“…and hang out with a celebrity while we’re at it.”
When we woke up in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico this morning, we had no plans — as is always the case on road trips. Then we realized we were only 30 miles from the epicenter of the chile pepper universe: Hatch, NM.
“Dude,” said Kevin, “Grab your bag. I hear green chiles calling my name. And we’ve got time for a round of disc golf before lunch.”
We arrived in Hatch just in time to beat the lunch crowd and headed straight to the Pepper Pot (recommended to us by the Mayor).
The Honorable Mayor did not steer us wrong. Because what followed was the best lunch of our lives (and I say that as someone who grew up in NM).
Kevin had the combination plate. I had the chile relleno plate. Here’s how that went…
No sooner had we finished our meal than we were approached by a celebrity. We learned that Tess and her husband, local farmers, were the originators of blue corn farming, which has now become a worldwide staple of southwestern cuisine.
We later learned that Anthony Bourdain had dined at the Pepper Pot a few years back and done a show segment from there. Whatever… Anthony didn’t invent no blue corn chips.
Tess offered us some handcrafted chile from her farm, but we needed to absorb some of the local culture from Hatch before heading north to Albuquerque.
Hatch, NM now joins an elite list of Ken & Kevin Road Trip Meccas — site of our best lunch ever (even though Kevin and I disagreed on whether red or green is the best sauce).
Ken and Kevin Road Trip .com 