Pizza—A Running Obsession

We’re no Chris Bianco, but we do have a running obsession with making (and eating) pizza. We’ve tried all manner of dough recipes, testing approaches by everyone from Michael Ruhlman to Mark Bittman to Peter Reinhardt, along with various online resources—including, notably, the high-hydration pizza dough recipe published a couple of years ago by our sister mag, edible New Mexico—and no doubt we will try out others.

For now, we’ve landed on an imprecise hybrid of the aforementioned: a dough that is wet but still comes together in our hands. Because the incomparable feel of the dough when it’s ready, when it’s right, is, for us, a crucial part of why we make pizza at all.

Over the course of many pizzas, including a few that could only barely qualify as flatbreads and might better be called crackerbreads, we’ve collected a few takeaways.

Flour Matters

First and foremost, flour matters; we like the nuttiness of including a dash of whole wheat, or using an artisanal pizza flour, but there’s a reason pizzerias find their formula and stick with it. Any new element, whether type or grind or simply brand, can turn a tried-and-true dough recipe into an experiment.

Crust made with day-of dough is less flavorful than crust made with dough that’s been let to ferment a day or three in the fridge; undersalted dough, like undersalted pasta, is bland no matter what you pile on top. Yeast matters too, and temperature; the same batch of dough will need more time to rise on a cooler day.

Sauce & Cheese

Once, probably turned against variation by zany attempts at fusion by places like Pizza Hut and Godfather’s, we dismissed any and all pizza that lacked tomato sauce. And we still hold that barbecue sauce does not belong on pizza.

So while we’ve tried many a tomato sauce, we’re partial to Marcella Hazan’s—most especially the basic onion and butter version or the olive oil and basil—we also like a quick pesto, leftover red chile or carne adovada, or, with the right toppings, a thin scrim of good olive oil.

With cheese, too, we’ve grown more flexible, playing with melting cheeses from cheddar to queso menonita along with mozzarella. Fontina, feta, blue cheese, queso fresco—often, we’ll use one of these to complement a particular topping, or just to compensate when we can only find subpar mozzarella.

Toppings & Tradition

There are those who issue rules—a maximum number of toppings, or a precise formula for combining them—but for us, that’s personal. We do like adding locally sourced meats, fun finds from the growers market, and pickled or fresh things.

We could claim that playing with locally grown produce is why, in a world crowded with pizzerias, we feel compelled to make pizza at home at all. But it might be precisely because of its history, personal and collective, that we keep coming back to it.

There’s something to be said for experiencing the uncertainty, the changing factors and changing outcomes, inherent to producing a dish that many of us first encountered in the deadeningly consistent versions invented by fast-food chains—but which, made with a respect for the process and a love of experimentation, can generate something that, however imperfect, is truly our own.

Amuse-Bouche

More than a dozen counties in New Mexico have been designated Natural Disaster Areas by the USDA. The disaster in question is severe, extreme, or exceptional drought; the designation makes farmers in much of the state eligible for emergency loans that can help affected producers recover or restructure. Applications are due December 10, 2026.

Per the Santa Fe New Mexican, Damien Muñoz and Maria Vigil, owners of the downtown Palacio Cafe, have purchased El Farol, the historic and beloved restaurant and bar on Canyon Road. They hope to reopen the storied venue soon, but will have to get a new liquor license since the restaurant’s original license was sold by the prior owners.

Northern New Mexico goat farm and dairy Camino de Paz brought home four awards from the 2026 Los Angeles International Dairy Awards, one for an aged goat cheese and three for flavored fresh cheeses, including a honey lavender fromage blanc that we recently had occasion to sample and found to be pretty damn good.

Delicious Things

The cruffin, a croissant-muffin hybrid pastry, was a high-octane social media food trend circa 2015, with lots of pretty and experimentally flavored versions cropping up at farmers markets and boutique bakeries.

For the most part, we’d relegated it to flash-in-the-pan status, but some bakers are still doing them—and doing them well. On a recent trip to The Grove, we treated ourselves to a lavender and lemon cruffin that was simply too gorgeous in its glass display case to deny.

Constructed of countless lacy croissant layers and filled with a tart lemon crème, this light and airy confection was the perfect preamble to a leisurely weekend breakfast. Some trends deserve to live on, clearly—and we’d submit this example as a case for cruffins’ admission into the pastry canon.

Entrances & Exits

Pandan honeycomb cake, barbecue pork buns, and macarons of all kinds can now be found in Santa Fe. The Ox 1985 held their soft opening last weekend and is hosting a Mother’s Day pop-up tomorrow from 10 am to 2 pm at their shop at 1109 Paseo Corazon.

Revolution Bakery has opened their first storefront in Albuquerque. Located in the Sawmill District, the shop is open Wednesday through Saturday, from 8 am to 2 pm, but go early if you want what you want. There you’ll find a rotating menu of everything from croissants to cinnamon rolls to focaccia to quiche—all of it made in a dedicated gluten-free environment.

In other gluten-free news, Planty Sweet is selling their vegan, gluten-free Bundt cakes by order from their new location in Albuquerque’s Barelas neighborhood. Note that the shop is not yet open to the public—a grand opening celebration is to come—so those cakes are by preorder only.

The transformation of the old Winrock mall into a multiuse campus continues with the opening of The Campground at Winrock. It looks like they’re still working out the full food truck lineup, but El Catrin Mexican Kitchen is currently serving quesobirria and more Monday through Sunday, from 11 am to 6 pm.

On April 27, just days after it was shut down by the city for structural integrity concerns, Lindy’s Diner in downtown Albuquerque partially collapsed. The City has given the building’s owners until May 15 to apply for a renovation or demolition permit.

Occasions

Today until 1 pm at Taste of India in Las Cruces, Casa Camino Real bookstore and Mattie’s Creative Works are holding a Dos Damas Pop-Up. Cool vintage books, artwork, and of course Indian food will be on offer.

In Albuquerque today from 11 am to 6 pm, Talin Market is hosting the grand opening for a bazaar that looks like it’s going to be a weekly thing.

Also today, Comeaux’s Cajun Cuisine is doing a Mother’s Day brunch at Tractor Brewing in Wells Park. It sounds like a good pick for moms—or anyone else—with a hankering for catfish and boudin with a local pint.

In Santa Fe, The Kitchen Table is celebrating their third anniversary with a spring market that runs until 3 pm.

Aradia is partnering with Farm & Table for a dinner featuring cocktails paired with five courses by Jens Peter Smith. The dinner takes place Monday, May 18, at the Albuquerque restaurant.

The New Mexico Cheese Guild is hosting another deep dive into cheese making. Focused on the bloomy rind style of goat cheesemaking behind Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog, the two-day workshop takes place May 16 and 17 at the Barelas Community Kitchen in Albuquerque.

May 28, NOSA is hosting a wine dinner featuring Dalla Terra, which specializes in importing wines from Italy.

Also on May 28, Seed & Bloom hosts a two-year anniversary and fundraiser at Jean Cocteau in Santa Fe. The nonprofit teaches culinary arts and life skills at the state penitentiary and has even built a small student-run farm.

Ex Novo is hosting New Mexico’s first Beer Prom at their Corrales location the evening of May 30. The beers served will be collaborations between local breweries, and there will also be a dance floor and prom-style photo opportunities.

Distillations

From our archives: “It all begins with the flour.” Candolin Cook gets tips on making fresh and dried pasta from private chef Michelle Michelotti-Martinez.

The Bite’s latest story taps into how and where India’s vibrant street and snack food culture is making its mark in Albuquerque.