Blades' Bistro in Placitas, New Mexico
“Ask three Placitans what they like best about living in Placitas and…
one will say it is being so far from everything, another, being so close to everything–and both will be right.”
- The Placitas Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of Commerce not withstanding, the distance from Placitas to fabulous gourmet restaurants has spanned both great mileage and the healing passage of time for residents. When hungry, the mileage between Placitas and either Santa Fe or Albuquerque has seemed interminable. When fondly recalling a glorious meal within its doors, time has been the sole comforter for residents still missing their beloved Cafe De Las Placitas, a magnificent shooting star which faded away much too quickly but left an indelible afterglow. Most residents will agree the distance to fine restaurant dining is a small price to pay when you live in an idyllic haven back-dropped by the reddish Sandias and surrounded by panoramic views of hills dotted with dessert flora, weather-worn mesas and verdured mountains. Compared to its bustling, burgeoning, boisterous neighbors, Placitas is a serene harbor of refuge and respite.
Blades’ Bistro, which opened on March 19th, 2009, has greatly narrowed the distance to fine-dining for Placitas residents while rekindling fond memories of fabulous gourmet experiences at the long defunct Cafe De Las Placitas. For diners who frequent the former, comparisons to the latter will be inevitable–and they will be favorable. In fact, Blades’ Bistro might soon be a standard by which restaurant greatness will be measured–not just in Placitas, but throughout northern New Mexico. It’s that good!
Chef Kevin Bladergroen
The village of Placitas (in Spanish, literally “places”) was formed by the San Antonio de las Huertas (Saint Anthony of the Gardens) Spanish land grant in 1745. While many descendants of the original land-grant families still reside in Placitas, it has in recent years blossomed as an affluent bedroom community for residents employed in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Fewer than a dozen non-realty businesses call Placitas home, most of them ensconced in the Homestead Village shopping center, home of Blades’ Bistro.
Within a week after Blades’ opened, an excited Bruce Schor shared the news of its launch with me. “My first impression was I’m not in Placitas any more,” he related. “It has a sophisticated ambiance, very big city feel and the food is terrific.” Bruce’s glowing descriptions of what he ate were the inspired impetus for our first visit.
Baked Mushrooms (escargot style) / white wine, garlic herb butter, fresh parmesan
Had it not been for Bruce, we might have thought the name “Blades” had to do with Rio Rancho’s multiplex arena by that name expanding into Placitas and into the restaurant business. Apparently several people have made that mistaken assumption. Blades’ Bistro is actually named for brothers Michael and Kevin Bladergroen. Their name is Dutch, while their restaurant is a veritable melting pot of European and American culinary influences.
An exhibition kitchen is the domain in which Kevin Bladergroen plies his chef trade as he has now for three and a half decades. After years of opening, working in and managing the kitchens of several restaurants in Europe and America, he has set down roots in Placitas. No stranger to New Mexico, he started his professional career in 1975 at Casa Vieja, a Corrales institution. He has also worked at the Prairie Star and before partnering with his brother to launch Blades’ Bistro, was executive chef at the innovative Standard Diner.
Roasted Fresh Beets
The chef is classically trained, having attended the prestigious “La Varenne” cooking school in Paris. His curriculum vitae also includes a unique professional odyssey by motor home. To broaden his culinary edification, he traveled across the country to work in several restaurants with chefs he admired. The journey included stops at a small coastal resort town in Maine; Aspen, Colorado, the glitzy playground for the rich and famous; and Pebble Beach, California, home of the national pro-am, one of golf’s most important events.
Chef Bladergroen’s menu is a culmination of his vast culinary training and experience. His cooking philosophy centers around using high quality ingredients to create a “melting pot of taste” with an innovative yet surprisingly unpretentious and simple menu influenced by the European and American culinary cultures from which he learned. Some facets–moderately priced culinary fare and pleasant service–of Blades’ are true to the Parisian bistro concept, however, it could be debated that the setting is not exactly casual. It’s very well appointed and stylish, certainly more upscale than your typical bistro (albeit without being overweening). It’s a restaurant in which you’ll feel right at home and have fun while being inspired to be on your best behavior.
