the BUZZ:
age children and teens. The owners, Robert Montoya and Dawn Malone, ALBUQUERQUE cut their teeth running Downtown’s former Amped Performance Center. We’re hearing great buzz about Now the couple will teach guitar, bass, The Cellar, Gabriel Holguin’s vocals, keyboards and drums, and will tapas joint on Lomas near combine weekly private music lessons 11th in Downtown. The firstand group band rehearsals to prepare time restaurateur (who started students (adults included) to take the washing dishes and managing stage in front of live audiences in an restaurants in his El Paso authentic concert setting. Kids who hometown) wanted an upscale study music do better in all other Spanish-style vibe, drawing academic subjects, and there’s plenty inspiration from restaurants of time to get yours enrolled. Visit he experienced while in the albuquerque.schoolofrock.com for military. Pricing for the small details. plates (shrimp, paella, figs and pork, calamari) are $7-$12, so it won’t break anyone’s budget. Beer and wine are served, too. We hear the fried avocado is life-changing. The openkitchen allows you to study the cooks. Go to thecellartapas. com for more about the menu (including tortas and larger plates), hours, etc.
Hopheads head to the 8th Annual Albuquerque Hopfest Xtreme Beer Fest on August 29 at Isleta Resort & Casino. New Mexico’s biggest beer festival is going to “Xtremes” with 70 breweries (just about every local brewery will be there, plus lots of out of towners), an Xtreme BMX Stage, Xtreme VIP Room, Xtra Hoppy Hour, acrobats, three music stages, seven bands, vendors, games and more. Head to albuquerquehopfest.com for more information. Macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. Now you can go beyond the blue Kraft box at The Macaroni & Cheese Festival benefiting New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation, sponsored by American General Media and St. Clair Winery-Bistro. Saturday, August 22, at the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, gourmet mac and cheese gets its day, and you can vote for your favorite recipe. The top three offerings from the likes of Gold Street Caffe, Soul and Vine, La Cumbre Brewing Company and Santa Fe Brewing Company vie for prizes and a trophy. This 21-and-over event includes games, local vendors and sweets. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and eat, all to benefit a good cause. Details at themacandcheesefest.com Drumroll please! The School of Rock Albuquerque is open and offering music lessons and stage performance opportunities for school10
AUGUST 2015
| School of Rock Chatter’s got a special performance scheduled for Saturday, September 5, at the top of the Acropolis. No, not the ancient citadel high above Athens, Greece, but the city’s parking structure at 220 Copper NW, downtown, which offers spectacular views of Albuquerque. Most people in Albuquerque have probably never parked there or even ventured up to the top. Concertgoers will experience three different post-modern pieces overlooking the heart of the city from a unique perspective. The first two works are for “open instrumentation” and require some degree of controlled improvisation. The third work mixes the music of Arnold Schoenberg with cartoon music, creating an original and exciting composition. A postconcert reception on the roof of the Sunrise Banque Lofts will be catered by Soul and Vine. Tickets for concert and reception can be bought online at chatterabq.org/product/acropolis, and are sure to sell out. Heard of the Princess and Pirate Waterslide Picnic? It’s the largest collection of inflatable water slides, and comes to Balloon Fiesta Park August 29 and 30, featuring the world’s tallest inflatable slide. Not just for kids, either! Music, games, food trucks, ice cream and activities complete the party. Bring your own picnic (no glass, alcohol or pets), slide, dance and play. All proceeds benefit the Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network and Down Syndrome research. Visit princessandpiratepicnic. com for details on admission, which includes unlimited access to all water slides and attractions. Parking is free. magazine.com
Albuquerque Little Theatre opens its 86th season with Arsenic and Old Lace, the story of the Brewster family, composed of insane homicidal maniacs. The hero, Mortimer Brewster, is a drama critic who must deal with his crazy family and local police in Brooklyn, NY, as he debates whether to go through with his recent promise to marry the woman he loves. Though the play has virtually been a staple of live theatre since 1941, more people may be familiar with the popular 1944 film version starring Cary Grant, Josephine Hull and Peter Lorre. The play runs August 28-September 13. Tickets at 505.242.4750.
