Intimate gastropub
Newly opened Cantero Brewing offers seven of its beers, upscale menu
An upscale gastropub menu and seven of its own beers on tap are what you can find at Cantero Brewing Co. Construction on the brewery began in November, and it opened the weekend of Sept. 15.
“I think the reason it took so long for us to open is we’re such perfectionists on how we wanted it to get done,” said Kane Oueis, spokesman for Cantero Brewing Co. “What makes us different is the fact that we have kind of a higher-end style of food at a really good price and a really solid beer menu at opening. A lot of the breweries that open have opened without its own beers and have a difficult time opening, where we took our time and made sure that everything is in order before we open.”
Cantero has seven of its own beers on tap, created by brewers David Rosebeary and George Gonzales. It also features six guest taps, including three that offer ciders from New Mexico Hard Cider, and there are some local wine offerings.
“Ales is what we’re going for to begin with,” Oueis said. “We’ve got a brown; we’ve got an amber; we have a stout — you know a lot of people ask for that. We’ve got a really good IPA. We have an American gold ale. We have a New Mexico red chile stout. We have a kolsch, and that’s pretty much it for now, but we plan on making more, obviously.”
Cantero was intentionally kept small and quaint for a reason.
“We’re shooting a little bit more for a modern look, you might say, even though it’s got a little bit of rustic stuff but the majority of it is going to be more modern,” Oueis said. “Modern chic is what (owner Katey Taylor) calls it. We will have a patio outside that we built. It seats about 50 people. It’s got a fireplace, a water fountain. … (Inside) seats about 75 people. We do not want a very large taproom. … We want to make sure that our food (is high-quality). You know, the bigger the room, the quality goes down.”
Chef Gianni Martinez is responsible for Cantero’s food menu.
“It’s a gastropub menu,” Oueis said. “You’ve got your carne fries, basically burgers, salads, sandwiches. On top of that, we’ve got wings. We’ve got desserts. We’ve got a kids’ menu. It’s a family-friendly brewery. … We have a really promising Mediterranean dish, which is basically a gyro plate. … We do have the Impossible Burger, which is good for those who don’t have a lot of choices in Albuquerque. The Impossible Burger, it’s a vegetarian dish. It’s basically a veggie burger … but it actually tastes like meat, which is really cool. It is a plant proteinbased burger.”
Cantero just opened,but there are plans in the next six months to a year to expand its 4,500-squarefoot production area an additional 6,000 feet. Cantero has a 10-barrel system and 20-barrel fermenters, which allows for the production of a significant amount of beer, including its current offerings that do not have official names yet.
“We’re not going to name them for at least a few weeks, maybe even a month,” Oueis said. “… We want to make sure we’re consistent with them before we give them a name, because we don’t want any inconsistencies. The only one that does have a name is the red chile stout, and that one is called Brew-ha-ristra. It’s (made with) New Mexico red chile from Chile Traditions.”