Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter #113, APR 2015
“Boy, Drone-a-zon.com has really made Easter deliveries a lot easier.” (Another Chef Russ original)
April is another event-full month. Most important, of course, it’s Roland’s birthday month – LOL. Then we have Easter falling in April this year. See our special Easter menu – 3-course prixe fix as in past years, starting at noon. Please reserve to ensure a table at your preferred time. Our regular menus (Brunch and lunch) will be in effect that day as usual. On April 6th, Roland will again appear on KASA TV’s morning show with Chad and Brittany. No one, not even Roland, knows what he will cook that morning, so don’t ask. He loves to make these decisions at the very last minute! Then there’s MED – mandated extortion day, April 15th. The good news is Joe’s will help take the sting out of taxes with our 3rd Annual Burger Week starting April 13th and running through Sunday April 19th. Any 2-topping beef burger for 8 bucks. Just a heads-up so you don’t go into sticker shock — we raised it by a penny over the last 2 years’ price of 7.99. So bring your friends and have burger parties!
Richard Eeds of 101.5 KVSF broadcasts the morning show live from Joe’s every first Friday of the month from 7AM ‘til 11AM. Come see him do his thing and chat with him after the show. Richard thoroughly, I mean thoroughly, covers local events, news and politics.
Here’s a Good Friday surprise – take a discount on your check when you have BREAKFAST with us on Good Friday. The more friends you bring, the better the deal. 1 or 2 for breakfast, take 10% off your one check per table total. 3 – 5 friends for breakfast take 15% off your check total. But wait . . . there’s more . . . When your party is 6 or more – take 20% off the entire one check per table total. (Please reserve for tables of 6 or more). The usual disclaimers apply – not good with any other offer, one check per table and valid only on Good Friday April 3 before 11am.
Dija Know . . . the new reality of longevity is this – there’s a 50% chance that among married couples at least one spouse will live to 92 and a 25% chance that one will live to 97. The question then becomes just how do we want to live that long? Do we really want to succumb to the indignity of being “doped and diapered”? Or are there factors we can control, behaviors we can modify that will support us in a more graceful, vigorous and engaged life? If you are under 50 or your life has not been touched in any way by dementia or Alzheimer’s you may not be interested in this. Since I am over 50 (in spite of all my protests) I find that I am concerned with continuing quality of life. And observing elders around me, I see many in their 90’s still engaged, still physically active and sharp. What are those factors that make the difference? Physical and mental decline often go together. [An aside: one remarkable exception is Stephen Hawking – a testament to mental fortitude.] So where does one start if you wish to slow the decline? I’m just exploring here, so although I have discovered some “magic bullets,” I certainly don’t have definitive answers. The boomer generation has demanded much of and contributed to current anti-aging research. As this generation ages, we see more nutritional and nutraceutical Magic Bullets surfacing. I have written about many (see past newsletters). And they do have a very real potential to mitigate and even reverse mental and physical decline. I will add one more to that list in a minute. Because of my interest in food/nutrition as foundational to health, I am acutely aware of the opposite: the correlation between malnutrition and loss of vitality. It’s no secret that much of what passes for food today is created in labs with ingredients that are synthesized or fractionated from far inferior, often GMO, ingredients – the driving force being profit. And it follows that this highly processed and de-natured “food” is lacking in the nutrients and micronutrients that are indispensible to the proper functioning of our bodies. It’s common now to see obesity and degenerative diseases in younger and younger members of our population as a consequence of (my opinion) eating the SAD, standard American diet. I’ve said it before, deficiencies may take some time to show up as diseases in the body, but show up they do. Our first line of defense is real whole food. Many of us must re-learn what a truly healthy diet is, not what the media or the “food pyramid” has taught us. As well, there are things we must avoid at all costs – poisons such as transfats, artificial sweeteners, soy, food colorings and flavorings, MSG, and generally anything unpronounceable. This will take us a long way to feeling good and functioning as we were designed to. But if decline has set in (mental or physical) it may take something stronger but still natural to begin to reverse course. Here’s where the “magic bullets” come in. One I recently discovered that has shown promise in restoring mental clarity is PPQ. A powerful antioxidant, Proloquinoline quinone is found in citrus fruits, kiwi, papaya, parsley, green peppers, green tea, egg yolks and some meats. It is one of a few bio-available compounds that act as a cell-signaling molecule, optimizing mitochondrial function. Basically that means it promotes the cellular production of energy. Now because cellular energy production underlies every bodily system, PQQ has been credited with a broad range of benefits: higher energy levels, enhanced brain function, highly protective against brain injury and damage, better memory, protects nerves, heart and liver, helps prevent strokes if administered before or mitigates effects shortly after, reduces effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by reducing amyloids (abnormal accumulation of proteins, aka brain plaque and tangles), skin elasticity, significantly improves sleep, protective effects against ischemia, potently reduces triglycerides, thought to promote bone mass over time, can influence skeletal and muscle metabolism. Pretty impressive!
