert island with, and I said a pasta machine. One of my most memorable meals I ever had was a potato and white truffle ravioli with porcini in the dough and light cream sauce. I love to cook with capers, burrata, and eggplant—and of course porcini. Gelato is the best dessert. I love to play with flavors and made a Gorgonzola gelato once, although coffee is my favorite.”

| Lino Pertusini of Osteria d’Assisi

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

MARCH 2012

17

REAL FOOD I ask Cristian why a lot of the Italian food in America is so different from in Italy, i.e., not bona fide. “I think it is because American chefs are cooking for the American palate,” he says. “I cook regional Italian.”

(Lino, by the way, is very proud to boast of the Cavaliere del Lavoro plaque from the Italian government by Osteria’s front door—kind of a DOC guarantee that his food is truly authentic.)

“I like working in Santa Fe. There are so many good chefs,” Cristian continues. “I am a fan of Joseph Wrede at The Palace and the Love Apple in Taos. At Love Apple recently I had a beef tenderloin with perfectly crispy pancetta on a rosemary bread with green chile fondue. I was so happy.”

Cristian’s short-sleeved chef ’s coat reveals his many tattoos. Of the number 33 on his arm he explains, “That, of course, was the age of Jesus’s death.” I kid him of how Italian that seems. Another one pronounces, “Love, Friendship, Equality, and Justice.”

“My mother is Buddhist, so I have Buddha on the calf of my leg,” he says, showing me.

He then shows me his favorite tattoo. It is a cartoon rendition of a chef in a toque. “It is the chef from the Lego toys. I worked with children that had life threatening diseases and made a panna cotta for a ten-yearold that was very sick. He gave me his Lego chef and told me I was his favorite chef in the world. It was a week before he died … it has special meaning to me.”

On the topic of his mama, he says: “The first time I went back to visit my family after moving to America, my mother made me my favorite lasagna. When I took a bite I started to cry. She said, ‘Oh, you are crying because you see your Mama.’ I said, ‘No, I am crying because I love the lasagna so much!’” Now that’s Italian.

Chef Dale comes to check on us. We are happily stuffed. He and Cristian trade stories of their cooking careers, and Dale confesses to Cristian that he is dating an Italian. “What is her family name?” Cristian asks.

“Her family name is Moiola,” Dale replies.

“That is unbelievable, that is my grandmother’s name, too—and an unusual one,” Cristian retorts. The two are instant paesanos.

Cristian shares more animated stories on our way back to town and then re-dons his apron and heads back to the kitchen.

I reflect on how blessed we are that world-class talents the likes of Cristian Pontiggia are drawn to our little town. I can’t wait to return to Osteria to enjoy his cooking … extra porcinis, please.

Osteria d’Assisi is located at 58 South Federal Place in Santa Fe. 505.986.5858. www.ossteriadassisi. com.

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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story by GAIL SNYDER photo by GAELEN CASEY

The

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Waiting For!

N

ew Mexico Restaurant Week just keeps getting bigger—and, amazingly, better! With seductively delectable prix-fixe menus (at equally seductive prices) offered by the many participating renowned chefs from central and northern New Mexico, along with some special events, this is the week many of us wait for all year.

It begins in Santa Fe on March 4, then moves to Albuquerque March 18 and, finally, on to Taos March 25. “It’s like speed dating,” says organizer Michele Ostrove. “The chefs have one chance to make a good impression on you. Will you become a lasting customer?”

You decide. This year, with so many new restaurants jumping on board, the question becomes how not to get overwhelmed by all the delicious choices. (Speed dating, remember?) Go to their website (www.nmrestaurantweek.com) and click on the individual cities for the complete list of participating restaurants, which are conveniently organized by price. Just click on one you’re interested in, and the menu for the week pops up, along with an informative description of the restaurant and a handy map. It’s a great way to try out a new place and a great reason to go back to an old favorite.

And this year, it’s not only dinner that’s on the menu. Go for lunch! That’s right, Restaurant Week has added “Let’s Do Lunch” at some participating restaurants. Now you can have a leisurely brunch or lunch hour with your co-workers—it’s the perfect way to add pizzazz to your humdrum workday as the winds of spring wail outside.

This year’s four-tiered per-person pricing structure allows chefs and customers alike the flexibility to set their own parameters.

Diners can choose from a range of options starting at $20 and under and running to $40 and above. (And please, please be extragenerous when it comes to tipping. Wait staff are running around like crazy during Restaurant Week.)

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Check the website as well for a list of special events. In Santa Fe, Chef Fernando Olea plans Dinner and a Movie. While you enjoy the 1992 classic foodie film Like Water For Chocolate at Epazote Restaurant, he’ll prepare a feast of exotic dishes inspired by those featured in the movie. La Boca chef/owner James Campbell Caruso teaches you to Explore the Flavors of Spain as he demonstrates how to make some of the many mouth-watering tapas included in his new cookbook of the same name. And Albuquerque’s Pars Cuisine plans a belly-dancing lesson followed by lunch.

This year, more than ever, New Mexico Restaurant Weeks offers you so many opportunities to be seduced. Give in! www.nmrestuarantweek.com

Zacatecas

Mark Kiffin’s story by GREG O’BYRNE photos by KITTY LEAKEN

T

welve years ago, when Mark Kiffin was about to revitalize the Compound Restaurant in Santa Fe, I wrote for localflavor that he “is a world traveler with a world-class palate and knows how to get to the source for his menu items. If anything, he is part of the future of chefs who are leading a charge for authenticity.”

Zacatecas on Central Avenue in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill district is an authentic taquería and tequilería that celebrates and reflects Kiffin’s travels

| Chef Danny Marquez with Mark Kiffin

and experience with Mexican cuisine.

A decided departure from his fine dining establishment in Santa Fe, it is the second restaurant that Kiffin has wanted to open for years. His timing, concept and location could not be better.

Because of the economy, there is a national trend of established chefs opening casual eateries with lower price points. Danny Meyer sold his four-star 11 Madison and is building an empire with Shake Shacks; Wolfgang has his pizzerias; Emeril and Bobby Flay have burger joints; Nancy Silverton teamed up with Mario Batali and opened Pizzeria Mozza; Susan Fenniger of L.A.’s Border Grill opened Street last year; and now Kiffin, James Beard’s Best Chef of the Southwest 2005, is the happy Patrón of Zacatecas.

