St. Clair's Winery and Bistro - Albuquerque, NM Review

Whenever I move somewhere new, which is often (military brat), one of the first things I do is go try a local restaurant. In the first few weeks, if anyone in my family even mentions fast food or chains, they get the evil glare and the exasperated, "But they have that in ___________ (insert last place of residence here)!"

The same, of course, happened in Albuquerque. I moved there two years ago from England (culture shock?) and immediately starting roaming around with my mouth wide open for new cuisines. I quickly learned about green chile and the tendency to put it in...everything. At the end of the summer, I realized something else about New Mexico that was completely unexpected. New Mexico has quite the collection of vineyards and private wineries throughout the state (north of Santa Fe and around Las Cruces and Deming-- St. Clair is out of Deming, actually). This boom in wine culture is reflected in the foods and wine pairings at St. Clair.

One day while driving aimlessly around the Old Town area, I happened to notice this cute looking building that contained this bistro I had read about in the local weekly whatever you want to call it, the Alibi. I immediately called my wino dad and pulled him down the mesa to Old Town to check it out.

St. Clair Bistro is adorable. The inside is sort of dark and masculine but with light feminine touches as a counterpoint. It's nice and leathery in there with beautiful wood features and the wine bar and shop, etc. The back patio, however, is awesome. It is so beautiful with the lighting and plants and live music under the shade of the cottonwood trees. I went down one day to listen to jazz for my Jazz History course (makes sense, right?) and indulged in some wonderful pot roast out there. The only problem was the cotton from those gorgeous cottonwoods floating right on top of my delectable morsel of meat! That wasn't cool but, hey, I'm not going to tell the plants that's a no-no.

The food is good, some of it is sometimes great. The pot roast is my favorite but can be too rich. The pork with raspberry chipotle sauce is dynamite and so are their cheese trays ("nosh," right?) in the beginning. Their Sunday brunches, when offered, are so amazing and I love going there for Easter, Father's Day, etc, etc, especially when dad is paying.

It can get pricey (at least $20 for me to eat and that's without wine). For the dad and myself, it usually came out to around $50-60 depending on the appetizers selected or not. The service is ok. Most of the servers were people I actually recognized from my philosophy courses on campus so make of that what you will.

All in all, to wrap up this long review, St. Clair is worth the stop. Especially in the summer time when you can sit outside and relax to the music and have a slow, European style evening meal in the heart of New Mexico. This is a great place to have a grown-up night out with friends, or just a romantic meal with your partner/date/"friend" when in town.

(The primary photo is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mosaikfrog/2487217248/ and the one posted with my review is here: http://www.zvents.com/images/internal/2/0/1/3/img_213102_primary.jpg)