24 minute read
THE CALENDAR
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ELIZABETH AND A PIANO
The Hollar 2849 Hwy 14, Madrid, 471-2841 Country, blues, R&B, folk and more. 5-7 pm, free
RHYME CRAFT AT THE MINE SHAFT
Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, 473-0743 Live hip-hop featuring Fluid plus Wolf y Willy and DJ D-Monic. 7 pm, free
THE SANTA FE SYMPHONY VIRTUAL CONCERT SERIES: A TASTE OF BEETHOVEN
Online, santafesymphony.org Works by Beethoven, Rossini, Handel and more. 4 pm, $20
THE SANTA FE SYMPHONY VIRTUAL CONCERT SERIES: TATE MEETS MOZART
Online, santafesymphony.org Colorful and rhythmic music by Native American, Brazilian, and Hispanic composers with their twists on Mozart. 4 pm, $20
ROBYN TSINAJINNIE, “FINGER FOODS”
Find this and other works from artist Robyn Tsinnajinnie (Diné) at La Fonda on the Plaza from Friday, June 4 through Sunday, June 6.
WORKSHOP
PUBLIC SPEAKING AND LEADERSHIP
Online, ohpinon.toastmastersclubs.org Public speaking development group Toastmasters hosts a workshop to help build up public speaking confidence for those in attendance. Noon-1:15 pm, free
TAP DANCE WORKSHOP
Dance Station 947 W Alameda St.,989-9788 Instructor Sam Italiano teaches tap (see SFR Picks, page 13). 7:30 pm, free
THU/3
BOOKS/LECTURES
STOPPING THE NEXT PANDEMIC
Online, sfcir.org Climate change lecture. 10 am, $10
MUSIC
PAT MALONE ON GUITAR
TerraCotta Wine Bistro 304 Johnson St., 989-1166 Jazz guitar plus wine plus you equals an alright time. 5:30-7:30 pm, free
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC
Online, santafelibrary.org Performance experience combining music, history, and even original songs. Led by singer and songwriter Jon Waterman. Good for history and music nerds needing to learn some cool factoids so you can impress your first post-quarantine date(s). Hosted by our friends at the Santa Fe Public Library, who’ve been kicking butt at all these virtual programs. Check it out. 6 pm, free
CANTOS DE TAOS QUARTET
Sabroso Restaurant and Bar 470 Hwy. 150, Taos, 575-776-3333, taosoi.org Kicking off this year’s Taos Opera Institute Festival on Sabroso’s patio. Food, music and Taos. A holy trinity indeed. Rezzies are required, so call ahead. Check online for more details about the festival and why you should absolutely attend if you’ve got a few spare hours. Keep an eye out for the festival’s events throughout the month, too. 7 pm, free THEATER
THE TEMPEST
Unitarian Universalist Church 107 W Barcelona, 917-566-0708 upstartcrowsofsantafe.org Youth theatre performance. Music, magic, a murder plot and a tale of true love ensues with the classic Shakespeare drama and flair. Performed by Upstart Crows. Perfect for you thespian lovers desperately needing a return to live theater. Plus, don’t you want to say that you helped the artistic children?! 6:30 pm, $12
CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
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dreadlockcowboy presents in association with The Dusty Mic PSYCHONAUT SUNDAY at the Motorama Drive-In JUNE 20TH A psychedelic live audio & visual
performance with Govinda and Morganix
w/a DAYTIME DANCE PARTY
FEATURING BEAT KITTY • RiFF • and others tba
Gates open at 3pm Get tickets at: holdmyticket.com/event/374302
AUGUST 16 Woodstock Revival — Santa Fe "A day of peace, music, love and documentary filmmaking" SEPTEMBER 25 AND 26 The First Annual Red or Green Chile Festival Chile Competition — Best Restaurant
Live Music-Vending-Dancing-Spectacles To get more info and/or participate in any of these events email: dreadlockcowboy@gmail.com
$9.2O PER GRAM
ALL THE TIME
COURTESY STAGECOACH FOUNDATION
When it comes to workforce training—that vague bureaucratic term your politicians like—the Stagecoach Foundation takes its mission of training the film industry workforce with utmost seriousness. Recently, the foundation announced a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help continue said training programs, and SFR spoke with Director Elizabeth Kianu Stahmer about just what the heck it these programs are, and some of the things Stagecoach has coming up. (Riley Gardner)
Tell me about Stagecoach’s mission— for those who don’t know, what exactly is it this organization does?
