M'tucci's Rosso

M’tucci’s spent nearly a year searching for the right vineyards and vintner in California to produce M’tucci’s wine. It all came together just after the 2019 harvest. The partners wanted wines that were more similar to old-world wines that are found in Spain, Italy and France. The Dolcetto and the Bianco were covered in earlier editions of La Gazzeta. Today we’ll talk about the Rosso, which has become a favorite among M’tucci’s wine fans.

The 2018 Rosso is made from a blend of three varietals: 70% Carignan, 28% Grenache and 2% Charbono. The majority of the grapes are grown in Mendocino County, which is the northern-most wine area in California.

Workers celebrating the conclusion of the 2020 harvest in California.

“The Mendocino County appellation is part of the large North Coast AVA that spreads northward from San Francisco Bay. Traditionally, Mendocino wines were consumed locally. More recently, however, modern world-wide distribution has brought international recognition. Long famous for its redwood forests, today Mendocino County is a world leader in certified organically-grown grapes. There are 17,000 acres of vineyards in the County, with 25% of them growing certified organic grapes.” From mendowine.com

the mustard is blooming Throughout California’s vineyards, signaling the beginning of spring.

“This wine has really impressed us in all of our tastings.  Think of it as a bit of a Merlot/Cab/Syrah type blend.  It’s got big enough tannin to stand up to almost any red meat, but will also pair great with tomato sauces and even with charcuterie.” Tasting notes from John Haas and Amanda Romero.

Carignan has Spanish origins, but is more common in French wines, primarily in Languedouc-Roussillon.  Grenache is used in many of the best wines from the Rhone region in France. It is called Garnacha in Spain and is a common blending partner with Carignan, which results in softer tannins and a more balanced wine.  Charbono (also called Charbonneau) originated in the Savoy region of France. In the early days of California winemaking, it was often referred to as being the same grape as Dolcetto , but it is definitely a different grape. It commonly has high acidity and rich, fruity complexity. It is called Bonarda in Argentina, where it’s the second most planted grape behind Malbec.  This wine will continue to get better with each year in the bottle.   

M’tucci’s Wine Nights

Enjoy great bottles of wine for half price on one day every week. All three bottles of M’tucci’s are half price (regularly $32). All day in the dining room and the bar.

Monday - M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Tuesday - M’tucci’s Italian

Wednesday - M’tucci’s Moderno

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Special Weekend Cocktails

Special Weekend Dishes

Beef Tip Tortelloni @ Moderno

Pan-Seared Yellowtail @ Italian

Pork Saltimbocca @ Twenty-Five

Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

8 oz Herb Rubbed Pork Chop - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $23

Pan-Seared Yellowtail - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $23

Pasta: Harris Ranch Beef Tips, Roasted Butternut Squash, Haricot Vert, Red Onion and Cajun Cream Sauce $21

Cocktail: Toki Highball: Suntory Japanese Toki Whiskey, Topo Chico Sparkling Water, Cracked Large Ice, Lemon Twist

Sunday Only: Half Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, House Made Cole Slaw and House BBQ Sauce for $18

M’tucci’s Moderno

Frutti di Mare - Shrimp, Baby Scallops, Baby Clams, & Mussels in a Spicy Marinara on Fettuccine $19

Beef Tip Tortellini - Cajun Seasoning, Diced Tomatoes, Green Onions, Rosa Sauce & Gorgonzola Cheese $19

Cocktail: Beach Glass: Muddled Strawberry, Amaro Lucano, Orange Juice, Liime Juice, Prichard’s Crystal Rum Goslings Float

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

12oz. Harris Ranch NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $24

6 oz. Pan-Seared California Halibut - Garlic Whipped Potatoes, Grilled Escarole, Seared Artichoke Hearts, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $22

Sackett Farm Pork Saltimbocca - Thin, Lightly Breaded Pork stuffed with Prosciutto & Sage, Fettucine, Artichoke/Tomato Relish, Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc $19

Cocktail: Penny for Your Thoughts: Woodford Private Reserve, Yellow Chartreuse, Thyme Simple Syrup & Lemon

Gelato: Stracciatella & Irish Car Bomb with Steelbender Stout Brownie Crumbles

Sorbetto: Raspberry Lemon

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Meet the M’tucci’s Family

Robin Dibble, Asst. Manager at M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

“I’m proud to say I was born and raised in Albuquerque. I cut my teeth in corporate restaurants such as Buca di Beppo and PF Chang’s. I left management for a few years and went back to school., becoming a CNM freshman at the age of 30, graduating in 2016. My most recent position was as General Manager of Zinc Wine Bar and Bistro. I was lucky enough to be there for a year before the pandemic shut us all down.”

”This past year has been the most challenging year for us in the business. It has challenged our belief systems, our operations, our stability, and our livelihood. I have always told my staff in the past that I truly love being a part of an alternative workforce, one that celebrates people, culture and experiences through food. I have often said “working in restaurants is an excellent life skill because you can always find work in restaurants, anywhere you want to go, as long as you love the job”. This mantra was shattered last year. We have all had to change and adapt. I’m honored to be welcomed to the M’tucci’s family and excited to finally be back in restaurants. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our industry and It will be my pleasure to welcome you all back to celebrate some day soon!”

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Shelly Covey, Bartender/Server at M’tucci’s Moderno

Shelley moved to Albuquerque from Buffalo, NY in 2018 and has been working at M’tucci’s Moderno since June 2019.

“I like coming up with different vodka flavor infusions, such as the Infused Mule, and, of course, making all of the awesome cocktails on our menu. I love working in a place that encourages you to experiment with different ingredients and spirits to concoct new drinks. If I’m not at work, I’m usually hiking.”

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Ashley Dunec, Asst. Manager at M’tucci’s Italian

“Hello everyone, Ashley here. You may know me as your M’tucci’s hostess, server, bartender, manager, or chef! Okay the last part was a joke, but who knows maybe I’ll do it! Over seven years with the company definitely allows you to broaden your horizons. It’s crazy to think about all that’s happened in that time. A lot has changed; I graduated high school, graduated from college, and have had numerous opportunities and ventures that I’ve been able to pursue while maintaining my place with the company. I’m super thankful to have worked with the M’tucci’s family for this long, and I can’t wait to see what the future after COVID holds!”

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A few from Tuscany

I Veroni Agriturismo, Pontessieve

Siena

Florence & Ponte Vecchio

San Gimignano

Montalcino Wine Shop

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

Italian St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is upon us, so M’tucci’s will commemorate the Irish holiday with a meal kit of Corned Beef and Cabbage. Strange? Not really, since legend suggests that Patrick was really Patrizio, born into a Roman family living in Roman England in the 5th Century. Possibly, St. Patrick is Italian!!

Today, due to Irish emigration, there are Irish communities throughout the world, most prominently in the U.S., but also in Italy. Several celebrations, cultural and religious, are held in Italy around March 17th.

Religious observances for St. Patrick’s Day in Rome are held at St. Isadore’s College and at the Basilica of San Clemente (although they were cancelled last year because of the Covid lockdown). Scholars Lounge in Rome is the largest Irish Pub in Italy and received the award of Best Irish Pub in the World.

Irlanda en Festa is held in 10 Italian cities during the week of St. Patrick’s and is recognized by the Irish Ministry of Culture as the most important Irish Festival in Europe. It has been held every year since 2007 and features Irish music, culture and cuisine. The Bologna Facebook page for Irlanda en Festa has more than 23,000 followers. The festival lasts for three days in Florence where more than two dozen Irish pubs host Italians and Irish alike.

Corned beef is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Corned Beef & Cabbage is not an Irish National dish, but was created by Irish Americans and is derived from the traditional dish of bacon & cabbage. Corned beef is popular in the cuisines of Israel and Philippines.

M’tucci’s Corned Beef & Cabbage Meal Kit is a collaboration between Chef/Partner Cory Grey and Executive Pastry Chef Brianna Dennis. Cory created the spice kit for cooking the three pound piece of corned beef and Brianna created the dessert with an Irish theme. She has used Steelbender Brewyard’s Brickie Stout to make a Brownie, then crumbles it into what she calls an “Irish Car Bomb Gelato.” The gelato is not a reference to the “troubles” in Northern Ireland, but a popular cocktail similar to a Boilermaker, where a shot of Bailey’s and Jamesons Irish Whiskey is dropped into a glass of Stout. The gelato is a Baileys gelato with a Jamesons Caramel Swirl.

We predict that you probably won’t consume the entire portion of meat for St. Patrick’s Day, so we are including M’tucci’s Rye Bread, House Made Mustard and Sauerkraut so you can make your own Reuben Sandwich the next day.

We are taking phone orders for this kit, which can be picked up on March 16 & 17. Only $49.

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Let Chef Cory show you how easy it is to prepare your Corned Beef & Cabbage in this video on our YouTube Channel.

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Weekend Cocktail Specials

Nikle for Your Kiss - Twenty-Five

Apple Cart - Moderno

House Made Limoncello - Italian

Weekend Food Specials

Mahi Mahi - Twenty-Five

Frutti di Mare

Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

8 oz Beef Tenderloin - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $29

Pan-Seared Ruby Red Trout - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $23

Sunday Only: Half Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, House Made Cole Slaw and House BBQ Sauce for $18

M’tucci’s Moderno

12 oz Hand Cut Rib-Eye: Crispy Saltwater Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Salsa Verde $33

Frutti di Mare - Shrimp, Baby Scallops, Baby Clams, & Mussels in a Spicy Marinara on Fettuccine $19

Pan-Seared California Halibut - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $24

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

7 oz. Harris Ranch Hanger Steak or 12 oz Chianina Rib Eye - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21/$56

6 oz. Pan-Seared Mahi Mahi - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Escarole, Seared Artichoke Hearts, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $22

Chianina Beef Picatta - Thin, Lightly Breaded Chianina, Garlic Whipped Potatoes, Artichoke/Tomato Relish, Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc $23

Gelato: Chocolate Hazelnut

Sorbetto: Pineapple-Limeade

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

M'tucci's Bianco

When M’tucci’s partners were searching for a white wine, they wanted one that was a bit different from the more common Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinto Grigio. They found Verdelho being grown in Contra Costa County in California. An old world grape that originated in Portugal, the California version is different from the traditional sweet wine that is used for fortified Madeira wine in Portugal.

Contra Costa County is due east of San Francisco and is known for the quality of their grapes, primarily because of the deep, sandy soil which encourages deep root systems. The hot days are cooled by breezes from San Francisco Bay during the night producing fruit that is small, but that has concentrated flavors.

Spring in the vineyard.

Verdelho is one of the most widely planted grapes on the island of Madeira, which sits in the North Atlantic Ocean west of Morocco. An autonomous region of Portugal, the island has a sub-tropical climate with hilly and rocky soil. While the grape is the main grape in the sweet, fortified dessert wine of Portugal, the flavor profile of the Australian and Californian Verdelho are significantly different. The Australian grape produces wine that is very similar to the Sauvignon Blancs of New Zealand: tangy with tropical fruit, lime and grapefruit flavors.

M’tucci’s 2019 Bianco 100% Verdelho from Contra Costa County has flavors of peach, green apple and honeydew.

Tasting notes from John Haas and Amanda Romero: “Thanks to balanced acidity, this will pair really well with almost the whole spectrum of white wine pairings.  Most people will consider this to be similar to Sauvignon Blanc.”

M’tucci’s Wine Nights

You can take advantage of 1/2 price M’tucci’s wine nights at all M’tucci’s locations. M’tucci’s Bianco, Rosso and Dolcetto are available for only $16 a bottle Monday at M’tucci’s Twenty-Five, Tuesday at M’tucci’s Italian and Wednesday at M’tucci’s Moderno. We plan to host a special dinner paired with M’tucci’s wine soon. Stay tuned.

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Lot’s of new things going on at all M’tucci’s, plus our usual impressive lineup of weekend specials. First feast your eyes on a few special drinks, new menus at M’tucci’s Moderno.

Infused Mule

Black Old Fashioned

How do we make it smokey??

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We are busy booking weekend wedding receptions for the Spring. Call soon so you don’t miss an opportunity for a fantastic reception in your backyard or at any Albuquerque or Santa Fe venue. Let Taña, M’tucci’s Catering Manager tell you why we should be your choice.

