Food festivals are gaining traction in this lovely Land of Enchantment.  The latest shindig to hit the calendar is the Taste of New Mexico, held in from October 7th to October 9th downtown on the Civic Plaza.

The weather should be fantastic for sampling foods from local restaurants and (hopefully) some interesting information on New Mexican cuisine in general.  Says the press release, “Albuquerque and Bernalillo County will stage a “Taste of New Mexico” promotion to support the restaurant industry. On Oct. 8-9, 50 restaurants will offer the public sample tastes and products at One Civic Plaza Downtown.”

I hope the chile will be hot, the blue corn vibrantly indigo, and the tortillas fresh and steamy, so help me New Mexico.

Wow, it’s getting crazy around here, both with the impending triple-digit temps as well as a slew of events and activities all over our lovely Duke City.

Last weekend was the Wine Festival, and despite the gorgeous weather, it just seemed a little lackluster this time around.  Less wineries, less yummy samples . . . or was it just me?

Never mind that, this weekend tons is going on for you to eat, sample, savor, and relish.

The Saturday Downtown Grower’s Market is starting up, and you can get your fresh produce, cheese, eggs, and honey in the delightful Robinson Park.

Sunday there is the third annual Local Food Festival and Field Day. At the Gutierrez-Hubbell House at 6029 Isleta SW, from 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.  Taste goodies from local chefs and food producers, gardening workshops, and live musical-ly stuff.

Enjoy the steamy weather, and keep eating local food – it’s good for the tummy.

It was bound to happen, no?  I have spent a long time defending the Flying Star, comparing them to a kid with pajamas that are too small – they simply had an amazing run of growth and tried to keep as many people happy as possible.

This occurred during a time that ingredient costs were skyrocketing AND they were renewing their commitment to local producers, organic meats, and free-range anything-they-could-afford.

So, folks rebelled.  ”Eight bucks for coffee and a slice of PIE?!!!”  ”$10 for a vegetarian noodle bowl???  You gotta be f’ing with me.”  No longer the divey hipster hangout, Flying Star won new enemies where it used to have fans.  And I stuck up for them, knowing how hard it is to run a sustainable (read: profitable) restaurant.  And they are/were still packed – so obviously it hasn’t killed their entire patron base.

I also compared them to the Grove Cafe & Market, posing the pragmatic situation thusly:  If the Flying Star were to start BRAND NEW right now with its menu and prices as they currently exist, they would be just like the Grove.  And that leads me to my point – I had my moment at the Grove the other day, when I ordered a cappucino and a cookie.  A rather smallish cookie.  I paid SIX BUCKS, and had an immediate negative reaction, asking the cashier just how much that cookie was, anyway ($1.99).  It was the cappucino at $3.50, which came delivered as a latte, that sent the total up to the sky.

So…. now what?  The Grove’s coffee is still far better than Flying Star’s, but Cafe Giuseppe rules all plus they know that a single cappucino should be about 5 ounces total, not 12.  Oh, and they have gelato that is better than anything outside of Silver City in the whole state.

So far, Albert Bilotti’s reputation precedes him, with notable local joints like Kanome and NYPD Pizza.

One takeaway observation from dinner at his newest spot, Lucia?

Soft ice cream + hard biscochito = great taste, yet unwieldy and hard to eat, messy, collapses…. 

Per the Kitchen Witch, “It is a fine art to create a sandwich that doesn’t collapse when you take the first bite, due to overly-soft ice cream or overly-hard cookie.”  And that means Lucia should be making the sandwiches way ahead of time and letting the biscochito get a little soft while the ice cream itself firms up to match.

But that might be a rather niggling point, eh?

So, hotel restaurants.  Good?  Bad?  ”Meh”?

Regardless, they’re opening left and right here in Albuquerque.  Al Bilotti’s Lucia in the Hotel Andaluz (more about *that* later), and now in the Doubletree, home to fresh baked cookies at check-in, we have a New Mexican-Californian restaurant called La Oja.

No word on menu specifics.  I hope it will be decent combinations of our own local treasures with some of the stereotypical California touches – goat cheese enchiladas?

Good luck to Chef Alberto Mendez – let’s see what ya got!

http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/11/09/daily31.html