Located on the corner of Central and Amherst, Zacatecas stands bright A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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with sky-blue corrugated metal exterior panels. Winter’s low sun slants in through three glass-lined garage doors dividing the sidewalk from the south-facing restaurant. The openness of the space is accentuated by the sun pouring over the two rows of six four-top tables in front of the glass doors.

Another row of three high-top tables serve as a transition space between the main dining area and the long 10-seat bar running along the restaurant’s interior wall.

Kiffin took over the former Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill space four months ago and redesigned it, hiring Adam Rosen of Metal Mogul in Santa Fe to do all the ironwork in the bar and on the cool, zinc-topped tables. The entire restaurant is visible from any of the 125 seats in the 4200-square foot space, which includes an open kitchen and a basement with office and prep kitchen.

Colorful hand-painted papier-mâché Mexican skulls line one white wall while photo panels of Mexico, including one of the tramway in Zacatecas, line the opposite wall.

Only open a month, Zacatecas is already three deep in customers at the tequila bar on weekends. The neighborhood workers, residents and college students have embraced the place full throttle, establishing a busy lunch and dinner business. Zacatecas is Kiffin’s twentieth restaurant opening and his second as an owner.

Kiffin was born in Colorado; after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, in 1982, he gained formal French cooking experience at hotels in Denver (the Fairmont and Oxford), moved onto executive chef roles at resorts in Carmel (Spanish Bay) and Phoenix (The Biltmore), and eventually, in 1990, came to Santa Fe, where he has lived ever since. (His motto: “Southwest forever!”)

As Coyote Café’s corporate chef from 1990 to 1999, Kiffin helped Mark Miller cement Coyote Café’s role as a Santa Fe landmark and along the way helped open and established Miller’s other restaurants, including Red Sage in Washington, D.C. (Esquire’s Restaurant of the Year, 1992), Coyote Café in Austin and Coyote Café in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

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I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark for 21 years. We worked together at Coyote Café from 1991 to 1995 and opened Red Sage together in 1992. We annually attend and work two of the same national food and wine events, and we continue to work together inviting and hosting guest chefs for the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta.

It is a sunny Tuesday afternoon when I sit down with Kiffin in his new space in Nob Hill. Kiffin is tall, lanky and sporting a few days of neatly groomed facial hair; rather than wearing his chef whites that I always see him in at the Compound, he has on jeans, a white pressed shirt and black sport coat. He and I easily catch up on our shared interests—daughters, bicycling and this year’s hit list of SFWC guest chefs—before talking about his spanking-new restaurant. localflavor: So how long has Zacatecas been in the making?

Kiffin: Since I began working with Miller in the early 90s. localflavor: Why an authentic taquería?

Kiffin: I wanted to go back to what I learned, the authentic version of Mexican food. When we were flying high at Coyote—before Vegas, before Austin—that’s what we wanted to do, to franchise the Coyote Cantina concept. We went to Mexico all the time and traveled around, oftentimes

with Patricia Quintana from Mexico City. She showed us Oaxaca, Guadalajara, San Miguel. I fell in love with this food. And when you live in New Mexico, you live with this style of food. localflavor: Why Albuquerque?

Kiffin: The key to having a true taquería is volume, and that’s what Albuquerque provides. When looking for a space, I really wanted to be on Central Avenue, as close to Scalo as possible. They were the original and still are the anchor of the neighborhood. localflavor: Are you enjoying Nob Hill?

Kiffin: I love it! The Holy Cow guys are great, the Scalo team is wonderful, the people over at Zinc are cool. Everyone here makes an effort to be part of a great restaurant community. And having one more restaurant name on the street helps keep the business going in the neighborhood.

localflavor: Did you consider Santa Fe? Kiffin: I looked at everything in Santa Fe—The Palace, A La Mesa, Mauka—but I kept coming back to the same problem. Santa Fe has a fluctuating season and a smaller market. Albuquerque has a more consistent business, more people and more volume. Here we are bringing in the neighborhood residents, the workers and college kids. localflavor: So the demographic makes sense. What about the city? Were they supportive?

Kiffin: The city wants businesses. They have been extremely easy to work with. I employ 40 people, pay payroll taxes, gross receipts. localflavor: And your prices on the menu—nothing over $10 at lunch and entrees at dinner in the mid-teens.

Kiffin: That’s the point. There is not an entrée in this town at dinner over $30 and very few lunch entrees over $10. We keep it affordable, and we get and keep the clients that way. You need to stay focused on keeping your prices lower. More and more people are going out, but they want affordable dining, especially in Albuquerque, and they want to have good service and good food. It’s not fast food. People want to be waited on.

localflavor: Is there a challenge in keeping the prices lower?

Kiffin: It really gives you a different and exciting way to be creative. We are doing $4 tacos with great natural ingredients, quality just as good as The Compound. localflavor: I like the six different taco plates. I see some of our old favorites here from the Coyote Cantina, like the tacos al pastor and the carne asada tacos.

Kiffin: My carne asada tacos are done with ribeye, tampiquno-style. We shave it thin, marinate it, grill it to order, slice it up and put it on the tacos.

All the tacos are made to order except the braised cochinita de pibil [pulled pork]. localflavor: The Cubano torta has made the menu!

Kiffin: It’s the same Cubano torta from Coyote Café. Mark Miller and I

were inspired by this torta from trips to Guadalajara. I have seen a similar sandwich in Mexico City. For our torta we get telores rolls from a local market on Central, same place we get the handmade corn tortillas. localflavor: A Mexican market?

Kiffin: Yes, it’s a Mexican grocery store called Pro’s Ranch. We use their handmade corn tortillas for all our tacos and fry them as well for our chips. localflavor: Let’s have some!

Mark and I order lunch. The fresh fried corn chips are spot-on and come with two salsas, fire-roasted guajillo and tomatillo-avocado. We try two of the four appetizers. The empanadas ($6) are delicious, stuffed with cinnamon and allspice-flavored minced chicken and served with a garnish of slivered almonds and dried fruits. The Zacatecas quesadillas ($7) are actually a pair of masa-based empanada-looking delights filled with poblano rajas and pico cheese and garnished with avocado crema—very tasty.