Shrimp Melanaise
Although the bistro doesn’t have a formal “chef’s table” per se, you can still feel like like a VIP by sitting in an area directly adjacent to the exhibition kitchen. Only a plexiglass sneeze guard and an extended countertop separate you from the kitchen. You’ll be close enough to converse with the chef, an amicable gentleman with a good sense of humor. Chef Bladergroen is very well organized and purposeful in every motion. He is a treat to watch.
As enlightening and inspiring as sitting in close proximity to the kitchen might be, even better are the intoxicating aromas emanating from the panoply of pots and pans perpetually sitting atop high flames. Watching every appetizer and entree in every phase of its preparation, unfortunately doesn’t make it any easier to decide what you want to eat. Everything looks and smells absolutely fabulous. My advice–let the chef pick something for you. Don’t even let him tell you what it is so you can be surprised when it arrives at your table. That’s what I’m happy to have done.
Con Frutti de Mar -- (The Fruit of the sea) Shrimp-Scallops-Lobster with white wine garlic cream sauce over linguini
Blades’ array of appetizers is impressive, but not because of sheer numbers. Including daily specials there are only about a half dozen appetizers available, but if our inaugural choices are any indication, they are of four-star quality. Fans of fleshy and fabulous fungi will fawn over baked mushrooms served escargot style. Blanketed by a light, flaky puff pastry, rich, mellow mushrooms are baked in a light white wine broth with garlic herb butter and parmesan. Mushrooms, it turns out, are the ideal vehicle for soaking up all the buttery goodness (which even Gourmet magazine believes is the best best part of escargot).
It’s not easy to sop up any remaining broth with the hard-crusted crostini which accompanies the mushroom dish, but the crostini is lightly toasted and provides a nice counterpoint to the starring attraction’s richness. As do several of the best fine dining restaurants in the Duke City area, Blades’ Bistro acquires its staff of life offerings from Albuquerque’s Fano Bakery which specializes in artisan-style rustic and specialty breads. Characteristics of baguettes from Fano, a hard-crust complements a soft, airy texture on other breads served during meals at Blades’.
Borscht, one of several soups on the winter soup rotation
Beauteous, blood-red beets roasted so they retain a soft inside and a firm exterior are the center point of a second appetizer, roasted red beets with toasted goat cheese and a Balsamic glaze drizzle on a bed of Arugula and Radicchio. The fresh red beets are moist and tangy, a flavor complement to the smooth, creamy texture and mild flavor of the goat cheese and both are a perfect counterbalance to the savory salt and pepper flavors of the Arugula and Radicchio salad. Red Beets are unique for their high levels of anti-carcinogens and their very high carotenoid content. It’s also heartening that they’re so delicious especially at the hands of a skilled chef.
The entree chef Bladergroen prepared for me during our inaugural visit is a dish he started preparing while serving as chef in a Fort Pierce, Florida restaurant overlooking an Atlantic waterfront. It’s Shrimp Milanaise, an entree named for the Italian city of Milan. For the most part I’ve equated breaded shrimp with disdained restaurant chains that tend to serve them in all-you-can-choke-down quantities. I had also assumed initially that the breading would be similar to the breading used on steak Milanesa, a Mexican favorite. Blades’ Bistro has forever changed those conceptions.
Fettuccini alla Carbonara: pasta tossed with cream, eggs, bacon & parmesan cheese
The breading is light and very well seasoned, adhering like a second skin to the perfectly prepared, sweet and succulent shrimp without dominating their native sea born flavors. Appropriately–being this entree is prepared by a Dutch chef–the shrimp are served with dollops of smooth and creamy Hollandaise sauce which imparts a rich, buttery flavor with a mild tang. Also served with the dish are rice and carrots, green beans and fennel served al dente. There are only two things wrong with the entree: it doesn’t come with a dozen or more of the crusty crustaceans and it’s not on the daily menu.
Seafood lovers in land-locked New Mexico have rarely had the quality of succulent shellfish and mollusks available in one dish–Blades’ Bistro’s Con Frutti de Mar, literally fruit of the sea. This entree features shrimp, scallops and lobster with a white wine garlic sauce over linguini. It’s an inspired entree in which the richness of the sauce is a concordant marriage for the sweetness of the seafood. It will not only sate your lust for protein and carbs, it may leaving you swooning in appreciation. In its annual food and wine issue for 2011, Albuquerque The Magazine awarded the Frutti de Mar entree a “Hot Plate Award” as the hot entree Albuquerque diners can’t do without.
