Receiving a James Beard Award is one of the finest honors a chef or restaurant can receive. For these New Mexico chefs and eateries, they’re now one step closer to this achievement after being named finalists for the 2024 James Beard Awards.
The awards, which started in 1990, bring together boards of judges to recognize leaders in the culinary and food industry. It’s not an easy feat to accomplish but New Mexico has a number of past winners such as Cheryl Alters Jamison and Fernando Olea of Sazón. This year’s finalists hope to show off New Mexico’s talent with another win (or four) for the state.
Outstanding Restaurant Finalist presented by Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water
The Compound commits to excellence not only in their food but also in their wine list and exceptional service. The restaurant incorporates local, seasonal ingredients to create innovative dishes like their Grilled Cavandish Quail with bacon lardons, pearl onions, and mushrooms. Owner and James Beard Best Chef of the Southwest 2005 Mark Kiffin runs the establishment and also works to bring together a community space where he can give back to the people who got him to where he is today. We’re big fans, and we’re raising a glass to celebrate this news.
In downtown Albuquerque, you can walk into The Burque Bakehouse and grab a delicious pastry or baked good to start off your morning. What started off as a farmers market stand has now turned into a bustling storefront, handcrafting each item with care in small batches (even their croissants take 3 or 4 days to make). They source their ingredients from local farms and mills in New Mexico and the surrounding four corners region so you know you’re getting the tastiest product possible.
The Southwest is one of the most important aspects of Chef Steve Riley’s work. The restaurant’s menu is constantly changing to include seasonal ingredients from New Mexico to create fresh, unique flavors. For instance, their Mesa Burger uses Native American Beef and is topped with green chile (What could be more New Mexico?), American and white cheddar cheese marrownaise, pickles, and caramelized onions. Even though Mesa Provisions recently opened in 2021, Chef Steve Riley has made quite the name for the establishment already thanks to these practices.
Chef Eduardo Rodriguez has always wanted a restaurant of his own where he could share his heritage with his community. Even the name of his restaurant Zacatlán takes inspiration from where he grew up in Zacatecas, Mexico. His goal is to keep the traditions of Mexico alive while bringing in new flavors that marries Southwestern and Mexican influences. One example of this style is his Branzino Fish Al Pastor which incorporates sweet corn cauliflower, pineapple salsa, and a black sesame seed cucumber avocado salad.
Winners will be announced at a ceremony on June 10 so keep an eye on the James Beard website for more information on how to stream the live event.
If you suffer from FOMO, then I have three words of advice before heading to the Dutch Oven Gathering in Glenwood, New Mexico. Get. There. Early. Tickets for a four-dish meal – all cooked in cast iron Dutch ovens over either coals or wood – sell out in a matter of hours. The event has been a Glenwood fixture since the early 2000s and is now under the capable hands of Molly Bryan – a Glenwood resident for the past fifteen years.
A Cooking Showdown
Each team – last year there were thirteen – makes at least twenty meals which include a main course, bread, side dish, and dessert (spoiler alert: cobblers are popular). Teams come from as far away as Arizona and even Texas (one team from Pecos, TX is renowned for their chicken fried steak). “We have a good variety,” Bryan says.
Dutch oven cooking is in Bryan’s blood you might say. She and her friends (“a group of us older ladies”), their donkeys, mules, and some well-loved cast iron cookware go out camping almost once a month. “We used to ride pretty hard but we’re all getting a little older so we don’t ride quite as hard as we did then, but we still enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun.”
What to Enjoy
For the event – this year held on April 13 at the Community Park – Bryan teams up with Dave Wasmund, the husband of one of her camping buddies, to cook. They no longer compete (“We were able to win twice so we decided to go out on top”) but they’ll be serving up their own four-course meal for lucky ticket holders. Bryan handles the main while Wasmund does the sides and dessert. Expect his from-scratch bread and either Bread Pudding with Cherry Tequila Sauce or with his Nightmare Sauce. Nightmare Sauce? She laughs, “Well, it’s got some whisky in it…”
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased on the day. A team of judges hands out awards for ‘best of’ and then the local library runs a book sale.
Beyond the Event
Plus, look forward to the sights all around you. You’re surrounded by the Gila National Forest. This is a dream spot for birdwatchers. You’ll see everything from bald and golden eagles, to blue herons, black hawks and cranes. There are even six species of hummingbirds.
