February 29, 2020 • 28 mins
New Mexico has some of the best regional foods and ingredients in the whole country and we are obsessed. Green chilies, blue corn, piñon nuts, and the list goes on. So many amazing flavors—too many to fit into one episode, so we're focusing on just two areas we've spent time in: Albuquerque and Santa Fe. In this bonus episode, we'll cover some of our favorite local dishes, restaurants, brews and spirits.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This is park Landia,
a production of I Heart Radio. We sold our all
offt in Chicago, moved into an RV. Now we're traveling
in the country full time with our Dogpin, exploring America's
national parks, and today we have a special bonus episode,
traveling Eats with Matt. I really love these episodes because
(00:25):
I love talking about food, but I love hearing about
food from Matt first and foremost because he does so
much amazing research, which I get to read those rewards
for him. Yeah, and this is a very special episode, indeed,
because talking about a region in a state that is
very near and dear. I love it. It's New Mexico,
which has some of the best and tastiest regional ingredients
(00:48):
in the whole country, or that of tastes ever in
my life, and I'm obsessed with it all, so much
amazing flavor. Right, So we're going to focus on a
couple of areas of the state that we've spent a
good amount of time in on our r Yeah, and
we've been it's been very fortunate. Sometimes we make special
trips just to these places. Worthwhile to go a hundreds
(01:09):
of miles out of our way. Yeah, to go to
these restaurants and breweries, breweries specifically, but sorry, yeah, we'll
get to have a second and go crazy. So first,
for a little bit of background New Mexico. Some of
its most iconic ingredients are things like green chilies and
blue corn and pinon, which is a nut that's used
(01:31):
frequently to make pinon and coffee there that's bountiful in
places in cities New Mexico, especially Uh. It's also known
for breakfast burritos, which were allegedly invented here. Is that
what you told me? Yes, supposedly they were invented at
um the International Boon Fiesta from the morning snacks when
(01:51):
everyone was trying to come in early, and supposedly I
mean breakfast invented loaded with potatoes, eggs, cheese. It's like
the perfect power, like you know, power breakfast, I guess.
And I had one of those at the Bloon Fiesta
and it was so good I miss it all the time.
I had one at least once a day because they're
that great. Yeah, and with those green chili, I can't
(02:13):
get enough. Yeah. So other things that New Mexico is
known for. These are dishes are kind of carnate, ato vada, chili, ranos,
chili cheeseburgers, and so papias, all of which I'll talk
about here. And I want to start with Albuquerque speaking
of the Balloon Fiesta. So Albuquerque is the kind of
the bigger, like biggest city in the state and more
(02:37):
of a hub for restaurants and in like traditional old
school places as well as newer ones and breweries and
bars as well. And I'm obsessed with Albuquerque. I love
it a lot more than I thought I would. Yeah,
it's just really great. They have, like you said, classic,
they have like new, they have like fintagery imagined, like
you know, all these different kinds of restaurants, and it's
(02:59):
a great mix of of all styles I think throughout
the city, and it all feels very cohesive and they
all use these neative ingredients very well in different ways
and ours. My first taste of Albuquerque when we arrived
for the first time for the Balloon Fiesta was you
took me to a place you had been before called
Mary and Tito's. Yes, my friend Dean Ricker from Chicago
(03:21):
told me about this and I had to go check
it out because You even told me that they won
a James Beard Award as like a classic, as an
American American American classic. Yeah. So it makes sense too
because it's this beautiful homie institution. It's been there since
nineteen sixty three, and they're using their original recipes since
they're open, they don't change it. And it's been generational,
(03:43):
three generations with family, and that passion really comes through,
and these recipes are just so like classic and so
comforting and nourishing, and this was such a delicious lunch
and great first taste of Albuquerque. I think just so
many dishes that are like rich with like red chilies
and green chill laes and like just native heritage. They
(04:03):
have things like chilia renios, which are you know, stuffed
fried chilies. We have us win cheros, and then carneada vada,
which is pork strips that are marinated in red chilies
and then baked and those are employed in a variety
of different dishes here from like tacos, burritos, and enchilada
is all of that, and then you can also get
(04:23):
something called stuffed so papias, which they call on the
menu as Mexican turnovers and they're basically do these like
flaky buttery pastries, and they're garnished with red or green
chilies or both, and then filled with things like beans, cheese,
optional meats like beef, chicken. Hold on, I'm gonna have
(04:44):
to get out of here. I'm going to New Mexico. Okay, okay, okay,
I'm sorry, I'm back. I was like, what are you doing? Um, yeah,
I mean it's all really really tasty, and then you
have you have to save room for dessert, and they
have a few different things, but my favorite is their
Mexican wedding cake. And it's not like a layer cake.
(05:06):
It's this more a bunt cake style with pineapples and walnuts,
and then it has this like super delicious cream cheese
frosting that's just like heaped over top, and it's made
by the mother. She makes them specially, and when they
run out, you don't get no right, so get there
early like we did, because I do not want to
(05:26):
miss that. And then next up we have to talk
about our absolutely favorite place in al Querque and then
one of our favorite places in the entire country. Take
a detour if you're a hundred miles away from Albuquerque,
New Mexico. Take a detour go to Bone Air Brewing
if you love beers, because they it's incredible, an amazing job,
(05:46):
my favorite beer across the country. I remember like looking
at man saying, this is the beer that can bring
people together. Yeah, I'm stunned by this place. It's my
favorite brewery in the country, like by far, and we
just kind of discovered it by absent dance. We arrived
in Albuquerque and I was googling, like looking for breweries
in Albuquerque because we love to do that, and this
(06:07):
was one of the top results. And I'm so glad
we went here because it's absolutely gorgeous. First of all,
it's the sprawling, lofty brewery with gorgeous like photo murals
indicative of the American Southwest. So it's very scenic and
pretty in here and well stylized but not pretentious or
stuffy whatsoever, very comforting and welcoming. And it's owned by
(06:28):
two Native American women, Shyla Shephard and Missy big Ay.
