mmm-yoso!!!

Road Trip - Lunch at Vinaigrette, San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church, and a Revisit to Kitsune ABQ (Albuquerque)

After spending the morning at Petroglyph National Monument, we headed back to our accommodations to freshen up. It was getting kinda warm so we wanted something on the lighter side. I had Vinaigrette on my list during our previous visit to Santa Fe and recalled that they had a ABQ location as well. Turns out that the restaurant was just a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Plus, we'd be walking thru Old Town and could take our time and explore a bit on the walk back.

The place was almost full when we arrived, but we got the last table outdoor table.

We were glad to get that table as the only outdoor seating still available was this.....I wonder if folks actually sit here?

As you can tell by the name, Vinaigrette specializes in various categories of salads; savory, sweet, "balanced", and so forth, along with some sandwiches and a few sides and soup.

I wanted something refreshing, so I ordered a concoction called the "Pepino", which featured cucumber and lime juice, along with club soda.

This was quite refreshing and not overly sweet.

We also ordered the Kale Fritters.

We enjoyed the crunchiness and earthy tones of the fritters, which went surprisingly well with the Sriracha Aioli. It was a tad on the salty side of things, but was not a bad dish overall.

The Missus got the "Omega".

This was mostly lettuce and really didn't have as much kale as the Missus would have liked. She thought the toasted pine nuts would be great in a salad, though it really clashed with the provided Blue Cheese Vinaigrette. The avocado was just one small piece. This salad needed more acidity added to really balance out all those greens.

I got the Spinach Mushroom which was a much better choice for our tastes.

The earthy, slightly sweet sauteed mushrooms, with savory bacon, and a slightly sweet-sour honey-balsamic vinaigrette was a nice combination. I wish there were a bit more onions for pungency and more boiled eggs to keep the Missus happy, but this was not bad.

The staff was very friendly, the crowd....well, as you can figure, very hipster-healthy-ish. Still, we didn't want anything too heavy and this did the trick....at least for me.

Vinaigrette
828 Central Ave. SW
Albuquerque, NM 87104

After lunch we took our time strolling back to the hotel. There seemed to be more businesses open on this day, but things were still really quiet.

We enjoyed wandering thru the various patios.

There was a definite charm to this place.....

While we had stopped to look at the Cottonwood Madonna the previous day, we had just walked past the San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church.

There has been a church on this site since Albuquerque was founded. The original church collapsed in 1792 and San Felipe de Neri Church was founded in 1793.

There's a museum and gift shop located in the Sister Blandina Convent onsite.

And of course the Cottonwood Madonna.

And if you want to read even more about the Cottonwood Madonna, you can read more here.

As interesting as San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church was, I found something even more interesting down this patio.

As we were looking at various shops, something caught my eye.

So I walked on in.

It was a beautiful little chapel.

This is the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

It has an interesting story and is even said to be haunted.

We enjoyed strolling around Old Town.

We got back to the hotel and relaxed until it was time to head out for dinner. I had made reservations at a nearby Wine Bar & Bistro, but when we walked over our reservations our reservations were MIA. The place was quite busy and we didn't want to wait so we decided to head on back to Kitsune.

And ordered our food and had a seat in the back patio this time.

I found out that the cocktail that was made for me the night before was called the "Autumn" and featured Blue Corn Whiskey.

Smoky, but not overly sweet.

Of course we got the Karaage.

Which was just a good as the previous night.

And we also got the Pork Belly Rice "Bowl".

The rice on this evening was much better than what we had the previous night; though I'm not sure about that mayo. The pork belly was a bit more chewy than I like, but the seaoning and sauce was pretty good; not overly sweet. The pickled onions handled the palate cleansing duties well.

Not bad for two nights in a row.

Kitsune ABQ
524 Romero St. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104

We then walked on back to the hotel. On the way back, we stopped at a shop and got some liquid refreshment and a snack.

And sat on the porch and watched the action below.

We went to sleep early as we'd be headed out to Pecos National Historical Park , then it was off to Santa Fe in the morning!

Road Trip - Old Town and the Cottonwood Madonna, Dinner at Kitsune ABQ, and Petroglyph National Monument

After heading out from Prescott and stopping for lunch at the Turquoise Room, we made our way to our next stop; Albuquerque. Though our final destination for this road trip was Santa Fe and Taos, we wanted to take our time, do some hikes, and explore some National Monuments/Parks if possible. I thought stopping in Albuquerque might make for a nice break. I decided on staying at the Hotel Chaco as it was close to the I-40, Old Town, and Petroglyph National Monument. We really enjoyed the hotel, ample parking, a nice patio, comfortable rooms. We got to the hotel early and our room was ready! We unpacked and decided to walk on over to the Old Town.

