Maybe it was a premonition of things to come that big, weird landmarks were a happy part of my childhood. At 25-feet high, the Michigan Stove Company’s giant stove marked the entrance to the Belle Isle Bridge on Detroit’s riverfront. The monument was built in 1893 for Chicago’s Columbian Exposition and was moved to celebrate a merger with Detroit Stove Works in 1927. To me it represented family picnics at Belle Isle—food!

If you haven't been inside one of the many Mexican markets around town, you're missing out. They're enclaves of culture as well as food, filled with goods and services to make their customers feel at home, not unlike an Asian supermarket or a Whole Foods. Some Mexican markets have developed a loyal following among the English-as-a-first-language demographic as well; because in addition to the fresh papayas, phone cards and goat-milk candy, they have restaurants with great Mexican food. Today we explore the culinary offerings of the locally owned El Mezquite Market chain, with four stores in Albuquerque.

Nursing It Back

Little Sir Dan, sat with his hands, aloft over keyboard with a frown. Along came his boss, and with a crumpled note he did toss, asking “Hey, we doing a Chowtown?!”

View in Alibi Chowtown