Triple-D in Triple-A: New in New Mexico
Steve Klauke, voice of the Salt Lake Bees, spends all 144 games of the Bees season with the team, home and away. Needless to say he's not getting home cooking for 72 of those games. Steve's always looking for a good spot to eat in the 15 cities throughout the league and here, he'll chronicle those visits to his favorites, which also happen to be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
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The Bees' second road trip of the season featured stops in El Paso and Albuquerque. While host Guy Fieri and the crew from the hit Food Network show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" have not visited El Paso, they have visited multiple restaurants in New Mexico. I've had everything in Albuquerque from barbeque to black squid ink pasta with sautéed seafood, but I have never made the 45 minute drive north to Santa Fe. At least not until now, as we had an off day on the schedule. Triple-D has visited several places in Santa Fe, so I had a lot to choose from.
I decided that I would have lunch at Casa Chimayo, which is located just off of the famous Santa Fe plaza. The featured item that I tried was a blue corn chicken enchilada. I was given the choice of topping it with either red chile or green chile sauce, so I went with red knowing that green was in my future on this trip.
I should point out that red and green chiles are a staple in New Mexico cuisine. Both are tasty and have their ownunique kicks to them. According to the Jaunted website blog, New Mexican chile - regardless of whether a chile is red or green - it's made from the same pepper (the chile). The difference between the red and green is that red chiles are older and the green younger - think a raisin (red) versus a grape (green). When prepared, the red chile is ground up super fine, resulting in a chile sauce that is very smooth. The flavor is smoky, spicy and deep, as if possible to taste the age.
The green, however, is chopped into small chunks and comes out with a texture that features bits and pieces of pepper. The flavor is still spicy, but it tastes more like fresh peppers and lacks the deep smokiness. Both are spicy; they just manifest it in different ways.
I received a good sized portion of enchiladas with a side of rice and beans; the chicken was moist and tender and the red chile sauce had just the right amount of kick to it. The blue corn tortilla gave the enchiladas a slightly different flavor than the traditional flour tortillas. I thought $14 was a little much, but then I figured that you're going to spend a little more money for anything in a resort town like Santa Fe.
While browsing through shops in the plaza, I struck up a conversation with the owners of a Christmas shop that eventually moved to food. I told them about my Triple-D visits and they told me that one of places that had been on the show was closing after the day's business, so I had to go over to Bert's Burger Bowl.
BBB had been a staple in Santa Fe since 1954 and it lays claim to being the original New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger. As it turns out, the lease was up on May 1st, and Fernando and Debra Olea - who had owned it for 25 years - decided to retire and spend time with their new grandchild. After a fifteen minute walk, I found a line that stretched out the door. In talking to the folks who were standing there, the line was much shorter than it had been earlier in the day.
After a 75 minute wait, I placed my order for the famous sandwich and then sat down to listen in on some of the conversations the locals were having with the owners. All of the customers had teared filled eyes as they placed their last orders. Fernando did all he could to comfort them and told them to smile instead. He also asked all of the regulars to write down their memories and email addresses so that they could keep in touch. It was amazing to see all the love between the Oleas and their customers, with whom they regarded as family. They normally close at three, but it was after four when I got my food and there was still a line of people hoping to get an order in before they ran out of food.
As for the burger itself, it was well worth the wait. It was served with lettuce and tomato and topped with a chopped and chunky green chile. The meat was cooked over an open flame and tasted like you had done it yourself on a backyard grill. I am so glad that my timing, and the info from the Christmas shop owners was such that I could be there on the day it was closing. They were running out of food, so I felt a little guilty that I might be keeping a local from having one last Bert's Burger Bowl green chile cheeseburger.
A couple of days later, it was time to check out a new spot in Albuquerque and I decided on Bocadillo's, a sandwich shop that is only open from 11am to 2:30pm Monday through Friday. It doesn't sound like much, but there is more to their story. Before she opens, owner Marie Yniguez feeds breakfast and lunch to nearly 1,000 charter school students in the Duke City with her fresh, made-from-scratch food.
There are only six sandwiches on the menu at Bocadillo's and all of them are made with slow roasted meats; chicken, roast beef, turkey, pork and corned beef with the exception of their vegetarian sandwich. I decided to try what they call the 5-0-Filthy after the 505 area code in Albuquerque. I have to say this is one of the five best sandwiches I've ever had, even though there were some ingredients that I normally wouldn't eat.
The 5-0-Filthy featured slow roasted shredded chicken that was tender and juicy, with green chile, bacon, chipotle mayo, asadero cheese, lettuce and tomato. According to Wikipedia, asadero means "roaster", or "broiler", and is also known as "Queso Oaxaca", named after a southern state in Mexico. It is similar to unaged Monterey Jack, but with a mozzarella, string-cheese like texture.
I normally don't eat mayo, but for the integrity of the sandwich, I left it on. All of the flavors and textures come together in the very first bite; the moist chicken, the heat of the green chile, smoothness of the cheese, the kick of the mayo and the saltiness and crispness of the bacon. I will warn you, though, it is about a six napkin sandwich before all is said and done.
During this trip I also stopped at two places that I've reviewed before and always like to go back and visit. If we are there on a Thursday, that means a ride out to the Monte Carlo Steak House for the Greek chicken special. You have to get there early before they run out. I was there at 12:05 and got the last half chicken that comes with salad or soup, rice and toast for just $7.99. What a deal and is it good. No wonder they run out. I also went back to The Cube for some tasty BBQ.
I am already looking forward to our return to New Mexico in late July. There is a quick ride up to Santa Fe in the offing, as there are several more spots there that I want to try out.