Mongolian Ribs with Sweet Potato Fries and Coleslaw
Portions are right-sized–large enough to quell your appetite, but so tasty you’ll crave “American-sized” quantities. Other menu options include Steak Frites with Bearnaise, an entree Bruce Schor called “perfection.” The menu includes two soups, four salads and including daily specials, about ten entrees. Carnivores, herbivores and omnivores alike will find something to love.
Brunch
In 2010, Blades’ Bistro began serving lunch on Friday and Saturday from 10AM to 2PM and brunch on Sundays during those same hours. Brunch is the best of two worlds–not quite breakfast and not quite lunch, but the very best of both. It’s a leisurely weekend repast which makes you feel you’re getting away with something, almost as if you’re defying your mom’s mandate not to have dessert before your main entree. Brunch in Placitas has the additional feel of going out-of-town, away from the maddening traffic and crowds to a more sedate and tranquil paced haven.
Chocolate Chili Pot: Dark chocolate Pots du Creme with toasted Chimayo chili
While the menu has an enticing array of appetizers, soups (French onion soup topped with Gruyere cheese and a soup-of-the-day) and salads with which to begin your brunch experience, if the soup du jour gracing the menu is Borscht, contemplate the rest no further (unless it’s to have Borscht and another starter). The Borscht, one of several soups on the chef’s winter soup rotation, is excellent. Deep reddish-purple in color courtesy of beetroot, it is redolent with tomato, potatoes, beef, sour cream, garlic and dill. Borscht, a veritable culinary treasure in Eastern and Central Europe, is one of those dishes for which there is no one universal recipe. Cultural differences (Russian, Jewish, Ukranian, etc.) account for variations in ingredients and preparation. There are also seasonal variations that include serving it as a cold soup or a hot soup. Blades’ version is served steaming hot and it’s terrific!
Perhaps the most sinfully rich brunch entree (on a menu which includes a Croque Monsieur made with Gruyere cheese topped with a cheese bechamel sauce) is the Fettuccini alla Carbonara, pasta tossed with cream, eggs, bacon and Parmesan. This version is more cheesy than it is creamy and it’s thicker (though not clumpy and sticky) than some Carbonara dishes. Carbonara, an Italian pasta dish with its genesis in Rome, is best made with al dente pasta and while Blades’ rendition is certainly not al dente, it’s so good and so rich you won’t–you can’t–stop eating it. Besides that, every spoonful includes bacon and you can’t go wrong with that. This dish is so rich, it should be served with a side of angioplasty.
A trio of Sorbet: Pineapple-Mint, Blackberry-Cantalope and Pear
During our inaugural brunch visit, we lucked upon a special-of-the-day offering called Mongolian Ribs, a veritable tower of meaty ribs glazed with a ginger-sesame sauce. The plating of the ribs is tower-like, indeed. At least six ribs are stacked atop one another, buttressed by a mound of coleslaw and a phalanx of sweet potato fries. The ginger-sesame sauce is practically shellacked onto the ribs, but if that description leaves you dubious based on similarly described Chinese rib dishes, fear not. Unlike some Chinese ribs, these are not candied meat lollipops. The ginger-sesame sauce complements the beef ribs; it does not overwhelm them. Did I mention these ribs are meaty? Though they’re not quite Flintstonian in size, they will appease any a carnivore. The accompanying coleslaw is tangy and delicious, made with Fuji apples and julienne carrots on a bed of greens.
Desserts
What many will love most is dessert and Blades’ Bistro doesn’t disappoint here either. An outstanding option sure to please one and all is the tiramisu. Blades’ rendition is served in a large goblet but the cake’s component parts are certainly present: ladyfinger biscuits dipped in espresso layered in a whipped mixture of mascarpone, sugar, egg yolks topped with cocoa. The distinct addition of a liqueur is also discernible. It is a phenomenal dessert and that’s selling it short. It’s at the top of my list of my very favorite tiramisu desserts in New Mexico, a Tuscan treat so good I’d eschew my other favorite (if it was on the menu) dessert–bread pudding.