Curiosity is what drives me to investigate possible solutions especially those that are nutritionally and naturally oriented. Our first step is to honor good real un-messed-with food. Second, add broad-spectrum food-based supplements and finally add the more sophisticated neutraceuticals specific to your condition. If we wait passively for Father Time to do his damage, he will. Doped and diapered is a heart-breaking and undignified path. But there’s a whole world of super nutrition, new supplements and technologies out there to explore. And much of it works! I hope you too will do your research.
The chaining of America. Have you noticed the approaches to almost any town or city in America now look the same? If you nod off, you could forget where you are! Main arteries lined with chain after chain. We had guests last week and as we drove them in from ABQ on Turquoise Trail we were saddened that even Santa Fe has buckled to the homogenized look of Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Ashley Furniture, among others. There was nothing that said “this is Santa Fe, the city different”. On a related note: a couple of decades-old local businesses have closed their doors recently – Leishman’s Furniture and Steaksmith. We tip our hats to them for their years of success and service to Santa Fe. We will miss them.
For a sweet treat or impromptu gift for your dear ones, we now have lovely gift boxes for Joe’s melt-in-your-mouth French chocolate truffles. 4 in gift box $10, and 6 in gift box $12.50
Please pick up the info flyer on the importance of industrial hemp to New Mexico agriculture and economy and see the last few newsletters in which I explore hemp’s phenomenal potential. If you agree please ask Governor Martinez to sign off on SB94 and HB 357. I believe there is a good chance industrial hemp could be legalized in NM this spring!
Why do we keep hammering on this “buy local” theme? There are many factors that are out of our hands when it comes to our food supply. Most of what ends up on the American dinner table derives from a shockingly few giant agribusinesses. Their influence reaches from designing the (GMO) seeds to planting, harvesting, processing and shipping.
We as consumers cannot with confidence hand over the entire stewardship of our food to these few multinationals. Our passion here at Joe’s is for a local sustainable food supply – food produced by growers who are accountable for what they grow. KYG – Know Your Grower. We are able to look our local farmer in the eye and ask him about his growing practices or even visit his operation. This gives us the confidence that we are eating food that is healthy, wholesome, non-genetically engineered, often better than organic, humanely treated and minimally processed. It is grown with a smaller energy-use footprint and transported short distances. We cannot divorce human health, the economy, ecology, personal (perhaps spiritual) satisfaction or honorable work from food. Food is fundamental. What we eat, where it comes from, the stewardship of food animals, the nurturing and building of soils – all these factors affect us at a cellular and visceral level … whether we slow down enough to be aware of it or not. We so are fortunate in Santa Fe to have one of the very best Farmers Markets in the nation.
Here at Joe’s we do our best to offer this bounty to you, keeping dollars in the community. In the interest of transparency, in 2008 Joe’s spent $30,000 on local foods. In 2009 it increased to $60,000. Each year since 2012 we have far exceeded $100,000 per annum. During the growing season as much as 95% of our produce is locally sourced.
Land, economy, health – inseparable.
Tired of still paying for BB’s (big banks) bailouts? Tired of lining the pockets of the uber-rich Wall Street bankers? And still no convictions? DiJa know…in 2011 a congressional audit of the Federal Reserve found that the Fed gave 16 trillion dollars from American taxpayers to bail out the “too big to fail” banks with a hefty portion of it going to CEO’s obscene bonuses. Can you imagine — had this staggering figure been re-directed to the people of the US, how different the picture could have looked today? Manufacturing starts, “shovel-ready jobs”, skills training, roads and bridges repair, national parks, education, etc. Had that been bailed out to the American people, each man woman and child would have received $50,000! Every time we use a credit card, part of that 3%-5% fee contributes to the BB’s. Now let’s be real – in today’s world you cannot function without a credit card, but there are still (legal) alternatives that reduce our dependency on the BB’s and actually save us money. We have a couple of suggestions: (1.) Joe’s Check List – If you are a “regular” and wish to pay by check, please ask your waiter to get you on the list. (2.) Joe’s own credit card/gift card – purchase a $100 gift card with cash or check or silver or gold coin, get a $10 free bonus!
Giggles
I can’t believe how dangerous healthy eating can be. Just cut myself peeling an apple. Think I’ll stick to chocolate bars in the future.
Have you heard about this new thing, you can have that transfers the thoughts and memories of one person to another person?
It’s called a “conversation.”
Joe’s
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM 87507
505-471-3800 www.JoesDining.com
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