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut Herb-Rubbed NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $32

Pan-Seared Mahi Mahi - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $29

Pesto Ricotta Ravioli - Pink Shrimp, Caramelized Onion, Haricot Vert, Roasted Butternut Squash, Lemon Cream Sauce $23

Sunday Only: Half Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, House Made Cole Slaw and House BBQ Sauce for $18

M’tucci’s Moderno

24 oz Hand Cut T-Bone: Crispy Saltwater Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Salsa Verde $33

Beef Short Ribs - Mascarpone Cream Polenta, Sautéed Spinach, Braising Sauce $24

Pan-Seared California Halibut - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $24

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Special Apple Brandy Sour for the weekend

7 oz Harris Ranch Hanger Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

6 oz. Pan-Seared Icelandic Cod - Fried Yukon Gold Potatoes, Grilled Escarole, Seared Artichoke Hearts, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $22

Gelato: Fresh Mint Stracciatella

Sorbetto: Pineapple-Lime

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Parting Shot

The pickers celebrate after the 2020 Harvest was completed. The 2020 M’tucci’s wines will arrive in the fall.

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday, Ciao!

Italian Piedmont

On my first trip to Italy in 1994, I drove across the Alps from Switzerland, entering the Piedmont in the Northwest corner of the country. My first night was spent in the small town of Orta San Giulio on Lake Orta. Cars are restricted in most of the town and I was immediately in love with Italy.

The island of San Giulio from the shore of Orta San Giulio. There are a few villas, a restaurant and a Benedictine nunnery on the island. Lake Orta is the smallest of the northern lakes in the famous Lake District.

The Piedmont is one of the few regions of Italy without a coastline, unless you count the shores of Lakes Maggiore and Orta. It’s a hilly and mountainous region containing the fertile Po River Valley which produces most of Europe’s rice. The plains along the Po provide lush grass for dairy cattle whose milk is used in buttery dishes, and for making Taleggio and Gorgonzola cheeses. The western edge of the region’s main city is Turin, where much of Italy’s sweet vermouth is made and where spumante was invented.

This list of Piedmont’s culinary gems is long: Crudo de Cuneo, White Truffles, Porcini Mushrooms, Polenta, Risotto, pears, pomegranates, hazelnuts (Nutella & Ferrero Rocher are based here) and one of the regions most famous dishes, Brasato al Barolo (beef braised in barolo).

The hills of Piedmont produce some of Italy’s most celebrated wines: Barolo and Barbaresco. Like the Super Tuscans and the Brunellos, you’ll need deep pockets to enjoy the best Barolos. If a $60+ Barolo isn’t in your pay grade, look for wines marked Langhe Nebbiolo. Barolos are made from nebbiolo, but only certain vineyards south of Alba are classified as Barolo.

Nebbiolo grapes

South of Alba

The hill towns of Alba and Asti in the Langhe region are surrounded by vineyards planted with nebbiolo, barbera and dolcetto. Barbera is the most widely planted grape in the region. The next most widely planted would be dolcetto, which means “little sweet one”, but this is anything but a sweet wine.

The wines made with Dolcetto grapes are very dark in color with flavors of blackberry, licorice, and cherry. Because of their low acidity, the wine is best while young, but it has enough tannin to pair with charcuterie and pastas. It is simply a very tasty wine that pairs well with anything that you would pair with pinot noir or merlot.

Dolcetto cuttings were brought to California by Italian immigrants and it is planted sporadically in California, Oregon and Washington. The grape does well in cool climates which helps with the acidity (keeping them from being too sweet). The hills of Piedmont have the Alps to the north and the Mediterranean to the south which create the “diurnal affect”: morning fog, warm, sunny days, and cool nights.

The M’tucci’s Dolcetto is grown and crushed in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County in California. The diurnal affect in Sonoma is created by being in the center of the Pacific to the west and the warm interior to the east. Russian River is also known for producing high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

We think that this special climate and the location are what makes M’tucci’s 2019 Dolcetto a winner with most anything we serve.

We’ll dive deeper into the grapes of M’tucci’s Rosso and Bianco in future La Gazzetas.

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M'tucci's Moderno

M'tucci's Italian

M'tucci's Twenty-Five

All locations are accepting reservations, by phone only. Online reservations are not available at this time.

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The bar menu returns to M’tucci’s Italian.

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand-Cut Herb-Rubbed NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $32

Pan-Seared Icelandic Cod - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $25

Sunday Only: Half Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, House Made Cole Slaw and House BBQ Sauce for $18

M’tucci’s Moderno

12 oz Hand Cut Ribeye: Saltwater Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Salsa Verde $31

Beef Short Ribs: Mascarpone Creamed Polenta, Sautéd Spinach, Braising Sauce $24

Pan-Seared Yellowtail - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $22

Saturday & Sunday Brunch (Moderno Only)

M’tucci’s Prosciutto Cotto: M’tucci’s Italian Style Ham, Poached Eggs, Crusted Eggplant, House Hollandaise Sauce, Parmesan Potatoes $12

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

7 oz Harris Ranch Hangar Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

Gelato: Cheesecake Strawberry

Sorbetto: Strawberry Lime

Weekend Cocktail

Bobbi’s Warm London Fog: Earl Grey Tea, Hayman’s Gin, Lavender, Bailey’s Cream and Lemon Zest.

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

Limoncello

While we at M’tucci’s enthusiastically share our love for Amaro, we have not forgotten one of the great adult beverage products of Southern Italy, limoncello. Italy’s mild climate means you will find citrus trees as far north as Tuscany and along the coast in Liguria (Cinque Terre). However, Campania and Southern Italy are lemon country.

As you pass through Sorrento and make your way along the jagged and magnificent Amalfi Coast, the air is perfumed by lemons, which grow on the terraced hillsides above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Lemons appear in many dishes of the south such as Pan-Fried Anchovies (with garlic, red pepper, parsley and lemon) and Insalata di Limone (Lemon and Mint Salad). The lemons grown here have a mild flavor and are often used in place of vinegar when making a simple salad dressing, such as vinaigrette.

Hillside below Ravello on the Amalfi Coast.

After dinner (or lunch) in Amalfi, or virtually anywhere in Campania, a meal is finished with limoncello. Dining in a family-owned restaurant, it is likely that they made the limoncello they offer, probably with lemons from their own trees. Served very cold or with a few ice cubes, the flavor is enhanced by the view of the sea. It’s overwhelmingly lemon in a glass: a little sweet, a little tart, and a little boozy.

At M’tucci’s we don’t have a view of the sea, but we have limoncello by the glass, and sometimes in sorbetto or gelato. Fresh lemon juice is used in our famous Lemon Ricotta Cookies, too. If you have had our weekend pan-seared seafood specials, then you have had our Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc Sauce.

It’s pretty easy to do as the Italians do (even thought you don’t have a lemon tree) and make your own. I’ve tried it once and loved the results. Recently, I came across a recipe in “Food of the Italian South” by Katie Parla. You basically use grain alcohol or vodka (let’s face it, vodka is just grain alcohol diluted with water) and the peels of the lemons. It’s unlikely you’ll find the popular Southern Italian variety of lemons here (femminello di Santa Teresa or sfusato amalfitano), so splurge a bit and buy organic Meyer lemons, which you can sometimes find at Sprouts or Whole Foods. There are a lot of recipes online, but you basically steep the lemon peels in the alcohol for 30 days, then strain and add a simple syrup, tasting until you reach your desired balance of citrus and sweetness. Then you’ll need to let it rest for another week. A five-week process, or you can simply order a glass at any M’tucci’s tonight!

From "Tasting Italy"

Making Limoncello from "Food of the Italian South"

From "Always Italy"

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Herb-Rubbed Bone In Sackett Farm Pork Chop - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $23

Pan-Seared Branzino - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $31

Sunday Only: Half Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, House Made Cole Slaw and House BBQ Sauce for $18

M’tucci’s Moderno

12 oz Ribeye: Crispy Saltwater Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Salsa Verde $31

Lobster Ravioli - Baby Scallops, Pink Shrimp, Grape Tomatoes, Lobster Sauce $32

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $21

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

7 oz Harris Ranch Hanger Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

8 oz. Ruby Trout - Crispy Yukon Gold Potatoes, Balsamic Grilled Escarole, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $24

Gelato: Blackberry

Sorbetto: Strawberry Lime

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Don’t forget the great Charcuterie products available in the deli case at all the M’tucci’s locations.

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Enjoy a few photos from Ravello on the Amalfi Coast

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

Valentine's Day

The Feast of Saint Valentine originated in Italy when two Italian priests named Valentine, one from Rome and one from Terni, were martyred more than 2,200 years ago. So long ago, that many of the stories and legends that equate the saint with romantic love are suspect, but fun to consider. The Roman Valentine was supposedly jailed for refusing to convert to Roman paganism and was sentenced to death. The night before his execution, legend says that he healed his jailer’s blind daughter and then sent her a card signing it “Your Valentine.”

The exchanging of cards , flowers and sweets became popular in the UK in the 18th Century and spread throughout the world, becoming a major economic boost for all of those products. In 2017, the U.S. spent more than $18 billion or more than $136 a person (which will cover the special Bistecca alla Fiorentina offered at M’tucci’s Twenty-Five this weekend - details below).

Valentine’s Day was noted as an annual celebration of love in France in the 1400s, where lavish festivities in the court of Charles VI featured feasts, love songs, poetry competitions and dancing.

A Few Love Stories

During the eight years that my wife and I operated a wedding photography business in the Mexican Riviera Maya, we heard many wonderful love stories, and more than a few love disasters. However, there are two that we both remember fondly.

Nine years ago was the wedding of a couple from the Midwest. The groom had recently left the priesthood in order to marry. He gave up his calling and his vocation for love. Their joy and love was moving.

During our last year in Mexico, we photographed a wedding for a couple who were getting married after postponing their wedding for one year so the groom could donate a kidney to the bride’s father. He was the only possible donor among the two families. Needless to say, the photos after the vows were emotional.

Closer to home, two guests have been coming to M'tucci's since we opened. Most employees of M'tucci's would recognize Kelly and Lucy if they walked in. They had been a couple for nearly 15 years when they decided they wanted to get married and have a ceremony with all their friends and family. They are the only people to ever get married in a M'tucci's Restaurant as we aren't usually equipped to switch from a ceremony to a reception in the same room, but we did it for them and it was definitely worth it. They still come in about once a week and have said that M'tucci's is a special place to them.

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Since Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties are now in the Yellow zone, we are looking forward to hearing from you about catering your wedding or event and we are looking forward to seeing you in our restaurants this weekend for a Valentine’s dinner. We will offer 75% occupancy on our patios and 25% occupancy in our dining rooms. At this point, we plan to have a few tables available for walk-ins, but we are taking phone in reservations for all dining rooms. At the moment we will not have online reservations available. So call!!

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Valentine Weekend Specials

Available Friday - Sunday

M’tucci’s Moderno

Lobster Ravioli

House-made Lobster Ravioli With Cold Water Lobster And Crab Served With Wild Pink Shrimp, Bay Scallops, Grape Tomatoes, Basil & A Lobster Cream Sauce. $32

Pan Seared Sea Scallops 

Pan Seared Scallops Served With Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Artichokes, Sautéed Organic Baby Arugula And Topped With Lemon Caper Butter Sauce And Smoked Prosciutto Powder. $31

Surf And Turf Special Entrée & Dessert (For Two) 

Two Harris Ranch 12oz Ribeyes Perfectly Grilled The Way You Love It, Served With Pink Patagonian Shrimp (6) Tossed In Garlic Butter, Served With Rosemary Pecorino Saltwater Potatoes & Grilled Asparagus. 

For Dessert A Chocolate Covered Red Velvet Cake Roll Filled With Chantilly Cream, Topped With Raspberry Meringue And Chocolate Cake Pieces. $59

Add a Bottle of M'tucci's Dolcetto $85

Gelato & Sorbetto Pints

Cheesecake Gelato With Strawberry Swirl

Chocolate Sorbetto

Raspberry Prosecco Sorbetto

Sparkling Bottle Specials

Rotari Brut Doc 2013 Sparkling Wine - $37

Argyle Brut Willamette Valley 2014 - $60

Cocktail Specials

Lot 75 : House Infused Lavender Botanical Gin, Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice, Cane Sugar, Lemon Twist $9

The Blush Flower : Uncle Val's Botanical Gin, Aperol, Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice, Cranberry Shrub Syrup, Muddled Cucumber, Orchid Flower $9

Chocolate Covered Strawberry: Muddled Strawberry, Absolut Vanilla Vodka, Chocolate Liquor Simple Syrup, Half And Half  $9

Green Point: Michter's Rye Whiskey, Yellow Chartreuse, Sweet Vermouth, Angostura & Orange Bitters, Lemon Twist $14

M’tucci’s Italian

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Lobster Salad: stuffed Fried Avocado, House Bacon Chutney, Roasted Apple, Greens tossed in Calabrian Vinaigrette $9

Chicken Scallopini: Lightly Breaded Chicken, served with House Fettuccine, Sautéed Mushrooms, Marinated Tomato,, Local Feta, Herbed Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $16

Lamb Rib Chops: Sweet Potato Puree, Haricot Vert, Mint Gastrique $23

Pan-Seared California Halibut: Fried Yukon Gold Potatoes, Grilled Escarole, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $22

12 oz Chianina (New Mexico Raised Italian Beef) Rib Eye: Choice of Sweet Potato Mash or Saltwater Potatoes, Choice of Grilled Marinated Artichokes or Haricot Vert or Asparagus $52

32 oz Chianina Bistecca all Fiorentina: Choice of Sweet Potato Mash or Saltwater Potatoes, Choice of Grilled Marinated Artichokes or Haricot Vert or Asparagus $130. Must pre-order today for Sunday Only.