The Cosmic Campground is 12 miles north of Glenwood. It boasts one of the darkest natural night time skies on earth, with jaw-dropping 360 degree views. There is more star gazing than you can shake a telescope at.And you’ve got ghost towns, mining camps, outlaws and other suitably atmospheric chapters of history at your doorstep.
The Aztecs say that avocados are an aphrodisiac. Since it’s not a big step from guacamole on a warm tortilla to avocado on freshly toasted bread, did the perfect avocado toast become trendy for its boudoir potential? Since it’s unlikely we will ever see data to confirm or refute this hypothesis, let’s just enjoy every bite of toasted sourdough bread slathered in a whip of ricotta, chèvre, and honey. In addition to slices of fresh avocado, we suggest layering fresh shaved or grated carrot, salmon roe, and hemp hearts on top. An edible flower or two wouldn’t hurt either. We’re putting this Perfect Avocado Toast in our Meatless Monday dinner rotation, which we will enjoy with a glass of Gewürtztraminer.
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Like the proverbial kid in a candy store. That was how Kristina Hayden Bustamante appeared, ensconced in the 300-plus bottle cellar of Santa Fe’s Rio Chama Prime Steakhouse. She pulled bottle after bottle, in a wonderfully innocent mix of exuberance and awe, talking taste profiles, age, producers, and pricing.
Since 2018, on most evenings, loyal patrons of Santa Fe’s famed The Compound could find Kristina attentively tending to guests at the restaurant. Always dressed for the role in a sharp, tailored jacket, crisp white shirt, and wine opener in hand, for six years, she directed, or perhaps orchestrated is the more apt verb, the wine program at the restaurant.
Now in her newest iteration as director of wine for Santa Fe Dining, Kristina is overseeing the wine programs at both Rio Chama and at La Casa Sena restaurants, as well as retail in the charming and well-curated La Casa Sena Wine Shop. Between the three locations, Kristina is certain that it is among the finest of wine collections in all of New Mexico. “It’s a treasure hunt,” she exclaims in recounting the weeks she has spent delving into the cellar inventories.
Finding Her Niche
Born in California and raised on a ranch in West Texas, Kristina’s journey into wine and to Santa Fe was circuitous and included time in New York, Austin, and Los Angeles. In 2018, she found herself back in Santa Fe and back at The Compound. She’d lived in Santa Fe previously in the early 2000s, did a stint as a server at The Compound for a few years, and also tried her hand at real estate.
As she shares the tale of her return, she casually references that she’d been working as the sommelier at a Michelin-star establishment in LA and had also just come off curating the wine program for the Emmy Awards. It was as if she’d just recounted the monotony of her daily morning routine as she shared these bona fides, seeming little interested in expanding upon them even after being invited to do so.
How to Enjoy Wine
It’s that modest and unassuming nature that is a key part of Kristina’s success. Too many sommeliers can come across as imperiously confident. Kristina eschews this archetype. She relishes in listening and learning about a patron’s palate, asking relevant questions, and then, like the artist she is, choosing the exact right bottle from her list. Her personal joy comes from the patron’s own delight in declarations of “perfect” and “delicious” when the wine is tasted.
“Drink what you like,” is the phrase Kristina often invokes when it comes to wine. As a sommelier, her own artistry emerges in the matchmaking role she plays in not just adequately meeting what a patron knows they like, but perhaps also in encouraging them to explore.
These approaches to her profession have served her well. Under her direction, the wine list at The Compound has received the coveted Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine three years running, from 2020 to 2023.
Listening to the Customer
“Always listen to your guests and learn to read the room. I deeply respect the classics, but I also try to give my guests the opportunity to be surprised by new and sometimes unusual wines,” she shared.
Kristina’s own choice to return to Santa Fe is one she fully embraces. “Santa Fe is my home now and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.” She loves that people approach her at the grocery store, asking which wine they should purchase. “I want to be everybody’s somm whether at the grocery or on the floor at a restaurant.”
As for why this career path was the one for her, Kristina pauses and then thoughtfully leans in, “Great food and great wine can each stand on their own, but when you put them together, it is transcendent.”