We provide free training for New Mexico’s aspiring crew on camera and behind the camera to build career pathways into the industry. All of our training is provided by facilitators who work in the industry and who the union acknowledges as good instructors—so things like on-set culture, set etiquette, set protocols, COVID-19 protocols, resumé coaching.
We’ve got set-building and painting classes, classes that teach how to make a music video with an iPad, propmaking, set lighting, acting classes, casting calls, writers’ room and AVID editing training classes coming up. For example, later this summer we’ve got our project-based mentorships starting up. We’ve got 10 mentors to help develop the projects they’re working on. It’s rewarding for both the mentees and the mentors. This stuff is critical and key as a jumping point for their careers— people build skills and networks. Mentees need champions, cheerleaders and career models.
Tell us a little about this new $25,000 grant. Where’s it gonna go?
The project the grant helps fund is called the Road Show. It’s taking an intensive training we’ve held here in Santa Fe and taken out into other communities in New Mexico. It focuses on building the skills in assistant camera operations, so things like pulling focus or using a slate. One camera’s gonna be on a dolly and track and the other on stilts, with the cameras provided by Panavision. We’re trying to create a realistic set for the students.
This [is preceded by] a short film screenplay competition, three to four pages, one location, with a limited number of actors. The winning screenplay is what everyone takes a part of—our acting students, our editing students, all of them. We’re going to host these programs in places like Farmington and Las Vegas—places that usually don’t have as easy access to sets and networking.
What’s the state of the film industry in New Mexico right now, and how does workforce training fit into that?
We’re on the precipice of moving through all these restrictions. The governor has been amazing in helping us shift and open up again. I’m proud to be in this state—but we definitely need training. And it’s common knowledge that the limitation of sound stages is a barrier for all that’s wanting to come to the state. A lot of people have the skills, and they could become future IATSE Local 480 [film union] crew members. We need to have the crew here to meet the films and shows that are coming. And people probably already have skills for this too, but it’s a matter of finding a way in.
Depending upon the training in general, some are age-specific, but we have students as young as 10 and all the way up from there. We’re gearing these classes towards union jobs, especially the 11th- and 12th-graders, since they’re the closest to be in the workforce.
Right now, in order to be on the set, the opportunity to be selected as a production assistant is an access point issue. But it’s hard to get on these projects if you’re not in a union. Opportunities to learn different positions are harder because of limitations, so we encourage our students to learn all that they can.
We gotta lift the veil for people to understand that the opportunities in New Mexico right now are really union trajectories. Getting the right training and experience and guidance into the union is where we fall. People are starting to recognize that—we just need to make this a bigger bridge of conversation and help people find their pathways, to fulfill their interests and also have a career trajectory. We want to help other film organizations have the same conversations.