Other appetizers on the menu include queso fundido ($5), made with homemade chorizo, and crispy fried sopas ($6). The core of the menu is a selection of six different taco plates, each coming with its own unique garnish and four homemade corn tortillas. The puerco al pastor tacos are

wonderful, boasting perfectly seasoned grilled pork garnished with traditional grilled pineapple. The rock cod tacos with serrano slaw, escabeche and mango habañero salsa are tantalizingly spicy, and they have me wishing for a Bohemia beer or an El Tesoro margarita ($7). I could easily polish off a pail of four Coronitas ($12), but I have a date with my running shoes later in the afternoon, so I hold off.

The lunch menu also includes two different salads: Mark’s Classic Caesar ($5 or $9) and one named for his daughter, Phoebe’s Chicken Flautas ($9).

The bar menu is a real focal point, featuring 70 different 100% agave tequilas and a dozen different mescals, including all of Ron Cooper’s Del Maguey selections. There are three affordable margarita choices. For $5 you can have a ZACArita, a frozen margarita from the machine, made with Sauza tequila or on tap for the same price. For $7 you can build your own margarita with your choice of two dozen different 100% agave tequilas and liquor (including Cointreau, my favorite), and for $10 you can create one

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using any of the high-end tequilas. All margaritas are made with fresh-squeezed lime juice.

I order a black coffee and we continued our interview. localflavor: Where did you get the name Zacatecas for the restaurant?

Kiffin: It is the name of the state in Central Mexico with great taquerías. Some of the crew I worked with for years at Coyote and the Compound, including Danny Alvarez and his brothers, were from that area. localflavor: I see the dinner menu includes most of the lunch menu at the same price.

Kiffin: Yes, the same first courses and same six tacos, but we add six entrées at night. localflavor: I know Andy, your longtime chef de cuisine in Santa Fe, came down to help get it opened. Who is your day-to-day chef here?

Kiffin: Danny Marquez is the Zacatecas chef. He is originally from Mexico, and I have known him for 20 years, since he worked for me at Coyote Vegas. Then he helped me and Stephan Pyles open Taqueria Canonita in the Venetian. After I left the Taqueria, Danny became the chef and was for the last 11 years. This past fall, he called me and said he wanted to relocate to Albuquerque. It was three months before we opened, and I said come on down! localflavor: What a great score! Is anyone else from your Santa Fe team working with you here?

Kiffin: Theresa DiGiorgio, who does all our special events and private parties, is here helping get things going. We have a big parking lot in the back where we plan on hosting events. Theresa is working on a Cinco de Mayo celebration with live entertainment. localflavor: Well, congratulations on your second home. You seem very comfortable and happy here.

Kiffin: I love Albuquerque’s youthful energy, and it fits with the food. It’s got a lot of gusto, and so do the people. This spring when it gets warm, we will crank open the garage doors to the sidewalk and have a Latin guitarist playing music. There will be street noise flowing in, excitement and energy from the restaurant flowing out, just like it does in Mexico. localflavor: Sí. ¡Hasta luego!

Zacatecas, 3423 Central NE, Albuquerque 505.255.8226 www.zacatecastacos.com

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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e v o L GAME of the

I

wondered how long it would take for my fingers to go blue with frostbite. Then I wondered if it’s even possible to get frostbite in a dry, windy desert. But standing out in the middle of UNM’s Johnson Field on a cuttingly windy February night, scribbling down Patrick McBride’s words as we look out on a frenzied herd of men, half of whom are wearing shorts, I think, yes. I’m going to get frostbite while they’re playing keep away.

McBride’s rugby team, the Albuquerque Aardvarks, seems as though it’s staffed half by gladiators and half by woodland elves (the lean, muscular variety a la Lord of the Rings). Team coach Jonathan Gray runs over to shake my hand, and I can hardly wrap my fingers around his palm. He’s one of the guys wearing shorts, but because his broad shoulders tower over my head, it hardly seems strange. He must have gladiator blood. McBride, on the other hand, is slender and graceful in appearance, emphasized by his form-fitting black uniform. Gray looks like he could push over a rhinoceros, but McBride looks like he could run circles around one, and that’s kind of the point.

“Forwards are bigger, burlier guys,” says McBride, the team’s president. “Fullbacks are quicker, usually a little bit smaller.” While rugby teams are comprised of giants that bowl you over and gazelles that dart between them, there’s one crucial distinction that separates the sport from football, and it has nothing to do with gear. “In rugby, all the guys play both roles,” says McBride. While players still have positions in rugby (McBride is a fullback), they aren’t confined to those positions like players are in football. And because rugby’s 80-minute games feature continuous play (meaning no timeouts), not only do teams have to be in excellent shape, they have to be mentally dexterous as well.

“

“

comprised re a s m a te y b g ru ile h W u over and of giants that bowl yo een them, gazelles that dart betw ction that n ti is d l ia c ru c e n o ’s re the from football, separates the sport o with gear. d to g in th o n s a h it d n a

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story by CHRISTIE CHISHOLM p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

“Rugby is a more sophisticated sport. The positions in rugby are more fluid,” says Elden Pennington, newly elected president of the Santa Fe Santos. “Every player on the field runs defense, runs the field, looks for weaknesses.”

Pennington didn’t start playing rugby until he was 18, although he’s spent most of his life involved in some sort of team sport. He started with soccer when he was about 4 years old, and with a father who coached a Little League team, he soon started in baseball. He added football to the mix in high school, but his heart still belonged to baseball. Pennington realized he wouldn’t be able to continue in the sport in college around the same time he heard about the Santos, an adult rugby team, and he joined right away. That was 10 years ago. Now, as a 28-year-old criminal defense attorney, Pennington refers to his team as a family.

“We all hang out on and off the field,” he says. “I know their kids.”

Many rugby players seem to find the sport for the same reason. “A lot of sports for adults are more recreational leagues,” says McBride. As adult rugby teams spread around the country, men and women who love sports and don’t want to stop playing them just because they’re grown up are flocking to the field. “It’s the fastestgrowing sport in the United States,” says Jordan Ryder, tournament director for the New Mexico Brujos. Ryder doesn’t play on the team, but her cousin does. When she moved to Albuquerque in 2009, she went to some games and loved them.

As a marketing student, Ryder enjoyed the event

planning involved in the team’s tournament and helped out, taking over as director this year.