Tiramisu
In the June, 2010 edition of New Mexico Magazine celebrating “New Mexico’s Best Eats,” a three person panel of culinary experts of which I was a part, selected as the Land of Enchantment’s best uptown dessert, the red chile soup at La Casa Sena. Studded with Chimayo chile that enlivens the chocolate, it is one of my favorite desserts. In the Chocolate Chili Pot, Blades’ Bistro may have one-upped La Casa Sena. The chocolate chili (sic) pot is a ramekin brimming with dark chocolate pots du creme with toasted Chimayo chili. Its consistency is reminiscent of a very thick frosting served cold, but it certainly doesn’t taste like the topping for a cake. The adult chocolate is made even more flavorful with the infusion of Chimayo chile (better, by the way, than Hatch chile). It’s topped with whipped cream studded with blueberries.
Even in winter, savvy restaurateurs will serve cold dishes, perhaps figuring that frozen desserts are good any time of year. That’s certainly the case with Blades’ trio of sorbets, a refreshing, teeth-chattering bowl of flavor explosions. This housemade triumvirate is as good a chilly dessert as there is in the Land of Enchantment. As with all excellent sorbets, each truly captures the essence of the flavors they represent. The pear sorbet tastes like fresh-picked pears (only served ice cold). The pineapple-mint sorbet blends two distinctive flavors into a composite of what’s good about both. The blackberry-cantaloupe sorbet is similarly fruity and delicious.
In under two years, Placitas has become a dining destination frequented not only by local loyalists, but by diners from throughout the state and beyond.
Blades´ Bistro
221 Highway 165 Suite L
Placitas, New Mexico
505) 771-0695
Web Site
LATEST VISIT: 6 February 2011
1st VISIT: 31 March 2009
# OF VISITS: 2
RATING: 24
COST: $$$ – $$$$
BEST BET: Baked Mushrooms (escargot style), Roasted Fresh Beets with toasted Goat Cheese @ Balsamic Glace Drizzle, Con Frutti de Mar, Shrimp Melanaise, Tiramisu, Trio of Sorbets, Chocolate Chili Pot, Mongolian Ribs, Borscht, Fettuccinni alla Carbonara
Gil
We took a friend to Blade’s Bistro for his birthday dinner last night. Like most Placitians
we were anticipating the opening of a good restaurant here in town after a longish dry
spell. We were very impressed with the quality of the food. The baked mushrooms were
excellent, as was the calamare. The fruit de Mer was excellent as was the steak frites
entree. However….
Considering that it was Saturday night, and that the room was nearly full at six-fifteen
( and filled up rapidly after that )…the service was impossibly haphazard. Hungry, thirsty
patrons gesturing wildly in the hope of attracting the attention of one of the rather
stunned looking ( As in ” What am I doing Here ? ” ) waitstaff, grew increasingly
desperate as the time ground on at a rather glacial pace. For a table of three (with two
entrees being the same ) there was no possible excuse for me to be brought steak
frites when I had ordered the other steak dish on the menu. The Maitresse d’ gamely
struggled to brace up the woefully confused waitstaff who ( I might add )
mis-functioned in full view of the Exhibition Kitchen where the real magic was being
made. I also have to add that Blade’s, like many Bistro styled restaurants, is no
stranger to nearly ear-shattering noise levels which make dinner conversation
virtually impossible without benefit of of some antique silver ear-trumpets. I know
that the stained concrete floors in vogue these days are considered painfully chic, but
dining in a six-sided cube comprised of six hard surfaces makes for a less than peaceful
experience. Some carpet might be in order.
I know we’ll go to Blade’s again…perhaps after a long enough wait to hope the
service comes somewhere near the elegance and precision of the kitchen.
in full view
We returned to Blade’s Bistro in Placitas. As Before the food was flawless…..as good as it gets in NM. This time the service was absolutely up to snuff, prompt and precise. Apparently the opening week was a muddle…which is quite usual. But Blade’s is now an important venue in Alb………very few of the Ritzy Outfits in Santa Fe can hold a candle to the silky, fine quality of cuisine at Blade’s. We are completely dazzled
We have eaten at our neighborhood restaurant twice now. Here are my impressions:
PROS: Very upscale ambiance. Perhaps the nicest in NM. A nice touch are the handsome paintings by Wayne Mikosz and Riha Rothberg, owners of Lunatique, the predecessor to Blades.
The staff are responsive and welcome every guest and thank every guest for coming.