FRI/4
ARTIST IN REZIDENCE: ROBYN TSINNAJINNIE
La Fonda on the Plaza, 100 E San Francisco St., 982-5511 Acrylics, works on paper, fine prints and more from the Diné artist; through Sunday. 11:30 am-2:30 pm, free
WHERE SHADOWS CEASE: RESONANCE OF AMERICA'S DREAM
Obscura Gallery 1405 Paseo de Peralta, 577-6708 New from Susan Burnstine. Observe commonly shared memories and universal representations found at places connected to the ethos of the “American Dream.” All day, free
TAMARIND INSTITUTE AT PIE PROJECTS
Pie Projects 924B Shoofly St New art releases by Inka Bell and Ellen Lesperance, and favorites by Stuart Arends, Jim Dine, Louise Nevelson, Rashaad Newsome, Danielle Orchard, Deborah Remington, Fritz Scholder, Judy Tuwaletstiwa, June Wayne and Susan York. 11-6pm Tuesday-Saturday; 1-5 Sunday, free
BALANCE & HARMONY
Sorrel Sky Gallery 125 W Palace Ave., 501-6555 Paintings and scultptures from Lisa Gordon and Elsa Sroka. Noon-4 pm, free
BOOKS/LECTURES
TO KEEP THE NAME DAUGHTER
El Zaguán 545 Canyon Road, 982-0016 Poetry and art exhibit exploring memory and grief, vulnerability, violence and intimacy, and defiant redemption. All day, free
WHY WE SERVE: NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES
Online, miaclab.org Panel discussion highlighting the generations of Native Americans who’ve served in the United States military. 4-5 pm, free
EVENTS
ROSWELL INVADERS AT SANTA FE FUEGO
Fort Marcy Park 490 Bishops Lodge Road Santa Fe’s semi-pro baseball team (yes, dear reader—we do in fact have one!) take on the Roswell Invaders. It’ll be extra fun because our town will certainly win, because why would we not? 6-9 pm, free
Want to see your event listed here?
We’d love to hear from you Send notices via email to calendar@sfreporter.com.
Make sure you include all the pertinent details such as location, time, price and so forth. It helps us out greatly.
Submission doesn’t guarantee inclusion.
STILL CRAZY
Online, santafelibrary.org Author event with Judy Prescott Marshall discusses her book Still Crazy and talking broader about women’s commercial fiction. 11 am, free
DANCE
TRADITIONAL HOOP DANCES
Santa Fe Plaza 100 Old Santa Fe Trail Traditional Indigenous hoop dancing on the plaza from the Lightning Boy Foundation. Will make your late spring downtown strolls 10 times better. Promise. These dancers are killer. 3:30-5 pm, free. Also: Tip them.
FILM
TOY STORY 4
Railyard Park Cerrillos Road and Guadalupe Street, 982-3373 It's back, folks! Movies in the park, a summertime tradition. Come chill with the family and watch Pixar milk its franchises for all they're worth. COVID-19 safe protocols in place. Reserve your spot online. No alcohol (see SFR Picks, page 13). 8 pm, free
DANCE
ENTREFLAMENCO SPRING SEASON
El Flamenco Cabaret 135 W Palace Ave., 209-1302 Classic Spanish flamenco with world-renowned dancers and authentic Spanish dining. Various ticket at dinner options available starting at $25. It’s classy and actually really, really cool, with all the pandemic protocols in place and enforced for your safety. 6:15 pm, $25
MUSIC
TGIF VIRTUAL CONCERTS
Online fpcsantafe.org/tgiftube Brighten up your Friday afternoons with Jared Aragon on the organ, playing works by Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius. 5:30 pm, free
SAT/5
BOOKS/LECTURES
TAILS AND TALES— CHILDREN'S VIRTUAL READING HOUR
Online, placitaslibrary.com Reading hour for the kiddos from our friends at the Placitas Library, without having to drive an hour. Cute little animal stories, magic tricks and a pet show-andtell. Bet there’ll be cute cats. 10 am, free EVENTS
ALCHEMY STUDIO CELEBRATION
Alchemy Studios 2859 Hwy. 14, Madrid, 828-246-5899 Enjoy a celebration of woman artists in a new studio space. Featuring work by the artists and outdoor celebration. It’s always fun to have a reason to go out to Madrid, isn’t it? (See SFR Picks, page 13.) 4-7 pm, free
FARMERS MARKET
Farmers Market Pavilion 1607 Paseo de Peralta, 983-7726 Tomatoes, craft soap, honey, leafy greens, smoked meats, some really cool performers under the water tower and busking all around. Plus, fresh foods that’ll make you feel good about the choices you made until you get to the breads. But man, the breads are soooooo good. 7 am-1 pm, free
QUESTA HISTORY TRAIL: GRAND OPENING AND GUIDED WALK
Questa, questatrail.org Historic guided walk led by Flavio Cisneros presenting a microcosm of Northern New Mexico history in a small village you might not be familiar with. A good reason to get outside in this glorious spring weather too. Wear comfortable clothing for walking, bring water and your happy historical smiles. 11 am, free
SANTA FE ARTIST MARKET
Railyard Plaza Market and Alcaldesa Street 982-3373 Pottery, jewelry, paintings, crafts and more. North of the water tower. 8 am-2 pm, free
¡VAMANOS! SANTA FE WALKS
657-725 Camino de los Montoyas Meet at La Tierra Trails at the FrijolesTrailhead for a moderate hike. Bring water and the right shoes and stuff. 10 am-noon, free
Want to see your event listed here?
