I drank a mug of coffee hot chocolate for breakfast, so was happy that Aaron agreed to meet for lunch at 11:45 at Mary and Tito’s on 4th St. Mary and Tito’s has made my favorite enchiladas with red chili sauce ever since I selected it as having the best red chili sauce twenty to thirty years ago when I was the “Dining Out” Editor for the Albuquerque Monthly Magazine. Through no doing by me my estimation of the quality of its food was been repeatedly confirmed . It won the prestigious James Beard Award for American Regional food in 2010 and in 2014 the Trip Advisor Award of Excellence, the Local Flavor “Top Ten” Award, and Albuquerque the Magazine’s Best Hidden Gem of a Restaurant Award. Here is a picture of the awards.
There have probably been others since. Mar6 and Tito’s seems to be slow to update their recognitions. My recommendation was printed on the back of the old menu for at least a decade after publication.
Aaron brought his daughter, Alexis, who ordered a cheese enchilada without chili, and Aaron ordered a Combination plate with a Chile Relleno, an enchilada, a tamale, and a taco.
We all loved our lunch. Our waitress introduced herself to me by saying, “Bob, do you remember me?” I did not, so she introduced herself. She was Lucy, who used to be Suzette’s administrator at the Center for Ageless Living. How wonderful to meet her again.
A picture of Lucy, the owner, and the kitchen
I ordered a classic, a stack of three flat enchiladas with ground beef, red chili, rice, and refried beans. Here is the picture.
One reason why the red and the green chili is so good at Mary and Tito’s is because they add meat to it.
I thanked the owner and congratulated him on winning a James Beard award and he said, “We didn’t know they were checking, but I think they liked the consistency and the home style cooking.” My unspoken thought was, “Don’t we all!” My spoken though was, “I thought it was the best red chili when I recommended you twenty-five years ago.”
After lunch I rode to Rio Bravo arriving home at around 4:15: just in time to see a bit of Mad Money.
When Suzette arrived around 5:30 we discussed dinner and decided to eat the PPIs from last night. We had so few asparagus that I started by snapping the ends off about fifteen stalks. Suzette heated the PPI pot stickers in a skillet with peanut, leftover dipping sauce and sesame oil and added about a dozen more pot stickers to the skillet. When the pot sticker were almost ready in five minutes suzette heated the sandwich bag of PPI grilled salmon in the microwave and I poured glasses of Mohua Sauvignon Blanc for me and Dry Creek for Suzette.
When the asparagus were served we garnished them with spoonfuls of the sesame seed sauce.
It was a pleasant dinner because we were able to sit and enjoy our meal as we watched an epic news day unfold. Today Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and agreed to cooperate in the Mueller investigation of the Trump–Russian connection.
Chocolates and cognac after dinner for both of us.
Bon Appetit
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