Special Edition LOMB July 11, 2012
Frying an egg on the sidewalk
Holy Toledo, it’s been hot. In our 22 years in SF we cannot recall a hotter, drier June. Here at Joe’s we are saving energy costs by frying all our eggs out on the patio sidewalk.
Effective July1, we have a new state law on the books aimed at protecting New Mexico’s most iconic agricultural product. From the Las Cruces Sun News. (http://bit.ly/LyQOwE) ‘The New Mexico Chile Advertising Act makes it unlawful for vendors to label chile as being from New Mexico unless it was actually grown here. The law includes groceries, restaurants, convenience stores, farmers’ markets and roadside vegetable stands.
Hatch farmer Jimmy Lytle said he’s hopeful the regulation will boost the chile industry in New Mexico. “All too often,” he said, “retailed chile is dubbed as New Mexico-grown, when in reality, it’s from other states or other countries.”
State Rep. Andy Nunez, an independent from the chile capital of Hatch, sponsored the law. It was approved then signed in by Gov. Susana Martinez in 2011. Nunez said he wanted to end persistent deceptions occurring across the state. Chile from Peru, India, China and Mexico was being imported to New Mexico, then falsely billed on labels or menus as the home-state product. “New Mexico chile is the best. We have to do our best to protect it” said Nunez.’
Agreed!
Far be it for me to push the issue ( ! ) but a critically important next step would be to label it as GMO chile or non-GMO chile. As puzzling as it may seem, we have chile growers in NM choosing to grow GE (genetically engineered) chile.
Joe’s Meet Your Farmer program, started May 2011, continues. Here’s how it works. Every Saturday after Market (sometime after 1:30) we invite any and all of our local growers to come by Joe’s to relax over a meal and a beer. (We bribe them with a “good deal”). You, our guests are invited to sit with them, chat with them, ask them questions about their growing practices. And just generally get up-close and personal with Who Grows Your Food.
What we are doing here at Joe’s, what drives and inspires us? Roland and Sheila established Joe’s (2002) as a diner – our intent being to offer an unpretentious comfortable atmosphere for locals who demand high quality local food and uncompromising quality of ingredients offered at a fair price. To that end for many years we have dedicated ourselves to utilizing Farmers Market products. The farmers confirm that we are Santa Fe’s leading restaurant purchaser and our expenditures prove it. In 2008 we spent over $30,000 on locally produced foods. In 2009, despite decreased revenues, we increased our local purchases to $60,000. And in 2010 our local purchases were up over $80,000. What you our guests at Joe’s, are demanding is clearly in line with our passion for a local healthy sustainable food supply. Your demands have enabled and fueled us to keep expanding our Farmers Market purchases. Here is a partial list of local ingredients we use: grass finished ground beef, lamb and bison, chicken livers, chile, eggs, NM organic flour, feta, house made mozzarella, fruits, veggies, sprouts, wines, beers and breads
Tuesday is STILL Spaghetti and Chianti Night at Joe’s. $29.95 for two will get you Caesar Salad, Spaghetti with homemade Bolognese and a great ½ ltr of Chianti. A heads up – we can’t hold this price much longer. The beef is pricey (local, grass-finished).
It’s never too early to make your reservations. Several guests have already reserved! This year for our Wine Dinner (in conjunction with the Wine and Chile Fiesta) we are partnering with Galante Vineyards out of Carmel, CA. Here are some excerpts about the winery. “Our philosophy is simple: grow the finest grapes possible and let the fruit express itself in the wine. Since all of our grapes are estate grown, each bottle of wine we produce embodies the characteristics of our unique region, exhibiting the natural flavors that are born from the land.”
The Galante Family has a long history in the Monterey area. Owner Jack Galante’s great grandfather, J.F. Devendorf, was the founder of the town of Carmel. In 1969, Jack’s parents purchased a 700-acre cattle ranch in rustic Carmel Valley. While still maintaining a working cattle ranch, the Galantes, in 1983, began growing premium grapes on their property, specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon.