And they employed just like really wonderful, heartfelt every time
like employees, yeah literally, and we we have really good
conversations with um their bartenders, and we have their staff
because they're very can just tell that they're a place that, yes,
(06:50):
this isn't just a job or a paycheck to them,
like they care a lot about not just the beer
in the product, but the business and the brand and
who they work for on the hole, and that really
comes through. So we love to go here instead of
the bar and just chat see what's new, because they're
constantly rotating new seasonal beers, always interesting, always delicious. They
(07:11):
have things like hazelnut Imperial stout, and then tangerine melt
cream circle grissette. Oh my gosh, that's I mean yeah.
And then they have one of their more routine, like
regular flavors. It's called Strawberry Amigo and it's a fruity
sour beer inspired Oh I love it because it's inspired
by flavors of strawberry shortcakes. So yes please. And then
(07:33):
they have things like blue corn Loggers or that German
chocolate cake stout. Yeah. And I normally don't like stouts,
or like porters or really dark beers at all, and
this was so good, the German chocolate cakest out. And
it's funny because I don't like sours. There I'll take
any day of the week. Great, amazing, and it's a
delight to follow them on Instagram and Facebook and just
(07:55):
like see what products they're working on, what they're releasing,
although it's also kind of tortuous because I constantly desperately
just wish them there. Yes, and they always have like
a rotational um food truck that comes in, so they
don't serve with themselves, but they do have a rotation
of food trucks and so that's great because they're always
getting a new experience and a new dish from another
local food truck. Really awesome. I know that's a must.
(08:19):
We always spent into were in Alquirk, who we go
like multiple times pretty much every night, So that place
is great. Highest recommendation. You also introduced me to another place.
They're called the Pharmacy and that's spelled F A r
M instead of normal, and that's because they use a
lot of local, seasonal, wholesome ingredients and they sourced that way,
(08:41):
which is great and that really comes through. It really does.
Remember the first time we actually went together, I didn't
I didn't go there before, but I've heard so much
about it. And then we went to their location and
it was like their last weekend and then they were
moving into another racation and so we were talking with
the owner and he was just really really nice guy.
(09:02):
Um and he was like, yeah, we're expanding a little bit,
just trying to keep modest, but like also realized that,
you know, people want to sit down inside and we
need more rooms. So he was just he's just moving
on over and uh, we got to go to his
new place the last time we were in. So we've
been to the old location of the new one, and
the new one was just perfect. They still kept their
(09:23):
same small vibe and they're they're great energy that they
had behind it, but a modest expansion so they're not
like trying to become like a huge business or a
chain or anything. They're just trying to make sure they
have a solid place for people to come and have
great conversations. Yeah, and that places they do things like
(09:43):
green chilly turkey sandwiches, and they have always have a
different kind of waffle special. They have like both sweet
and savor. They have ones with like park on top.
They have like carro cake waffles so those are always great,
and like impanadas, breakfast tacos, egg sandwiches. Yeah, and then
one of my favorite kind of old school places, in
(10:05):
addition to Mary and Tito's, is located in old town
Abuquerque and it's this place called Church Street Cafe and
talk about an institute. Wow, this place has been here
for a very long time. It started as a private
home when it was first constructed in early in the
early seventeen hundreds, which was when the city itself was founded.
(10:26):
So this goes way back, and it was privately owned
as a home up until so not even too long
ago was it transformed into a restaurant. Yeah, they had
some really great Indian tacos. Yeah, they did Indian tacos,
which are always hard to pass up whenever we see those,
just like so open faced fried bread keeped with like
ground beef and cheese and classic blades and all that. Yeah,
(10:51):
and we sat in the back patio here. They have
a big sprawling back patio after you wind your way
through the inside, which still it's like feels very homey
with makes sense, and it has so much soul and
character and the patio is amazing. It's huge, has these
little water fountains. There's like cats running around like wildcats,
(11:11):
and it's beautiful. Yeah, I mean adds the ambiance. Just don't,
you know, feed the cats, otherwise you won't. They'll be
eating your whole Indian taco. I guess not good. Not good. No,
I don't share that. They also have great margarita's and
like green chili chicken soup, tomales. And then we shared
a big platter of taketo's, like just crispy, be filled taketos,
(11:39):
which are were wonderful. I eat most of them because
I was like starving and I've been hiking a lot
that day, so I ate like twenty taketos. It's really good.
I loved it. And then another because we basically when
we go to Albuquerque, we just eat green chili everything,
anything and everything, and especially when you're there, like we
were for the Fiesta, which is takes place in October annually,
(12:01):
and that's like green chili season, so it's on every
menu in every part of town. And also just the
the air kind of generally smells of green chili, which
is and one of my favorite renditions of green green
chili cookery. We found at this pizzeria, of all places,
(12:22):
called a more Neopolitan Pizzeria, and that was in the
Geans pharmacy, which is a collection of little bars basically
like their version of a food hall. It's this like construction,
this like smattering of um what the what it's called.
What is a lot of different words? Is one of them? Okay?
(12:43):
Oh yeah, the shipping container. So they have different cafes
and bars and restaurants in these things on two different floors.
And there's a Neapolitan style pizzeria on the second floor.
And we went here mostly expecting of traditional Italian style,
which was great, but we found one that had new
Mexico style toppings and options, one of which was had
(13:07):
green chili. They add right to the tomato sauce and
then serve it with like mozzarella, ham pineapple. That was
the rip off of that Hawaiian pizza. It's like a
new Mexican Hawaiian style. Yeah, it was really really great.
And we also had another green chili one that had
both red and green chilies alongside like corn, Italian sausage, tomato, sauce, mozzarella.
(13:30):
Oh my gosh, so many great everything. Um yeah, it's great.
