SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
#244 | Culinary Americana and AI Slop
If you went to the New Mexico State Fair this year and partook in some patriotic fried delicacies, then you may have noticed a couple things that grabbed our attention too:
- Korean corn dogs are mainstream American street fare now.
- Damn, AI-generated illustrations of food are also mainstream now, and they are pretty universally bad.
Never mind that the illustration on the official banner ad of the state fair itself was clearly made by AI (“Is that cow . . . wearing a bridle? Like, so you can ride it?” one friend asked), but the “Motel 66 Bison Hatch Chile Fries” that one food truck advertised were so clearly not real that the image triggered some uncanny valley nausea—oil just doesn’t look like that.
The fact that Monument Valley appeared in the background—a beautiful place, no doubt, but not a place in New Mexico, nor anywhere near Route 66—also seemed suspect.
The no-holds-barred approach with which so many food businesses—and businesses in general—seem to have embraced using AI designs is concerning on a lot of levels: Do they not recognize how bad they look, and how immediately clockable they are as AI? Do they not want to maintain at least a bit of quality control over their own public image—is that not what advertisement is for? Or are they somehow so seduced by these faux-flawless versions of their products that they can’t see how deeply weird they are?
To be clear, we understand how tight the profit margins are for small businesses, and we don’t want to shame anybody for not having the funds to hire a designer for every bit of public-facing media they produce.
But we’d much prefer a hand-Sharpied sign advertising “Navajo tacos for sale” (an advertisement that has worked on us many times) to a glossy piece of content advertising something that doesn’t make any sense, or that simply doesn’t exist in the real world.
Without even bringing in the whole “AI data centers are using up all our water” thing (or, without bringing it up besides this one mention) and limiting ourselves merely to aesthetic criticism—these ads all look exactly alike.
As with all things created by AI, they are not designed to be unique or interesting, but rather to combine all the elements of what they’ve been told is good design into an insipidly maximalist, “everything but the kitchen sink” visual stew. Design by committee, but a committee that has never eaten food before.
Granted, maybe we oughtn’t expect exemplary design ethics at the New Mexico State Fair. But it’s hard to miss the garishness of AI slop when there were also so many examples of the hours of hard labor people put into making real food: the biggest pumpkins, the sweetest peaches, the blue-ribbonest tomatoes.
Even the pickle pizza and Dorito-dusted esquites and cheesecake-on-a-stick require some human creativity (and perhaps a little absurdity) to think up.
State fairs have always been the staging grounds for some pretty inspired acts of culinary Americana—and that’s the stuff that we keep coming back for, year after year.
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Amuse-Bouche
Paloma is hiring. The restaurant is looking for a pastry chef/cook who can take on current operations and bring new ideas to the table too. Professional pastry experience required. Email them with your résumé.
Awards
There have been a few.
First off, edible New Mexico’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown took place two weeks ago, and NM ChileJang and VM Coffee—both of Albuquerque—each won first place in one category and second place in another.
Albuquerque’s Fuego 505 won the New Mexico State Fair’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge, beating out the Nob Hill–based Stackers and Sparky’s of Hatch.
Secondly, the New Mexico Restaurant Association held their industry awards on Monday, with the Restaurateur of the Year award going to the owner of Atrisco Cafe and Tomasita’s—the latter one of all too few New Mexican restaurants that sources any local meat at all.
The founder of the reportedly amazing Proofed Bread in Las Cruces won a Faces of Diversity award for creating an inclusive space.
Entrances & Exits
La Carinderia, the micro food hall at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, is officially open.
There are some old favorites and some new faces in the lineup: Howdy Cakes and Prickly Foods are around, as well as Filipino food courtesy of Barkadas ABQ.
Street Food Institute opened their corner grocery, La Tiendita de Barelas, last week. The store will stock fresh fruits and veg, pantry staples, and some locally sourced items.
Hours: Wednesday–Saturday, 11 am–7 pm.
Albuquerque’s Sichler Farms has big plans. According to Business First, the seasonal chile market wants to shift into a year-round operation, complete with greenhouses, space for chile processing, a restaurant/café, and expanded retail space.
The family has been operating the stand on San Mateo during peak chile harvest months since the late 1980s; and while the Sichlers do have history in farming, these days, per their website, they sell chile grown by a partner farmer in the Las Uvas area in southern New Mexico.
Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Co. also has big plans—which also, somewhat contrary to their name, involve a detour into Albuquerque.
As soon as this fall, they’ll be moving production to the Duke City and opening up a retail space called The Filling Station in the industrial zone that’s also home to La Cumbre, Heidi’s Ice Cream, and Left Turn Distilling.
Truth or Consequences has a newish bakery: Rama Bread has limited hours, open only on Tuesdays at 411 Main.
A reader tipped us off to this place, which does sourdough bread, scones and buns, and chaos cookies, and, every second Saturday for Art Hop, “turns into a multisensory experience with delicious fresh bread and specialty coffee scents wafting through the air amid glitch video footage and vintage ’90s anime cartoons displayed on walls and old TVs.”
Occasions
Today is Chispas Farm’s annual farm party, starting at 6 pm. There will be goats to pet, lawn games, and a DJ providing grooves. Bring something for the potluck and a blanket or chair.
Also today—and tomorrow—is the harvest fest at Wines of the San Juan in Blanco. Enjoy some live music, local wine, food vendors, and hop in to help for the great grape stomp—you’ll get a souvenir wine glass for your troubles, of course.
Next weekend, the longstanding ABQ Grecian Festival takes place at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in EDo.
We’ve never not heard people complain about parking at this event, so if you go, consider using the free park and ride from Lomas and University.
Red River Oktoberfest goes down October 9 through 11.
The Lederhosen Junkies will be traveling from Texas Hill Country to play all kinds of polkas, and there will be plenty of local wineries and distilleries on hand for those who need a break from all the beer.
That’s the biggest, but far from the only: If you’re seeking an Oktoberfest closer to home, or closer to right now, know that The Dark Side Brew Crew has kindly put together a statewide Oktoberfest Guide.
Chile Season Update
Speaking of chile though: The green stuff is threatening to make an early departure this year.
Farmers are reporting that their chile is turning red early, not to mention crops that struggled with ferocious heat and limited water all summer long.
Rosales Produce in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque has been selling out of green chile early most days, with occasional closures due to flooded fields, so check their latest Facebook post before you head down to line up.
Other spots have also had occasional closures due to storms, but the Chile Konnection on Broadway and Mountain told us they were hoping to get a truckload in around noon today.