This was a Wednesday in May and the Old Town, which was basically a block away was fairly quiet.

The Old Town seemed much larger than San Diego's version and dates back to 1706! It was fun walking around the area.

We noticed this church along the way.

This is San Felipe de Neri Church, which we'd visit in detail the next day. What really caught our attention was this.

After doing a bit of research this is what I found, this is known as the Cottonwood Madonna. It was supposedly carved by a parishioner of San Felipe de Neri in the 1970's. And according to the story, he died upon completion of this creation! You gotta love these stories!

The one place that did seem quite busy was the Old Town Plaza.

One of the reasons I chose our hotel was that the Sawmill Market, a well regarded food hall was right across the street.

Sadly, as we walked thru the stands, the Missus could not find anyplace She wanted to eat at.....

So it was back to square one.....

We decided to head on back to Old Town and we came across a bar called The Taproom.

What was interesting was that the bar was at 524 Romero Street, but there was also a 524 1/2 Romero Street. And the sign said "Kitsune", which caught our attention.

So we headed on in. 

Hmmm......I'm guessing that this is, or was the kitchen for the bar? The menu was an amalgamation of Asian fusion dishes...you know Kimchi Fried Rice, Karaage, Thai Fries.....you get the idea. Well, since we were here and there weren't many choices we were interested in, why not? So, we went ahead and placed our order and paid. Then headed on over to the bar and ordered some cocktails.

Then had a seat at one of the tables. We enjoyed our cocktails.

Funny thing was....well a great thing actually is that we gave the bartender our taste preferences and he just made cocktails for us! And they were quite good.

Soon our food arrived.

Starting with the "Loaded Fries".

The fries were quite good, crisp outside, creamy inside. The roasted pork was quite tender and nicely seasoned, the sweet-salty, slightly teriyaki-ish sauce went nicely with the pork. The only thing that felt out of place was the cheese as both the sour-palate cleansing pickled onions, a gastropub standard did well. 

The best item of the night was the Chicken Karaage.

Crisp deliciousness, the chicken thighs had been nicely marinated and was very moist. I enjoyed the addition of Togarashi and is gave things a bit of zip and the mayo did a nice job of cooling things down. The seasoning was perfect on this; a great balance between salty and a hint of sweetness, with a touch of pungency from garlic and ginger.

The Fried Rice was decent. 

The rice was a bit undercooked though evenly coated with a kimchi base. Of course the addition of Spam and that sunny side egg (which the Missus immediately poached) didn't hurt things in the least. The gochujang was a bit of overkill, but did add to the presentation.

This was pretty good bar food and we were pleasantly surprised, and after having a busy day, would end up here again the next day.

Kitsune ABQ
524 Romero St. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104

We took a nice after dinner stroll in the really quiet Old Town.

There only a few businesses open.

Back at the room, we just sat, relaxed, and enjoyed the view from our patio.

We woke the next morning, grabbed some coffee, and then headed out to Petroglyph National Monument. We drove to the Visitor's Center which is actually several miles from any of the trails. We picked up a map and decided to do two of the trails; the Rinconada Canyon Trail, which is a easy loop trail, followed by Boca Negra Canyon.

Among the remnants of an eruption from over 150,000 years ago there are symbols carved onto basalt boulders along the trails.

The trails are quite easy' at least the one's we took.

 

And things start out quite stark and you'll wonder if you've found the correct trail.

But soon enough, you'll come across basalt boulders.

And soon you'll start getting a glimpse.....

As to the age of the carvings; I've seen things written that some go back to 3,000 years ago, though the signage and the NPS site says between 400 to 700 years ago. As for actual dating; I'm sure there are Archaeologists at work trying to determine accurate dating of the petroglyphs. 

And looking at some, like these give a good clue as to the period.

Because sheep are not native to North America and were brought with the Spaniards in the 1600's, so those must have been done after the arrival of the Spanish settlers.

We enjoyed our time here; though it was starting to get pretty warm (this was in May), so it was time to head back and grab some lunch!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip-Day Two: Albuquerque, NM-Joplin, MO

mmm-yoso!! s a food blog, with diversions.  It is a Holiday week.  Cathy is silly and blogging it.  Enjoy.