I'm about to leave again, just mad that I'm talking
about this right now while we're not there. But that yeah,
that was just everything. And then I also wanted to
shout out this coffee shop that I love in a
pueraque called Little Bear Coffee. I didn't have any green
(13:52):
chili things here, but they still have really good like
par over coffees and latte's and seasonal specials like black
cherry cappuccini knows wonderful cold brew, especially in the summer
when it's scorching hot here, and then pastries it's like
croissans and cookies. But I just love the vibe. It's
very chek and sunny, comfy, great place to hold up
and get some work done in your laptop. Do have
(14:13):
to tell you that I did introduce four out of
the six of these two you. Yes, you did, including
Little Bear Coffee. Did you? Oh? I didn't know that,
I remember. Yeah. That's because you. You don't want to
take ownership of me suggesting these amazing places to you
because I've been there before. Well, you have been to
Albuquerque before me, I did. I did, no. Um. I
(14:37):
think there's just so much in Albuquerque that is wonderful
and I can't wait to talk about Santa Fe after
the short break. Hi. I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This
(14:59):
is part Glandia and today we're talking about food in
New Mexico and we're getting into the wonderful little city
of Santa Fe, which is easily accessible from al Querque
only like an hour away, an hour north, very doable.
There's also a train that connects the two cities and
that's stunning, makes it really easy. Yeah. So our favorite
(15:23):
place in Santa Fe was this dreamy little cocktail bar
called Lorena, and it's located at el Rey Court, this
kind of boutique hotel or motel. It kind of looks
like a two of their multiple times, right, yeah, we
went at least twice. It's this fantastic damily, little mescal bar.
It looks like something out of a Wes Anderson movie,
(15:45):
like you hit it right on the head. Yeah. Just
the color palette, like light hues, like pinks, like greens,
and like the cacti in the motel, the motel people
and we were there and there was like a poetry
him that night. Of course we went and it was
just like, I mean, that's how magical this this is
been of a place that does poetry slams on a
(16:06):
regular basis. It feels like so I wasn't surprised to
see to see that. And then they have obviously very
ave a focused drinks, a limited menu. They changed them
pretty regularly, but um always delicious. They have things like
Ranch Water, which is tequila topa Chico and a lime wedge,
(16:27):
real simple. I love it, super refreshing, and then Ultima
Plabra which has genope, Marischino, liquere, mescal and lime juice.
All these are so quenching. They're so inviting, potent, Yeah, inviting,
just like in the second night when we came and
like people were like just coming up and talking to us, conversation,
(16:47):
like it was so wonderful because it was a community space.
It was not like a it wasn't like a cocktail
bar like people it was popping around lying just yeah,
it was. It had a great feel to it and
it felt very Santa Fe, which we came to discover
it at other restaurants and venues like this is how
(17:07):
the city is and why I adore it so much
and I'm very good to go back. So some other places.
We loved Paloma, which is a restaurant bar. Not that
it's classics, but that and the name Paloma just makes
me think classic and it was classic. Yeah, it does
a really good job with obviously Palomas, but like a
(17:29):
whole other range of cocktails like Mescan, New Gronies, Mescow
Hot Toddies, Yes Please, Spicy passion Fruit Margarita's, and then
like great snacks they have, like salsa is really fragrant,
like smoky salsa's, guacamole, a shrimp, tostada's, savic stuff like that.
And then they had a whole like dining dining menu.
But when we go out and do places, we like
(17:51):
to snack. But they definitely had some killer menu items
and entrea items and like the space was really modern
and arts and it was time. Would went so like
just like flickering candle light and warm, like cozy vibes.
And we actually went there and then we couldn't be
seated right away, so we put in our name It's
popular wait list and they're like, yeah, I'll be about
(18:13):
two hours. We're like, okay, we're back, and so we
went to check so maybe grab some reservations, snack some
of those. Yeah, that's us, yes, And I think in
between we killed time, we wandered around. Santa Fe is
very walkable, especially the greater like downtown area, like where
this is and where we were, so we wandered from
there to this is another popular cocktail spotled Soecreto Lounge,
(18:35):
and that's right in the heart of downtown Santa Fe,
inside this beautiful boutique hotel, the Hotel St. Francis, and
they're known for what they call garden to glass cocktails,
meaning the freshest fruits and herbs and vegetables and stuff
like that that they use in their drinks along with
all local spirits and bidders and what a gem. The
(18:56):
lace was really great and they do really interesting thing.
Didn't get like a like a smoke sage margarita, Yeah
you did, And that's like the I think the best
example of what they're doing here because like sage and
it's like local. They probably clipped it right outside their
their window or something and then they smoke it, so
it's super aromatic and like just billowing this aroma. Loved it.
(19:20):
And then the cool thing about this and this drink
in particular is it's part of something called the Santa
Fe Margharita Trail, which sounds like a boozy Appalachian trail
or something. I love it sounds like a tit up alley. Yeah.
I would love to hike that trail. And that trail
consists of different iconic Margharita's at bars throughout town and
(19:42):
they have a website for this, the Margarita Trail, So
you can do this journey I do like you shouldn't
do in the same night. But can we make it
into like a passport book? Oh yeah, that would be fantastic.
