On the side
SLATE STREET CAFÉ
★★★
515 Slate Ave. NW, 505-243-2210, slatestreetcafe.com
Slate Street Café occupies a pitched-roof building on a short, tree-lined stretch of Slate Avenue between Fifth and Sixth. Light pours into the dining room through a large, half-moon-shaped window over the entrance.
The menu mixes familiar diner dishes with a few outliers.
Green chile makes frequent appearances; it even shows up in the bread from Fano, the local bakery. Most items run between $10 and $15, with a few entrées landing north of that. Menu choices with asterisks are served only as part of the weekend brunch.
Local beers are available on tap and in bottles, and a glass of wine from the thoughtful selection will set you back about $10. Among the signature cocktails are several variations of the mimosa ($5), that mainstay of brunch and first-class air travel. A glass of pomegranate mimosa ($5) was a lovely, translucent ruby red, with just enough champagne to cut the tang of the fruit.
Breakfast choices, all around $10, are almost all savory. The fried egg sandwich ($10) is served on ciabatta over a rectangular brick of hash browns.
The sandwich menu has burgers, a BLT and a grilled cheese. The green chile chicken sandwich ($14) comes with a fried chicken breast on a green chile bun.
An entrée of shrimp creole ($20), one of the priciest dishes on the menu, was handsomely presented in a large, sloping bowl, the tail-on shrimp arranged around a stump of rice in a thick sauce bright with peppers.
Service was first rate.