SANTA FE Santa Fe Sage Inn & Suites debuts its full-service bar, Derailed at The Sage, in late August. Derailed brings back together Sage GM Jeff Mahan and Chef John Bobrick, who opened the Inn of the Anasazi together in 1991. Bobrick led the kitchen of Comme Chez Vous, worked alongside Mark Miller at Coyote Café, and has served stints at both Bishop’s Lodge and La Posada de Santa Fe. Derailed features American comfort food and stylish fusion cuisine, and will honor local influences from the neighboring Farmers Market. Bobrick is also bringing back his renowned Tortilla Soup, a multiaward winner of the Souper Bowl. The recently renovated bar features a warm and appealing industrial railyard motif featuring iron and wood, with a fireplace, outdoor portal and patio and a large stone water feature. The bar, under the leadership of Santa Fe native Jessica Butler, offers craft beers, popular varietal wines, local spirits, creative margaritas and specialty cocktails. Butler has been with Santa Fe Dining Company as Restaurant Manager of Blue Corn Brewery, and was most recently the Catering Banquet Manager at La Posada de Santa Fe. Meet you there for a drink and a nosh? Mark August 15 and 16 on your calendar for the opening events for Chef Fernando Olea’s new restaurant, Sazòn, at 221 Shelby (formerly Tanti Luce 221). After closing Bert’s Burger Bowl and Epazote on the Hillside, Olea just can’t sit still, we guess! Sazòn will offer newworld, high-end Mexican cuisine as well as a tequilaria and mescaleria
bar, plus traditional Mexican dishes, both á la carte and in a tasting menu, with many of the dishes incorporating tequila and mescal. Of course, the menu would not be complete without Chef Olea’s renowned moles. Originally from Mexico City, Chef Olea has been enthralling savvy diners in Santa Fe since 1991 with his unique interpretation of contemporary and traditional Mexican dishes. Décor for the new place showcases the works of prominent Mexican artists, the centerpiece being a large mural painted by Federico Leon De La Vega that illustrates all the ingredients found in Chef Olea’s New Mexican Mole, which he created to commemorate Santa Fe’s 400th anniversary.
| Fernando Olea of Sazòn and Patty
photo Mia Rose Poris
Great news for Heights residents who love a good Cajun-style fish feast. Down N Dirty Seafood Boil is opening a second location at 4200 Wyoming NE. The original location in the North Valley has long been a destination for those who don’t mind wearing a plastic bib and using their fingers to savor the outstanding fish, crawfish, crab, sausage and other goodies that Down N Dirty scoops out of giant pots. The new location will also include steaks, sandwiches and salads, restaurant partner Som Xanduvong says, and eventually beer and wine. Until that location opens, head to 4th Street between Montaño and Osuna to get your ya-yas on.
http://albuquerque.schoolofrock.com
b y K E L LY K O E P K E
Welcome Chama River Brewing Company’s new executive chef, Lora Goza. Chef Goza was exposed to a variety of cuisines around the world that fuel his lifelong passion for cooking. His love for Southern cuisine became an inspiration and influence for his culinary career, which started at Copeland’s of New Orleans, continued in Las Vegas, where he was a chef for Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, and the Rio All-Suite Hotel/Casino. He’s late of Albuquerque’s Marcello’s Chophouse. Now at Chama River Brewing Company, his creativity is sure to make a mark.
So Santa Fe has its Shake Foundation built solidly. Soon, owner Brian Knox plans to add Taco Foundation in the old Bert’s Burger Bowl building. The menu will feature tacos, naturally, but a few favorites from Bert’s as well. Prices will be similar to Shake Foundation, anywhere from $3.50-$8 for simple organic ingredients done well. Knox does burgers and shakes well at Shake Foundation, and we look forward to munching on tacos soon. Congrats to Creative Santa Fe on its selection as one of 69 awardees