Story by William Smith / Photography by Gabriella Marks
The homemade apple pie of my early childhood was enveloped in a flaky lard crust. After my grandmothers retired from baking, my mom—and it seemed like everyone else—succumbed to the ease of grocery store freezer-section pies. For holidays, a local bakery pie might come to the table. None had the flavor and texture of the old days, but I didn’t know what was missing. On my 1977 visit to Santa Fe, I was treated to dinner at the venerable Pink Adobe. The combo plate was satisfying, but the pie dazzled me. Cinnamon-scented apple slices were surrounded by the crust of my childhood. I discovered that lard was the secret adding flakiness and an elusive savoriness to the crust. Most pie recipes say it’s fine to substitute a store-bought crust but it’s not fine. Go to the effort to make your own and find yourself transported.
In celebration of the irrational number 3.14159265… we’re baking up a list of scrumptious pies for your enjoyment on March 14. From fruity to sweet, we’ve curated a selection to make sure your holiday is well spent with a full belly. No matter what pie you choose to make this year, make sure you gather around the table for an evening of great conversations and even greater desserts. Happy Pi Day!
Can’t decide between cherry and blueberry pie? Good news, you don’t have to! This Cherry Blueberry Pie takes two of the most beloved fruit pies and bakes them into a juicy mix. Each bite is a surprise! One fills your mouth with tart cherries, the other may be a sweet flood of blueberries. Or it may even be a combination of both. No matter what bite you get, with pie crust stars decorated on top, this is truly a show-stopping recipe.
If you’ve got a sweet tooth, boy, do we have the pie for you! Think of this Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie like a giant Reese’s Cup. It’s got a dense peanut butter filling that makes up the majority of this pie. But, the homemade ganache on top cuts through with a rich taste of chocolate for the ultimate treat. Top it with whipped cream (even better if it’s homemade) and decorate with your favorite chocolate-peanut butter candy for your next get-together.
We couldn’t have a Pi Day lineup without including this classic all-American favorite. Our Traditional Apple Pie is ooey-gooey with fresh apple filling and a gorgeous lattice crust. It’s comforting and warm; get ready to be transported to your younger days of eating a whole slice as quickly as possible because it tastes so good.
You’ve had chocolate pie. You’ve had pecan pie. But what about a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie? This pie combines all your favorites into one devil-y delicious treat. After making your own dough (if you choose), you’ll create a smooth and silky chocolate bourbon pecan filling. Then, get your pecans and homemade whipped cream ready for decorating the top of the pie.
Tangy, juicy fresh fruits of raspberry and orange come together in this rustic dessert. Our Raspberry Orange Galette may not look like your regular pie, but after one bite, you’ll be hooked. We recommend trying it with a scoop of ice cream on top to balance out the flavors. Although, if you prefer something a little more tart, try it as your breakfast snack with your morning coffee.
For those who prefer a sweet pie over a savory pie, this Chocolate Mint Pie is equal parts decadent and minty fresh. A mix of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate ensures you don’t go into a sugar comatose while a mint whipped cream pipes onto the top. This is one of those pies that would go perfectly with a scoop of vanilla (or even chocolate) ice cream.
You know and love pumpkin pie but what if we told you there’s a way to upgrade this delicacy even further? Taking inspiration from Martha Stewart, this recipe includes Chinese five spice, bringing in more spice, warmth, and even a little bit of sweetness. It’s like pumpkin pie spice but turned up to 100%.
Purple sweet potatoes or ube continue to trend upwards to to its umami flavor and rich texture. For this pie recipe, purple potatoes turn into a custard with evaporated milk, eggs, butter, and spices. You’ll even learn to make Pastry Chef Selina Progar’s homemade pie crust recipe to use and make beautiful designs.
We take pies to the next level with a cocktail based on Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. This recipe uses gin as the liquor base and includes dashes of rhubarb bitters. First, your mouth is filled with sweetness from the strawberry syrup. Then, the rhubarb bitters and gin cut through, chased with a final addition of lemon juice for a little extra tartness.
March is going to be a truly dazzling month with not one but two gem and mineral shows taking place in New Mexico. Start your gem journey at The Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club’s 53rd annual show that takes place at Expo NM State Fairgrounds on March 15-17. Peruse the wares of over 50 dealers, thousands of mineral specimens, slabs, cabochons, beads, fossils, petrified wood, plus tools and equipment. On display — and for sale — is everything from amethyst cathedrals to Zebra rocks. And if you don’t know what these are, then even more reason to pay gem and mineral shows in New Mexico a visit.