I would love to get a stamp and every one
of these ours I would love, but I would not
be able to dot one night, just so you know,
not not recommended. Um another place that you should go
(20:05):
in general, but also you could go to drink here
is meal Wolf. So came back the whole conversation. I
love because it's more than just an experience. Really hard
to explain. I shouldn't say it's more than experience. It
isn't experience in itself. That it's like you just you
transcend into it. Yeah, I mean, it's nuts. It's like
(20:29):
you become it, it becomes you. Yeah. It feels like
it's part hunted house, part art museum, part escape room,
all tangled into one neon colored web. It's it's crazy
now most people are probably asking, like, what does have
to do with food or traveling eats? Well, let me
tell you when they're done with me a Wolf. Once
you're done like crawling through this weird house maze thing,
(20:54):
they have an on site cafe and bar which is
called Float Cafe Bar and it's right out in like
the main lobby of my awolf here and great great
spot to unwind after you're done with the like exhibits
and stuff. Because the drinks are really good and really
fun and whimsical, which makes sense. They have like legit
absinthe drip like the traditional sta absent trips. Yeah, absolutely
(21:17):
funny story about that. I was recently talking with about
this with a lift driver when we're in Florida and
I don't know what how this topic came up and
we were talking about Mia Wolf and the bar there
and stuff, and I mentioned I was like, yeah, I
did a traditionally absent trip there, and he misheard me
and thought I said acid, So he was like, oh, yeah,
I could totally see doing acid there. And I'm like,
(21:40):
can you over because I just yeah right now, But
I didn't cract much. Was like mmmmmmm, like I'll take
it I'll act like I'm a cool kid. Yeah, just
like he actually thought I was doing acid, but no
absinthe different things. They also have the adorably named me
augar Rita of course right now, and they even have
(22:03):
you don't even need to have like cocktails are like
you're here. They have really fun like coffee based drinks,
like something called the night Wolf, which is double espresso,
dark chocolate and lavender with steamed milk, and something they
call purple shimmer. Love that, and then something called nebular
marbits with it's like they're making up a language here.
They are with purple white chocolate cocoa with steamed milk
(22:27):
topped with marshmallow lucky charm marbits and unicorn shimmer. It's like,
I don't understand what's going on here, but it's beautiful
and like absolutely fabulous. Everything about Malow was fabulous, including
all of these drinks like the Malgarita. I mean, love
a lot of whimsy here. And by the way, I
found out that marbit's is a word for marshmallow bits,
(22:50):
like large terms, so there's that sense. And then beyond
just like absinthe and like palomas and all that Santa
fe how as tons of other deliciousness. Like I went
to at least two different days to this bakery called
Who's Donuts, and that's who oh, like what an owl
would say, because it's like the thing and it's this
(23:13):
really modest looking cafe from the outside, but you go
inside and you're like blown away by the array of
flavors they have here, and the donuts just look so
delicious and they are, and they come in classic flavors
as well as contemporary options, and they especially have an
impressive lineup of like local specialties, local flavors like blue
(23:35):
corn blueberry lavender donuts and green chili apple fritters and
blue corn maple pecan and then red chili bacon toffee.
It's there's a lot, there's a lot to love. Yeah,
and that's some seasonal ones too, and like you brought
me one of these back, um, I want to say
(23:57):
it was something like the summer peach. Yeah, I think
that timeline checks out. And they also that was probably
late in their strawberry seasons, so they have strawberry rybarb
is a popular option for them, and then later like
in like fall, they have para ginger fritters. Like all
of it I want all of it right like right now,
and like, literally, can we just go? You know what,
(24:18):
We're gonna have to find a way to get back
to New Mexico. In the next couple of mons, I
miss it and reminiscing about it is not helping when
we're not there. No, it's not not helpful at all.
And then another place that I loved was well, Santa
Fe is a great They have a very robust coffee
shop scene. They do much to my delight, they have
plenty of those. My favorite was this place called Sky
(24:39):
Coffee and it's in the rail Yard area of Santa Fe,
which seems to be a very like kind of up
and coming, like industrial area hip, but like that's where
like the ari I was, and that area you were
obsessed with because you're getting those um tell mountain bars
from yeah, and they're only I can only get them
in areas. So that's what brought me to that area
was like pari to stock up on energy bars. And
(25:03):
then I was like, oh, here's a coffee shop that
looks really cute. So I hopped in there and it
did not disappoint. It's really sunny, like bright, it looks
like kind of a white cottage, definitely the type of
place that I would just chill out and like work
in my computer for a little while, which is exactly
what I did. And they have like wonderful espresso and
(25:25):
cortadoes and chai par over coffee. They have kombucha on tap,
and then they have lots of stacks like coffee cake
and muffins, and they also supply a limited selection of
Whose donuts, so in case you can't make it today,
there we go mother ship. Yeah, and last, but not
least has probably one of the better views was that
(25:47):
rooftop cantina for Margarita's. Yes, so this was like our fun, awesome,
like bar hopping night in downtown Santa Fe. And this
is a grid casual option. It's a very chill, lively vibe,
still kind of stylish and in artsy, but like much
more laid back, I would say, and spacious rooftop. We
(26:08):
were able to like mosey right up to the edge
pretty much and just have like a couple of Margarita's
probably like guacamoli, chips, solid food, solid Margarita's, Like nothing
too crazy fancy. It's more about the views. But then
they do have that like um fancy restaurant inside though
they do, yeah, which is just right through the doors.
(26:29):
And but this is I remember just like kind of
sitting sitting there chilling. The sun was setting and it
was the most idyllic experience and a great way to
cap off just a wonderful, like dreamy evening in Santa Fe.
And I cannot get enough of Santa Fe or Albuquerque
or New Mexico, like all of this, from blue corn
(26:49):
donuts to like blue corn loggers at Bow and Arrow
and green chili pizza, green chili turkey sandwiches, such a
wonderful and you know it's crazy. This is just a
taste of New Mexico. Yeah, just a taste. So I
can't wait to go back and re eat, re drink
all of us and then just explore everything else because
(27:10):
it's really endless. You've been listening to park Landia, a
show about national parks. Parklandis the production of My Heart Radio,
created by Matt Carouac, Brad Caro Wak, and Christopher has
The otis produced and edited by Mike John's. Our executive
producer is Christopher hasiotis our researcher. It's Jocelyn shield A
Special Things goes out to Gabrielle Collins, Christal Waters and
(27:31):
the rest of the Parklandia crew and hey listeners, If
you're enjoying the show, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.