The tournament the Brujos puts on every May—which hosted more than 40 teams and 500 players from five states last year—is about fun, not official league play. “We give away trophies and everything,” Ryder says. “Then there’s a big social afterwards.” The two-day event happens in conjunction with the Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games at Balloon Fiesta Park, this year on May 19 and 20. The adult and high school teams take the field on Saturday, leaving room for youth teams on Sunday.

While many teams put on similar, purely fun tournaments, the teams are also members of USA Rugby divisions. Official seasons occur twice a year, in spring from March through late May and fall from August to early November. New Mexico’s carved out a niche on the national stage. The Aardvarks placed second in the nation in 2009 and made the top 10 in 2011. “We have high hopes for this year,” says McBride. Additionally, New Mexico’s adult women’s team, the Atomic Sisters, went to nationals in 2011 for the second year in a row.

But prestige seems like an afterthought to players—although McBride and Pennington both reference their competitive streaks in life as well as on the field. Primarily, they play the game for another reason: love. It may sound cheesy and you certainly won’t hear it directly from their lips, but when asked why they play, McBride and Pennington say nothing about winning. It’s all about the love.

First, there’s the true bond between teammates, developed on and off the field. “Your buddies have

got your back, and you need that,” Pennington says, speaking both literally and figuratively. “There are big guys on the other team who want to hurt me. But there are big guys on my team who don’t want that to happen. We all have a role, we support each other.” In the decade he’s been playing rugby, Pennington says his teammates, who range in age from 18 to 44, have become some of his closest friends. “We help each other get excited, get motivated,” he says. “These are your guys.”

McBride, meanwhile, was introduced to his wife and his career through rugby. The career bit came with a teammate who was in real estate. McBride started working with him part-time and become a broker soon after. “My wife, her cousin’s husband played rugby,” he says. They met at a social seven years ago, and now they’re expecting a baby within the month.

As players start families, they seldom drop out of the sport, even if they have to pull back, says Pennington. Although rugby has a reputation for being particularly tough, he says injuries are no more common than they are in any other sport.

“Dislocated fingers happen all the time,” he says, adding that he once separated his shoulder and that players occasionally get ACL injuries. Still, “in 10 years I’ve only had one concussion,” he laughs.

McBride’s walked away with plenty of bloody lips and black eyes, he says, and once he needed stitches in his forehead. “I’ve separated both my shoulders,” he adds—but, luckily, not at the same time.

Then there’s the love of the game itself.

McBride says he enjoys “the mental challenge of

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it; also the physical exertion.” He remembers a semi-final match in Denver when the Aardvarks were down by 18 points. “At halftime, all the guys managed to rally and come back,” he says. “There were close to 100 fans on our side, cheering our name. The opposing team was from Pennsylvania, and they were telling us we were rock stars.” That, he says, “feels really good.”

Members of adult teams have to be passionate about the sport, as my cold fingers can attest. “In an adult club, everyone works, so we have training at 6,” says Pennington. “We have to pay for the lights we use until daylight savings time, and we can’t use the clubhouse until the ground thaws.” Practicing in the dark in the middle of winter could take its toll, but Pennington says it’s well worth it when a game approaches.

“It starts Friday afternoon,” he says. “I think about how I want to play.” His nerves begin to tingle and he psychs himself up, and his excitement builds “until the whistle blows on Saturday.” Once he hits the field, all the pressure subsides and he’s simply in the game. “There are times,” he says, “when I’ve literally felt there’s nothing else in this world I’m thinking about then what’s going to happen next.” And that, he adds, is fun.

To learn more about rugby in New Mexico go to: http://abqrugby.tripod.com/

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On Wings

Deirdre Morris makes it look so easy.

She walks up to a blue u-shaped hammock suspended from metal rafters and runs her hand along its curve. Then she leans forward so the fabric cradles her waist, as though she’s about to do what we all do as children—push off and swing with arms extended, the closest we come, when we’re young, to flight.

Instead of soaring, however, she bends all the way over, places her hands on the ground, and lifts her legs, wrapping them around the ascending fabric. She lingers in a supported handstand for a bit, then rights herself and walks over to a purple hammock. In a single fluid motion, she’s upside down again.

She’s serious and focused. Her silence is gentle, calm.

Moments before, the energy in the vaudevillian practice space at Santa Fe’s Wise Fool was less than Zen as Morris bustled about, securing errant circus equipment to the wall. “Someone didn’t put these away,” she remarked as she walked a tall ladder from one side of the space to another. She pulled a trapeze taut and tied it off, then moved the ladder slightly left to climb and repeat.

Finally, all that was left hanging in the room were seven shimmering hammocks— four purple, three blue. Morris now walks along them all, running her hand over the curve of each as she passes. Then she unfurls colorful yoga mats, one under each hammock, just as the students for her Tuesday evening aerial yoga class begin to arrive.

One week earlier, between bites of a delightfully messy chicken-ginger sandwich at Tune-Up Cafe, Morris discussed her practice of aerial yoga with an intriguing aside: It’s still possible, she mused, to run away and join the circus.

Her own life has reflected this sentiment.

“I started by studying dance and at one point was hired for a project that required me story by ANA JUNE photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

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to learn stilt walking. From there, I got into circus arts with low-flying trapeze. That’s when I got hooked.”

The phrase “circus arts” is a catchall definition used nowadays for the skills associated with any circus, vaudeville or sideshow entertainment. To the uninitiated, however, the word circus still conjures up images of towering striped tents and riding the sooty rails with caged beasts. And though it’s generally understood that running away to join the circus looks far different today than that, the trajectory into the discipline that Morris undertook in her own life seems to be no less an acrobatic feat in itself. Or at least a geographical sleight of hand. The answer to the question of how she got here—to a life in Santa Fe teaching and performing at the circus-arts oriented Wise Fool—was more than a little befuddling.

“If you want a map of how I got here it’ll take you a while,” she said. “I’m from Boston, born and raised. I attended school in Providence then went to New York for a few years off and on.”

She set her sandwich down and reached for her napkin, then ticked off the circuitous geography of her adult life. “I went from Providence to New York to Providence to New York to Providence to New York,” she said and smiled. “Then I went to Boulder for a summer. London for a summer. Japan for a summer.” Somewhere along the way she spent time in Albuquerque, and in all those disparate locations she mainly studied dance.