M’tucci’s Italian

16 oz Hand Cut Herb-Rubbed NY Strip: Crispy Saltwater Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $32

Lobster Pasta: Lobster, M’tucci’s Sackett Farm Bacon, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Saffron Shrimp Cream Sauce, Pappardelle Pasta $31

Pan-Seared Alaskan Halibut: Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichoke, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $31

Chocolate Dipped Red Velvet Swiss Roll: Raspberry Meringue, Chocolate Cake Crumble

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M’tucci’s Catering

As we are now in the Yellow Zone and creeping toward the green zone, we are looking forward to some Spring, Summer and Fall Wedding Receptions. M’tucci’s Catering Manager, Taña Martinez, will take part in the Behind the Curtain: Virtual Wedding Show on February 21 telling brides what they can expect from M’tucci’s. You can see our full catering menu by clicking here.

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M’tucci’s Wine

Don’t forget to try a glass ($8) or bottle ($32) of M’tucci’s private label wines, grown and bottled in California.

2019 Bianco – 100% Verdelho – Contra Costa County, CA

Peach, Green Apple, Honeydew, Balanced Acidity

Thanks to the acidity, this will pair really well with almost the whole spectrum of white wine pairings.  Most people will consider this to be similar to Sauvignon Blanc.  It’s a Portuguese grape native to the island of Madeira.  It’s one of the four “noble” grapes of Madeira.  It is very rarely planted in the US.

2019 Dolcetto – 100% Dolcetto – Russian River Valley (Sonoma County), CA

Black Cherry, Cranberry, Tobacco Leaf, Medium Tannin & Light Acidity.  

Perfect compliment for charcuterie but will stand up to other dishes where other bigger-bodied red wines would typically be paired because of the tannins.  (Editor’s Note: I had a glass with the Five Pork Bolognese yesterday and It was terrific). It would be considered similar to a Pinot Noir, but has a bit more depth and more tannin.  Dolcetto (little sweet one in Italian) is best known as a varietal from Piedmont in Italy and for being a bit drier, which this American version definitely shows.  Another rare varietal in American winemaking

2018 Rosso – 70% Carignan, 28% Grenache, 2% Charbono – Mendocino County, CA

Leather, Vanilla, Pomegranate, Balanced Tannin, Long Finish

This wine has really impressed us in all of our tastings.  Think of it as a bit of a merlot/cab/Syrah type blend.  It’s got big enough tannin to stand up to almost any red meat, but will also pair great with tomato sauces and even to charcuterie.  Carignan has Spanish origins, but is more common in French wines.  Grenache is used in many of the popular wines from the Rhone region in France. It is called Garnacha in Spain and is a common blending partner with Carignan, which results in a nice tannin and balance.  Charbono (also called Charbonneau) originated in the Savoi region of France. It was confused as Dolcetto in the early days of California winemaking, but is definitely a different grape. It commonly has high acidity and rich, fruity complexity. It is called Bonarda in Argentina, where it’s the second most planted grape behind Malbec.  This wine will continue to get better with each year in the bottle.   

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

The Pasta of Rome

Three of the iconic pastas of Rome have their differences, but the use of Pecorino Romano sheep’s milk cheese is the common denominator. Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe and Amatriciana are the holy trinity of Roman pasta dishes on restaurant menus. Quite often, U.S. versions take liberties with the recipes, using bacon instead of guanciale (cured pork cheeks) or even Parmesan!! That will not happen in Rome.

Carbonara is traditionally made with Spaghetti, crispy pork (guanciale) and a blend of lightly cooked egg and cheese. M’tucci’s Twenty-Five makes an amazing version with Capicola (Applewood Smoked Pork Shoulder) and Prosciutto. Italians consider it to be one of the most popular pasta dishes in Italy, after Tagliatelle Bolognese.

Cacio e Pepe is a deceptively simple dish, with only three ingredients: pasta (with some pasta water), cheese (Pecorino), and fresh cracked black pepper. However, it’s probably the one dish that most confounds home cooks who can end up with rubbery, chunks of cheese instead of a silky sauce that clings to the pasta (me included). All three of our restaurants serve this dish with our eggplant parmesan, except M’tucci’s Moderno puts a little twist on it and calls it Cacio e Pesto.

While Amatriciana is the only red pasta of the three, it is popular throughout Italy. It originated in the town of Amatrice, which is northwest of Rome in the mountains. An ancient city with Roman ruins, it was devastated by an earthquake in 2016, which killed nearly 300 people and destroying 75% of the buildings in town.

While many Italian sauces are harmonious, this is one sauce that has contrasts with the saltiness and richness of the pork, the sweetness of the tomatoes, and the zing of the red pepper flakes. The Italians are very passionate and rigid when it comes to the ingredients in this dish. A little wine is OK, Onions are OK, too, but never garlic. A few years ago, a celebrated Italian chef suggested on a television program that you could add garlic to Amatriciana. The country’s largest newspaper La Repubblica published an article the next day denouncing the chef.

The main course for this week’s meal kit is Pasta Amatriciana, (no garlic), made with M’tucci’s house cured guanciale, San Marzano Tomatoes, Pecorino and tossed with M’tucci’s version of fresh Bucatini pasta. Toss the salad with marinated tomatoes, follow the easy instructions for making the sauce, bake M’tucci’s Chocolate Chip Cookie dough and 20 minutes later you are ready for a three course feast. Order now, because at $32 to feed two people, these won’t last long. This card and an instructional video are included with every M’tucci’s Meal Kit.

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Super Bowl Sunday - At all M’tucci’s Locations

Patio or Carryout

Any Two Pizzas for $18

Family Charcuterie Board for $18

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M’tucci’s Valentine’s Weekend

Don’t miss the special meal kits for Valentine’s Weekend. Executive Pastry Chef Brianna Dennis has created a fondue kit loaded with house made sweet goodies and Chef/Partner Cory Gray has a special three course meal that includes all of the major Valentines food categories: lobster, steak and chocolate. The Fondue ToGo will be $25 and the three course dinner is $49. Phone orders Please.

Fondue Togo kits $25.00 Available for order now.

Limited supplies at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14
Kit includes:Caramel Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Brownie pieces
Prosecco marshmallows
Strawberries
Palmier cookies
Pound cake

Meal prep kit for 2 people $49.00 - Order Now

Limited supplies picked up at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14

Appetizer: Buttered Lobster Cream Cheese Puff Pastry w/ Lemon Cream Caper Beurre Blanc

Entree: M’tucci’s Bacon Wrapped 6oz Filet Mignon, Roasted Asparagus, Salt Water Potatoes with a Creamy Tuscan Garlic Shrimp Sauce.

Dessert: Cannolis with Sweetened Ricotta filling and Chocolate Covered Strawberries.

Dessert Special $8.00

Limited supplies at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14

Chocolate Covered Red Velvet Cake Roll filled with Chantilly Cream, topped with Raspberry Meringue and Chocolate Cake Pieces.

Valentine’s Day Gelato and Sorbetto special:

Limited supplies at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14, $8.00 per pint

Cheesecake Gelato with Strawberry Swirl

Chocolate sorbet

Raspberry Prosecco Sorbetto

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut Bone In Sackett Farm Pork Chop - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $23

Pan-Seared Mahi Mahi - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $29

Sunday Only: Half Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, House Made Cole Slaw and House BBQ Sauce for $18

M’tucci’s Moderno

Pork Belly Risotto w/ Celery, Carrots, Mushrooms, Alfredo Sauce $19

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $21

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

7 oz Chianina Flatiron Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $22

Gelato: Blackberry with Blackberry Jam Swirl

Sorbetto: Raspberry Lemon

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

The Wonders of Pork

One of our goals when we created a partnership with Sackett Farm in Iowa, was to serve pork with more flavor. The heritage breed of Duroc combined with the careful feeding and pasturing, means that our pork is now better than ever. The second goal was to increase the variety of products that we could offer to you. We are buying the entire pig, which is then processed to our specifications by another family-owned business. Of course, we have all of the popular cuts like chops, loins and ribs, but we also are using lesser-known parts for our cured meat program (bacon, pancetta & guanciale) and to create special cooked dishes.

Unless you visit a serious butcher counter, you are probably not going to find pork belly. However, it’s a wildly popular cut in many parts of the world (there is even a food series on Netflix dedicated to pork belly in Korea). Most Koreans claim to eat pork belly at least once a week and in a recent survey 85% claimed that it is their favorite meat.

In Latin American & Caribbean cuisine it is called chicharrón (not to be confused with fried pork skins) and is used in tacos as well as in braised dishes.

In France, the Alsace region is known for choucroute garnie, which is pork belly, sausages, potatoes and sauerkraut slow cooked together to create a hearty meal.

Italians use most of their pork belly for pancetta, which is similar to bacon. Pancetta is cured with salt, sugar and spices, but it is not smoked. The most common use for pork belly in North America is bacon or salt pork.

Pair this succulent cut (the flavor is in the fat baby!) with a cooking technique which originated in France and you’ve got something special. Confit is a method of cooking any type of meat slowly in grease, fat or syrup, and was originally used as a way of preserving meat . Most restaurants serve a confit of goose or duck, typically using the legs. The legs are salted, seasoned with herbs and slowly cooked in their own rendered fat, then cooled and preserved in the fat. Even people who don’t like duck, love this!

Chef Cory is using the confit technique with this week’s Meal Kit. Sackett Farm Pork Belly is slowly cooked in Apples, Fennel, Seasoning and Pork Fat for four hours. It comes portioned with instructions on finishing it for your dinner. Slice it and arrange it on top of the Creamy Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash, Mushrooms and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. We’ve also prepared a salad with fresh Spring Greens, Shaved Fennel, Candied Pecans and Feta. Wait, there’s Chocolate Sorbetto for dessert. A generous dinner for two for only $32.

M’tucci’s @ Home - Cooking with Cory

- Salad- Shaved Fennel, Candied Pecans, Feta Cheese, Orange Honey Vinaigrette, Spring Mix -

- Sackett Farm Pan Seared Apple Fennel Pork Belly Confit with

Creamy Risotto, Mushrooms, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Haricot Vert, Roasted Butternut Squash -

- Chocolate Sorbetto -

Order online or call. Only $32 while supplies last.

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M’tucci’s Valentine’s Weekend

We will have several dine in specials for Valentine’s Weekend. They will be announced next week. Don’t miss the special meal kits for Valentine’s Weekend. Executive Pastry Chef Brianna Dennis has created a fondue kit loaded with house made sweet goodies and Chef/Partner Cory Gray has a special three course meal that includes all of the major Valentines food categories: lobster, steak and chocolate. The Fondue ToGo will be $25 and be available to pre-order next week.

Fondue Togo kits $25.00 Preorders Available.

Limited supplies at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14
Kit includes:Caramel Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Brownie pieces
Prosecco marshmallows
Strawberries
Palmier cookies
Pound cake

Meal prep kit for 2 people $49.00

Limited supplies at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14

Appetizer: Buttered Lobster Cream Cheese Puff Pastry w/ Lemon Cream Caper Beurre Blanc

Entree: M’tucci’s Bacon Wrapped 6oz Filet Mignon, Roasted Asparagus, Salt Water Potatoes with a Creamy Tuscan Garlic Shrimp Sauce.

Dessert: Cannolis with Sweetened Ricotta filling and Chocolate Covered Strawberries.

Dessert Special $8.00

Limited supplies at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14

Chocolate Covered Red Velvet Cake Roll filled with Chantilly Cream, topped with Raspberry Meringue and Chocolate Cake Pieces.