Roland is looking forward to pairing his dishes with these multi-award-winning wines. After tasting them the other day, Roland is inspired to reach back into his classic European training for some timeless cuisine. But as you know by now, much will also be inspired by what is ripe, ready and seasonal from our local farmers at the last minute. Reserve the evening – Sept 26, 6:30. We are calling it “Continental Cowboy Classic”. It will be a fun evening. Cowboy gear recommended – wine dribbles and food spots hardly show on plaid shirts!
Joel’s Salatin’s latest book – Folks, This Ain’t Normal – is available for sale here at Joe’s. His beautiful Polyface Farm is located in VA and is a near perfect template for sustainable food-production. He is a humorous and articulate voice for taking back control of
our food and thereby our health and our economy.
Since 1996, we have been making our Margherita Pizza the same way and it has a growing and devoted following year after year.
It would appear we exaggerate when we say our Margherita Pizza is so incredibly delicious. But we aren’t alone in that opinion. Feedback from our customers who are world travelers concurs. Many of them have returned from their Italian eating tours comparing Joe’s Margherita rather favorably to those eaten across the pond. Now, we must give credit where it’s due – the tomatoes we use are local, sun-ripened, earth grown, heirloom and organic! They really make our Margherita what it is! Of course we add our own fresh mozzarella, made 3-5 times a day and the crust is made with NM grown organic flour. Be forewarned, the tomato season is short and we do not offer this pizza any other time of year!
Gluten free? Please check out our GF menu. We now stock gluten free pasta as well (not a huge choice…yet). Do ask.
Joe’s signature latte cups, tee shirts, beer glasses and wine glasses are all for sale. Ask your waiter.
Free food! With a Joe’s gift card for $100 (when you pay with a check or cash) it is programmed to give you an additional $10 worth of free food or drinks or merchandise. This is our “frequent diner” card.
A few items from our Breakfast, Lunch, Sunday Brunch, Specials and Dinner menus: mesquite grilled meats and seafood, burgers (local grass-fed and finished beef, buffalo and lamb) sumptuous salads, roast duck, slow-cooked local lamb shank, award-winning Thai Shrimp Bisque, Black Bean soup, fish and chips, crab cakes, Eggs Benedict, Eggs Imperial, Potato Latkes, citrus polents, award-winning gourmet pizza, lemon meringue pie, chocolate mousse cake, rack of lamb, sweet potato chips, chicken liver pate, seafood quesadilla, fresh mozzarella (fiore di latte) made in-house daily, avocado Blue crab-shrimp salad, delicate house-smoked salmon, calamari, tender beef brisket, Reuben sandwich, club classic, burritos, gluten free desserts, blue corn pinon pancakes, local beers, great wine list, margaritas, champagne mimosas, etc, etc…
Joe’s hand-made French chocolate truffles. Do you know anyone who wouldn’t love a little red bag of divine truffles? $1.99 @ or 6 for the price of 5 — $9.95
Dija know: What 27 other local S.F. restaurants combined buy from the SF Farmers Market in a year, Joe’s alone buys in under 2 months. Each year we increase our local spending. In the interest of transparency, in 2009 $69,000 went exclusively to local products, in 2010 that was over $80,000 and this year we expect to top $100,000 allocated to locally grown foods alone.
Chill out! These may help – a tall iced Chai, Agapao organic iced coffee made with coffee ice cubes, and our fabulous Haagen Dazs ice cream coffee float.
Joe’s is now on Twitter. Go to joesdining.com then click on the bird. You may find some $urprise$ tweeted there from time to time.
Lost in translation:
A sign posted in a laundry in Rome:
LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.
On a poster in Johannesburg:
ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ?
IF SO WE CAN HELP. CALL THIS NUMBER.
Joe’s
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM 87507
505-471-3800 www.JoesDining.com