“I landed here in Santa Fe about 14 years ago to go to massage school,” she finally explained.

And though she didn’t originally intend to do so, she stayed. She has worked with Wise Fool in myriad roles since. She has been a principal performer, teacher, choreographer, production and booking agent, and studio manager. She was the producer of the Women’s Summer Circus Workshop Intensive and key creator of the multimedia performance “Ashes: the Alchemy of Hope.”

As if all of that wasn’t enough to leave anyone breathless, she wove another element into her patterned life. Yoga. “I’ve been training in yoga for 15 years,” she said, then paused a moment to reflect. “I love yoga but I also wanted something different. Something spicier.”

That something spicy was aerial yoga, a practice that combines traditional yoga poses with the use of fabric hammocks for support. Inverted poses are possible more quickly for beginners, because the hammocks are easily manipulated to secure and support the body.

“Aerial yoga is a real combination, a real marriage of the arts of aerial circus work and yoga,” said Morris. “For people who have always been in to doing something aerial but feel like they don’t have the strength and flexibility—or if they’re afraid of heights—practicing aerial yoga is a great step for that.”

Morris noted that flexibility isn’t a prerequisite for this work, but at the same time it helps to strengthen and improve what flexibility you do have. “When you want a challenge you can use the fabric to push yourself into the pose even more,” she explained. “We do some basic circusy-type things in the hammock, for the thrill, which is different than a regular yoga class, and | Deirdre Morris 32

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for people who are really afraid of being upside down, this is a treat.

Being upside down is good for the body,” she added, noting that it’s invigorating to both body and the conscious state of being. “You have to be pretty present to be upside down; you can’t be casual about it.”

She finished her sandwich and moved her plate to one side. Even in such a mundane, right-side up moment, Morris exemplified just that sort of presence. It was somehow easy to imagine her doing the very same thing with her sandwich, her plate, her napkin while upside down, and with equal grace.

Flash forward. It’s Tuesday evening and the circus equipment is out of the way. The hammocks are ready and the yoga mats are in place. In a far corner, a large metal heater spills warm air and white noise into the room. The students arrive at 5:45 and shed their winter woolens. First through the door is Jessi Just, who is excited to try aerial yoga for the first time. “I take the Wise Fool trapeze class on Monday nights and Circus Conditioning on Fridays,” says Just. “I thought aerial yoga would be an interesting and relaxing way to keep my muscles warm in between.” She selects a hammock with a good view of the one Morris will use.

Next in is Caroline Soldow, who has been doing aerial yoga for about a month. “I really enjoy the class, because not only do I get to work on my yoga moves, but I also get to feel a bit acrobatic as well,” she explains. She chooses her hammock, and a sense of calm settles over the room as Morris walks over to hers.

In the beginning, the moves are solidly grounded, with the fabric being used to facilitate standing poses. But as the class progresses, Morris guides her students into poses that take them off the ground.

There are moments when they are cocooned in the 102-inch wide fabric, and they gently swing as they move fluidly through the stretches, pulling and pushing the fabric around their bodies.

Morris explains each motion succinctly as she demonstrates, watching her students all the while for proper form and alignment.

Her deep knowledge of the human body, from her years of movement training as well as massage work, is apparent as she describes and flows through each pose.

Then it’s time for inversion. The possibilities for supported inversion poses in aerial yoga seem nearly endless, and they’re complemented with one intriguing move that looks and feels like flight. Every face in the room lights up as Morris demonstrates the correct way to move the body into, around and through the hammock. The white noise from the wall heater is punctuated suddenly with the sound of laughter as the students, with the fabric entwining their bodies, fly and tilt and turn.

There’s something primal and joyous about tipping your world on end.

As the class winds to a close, Morris guides the students into an aerial version of the posture savasana—also called corpse pose.

But instead of lying back on a yoga mat and molding their bodies to the hard floor beneath, the students climb into their hammocks.

Morris dims the lights and asks each student if they want to float. She gives each hammock a gentle swing, and then they sway in the soft darkness, each student enveloped womb-like by the soft fabric.

By now, the laughter has faded to reverent silence, and yet the joy remains. It’s electric. You can feel it. Something has shifted and changed for each student, and it seems that this something perhaps can be found only in this newest of intriguing disciplines. Aerial yoga, it finally seems, is so much more than the name implies.

It’s yoga, yes. But on wings.

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For more information on aerial yoga classes, go to: www.wisefoolnewmexico.org, or dcbond505@gmail.com, 505.670.2659.

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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c e b l a M affair

the

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story by PHILIP DE GIVE

ny enthusiast of red wine today knows that for the last 18 months, Malbec has been really hot wherever red wine is sold. It is found on the shelves of grocery stores and discriminating retailers and served by the glass in everything from large steak houses to small independent restaurants. The December 15, 2011 issue of The Wine Spectator devoted a cover and 40 pages to an article entitled “Malbec’s Moment: How a forgotten red grape has revived Argentina and taken America by storm.”

How could a “forgotten” varietal become so popular, and how did it get “remembered”? If you look Malbec up in French Wine, a reference book written in the 1970s, you barely see it listed. So what possessed people to go manic over Malbec? Merlot, Pinot Noir and Cabernet are not about to disappear, but there is a new red challenger, and—perhaps even more fascinating—it is winning over hard-core white wine drinkers as well. This is how it happened.

Malbec is the one of the original six red grapes that were allowed in red Bordeaux blends, along with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Carmenère. It is a variety that develops a skin of medium thickness, depending on the place where it is grown and the clone that is used, and has some similarity in flavor to Cabernet Sauvignon. To simplify, Cabernet Sauvignon can be described as having more of a black-currant, or cassis flavor, and Malbec as having a less identifiable dark fruit flavor and being less tannic. It is also grown in Southwest France in a region called Cahors, which makes for a more rustic and tannic wine, but Bordeaux is its more important point of origin.

Bordeaux is a major wine region in France that was “owned” by the English for 300 years, so it received special tax benefits for exporting its wines to England and continues to produce wines that are happily consumed by Brits today. Sales of Classified Growth Bordeaux (i.e., premium and super-premium Bordeaux) have always been comparatively strong, and today they are the hallmark purchase of the 34

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wealthy. But as the American wine drinking public grew in numbers, these new wine drinkers never really embraced lower priced or even mid-range Bordeaux. In fact, our red wine appreciation in general needed a boost, and it came in the form of a TV show.