We’d love to hear from you! Send notices via email to calendar@sfreporter.com.
Make sure you include all the pertinent details such as location, time, price and so forth. It helps us out greatly.
Submissions don’t guarantee inclusion.
DANCE
ENTREFLAMENCO SPRING SEASON
El Flamenco Cabaret 135 W Palace Ave., 209-1302 Classic Spanish flamenco with world renowned dancers and authentic Spanish dining in downtown Santa Fe. Feel like a tourist without being a tourist. It’s hard to get better than this. The food is awesome, but oh man the dancing will slap you sideways (metaphorically). 6:15 pm, $25
HEAR MY VOICE
Online, theziasingers.com Virtual YouTube concert from The Zia Singers, a Santa Fe-based women’s chorus. 7-8 pm, free
TAOS TENT
Taos Ski Valley 116 Sutton Place Music from the Taos Opera Institute Festival. Reservations: 812-360-5372. 7-8 pm, free
BOB MAUS
Upper Crust Pizza (Eldorado) 5 Colina Drive, 471-1111 Tunes from the ‘60s-’80s and piano vocals. Perfect pizza-chewing melodies. 5:30-8:30 pm, free
THE TEMPEST (FROM UPSTART CROWS)
Unitarian Universalist Church 107 W Barcelona, 917-566-0708 Youth theatre performance. Music, magic, a murder plot, and a tale of true love ensue with the classic Shakespeare drama. Performed by Upstart Crows. Perfect for you thespian lovers desperately needing a return to live theatre. 6:30 pm, $12
SUN/6
DANCE
LIGHTNING BOY FOUNDATION'S TRADITIONAL HOOP DANCES
Santa Fe Plaza 100 Old Santa Fe Trail Traditional Indigenous hoop dancing on the plaza. 3:30-5 pm, free (but bring money to tip them, too)
MUSIC
DJ ERIN E
Rose’s Kitchen 1829 San Ysidro Crossing, 699-2742 Nothing like dance jams from a celebrated local DJ alongside some of the best damn Frito pies we’ve ever tasted. It’s on a farm! 10:30 am-1 pm, free
LUCY BARNA
The Hollar 2849 NM Hwy 14, Madrid, 471-2841 Original Americana-folk music and super-good vibes. In case you hadn’t heard, Barna is also opening Alchemy Studio in Madrid, so it’s a pretty good week for her. 11:30 am-2:30 pm, free
TAOS OPERA INSTITUTE CONCERT
Taos Art Museum 227 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte The Taos music festival continues on! Bring your own chairs to this outdoor opera event. Maybe just stay in Taos? It’s pretty. 11:30 am-2:30 pm, free
LONE PIÑON AND NOHE Y SUS SANTOS
Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fria St. 303-3808 Alt-rock in español, cumbia and pop grooves. String wizardry, upright bass, accordians and old and new vibes. Good stuff for the vaccinated folks starting to emerge from their hideaways. 6-9 pm, $15
THEATER
TAMING OF THE SHREW
Unitarian Universalist Church 107 W Barcelona, 917-566-0708 From Upstart Crows. High Shakespeare drama where a drunken man is tricked into believing he’s a rich lord. Hijinks naturally follow and we just remembered we should totally rent 10 Things I Hate About You because how cute is that movie? Super cute. Anyway, this one’s performed by Santa Fe’s preemminent youth Shakespeare theatre company. 6:30 pm, $12
MON/7
MUSIC
GERRY CARTHY AT UPPER CRUST PIZZA
Upper Crust Pizza 329 Old Santa Fe Trail, 982-0000 Irish traditional music, folk and more. Also pizza. And maybe some more pizza. We won’t judge, but we will listen to a concertina and be all like, “Dang, concertinas sound pretty cool, right? 5:30-8:30 pm, free
