Local food news first, then some piggy pouting.

FIRST, Farm and Table is now open if you hadn’t heard. They’re doing relatively straightforward gourmet food in a nice building and a farm out back that should be supplying good produce by summer. So far they’re good but once they have all those veg it will be a whole ‘nother ballgame. http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/print-edition/2012/03/30/farm-to-table-restaurants-open-and.html

NEXT, downtown lost a pretty fun nightclub that made a heckuva radicchio salad: Jazzbah missed some lease payments and they closed for good around the last week of March. http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2012/04/02/landlord-closes-jazzbah-over-missing.html

A cash mob group is ramping up on Facebook and will be targeting local businesses, including restaurants, with an influx of customers and cash. Neat idea. Get a few dozen people together and all descend upon the chosen establishment, giving a direct stimulus to that place’s bottom line. http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/business/cash-mob-hits-albuquerque-business

AND, Pizza 9 is expanding to Santa Fe. I’m not the biggest fan of their “not quite Chicago-style” pies, but it is always good news when local outlets do well enough to grow. http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2012/04/10/pizza-9-expands-to-santa-fe.html

Ok, now for the piggie news. Well, it’s enough to make a foodie wish they had to stay kosher: pork is generally not a nice thing to be eating. Now, I’ve known this for some time and of course there is a spectrum of ethics from killing innocent crustaceans all the way to veal calves and the like . . . but isn’t this a place that it would do good to at least REDUCE your consumption?

I am not in favor of completely renouncing animal products, far from it. But that does not mean that it is futile to have an impact by consuming less things that are the product of an unpleasant life. Like chicken? Go kill, pluck and dress one and roast it. If you’re still OK with eating poultry after that, find your local farmers and try to buy from them when and if possible.

And eat more beans, plants, and fruits. They’re quite immune from the bleeding and screaming when harvested.

La Hacienda in Old Town is (“temporarily”) kaput. Pretty much every time I see temporarily on a close notice, it’s for good. Sorry.

Apparently we don’t grow enough of our own chile here…. that’s a shame. “The New Mexico Chile Association said countries like China are trying to corner some chile markets. Currently, imports account for 82 percent of the U.S. consumption of chile, officials said.”

El Pinto gets vote as best New Mexican restaurant. That is, by New Mexico magazine. Pretty durn cool.

And….. after a much hyped waiting period, the former Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill has been taken over by yet another set of Santa Feans and again as a Mexican joint with tacos and such. It’s owned by Mark Kiffin of The Compound. The Compound. That’s serious cred.  I hope that Zacatecas Tacos & Tequila does ok, in the end. The talent is certainly there, but is the execution?  (And that “Z” looks a little too much like the Getrude Zachary Z…. or is that just me?)

….. but I do.  Let’s round up some of the latest restaurant gossip, shall we?

Firstly, I did not know that former co-founder of Relish was Chef de Cuisine at Artichoke Cafe. Go, Tony Nethery!

Next, Nob Hill is abuzz with openings, closings, and speculation. A new spot should be coming in where Bumble Bee’s was – called Z, and owned by the Street Food Asia folks. And, Andre’s quietly closed. Did anyone even eat there, aside from the one horrible Urbanspoon review?

And mentions do pop up about people that eat here and love it, like this one about Perea’s.

At his lamentably closed burger and steak joint called Independence Grill, Jerry Wright served good burgers, tasty prime rib, addicting fried pickles, and Pig Wings.  Those delectable drumsticks were actually small pork shanks with all the flavor bestowed by having the bone on the premises for extra flavoring.

Well, Jerry was ahead of the Times, literally: New York Times loves Pig Wings. Apparently “shank” is not a dining public friendly word, so pig wings was the appointed moniker to pair with ranch dressing and/or barbeque sauces.  I also learned that Chili’s riblets (or are those the infamous “baby back ribs”???) are actually the transverse process of the vertebrae. That’s pretty nifty, and means that Baby Back Ribs is actually a correct term.  Who woulda thunk it?

Too bad the recession nailed us all when it did – or maybe the grass-roots campaign should begin now to bring back Jerry, the fried pickles, and those luscious pig wings.

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:

Pizza 9 will be moving in to the former frozen-dessert spot behind the Century Downtown theater.  They say they’re Chicago, I say not-so.  Good pizza, but it’s thick crust, plain and simple.

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.