A taste of the islands
Alejandro Arteaga was ready to leave the big city but not ready to leave the kitchen. After 24 years of restaurant jobs in Los Angeles and New York, Arteaga picked Albuquerque for his retirement — except there’s no immediate rest and relaxation on his agenda.
The recent transplant has launched his own restaurant, Cafe Caribe ABQ, along the newly reopened stretch of 4th Street in Downtown Albuquerque.
The 36-seat, full-service eatery focuses on the kind of dishes popular in Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Arteaga says he could’ve done just about any style of food — he’s worked in Mexican, Italian, Argentinean and Spanish restaurants — but he figured he’d be best off trading in on his knowledge of Cuban and other Latin-Caribbean specialties. That may be easy to find in New York, but Albuquerque is another matter, and Arteaga thought the market was ripe for his empanadas ($2.50 apiece), chicken and rice ($9) and pernil asado — the cafe’s signature dish, a $12 plate of roasted pork marinated in garlic, lime and other spices.
Arteaga calls all his recipes “very traditional,” but says there’s not many places in Albuquerque offering the same thing.
“You want French fries, you can find French fries anywhere,” he says. “You want yuca (another starchy vegetable that Arteaga serves), it’s going to be harder to find.”
In addition to its meatier options, Cafe Caribe’s menu also features salads (including a mixed-green version with chicken and pineapple), soups and sandwiches, like a classic Cubano ($10).
Side orders include beans, yuca and plantains — both sweet ($4) and green ($5). The cafe, run by Arteaga and his children, also serves a series of handmade lemonades and tropical shakes flavored with fruit puree (think strawberry, passionfruit and mango).
Cafe Caribe is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday, 11 a.m.-3 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. The address is 102 4th NW and the phone number is 242-2378.
And what about next door?
Cafe Caribe’s arrival fills one restaurant vacancy in the heart of Downtown, though several others remain. That includes the old Maloney’s Tavern spot next to Cafe Caribe. Doug Peterson of the building’s ownership company, Peterson Properties, says there are no current prospects for the former bar spot. His company also owns 509 Central, a space recently shuttered with the closure of longtime tenant Blackbird Buvette.
But Peterson cites recent upticks in office and residential activity as cause for optimism about the future of Downtown’s restaurant scene. In fact, he says he’s close to landing a new French restaurant for empty space at Third and Gold (last home to Le Cafe Miche). And he called the city’s recent move to reopen the old Fourth Street Mall to vehicular traffic an “entirely positive” step that prompted him to further invest in the corridor. He says he’ll spend about $100,000 to upgrade 4,500 square feet of shell space near Cafe Caribe in the hopes of wooing retail, service or restaurant tenants.
Kaktus is growing
Bernalillo’s only brewery is thinking beyond beer.
Kaktus Brewing Co. is working on obtaining a wine grower’s license so it can offer its own cider and sell wines from other local producers. Owner Dana Koller says he intends to produce a sweet and a dry cider, and perhaps incorporate the occasional seasonal offering.
As part of the menu expansion, Kaktus recently introduced a lineup of gourmet pizzas during the dinner hours, like a duckand-hoisin-sauce option and one with potato, leek, feta and crumbled bacon. Kaktus has previously stuck to what Koller called “bar food” like sausages and nachos.
But customers “want to spend more time here,” Koller says, and he thinks the new drink and food options will help.
Cider, wine and gourmet pizzas weren’t necessarily part of the big plan when Koller started Kaktus in 2013, but he says customers want a reason to spend more time at the microbrewery and the extra options help.
“We are a brewery first and foremost, but we are also definitely trying to keep up with the demand,” he says.
Kaktus Brewing Co. is located at 471 South Hill in Bernalillo, just west of Interstate 25 near the KOA Campground.
Kitchen store gets new home
Now We’re Cooking has packed up its colanders, knives and place mats and headed north — but only about two miles.
The local kitchen store just completed its relocation to the intersection of Paseo del Norte and Wyoming NE. Co-owner Nancy Herring says she and husband Matthew Segura were seeking a change of scenery after 23 years in the same location at Academy and Wyoming, and decided to make the move up Wyoming.
“This just made sense,” she says of the new spot, which she says offers enhanced visibility and better parking.
The new location boasts about the same amount of sales space for the store’s vast smorgasbord of kitchen tools, whether that means a stainless steel 12-quart stock pot ($46.95), a cactusshaped cookie cutter ($1.95) or anything off the popular gadget wall (tomato corers, celery brushes, brightly colored flippers and ladles).
Herring says she intends to reintroduce the store’s demonstration cooking classes as part of the move, perhaps resuming them as early as this spring.
Now We’re Cooking’s new address is 8100 Wyoming NE, Suite F1. The phone number is 857-9625.
Sushi’s here, sandwiches coming
Now We’re Cooking isn’t the only new tenant to join the likes of Smith’s, Big 5 and Office Max at the northeast corner of Paseo del Norte and Wyoming.
Azuma Sushi & Teppan debuted last month in the same shopping center. It’s the second location for Azuma, which has an existing site on San Mateo NE.
Meanwhile, U-Swirl frozen yogurt shuttered last month, but signs indicate that hole will quickly fill. A poster on the shop’s window advertises forthcoming restaurant called Texas Meltz that promises, and I quote, “Texas size sandwiches.”