Welp, it’s been a whirl of wind in Forklandia lately, and we think at least a little bit of that has to do with how we didn’t much care for Tune-Up Café the last bazillion times we’d been there. So this week, we wanted to share a few letters with the class, along with our responses to those letters since we seem to be struggling with getting our email to respond to readers who write in.
Let’s jump in, shall we?
“First of all, try eating lunch at Tune Up instead of dinner. Lamb barbacoa tacos, chilaquiles, any special on the board. Always good. Dinner just isn’t their game. We went in there for dinner on a Monday and those poor poor staff, the place was packed to the gills since nothing is open on Monday and they were cranking! Sadly we were gonna miss our movie if we waited, so ended up at Nuckolls and, well, meh. But most importantly, the Black Bird [Saloon] owner is Patrick Torres, and his wife the awesome chef Kelly Torres. Patrick is from Gallup and no one would ever mistake him for a Murphy, anywhere. Kelly maybe. Who the heck is Patrick Murphy? And the Black Bird is THE BEST!””
-Rancho G.
*We hear you loud and clear, Rancho, but it’s kind of hard to accept that a place that does dinner just doesn’t do it very well. Still, we’re always willing to give a spot another chance, and that includes trying them tacos next time we can.
“Been to…Tune-Up. Their New Mexican food is not too bad. Yes, expensive. Those photos looked sadly unappetizing and yes, hard to believe it, expensive. Have you tried their Tiramisu? No wheat, no meat, so worth it. If you’re going to be shelling out the big bucks, you’ll feel it less with the desserts. Get what you pay for.”
-Cheryl B
*We’ll always defend Tune-Up desserts to the death, Cheryl. They’re among the best in town, we think, and we’re always looking for a good tiramisu.
“My dearest Fork person. I wanted to correct an item in your latest words. I, Patrick Murphy, am not the owner of The Blackbird. Patrick Torres and his beautiful and fantastic chef Kelly do own the saloon. I am but a loyal customer of theirs and a faithful follower of The Fork.
*Oh, dip, Patrick—we’re sorry to you, too. Something about your tone sounded very owner-ish. We’d like to apologize to you, too. And we take your rec very seriously. And Black Bird Patrick and Kelly? We’re sorry.
Since we’re talking about letters (though none of these came through the postal service)
Also
- Despite how excited we all were in January that Escondido, Joseph’s Culinary Pub and Sassella had been shortlisted for this year’s James Beard Awards, the final noms dropped last week, and the only New Mexico joint to make it to the last round was Campo from Albuquerque’s Los Poblanos for the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program category. Don’t forget, too, that Sassella closed permanently last month, but if you read the next item, we think you’ll be pumped on that.
- Oh, dang—the Blake’s Lotaburger on St. Michael’s reopened with a freaking drive-thru after some months closed for a full-on rebuild. We have to be careful when it comes to eating brekkie b’s these days (they’re so big), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to town on one of them baddies.
- Didja hear the one about how Sassella chef Cristian Pontiggia has taken the executive chef job at the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi’s Anasazi Restaurant? SFR might just have a little more from Pontiggia in the print edition this week, so check that one out if you can or want. We’re not your mom. Anyway, there’s a little more about Pontiggia in le news, and it’s in the form of a fundraiser raffle sorta thing for St. Elizabeth Shelters and Supportive Housing. If you call (505) 982-6611, ext. 104, you can pick up your $100 ticket for a chance to win a four-course dinner in your home from Pontiggia. We hear they’re limited to 100 tickets, and we know not everyone can just drop $100, but we’re just saying. We’re also saying that if you want to donate money to the shelter just cause, you can.
- Looks like Madame Matisse has kicked off new springtime hours, which find the restaurant open Wednesday-Monday (that means closed Tuesday) from 8 am-3 pm. Note that the kitchen closes at 2:30, though, so don’t show up right then and don’t show up to any restaurant ever with 30 minutes before closing time. Oh, one last thing? The pastry at MM is bonkers good.
- Though SFR broke the news that chef Dakota Weiss (or Capital Coal Neighborhood Eater) would return to the Coyote Café in January as part of a piece about badass pastry chef Rebecca Freeman, We couldn’t help but notice that the Coyote itself has made the announcement official via social media. If you’d like to learn even more about Weiss, SFR happens to have an award-winning story about her from 2023 riiiiiiiiight here.
- We did not know that Fusion Tacos (a local chain that seems to reproduce like Mogwais who got wet) and its imprint Fusion Delicias do catering, but Fusion Tacos and its imprint Fusion Delicias totally do catering. All we’re saying is that if we showed up to a party to find there were carnitas tacos from Fusion, we might not make it a point to wave to the host before sprinting back to the Forkmobile and getting the hell home. Learn more here. We also hear that Fusion Delicias is hiring baristas and a cook, and you can apply by messaging them on Facebook. If you don’t have Facebook, maybe call or stop by the Johnson Street restaurant, btu not during a busy lunchtime, jeeze.
- Lastly in local info, more than one reader reached out to ask us about why SFR hasn’t ever visited the Salvadoran restaurant Torogoz on Old Santa Fe Trail. We’ll tell you what we told them: SFR totally did do that last year, and the writer loved it and literally wept. Read about it here and pop by, because Torogoz is pretty great according to this thing we read.
Speaking of Golden Tickets, never forget when the bed-ridden Grampa Joe could suddenly dance after he learned he could visit a chocolate factory in that one movie.
More Tidbits
- Ruh-roh, matcha fans—looks like we might be heading into a global shortage of the green drink, and that might mean you’ll be forced to drink coffee and…wait, what? Coffee’s in trouble, too? Ugh. We hate it here. Can’t wait to graduate…into death. Just kidding, that’s a little gallow’s humor. But seriously, read here about how matcha might become harder to find soon.
- Apparently scientists have discovered that foie gras is possible to make without all that force-feeding animal cruelty. If you like foie gras, read about that over at Food & Wine-dot-com. If you’re lazy, it comes down to scientists from Germany’s Max Planck Institute have worked out how to use an enzyme to dupe the flavor without torturing geese.
- If you’re also stupefied by the cost of eggs lately, USA Today has tips for replacing those bad boys, including mashed banana, Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer and other products. We think it’s helpful, you might, too.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In the print edition of this week’s SFR, catch a Q&A with chef Cristian Pontiggia as he prepares to move on from Sassella.
Number of Letters Received
7
*And we shared the ones that weren’t curses and epithets!
Most Helpful Tip (A Barely Edited Comment From a Reader)
“Why are you so mean?”
*To be fair, this was a text from a friend of ours who loves Tune-Up, but we simply told them to kick rocks.
Actually Helpful Tip
A buncha folks corrected us on the Black Bird Saloon thing.
*We are so sorry for the error and appreciate when folks tell us we could be doing better.
Mail box owner,
The Fork