Save some room because next on the calendar is the Truth or Consequences Rock and Gem Show from March 23-24. Sponsored by the Sierra County Rock & Gem Society, the show is host to a range of vendors selling minerals, fossils, beads, and jewelry. Plus, there are field trips, and you can even pan for gold and Montana sapphires.
Check out other fun activities in New Mexico on our events page.
I love to travel and am often drawn to places that evoke the act and movement and spirit of travel… spots large and small that feel like places of transference or convergence have a special pull. While you might not think of the somewhat sleepy town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, as such a place, it is. Historically an important spot along the Old Santa Fe Trail as well as the railroad system, LVNM is where the Plains meet the Rockies and where travelers stopped as they moved East to West as well as North to South.
A Better Las Vegas
And perhaps no place within Las Vegas better exemplifies these crossroads like the historic Castañeda Hotel. Indeed, you can arrive at the hotel by train and simply walk across the platform and step up onto the beautiful wrap-around porch. Even if you arrive by the more mundane method of a car as I did, you feel the energy of movement and importance of location. When Fred Harvey was planning his hotels across the West, he decided Las Vegas was an obvious place to stop. In fact, you can still take Amtrak’s Chicago to Los Angeles Southwest Chief between Harvey locations — The Castañeda to La Posada in Winslow, AZ, and stop in Lamy, NM, too, to make your way up to Santa Fe’s La Fonda. Harvey wanted America to explore and the hotels still evoke that spirit of adventure.
Photo courtesy of the Castañeda Hotel
The Castañeda’s quaint bar-restaurant has recently been renamed Trackside, which is indeed fitting. The atmosphere is a blend of relaxed yet anticipatory as you nibble some appetizers before catching your train. While the temptation to linger at the Castañeda with its sweet, updated Victoria vibe is strong, I did want to explore the town itself. What I found was a beautiful, walkable place filled with gorgeous period architecture. What was once a crossroads now feels a bit off the beaten path, but this only lends it more charm. If you like antique and thrift shopping, this is your place, and the plaza is one of the most beautiful in New Mexico. There are wonderful food spots — don’t miss the gargantuan pastries at Charlie’s Spic & Span but save room for The Skillet’s amazing green chile cheeseburger.
That’s the simple explanation for this houseful of cultural treasures, the striking backdrop to the lives of Carmella Padilla and Luis Tapia. She’s a journalist, the recipient of a Governor’s Arts Award, and the author and/or editor of seven books, including her first, The Chile Chronicles, an important social history of Chile in the state. He’s a much-honored sculptor, whose work is grounded in traditional New Mexican woodcarving and furniture making, for which he received the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship at the Library of Congress last fall. Both come from families who count their New Mexico roots for centuries.
Tradition and Modern Meet in the Middle
Their 250-year-old home, at every turn, shows off their collections — of vintage and modern Mexican ceramics, 1930-40s Works Progress Administration furniture, and Mexican and Guatemalan masks. The home’s a showcase too, for Luis’s art, and pieces by his contemporaries. The intimate adobe in La Cienega feels at one with the land, rising organically from its site near El Rancho de las Golondrinas. The home shares that living-history museum’s sense of place, nestled under cottonwoods, in a green patch fed by a spring and marsh, the Cienega of the village’s name.
Love at First Sight
Luis found the house some 35 years ago when it was in such disrepair that the owners considered knocking it down so that it simply could return to the earth. Renovating it was an enormous challenge, made all the more so by the snakes, skunks, and other critters who thought the place was theirs. While Luis was busy battling nature, painstakingly rebuilding the house, and becoming known as a sculptor, Carmella was in college, planning her escape from what she then thought as the confines of Santa Fe.
She headed to a press internship in Washington, DC for Senator Pete Domenici, and then on to a Wall Street Journal job in Dallas. Eventually, she circles back to work for the Santa Fe Reporter, by previous owner Hope Rockefeller Aldrich. It was her work at the Reporter, on stories about northern New Mexico, that made her fully appreciate the state’s heritage and cultural landscape. Although the Padillas were acquainted with the Tapias, and Luis had gone to school with three of Carmella’s brothers, it was an interview she was assigned about his art that sparked their relationship.