American red wine sales boomed with the reporting of the now controversial “French Paradox” in 1991 on television’s 60 Minutes. The show described how French people usually consumed a diet full of fatty food but still attained a level of coronary health because of their intake of red wine. This “paradox” is contested today, but at the time, doctors began recommending a glass of red wine with dinner, and it became a preferred cocktail. Many nondrinkers started looking for an affordable, everyday red wine, but Cabernet Sauvignon seemed too tannic, Bordeaux too dry, Zinfandel too fruity or heavy.

The typical drinker needed something softer, reminiscent of Cabernet, and the Merlot craze was born. It had a name that was easy to pronounce, it was less tannic than other varietals and soon it was very much in vogue. But the innate “problem” with Merlot is its success as a blending grape. It provides an element of complexity and softness, but is often boring and “weedy” when vinified alone or as the main grape. All it took was one line in one movie— Sideways—to give a voice to that dissatisfaction, and Pinot Noir replaced Merlot as the stylish wine to order. It has a beautiful aroma and flavor, and since it is made from a thin-skinned grape, is less tannic and usually lighter than Merlot. But the search for an affordable soft red continued, because good Pinot Noir is expensive to grow and cannot display its depth of flavor unless grown in a cool climate. It also does not normally have the heft that the cocktail wine lover wants; there are beautiful exceptions, but they are expensive. The stage was set for the marketing magic of Malbec, and it was created in Mendoza, Argentina. As evidence of that rising trend, Malbec exports from that country from 2002 to 2010 grew from 200,000 cases to 4 million, an eye-popping 1800% increase. To get some additional details on this phenomenon, I consulted an Argentine wine professional.

Gaston Leyack, born and raised in Argentina, is now brand manager for Paul Hobbs Imports, based in Sebastopol, California. The firm represents and sells the portfolios of Viña Cobos and Pulenta Estate from Mendoza. I found it very illuminating to listen to an Argentine talk about Malbec and enjoyed his sense of humor. He explains Malbec’s success by pointing out that it is a combination of history, climate and varietal profile.

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Philip’s Favorites:

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Malbec cuttings were brought to Argentina in 1860, a few years before the phylloxera plant louse hit France. The varietal proved to be a successful transplant, an easy grape to grow and popular for inexpensive red blends. But back in France, the eventual discovery of grafting old world vines onto American rootstock to combat phylloxera was not as successful for the Malbec vine. The fruit set very poorly on the new rootstock, so it was rejected by growers in Bordeaux and eventually the vine became “lost.” (This rejection was further aggravated by some especially cold weather in the 1950s.) Leyack then tells the now-famous story of how the consultant Paul Hobbs was recruited by Nicolás Catena in Argentina in 1989 to produce a world-class Chardonnay, before any varietal Malbec wine existed. Hobbs had trained at U.C. Davis and made his mark at Robert Mondavi, Opus and Simi, but while working for Catena, he secretly produced an outstanding Malbec despite Catena’s wishes.

From the standpoint of climate, there is a synergy between Malbec and Mendoza, the province where most Malbec is grown. “Mendoza is roughly the size of Illinois and is a desert,” explains Leyack. “Only 8% of it is green and only because of irrigation from snow melt in the Andes. The east is hotter (since it is at lower elevation and further from the mountains, so we farm for quality and temperature control. In the Valle de Uco (considered one of the best viticultural areas, in the western part of Mendoza), Malbec achieves phenolic ripeness with elements of plum and black fruit. The tannins are never aggressive or drying.”

He further describes the better examples as exhibiting minerality, with a hint of violets and unsweetened cocoa powder. (Incidentally, he uses the usual Buenos Aires pronunciation for the Spanish consonant “y” sound: “Valle” is “Vah-zhay.” When I ask him about that, he quotes, with typical humor, the Argentine expression, “God is everywhere, but his office is in Buenos Aires.”) It is that phenolic ripeness, where the tannins mature and become less astringent and “green,” that adds so much to Malbec’s appeal. The appeal even reaches white wine drinkers, amazingly enough, who are looking to try red wine. Who wants Pinot Grigio with steak?

The Rio Chama Steakhouse in Santa Fe has had surprising success with Malbec. John Paul Leos, their wine buyer, says it has caught up to the old standby, Cabernet Sauvignon, and the new darling, Pinot Noir, and at times outsells them. At La Casa Sena Wine Shop, Wine Director Jim Cook and Matthew Slaughter have their own take on the grape. Jim sees Argentine Malbec as a classic example of New World style, emphasizing fruit over terroir, and succinctly describes the varietal’s profile as dried blueberries and chocolate, which I confirm at the end of the day when I find those ingredients in my pantry. He recommends the Fabre Montmayou Malbec Reserva Mendoza 2009, perhaps because it is made by a Frenchman who grew up in Bordeaux, which gives the wine some Old World influence. He describes it as “more reticent and not as forward as some … a result of more non-fruit flavor components, slight herby edge on the wine and a little more structure than some.”

Matthew moonlights as wine director at La Boca, and although the restaurant bills itself as “The Spanish Flavor Experience,” emphasizing Iberian cuisine and wines, customer demand has necessitated inclusion of Malbecs on the list. He has been featuring the Mendel Malbec Lunta Mendoza 2008 and temporarily upgraded to the Reserva 2008 from the same winery, noting that he appreciates the two wines’ style, with “more structure and Old World rusticity in … tannin, acid and fruit.” The Reserva works really well with the flank steak on the menu.

Despite its versatility as a cocktail wine and its compatibility with red meat, Malbec has now reached that point in its growth where it is a victim of its own success. Ninety percent of Argentina’s wine exports are Malbec. It has worked so well in satisfying the need for a valuedriven, full bodied, fruit-forward, lower-tannin wine that people are unwilling to spend more for an expensive one. There are single-vineyard Malbecs that retail for $50-$75 a bottle. Wholesale customers in New Mexico will readily acknowledge the quality and worth of one of these beauties but are often reluctant to buy it, even though it competes in quality with a Napa Cabernet at the same price. But availability here is very good, as there are currently over 150 Argentinian Malbecs and Malbec blends available for stores and restaurants to pick from.

