Sometimes, it’s time to clean house. And I mean in the big way.

~AlwayzReal
    
We all probably acquire things that we intend to use later or sell or hope to fit back into one day. Last week I had it and decided to gather a trailer load of these stored items and take them to the Habitat for Humanity Re-store. Loaded on my borrowed neighbor’s 16 foot trailer were boxes and boxes of stuff. Things like dog sweaters, wrapping paper, heaters, coolers, weird unused kitchen gadgets, floor lamps, etc. Also some big stuff, like a refrigerator and an electric stove from the 60’s. I’d called ahead, hoping that they would come pick up all this booty, but was told that their one and only pickup guy had retired and that I could either wait a month (definitely not) in hopes that they hire a new guy, or bring them to the store myself. So choice B it was. 

After 3 employees, my wife and I had crammed all the goods into the donation sorting room, we couldn’t resist cruising the store, as we are always on the lookout for that special, unique bargain item to inspire our next build or, maybe a perfect Yart piece for the garden.

We love this store and appreciate the intent of all Habitat for Humanity Re-stores. As builders, we have visited many many of these stores across the US. My favorite one is in Bremerton, WA. Acres of organized building materials at crazy good prices. The Albuquerque store is also a good one, though lately it seems the prices have near doubled. We downright boycott the Santa Fe location. Often the prices are higher than new, which we have brought to their attention and were met with snobby indifference. Fortunately, this day, we left with only 2 small ice trays, which we badly needed as ours had cracked just a few days ago.

Now after all this work and feeling like we deserved a treat, we finally chose to eat at Ken’z Cuisine. Since I’ve been writing this weekly article and have a mandatory obligation to dine out at least once a week, I have packed on some extra, unwanted pounds. I gathered my fading will power and put myself on a severe food restriction 9 days prior. But, after reading the menu, I quickly decided to jump off of my diet and just go for it. Well, go for it, we did. 

Our dear friend, John, drove out from SF to join us for dinner. He knows Ken and made the evening more special by Ken coming to our table several times throughout the meal. We hadn’t yet made it to Ken’z Cuisine, mostly because we were confused. The outside of the building has a couple of nicely painted mural style signs stating it to be the Blue Heron Brewery and Pizza House. We kept hearing rumors that it was now Ken’z Cuisine but for some reason or another, just kind of back burnered it. 

Walking in through the back door entry (the only entry), we were surprised by the humble, yet elegant decor. There’s a sweet hand painted sign warmly welcoming all guests. We were met immediately by a lovely young woman to be sat at a comfortable table with large windows looking out on the sparsely treed Espanola plaza. We ordered a rich vibrant bottle of red from Chiripada Winery, the wife chose one of the many beers on tap and we all opted for the avocado croquettes as a starter.

Ken came out of the kitchen to greet John and we ran our possible menu choices by him. He confirmed that we chose well, so we ordered the Cleo Naranjo Seared Salmon with mango salsa, the Crimini Mushroom and Spinach Pasta and the Chicken Parmesan. We ordered the Chicken Parm a la “Italian Christmas,” (a term cleverly coined by Ken) with both the pomodoro and the green chile alfredo sauces.

I truly cannot say enough good adjectives about this food. I’ll try to keep it short, but, my goodness, this meal was DELICIOUS. 

We placed all three of the entrees in the middle of the table and decided to rotate clockwise after each of us got several forkfuls onto our appetizer plates. I started with the salmon. It was perfectly seared with a crisp but delicate coating of savory herbs, orange juice and…butter? The salmon was cooked to a tender firmness that is hard to achieve. It was plump and fresh and placed atop some of the best rice pilaf I’ve ever tasted. Julienned carrots, subtle herbs, and again, butter?

​​Rotating right, next in front of me, was the Chicken Parmesan. Tender, juicy chicken breast crust baked in a Parmesan cheese and half topped with a creamy, somewhat spicy Alfredo sauce, the other half slathered in the zesty and wonderful pomodoro. Both the salmon and the chicken were accompanied by a chunky, calabacitas style seasoned and grilled squash and carrots. Again, some of the best I’ve ever had, and a very fresh, crisp side salad with pickled red cabbage, kalamata and Italian green olives, spears of crispy cucumber all atop farm fresh greens tossed in a lite citrus honey vinaigrette.

Next came the pasta. It was a perfectly al dente linguine drenched with a creamy white sauce and nicely complimented with the crimini mushrooms and spinach. We all wished that there was a little more spinach, but were very pleased with the overall flavor. The leftover sauce paired perfectly with the endless basket of delicious ciabatta bread, warmed to a taut and crunchy perfection and served with a soft, house herb butter.

We couldn’t quite finish all this splendor, so we packed our leftovers into our always-with-us to go container for later. Though we were comatose-ly full, I was committed to jump very far off of my diet, so asked for the dessert menu. We opted for the Lemon Curd Napoleon. This was equally remarkable as the entrees. Puffed pastry delicately filled with a tart and sweet creamy lemon curd, surrounded by lightly sweetened whipped cream, drizzled with raspberry sauce and succulent, slightly sour raspberries.

I highly recommend Ken’z Cuisine to you all. The prices are very reasonable for the portions and the splendid quality. The decadent meal came to about $180 for the three of us, including tip and tax. During one visit to the table, Ken unraveled all of our confusion by telling us that he had merged with the former tenant, Blue Heron a while back, and that they had harmoniously been coexisting as a brewery pizza joint and fine dining, but, that the Blue Heron is completely severing from that location and Ken will soon be the sole tenant. He does get to keep the pizza menu going and plans to put his own flare on it soon. He is also on the verge of acquiring a full liquor license. Some of you may be familiar with his previous location at the Delta Inn, and some of you may recognize him from his days at El Paragua as a bartender.  He promised an invigorating and unique cocktail list once the license gets approved. I hope he takes advantage of the opportunity for free advertising with some tables placed on the portico facing the plaza. I can picture a warm summer afternoon sipping Mojitos and Margaritas and crunching on the Fried Calamari that we just couldn’t justify ordering for this visit.

Emerging stuffed from Ken’z and seeing the trailer empty kind of felt like losing 10 pounds (which I’m apparently not trying so hard to do).​