Roots in the Traditional Arts
Luis’s first works were santos and furniture, in classic Spanish Colonial style, that he exhibited for a few years at Traditional Spanish Market. As Luis researched the historical roots of these classic arts, he started creating sculptural pieces that incorporated more contemporary imagery and commentary on current social issues. Dashboard altars have become a long-running subject, inspired by his mother’s car, which had small santos attached to her dash. Injustice in immigration is a major theme in his work these days too. Some of his pieces include elements of whimsy. His Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner includes mini-images of the WPA chairs and animal masks in their collections, along with plates of his favorite red enchiladas.
Coming Together with Dinner
Dinner is always a worthy subject in this household, with both spouses enjoying cooking. Carmella, an avid reader from a very young age, devoured every page of her family’s Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, and then began preparing dishes from it for fun. Luis’s dad died when he was a child, and his mother had to work long hours, so he began cooking as a necessity.
Posole, beans, grilled lamb chops with green chile, and a chile dog with a secret blend of red are among his specialties. Enchiladas, such as those featured in Luis’s sculpture, are Carmella’s territory. She follows her mother’s recipe, with blue corn tortillas and pork-enriched red chile. Which you’ll see artfully on Puebla ceramics. Another piece by Luis, An Homage to a Good Bottle of Tequila and a Beer Chaser, suggests what else might be served. Luis has some 30 premium tequilas and mezcals ready to share. In their home, Carmella and Luis together have created a feast for all the senses, as well as sustenance on the plate.
Story by Cheryl Alters Jamison / Photography by Tira Howard
Carmella Padilla prepares her enchiladas as her 100-year-old mother always has — flat, or stacked, rather than rolled, with blue corn tortillas. She makes her until-now secret red chile recipe from chile caribe, a coarse-ground type of New Mexican red. The slightly fruity flavor, a good heat, and intense red color are all important. She gets her chile from Harvest Gifts in Tijeras, which can be ordered by mail (505.281.0696). Small pork cubes enrich the sauce, too. She recommends making the chile on the morning of the day you plan to serve it, or even a day ahead, so that the flavors meld fully. Carmella and Luis both enjoy topping each plate of enchiladas with a fried egg, a popular local variation, so feel free to add it. Learn more about the couple’s story and their home once you’ve made the recipe.
Carmella’s Red Chile and Blue Corn Enchiladas Recipe
INGREDIENTS
For Carmella’s Top-Secret Red Chile:
1 cup medium to hot dried chile caribe
Pinch or 2 of salt
Pinch or 2 of garlic salt
Approximately 2 cups water
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/2-1 white or yellow onion, chopped
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2-2 lb pork stew meat, cut into cubes no larger than 1/2 inch
For the blue corn tortillas:
2-3 tbsp olive oil
8 blue corn tortillas (2 tortillas per serving)
About 4 cups grated Monterey Jack
Finely chopped white or yellow onion
Chopped tomato, lettuce, and avocado
Fried eggs, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
In a blender, combine the chile with salt, garlic salt, and about one-half of the water. Blend about 30 seconds then pour in the additional water, and blend again for about a full minute. The chile mixture should become extremely smooth. Stir up from the bottom and blend a bit longer, if needed.
Warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté until the onion is softened and translucent. Stir in the pork and continue cooking, until the meat has released its juices and is beginning to brown, about 10 more minutes. Pour in the red chile mixture and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the pork is tender and the mixture reduced somewhat. It should still be very spoonable. Add a little more water, if needed for the proper consistency. Let the chile sit at room temperature for an hour, or refrigerate it for at least several hours, or up to overnight. (If refrigerated, reheat it before using.)
Prepare the tortillas. Warm the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Dunk each tortilla in the oil and let it soften, a matter of a few seconds. Drain the tortillas on paper towels and reserve.
Shortly before serving the enchiladas, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Assemble each portion of enchiladas on a separate heatproof plate. On each, spoon out several tablespoons of the red chile. Top with a tortilla. Add a generous 1/2 cup of red chile, fully covering the tortilla, then sprinkle on about a tablespoon of onion, and about 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat with another tortilla, more chile, onion, and cheese. (Any leftover chile can be kept for up to several days to top or accompany other dishes.) Build the additional enchiladas in the same way.
Bake the plates of enchiladas for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly in spots. Garnish with tomato, lettuce, and avocado. Serve immediately
Recipe by Carmella Padilla / Story by Cheryl Alters Jamison / Photography by Tira Howard