Campo is the restaurant at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm. Los Poblanos was designed by John Gaw Meem, the “Father of Santa Fe Style” in 1932 and now has 45 guest rooms, a working organic farm and special event spaces on 25 acres of property. Set in the Rio Grande River Valley it has acres of lavender fields as well as gardens that supply herbs and vegetables to the restaurant . Head Chef Christopher Bethoney, a native New Mexican, has been there since the restaurant opened in 2017 and was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s 2024 Best Chef in the Southwest. The family-run property calls itself “field-to-fork” in the creation of their menus. There are animals on the property but only the eggs from the chickens are used here and other local farms and herdsmen supply the additional products. Campo serves breakfast (Mon-Wed), brunch (Thurs – Sun), and dinner (daily 5-9) with the Chef’s Table (Fri – Sat) which was covered in a post you can find HERE. It’s a lovely property with a large casual dining space. If you read the write up on the Chef’s Counter you know I endorsed it but the main restaurant is also worth visiting, so make a plan to visit both when you go to Albuquerque.
Set up
Food
The Amuse bouche was a local green with house-made kimchi dressing. It had a nutty flavor and was good.
Crispy pork memela was topped with tepary beans, cilantro, spicy pickled cabbage and basil. The lovely thick tortilla was loaded with well-dressed cabbage and luscious pork belly. Tons of seasonings gave this lots of flavor. Very good.
We split the Spring allium risotto made with Los Poblanos black garlic, crispy sunchoke and goat cheese. Some turnips were mixed with the spring onions, sunchoke chips and radishes. This was only the 4th day this plate was on the menu and I bet it will stay a while. The perfectly cooked rice was left nicely runny and it all blended into a wonderful dish.
We split the local pork confit, which was plated with blue corn hominy, Rosales Farms green chile, and papitas and served with Sonora wheat tortillas. The juicy pork slices and herbed sausage bits made a terrific pairing with the hominy and potatoes in the lovely tortillas. Add a little cilantro to this mix, and you have a real winner.
White chocolate lemon verbena mousse was plated with candied lemon, basil and lemon sponge cake. The soft sponge cake was punctuated with the crisp meringue chips and the lemoncello flavored mousse. Good flavors and textures here.
A Sonora Wheat churro was enhanced with champurrado(Mexican hot chocolate) and dulce de leche ice cream. The crispy sweet churro was fantastic with the chocolate and caramel sauces and smooth ice cream. A total sweet fix and my favorite of the two desserts by a landslide.