WORKSHOP
BREAKING BAD...HABITS
Online, santafeimprov.com Virtual improv class with various, multi-skilled instructors with an emphasis placed on side-coaching and getting out of whatever performance rut you might be in. 5-7 pm, $75-$125
CPURTESY EVOKE CONTEMPORARY
From the Dark to Light exhibit of Harriet Yale Russell works at Evoke Contemporary.
INDIVISIBLE SANTA FE MEETING
Center for Progress and Justice 1420 Cerrillos Road, 467-8514 First (non-virtual) meeting of the year! Lineup includes discussions and a guest speaker, and the night has a special focus on registering youth to vote who will be 18 by November 2021. Yes, there are in fact elections taking place this year. Help shore up our crumbling democracy and get your friends and family registered and engaged. This is probably a better option than sitting at home and tweeting about Joe Manchin. You can do both, you know? 7-8:30 pm, free
TUE/8
EVENTS
NEW MEXICO LOWRIDER ARTE & CULTURE EXHIBIT
Santa Fe Place Mall 4250 Cerrillos Road, 473-4253 The 2021 New Mexico Lowrider Arte & Culture Exhibit continues! It’s the best of Lowrider Arte Culture on display. We’re talking cars, trucks, bikes, motorcycles, yattoos, paintings, drawings, all the fun stuff that that’ll make you go “whoa, I don’t know anything about cars, but whoa man, whoa.“ All Day, free FOOD
FARMERS MARKET TUESDAYS
Farmers Market Pavilion 1607 Paseo de Peralta, 983-7726 Here’s another morning to fill up on root vegetables to your heart’s content. That’s right, the Farmers Market is open once more on Tuesday mornings! Less crowding, so you can have all the time you need to examine the heck out of your lettuce and parsley and talk to the farmers about the weather patterns. You know, the good stuff. 7 am-1 pm, free
3811 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe, NM • (505) 933-6872
Beyond Trauma Porn
How to fight indifference and struggle for justice
BY DARRYL LORENZO WELLINGTON author@sfreporter.com
Ihave never been comfortable with the phrase “trauma porn.” People use it in so many different ways with so many tones of voice—critical, aesthetic, descriptive or dismayed—and I can’t pinpoint its proper usage, or even decide whether it has one. But I’ve been thinking about it ever since the beginning of the era of police violence (usually targeting Black persons) recorded on cellphones: The killing of Walter Scott and Eric Garner, the harassment of Sandra Bland, the 8-minute and 46-second suffocation of George Floyd. The phrase became more commonplace while these quick, impromptu and raw videos enumerated. It supposedly began to epitomize a cultural shift or an aesthetic.
I’ve seen it defined as media that showcases a group’s pain and suffering for the sake of entertainment and created around the exploitation of marginalized people. “Media” is a porous word suffusing all the technological phenomena the five senses can experience, including movies, TV, music, contemporary art exhibitions, documentaries, raw footage. I’ll focus on the shadings of the term trauma porn I’ve gathered anecdotally.