Valentine’s Day Gelato and Sorbetto special:

Limited supplies at each M’tucci’s location starting 2/12-2/14, $8.00 per pint

Cheesecake Gelato with Strawberry Swirl

Chocolate sorbet

Raspberry Prosecco Sorbetto

M’tucci’s Moderno will take reservations for the Love Pods for Valentine’s Weekend Thursday - Sunday. You must call to make a reservation - for February 11-14 only!

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M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Herb-Rubbed NY Strip Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $27

Lightly Breaded Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $19

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

Ricotta Pesto Ravioli - Roasted Artichokes, Grape Tomatoes in a Pesto Cream Sauce

Harris Ranch Flatiron Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Italian Verde Sauce

Pan-Seared Halibut - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $24

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

Drink Specials by Matt

Del Rio Punch: Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, Lime, Pineapple & Orange Juices, Red Chile & Club Soda

Violet Villa: Espolon Tequila, Lime Juice, Violet Liqueur

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

7 oz Hanger Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

14 oz Sackett Farm Cherrywood Smoked Bone In Pork Chop: Campfire Potatoes, Braised Spinach, Mango Coulis $18

Gelato: Dark Chocolate Brownie w/ Candied Bacon - Banana w/Fudge Swirl

Sorbetto: Vanilla/Lime/Blackberry

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M’tucci’s Wine

2019 Bianco – 100% Verdelho – Contra Costa County, CA

Peach, Green Apple, Honeydew, Balanced Acidity

Thanks to the acidity, this will pair really well with almost the whole spectrum of white wine pairings.  Most people will consider this to be similar to Sauvignon Blanc.  It’s a Portuguese grape native to the island of Madeira.  It’s one of the four “noble” grapes of Madeira.  It is very rarely planted in the US.

2019 Dolcetto – 100% Dolcetto – Russian River Valley (Sonoma County), CA

Black Cherry, Cranberry, Tobacco Leaf, Medium Tannin & Light Acidity.  

Perfect compliment for charcuterie but will stand up to other dishes where other bigger-bodied red wines would typically be paired because of the tannins.  (Editor’s Note: I had a glass with the Five Pork Bolognese yesterday and It was terrific). It would be considered similar to a Pinot Noir, but has a bit more depth and more tannin.  Dolcetto (little sweet one in Italian) is best known as a varietal from Piedmont in Italy and for being a bit drier, which this American version definitely shows.  Another rare varietal in American winemaking

2018 Rosso – 70% Carignan, 28% Grenache, 2% Charbono – Mendocino County, CA

Leather, Vanilla, Pomegranate, Balanced Tannin, Long Finish

This wine has really impressed us in all of our tastings.  Think of it as a bit of a merlot/cab/Syrah type blend.  It’s got big enough tannin to stand up to almost any red meat, but will also pair great with tomato sauces and even to charcuterie.  Carignan has Spanish origins, but is more common in French wines.  Grenache is used in many of the popular wines from the Rhone region in France. It is called Garnacha in Spain and is a common blending partner with Carignan, which results in a nice tannin and balance.  Charbono (also called Charbonneau) originated in the Savoi region of France. It was confused as Dolcetto in the early days of California winemaking, but is definitely a different grape. It commonly has high acidity and rich, fruity complexity. It is called Bonarda in Argentina, where it’s the second most planted grape behind Malbec.  This wine will continue to get better with each year in the bottle.   

Try a glass for $8 or a bottle for $32. Due to NM Liquor laws, you can’t buy an unopened bottle for take out, but you can grab a seat, order a bottle, have a taste, then we’ll package it for you to take home. Them’s the rules.

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

La Cucina Povera

La Cucina Povera is cooking simply, with the best ingredients available. Literally it translates to “the poor kitchen”, “cooking of the poor”, or “peasant cooking”. However, the building blocks of Italian cuisine originated with this concept, which is most commonly associated with Southern Italy. You could say that la cucina povera is Italian soul food.

The rigors of the feudal system, where the poor subsisted on what they grew or could forage, was a hard enough life. When the system collapsed, so did life in the South, which led to mass migration from the south with many leaving Italy for life in America in the mid to late 1800s. Italian-American cooking originated with these immigrants from Calabria, Basilicata, and Campania. However, the true art and concept of la cucina povera has little resemblance to much of today’s Italian-American cooking.

A vegetable market back in the days before the Euro.

This weekend’s meal kit is firmly based on la cucina povera. Minestrone soup is ubiquitous in Italian restaurants in America, but very rare in a restaurant in Italy. In Italy it’s a dish that is created at home with the ingredients at hand. The word minestrone comes from the word minestrare, which means “to serve.” Italians use the word zuppa to describe lighter soups, while minestra or minestrone are used to describe heartier soups or stews. As with most Italian sauces and stews the flavors are built by adding the ingredients in stages, until a marriage of flavors is achieved. Italian Wedding Soup, is not typically served at Italian weddings, rather its Italian name, minestra maritata, refers to the blending or marriage of flavors.

The main course, Chicken Cacciatora, also comes from la cucina povera, and translates to “hunter’s-style chicken”. Once again, the dish used what was available from the garden or foraged from the countryside, with wild rabbit the original meat in the recipe. Italians use a variety of vegetables, instead of the more common Italian-American cacciatora which often uses a heavy marinara sauce.

Chef Cory substituted chicken thighs (the most flavorful piece of chicken!), and uses several vegetables, added in stages (as shown below) in the recipe to make a hearty stew. Most cacciatora recipes call for white wine and chicken broth. Instead Cory used red wine for deglazing. This recipe also relies on the blending or “maritata” of flavors, which results in a richer sauce.

As usual, the meal comes with a detailed recipe card and a link to a video that shows you how to prepare your meal. The soup and creamy polenta are prepared for you, all you have to do is prepare the Cacciatora with the prepped and portioned ingredients. Tonight you can cook like an Italian and Chef Cory!

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Available for pick up at all M’tucci’s Locations

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

7 oz Cajun-Rubbed Tender Roast Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $23

Pan-Seared Ruby Red Trout - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $21

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

Sackett Farm Pork Shanks - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéd Spinach, Mirepoix Sauce $23

Beef Tip Tortellini - Cajun Seaonsing, Diced Tomatoes, Green Onions, Rosa Sauce & Gorgonzola Cheese $19

Pan-Seared Halibut - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $24

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

Drink Specials by Matt

Del Rio Punch: Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, Lime, Pineapple & Orange Juices, Red Chile & Club Soda

Violet Villa: Espolon Tequila, Lime Juice, Violet Liqueur

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

7 oz Chianina Flatiron Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $22

Gelato: Raspberry/Cherry/Limoncello

Sorbetto: Citrus Apple

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

M'tucci's in the Last Half of 2020

We covered the first half of 2020 in last week’s La Gazzeta, so let’s wrap up July through December and put it behind us. It wasn’t all bad, as the Partners at M’tucci’s were determined to not only survive the economic challenges but, if possible, thrive.

JULY

With COVID numbers dropping in July we were able to welcome guests back to our dining rooms. That only lasted until the 13th, when we were ordered to restrict our business to patio dining and take-out orders. M’tucci’s YouTube Channel was busy with Chef Cory demonstrating techniques for using veggies from your garden or from the local Farmer’s Market. The weekly Meal Kits returned with Ravioli, Meatballs & Spaghetti and M’tucci’s Baby Back Ribs offered for the last three weeks of the month.

AUGUST

Each location came up with a Patio Happy Hour menu that was available from 3:00-6:00 and was very popular (enchanced, of course, with misting units and fans for our high desert summer). La Gazzeta covered how chicken is used in Italian cooking and had features about Risotto and Chianina Beef.

SEPTEMBER

The weather cooled a bit and the patios continued to be a great spot for lunch, happy hour or dinner. We launched M’tucci’s House Made Gelato, with Executive Pastry Chef Brianna Dennis creating familiar and new flavors that were available at all locations. La Gazzeta had a feature about our bread, which is made with a natural starter. We explained why the absence of commercial yeast and preservatives is better for health and digestion (all of you gluten-free people should give it a try - you might discover that you are not actually allergic to gluten, but that you are allergic to bad ingredients!).

The see-saw of restaurant restrictions was on the upswing, allowing limited indoor dining, so we brought back our Brunch menu and put the Meal Kits on hold.

Salted Caramel

Stracciatella

Lemon

Strawberry

OCTOBER

Taña Martinez, who had previously been in charge of catering, returned as the manager of M’tucci’s Catering after taking time away to have her son. She started preparing for whatever we might be allowed to do for the holidays. In the meantime, she orchestrated a couple of cool wedding receptions at a private residence and at Casa Rondeña Winery.

The big news was the forming of two new partnerships; one with the Sackett family, an Iowa farm family, and the Fantasma family, pork processors near Kansas City. Company President John Haas had been searching for a family farm that specialized in Heritage breeds since the Spring. Along with Chefs Cory Gray and Shawn Cronin they finally were able to travel to Iowa & K.C. to meet the Sackett and the Fantasma families to see their operations. Their products have significantly raised the quality of the pork we offer.

NOVEMBER

. . . . and we’re closed to indoor dining again, so we started preparing our patios to keep you warm, comfortable and safe. With dining rooms closed, it meant we had the space to assemble our Weekend Meal Kits and to start planning for a special Thanksgiving kit. Chef Cory put together a kit that featured a ragu made with Sackett Farm pork and designed a Thanksgiving kit with sides and a dessert, which allowed guests to buy and prepare their own turkey, prime rib for dinner.

Our founder, Jeff Spiegel, wrote an inspirational OpEd piece for the Albuquerque Journal encouraging everyone to stay positive and to look for opportunities amidst turmoil.

Pastry Chef Brianna put together an impressive selection of Thanksgiving pies that were wildly successful - and really tasty.

DECEMBER

Let’s just say we kicked butt in December. The pork from Sackett Farm was incorporated into our traditional pork dishes and specials, and the amazing holiday Farmer Butcher’s Kit featured products from their farm. Pastry Chef Brianna created a kit that included gingerbread to build and decorate a Ginger Bread House, materials to make and decorate cookies, and the Bombs to indulge in Hot Chocolate Bombs while making all these holiday sweets. We put together Christmas/Holiday Ham Dinner kits featuring Free-Range Berkshire Spiral Cut Hams from our new partners, the Fantasma family. Probably the best Ham I have ever tasted.

On Christmas day we introduced our new Gourmet M’tucci’s TV Dinners. Six yummy meals that are purchased fresh and heated in the microwave before serving. Only $9 each.

The year was finished in style with a wildly popular New Year’s Eve Meal Kit for Couples: Crab Cakes with Garlic Aioli, Cajun Rubbed Beef Tender Roast and Champagne Cake with Chantilly & Fresh Strawberries. My wife and I enjoyed this on NYE and we hope that you did, too.

If all of this wasn’t enough, M’tucci’s Wine arrived after spending much of 2020 selecting the right grapes and growers, and finding a winemaker in California who understood our vision. M’tucci’s Bianco, Dolcetto and Rosso are, for now, only available at M’tucci’s locations.

We can’t finish without, once again, extending our heartfelt thanks for all of the support and words of encouragement we received during the past year. We’ll continue to come up with new and innovative ways for you to enjoy the best damn house made Italian food we can produce: at home or with us.

Stay tuned, because new things are coming (hint: think pork).

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M’tucci’s @ Home - Cooking with Cory

Salad- House Mixed Greens, Dijon Vinaigrette, Haricot Verts, Roasted Butternut Squash, Marinated Tomato, Tucumcari Feta Cheese-

-Harris Ranch Beef Tip Porcini Cream Sauce Tossed with House Made Pappardelle Pasta. Garnished with Scallions and Pecorino-

-M'tucci's Famous Lemon Bars-

It’s easy to prepare, watch the video below to see how to complete this great meal.

Now available, the meal kit feeds two people and is only $32. Order online or by phone.

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $29

Pan-Seared Lightly Breaded Sand Dabs - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $19

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

10 oz Cold Smoked Sackett Farm Pork Chop - Italian Vegetable Succotash, Apple Bacon Bourbon Mostarda $21

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $21

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Hand Cut 7 oz Hanger Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

Sackett Farm Cold Smoked Bone-In Pork Chop: Campfire Braised Potatoes, Braised Spinach MangoCoulis $18

Gelatos: Dark Chocolate with Brownie Pieces & Chocolate Hazelnut with Marshmallows and Toasted Hazelnuts (M’tucci’s Rocky Road)

Sorbetto: Limoncello Cherry

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

2020 - The Year in Review

Everyone has made their comments about this past year, so it’s difficult to think of a fresh metaphor for an unforgettable year. Let’s take a look at the wild roller coaster ride that was 2020 at M’tucci’s. Today we’ll remember January through June and finish off the year next Friday.

