Okay, last time I had us in the El Pinto restaurant. We had just gotten our meals. And, of course, we ate them. (Well, as much as we *could* eat them. They were huge. So we took most of them back to the AirB&B and consumed them over the next couple of days.)
That night we headed back to the Casita, had a glass of wine, and then went to bed. The next morning we got up and decided we would go out for breakfast...but not at the Slow Burn this time. Instead, we headed off into the Northeast Heights -- which is, obviously, the quarter of the city which is, roughly, in the Northeast. There’s also (also obviously), a Northwest, a Southwest, and a Southeast, each with their own neighborhoods and their own characters.
When we’d lived in Albuquerque, we’d lived in the Northeast Heights, and we hoped to have breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants in the area, La Quiche Parisienne Bistro, which is...as the name would suggest...a French pastry shop and restaurant.(1) We used to go there all the time, knew the owners, and knew the cook and our favorite member of staff, whom I’ll call Ray (not his real name, but I want to protect his privacy), whom everyone assumed was (like the owners) French. In fact, he was nothing of the sort, but people tend to see what they want to see, and he was a handsome young man with dark features and the faintest hint of an exotic accent.
About the photos: First, Martha at the El Pinto during dinner. Second, an interior shot of the El Pinto in general. (Do give it a visit.) Third, Martha standing in front of Turquoise World...which will be, alas, closed by the time you read this. Sad.
But, this time, we got there and discovered that everyone and everything was different. Ray, of course, was long gone. He works in IT now. The chef we’d known was nowhere to be seen. I thought I saw one of the owners we’d known in the kitchen but I wasn’t sure. And there was a huge crowd and a long wait.
So, after a bit, we gave up and went around the corner to yet another restaurant we used to frequent in the area--the Cinnamon Sugar & Spice Cafe.(2) This, too, proved to be crowded, but things were moving fast, and soon we were able to have a nice breakfast.
From there, we were off to our favorite jewelry shop in town, Turquoise World (not to be confused with the Turquoise Museum, which comes later). This really is a wonderful place.(3) It’s a small shop on San Mateo Blvd. You’d drive right past if you didn’t know about it. From the outside, it just looks like a little white plaster building...albeit one with light blue metal bars over the windows, and a locked security grille over the main door.
But it’s been our go-to place for gifts and jewelry and Native American pottery forever and ever. And it was, after all, our anniversary, and I owed Martha a present. We found our way quickly, rang the bell, and the owner buzzed us in. He is a tall, thin, very friendly man by the name of Monty. He is also an amazing individual who has contacts with artists and artisans all over the Southwest -- from Pueblo people here in Central New Mexico, to Navajo and Hopi to the west, and to, well, everywhere else.
That day, he greeted us, and we explained we were looking for an anniversary gift for Martha. He showed us quite a few things that were new and fascinating -- particularly in the pottery. I was able to get Martha some jewelry, which was good. We toyed with the idea of getting some of the pottery he’d shown us, but we decided we just couldn’t get it back to Georgetown without breaking it.
Then we had a bit of a shock. Monty informed us that he was retiring. The shop would close. He didn’t know whether someone might buy the store and re-open under new management. Perhaps. Or, more likely, someone would simply buy the stock and sell it in their shops or online.
We understood. But we were not happy. Where are we going to get Native American jewelry and gifts now? we wondered. And, besides, we were a little nonplussed by the speed of it all...at how our touchstones in the city seemed fluid. Everything changes, of course. But, let’s confess, even for the most adventurous of thrill-seekers, sometimes the temporal rollercoaster’s dips and swerves are a little hard to take.
Ah well...
After that, we headed out. We were once more en route to Old Town...where, happily, an old friend awaited us.
And this time, there were no unsettling changes.
More to come.
Footnote:
1. La Quiche Parisienne Bistro’s website is here: https://laquicheparisiennebistro.com/ As for Ray being French, it was a natural mistake. Only, if you listened, you realized that his accent was closer to New Orleans than Marseille.
2. The Cinnamon Cafe has its website here: https://cinnamoncafeabq.com/
3. Turquoise World did have a webpage here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Turquoise-World-100070289743145/. However, it hasn’t been updated since 2019.
Copyright©2025 Michael Jay Tucker
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