Most often, the term is cited to critique movies or music videos presenting gratuitous images that marry Blackness and violence, and it’s specifically used to critique white, cisgender or able-bodied audiences who happily consume such fodder. Trauma porn is also used to critique works that may appear to be enlightened, but that actually traffic in feel-good tropes that don’t give Blacks and marginalized identities humanity and agency. In the first case, Black bodies are sites of cool and freakish violence; in the second, Blacks are magical beings, impervious to harm—and always forgiving.
Some of the works I’ve heard named in critiques include Tarantino movies, Childish Gambino’s music video for “This is America,” the 2011 film The Help or Jeanine Cummins’ 2020 novel American Dirt. A common criticism is that while certain imagery may make viewers salivate or feel indignant, like a Pavlovian response, they don’t inspire them to do anything corrective about the horrors depicted. I haven’t seen all the popular works that earn the label, but when the critique has merit, I have no problem comparing the fictionalized fetishization to porn. It’s not real. Or educational. Like porn, it’s fantasy that cheapens reality, and when it’s addictive, it tends towards the unpalatable.
But I’ve also seen trauma porn used in a less directly accusatory manner (perhaps by writers who have accepted it as a daily reality?) and more like a description of an increasingly common cinematic style. In Maya Gurantz’s recent essay In the Los Angeles Book Review “Close Reading Trauma Porn,” it’s less a damnation than an examination of what Gurantz calls “abuse documentaries:” TV documentary exposés of sexual predators like R. Kelly and Harvey Weinstein that combine serious reportage with cheesy background music and sensationalism. Overall, Gurantz admits she quite enjoys them.
But this brings me back to my initial reference, and perhaps the scariest one: Media depicting violence perpetrated on Black people is the most significant to me, a Black person, living in a world in which Black lives are jeopardized. I have never been comfortable calling real documentary evidence of Black humiliation, subjugation, and, yes, not infrequently, murder by law enforcement “porn.” These videos still have real value. They prove these events happened and still happen. There couldn’t be criminal cases, or the rare conviction of a homicidal police officer (like Derek Chauvin) without them.
On the other hand, I see the undeniable truth in the claim that trauma porn has created a hopeless, vulgar spectacle. It’s the bombardment of the images, or the sheer ease of clicking on a link to see another Black person getting killed, that’s cynical. No wonder critics compare the sedentary majority who consume the imagery to crowds at a lynching, comfortably seated while the show goes on.
I feel ambivalent when I parse what trauma porn is and isn’t. Is it any ritualistic spectacle of Black death? Is the video of 12-year-old Tamir Rice being shot reducible to trauma porn? Are images of Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation also trauma porn? Or is it our attitude towards the images that makes the difference? I’ve had several confused conversations, because when I have heard someone say “I don’t watch trauma porn,” I don’t know whether they mean they avoid watching videotaped brutality for their own psychological well-being (and still follow the news), or whether they mean they have given up on protest. Do they mean they simply don’t want to know?
My ambivalence finally comes down to the question of inaction versus action. It’s probably why I tend to steer away from the phrase. Porn is by its very nature passive, whether you enjoy watching it or not. It’s a substitute for passionate engagement, and comparing real oppression to porn suggests it can or, worse, should be watched passively. If you find you regularly look at the exploitation of marginalized groups without wanting to take corrective action, or you avoid news of that exploitation so you won’t feel guilty for not taking action, the problem isn’t with media as seductive as porn. The problem is with you.
By every definition I’ve read, the George Floyd footage would not be considered trauma porn. Why? It encouraged hundreds of thousands to hit the streets in protest. A police officer stood trial and was convicted. The real question isn’t whether you should or shouldn’t watch Blacks wrongfully dying or Palestinians suffering—the question is whether or not you decide to do something. Conscientious collective movement and action isn’t prurience, and it certainly isn’t porn.
ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN
Roque On Armando Pacheco’s hot dog empire returns to Midtown
BY ALEX DE VORE alex@sfreporter.com
Full disclosure: I ate the hot dog.
