Albuquerque’s restaurant scene is thriving, but that scene doesn’t grow and change without input from you, the diners. Which is why we have the Best of Burque Restaurants reader poll each year, so you can cast your votes for the best cocktail bar, the best pizza place, and the best green chile to be found in the city. This is the kind of thing that restaurants will print out and proudly display in their windows for years to come, so, y’know, don’t take it lightly.

Last year the popular South Valley Pupuseria y Restaurant Salvadoreño opened a satellite restaurant on Gibson and San Mateo, in the shadow of the infamous “Chevy on a Stick” statue. When I ate there recently, I was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a famous set of golden arches and the word “McShit.”

We don't bake much. But we threw ourselves into baking a sweet creation for a beer tasting and a radical birthday dinner party. The goal was to find a treat that would stand up to the awesome power of dessert beers and high-octane stouts.