Hi.  It is me again, with another day of my life, with food.  Online.  Really.  The Mister and I are driving, taking photos, downloading and sharing another day on the road, driving across America. We stopped for fuel at a Loves Truck Stop, where we have seen (forever) "Chester's Fried Chicken" being sold and decided, for the sake of the blog, to try a three piece combination (three breast strips, three potato wedges and a roll for $3.59)...wow=excellent light breading with a nice heat spice kick. We also ordered a medium fried chicken livers($3.29) Very juicy, fresh and the breading was spiced nicely. Justg a bit of heat and salty. Really. We figured this would not be good and were glad how wrong we were.

It turns out that only 30 Loves fuel stations also offer Chester's, and I think we saw them all. The closest one to San Diego is on I-10 just after you get onto it when driving from Gila Bend to Phoenix. It is *really* good fried chicken. When The Mister and I drive through Amarillo every year, w stop at a Classic American Art Installation project,Cadillac Ranch. It changes daily, by the participation of the viewers of the art. Here is a photo when we visited two years ago...

You can see there are ten older Cadillac cars buried inthe ground, and spray painted randomly. Last night, it was after sunset. There was a half moon out. The cars are a good 1/2 mile from the road. The Mister and I walked. We left, and you know we had been there...

 

This morning- Waffle House! A staple restaurant in Mid America. Each stand alone building has 9 booths and 5 barstools at the counter. The menus are the same. Basic breakfast served 24 hours a day, served up by efficient grill cooks and pleasant waitresses who all call you "Dear" no matter your age.

 

 

The Mister ordered a bit of everything, with a waffle, eggs over easy, hash browns with cheese and sasuage. I got the cheese scrambled eggs with grits and bacon ...and, of course, raisin toast, which is served with apple jam.

 

And so, we are still driving....seeing the beauty of Mid America, and the changing seasons and weather... and the tourist traps from the freeway...

So, from somewhere in Missouri-this is Cathy-driving away....

Road Trip-Day One: San Diego, CA- Albuquerque, NM

mmm-yoso is a food blog-a diary of what a bunch of friends eat.  Occasionally we explain why we happen to be eating whatever, wherever.  Cathy is merely blogging what she usually does at this time of the year.

Hi.  Yes, you read the title correctly.  This is a blogging of what The Mister and I do for Thanksgiving every year -except for last year-

because I tripped, fell, was in a cast TO MY SHOULDER for about 7 weeks, and so driving a manual transmissioned car for days at a time was out of the question.

Yes, days at a time.  Because of the ability to transmit from my iBook directly to the internet, when there is a connection, you-all of you reading this- get to share in a drive almost all the way across the Continental United States, and back.  With food and sights.

So, really late Sunday afternoon, The Mister and I left the house, grabbing one cat (he is diabetic and needs insulin twice a day), one dog (her 'sister' died a few weeks ago and so I am trying to pay a little bit more attention to her), my auto reload Starbucks card ( a wonderful thing; once the balance gets below $15, my AmEx credit card automatically reloads this one with another $20), a small suitcase and jumped in the car and started driving...we left 7 cats, 3 dogs and three large birdcages of parakeets, finches and canaries for my Dear Neighbor, Ms. N, to play with for a few days...and we started driving.

We didn't do much in the way of eating, except for In-N-Out in Yuma (sorry, ed) I apologize for the post looking kind of odd; I haven't ever posted using a Mac; only the PC... So, when we stopped for fuel, we saw this, leaving a gas pump: Absolutely the *coolest* dune buggy.. The scenery leaving Campo, with the electric generating windmills was beautiful. We spent the night in Camp Verde, AZ at a Quality Inn and had a simple-do it yourself breakfast I had a hard boiled egg, a toasted bagel with butter and grape jelly, an orange and some oatmeal, as well as orange juice and hot tea (Only buying coffee at Starbucks and have taken photos of each cup we bought...at four different Starbucks as of this posting. When we got to Winslow, AZ, we saw Sonic! and we had to... We each got a Brakfast sandwich- on Texas Toast. Egg, cheese and bacon for me, sausage for The Mister. Also some tots and -oh yes- the fried macaroni and cheese nuggets... Sonic is a Drive in, much like was common in the 1950's. You cannot walk inside and have to order from the menu board voice system next to where you park. Then a live person comes out with your order and takes your money and gives you change. They make great burgers, hot dogs and shakes. You'll see soon enough. Other sites we have seen today includ the Worlds Largest Kokopelli: and just beautiful scenery of the American West. Erosion is really neat. Yes, I am posting this from a Starbucks in Albuquerque. It is Monday, about 12:45 p.m. in San Diego time. We have to get to Amarillo before dark. Hope all of you are having a good short week.