A local take on a burger-and-a-beer joint

The Albuquerque restaurateur said he plans “to take local to the extreme” with his newest venture, a Nob Hill eatery called Bistronomy B2B.

That means the restaurant will serve 100 percent Black Angus beef raised on New Mexico ranches. The meat will be paired with local produce and placed on buns sourced from local bakeries. At Bistronomy B2B — the B2B stands for “Beers to Burgers” — even the brews will come from within the Land of Enchantment.

“Our biggest concern is everything has to be local, local, local,” Naik said recently from a table at his still-in-the-works restaurant.

Located in the former Vivace space at 3118 Central SE, Bistronomy B2B is slated to open close to Thanksgiving.

Its menu will feature a list of chef-inspired burgers, including the Green Chile Cheese and the Sunrise (beef stacked with pepper jack cheese, pecan-wood smoked bacon and a fried egg).

Customers can also design their own burger. Topping options run the gamut from ketchup and red onion to roasted red peppers and miso aioli. The standard burger features all-natural, grass-fed beef, but alternatives include turkey and veggie patties.

Naik said a burger and an order of hand-cut, twice-fried french fries will start around $9.

Albuquerque restaurateur Sham Naik said his new Nob Hill eatery, Bistronomy B2B, will “take local to the extreme” with a focus on New Mexico beers, beef and produce. (richard pipes/journal)

A veteran of the food scene — he formerly worked as the director of restaurants at Buffalo Thunder Resort — Naik said gourmet burger joints are “the hottest thing” right now, citing the number of celebrity chefs who have opened their individual versions.

But as he planned his own take on the concept, Naik wanted to focus on local ingredients and give beer equal billing.

“Burgers go with beer; beer goes with burgers,” he said.

Bistronomy B2B will start with approximately two dozen local beers on tap, but Naik said the list is sure to grow. He’ll encourage customers to request their favorites.

“The requirement is it has to be local to New Mexico and it has to be a draft beer,” Naik said.

A six-month, $250,000 remodel has given the Bistronomy B2B space a sleek, contemporary feel. Splashes of color — the yellow ceiling, red-topped bar stools and green bench seating — offset the black tabletops and dark wood features. It’s designed to be “unique and funky, but still classy,” said the restaurant’s marketing associate Micah Lobato.

Added Sham: “Someone came in the other day and said it looks like this place should be in San Francisco.”

The windows are currently covered with black signs that read “Shhh,” a nod to the “Shhh Society,” a registration-based club that gives members restaurant updates and deals.

Bistronomy B2B will be open from 4 p.m.-10 p.m. daily, according to Lobato. The phone number is 262-2222.

Speaking of the old Vivace…

Chez Bob owner Bob Maw said he has leased the other half of the former Vivace restaurant and intends to use it for a second location of his bistro and creperie.

His current plans for the roughly 2,600 square feet include a jazz lounge, main dining area and private dining room.

“It will be pretty nice,” he said.

Maw’s goal is to have the Nob Hill location fully operational by the upcoming holiday season, although he’s still working on obtaining a beer and wine license. He may open with a limited menu in the interim, he said.

The Nob Hill site will feature dinner fare similar to the current Chez Bob, which has been serving French and Italian dishes near the intersection of Wyoming and Paseo del Norte since 2009.

But the new location will do more to attract the breakfast and lunch crowds. Maw said it will offer a variety of fresh-baked pastries, hand-crafted coffees, crepes and quiches.

Maw said he plans to keep the Heights location of Chez Bob open, though it will probably drop lunch service and focus solely on dinner.

Emilia Goldfarb, 23, will cater to the University of New Mexico crowd with Haven Skate Shop, her new store at 114 Vassar SE. (jim thompson/journal)

Haven Skate Shop

Emilia Goldfarb knows her skateboards, having spent years as a buyer for a local skate shop.

Her experience there made Goldfarb comfortable enough to start her own place, Haven Skate Shop, located about a block away from the University of New Mexico campus at 114 Vassar SE.

But perhaps just as important, Goldfarb also knows her customer base. A long-time skater herself, Goldfarb is just 23 years old — something she said helps her relate to the college-student crowd she’s serving.

“I’m the same age as my target audience, so I can kind of tell what the trends are and what people are looking for. They’ll talk to me about it, because I’m not some old lady,” Goldfarb said. “It definitely helps, and I know a lot of the skateboarders in the city too, just because I have been in this scene and industry for a long time.”

Located in a 1,000-square-foot space, Haven is stocked with the decks, trucks, wheels and bearings needed to build a custom skateboard. Goldfarb said the simplest setup will run about $60.

“Even the cheapest of everything will still be good,” she said. “This is all professional-quality stuff.”

Goldfarb also carries equipment that will appeal to more advanced skaters, including racing-worthy long boards that she said can travel as fast as 70 mph with the right rider.

The shop also carries clothing, hats and a small selection of snowboarding accessories. Haven will also wax and tune snowboards.

Although her father is also in the industry, Goldfarb didn’t necessarily seem destined for this career path. The East Mountains native studied languages at UNM and spent a year in Europe after she finished school, working as an au pair in Germany and then traveling around Spain.

Haven Skate Shop carries wheels and all the other parts necessary to build a custom skateboard. (jim thompson/journal)

“I met a bunch of skateboarders out there and got super inspired,” she said.

She said she returned home with a plan to open her own shop in a part of Albuquerque that has plenty of skaters but not a lot of places to buy gear.

“I felt like somebody was going to open one (in the UNM area), and I wanted it to be me,” she said.

Haven Skate Shop is open 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Thursday through Monday. It is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

The phone number is 232-6697.

Beer bounty

A trio of local breweries won medals during the 2012 Great American Beer Festival earlier this month in Boulder, Colo.

Moriarty-based Sierra Blanca Brewing Co. won a gold in the English-Style Brown Ale category for its Sierra Blanca Nut Brown Ale.

Albuquerque’s Marble Brewery took home two medals: a silver in the Imperial Red category and a bronze for its Double White (in the “Other Strong Beer” category).

Il Vicino Brewing Co. won a bronze in the Chocolate Beer category for its Cherry Chocolate Milk Stout.

The festival drew 4,338 entries from 666 different breweries from around the United States. Awards were handed out in 84 beer categories that covered 134 different beer styles.

If you have any retail news to report, email me at jdyer@abqjournal.com or call 823-3864.