I personally think Malbec is here to stay, and it’s worth exploring different versions, especially those from Argentina. I have a small list of recommendations below, with retail prices. If you hate red wine, try an inexpensive Malbec. If you hate Malbec, I would reply that even a wine geek doesn’t really hate Malbec; he or she just wishes it had a more distinctive flavor. So try some of the blends. Malbec really does integrate well with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot!

Dona Paula Los Cardos Malbec 2010 ($10.99) Mendel Lunta Malbec Mendoza 2008 ($19.99) Felino Mendoza Malbec 2009 ($20.99) Fabre Montmayou Malbec Reserva Mendoza 2009 ($22.99) Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Mendoza 2009 ($26.99) A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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illHungry?

St story by CAITLIN RICHARDS

photos by GABRIELLA MARKS and GAELEN CASEY

Black Bean Salad

Huevos Hervidos con Chile

Whole Foods Market

El Mesóoón

This fresh black bean salad meets all of Whole Foods’ “Health Starts Here” criteria while meeting all of localflavor’s criteria for deliciousness. Jennifer Fresquez (Store Marketing, Community Relations) points out that just because this dish is called a salad doesn’t mean it needs to be relegated to the position of a side. Use it “as the filling for a taco salad, served over steamed or sautéed fish, or rolled up in a tortilla for a quick lunch.”

Nutritious, delicious and versatile!

El Mesón’s Chef David Huertas likes to eat this dish after he comes back from a run: “It’s filling but without a lot of calories or any fat.” He points out that it really is just as easy to cook something healthy as not; just choose whole foods. “Processed foods are the killer,” Huertas advises. His huevos hervidos con chile can be spiced up by using habañeros or serranos. The recipe can also be made more kid-friendly by leaving out the chile altogether and adding a little cheese at the end. What should you serve with it? “I eat it by itself, but we’re in New Mexico. You can add some tortillas.”

Serves 4 Ingredients 1 ripe avocado, mashed ¼ cup cilantro, chopped 2 Tablespoons lime juice 2 15-ounce cans no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained 4 cups shredded romaine lettuce 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1 cup corn kernels, fresh (or thawed if frozen) 1 small red bell pepper, chopped ½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Makes 2 servings Ingredients 1 cup water or stock, chicken or vegetable 4 green onions, sliced 1 clove garlic, minced 4 large green chiles, roasted, peeled and diced 4 eggs, well whisked salt and fresh ground pepper Bring water to boil. Add garlic, chiles and onions and cook for two minutes. Slowly pour in eggs while stirring. Cook two more minutes, still stirring. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a bowl with broth. For an even healthier version, use egg whites only (8 egg whites).

In a large bowl, whisk together avocado, cilantro and lime juice until blended.

Add beans, lettuce, tomatoes, corn, pepper and pumpkin seeds. Toss until evenly coated.

There are lots of tasty, healthy things to try at Whole Foods Market, located in Santa Fe at 753 Cerrillos Rd. and 1090 S. Saint Francis Dr. and in Albuquerque at 2103 Carlisle Blvd. NE and 5815 Wyoming Blvd. NE, www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

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Want more from Chef David? Head over to El Mesón, 213 Washington Ave., Santa Fe, 505.983.6756, www.elmeson-santafe.com.

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his month localflavor is all about getting out, getting moving and feeling healthy, and our recipes also reflect that theme. We want to show that eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up a lot of things, such as butter, gluten, fat or, most important, flavor. We all know the guidelines: eat less red meat, eat more fish, eat more vegetables, don’t eat processed foods. But face it, when you’re looking at your third night in a row of grilled chicken breast and steamed vegetables, you want nothing more than to run out of the house and into the arms of a steak and some potatoes, preferably deep fried. It doesn’t have to be that way. Localflavor went to four chefs and asked them to come up with something healthy but still packed with flavor. They didn’t disappoint.

Rio Chama’s Veggie Burger Rio Chama A steakhouse may seem like an odd choice for a healthy dish, which is exactly why we approached them. Rio Chama’s Chef Russell Thornton admits that “it’s a challenge to do a veggie dish at a steakhouse,” but adds that with so many vegetarians in Santa Fe they had to offer something. He wanted to offer a meat-free choice that was still rich and flavorful. This veggie burger gets its protein from the garbanzo beans, its richness from cheese and its burger-like quality from the marinated portobello mushrooms. Try it with a basil-pesto mayonnaise.

Makes 6 to 8 patties Ingredients 1 portobello mushroom cap (2 if small) 1 or 2 green onions ¼ eggplant, peeled and sliced 1 Tablespoon tamari (soy) sauce 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar ½ Tablespoon yellow mustard 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 Tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped 1½ cups garbanzo beans, cooked and well drained Dash of cumin ½ teaspoon Madras curry powder ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper Dash of turmeric 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic, granulated 2 teaspoons honey 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup grated cheddar cheese 1 cup breadcrumbs (or more as needed to hold patty together) Marinate the portobello mushroom, green onions and eggplant in a mixture of tamari, balsamic vinegar, yellow mustard and olive oil.

Allow to rest 5-10 minutes, then grill on a barbeque or brown under a broiler until a nice char develops. After allowing grilled veggies to cool, combine them with the remaining ingredients (except cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs) and purée in a food processor until well mixed. Add cheese and crumbs at the end by hand. Shape mixture into patties and cook in a lightly oiled skillet until browned on both sides.

Fish Dish Flying Star Cafeé I spoke with Flying Star’s marketing director, Lindsay Hertz, and executive chef, Willem Blom, about their Fish Dish, which Hertz tells me is one of the most popular specials on their menu. Why? Because of the fresh combination of flavors, the way the couscous “shimmers on the plate” and the herbed mushroom butter, which is “delightful”—but mostly because of the “amazing flavor of the wild haddock.” The meal tastes like a real delicacy, and the moderate portions leave you satisfied without being too heavy. It’s guilt-free food. Real butter? Absolutely.

“Everything in moderation,” says the chef. Both Hertz and Blom are also really excited about an upcoming item, a red quinoa salad that will be on Flying Star’s menu soon.

