A CAPITAL IDEA

by D'Lyn Ford

This sidebar appeared in the Winter 1996 issue of New Mexico Resources,
as an adjunct to the article "New Mexico's Cookin'".
Photography: D'Lyn Ford

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In the nation's capital, New Mexico is represented by five members of Congress, a number of expatriates, and the Las Cruces Restaurant.

In the minds of many Beltway residents, the state is permanently missing. But they aren't likely to forget the food if they visit Mark Boudreau's homestyle restaurant.

Slipping into the monologue of a good-natured tour guide, Boudreau will explain the finer points of southern New Mexican cuisine for newcomers. "I can point out where all the ristras are in the restaurant without even looking up," he says with a smile.

Besides fueling the development of local chileheads, Boudreau takes pride in maintaining a culinary home away from home for former residents.

The restaurant is chock-full of memorabilia from Las Cruces landmarks: Aggie bumper stickers on the door, historic photographs on the walls, Las Cruces visitors' guides on each table, and a mural of the Organ Mountains around the kitchen door. When they're done gawking, diners order from a menu attached to license plates from the Land of Enchantment.

To keep the food authentic, Boudreau uses Mesilla Valley ingredients: tortillas from Roberto's, green chile from Stuart Hutson, and red chile from Louis Biad.

"Not a day goes by that we don't have someone in from New Mexico," Boudreau says. "We have so many from Las Cruces, you can't con people about the food."

To please local palates, a few items have been added. Whole wheat tortillas and vegetarian entrees are nods to health-conscious customers and the crowd from Greenpeace headquarters just a block away. Boudreau also has turned down the heat on the chile, though he keeps hotter batches especially for visitors from Las Cruces or El Paso.

His goal is to make customers feel at home, wherever they're from. Nearly every senator and representative from New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona has brought the staff in for a visit. In the winter cold, green chile stew is a sellout hit with the locals.

"It's not just the cuisine we do," Boudreau says. "It's an attitude thing, the way we treat people. Our service is professional but laid-back and friendly."

Often, Boudreau has seen a transformation take place in his fast-lane customers. "They come in looking at their watches, saying they're in a hurry. Three hours later, after a meal and a margarita, they're still here."

A former corporate chef, Boudreau has been spreading the mañana spirit since he bought the restaurant from a friend in 1995. He dreams of taking New Mexican food to unserved areas like Dayton, Ohio; Birmington, Ala.; and Ann Arbor, Mich.

Until then, he will remain a missionary for authentic New Mexican cuisine in Washington, D.C.

Ever the New Mexico ambassador, Boudreau dangles a final historical tidbit. He opened the restaurant on January 6, 1995, the anniversary of the day Congress admitted New Mexico to the Union in 1912. It was just a happy coincidence, he swears. Somehow, that's hard to believe.