When last I wrote, we were in Santa Fe, having just spent over a week there. On Monday afternoon though, after a final fabulous lunch at a place called Cafe Pasqual’s,  we ventured just an hour south to get to Albuquerque.   We had some great meals in Santa Fe, actually — lots of New Mexican style cooking, including Red or Green Chile Sauce, black beans, and green chile and cheese tamales.

And red sauce – did I mention red sauce? Lots of red sauce. I like red sauce.

But I digress. We spent only 2 nights and 1 full day in Albuquerque. Then, after having travelled mainly west for 2 weeks (staring on Nov 18th from Marlton, NJ),  yesterday we headed south to get down to Silver City, NM.

Our route west (in red)

Yesterday, then, we effectively turned left at Albuquerque to head down to Silver City, NM. As a big Bugs Bunny fan, that just struck me as funny.

Anyway, we’re here in Silver City until Saturday. The food here in Silver City has turned out to be a pleasant surprise, there are several unexpectedly interesting restaurants in town. Last night we dined at a “destination” restaurant called The Curious Kumquat, which is run by a James Beard nominated chef.  He “forages” for many of the ingredients in the area around Silver City and the hotel clerk who recommended it said we needed to be “adventurous” food types to try it.  Last night’s “tasting” menu included dishes made from Acorn, yucca, agave, plum, box thorn, stinging nettle, and amaranth.  It was all delicious (the accord broad and the braised ox tail were the standouts of the 6 courses for me). The whole thing was really a special meal, very interesting and very, very good, and much more memorable than any of the  1-star Michelin restaurants we tried in Germany. File this under one of those serendipitous finds on our trip, as we hadn’t expected to find anything quite that interesting here a small town in southern New Mexico.

BTW, I should note that if you want to experience it for yourself, you’ll have to hurry. The chef is unfortunately closing the restaurant after 9 years and moving away from the area. So if you want to treat yourself and your taste buds to a truly unforgettable meal, put a trip to Silver City and the Curious Kumquat on your Christmas list now.

I guess it’s just good to follow Bugs’ advice; things go well when you turn left at Albuquerque.