The acoustics are excellent and even when crowded it is easy to hear a conversation at your table.
The wait staff are knowledgeable, attentive, and helpful.
In short, a class operation all the way.
The wine list is good and the prices for wine by the glass are comparable to less expensive restaurants. There is a good selection of mid range wines.
CONS: I have had the chicken in a lemon and caper sauce and the special pasta with smoked salmon. The sauce for both was too heavy to the point of being almost congealed. This may be a style thing, but for my money, a lighter sauce would be more appropriate.
The soup du jour was served luke warm as was the coffee after the meal. The chef may have wanted the soup to be warm and not hot, but there is no excuse for luke warm coffee.
Finally a nit pick. Where so waiters learn to speak of the specials in the future tense? “Tonights special is going to be trout which is going to be served with rice and is going to come with broccoli!” At least our server was consistent.
We really want this restaurant to do well in this food challenged area and I hope the staff at Blades sees these comments.
No tiramisu on my visit but mascarpone cheesecake with lemon curd? Quite tasty.
second visit: mushroom appetizer…fantastic
bread: awful
caprese salad: less than ordinary
chicken entree: acceptable
twice baked potato: awful
apple tart: great
hoping this potentially lovely spot doesn’t go downhill; I could not believe how ordinary the entree and sides were. too bad.
can’t wait to try this one; i truly miss Cafe de la Placitas!
After a third and a fourth dinner at Blades the brilliant quality from the kitchen equals extraordinarily fine dining no matter how you cut it anywhere in New Mexico and many other places where people appreciate fine dining.
The service has become careful and appreciatively precise…without being overly fussy. The standard from the kitchen is un-flaggingly lovely…..it is quite obvious that Blade’s has rapidly grown up to be one of the very best fine dining venues in the Southwest. Subsuming all the long years of European& American excellence training of it’s owners…………..we are delighted to have such a charming little boite so close to home. We have driven way many more miles for purportedly great food, only to be disappointed. Blades is absolutely the Real Thing.
We suggest you make reservations. Blades is very much in the top rank
Bon Appetit
DH
We made our 1st vist to Blades Bistro this past Wednesday evening.
Heard lots of good things – I’m just sorry we waited so long to make the drive up to Placitis from Corrales.
The quality of the meal, the ambiance and level of service were all exceptional. A combination not easily – nor consistently found in the Albuquerque metro area.
The diverse menu was a delight!
I agree – the wine list prices are not outragous – unlike many other venues in ABQ.
And I must say “The 1/2 price bottle of wine night” is something more restaurants should consider in this tight economy.
They are featuring Milagro Vineyards at a Winemakers Wine Night on Dec 7 – Nice to see they support the local industry!
Since my last rather unfavorable review, shortly after the restaurant opened, my wife and I have been back to Blades Bistro at least a half dozen times. And I am happy to report that with each visit, we have liked the restaurant more and more.
The food has steadily gotten better and better and the service is professional and excellent. Even on the nights when they are busy.
Kevin, the owner and chef is very creative and inventive and the food now first rate. Anja, the owner/hostess could not be more welcoming and charming. And the ambiance is more San Francisco than Placitas.
Blades features the artwork of local artists and is displayed in the manner and style of a fine art gallery.
My wife and I celebrated our 36th anniversary at Blades last evening. We started with a glass of wine and shared the spinach salad which was served with Gorgonzola, beets, and grilled peaches. It was excellent. I had the special pork chop and my wife had the trout amondine. Both were well prepared and delicious. For desert we shared the strawberry shortcake over a cup of really fine coffee.
Blades is now serving lunch on Friday and Saturday and has a Sunday brunch.
I’m happy to say that Blades has become our favorite restaurant. I highly recommend it for the excellent food, friendly atmosphere, and elegant ambiance.
Had to check back and update. Had a fabulous dinner last night. Service was outstanding. The atmosphere is still fresh and very upscale.
And the food was excellent.
Blades keeps getting better and better. And better.
Ah yes Yum Yum…had the Filet of Oscar as per Le Special de la Soirée! I’ve never had a bad dining experience at Blade’s in about a dozen tries. While the pickins on the regular menu are fine, nothing beats a Special like this or The Wellington. Things are now getting tight after 6:30 on the weekend so a reservation is suggested. Just a tad out of The Q in Placitas….you can feel like you’re “getting away” for a moment, but ya don’t have to drive all the way to Santa Fe for fine dining and ambiance!!!