JANUARY

La Gazzeta had stories about Italian beer, Amaro and Vermouth. We were making a strong push to put the finishing touches on the new M’tucci’s Twenty-Five. Company President John Haas, Chef Partner Shawn Cronin and Chefs Damian Lucero and Omar Rosas were putting the finishing touches on a new ambitious menu that would showcase Italian classics, M’tucci’s style.

FEBRUARY

We introduced the management team and were busy training staff, preparing for the opening of M’tucci’s Twenty-Five on the 17th. Our friends and families were treated to a private cocktail party and the introduction of the new menu. A few nights later we offered a limited menu to a few guests so the kitchen and the servers could get ready for the big day.

MARCH

All of restaurants were enjoying a great month, then the bad news arrived. The NM Governor issued a public health notice that because of the growing number of COVID 19 cases , restaurant dining rooms would close on March 18. M’tucci’s partners had seen this coming and had been discussing how to implement a new business model that would soften the blow of laying off more than 200 employees at the three restaurants. They made the decision to close two days ahead of the state orders and created a new menu for take out and delivery only, which would keep some of the kitchen staff working. We started a meal program to feed the employees and their families who had lost their jobs.

APRIL

In the latter part of 2019, we had initiated negotiations with Albertson’s Markets to begin carrying a line of ready-to-eat meals and our breads. Those products arrived in local stores and kept us busy at M’tucci’s Provisions, the former Market which was now in charge of curing meat, making fresh cheese and baking bread. The Soul of a Chef lunch series started this month with chefs at M’tucci’s Italian and M’tucci’s Moderno designing a special lunch dish from their youth, their past jobs or from some of their family favorites that they cooked at home. Several servers came back to work to handle the demand for take out and some became delivery drivers. All of the tips collected by management at the three restaurants were combined during several months and distributed to our furoughed staff (nearly $70,000).

MAY

The big news in May (dining rooms were still closed) was the introduction of the M’tucci’s @ Home meal kits. We put together a Shrub Cocktail Kit (which is still available); a S’Mores kit with House Made Chocolate, Marshmallows and Graham Crackers; a Backyard Grill Kit; a Breakfast Kit and the most popular, a weekly 3-Course kit. The M’tucci’s @ Home/Cooking with Cory features a new menu every week. Most of the courses are portioned and partially cooked and include instructions so you can finish them at home. A recipe card with a photo of the finished meal and a QR code link to an instructional video on M’tucci’s YouRube Channel are included with each box. We started off the series around Easter with Rack of Lamb and have offered a variety of meals since then such as: M’tucci’s Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon, Gaunciale & Butternut Squash Risotto and Shrimp Campanelle in White Wine Sauce. Visit the M’tucci’s YouTube Channel to view more than 60 cooking and cocktail videos. The Meal Kit for this weekend is shown below. Keep scrolling!

JUNE

New Mexico’s infection rate declined enough to allow reduced in-house dining, so with gloves on our hands and masks on our faces, we welcomed you back to our dining rooms on the 8th (25% of original capacity). We continued offering take out and delivery, but discontinued our weekly Meal Kits since they are assembled in empty dining rooms.

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M’tucci’s @ Home - Cooking with Cory

Available now:

-Spanish Style Spicy Garlic Shrimp-

-Red Wine Porcini Mushroom Braised Sackett Farm Pork Shanks-

-M'tucci's Famous Lemon Ricotta Cookies-

This meal kit will feed 2-3 people and is only $42. Order online or call the location closest to you.

M’tucci’s Wine and TV Dinners

In case you missed the news about our new products, we have introduced M’tucci’s Gourmet TV Dinners and our own line of wine. They were covered in depth in the past two editions of La Gazzeta. You can find the details there. The TV Dinners are available for pick up only at any location and the wine needs to be purchase while you are seated on the patio. Once you have poured an ounce of the wine, we can package it for you to take home. There was a segment on our TV Dinners on local television this week and the wine was covered in today’s Entertainment section of the Albuquerque Journal.

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We are continuing to sell House Made and Imported Charcuterie products at all locations. Check out the menu or the deli case at any of our restaurants.

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $29

Pan-Seared Lightly Breaded Sand Dabs - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $19

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

10 oz Cold Smoked Sackett Farm Pork Chop - Italian Vegetable Succotash, Apple Bacon Bourbon Mostarda $21

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $21

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Hand Cut 7 oz Hanger Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

Gelatos: Dark Chocolate with Brownie Pieces & Chocolate Hazelnut with Marshmallows and Toasted Hazelnuts (M’tucci’s Rocky Road)

Sorbetto: Limoncello Cherry

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Shipped to your home!

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

M'tucci's Wine

Every fall, the announcement is made around the world, Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive. In New Mexico M’tucci’s is saying, “È arrivato il vino di M'tucci!” Regardless of the language you use, M’tucci’s wine has arrived and you are going to love all of them. I do.

“We wanted something different. That was the most important thing,” explained Company President John Haas. “We didn’t want to just have Cabernet or Merlot. We wanted rarer varietals grown in America that are a little more Old World European style.”

We chose to make our wines from Verdelho (Bianco), Charbono & Carignan (Rosso), and a single varietal Dolcetto. It was also important to create affordable wines that would be priced at $8 a glass.”

Here are the tasting notes from a recent session with John Haas, Partner Austin Leard, M’tucci’s Moderno General Manager Amanda Romero and Bar Manager Matt McMillian.

2019 Bianco – 100% Verdelho – Contra Costa County, CA

Peach, Green Apple, Honeydew, Balanced Acidity

Thanks to the acidity, this will pair really well with almost the whole spectrum of white wine pairings.  Most people will consider this to be similar to Sauvignon Blanc.  It’s a Portuguese grape native to the island of Madeira.  It’s one of the four “noble” grapes of Madeira.  It is very rarely planted in the US.

2019 Dolcetto – 100% Dolcetto – Russian River Valley (Sonoma County), CA

Black Cherry, Cranberry, Tobacco Leaf, Medium Tannin & Light Acidity.  

Perfect compliment for charcuterie but will stand up to other dishes where other bigger-bodied red wines would typically be paired because of the tannins.  (Editor’s Note: I had a glass with the Five Pork Bolognese yesterday and It was terrific). It would be considered similar to a Pinot Noir, but has a bit more depth and more tannin.  Dolcetto (little sweet one in Italian) is best known as a varietal from Piedmont in Italy and for being a bit drier, which this American version definitely shows.  Another rare varietal in American winemaking

2018 Rosso – 70% Carignan, 28% Grenache, 2% Charbono – Mendocino County, CA

Leather, Vanilla, Pomegranate, Balanced Tannin, Long Finish

This wine has really impressed us in all of our tastings.  Think of it as a bit of a merlot/cab/Syrah type blend.  It’s got big enough tannin to stand up to almost any red meat, but will also pair great with tomato sauces and even to charcuterie.  Carignan has Spanish origins, but is more common in French wines.  Grenache is used in many of the popular wines from the Rhone region in France. It is called Garnacha in Spain and is a common blending partner with Carignan, which results in a nice tannin and balance.  Charbono (also called Charbonneau) originated in the Savoi region of France. It was confused as Dolcetto in the early days of California winemaking, but is definitely a different grape. It commonly has high acidity and rich, fruity complexity. It is called Bonarda in Argentina, where it’s the second most planted grape behind Malbec.  This wine will continue to get better with each year in the bottle.   

Try a glass for $8 or a bottle for $32. Due to NM Liquor laws, you can’t buy an unopened bottle for take out, but you can grab a seat, order a bottle, have a taste, then we’ll package it for you to take home. Them’s the rules.

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Recent Instagram comment from one of our guests: “We picked up one of each Monday night . . . so far we have tried the tortellinis, the meatloaf and the green chile stew. They were all excellent, but in particular the meatloaf was 5 star restaurant worthy. We froze the other three just to see how well they reheat. This is a very cool and creative idea. Thank you!”

You should try one or all six!

Clockwise from top left:

Spinach, Roasted Mushroom, Ricotta Cannelloni with Alfredo Sauce

Roasted Herbed Meatloaf, Balsamic-Tomato Sauce, Mashed Potato, Sweet Peas & Caramelized Onion

Five Cheese Tortelloni with Angus Beef & Sackett Farms Pork Bolognese Sauce

House Applewood Smoked Bacon, Roasted Chicken, Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese with Truffled Bread Crumbs

Porcini & Red Wine Braised Brisket, Creamy Pecorino Polenta, Fire Roasted Corn

Chef Cory’s Sackett Farms Braised Pork & Green Chile Stew

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M’tucci’s Retail Charcuterie & Farmer’s Butchers Boxes

Both of these items are available at all locations in the first part of the New Year!

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

Announced on Saturday

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

Announced on Saturday

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

14 oz Prime NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $29

Gelato: Coffee, Chocolate Peanut Butter

Sorbetto: Blood Orange Prosecco

We would like to thank you for all of the support through 2020! In honor of the New Year, we are offering a special for only $25! This includes: Four Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Two White Chocolate-Prosecco-Strawberry Cakesicles, and a choice of a 1/2 Bottle of either Vara 'Silverhead' Cava -or- Gruet Brut Rose RSV. Dine-In Only⁠. ⁠

TOGO, we are pairing the desserts with Salted Caramel Gelato (no sparkling wine) for only $15.⁠ ⁠ Tonight until 9:00. Happy New Year!

We are closed today, New Year's Day.⁠

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Goodbye 2020!

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

M'tucci's "TV Dinners"

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a Happy New Year from all of us at M’tucci’s.

Growing up in the 50s and 60s with a mother who didn’t like to cook meant that I ate my share of TV dinners. The convenience of these dinners was definitely the big selling point, with taste ranging between pretty good and awful. Swanson and Banquet were the big players, then Celebrity chefs got involved in creating their own line of frozen meals.

So, using the science from Swanson and the inspiration of Wolfgang Puck and others, M’tucci’s brings you our own selection of microwaveable, ready to eat meals. Each is only $9. As you can see, these are not your standard frozen turkey dinners, especially since ours are not frozen.

Clockwise from top left:

Spinach, Roasted Mushroom, Ricotta Cannelloni with Alfredo Sauce

Roasted Herbed Meatloaf, Balsamic-Tomato Sauce, Mashed Potato, Sweet Peas & Caramelized Onion

Five Cheese Tortelloni with Angus Beef & Sackett Farms Pork Bolognese Sauce

House Applewood Smoked Bacon, Roasted Chicken, Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese with Truffled Bread Crumbs

Porcini & Red Wine Braised Brisket, Creamy Pecorino Polenta, Fire Roasted Corn

Chef Cory’s Sackett Farms Braised Pork & Green Chile Stew

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TV or Frozen Dinners were invented in the 1950s and gained popularity as more women entered the workplace (or if you had a mother who didn’t like to cook!). One story is that a Swanson salesman noticed that the company had 270 tons of turkey unsold after Thanksgiving, sitting in refrigerated railroad cars. Since the refrigeration only worked while the cars were moving, the train shuttled back and forth between Nebraska and the East Coast until executives came up with the idea of a packaged meal.

The other phenomenon that added to the popularity of the meals was the new national past time - watching television. In a recent story in Smithsonian magazine, they reported:

“In 1950, only 9 percent of U.S. households had television sets—but by 1955, the number had risen to more than 64 percent, and by 1960, to more than 87 percent. Swanson took full advantage of this trend, with TV advertisements that depicted elegant, modern women serving these novel meals to their families, or enjoying one themselves. “The best fried chicken I know comes with a TV dinner,” Barbra Streisand told the New Yorker in 1962.”

The meals will be available for take out from all M’tucci’s locations beginning tomorrow, 12/26. We think you should pair them with the new M’tucci’s wine from California.

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M’tucci’s Wine is Here!!

M’tucci’s wine is now at all locations. Early in 2020 we started working with a California wine maker to craft wines especially for us and for our menus. There will be full report with tasting notes in next week’s La Gazzeta di M’tucci’s.

M’tucci’s Partners Austin Leard and John Haas welcoming the new M’tucci’s wine to M’tucci’s Twenty-Five.

