National Culinary Review

Though Cecilia’s Cafe is young compared with Casa de Ruiz, with just a dozen years in Albuquerque, Cecilia Baca is known for her recipe for carne adovada, chunks of pork marinated in red chile. Beans and chicharrón (fried pork rind) are served on a sopaipilla or burrito. For a fun American twist, a sopaipillaburger features a quarter-pound burger inside a warm tortilla.

Sadie’s opened in 1954 as a diner in an area that was then considered on the outskirts of town. Sadie’s nephew William Stafford, one of the managers, describes the food at the bustling 320-seat restaurant as Native American style with Mexican influences. To satisfy customer demand for home versions of the salsa, Sadie’s produces salsa in partnership with Hatch Chile Co.

The kitchen uses 400 pounds of hand-cut potatoes daily for the signature fried potatoes with diced onions and chiles that accompany platters. The fried sopaipillas made with a masa base are known throughout the area.

El Pinto is the largest restaurant in New Mexico. With 1,200 seats in four inside dining rooms and on five outside patios, the maze of rooms is served by well-trained staff who share their passion for table-made guacamole. Twin brothers John and Jim Thomas carry on the tradition their parents started when they opened the tiny El Pinto (the spot) in 1962. The most popular entrees are green chile/chicken enchiladas and stuffed sopaipillas.

Given their passion for New Mexican chiles, the twins built a plant behind the restaurant, where they roasted and peeled approximately 253 tons of chiles last year—76 tons for the restaurant and 177 tons to make the well-known El Pinto retail and foodservice green and red salsas and green chile sauce.

beer pubs Casual dining in Albuquerque often equates to brewery dining. Some breweries, such as La Cumbre Brewing Co., serve only beer. But La Cumbre Malpais Stout, says owner Jeff Erway, is “a meal in a glass.” Brewed with seven different malts, the flavor impact is creamy and intense.

Ten miles north of town, Chama River head brewer Justin Hamilton produces award-winning brews such as 3 Dog Night porter and Rio Chama Amber Ale, a cult favorite made with a blend of pale, toasted and caramel malts.

Chama River executive chef Stephen Shook crafts a beer-
friendly menu. The truffled “bleu cheese” fries and Southwest
pot pie with roast chicken in green chile gravy are lunch
favorites. Beer pairing dinners may include grilled buffalo
meatloaf, stout-battered fish and chips, or elk steak.

IVB Canteen is the newest outpost of the nine-unit Il Vicino Wood Oven Pizza chain from Il Vicino Brewing Co. (IVB). The pub is a working brewery serving Pigtail Pilsner, Slow Down Brown ale and others. But the food is also a draw. Beer Sponge consists of two large pretzels with IVB Lusty Monk beer chipotle mustard. The Sauce Hog sandwich is slathered with IPA-infused barbecue sauce.

modern new mexican Maxime Bouneou realized his dream of sharing his Italian heritage and culinary training by opening Torinos’ at Home in a business district of Albuquerque. The trattoria serves classic European food such as foie gras au torchon with sweet onion preserve, applewood-smoked duck breast and arugula. But Bouneou also turns a classic duck confit appetizer into a salad with spinach, hard-boiled egg, goat cheese, raspberry vinaigrette and, for a Southwestern touch, caramelized chili pecans.

Last summer, Bouneou launched a set five-course menu. But, he says, “Albuquerqueans weren’t quite ready for a prix fixe menu. Albuquerque still has a small Western town feel, and people didn’t seem to want a five-course meal. So we went back to a more traditional formula and now serve a la carte dinners with a few specials.” Albuquerque is a food city that is constantly honoring the past and reaching for innovation. At the Hotel Andaluz, recently remodeled with historic murals intact, Von Blomberg adds a Mediterranean-Albuquerquean touch to the menu by stretching his own mozzarella and then serving it with peach marmalade and green chile salsa. At Ibiza, the hotel’s rooftop bar, he may serve gazpacho shooters with a touch of watermelon sweetness in cucumber cups. In the fine-dining Lucia, he menus dishes such as New Mexico flat iron steak with sweet potato fries and pickled peppers in a balsamic steak sauce.

For dessert, Von Blomberg lists orange/chocolate/caramel flan served in a martini glass, but, he adds, “We don’t normally make green chile ice cream. Our visitors from around the world may not know it. But we may put it on the menu as a special, because our locals enjoy it. Chile is what we’re about.”