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Check out our photos from our travels on Instagram at
Parklandia Pod and join in on the conversation in our
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visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
(27:54):
listen to your favorite shows, and as always, thank you
for listening. Not a captivate at p
Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This is park Landia,
a production of I Heart Radio. We sold our all
offt in Chicago, moved into an RV. Now we're traveling
in the country full time with our Dogpin, exploring America's
national parks, and today we have a special bonus episode,
traveling Eats with Matt. I really love these episodes because
(00:25):
I love talking about food, but I love hearing about
food from Matt first and foremost because he does so
much amazing research, which I get to read those rewards
for him. Yeah, and this is a very special episode, indeed,
because talking about a region in a state that is
very near and dear. I love it. It's New Mexico,
which has some of the best and tastiest regional ingredients
(00:48):
in the whole country, or that of tastes ever in
my life, and I'm obsessed with it all, so much
amazing flavor. Right, So we're going to focus on a
couple of areas of the state that we've spent a
good amount of time in on our r Yeah, and
we've been it's been very fortunate. Sometimes we make special
trips just to these places. Worthwhile to go a hundreds
(01:09):
of miles out of our way. Yeah, to go to
these restaurants and breweries, breweries specifically, but sorry, yeah, we'll
get to have a second and go crazy. So first,
for a little bit of background New Mexico. Some of
its most iconic ingredients are things like green chilies and
blue corn and pinon, which is a nut that's used
(01:31):
frequently to make pinon and coffee there that's bountiful in
places in cities New Mexico, especially Uh. It's also known
for breakfast burritos, which were allegedly invented here. Is that
what you told me? Yes, supposedly they were invented at
um the International Boon Fiesta from the morning snacks when
(01:51):
everyone was trying to come in early, and supposedly I
mean breakfast invented loaded with potatoes, eggs, cheese. It's like
the perfect power, like you know, power breakfast, I guess.
And I had one of those at the Bloon Fiesta
and it was so good I miss it all the time.
I had one at least once a day because they're
that great. Yeah, and with those green chili, I can't
(02:13):
get enough. Yeah. So other things that New Mexico is
known for. These are dishes are kind of carnate, ato vada, chili, ranos,
chili cheeseburgers, and so papias, all of which I'll talk
about here. And I want to start with Albuquerque speaking
of the Balloon Fiesta. So Albuquerque is the kind of
the bigger, like biggest city in the state and more
(02:37):
of a hub for restaurants and in like traditional old
school places as well as newer ones and breweries and
bars as well. And I'm obsessed with Albuquerque. I love
it a lot more than I thought I would. Yeah,
it's just really great. They have, like you said, classic,
they have like new, they have like fintagery imagined, like
you know, all these different kinds of restaurants, and it's
(02:59):
a great mix of of all styles I think throughout
the city, and it all feels very cohesive and they
all use these neative ingredients very well in different ways
and ours. My first taste of Albuquerque when we arrived
for the first time for the Balloon Fiesta was you
took me to a place you had been before called
Mary and Tito's. Yes, my friend Dean Ricker from Chicago
(03:21):
told me about this and I had to go check
it out because You even told me that they won
a James Beard Award as like a classic, as an
American American American classic. Yeah. So it makes sense too
because it's this beautiful homie institution. It's been there since
nineteen sixty three, and they're using their original recipes since
they're open, they don't change it. And it's been generational,
(03:43):
three generations with family, and that passion really comes through,
and these recipes are just so like classic and so
comforting and nourishing, and this was such a delicious lunch
and great first taste of Albuquerque. I think just so
many dishes that are like rich with like red chilies
and green chill laes and like just native heritage. They
(04:03):
have things like chilia renios, which are you know, stuffed
fried chilies. We have us win cheros, and then carneada vada,
which is pork strips that are marinated in red chilies
and then baked and those are employed in a variety
of different dishes here from like tacos, burritos, and enchilada
is all of that, and then you can also get
(04:23):
something called stuffed so papias, which they call on the
menu as Mexican turnovers and they're basically do these like
flaky buttery pastries, and they're garnished with red or green
chilies or both, and then filled with things like beans, cheese,
optional meats like beef, chicken. Hold on, I'm gonna have
(04:44):
to get out of here. I'm going to New Mexico. Okay, okay, okay,
I'm sorry, I'm back. I was like, what are you doing? Um, yeah,
I mean it's all really really tasty, and then you
have you have to save room for dessert, and they
have a few different things, but my favorite is their
Mexican wedding cake. And it's not like a layer cake.
(05:06):
It's this more a bunt cake style with pineapples and walnuts,
and then it has this like super delicious cream cheese
frosting that's just like heaped over top, and it's made
by the mother. She makes them specially, and when they
run out, you don't get no right, so get there
early like we did, because I do not want to
(05:26):
miss that. And then next up we have to talk
about our absolutely favorite place in al Querque and then
one of our favorite places in the entire country. Take
a detour if you're a hundred miles away from Albuquerque,
New Mexico. Take a detour go to Bone Air Brewing
if you love beers, because they it's incredible, an amazing job,
(05:46):
my favorite beer across the country. I remember like looking
at man saying, this is the beer that can bring
people together. Yeah, I'm stunned by this place. It's my
favorite brewery in the country, like by far, and we
just kind of discovered it by absent dance. We arrived
in Albuquerque and I was googling, like looking for breweries
in Albuquerque because we love to do that, and this
(06:07):
was one of the top results. And I'm so glad
we went here because it's absolutely gorgeous. First of all,
it's the sprawling, lofty brewery with gorgeous like photo murals
indicative of the American Southwest. So it's very scenic and
pretty in here and well stylized but not pretentious or
stuffy whatsoever, very comforting and welcoming. And it's owned by
(06:28):
two Native American women, Shyla Shephard and Missy big Ay.
