volume 7, number 11 November 2002
New Mexico's Premier Food, Arts and Lifestyle Magazine

Ken and Susan Ruebush at Melting Pot

Near the end of October I had dinner at the newly opened Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that has just opened across from Seasons in the San Felipe Plaza (2011 Mountain NW, 505-843-6358). Yes, there are 60-some other Melting Pot restaurants across the country, but there are no other fondue restaurants in Albuquerque. The place is warm and inviting inside with several small dining rooms each consisting of a cluster of high-backed booths. Very well-trained servers make cheese, oil, broth and chocolate fondues at the table and diners are left to dunk to their hearts' delight. It's a fun and very filling experience, one best enjoyed by a group large enough to make the most of sharing. For just two it's almost too much food. Expect to pay $25 to $35 per person for three courses and a glass of wine from the surprisingly good list, tax and tip. And expect to dunk for a couple of hours!

This month David Jacobs, a personal chef and caterer better known as The Dancing Chef, is opening his own restaurant on Silver between Yale and Harvard. The new venture will be called Eleanor's, after Jacobs' 13 month-old daughter, and is taking shape within the confines of the renovated house that has served for the past year and a half as The Dancing Chef's catering kitchen and offices. Though Jacobs will lose some office space to the new dining room, perhaps the best feature of the restaurant is one that's been there all along: the spacious (heated) outdoor patio. The expansion arose from Jacobs' new partnership with Chef Joe Schuster, the son of Jacobs' good friend Dan Schuster who is the produce team leader at La Montañita Coop. The elder Schuster mentioned that his son was a chef, they met and Eleanor's was born. The two chefs are collaborating on the Eleanor's breakfast and lunch menus which will include fancy/homey dishes like crêpes with caramelized onions, pasta with shrimp and grappa sauce and the original Redneck Shepherd's Pie (you have to taste it to believe it!) And on the dessert menu: Holy Cow, a maple-swirled cheesecake with a fudge brownie bottom, served with a tablespoon of heavy cream and a splash of dark coffee in the bottom of the bowl. 265-1535 for details. I'll keep you posted.

After a year-long hiatus, Turk's Roadhouse is finally reopening in a new Estancia location (517 5th Street, 505-384-4444). Brian "Turk" and Heather Dudney have spent the last few months renovating the oldest adobe building in Estancia, a former filling station, church, bar and video store across from the Short Stop Café. "It's a nicer place with a nicer atmosphere," Heather says, adding, "we've got five booths and about 20 tables plus a community table like the one at Pasqual's [in Santa Fe]." She explained that she hoped single diners would feel comfortable mingling at the big table. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner Friday through Monday only, but the couple hopes to inaugurate a Sunday brunch sometime in January. For now, hungry locals and tourists will have to settle for hand-tossed pizza, calzones, stromboli, lasagna, salads, sandwiches, and pastas with sauces like chipotle marinara and homemade meatballs. The Dudneys have applied for a beer and wine license, but with the snail's pace these things seem to take it might not happen until spring.

The Hawaiian Restaurant (Central and Louisiana) closed its doors at the end of September and the building is scheduled to be demolished as part of an international marketplace expansion planned by Ta Lin Market (230 Louisiana SE, 505-268-0206). The Limary family, who has run Ta Lin for the past 25 years, owns all the land between the supermarket and the corner of Central and Louisiana and in the coming months they hope to begin construction on a new and improved Ta Lin which will stand where the Hawaiian restaurant is now. If you're hungry for the Hawaiian Restaurant's food you can find it now in the deli at Ta Lin.

By the time you read this Thai Crystal will be open in the Century 14 Downtown theater complex (109 Gold SW, 505-244-3344). The much-anticipated opening was scheduled to take place right after this issue went to press, so I wasn't able to preview it for you, but suffice to say they did a beautiful job on the space and the food sounds very upscale and promising. Check it out for yourself, Sunday through Thursday from 11am until 10pm, Friday and Saturday from 11am until 11pm. There's free parking in the movie theater lot at Second and Gold.

Lisa Richard, chair of the New Mexico chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food, reports that the group's Days of Taste program, which took place at Navajo and Whittier elementary schools, was a smashing success. More than 150 kids got to visit a farm, pick fresh vegetables, go to a restaurant and hang out with the chef and just talk about food for a whole week! Yours truly dropped in on the kids and rambled on incoherently about fun food-related careers while they patiently and politely listened. All AIWF events raise money for this annual program and because of the group's success, all the kids this year got Days of Taste T-shirts to remind them of their week-long food journey.

La Cocinita's Great Chef Series dinner with Anthony Bourdain sold out three weeks before the event, but you'll still be able to meet Tony and have him sign your book (or boobs…) at his free lectures/signings at Bookworks (Nov. 10, noon) or the Sheraton Old Town (Nov. 10, 3:30pm). Call Bookworks at 505-344-8139 for more information.

If you have food news you think should be included in Around Albuquerque, e-mail foodnews@lacocinita.com or call 505-436-0660 ext. 245.

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