‘Chow’
Took my wife there for valentines day. Had reservations, arrived ten minutes before reservation time, told to have a seat at the bar. Two local couples came in and were seated right away. we were seated after a thirty minute wait. Wife ordered a steal and it was ordered medium and arrived raw not rare, too raw to enjoy. Wine was good. I ordered the chicken and it was flavorless with the exception of the breading. I try all places at least twice before stopping, so another time will be allocated to see if my service and food was misfortuate event, or a planned disservice.
Ya know, I empathize with ya Mike and so many times I’ve kept my mouth shut when spending ‘good’ money (and especially in these times of ’11, which will improve tho) to be disappointed by a meal and/or a dining out event.
I’m resolving in this Ano Nuevo, if you will, to do that NO-More and especially as restaurateurs exhort us to let them know about our experience so that they can improve and/or amend things they might overlook or accidental errors in their business in order that they, and staff, can continue to make a living! They know that a “bad mouth” goes on and on much more so than a “good mouth”, even tho I continue to tell the story how Binion’s went out of their way, after getting me show seating at Caesar’s in Vegas in ’88 as present for a couple, and returned me “change” of SIX (IMHO measly) Bucks that I sent in to pre-pay for what I guessed would be Tix-Tax-Tip.
As I’ve noted above, I’ve not had a untoward experience at Blade’s…and especially given I’m usually a solo diner, LOL. If I may suggest, call to find when they’ll be doing the Beef Oscar or Wellington and share your past experience…I have “santa fe”, if you will, things will go well.
Have been to Blades several times in groups of four, six and eight. Every time the food has been good enough to bring me back but the service is spotty and if they are busy you can’t talk with your friends with a party larger than four due to the noise level.
Whoa, was gonna go to Blade’s last night to pay attention to and check that noise level of above out as I couldn’t bring such an experience to mind…while especially hoping they had some of their previous Veal Oscar still on Special, but remembered they rest after their Sunday Brunch. In lieu of that I went to Scalo’s as a comparison setting ala “fine dining”. Indeed, despite being Sunday, Scalo’s was packed for the 6:30ish hour and I was seated on the ‘main floor’ at a 2-top, per my being a Single and it being the 2nd to last open table in the place. Whoa….talk about your sound level !!! I had trouble just talking to myself (!) as I’ve usually dined by the front window or in the bar times before! Be that as it may…i.e. regardless or despite that…I must note my Filetto*, adorned con Cambozola and embedded in a luscious risotto, was…and how trite….ever so tender while served a perfect pink-medium. Alas, while I would have preferred the asparagus being a tad less al dente, paying only 6 bucks for a Margarita offset that….LOL.
Beyond that, Mucho Kudos to Steve Paternoster for participating in the The Q’s Journal’s Press Pass promotion as Scalo’s is a rare “dining” experience offering a discount, let alone 20% especially as compared to most discount promotions discriminating against “Singles” by only offering ‘Buy 1, get one free’!
BTW, I cannot imagine a gaggle greater than 4 being unnoisy in and of themselves unless they were dining at French’s, Salazaar’s, Daniels’ etc!!!! Beyond those suggestions, if you are a group of 6 or 8 etc., requiring/needing a quiet setting, you can also find that at….and, albeit exposing myself to ridicule by confessing my having been here….a Mickey D’s!!, i.e. in contrast to the packed houses of Blade’s and Scalo’s “in these tough economic times!!!”
* What’s with eating a filet in an “Italian” restaurant? Well, its just me….I can’t eat a “whole” dish of one thing…i.e. I wish there’d be more Combo offerings….no matter how pedestrain that might be….instead of a whole plate of spaghetti, chow mein, etc. Picture a plate of 3 (butter fried) pierogies (one each of kapusta, potato, cheese), a 1/2 dozen slices of 1/2 inch kelbasi, all encircling a succulent golumpki!!! (The”l” is pronounced like the “wa” in “want”.) Now that would be Yummy with a slice of Polish (teeth wrenching) rye and a PBR!!!
“Chow!”