And they employed just like really wonderful, heartfelt every time
like employees, yeah literally, and we we have really good
conversations with um their bartenders, and we have their staff
because they're very can just tell that they're a place that, yes,
(06:50):
this isn't just a job or a paycheck to them,
like they care a lot about not just the beer
in the product, but the business and the brand and
who they work for on the hole, and that really
comes through. So we love to go here instead of
the bar and just chat see what's new, because they're
constantly rotating new seasonal beers, always interesting, always delicious. They
(07:11):
have things like hazelnut Imperial stout, and then tangerine melt
cream circle grissette. Oh my gosh, that's I mean yeah.
And then they have one of their more routine, like
regular flavors. It's called Strawberry Amigo and it's a fruity
sour beer inspired Oh I love it because it's inspired
by flavors of strawberry shortcakes. So yes please. And then
(07:33):
they have things like blue corn Loggers or that German
chocolate cake stout. Yeah. And I normally don't like stouts,
or like porters or really dark beers at all, and
this was so good, the German chocolate cakest out. And
it's funny because I don't like sours. There I'll take
any day of the week. Great, amazing, and it's a
delight to follow them on Instagram and Facebook and just
(07:55):
like see what products they're working on, what they're releasing,
although it's also kind of tortuous because I constantly desperately
just wish them there. Yes, and they always have like
a rotational um food truck that comes in, so they
don't serve with themselves, but they do have a rotation
of food trucks and so that's great because they're always
getting a new experience and a new dish from another
local food truck. Really awesome. I know that's a must.
(08:19):
We always spent into were in Alquirk, who we go
like multiple times pretty much every night, So that place
is great. Highest recommendation. You also introduced me to another place.
They're called the Pharmacy and that's spelled F A r
M instead of normal, and that's because they use a
lot of local, seasonal, wholesome ingredients and they sourced that way,
(08:41):
which is great and that really comes through. It really does.
Remember the first time we actually went together, I didn't
I didn't go there before, but I've heard so much
about it. And then we went to their location and
it was like their last weekend and then they were
moving into another racation and so we were talking with
the owner and he was just really really nice guy.
(09:02):
Um and he was like, yeah, we're expanding a little bit,
just trying to keep modest, but like also realized that,
you know, people want to sit down inside and we
need more rooms. So he was just he's just moving
on over and uh, we got to go to his
new place the last time we were in. So we've
been to the old location of the new one, and
the new one was just perfect. They still kept their
(09:23):
same small vibe and they're they're great energy that they
had behind it, but a modest expansion so they're not
like trying to become like a huge business or a
chain or anything. They're just trying to make sure they
have a solid place for people to come and have
great conversations. Yeah, and that places they do things like
(09:43):
green chilly turkey sandwiches, and they have always have a
different kind of waffle special. They have like both sweet
and savor. They have ones with like park on top.
They have like carro cake waffles so those are always great,
and like impanadas, breakfast tacos, egg sandwiches. Yeah, and then
one of my favorite kind of old school places, in
(10:05):
addition to Mary and Tito's, is located in old town
Abuquerque and it's this place called Church Street Cafe and
talk about an institute. Wow, this place has been here
for a very long time. It started as a private
home when it was first constructed in early in the
early seventeen hundreds, which was when the city itself was founded.
(10:26):
So this goes way back, and it was privately owned
as a home up until so not even too long
ago was it transformed into a restaurant. Yeah, they had
some really great Indian tacos. Yeah, they did Indian tacos,
which are always hard to pass up whenever we see those,
just like so open faced fried bread keeped with like
ground beef and cheese and classic blades and all that. Yeah,
(10:51):
and we sat in the back patio here. They have
a big sprawling back patio after you wind your way
through the inside, which still it's like feels very homey
with makes sense, and it has so much soul and
character and the patio is amazing. It's huge, has these
little water fountains. There's like cats running around like wildcats,
(11:11):
and it's beautiful. Yeah, I mean adds the ambiance. Just don't,
you know, feed the cats, otherwise you won't. They'll be
eating your whole Indian taco. I guess not good. Not good. No,
I don't share that. They also have great margarita's and
like green chili chicken soup, tomales. And then we shared
a big platter of taketo's, like just crispy, be filled taketos,
(11:39):
which are were wonderful. I eat most of them because
I was like starving and I've been hiking a lot
that day, so I ate like twenty taketos. It's really good.
I loved it. And then another because we basically when
we go to Albuquerque, we just eat green chili everything,
anything and everything, and especially when you're there, like we
were for the Fiesta, which is takes place in October annually,
(12:01):
and that's like green chili season, so it's on every
menu in every part of town. And also just the
the air kind of generally smells of green chili, which
is and one of my favorite renditions of green green
chili cookery. We found at this pizzeria, of all places,
(12:22):
called a more Neopolitan Pizzeria, and that was in the
Geans pharmacy, which is a collection of little bars basically
like their version of a food hall. It's this like construction,
this like smattering of um what the what it's called.
What is a lot of different words? Is one of them? Okay?
(12:43):
Oh yeah, the shipping container. So they have different cafes
and bars and restaurants in these things on two different floors.
And there's a Neapolitan style pizzeria on the second floor.
And we went here mostly expecting of traditional Italian style,
which was great, but we found one that had new
Mexico style toppings and options, one of which was had
(13:07):
green chili. They add right to the tomato sauce and
then serve it with like mozzarella, ham pineapple. That was
the rip off of that Hawaiian pizza. It's like a
new Mexican Hawaiian style. Yeah, it was really really great.
And we also had another green chili one that had
both red and green chilies alongside like corn, Italian sausage, tomato, sauce, mozzarella.
(13:30):
Oh my gosh, so many great everything. Um yeah, it's great.