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M’tucci’s Family Holiday Greeting

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut NY Strip: Crispy Salt Water potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $27

Pan-Seared Scallops: Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Cream Caper Sauce $27

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

8 oz Beef Tenderloin - Saltwater Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus and Salsa Verde. $29

Pan-Seared Swordfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $24

Plus, two Holiday cocktails: Lavender Whiskey Sour and Hot Buttered Rum

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

14 oz Prime NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $29

Apple Strudel, Frangelico Whipped Cream, House made Caramel $6

Gelatos: Dark Chocolate Malted Milkshake Swirl

Sorbetto: Pineapple Lime

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M’tucci’s Holiday Gift Card Deal is Available until 12/31.

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More Good News: Deli Charcuterie is Available through 12/31

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Photos from the Land of Enchantment - Bosque del Apache

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Thanks for reading. See you New Year’s Eve. Ciao!

M'tucci's Holiday Goodies

As the writer and photographer with M’tucci’s Restaurants, I get to work with talented people who are dedicated to creating great food. Another great benefit is getting to taste nearly everything I photograph for the website, social media and for this weekly newsletter.

All I can say after photographing the table of dishes that come with M’tucci’s Christmas Holiday Ham Meal is: “Damn, now that is ham!”

Our new partners near Kansas City, the Fantasma Family, produce a special spiral-cut Holiday Ham each year from pasture-raised Berkshire hogs that are never treated with hormones - all natural.

The Berkshire is a Heritage breed, which means the bloodline is pure and that they haven’t been cross-bred with other more common breeds that are generally associated with factory farming. The Berkshire originated in England and became popular because of the flavor of their bacon and ham. The breed was first brought to the U.S. in 1823. The American Berkshire Association was founded in 1875 when a group of farmers considered the breed too special to cross with more common pigs. Berkshires were a popular breed until just after WW II, when leaner pork produced from white-skinned pigs was in more demand.

In recent years, American chefs have sung the praises of the quality of the pork from this breed and there has been a resurgence of Berkshires. Farmers who raised Berkshire pigs and other Heritage breeds, such as Duroc or Iberian, tend to avoid mass-production farming and rely on vegetarian feed, open pasturing and no hormones or antibiotics. An Ohio State study found that pasture-raised pigs have 300 percent more vitamin E and 74 percent more selenium (a vital antioxidant) in their milk than pigs raised in cages. Plus, chefs say the pork is healthier and simply has more flavor.

The M’tucci’s Holiday Berkshire Ham, finished with our Pineapple Shrub glaze will be the highlight of your Holiday dinner. Quantities are limited, so order one soon. Kits may be picked up from 12/22 through the 24th.

Let Chef Cory show you how easy it will be to complete your Holiday meal. Now on the M’tucci’s YouTube Channel.

Don’t miss the opportunity to win an $100 M’tucci’s Gift Certificate by building the most creative Gingerbread House from our Holiday Festivity Kit. The rules are included in each kit. Our Executive Chef Brianna demonstrates a few tricks on M’tucci’s YouTube Channel.

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M’tucci’s Shrubs are Easy to Find

You can find our four Shrubs (individual bottles or in Shrub Cocktail Kits) in all of our locations, in New Mexico Total Wine & More stores, in Jubilation Wine & Spirits in Albuquerque and at Susan’s Fine Wines & Spirits in Santa Fe.

What, you’re not in New Mexico? No worries, because now you can buy our Shrubs on our new Amazon Store Front. Click here

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M’tucci’s Gift Certificates

When you buy an $100 Gift Certificate, we’ll give you an additional $20 Gift Certificate. The perfect stocking stuffer for friends, family and employees. Available at all locations, buy in-person until 12/31/2020.

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M’tucci’s YouTube Channel

In addition to cooking tips, recipes and techniques, there are videos on making cocktails and behind-the-scenes looks at some of our products. Today, we introduce a new Weekly Feature with some of our team telling you about some of the special items that are available this week. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and receive notification when a new video is Live.

Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $29

Pan-Seared Ruby Trout - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $21

Gelato: Strawberry & Salted Caramel

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

10 oz Cranberry - Brined Sackett Farm Pork Chop - Roasted Vegetables, Cranberry Balsamic Reduction $21

Pan-Seared California Halibut - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $23

Pesto Ravioli - Roasted Artichokes, Grape Tomatoes, Shallot Pesto Cream Sauce, Parmesan & Basil $19

Gelato: Lemon Berry

Sorbetto: Strawberry Blend

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Hand Cut 7 oz Hanger Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

Herb-Roasted Whole Game Hen: Crispy Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes, Grilled Green Beans, Strawberry Mint Coulis $18

M’tucci’s Apple Cider: Trey made apple cider from Red Delicious apples and some spices. It is good warm or cold, with a shot of rum, bourbon or au natural. $4.50/Qt only at M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Gelatos: Dark Chocolate Malted Milkshake Swirl

Sorbetto: Pineapple Lime

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Thanks for reading. See you next week. Buon Natale e Ciao!

M'tucci's Gingerbread Houses

Among my favorite Christmas memories is making cookies with my grandmother. She would bake dozens of snickerdoodles and sugar cookies in the shapes of wreaths, candy canes, stars and, of course, Santa Claus. I would help decorate the cookies with icing, sprinkles and red hots. Even though much of her cooking skills and recipes came from living with a German family while she was in college, she didn’t make ginger snaps or attempt a gingerbread house.

Ginger was brought from China and was found in Europe around the 900s. Ginger not only added a distinct flavor to food, but it was known to aid in digestion and was used as a preservative for bread and meat. In Germany, gingerbread was baked as early as the 1300s and Nuremburg became known as the “Gingerbread Capital of the World” in the 1600s. There was even a separate group of bakers in the baker’s guild and they were the only bakers allowed to make gingerbread except at Christmas and Easter when anyone could bake it.

The tradition of gingerbread house making began with Europeans baking gingersnap cookies around Christmas. These cookies were decorated with elaborate designs, usually gilded edges with pictures of animals, houses or other architecture. Gingerbread also displayed folk art and the news. This practice led to gingerbread houses, which were created in the 1800s, supposedly inspired by the Brothers Grimm book “Hansel & Gretel”.

Gingerbread is used for creating buildings other than houses, such as castles or even sports stadiums! Bergen, Norway builds an entire gingerbread village every year before Christmas.

In 2013, a group in Bryan, Texas, USA, broke the Guinness World Record set the previous year for the largest gingerbread house, with a 2,520-square-foot (234 m2) edible-walled house in aid of a hospital trauma centre. The gingerbread house had an estimated calorific value exceeding 35.8 million and ingredients included 2,925 pounds (1,327 kg) of brown sugar, 1,800 pounds (820 kg) of butter, 7,200 eggs and 7,200 pounds (3,300 kg) of general purpose flour.

M’tucci’s will help you build your Gingerbread House during the holidays by providing the ingredients in a kit, M’tucci’s Holiday Festivity Kit. It includes everything you need to build a house, plus dough and icing for sugar cookies, dough for chocolate chip cookies and 4 Hot Chocolate Bombs to eat while you make all of these goodies. The kit comes with recipes, instructions and a link to a video showing you how to put it all together. Scroll down for ordering details and to learn about M’tucci’s Ham Holiday Dinner and the Farmer’s Butcher Box, which are both available now.

M’tucci’s Holiday Festivity Kit

Will you build an elaborate Gingerbread House? Share your photos on Facebook or Instagram, tag us (@mtuccis_italian, @mtuccistwentyfive or @mtuccismoderno). First prize for the best decorated Gingerbread House is a $100 Gift Certificate, $50 for 2nd Place and $25 for 3rd Place. Winners will be selected by our Pastry Chef and the deadline for posting your photo is 12/24. Happy Building - and eating! Maybe build something like this?

Shot at the Museum of Idaho by Judy Zechariah

I’m cooking meals from the Farmer’s Butcher Box. So far we quickly ate Chef Cory’s Green Chile Stew, then cooked the bacon, and then I used some of the Italian Sausage to make a favorite Southern Italian dish: Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage. Chef Cory has added recipe cards for each of the items or you can create your own. I’m looking at an Osso Bucco recipe from Northern Italy for the Pork Shanks.

Farmer's Butcher Box

M'tucci's Applewood Smoked Bacon

M'tucci's Sackett Farm Italian Sausage

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Don’t miss out on ordering the fantastic weekend meal kit. Our meal kits are mostly prepped and portioned for you and you only need to open the box and follow the brief instructions to preparing a meal for four. This week’s meal kit is a Mixed Salad with Marinated Tomatoes and Feta, 4 -12oz. Sackett Farm Bone-In Pork Chops that have been in a Cranberry Brine, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and a pint of M’tucci’s Stracciatella Gelato. Only $49.

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You loved our Thanksgiving Charcuterie Retail Packages so much, so we have brought them back for the Holidays, with a few additions.

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $29

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $19

Gelato: Strawberry & Salted Caramel

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

10 oz Cold Smoked Sackett Farm Pork Chop - Italian Vegetable Succotash, Apple Bacon Bourbon Mostarda $21

Pan-Seared Mahi Mahi - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $23

Gelato: Lemon Berry

Sorbetto: Strawberry Blend

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Hand Cut 7 oz Hanger Steak - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $21

Herb Roasted Game Hen: Grilled Escarole, Braised Gigante Beans, Balsamic Reduction $20

Gelatos: Strawberry

Sorbetto: Lemon

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

Holiday Meals - Italian Style

Best Italian Restaurant & Best Happy Hour

If you have been reading La Gazzeta for awhile, you know that “Italian Food” is a very broad term, for the food of Italy is, as in many places, very regional. The meals in the South have distinct differences with the favorite foods of the north. Cheeses, pastas, cooking ingredients, wines, vegetables and wines all have their distinctive regional characteristics.

In the early years of Italy’s unification, the South was poor and meat did not make a regular appearance on the dinner table. Meat dishes were much more common in the wealthier northern provinces. Those days have changed, but the styles and types of meat on the table are still somewhat distinct to each region. Cured meats and pork dishes are found throughout the country, but pork is the predominant meat found in the South. Beef is much more common in Central and Northern Italy. Bisteca di Fiorentina (from Chianina beef) from Tuscany and Osso Bucco (from veal) and Bolognese Ragu from the Piedmont are dishes associated with the North. The cuisine in the Northern provinces is influenced by their proximity to Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Bisteca di Fiorentina

Chianina in Tuscany

Charcuterie Board

Guanciale & Pancetta Curing

M’tucci’s menus are inspired by all of the regions of Italy and we would be hard pressed to call ourselves Northern Italian or Southern Italian cuisine. Neither would be accurate. We love the prosciuttos, aged cheeses, risottos and polentas of the North as much as we love the cured salumi, fresh cheeses, bitter greens and chiles of the South. Our menus are inspired by regions throughout the country, sometimes blending the flavors of north and south into one dish.

Italian cuisine isn’t fussy with dozens of ingredients, rather it relies on the quality of the few ingredients that go into each dish. One of the reasons that our food succeeds is because of the quality of our ingredients. That philosophy is what drives our meat program, both fresh and cured.

Our beef products come from Harris Ranches in California, one of the early pioneers (since 1937) in sustainable, natural beef raised without hormones or antibiotics. Recently, we partnered with a family farm operation in Iowa and a family-owned processing facility near Kansas City for our pork. The Sackett family is working with us to raise a cross-breed of two heritage breeds, Duroc and Berkshire. Once again, raising animals humanely and sustainably are the hallmarks of their work. The same commitment to quality is the focus of the Fantasma family’s processing operations. The Chianina beef comes from a ranch near Deming, NM, that is one of the U.S. pioneers in raising this Italian breed of cattle.

These partnerships are behind several special Meal Kits that we are offering for the holidays, beginning with the M’tucci’s @ Home Prep Kitchen kit for this weekend. Chef Cory is in charge of creating these meals, which have been very popular during the health orders that have forced us to close our dining rooms. There is a new meal each weekend, all of the ingredients are packaged, portioned and mostly prepped for you. The meal kits come with a recipe card, that also links to a cooking video on our YouTube Channel. The three-course meals feed four people and are easy to complete at home.

This week is a carnivores delight: Chef Cory’s Green Chile Stew with Sackett Farm Pork, Pan-Seared Harris Ranch Hanger Steaks (a cut so good, that it was never widely sold since butchers kept the cut for themselves) with Salt Water Potatoes and Pan-Seared Asparagus. Finish with 4 M’tucci’s Biscochitos.. The Kit can be ordered from any location for $64 and is available until we are sold out. Watch the video below to see how easy the meals are to complete.