I haven’t eaten meat in years, but a small crowd was forming at the Roque’s Chicano Dog stand in the Big Jo True Value hardware parking lot on Siler Road in Midtown—and as one of the faithful told me while we waited, sometimes you’ve just gotta have that dog.
This marks the third summer that Roque’s Chicano Dog (1311 Siler Road) has offered up a full menu of dogs Monday through Friday from 11 am to 3 pm. The gear and a percentage of the business belong to Plaza icon Roque Garcia of Roque’s Carnitas, but the operation is run by Armando Pacheco, an Albuquerque boy who emigrated to Santa Fe in 2014 to follow a woman. That relationship didn’t last, but Pacheco says the moment he saw Garcia slinging fajitas on the Plaza, he knew he needed to make a connection.
Cut to 2019, and Pacheco was developing dogs, business practices and a fiercely loyal local clientele. This is a Midtown parking lot we’re talking about—either you hear about it through word of mouth, or it’s not for you. But word travels fast in a small town, and on the afternoon I visited Pacheco—only his second day this season—to learn of his ways, he wound up selling out entirely.
Indeed, within moments of arriving, drivers happening by were shouting greetings, Big Jo employees wandered out to grab dogs, and singles, couples and families all trudged up to claim their $6 meals (every menu item comes with chips, and Pacheco was handing out free sodas to celebrate his return to the grill). Every dog is a Hebrew National—100% beef, baby—but Pacheco’s toppings seal the deal. His proprietary dish, the Chicano Dog, is his most popular, and comes with green chile, mustard, a relish blend Pacheco devised himself, plus onions and red chile salt. You can get it on a bun or a tortilla, and on this particular afternoon, the buns ran out fast. Pacheco usually starts the day with 49 buns and dogs; this is going to be a good year, he hypothesizes, adding, “If you’re a foodie, you’re gonna want to try one.”
I’ve been craving a hot dog since the day I gave up meat, and I chose the Queaguite Bro with ketchup and mustard, since going simple seemed the best plan. I have ghost memories from the excellently grilled hot dogs at BBQs and holidays past, but I wanted the full taste if I was meat-cheating, and anyway—Pacheco’s a ringer.
Armando Pacheco grills them dogs at Roque’s Chicano Dog stand in Midtown.
How can a man grilling regular old hot dogs make them taste so good? Pacheco theorizes it’s the taste of summer.
“If the sun’s out, people want hot dogs,” he says. “It’s summer; it’s the Fourth of July; it’s baseball and heat and your kids. I worked in restaurants for years—I’m skilled in parting people with their money and, in Santa Fe, I could sell a hot dog in December. In the summer, though? People just want ‘em.” Not bad, considering our hero was moments away from taking a parks & rec job with the city last February. Then COVID-19 hit and the offer was withdrawn. Still, he kept his job with the Legislature where, he says, he works “shuffling bills.” That position only exists when the session is in, though, and Pacheco probably wouldn’t give up the Chicano Dog stand for anything. He’s a celebrity—one of those local markers that mysteriously rolls in at the start of summer and then, just as mysteriously, is gone one day. “You just feel it,” he says of the day each year he knows it’s time to hang up the tongs. “You just know.”
One man in the line who did not wish to be identified told me he waits for Pacheco to open all year, and he’s been telling his friends. He grabbed a few Chicano Dogs, on which Pacheco emblazoned the word “Chicano” in mustard. Another customer picked up the John Wayne with mustard, ketchup, relish and onion; another yet, the ATM, or a todo madre—the dog with everything. Numerous customers toward the back of the crowd eagerly shouted their orders for the Orale with saurkraut from Barrio Brinery, green chile, onion and mustard. And as he scurried back and forth, keeping track of more than any one person should be able to, the feeling crept in so gradually that I barely noticed: This is what summer’s supposed to be about, and Roque’s Chicano Dog loves locals.
Land of Enchantment.