I'm about to leave again, just mad that I'm talking
about this right now while we're not there. But that yeah,
that was just everything. And then I also wanted to
shout out this coffee shop that I love in a
pueraque called Little Bear Coffee. I didn't have any green
(13:52):
chili things here, but they still have really good like
par over coffees and latte's and seasonal specials like black
cherry cappuccini knows wonderful cold brew, especially in the summer
when it's scorching hot here, and then pastries it's like
croissans and cookies. But I just love the vibe. It's
very chek and sunny, comfy, great place to hold up
and get some work done in your laptop. Do have
(14:13):
to tell you that I did introduce four out of
the six of these two you. Yes, you did, including
Little Bear Coffee. Did you? Oh? I didn't know that,
I remember. Yeah. That's because you. You don't want to
take ownership of me suggesting these amazing places to you
because I've been there before. Well, you have been to
Albuquerque before me, I did. I did, no. Um. I
(14:37):
think there's just so much in Albuquerque that is wonderful
and I can't wait to talk about Santa Fe after
the short break. Hi. I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This
(14:59):
is part Glandia and today we're talking about food in
New Mexico and we're getting into the wonderful little city
of Santa Fe, which is easily accessible from al Querque
only like an hour away, an hour north, very doable.
There's also a train that connects the two cities and
that's stunning, makes it really easy. Yeah. So our favorite
(15:23):
place in Santa Fe was this dreamy little cocktail bar
called Lorena, and it's located at el Rey Court, this
kind of boutique hotel or motel. It kind of looks
like a two of their multiple times, right, yeah, we
went at least twice. It's this fantastic damily, little mescal bar.
It looks like something out of a Wes Anderson movie,
(15:45):
like you hit it right on the head. Yeah. Just
the color palette, like light hues, like pinks, like greens,
and like the cacti in the motel, the motel people
and we were there and there was like a poetry
him that night. Of course we went and it was
just like, I mean, that's how magical this this is
been of a place that does poetry slams on a
(16:06):
regular basis. It feels like so I wasn't surprised to
see to see that. And then they have obviously very
ave a focused drinks, a limited menu. They changed them
pretty regularly, but um always delicious. They have things like
Ranch Water, which is tequila topa Chico and a lime wedge,
(16:27):
real simple. I love it, super refreshing, and then Ultima
Plabra which has genope, Marischino, liquere, mescal and lime juice.
All these are so quenching. They're so inviting, potent, Yeah, inviting,
just like in the second night when we came and
like people were like just coming up and talking to us, conversation,
(16:47):
like it was so wonderful because it was a community space.
It was not like a it wasn't like a cocktail
bar like people it was popping around lying just yeah,
it was. It had a great feel to it and
it felt very Santa Fe, which we came to discover
it at other restaurants and venues like this is how
(17:07):
the city is and why I adore it so much
and I'm very good to go back. So some other places.
We loved Paloma, which is a restaurant bar. Not that
it's classics, but that and the name Paloma just makes
me think classic and it was classic. Yeah, it does
a really good job with obviously Palomas, but like a
(17:29):
whole other range of cocktails like Mescan, New Gronies, Mescow
Hot Toddies, Yes Please, Spicy passion Fruit Margarita's, and then
like great snacks they have, like salsa is really fragrant,
like smoky salsa's, guacamole, a shrimp, tostada's, savic stuff like that.
And then they had a whole like dining dining menu.
But when we go out and do places, we like
(17:51):
to snack. But they definitely had some killer menu items
and entrea items and like the space was really modern
and arts and it was time. Would went so like
just like flickering candle light and warm, like cozy vibes.
And we actually went there and then we couldn't be
seated right away, so we put in our name It's
popular wait list and they're like, yeah, I'll be about
(18:13):
two hours. We're like, okay, we're back, and so we
went to check so maybe grab some reservations, snack some
of those. Yeah, that's us, yes, And I think in
between we killed time, we wandered around. Santa Fe is
very walkable, especially the greater like downtown area, like where
this is and where we were, so we wandered from
there to this is another popular cocktail spotled Soecreto Lounge,
(18:35):
and that's right in the heart of downtown Santa Fe,
inside this beautiful boutique hotel, the Hotel St. Francis, and
they're known for what they call garden to glass cocktails,
meaning the freshest fruits and herbs and vegetables and stuff
like that that they use in their drinks along with
all local spirits and bidders and what a gem. The
(18:56):
lace was really great and they do really interesting thing.
Didn't get like a like a smoke sage margarita, Yeah
you did, And that's like the I think the best
example of what they're doing here because like sage and
it's like local. They probably clipped it right outside their
their window or something and then they smoke it, so
it's super aromatic and like just billowing this aroma. Loved it.
(19:20):
And then the cool thing about this and this drink
in particular is it's part of something called the Santa
Fe Margharita Trail, which sounds like a boozy Appalachian trail
or something. I love it sounds like a tit up alley. Yeah.
I would love to hike that trail. And that trail
consists of different iconic Margharita's at bars throughout town and
(19:42):
they have a website for this, the Margarita Trail, So
you can do this journey I do like you shouldn't
do in the same night. But can we make it
into like a passport book? Oh yeah, that would be fantastic.