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Coming Next Week . . . .

More photos and details coming next week! Stay tuned.

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We have limited seating on our patios, which have been modified to make you as comfortable as possible. Our weekend specials are available for takeout or delivery.

Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $29

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $19

Gelato (pints only $8): Strawberry & Salted Caramel

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

6 oz Hand Cut Beef Tenderloin - Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Italian Salsa Verde $26

Pan-Seared Mahi Mahi - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $23

Gelato (Pint only $8): Lemon Berry

Sorbetto: Strawberry Blend

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Hand Cut 8 oz Orange and Bay Leaf Brined Duck Breast - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $17

Gelatos (Pint only $8): Strawberry

Sorbetto: Lemon

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Buy a $100 Gift Card and get $20 for free. Spend $200 on Gift Certificates and receive 2 $20 Gift Cards.

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Thanks for reading. See you next week. Ciao!

Optimism

M’tucci’s Founder Jeff Spiegel

EDITOR’S NOTE: We hope you all had a wonderful and thankful day with friends and family. Since the opening of M’tucci’s , our Founder, Jeff Spiegel, has offered valuable leadership to the Partners. His years of experience in the restaurant business combined with his being in tune with social and economic forces offer hope for a post-pandemic business climate.

(Published in the Albuquerque Journal, 11/25/2020

BY Jeff Spiegel

Founding Partner, M’tucci’s Restaurants

It􀂷s nearly Thanksgiving. It doesn’t feel like it this year: here in New Mexico, it􀂷s 15 degrees warmer, at least,

than it should be in this season. That’s the case because of global warming and President Trump, who also

has been generating excessive heat since the election. It’s November 2020. The United States is heading into

its 10th month of the coronavirus pandemic. The economy has been pummeled, and no part of it more so

than the restaurant business. Restaurants have closed permanently in every part of the country. Some, to

comply with government mandates, have closed, reopened, closed again. While there are vaccines just

over the horizon, the winter of 2020-21 promises to cause further devastation to many restaurants, with

drastic impacts on the livelihoods of employees and vendors.

Here in New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently suspended all indoor dining for two weeks,

hoping to tamp down the resurgent killer virus, which is peaking. This is the second such closure. We support

this drastic measure, and we hope that it works. The three M’tucci’s restaurants that I founded with my

young partners are once again getting by living only on takeout and delivery sales, as well as early sales of

products placed in grocery stores. M’tucci’s will make it. While we will survive, millions of people have lost

their jobs and have been left to scramble. As of mid- September, 100,000 restaurants had closed, many never

to reopen. The National Restaurant Association calculates that the industry will have lost $240 billion by the

end of the year.

I write this with the expectation that effective vaccines are likely to be widely available by summer, or

possibly sooner. But even if that is the case, where will this leave the restaurant business?

After the coronavirus has wreaked its destruction, for the survivors and for new businesses looking to open,

there will be new opportunities for those poised to capitalize. Once people no longer have to fear dying by

going out, they will be dying to go out. But every town and city in this country will come out of 2021 with

many fewer restaurants than it had going into 2020.

Don􀂷t despair. There is a future. It’s not far off.

For the survivors, the post-pandemic period will provide enormous opportunity for expansion. For new

businesses, the landscape will also be ripe with opportunity. Landlords whose restaurant tenants have

crashed and burned will be anxious to lease their empty spaces, and rents will reflect that.

The coronavirus has provided operators with time to think, consider alternatives and plan. Our company

president, John Haas, developed myriad new products and delivery systems during the pandemic. He has

also used the slowdown to develop a platform for M’tucci’s wholesale business. Before the pandemic,

M’tucci’s was making 􀃀five types of bread, eight different pasta shapes, mozzarella and burrata, and a variety

of sausages and cured meats. Coming out of the pandemic, John has positioned us to be able to sell such a

high volume of the meat products that the revenues will rival those of an entire restaurant. This was a direct

result of his realization that farmers were suffering, and that we could be part of the solution by finding one to

partner with. He found the Sackett family farm in Iowa, and now we are helping each other by our close

collaboration.

Pondering the post-COVID 19 future, all of us need to keep our eyes open. Change is in the air. The ecosystem

is evolving; opportunities are there. I urge people in the food industry, and others as well, to consider the

changing landscape and be creative about adapting to new conditions. As an example of change, is it likely

that many of the businesses which sent their employees home to work are realizing they can save on

rent permanently. That may mean that some Downtown restaurant locations may not be desirable any longer,

or the rents may be cheaper. Additionally, we have already seen growth in businesses that provide meals to

assemble, heat and eat at home. And chefs and cooks are sharing co-kitchens, which makes them able to

meet growing demand and produce new products.

To my colleagues in the restaurant business and those who aspire to join our ranks, I hope you can survive

this plague on our sector and seize the opportunities that its aftermath will present. Don’t give up!

Jeff Spiegel greeting friends at the opening of M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

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Holiday Gift Cards.

Get one of these for every $100 Gift Card.

Available until 12/31/2020

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We are closed for dining, but we still have a few weekend specials for takeout or delivery.

Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

12 oz Hand Cut NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $29

Lightly Breaded San Dabs - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $19

Gelato (pints only $8): Strawberry & Salted Caramel

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

6 oz Hand Cut Beef Tenderloin - Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Italian Salsa Verde $26

Beef Tip Tortellini - Beef tips with Cajun Seasoning, Diced Tomatoes, Green Onion, Rosa Sauce and Gorgonzola Cheese $21

Gelato (Pint only $8): Lemon Berry

Sorbetto: Strawberry Blend

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Hand Cut 10 oz Chianina Delmonico - Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $27

Gelatos (Pint only $8): Strawberry

Sorbetto: Lemon

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Thanks for the Food

Just remember, it comes from farmers, fishermen and ranchers.

Colorado

Iowa

Vietnam

California

Colorado

North Dakota

Ethiopia

Uganda

M'tucci's Thanksgiving

As we all face the challenges of the pandemic (lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, masks) we still want to celebrate Thanksgiving. M’tucci’s always closes for Thanksgiving, but this year we have created a Thanksgiving Meal Kit which features sides and a pie, all you do is add turkey (I’m adding a standing rib roast). The details are just below, so keep scrolling.

While turkey is a centerpiece for most Thanksgiving tables, there are a wide variety of side dishes, both creative and traditional. Chef/Partner Cory Gray created five dishes for our kit that were influenced by our restaurants and from his family favorites. The stuffing is a bread stuffing, with onion, celery, garlic and sage. I asked members of the M’tucci’s family what was always on the table for Thanksgiving with family and the most common response was green bean casserole.

Green Bean Casserole with Creamy Mushrooms and Fried Leeks will probably be a cut above the usual casserole with canned onion soup. Potatoes take many forms at Thanksgiving: scalloped and mashed, savory or sweet. M’tucci’s creamy mashed potatoes are made with fresh garlic, Italian-style.

The M’tucci’s Family remembers their family favorites:

President/Company Chef John Haas: “Thanksgiving meal is really separated into two things. The first, Turkey, is a sacred ritual to me. It’s always brined for 48 hours and then it is either smoked or roasted. The second is the sides, which stuffing is probably the most loved by me. It seemingly is the only time all year it ends up on a plate of mine. As the years have piled up being in New Mexico, red chile has become the other must have. Does Red Wine and Whiskey count as a side?”

Partner/Chef Shawn Cronin: “We always had braised mushrooms, sautéed zucchini with cheddar cheese, stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows (we make Michelle make the marshmallows every year) canned cranberry, mashed potatoes.”

Catering Manager Taña Martinez: “Moms candied yams with marshmallows, pineapple and pecans has always my favorite when it comes to sides. The marshmallows are always toasted perfectly and the center is soo ooey gooey and delicious.”

Manager Trey Godwin: “Sweet potato casserole and pecan (Pee-Can) pie. Wouldn't be a good Thanksgiving without either one. The sweet potato casserole with none of the marshmallow bullshit, just the real deal.”

Founder Jeff Spiegel: “Carrot soufflé, lighter than sweet potato with marshmallow. Katie’s citrus cranberry sauce is delicious with stuffing and a bit of turkey.

Founder Katie Gardner: “When I was a kid, my grand parents had a cook and she made a fudge sauce over fresh ice cream. I have dreamt about it, and sampled many in search of its equal for 70 years and have never found it.”

Managers Ernest Nuñez and Arcy Law both said the green bean casserole was a family favorite. Arcy said they also always had oyster stuffing. My family always had scalloped oysters, but my Dad was the only one who would eat them.

Chef/Partner Cory Gray: “I would have to say the favorite is a toss up between the family homemade stuffing and scalloped potatoes. Roasted Brussel sprouts a definite.

Partner Austin Leard: “Dating Latina women most of my life, mashed potatoes and red chile was always a favorite of mine at their family's house. I could always fill an entire plate with Ham, green bean casserole and stuffing at Grandma's house though.”

We hope you and your family find safety, comfort, love and good health during this holiday season. The M’tucci’s family is so thankful for your tremendous support. We look forward to the time when we can welcome you into our restaurants with a smile, a handshake and a hug. Grazie Mille!

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Saturday 11/21 is the Last Day to Order Thanksgiving Pies.

Pumpkin with Pumpkin Seed Brittle & Ginger Vanilla Chantilly Cream - $17

Apple with Oat Almond Streusel $15

Bourbon Pecan Pie with Vanilla Chantilly Cream $18

The toppings will come packaged separately, so you can add them when you are ready for dessert (or breakfast). Please call the restaurant closest to you to place your order and to arrange a pick up time (online ordering is not available). Add a pint of House Made Salted Caramel Gelato for only $7.

Pies must be Picked up by Wednesday, 11/25!

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M’tucci’s @ Home Prep Kitchen Meals

The meals returned this week and will be available until they are sold out. We prepare a limited number every week. The menu is announced on social media every Tuesday and they are available for online or call in ordering beginning at 11:00am on Thursday. The price varies depending on the meal, but is always three courses and is designed to feed four people. My wife and I cooked the meal last night and only used half of the pasta, but we have enough of the Sackett Farm Pork Bolognese left for at least 3-4 more meals!

One of my favorite M’tucci’s salads is included in the kit, Roasted Golden Beets with Farro, topped with Gorgonzola and Candied Pecans. The flavors cover all the bases, sweet, savory, a little bitter and a lot of YUM!

If you have never had one of these meals, they are super easy to prepare. Most of the prep work is done for you. As you can see from the photo on the left, the portions are individually packaged, there is a recipe card and a QR code that takes you to the M’tucci’s YouTube Channel where Chef Cory gives you step-by-step instructions on putting your meal together. This week’s menu is:

Sackett Farm Pork Ragu with San Marzano Tomatoes, Caramelized Onion, Wild Mushrooms on House Made Pappardelle Pasta

Roasted Beet & Farro Salad

Toffee Coffee Cake Bar

Total Cooking time of only 40 minutes and a total cost of $43

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We are closed for dining, but we still have a few weekend specials for takeout or delivery.

Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

8 oz Beef Tenderloin - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $27

Gelato (pints only $7): Strawberry & Salted Caramel

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

6 oz Hand Cut Beef Tenderloin - Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Italian Salsa Verde $26

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Cream Sauce, Capers, Prosciutto Powder $21

Gelato (Pint only $7): Salted Caramel & Stracciatella & Strawberry

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Hand Cut 5 oz Beef Tenderloin - Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $20

Gelatos (Pint only $7): Salted Caramel & Strawberry

Sorbetto: Lemon

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Fall Photos from Near and Far

Upper Rio Grande - Colorado

Firehole River - Yellowstone NP

Yellowstone River - YNP

Cape St. Mary - Newfoundland

Along Chama River - NM

Romero's Fruit & Veggie Stand - Hernandez, NM

Sangre de Cristos, Colorado

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Thanks for reading. See you next week, Ciao!

We Make It Here, Pt. 1

When the first M’tucci’s restaurant opened in 2013, the phrase “If you ate it here, we made it here” was used on the menus and in marketing. Seven years later, the truth of that statement has gone way beyond a slogan and is the driving force behind the food and beverages at all M’tucci’s restaurants.

Company Chef & President, John Haas has led teams in boutique and corporate kitchens. He blended those experiences with his love of food to create menus that feature “House Made” products and that is also value driven. While there are many aspects to the success of M’tucci’s, if you had to choose one, it would be artisanal, craft-made products at a fair price.

