Hurrying On To Vladem
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Okay, I’m going to hurry on a bit because I realize that I’m coming to the end of the story of this trip, and I’ll need to finish soon. So...
After our visit to the Turquoise Museum and our dinner at High Noon, we still had two days left in New Mexico. But, I’m going to skip most of Sunday, August 11, 2024. That’s because it was nice and all, but not a lot happened in it. Basically, we just drove up to Bernalillo, which is a lovely little town just North of Albuquerque. We’ve very fond of it. My mother used to teach there, long ago and far away. And it has one of our very favorite restaurants in the world, The Range Cafe.(1)
There are a bunch of Ranges now...that is, Range restaurants in Albuquerque. But our very favorite remains the first one--the original!--in Bernalillo. The food is terrific and it has a great vibe. They have this cool habit of getting autographed plates from any celebrity who comes to eat there. Thus, on the walls, you find plates with the signatures from presidents to the cast of Breaking Bad.
Anyway, on Sunday, we went there to eat and had a really good time. We toured Bernalillo a bit, which we hadn’t done in a long time. It’s changing fast, I’m afraid. I wonder what it will be like in ten years.
About the photos: First, an exterior shot of the Vladem from the street. Second, the Vladem also has a dramatic second floor porch and here is a shot of it. Third, a photo of your fearless explorers on the aforesaid porch. And, finally, my sesame chicken from Piccolino’s.
Oh, one sad aside. I think I mentioned in my last New Mexico series that there used to be another of our favorite restaurants in town, also owned by the folks at the Range Cafe, the Freight House Kitchen + Tap.(2) It was on the other end of town from the Range, and had excellent food...as well as dynamite desserts. It was at Freight that I really got addicted to Affogato -- that is, scoops of (vanilla) ice create in a bowl with espresso poured on top.(3) I’d had it before, but somehow it never quite clicked like it did at the Freight House. Now, if I see it on a menu, it’s pretty much inevitable that I’m gonna get it.
But, as I said, Freight closed. I don’t know why. Maybe Covid played a role. I noticed on its Facebook page that it shut down in August 2020, and the pandemic began a mere seven months before. So...
Anyway, we went by the site where the restaurant had been. The space is still empty, just begging to be a restaurant again. So, is there anyone with deep pockets out there? Maybe someone who could partner with folks at the Range and get it going again? I’d be most appreciative if you did. Just so long as you bring back the Affogato.
So that was Bernalillo. The next day was our going-out-with-a-bang sort of day. We were off to Santa Fe.
To be precise, we were targeting a museum we’d not visited before -- the New Mexico Museum of Art--Vladem Contemporary Art, or just the Vladem Contemporary for short.(4) This is a satellite museum of the large New Mexico Museum of Art just off the Square in downtown Santa Fe. It’s new -- just opened in 2023 -- and is meant to showcase New Mexican (and some other) art which is very contemporary.
The main museum has focused mostly on less modern art--not because of any prejudice against current material, but mostly its building is small. There just hasn’t been a lot of room for newer works. The Vladem (named after donors Ellen and Bob Vladem) is meant to address that issue.
Martha had seen an article about the Vladem online someplace and she’d expressed an interest in seeing it. So, after the perfectly predictable preamble of our getting lost two or three times trying to get there, we finally arrived, parked, and toured it.
It was quite impressive, really. I’d definitely say to pay it a visit if you have time when you next visit New Mexico. I will warn you, however, that we sort of found ourselves in the same situation we were in when we visited Marfa in Texas a while back. That is, we found ourselves intellectually engaged with the art we saw (and it was powerful) but not aesthetically moved.
Still, it was very impressive, all in all, and the Vladem building is actually outstanding. If you’re an architect, or related to someone who is (we are), then go see it.
After that, we toured the town a bit, and then went for lunch at Piccolino, the Italian restaurant in Santa Fe that we like so much.(5) I’ve written about it a number of times, so I won’t say more than that. But I will mention that I had the sesame chicken, and it was to die for.
We’d originally planned to go to Museum Hill (which I’ve also written about before) after that. But, we realized we were getting a bit tired, and so...for once!...we employed common sense and headed back to Albuquerque.
And that was our trip to New Mexico in 2024.
Well, actually, there was still a little more. Specifically, we had to catch the plane and take it back to Austin. And there were several, confused, and distressing thoughts I’d have along the way...
But...
Though they were confused, distressing, and even a little morbid...
They would give me a strange comfort.
And, even, a goal.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. The Range has a webpage here: https://rangecafe.com/
2. The Freight House still has its Facebook account. You can see it here: https://www.facebook.com/FR8HOUSE/
3. Affogato, too, has its own Wikipedia page. You can see it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affogato One aside. I’ve never tried it with liquor. Maybe I should. A little whiskey, perhaps: https://honestlyyum.com/9004/irish-whiskey-affogato/
4. The Museum’s webpage is here: https://www.nmartmuseum.org/vladem-contemporary/
There is also a piece in New Mexico Magazine about it: Vladem Contemporary's bold architectural profile incorporates a former warehouse owned by the state: Santa Fe's New Museum on the Block,” By Michael Abatemarco, photos by Tira Howard, Feb. 14, 2024, New Mexico Magazine, https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/santa-fe-new-museum-vladem-contemporary/
And, of course, the New York Times has a (quite positive) opinion as well: “In Santa Fe, a New Museum Brings the Local Art Scene Up to Date,” by Ray Mark Rinaldi, photographs by Brad Trone, Oct. 19, 2023, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/arts/design/santa-fe-museum-vladem.html
5. Piccolino’s webpage is here: https://www.piccolinosantafe.com/
Copyright©2025 Michael Jay Tucker
Wanna Hangout?
I’ve decided to launch a newsletter to keep you in the loop with everything I’m working on--new blog posts (“The Martha Plus Michael Chronicles”), books, short stories, videos, and all my other projects.
Just go to the following webpage and enter your email address in the space provided:
I’ll keep you updated on all my newest projects! And, to sweeten the deal, I’ll be posting some exclusive content that can only be accessed by subscribers to this newsletter.
So, type in your email address now! And let’s get things moving!
~mjt
Comments