I would love to get a stamp and every one
of these ours I would love, but I would not
be able to dot one night, just so you know,
not not recommended. Um another place that you should go
(20:05):
in general, but also you could go to drink here
is meal Wolf. So came back the whole conversation. I
love because it's more than just an experience. Really hard
to explain. I shouldn't say it's more than experience. It
isn't experience in itself. That it's like you just you
transcend into it. Yeah, I mean, it's nuts. It's like
(20:29):
you become it, it becomes you. Yeah. It feels like
it's part hunted house, part art museum, part escape room,
all tangled into one neon colored web. It's it's crazy
now most people are probably asking, like, what does have
to do with food or traveling eats? Well, let me
tell you when they're done with me a Wolf. Once
you're done like crawling through this weird house maze thing,
(20:54):
they have an on site cafe and bar which is
called Float Cafe Bar and it's right out in like
the main lobby of my awolf here and great great
spot to unwind after you're done with the like exhibits
and stuff. Because the drinks are really good and really
fun and whimsical, which makes sense. They have like legit
absinthe drip like the traditional sta absent trips. Yeah, absolutely
(21:17):
funny story about that. I was recently talking with about
this with a lift driver when we're in Florida and
I don't know what how this topic came up and
we were talking about Mia Wolf and the bar there
and stuff, and I mentioned I was like, yeah, I
did a traditionally absent trip there, and he misheard me
and thought I said acid, So he was like, oh, yeah,
I could totally see doing acid there. And I'm like,
(21:40):
can you over because I just yeah right now, But
I didn't cract much. Was like mmmmmmm, like I'll take
it I'll act like I'm a cool kid. Yeah, just
like he actually thought I was doing acid, but no
absinthe different things. They also have the adorably named me
augar Rita of course right now, and they even have
(22:03):
you don't even need to have like cocktails are like
you're here. They have really fun like coffee based drinks,
like something called the night Wolf, which is double espresso,
dark chocolate and lavender with steamed milk, and something they
call purple shimmer. Love that, and then something called nebular
marbits with it's like they're making up a language here.
They are with purple white chocolate cocoa with steamed milk
(22:27):
topped with marshmallow lucky charm marbits and unicorn shimmer. It's like,
I don't understand what's going on here, but it's beautiful
and like absolutely fabulous. Everything about Malow was fabulous, including
all of these drinks like the Malgarita. I mean, love
a lot of whimsy here. And by the way, I
found out that marbit's is a word for marshmallow bits,
(22:50):
like large terms, so there's that sense. And then beyond
just like absinthe and like palomas and all that Santa
fe how as tons of other deliciousness. Like I went
to at least two different days to this bakery called
Who's Donuts, and that's who oh, like what an owl
would say, because it's like the thing and it's this
(23:13):
really modest looking cafe from the outside, but you go
inside and you're like blown away by the array of
flavors they have here, and the donuts just look so
delicious and they are, and they come in classic flavors
as well as contemporary options, and they especially have an
impressive lineup of like local specialties, local flavors like blue
(23:35):
corn blueberry lavender donuts and green chili apple fritters and
blue corn maple pecan and then red chili bacon toffee.
It's there's a lot, there's a lot to love. Yeah,
and that's some seasonal ones too, and like you brought
me one of these back, um, I want to say
(23:57):
it was something like the summer peach. Yeah, I think
that timeline checks out. And they also that was probably
late in their strawberry seasons, so they have strawberry rybarb
is a popular option for them, and then later like
in like fall, they have para ginger fritters. Like all
of it I want all of it right like right now,
and like, literally, can we just go? You know what,
(24:18):
We're gonna have to find a way to get back
to New Mexico. In the next couple of mons, I
miss it and reminiscing about it is not helping when
we're not there. No, it's not not helpful at all.
And then another place that I loved was well, Santa
Fe is a great They have a very robust coffee
shop scene. They do much to my delight, they have
plenty of those. My favorite was this place called Sky
(24:39):
Coffee and it's in the rail Yard area of Santa Fe,
which seems to be a very like kind of up
and coming, like industrial area hip, but like that's where
like the ari I was, and that area you were
obsessed with because you're getting those um tell mountain bars
from yeah, and they're only I can only get them
in areas. So that's what brought me to that area
was like pari to stock up on energy bars. And
(25:03):
then I was like, oh, here's a coffee shop that
looks really cute. So I hopped in there and it
did not disappoint. It's really sunny, like bright, it looks
like kind of a white cottage, definitely the type of
place that I would just chill out and like work
in my computer for a little while, which is exactly
what I did. And they have like wonderful espresso and
(25:25):
cortadoes and chai par over coffee. They have kombucha on tap,
and then they have lots of stacks like coffee cake
and muffins, and they also supply a limited selection of
Whose donuts, so in case you can't make it today,
there we go mother ship. Yeah, and last, but not
least has probably one of the better views was that
(25:47):
rooftop cantina for Margarita's. Yes, so this was like our fun, awesome,
like bar hopping night in downtown Santa Fe. And this
is a grid casual option. It's a very chill, lively vibe,
still kind of stylish and in artsy, but like much
more laid back, I would say, and spacious rooftop. We
(26:08):
were able to like mosey right up to the edge
pretty much and just have like a couple of Margarita's
probably like guacamoli, chips, solid food, solid Margarita's, Like nothing
too crazy fancy. It's more about the views. But then
they do have that like um fancy restaurant inside though
they do, yeah, which is just right through the doors.
(26:29):
And but this is I remember just like kind of
sitting sitting there chilling. The sun was setting and it
was the most idyllic experience and a great way to
cap off just a wonderful, like dreamy evening in Santa Fe.
And I cannot get enough of Santa Fe or Albuquerque
or New Mexico, like all of this, from blue corn
(26:49):
donuts to like blue corn loggers at Bow and Arrow
and green chili pizza, green chili turkey sandwiches, such a
wonderful and you know it's crazy. This is just a
taste of New Mexico. Yeah, just a taste. So I
can't wait to go back and re eat, re drink
all of us and then just explore everything else because
(27:10):
it's really endless. You've been listening to park Landia, a
show about national parks. Parklandis the production of My Heart Radio,
created by Matt Carouac, Brad Caro Wak, and Christopher has
The otis produced and edited by Mike John's. Our executive
producer is Christopher hasiotis our researcher. It's Jocelyn shield A
Special Things goes out to Gabrielle Collins, Christal Waters and
(27:31):
the rest of the Parklandia crew and hey listeners, If
you're enjoying the show, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.
It helps other people like you find our show. You
can keep up with us on social media as well.
Check out our photos from our travels on Instagram at
Parklandia Pod and join in on the conversation in our
Facebook group Parklandia Rangers. From our podcast my Heart Radio,
visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
(27:54):
listen to your favorite shows, and as always, thank you
for listening. Not a captivate at p
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