If I note that Gil needs to add Placitas and Los Lunas (e.g. for Luna Mansion) to his sidebar of Restaurants by Category under New Mexico, hopefully that can attest to the fact that I can be picayunish about things which might thus add some validity to my saying simply “OMG!” regarding this weekend’s Special at Blade’s….The Filet of Oscar.
Ya, it’s the second time I’m blabbing about it in particular, but I swear I’m not having a liaison with any of the staff!!!! (I also think they have one of the smoothest house Margaritas around). Best way to find out about such Specials, including any musical fare on the weekends, is to sign up for the weekly email http://www.bladesbistro.com/join.htm
While you might think trudging “way up there is boring”, then take 313 on the way back and especially now with the fantabulous sunsets we are experiencing with the unfortunate fire smoke. Imagine you’re wending your way down from Santa Fe in a buckboard as it is part of El Camino Real or in a Model T as it is part of the initial Route 66. You might also find it fascinating if you’ve never been of 4th St. to stop in for a margarita on the 2nd best patio in town at Casa de Benavidez; see 6+ antique stores within a mile; see where Vernon’s and other food landmarks are in the North Valley if you’ve never been.
“Chow”
Compadre Roberto
Because there are already 131 categories listed in my “Restaurants by Category” menu, I’m limiting the cities and towns listed on the New Mexico menu to those which have at least three restaurants I’ve reviewed. I’ve reviewed only one restaurant in Placitas and one in Los Lunas, but am always on the look-out for new restaurants in uncharted waters to try.
Gil
Oh Pshaw Gil…With all due respect to the Principles of Ikebana, where Odd is ‘It”, which I learned in Las Vegas, there is otherwise no stated, rational reason for the number 131…at least that Y’all have so stated.
As such, I wish to posit…well state…that it would be more symmetrical/lyrical for Westerners to have an ’even’ “132 categories” which could/should and would include having a “One Horse Towns”, where Great Places exist as in Penasco, Embudo, Los Lunas, Placitas, etc. where there may not, NOR EVER be 3 restaurants…. but that’s just My Humble Opinion as I may not have to make a reservation therefore or thereof at such locales per a lack of Y’all’s or Commentators’ possibly favorable somethings or others!!
I find it curious that Blades’ web site has a lunch menu in addition to the brunch and dinner menu, but their hours of operation begin at 5:00pm, with the exception of their weekend brunch hours. Why is that? They need to update their web site.
I have been to Blades twice and both times I enjoyed it. The watermelon Gazpacho is delicious, as was the Paella and the Ceviche. The last time I went, I marveled at the crab cakes with a maple sauce. I will definitely return.
The two negatives were a poor cut of “Steak Adolf” which had way too much ligament and which made certain parts inedible. I felt like I was in anatomy class, dissecting a cut of meat. To their credit, we were given dessert at no charge.
Upon our arrival,I also did not care for the attitude of the hostess who sat us. I took my mother, who is in a wheel chair; and this necessitates sitting at a 4-top so I can sit next to her to help her eat, or hold a heavy glass as needed. The hostess attempted to seat us across from each other at a banquette, saying that everything was reserved….curious…we had reservations and the place was empty when we got there. After I INSISTED on a 4-top, we were seated properly. And lo….when we left, there were still plenty of available seats. This was a turn off and insensitive to the needs of a disabled – and paying – customer.
I dined at Blade’s Bistro last evening and left with a new respect for the Chef, the Sou Chef, the waitstaff etc.
Chef had his brined roasted chicken half on the menu.
Congrats to Blade’s for not taking the “chicken breast” route so many other restaurants have taken.
It was better than my mother’s version. Sorry Mom.
It was comfort food at the highest level.
I pictured it with a nice side of mashed potatoes just like Mom’s.
Instead it came with escalloped potatoes.
Perfect! Sorry Mom, again.
My dinner consisted of Chef Kevin’s outstanding Chef’s salad, arugula, proscuitto,
artichoke hearts and shaven parmesan.
A touch of olive oil and wow.
Then the dessert……..
Key lime and coconut cheese cake.
As good as any I’ve had in my beloved New York, home of the perfect cheesecake.
Kudos to Katherine, pastry chef extraordinaire!
A perfect dinner, again.
