July 24, 2016 Brunch – Central Grill and Coffee Shop, Dinner – Teriyaki Grilled Salmon, Dashi Seaweed Rice, and Grilled Asparagus

July 24, 2016 Brunch – Central Grill and Coffee Shop, Dinner – Teriyaki Grilled Salmon, Dashi Seaweed Rice, and Grilled Asparagus

I spent a leisurely morning watching the news and working in the garden.  Willy came at around 10:00 and helped us in the garden.

Then at around 11:30 we decided to go to brunch.  We have begun to use the Internet to identify good restaurants, thanks to Willy.  For example, this morning he informed us that the 

Old Town Grill and Coffee Shop at  

2056 Central Ave SW

Albuquerque, NM 87104

Phone number (505) 554-1424

was the highest rated restaurant in Albuquerque.

We decided to go there for brunch and arrived around 11:45.  The parking lot was full so I jumped out and got into the long line waiting to order.  The system on Sunday is as efficient as possible.  You wait in line until you reach the counter where the cash register is located, where you order and pay for your meal, take a number for your order and as soon as the order is ready it is served to you.  There is both inside and patio dining.  Willy reminded us several times that this used to be Liu’s restaurant that served Chinese fast food for many years.  From the number of people eating today, I would say this incarnation will last a very long time also.

The menu is extensive.  It took about twenty minutes to reach the front of the line, because the owner gives each customer careful attention and repeats the order to make sure it is correct.  Willy knew what he wanted immediately, Chilequiles.  Suzette changed a couple of times and finally settled on an in and out burger.  I vacillated but ended up ordering a Southwestern Cobb Salad to see how they did salads.  We all liked our meals, which were well prepared even though the kitchen was under constant pressure from the constant flow of customers.  It seems like a well organized service crew and kitchen, the core of which is a father, wife, and son and perhaps daughter.  The service staff adjusts orders on the fly as they serve them.  For example, a few minutes after we had been served the waitress/daughter returned to our table with a plate with two delicious pancakes and gave them to us, so we could try their pancakes.  It has been years sixpence this has happened and the first time at a diner.

My salad was Mage with fresh organic greens, chopped ham, turkey, blue cheese, avocado, a hard boiled egg, halved baby grape tomatoes, and piñon nuts.  It was the best Cobb salad I have had in Albuquerque for $7.35, a real value.  Willy liked his chilequiles.  Suzette liked her hamburger and the pancakes tasted like sugar and vanilla had been added to the batter to give the pancakes more flavor.

I was impressed with every aspect of the Central Grill and Coffee Shop from the organization of the ordering, the kitchen, the freshness of ingredients, the creativity of the menu items, to the service.

After lunch we drove to Costco.  We looked at TVs for Willy but passed because there was no sale on the ones he liked.  We then bought French Sourdough bread, a package of boneless pork ribs for Korean BBQ, fresh Atlantic Farm raised salmon, asparagus, corn chips, eggs, half and half, Naked Juice and Olive oil for Willy, and a few other items.

The temperature had hit 100 degrees, so we decided to not go to El Super and took our groceries home instead.  I must have been a bit overcome by the heat, because I practically ran to bed and slept for several hours until 4:45.  When I awoke, I made teriyaki marinade for the salmon by heat to almost a boil 7 T. each of tamari soy sauce, Aji Mirin, and sake and 1 tsp. of sugar.  I let the teriyaki sauce cool and then poured it into the freezer bag in which Suzette had placed the salmon to cover the salmon and marinate it and returned the salmon to the meat drawer for the two hours before we cooked to marinate.

Suzette then fetched the 1x6 cedar plank we bought at Home Depot and we cut length suitable to hold the salmon and then she weighted it down under water in the sink to absorb some moisture.

It started to rain at around 6:30 and Suzette and I felt that we had timed our trip perfectly to return at the beginning of the rainy season in Albuquerque after having enjoyed it so much in Patzcuaro.

I made a cup of rice at 6:00 with just a bit over 2 cups of water, ½ tsp. of dehydrated Dashi, and 1 T. of wakame seaweed strips chopped into small pieces.  Once the water boils I add 1 cup of Basmati rice, reduce the heat to low, and cook the rice mixture for thirty minutes.

At 7:00 I went to pick up Willy and Suzette started grilling the salmon and asparagus.  She started the grill to heat it.  Then she placed the salmon on the plank and placed the plank on the grill.  She also tossed a handful of asparagus in a freezer bag in which she had placed olive oil, sea salt from the Sea of Cortez that we bought in Mexico, and a bit of pepper and the shook the bag to coat the asparagus with the olive oil and spice mixture.

After a few minutes of grilling the salmon Suzette placed the asparagus on the grill and in a few more minutes Suzette plated up lovely plates with a pile of rice in the middle of the plate garnished by a piece of grilled salmon and then on top of the salmon, several grilled asparagus.

A very California style meal.

We decided to drink wine with dinner, so we first tasted the open bottle of Murphy Goode Fume Blanc and found that it had oxidized in the two weeks we had been gone.  We decided to open a bottle of this year’s Gruet Rose, which is 100% pinot noir and delicious.  It has a dark color and a pronounced Pinot Noir flavor and is still quite fruity, a good value at $13.00 at Gruet Winery and an even better value at around $10.00 per bottle, if you are a member of Gruet’s Wine Club and can buy it at a 25% discount.

I can honestly say that this year’s Gruet’s Rose’ has satisfied my passion for Anderson Valley, California Rose’ of Pinot Noir.  It is that good.

After dinner we watched a bit of the July 11 interview of Bill Maher by Chris Matthews on MSNBC and then the Masterpiece Theatre offerings on PBS. 

Suzette ate some PPI apricot ice cream from her Summer Solstice Party and I ate three Trader Joe’s chocolate truffles and Calvados.

We are happy to be back at home and back on our fresh food diet of mainly grilled meat and vegetables with a starch. 

Bon Appetit