Eggplant Parmesan with House Mozzarella

Charcuterie with House Bread & Mozzarella

Bread

The bread at M’tucci’s is legendary. Developed by Chef/Partners Cory Gray and Shawn Cronin, they started with a very old European starter and based all of the bread (and pizza dough) recipes on the concept of no commercial yeast. It’s a process that is time-consuming, but results in healthy and flavorful bread. You’ll find it on our menus and you will find loaves available for purchase in all of our restaurants, at Silver Street Market and area Albertson’s Markets. Choose from Sourdough, Rye, Whole Wheat, Ciabatta and Baguette.

Cured Meat

Chefs Shawn and Cory developed their interest in curing meat into a passion that is prominent on our menus. Our curing program was recently elevated by our partnership with Sackett Farms, producing a Heritage breed pork, and an Italian-owned processing plant which provides us with custom cuts. Capicola Carbonara (M’tucci’s Twenty-Five) features house smoked and cured pork shoulder, Five Pork Bolognese (all locations) uses pork shoulder, pancetta and sausage from our Sackett Farms pork. We also make our own Italian sausage which you can sample in pasta dishes and on our Neapolitan-style pizza.

Capicola Carbonara

Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza

The Curing Room

Spicy Capicola

Cheese

In Puglia, mozzarella and burrata are known as latticini, which are products made from milk and meant to be eaten fresh. You could end up in a serious argument with an Italian if you called mozzarella “cheese”. The quality of the milk is important, especially for the right balance of fat and acidity. Mozzarella is hand formed into balls and used fresh and smoked. You’ll find it on Charcuterie plates, Eggplant Parmesan and pizza. Burrata is mozzarella stretched around cream and bits of cheese (stracciatella). It’s more decadent and rich than mozzarella and adds another dimension to Chicken Milanese (served at all locations).

Mozzarella

Burrata

Eggplatn Parmesan at M'tucci's Moderno

Chicken Milanese at M'tucci's Twenty-Five

Pasta

The old argument between dried pasta and fresh pasta is a waste of time. Dried pasta made with good durum wheat, pressed through bronze dies and dried slowly will produce outstanding pasta. On the other hand, controlling the process from start to finish produces an exceptional pasta with texture and flavor. We use an Italian pasta machine with bronze dies (which produces a rough textured pasta, better for holding sauce), imported Italian durum wheat flour and filtered water. We make fresh ravioli, rigatoni, fettuccine, campanelle, pappardelle and spaghettini.

Campanelle

Pappardelle

Ravioli

Lobster Ravioli - M'tucci's Twenty-Five

Five Pork Bolognese - M'tucci's Italian

Shrimp Campanelle - M'tucci's Moderno

Salsiccia Affumicata - M'tucci's Twenty-Five

Gelato

The newest addition to our house-made lineup is creamy Italian Gelato. If you have ever had genuine Italian Gelato, then no explanation is necessary. The flavor and richness are supplied by fresh ingredients, not thick cream and lots of sugar. Our Executive Pastry Chef Brianna Dennis comes up with new flavors of Gelato and Sorbetto every week based on what is fresh and available (check out the weekend flavors by scrolling to the next section).

Strawberry

Salted Caramel

Straciatella

Part 2 next week is all about beverages: Shrubs & Wine.

Coming Soon!!

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

Hand Cut 24oz Bone-In NY Strip - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $32

Pan-Seared Yellowfin Tuna - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichoke, Sauteéd Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $21

Ravioli - Pesto Ricotta, Sautéed Pink Shrimp, Roasted Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onion, Sun-Fried Tomato, Arugula, Light Lemon Cream Sauce $23

Rotisserie - Smoked 1/2 Chicken Herb Rubbed & Roasted - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Balsamic Reduction $23

Gelato: Double Chocolate

Sorbetto: Strawberry, Blood Orange

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

6 oz Hand Cut Beef Tenderloin - Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Italian Salsa Verde $26

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Cream Sauce, Capers, Prosciutto Powder $21

Crispy Chicken Risotto - Mushrooms, Celery, Carrots and Alfredo $19

Gelato: Lemongrass

Sorbetto: Pineapple

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Pan-Seared Ruby Trout - Grilled Escarole, Prosciutto Powder, Garlic Whipped Potatoes, Seared Artichokes, Topped with Prosciutto Powder, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $23

Braised Lamb Shank - Mascarpone Polenta, Braised Italian Greens, Shallots, House Bacon, Red Wine Jus $23

Hand Cut 5 oz Beef Tenderloin - Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $23

Gelatos: Lemongrass, Chocolate

Sorbetto: Mango

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Thanksgiving Pies - 11/21 is the last day to order!

Pumpkin with Pumpkin Seed Brittle & Ginger Vanilla Chantilly Cream - $17

Apple with Oat Almond Streusel $15

Bourbon Pecan Pie with Vanilla Chantilly Cream $18

The toppings will come packaged separately, so you can add them when you are ready for dessert (or breakfast). Please call the restaurant closest to you to place your order and to arrange a pick up time ( online ordering is not available). Add a pint of House Made Salted Caramel Gelato for only $7.

Order no later than 11/21 and pick up no later than 11/25.

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Catering

We are offering alternatives to the Christmas Office party. Call Taña today for details. 505-350-0019

Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!

Amaro - Italy's Digestivo

While we at M’tucci’s take pride in our many house made products and creative takes on Italian classic dishes (I had the Duck Duck at M’tucci’s Twenty-Five last night and it was incredible), we also consider it our mission to introduce real Italian recipes and products to our guests. One of these is the bittersweet Italian liquor, amaro, which means bitter in Italian.

The labels are as varied as the flavors!

A centuries-old beverage, amaro began as a healing tonic used for medicinal purposes. While there are now an astounding number of styles and makers of amaro, nearly all of them begin with a neutral spirit or wine that is macerated with bitter barks, seeds, spices, flowers, vegetables, herbs and citrus peels, then balanced with sugar. Some of the bittering agents include gentian root, angelica root, wormwood and cinchona bark. You might find anise, cardoon, clove, rhubarb, cardamom, licorice and juniper among the herbal profiles. Some amari (plural of amaro) are barrel-aged for complexity. The recipes are all closely guarded secrets among the family producers, some of whom have been producing one of Italy’s favorite beverages for more than four generations.

The flavor profiles of amari are definitely local. Amari made in the North rely more on the herbs and flowers available in the mountains, while Southern Amari might use more citrus peels.

Humans are born with an aversion to bitter flavors, since we were genetically programmed to treat a bitter flavor as toxic, or even poisonous. Many of us (Americans) have more of a palate for sweet, sour and salty - even umami. So, a little palate education is necessary to appreciate bitter flavors, and we are acquiring that appreciation by drinking IPAs, cocktails with tonic water, and even coffee and tea. Italians embrace bitter foods early in their lives (greens, chocolate, espresso) and consequently have a long history with bitter flavors and especially with amari.

Amari were initially created by medieval friars and monks for their health benefits, which includes stimulating the appetite and aiding in digestion. The bitter flavors trigger saliva and gastric juices, activating the digestive system.

Author Jason Tesauro writing in The New York Times said, “After a decadent meal, amaro is like Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction. It’s the cleaner that wipes away any evidence that you overdid it.”

To an Italian an Amari is consumed after dinner, which would leave Aperol, Campari and other aperitivos off of the list. Other Italians believe that if it is bitter, it is an amaro regardless if it is a aperitivo or digestivo. Is vermouth an amaro? Technically it’s not, but you would have to consider them bitter cousins, vermouth is usually the lower alcohol cousin.

A negroni, the classic Italian cocktail made with Campari.

We offer a selection of Italian amari (and a couple from France). Since there are no rules governing the ingredients of amari, sampling and the advice of a knowledgeable bartender are the keys to understanding the wonderful world of amari. The variety and complexity of this beverage is part of the charm, but it can be a daunting task to find the one you like. We recommend tasting without ice to get an idea of what you like. A starting point is to understand the classifications of amari: Aperitivo, Light, Medium and Dense. Maybe you start with Light? These categories come from the indispensable cocktail book, Cocktail Codex by Death & Co.

Aperitivo: Campari, Aperol, Capelletti & Suze

Light: Meletti, Montenegro & Nonino Quintessentia

Medium: Averna, CioCiaro & Bigallet China-China, Cynar & Ramazotti

Dense: Fernet-Branca & Luxardo Amaro Abano

Amari are used in several different cocktails, but can also be used as substitutes in some classics. When Trey Godwin was creating the cocktail list for brunch at M’tucci’s Italian, he was experimenting with different spirits & amari in the coffee drink. Instead of using an orange or lemon peel, and sugar, he added Campari for the combination of bitter and sweet and then added the French amaro, China China, which adds a citrus flavor to the Italian Iced Coffee.

Italian Iced Coffee

Partner/Beverage Manager Austin Leard said you could use an amaro in place of sweet vermouth when making a Manhattan or a Boulevardier. When making the Manhattan, omit the bitters and experiment with your amaro/rye whiskey proportions. Instead of using the traditional bourbon, Campari & Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth for the Boulevardier (cousin to the Negroni), try a combination of Rye, Cappelletti (an aperitivo amaro) and Punt e Mes (an Italian Vermouth).

Writer Brad Thomas Parsons interviewed several Italian families for his book “Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet”. When discussing how to consume amaro, Leonardo Vena from the Amaro Lucano family said that there are disagreements even within his own family, “I like it chilled - either from a cold bottle or served with one ice cube. My father drinks it neat and my grandfather likes it warm with an orange zest.”

Ask one of our bartenders which amaro you should try during your next visit. After tasting a few styles of amari at any M’tucci’s, pick up a bottle at Jubilation or Total Wine (usually 6-10 different labels). Try them at home in a variety of ways (cold, neat, etc.), since there is no “one way” to enjoy amaro.

Nonino is considered a “gateway” amaro, since it has softer bittersweet profile and a grappa base. It’s a good introduction to amaro, but it is one of the more expensive bottles.

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Weekend Specials

M’tucci’s Italian

Hand Cut 24oz Porterhouse - Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Lemon, Balsamic Reduction $37

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Artichoke, Sauteéd Arugula, Lemon Caper Sauce $21

Ravioli - Pesto Ricotta, Sautéed Pink Shrimp, Roasted Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onion, Sun-Fried Tomato, Arugula, Light Lemon Cream Sauce $23

Gelato: Dark Chocolate

Sorbetto: Strawberry, Pineapple

Sunday Only: Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, Sautéed Spinach and House BBQ Sauce for $27

M’tucci’s Moderno

6 oz Hand Cut Filet Mignon - Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Italian Salsa Verde $26

Pan-Seared Yellowtail - Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Artichokes, Sautéed Arugula, Lemon Cream Sauce, Capers, Prosciutto Powder $23

Beef Tortellini - Beef Tips, Cajun Seasoning, Diced Tomatoes, Green Onion, Gorgonzola Cheese $21

Gelato: Lemongrass

Sorbetto: Raspberry Lemon

Sunday Only: House Made Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Five Pork Bolognese and Roasted Tomato Marinara. $16 (it’s large)

M’tucci’s Twenty-Five

Pan-Seared Rockfish - Grilled Escarole, Prosciutto Powder, Garlic Whipped Potatoes, Seared Artichokes, Topped with Prosciutto Powder, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $23

24 oz Hand Cut Porterhouse - Grilled Asparagus, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $37

Gelatos: Lemongrass

Sorbetto: Mango

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Shrub of the Month

In addition to our regular flavors, we are going to introduce a new seasonal flavor that will be available for that month. You will be able to buy a bottle or get a special cocktail at all three locations. This month we are featuring the Roasted Apple Spice Shrub. If you would like to buy a bottle and make a cocktail at home, here is the recipe:

1/2 oz Lemon 

1/2 oz Simple Syrup 

1/2 oz Apple Liqueur 

1 oz Roasted Apple Spice Shrub 

1.5 oz Aged Apple Brandy

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Holiday Pies

Pumpkin with Pumpkin Seed Brittle & Ginger Vanilla Chantilly Cream - $17

Apple with Oat Almond Streusel $15

Bourbon Pecan Pie with Vanilla Chantilly Cream $18

The toppings will come packaged separately, so you can add them when you are ready for dessert (or breakfast). Please call the restaurant closest to you to place your order and to arrange a pick up time. Add a pint of House Made Salted Caramel Gelato for only $7.

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Catering

View our Fall/Holiday catering menu by clicking here. Call Taña to arrange for your holiday lunch or small gathering. 505-350-0019.

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Thanks for reading. See you next Friday, Ciao!