I keep tabs on news that filters up about new spots, chef departures, developing concepts and try to bring them in one non-paywalled placed, because I love you. Actually, I really like gossip, so let’s see what I have this week:
McGrath’s in the Hyatt. Ever eat there? Yeah, maybe once and you didn’t choose to. What did you eat? Who knows. It was fine. Finally the uninteresting is shoved out and a new contender steps in. It’s called Forque and whether or not they intend to compete with Lucia, it is always a good sign when new places open, especially in a down economy. Looks like steak . . . and stuff. Duck, ok, and some South American influences like chimichurri (one of the greatest condiments ever).
More hotel renovations: the downtown Hilton, home of the Rancher’s Club, is now rebranded as Crowne Plaza. Rancher’s Club stays, but the casual restaurant will be reopened as “innovative New Mexican” and called Stonestreet Restaurant.
East Mountain diners have one less spot to have drinks with dinner – the Backside Alehouse has been fighting for a liquor license but recently lost their legal fight, and as a result they will close down completely. Big bummer for the 10,000+ residents out there.
Hot dogs and burgers are recession food, so they say. Personally it seems more reasonable to me that true recession food would be beans and rice, or stew, or casseroles, or beans and beans and beans. Or maybe that’s depression food. Anyway . . .
If you have been missing Bob’s Fish n’ Chips near downtown, you still won’t be able to get the old school divey experience at 700 Central SE because it is now owned by a couple of chefs with experience at high-end joints in Santa Fe. What are they doing to the old place? Making burgers out of grass-fed beef, that’s what. Owner Chris Medina is calling the place “Holy Cow” and hopes to compete with the likes of BrGr, Standard Diner, and a host of others.
This is obviously a trend, whether or not it has anything to do with the recession. I applaud the increasing use of grass-fed beef, especially for “fatty” applications like burgers where you want the moisture but not all the icky hormonal junk that usually tags along in factory-farmed cattle meat. True grass-fed AND grass-finished beef’s fat is as good for you as salmon fat. Neato, eh? While Holy Cow’s grass-fed is probably grain-finished, it’s still a good start.
Open daily lunch through late with weekend breakfasts (maybe); 505-242-2991
No matter how much of a food snob you think I am (and I probably am that, too), I love veggies. Raw veggies, cooked veggies, big honkin’ piles of them. I used to adore The Salad Bowl up on San Mateo but they didn’t last.
One of my other favorite lunches in the UNM/EDo/Downtown area was Souper Salad near University on Central. The same folks worked there for years, only a few managers came and went, and generally it was a reliable place to chow down on the healthier components of my daily consumption.
Alas, a customer recently reported to the health department that they found a blade in one of the food bins – likely from a peeler, one of those little guys – and it took about 24 hours for the place to be practically boarded up. THAT sounds fishy to me. Yes that is no small offense, BUT in the grand scheme of things a single blade in the shredded carrots is frankly far less of the public health risk than other easily overlooked things like employees not washing their hands or not keeping food at the correct temperatures. At least a blade is right out there saying, “hello! I don’t belong here!”. Bacteria don’t do that. But in this case that blade allowed the inspectors to find those other violations I mentioned above – so perhaps the blade did some good.
Anyway, I still kind of wonder if anything else was going on – were there financial troubles? Managerial woes? It seems that a “for rent” sign up the next day is a bit extreme. Anyone know?
Thanks to a few restaurant industry veterans, a new breakfast and lunch spot is now open on Tijeras Avenue near downtown.
Cafe Lush is the creation of owners Tom Docherty and his wife, Sandy Gregory. They’ve spent long hours in local restaurant kitchens and behind the counter at bars in town, but now they’d like to keep in the same industry without having to retire completely.
The menu is, in a nutshell, fresh. Breakfast pizzas and french toast “bread pudding” that sound promising start the day, and lunch moves into sandwiches, savory salads, and more pizzas than you can shake a BBQ Chicken at.
Looking forward to see how Cafe Lush serves the neighborhood!
It’s the summer and we’re thinking of light, healthy foods. To many, that means seafood. But we can’t all have our swordfish and tuna – yes, tuna – and our yellowtail and still leave some for the next generation, or even the next YEAR.
Sustainable Seafood is all about fishing in a way that will keep populations healthy and plentiful for maintenance of both the ecosystem AND your fishy taste buds. At the Biopark’s Aquarium, at 6pm tonight (June 9th), is a bargain of an event – the Rock the Boat Sustainable Seafood Festival. $30 gets you a ticket to stroll around the lush grounds, sampling seafood from restaurants who have taken measures to increase or wholeheartedly embrace their sustainability when it comes to fish.
PLUS, you can sample a wicked cool fish – the lionfish. When you think “invasive species”, you think zebra mussel and kudzu and bark beetle. But if the invasive species is a fish, why not eat it? I agree!
Don’t forget the always-handy Monterey Bay Seafood Watch guide – you can download and print it for your wallet, and it will tell you which fish are good choices in the Southwest, or all over the country. Hint: don’t eat tuna. Seriously.
Albuquerque Restaurant Movers and Shakers
