Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -85 March 2013

I thought chef Roland was German.  Didn’t you?  But clearly he must have at least a smidge of Irish blood.  His now-famous St. Paddy’s Day corned beef, cabbage and boiled new potatoes is beyond mouth-watering.  It will be available, not just on March 17th, but the whole week leading up to March 17th – Tuesday March 12 through Sunday March 17 (if supplies last!)   $11.99/Lunch.  $14/Dinner.  Don’t miss it.  Guinness Stout with your Irish meal – ½ price!

 

An early start in learning to garden for kids in the ABQ and Rio Rancho region – March 11-15 there will be a very affordable Spring Break Farm Camp for kids kindergarten through grade 5.  Hosted by Rio Grande Community Farm and the Village of Los Ranchos, campers will learn how food is grown and learn about farm animals.  There will be hands on learning in the greenhouse, hoop house and vegetable garden.  Find out more by emailing education@riograndefarm.org.

 

Tuesday is Spaghetti and Chianti Night at Joe’s.  Still $29.95 for two!  That will get two of you Caesar salad, Spaghetti Bolognese (made with our grass-finished local beef) and a great ½ liter of Chianti. Wadda deal! Finish your meal elegantly with Sandeman’s Reserve Porto and/or Joe’s silky tiramisu.

 

Watch for Roland’s special prix fixe Easter Sunday Menu for March 31stIt will soon be posted on the website -joesdining.com, click on upcoming events.

 

We’ve written before on the subjects of cholesterol, fats and heart disease, endeavoring to right some very entrenched mis-information.  It’s wonderful now to see the truth about heart disease emerging from mainstream medicine.  A very elucidating article by a heart surgeon, Dr. Dwight Lundell, clarifies the true cause of heart disease and exhonerates some of the foods that have been blamed for several decades. You can read his full article in Health Matters “Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease” 
March 2012.  Doctors for years maintained heart disease resulted from elevated blood cholesterol and the accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake.  Lundell says, “The latter we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease. Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice. It is not working!
 These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible.”  In recent years science has discovered that inflammation in the arterial wall is the real cause of heart disease.  I will take it a step further and suggest that infection and toxicity lay the terrain to allow chronic inflammation to take hold.  Be that as it may, inflammation (which of course in certain intances is a perfectly normal process) is what causes cholesterol to become trapped, otherwise it would flow freely.  It is the body’s constant exposure to molecules it does not recognize and cannot process that ultimately causes chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes.  (Admittedly this is a highly simplified analysis of a rather complex process.)  What are the sources of these molecules that the body does not understand and cannot process? Excess omega 6 oils (soy, corn, canola, sunflower, etc) highly processed carbohydrates and highly processed grain-derived foods.  Ready for a shock? Saturated fats (as in meats, butter, lard) are not a causative factor.  One well-know example: far North American indigenous peoples (once called Eskimos) practically lived on whale blubber with no resulting heart disease.   Returning to Dr. Lundell’s article, “There is but one answer to quieting inflammation – returning to foods closer to their natural state. To build muscle, eat more protein. Choose carbohydrates that are very complex such as colorful fruits and vegetables . . . eliminate inflammation-causing omega-6 fats like corn and soybean oil and the processed foods that are made from them.  Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labeled polyunsaturated.  Forget the “science” that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent.  The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak.  Since we now know that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.”        
Are you relieved?  You should be.  All those decades of dancing around perfectly good whole foods and instead ingesting low-fat this and no-fat that, artificially created and fractionated “foods”, can come to an end. These are indeed the silent killers we must shun in order to restore and maintain robust health and non-stop vitality.

Thanks goes to La Montanita Co-op for the following information.  In 2005 Monsanto bought out Seminis Seed Company.  Seminis controls about 40% of the US vegetable seed market, its biggest profits coming from tomato, pepper, cucumber and bean seeds.  Many large seed companies source from Seminis.  By buying Seminis you are supporting Monsanto and therefore GMO seed-grown foods.  Get a detailed list of Seminis-supplied seed companies at seedalliance.org.  Here are just a few of the better known names to avoid in a surprisingly long list: Audubon, Breck’s, Burpee, Ferry Morse, Gardens Alive, Park Seed and Bulbs, Seeds for the World, Stokes and Tomato Growers Supply.

The good news is there are sources of good organic food and flower seeds.  The Family Farm Seed Co-op is one such source.  The benefits to gardeners of using FFSC seed is that they have been grown on organic farms, they are selected to work best on land that’s using compost and organic sources of nutrients, they are able to deter or tolerate pests and they emphasize flavor.  So gardeners, save your seeds and what you don’t have, buy from the Family Farm Seed Co-op.

The Red Room is the perfect place for festive events, business networking, power breakfast meetings.  Seats 15 – 30 comfortably.  Ask Roland about large group and party discounts.

Dianne Dumas, local artist, brings her love affair with New Mexico landscapes to Joe’s walls.  A native New Mexican, Dianne attended Mississippi Women’s University and is a graduate of Southwest School of Art.  Dianne’s works have been exhibited in many venues in New Mexico and Texas.

 

Why is locally grown food so very important to Joe’s?  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 are fortunate in Santa Fe to have a dedicated farm base producing a wonderful array of goods.  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 that increased to $60,000.  And for 2012 we exceeded $100,000.  During the growing season as much as 95% f our menu is locally sourced.
Land, economy, health – inseparable.
♥ Joe’s hand-made French chocolate truffles.  They are close to divine.  Who do you know who would love a little red bag of truffles?  $1.99 @ or for the price of 5, get 6 for $9.95.
Tired of still paying for BB’s (big banks) bailouts? Tired of lining the pockets of the uber-rich Wall Street bankers? Subsidizing their mega bonuses, greens fees etc? Every time we use a credit card part of that 3%-5% fee contributes to the above.  Now let’s be real – in today’s world no one can function without a cc, but there are still (legal) alternatives that can save us all money and reduce our subsidies to the BB’s.  We have a couple of suggestions: (1.) Are you on 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 “frequent diner” or gift card – when you purchase $100 gift card with cash or check, get a $10 card free!


                          Seen on labels:
On Tesco’s Tiramisu dessert: (printed on bottom of the box)
Do not turn upside down.
On Sainsbury’s peanuts:  Warning: contains nuts.
On Children’s cough medicine bottle:  Do not drive car or
operate machinery.
On Sears hairdryer:  Do not use while sleeping.

Joe’s
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM   87507
505-471-3800       www.JoesDining.com