Makes 1 serving Ingredients 1 haddock filet 6-8 ounces, preferably wild-caught Mustard seasoning mix: salt and pepper with a dab of mustard, enough to coat one side of filet 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil ¾ cup cooked pearl couscous cooked in vegetable broth (1/4 cup uncooked) 1 Teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped Pinch of fresh basil, julienned Generous handful of fresh spinach Pinch of salt and pepper ⅛ stick herb-garlic butter (available in some stores or easily made at home) 2 lemon wedges

Lightly press the filet into the seasoning mix, thoroughly coating the skin side of the filet. Gently place the filet on a grill or skillet coated with butter or olive oil, seasoned side down, and cook for 1 minute. Flip filet over and cook 5-6 minutes. In a skillet on med-high, heat olive oil. Add the couscous, parsley, basil, spinach, salt and pepper to the skillet. Cook until spinach is bright and wilted (but not soggy) and couscous is heated. Place filet on couscousspinach mixture; top with butter. Garnish with lemon wedges.

Enjoy Chef Willem Blom’s culinary dishes and dessert creations at all Flying Star Café locations (Albuquerque, Bernalillo and Santa Fe), www.flyingstarcafe.com.

Try more from Chef Russell Thornton at Rio Chama, 414 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, 505.955.0765, www.riochamasteakhouse.com.

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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The Perfect Place For Any Occasion!

Let us host your next dinner, business meeting or reception.

ITALIAN • RESTAURANT BAR • FINE DINING • TAKE OUT

The Finest Italian Cuisine in New Mexico We would like to present to you our new Executive Chef, Cristian Pontiggia from Lake Como, Italy.

We continue to provide you with the most consistent and best creations of authentic Italian cuisine.

986-5858 58 S. Federal Place Santa Fe, NM osteriadassisi.com

Open Daily from 11am till closing 414 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87501 955-0765 | rioChamaSteakhouse.com

Prix FixE $24

course dinner

Executive Chef & Certified Sommelier Christopher McLean

Available Sunday - Thursday at La Casa Sena & La Cantina.

Menu will change weekly. find the current Menu on our website

Reservations recommended.

125 East Palace, Santa Fe 988.9232 | lacasasena.com

505.819.4035

1297 Bishop’s Lodge Rd. • bishopslodge.com 38

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REAL FOOD

NATION

ONE CHEF TWO RESTAURANTS TWO WEEKS Chef Mark Kiffin invites you to celebrate New Mexico Restaurant Week at his Classic Compound Restaurant AND New Zacatecas Taqueria

farm fine dining Limited seating available for our next Wednesday Night Wine Dinner.

Presented by the SUPPER CLUB & Kermit Lynch.

Wednesday March 14th, 6:30pm. Call 505.466.2440.

KERMIT LYNCH WINE DINNER

March 4 – March 11 Featuring a three course pre-fixe menu for $45* For reservations: 505-982-4353 or www.compoundrestaurant.com 653 Canyon Road • Santa Fe

$55 per person Pan Seared Duck Breast With apple sauce and arugula Champalou, 2010 Vouvray Frisee Salad With balsamic truffle vinaigrette and lardons Domaine Dupeuble 2010

March 18 – March 25 Featuring a three course pre-fixe menu for $29* For groups: 505-255-TACO (8226) or www.zacatecastacos.com 3423 Central Avenue NE • Albuquerque * Price does not include beverages, tax and gratuity.

Crispy Lamb Sweetbreads With mushrooms lamb demi and mirepoix Les Pallieries, Les Racine, 2008 Gigondas Seared Foie Gras With cherry stuffed brioche and banyuls reduction Domaine La Tour Vielle, Banyuls Reserva 18% gratuity will be added Please inform your server of any allergies Executive Chef Craig Day Pastry Chef Thomas Vigil

The Supper Club is a lovely, intimate space serving hand-crafted food, fine wines, and attentive table service.

Our menu changes often so visit our website to see what delicious meals the chef has created for you.

Enjoy an elegant meal with us: Wednesday–Saturday: 5:30pm–9pm.

Reservations are advised.

505.466.2440 See what we have made for you today!

628 Old Las Vegas Highway @ the intersection with US Hwy 285 re a l f o o d n a t i o n . b i z

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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2012

Restaurant Week

Santa Fe: March 4th‐11th Albuquerque: March 18th‐25th Taos: March 25th‐April 1st

When it’s in to dine out!

*Special Events *Lodging Specials *Sweepstakes Giveaways

Get ready for the most delicious week of the year!

Savor incredible prices at your favorite restaurants on delectable prix‐fixe dinners and lunches.! !

Restaurant and Lodging Listings: SANTA FE: 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar Amaya Anasazi Restaurant Andiamo!

Azur Blue Corn Café Blue Corn Café & Brewery Café Café Castle Ranch Steakhouse Cowgirl BBQ Coyote Café Dinner for Two El Farol Epazote Fuego!

Galisteo Bistro Geronimo Grille at Quail Run Il Piatto Italian Farmhouse Kitchen

Visit:

Jalapeno's Jambo Café Jinja Bar & Bistro Joe's Junction La Boca La Casa Sena La Plazuela Las Fuentes Restaurant & Bar Luminaria Maria's New Mexican Kitchen Ore House at Milagro Osteria d'Assisi Pizzeria da Lino Plaza Café Southside Pranzo Italian Grill Red Sage Restaurant Martin Rio Chama Ristra Rooftop Pizzeria San Q

for more about New Mexico Restaurant Weeks!

LODGING: El Pueblo Bonito B&B Inn Hilton Buffalo Thunder Inn & Spa at Loretto Santa Fe Sage Inn

ALBUQUERQUE: Artichoke Café Blade's Bistro (Placitas) Chama River Brewing Co. Forque High Finance Indigo Crow Jinja Bar & Bistro ‐ NE Heights Jinja Bar & Bistro ‐ Westside Landry's Lucia Pars Cuisine Prairie Star Sandiago's New Mexican Grill Savoy Scalo Northern Italian Grill Seasons Rotisserie & Grill St. Clair Winery & Bistro Zacatecas Tacos Zinc

www.NMRestaurantWeek.com

and get in on the fun!

Look Inside

Santa Fe Capitol Grill Santacafé Shohko Café SUP Steaksmith Swiss Bakery Pastries & Bistro Tabla de Los Santos Terra The Compound Restaurant The Old House The Palace Restaurant & Saloon Tia's Cocina Tomme Vanessie Vinaigrette