I can’t believe that after many happy trips I had never commented on one of my favorite restaurants so I will after last night’s visit. If it sounds as though I hate the place and will never return I have phrased myself very badly. We plan to return many times. It is however a perfect example of Gil’s mentioning that if you take someone to a place you love everything will be wrong. The Child Bride and I took her friend “The Italian Lady, Rosanna Rosanna Rosanna” to impress her with our good taste.
There has been some disagreement on this site as to whether Blade’s is loud or quiet. We have never been there when it was not loud, very loud. I don’t mind this as it means people are enjoying themselves. I hate those rare fine dining restaurants with a funeral parlor atmosphere as though everyone is reverently worshiping their food. This usually makes me want to stand up and launch into my version of “My Friend the Witch Doctor.” Last night though was an abuse of the privilege.
A large birthday party was producing a brain rattling cacophony resonating from the hard floors which reduced our conversation and ordering to top volume shouting. Rosanna Rosanna Rosanna didn’t care for this. I saw paella on the menu and the pounding noise distracted my otherwise feeble brain from reading the description. A reading would have made it clear that this was not the seafood Paella which I so loved from restaurants in Barcelona and Toronto. It was chicken and some seafood but the only flavor I could pick up was overwhelmingly paprika. I don’t know if it was added or from the chorizo but I had never imagined that paprika could be so strong and I am often accused of over spicing. I like hot food, very hot. The Child Bride had her usual Salmon and loved it as always. Upon leaving a large portion uneaten I mentioned to the waitress that the paella was awful without explanation about the paprika(probably a poor choice of words because of the noise). I notice that others have mentioned that the paella was excellent and would appreciate someone else commenting on it. Is what I had the normal and loved by others or just a slip of the paprika shaker such as Gil suspected with the garlic at Duran’s Pharmacy. Until I am sure I will return many times and just order all the remainder of the wonderful dishes.
I had dinner at Blades last night.
Stag, the better half out with the ladies.
I took the opportunity to be bad, very bad.
I opted for the daily double of cholesterol, fois gras as an appetizer followed by a first for me, sweetbreads.
The fois gras was absolutely melt in your mouth perfect, served with a berry compute and a jicama slaw which was the perfect tangy partner.
Then the sweetbreads, ah the sweetbread.
They say many things about “the first time”, usually not while discussing sweetbreads but “they” should.
My thought after a few bites was simple, “Why did I wait so long?”
I had been warned of the richness of the dish and that there might be a limit to how much one can eat of something that rich but I didn’t come close to reaching that point.
I did have to double my Crestor last night but a small price to pay for perfection.
Blades keeps getting better, and that’s what the best restaurants keep doing.
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Yes, Bruce. The sweetbreads — ris de veau — are superb. I had them on November 11, two days after you did.
Screw cholesterol. This was a birthday celebration.
Check my review at http://www.abqtopten.com/blog/2011/11/15/blades-bistro/
Fabulous meal.
The bread pudding I encountered as a lad growing up in Baltimore was always made with stale old bread, and usually had a nasty texture. In the capable hands of Kevin, this dish achieves its rightful place among the food of the Olympian gods.
This version has an impeccable texture—neither too dense nor too creamy, but just right. The bread is larded with chocolate that softened and intensified when heated, and it is served with a perfectly created caramel sauce that has that slight caramelized sugar flavor that I love in my flans. This bread pudding is so extraordinary that it broke into my top five bread pudding list [are you listening, Gil?].
For those who may need an excuse to drive “way out there”, consider first spending some time Christmas shopping Saturday at the 30th Annual Placitas Holiday Arts & Crafts sale just a bit up the road http://www.placitasholidaysale.com/
Kudos to Blade’s for being a first year participant in the Souper Bowl fundraiser for the RoadRunner Foodbank.
Got Blade’s Friday email (which one can sign up for http://www.bladesbistro.com/join.htm ) noting the Filet Oscar was one of the weekend Especials. As always, perfectly prepared/presented along with a new, enjoyable medley of veggie shavings. I’ve recently noted the bartender has received acclaim for his talents on some of those ‘Best of ‘ lists and I’ll concur given his smooth margarita for under six bucks!
(I selfishly teased Kevin, who I’ve never chatted with before, about looking into whether Casa Vieja, where he started, is able to be rehabbed for a Blade’s II. I think he sorta understandably winced per fond memories contrasted with the image of trying to pull-off two venues; we agreed Corrales and CV was the place to dine way-back-when.)