A Shur thing: Creativity, presentation make Sandia's rooftop restaurant worth a special occasion

Lofty views, with prices to match

Bien Shur, the rooftop restaurant at Sandia Hotel and Casino, is ideally situated for Albuquerque’s sunset hour.

Diners on the northeast side of the restaurant can watch the colors change and soften on the face of the Sandias. Those on the other side get to watch the sun go out in a blaze of glory behind dormant volcanoes and the vast mesa.

Bien Shur has always felt like a place for special occasions. That was evident on a recent Saturday night, when not one but two parties nearby were celebrating birthdays. I was there to check out the cuisine of up-and-coming chef Dennis Escovedo from Taos. The chef took over the kitchen in February. Though only in his early twenties, he has already amassed an impressive résumé, including a stretch working with Marc Quiñones at Más Tapas y Vino.

Dinner is served four days a week, and getting a reservation requires a bit of trial and error. You can call directly, or book online through Google Assistant, which contacts the restaurant automatically. Plan ahead, as reservations for dinner for Saturday night tend to fill up by midweek.

Bien Shur sits atop of the hotel tower on the east side of the property. If you don’t want to valet your car, there are usually plenty of spaces in the vast parking lot. It’s a bit of a walk, but there is a free shuttle that circles the parking lot at all hours. A short distance inside the entrance is bank of elevators that provide rides to the top. Once you get off the elevators, the bar and lounge are to the right, the dining room to the left.

Not long ago, the dining room got a makeover. The result is classy and understated. Silverware sparkles on white tablecloths, wood trim accents the cream-colored walls. One side of the dining room looks out on the golf course and Sandias. The other offers a sweeping view of the west mesa and the setting sun.

Chef Escovedo’s menu features many of the same proteins on previous menus, but with some new touches in the sauces and sides. Prices are as eye-popping as ever. Of the nine entrees, six are $60 or more. The 32-ounce Beef Tomahawk Ribeye is $149; enough money to graze on McDonald’s dollar menu for weeks.

A Shur thing: Creativity, presentation make Sandia's rooftop restaurant worth a special occasion

Our meal got off to a slow start when the server was thrown by an inquiry about gluten-free options. She went off in a quest for answers but got waylaid at another table. It took a while, but she eventually made her way back to us with the information.

One thing that is definitely not gluten-free: the complimentary basket of breads made at the on-site bakery downstairs. There were slices of Italian bread, a brown bread studded with olives and another sweetened with cranberries, along with a few seed crackers to fill out the basket. Wanting to save room for dinner, I had to suppress my desire to eat everything down to the last crumb.

Two starters showcased the kitchen’s flair for presentation. The bright orange Creamy Butternut Squash Soup ($14) glowed against the wide-brimmed black bowl. A pink flower topped the pile of crispy leeks in the center of the soup. Under the leeks, smoky pepitas in a pool of pistachio cream gave off a burst of barbecue flavor. The soup, thicker and more savory than other versions I’ve tried around town, was a bit underheated.

In a starter of Roasted Carrot Arugula Salad ($15), four agave-glazed carrots — two orange, two yellow — were arranged in a diamond pattern. The carrots still had some snap to them. They were served over flawless arugula with lumps of Boursin cheese and toasted piñon nuts scattered over it. The slightly sour cheese helped cut the sweetness of the prickly pear vinaigrette. A simple, effective dish.

Entrees include a selection of seafood, meat and chicken. There is one vegetarian dish: Roasted Stuffed Eggplant for $39.

In the Piñon Crusted Chilean Sea Bass ($69), a slab of crackling, crisp crust provided a dramatic textural contrast to the moist, delicate fillet underneath. Perfectly cooked buttery garlic orzo underpinned it all. The tomatillo salsa verde not only added a pop of color to the dark plate; it also carried a pleasing amount of heat to complement the mild flavor of the fish. The vegetable, a combination of sliced and whole asparagus, was well-executed.

Each entree comes with a wine recommendation. A glass of Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris ($12) from France, the recommended accompaniment to the sea bass — golden yellow, peachy and only slightly sweet — brought some welcome acidity to the dish.

The Iowa Prime Filet Mignon ($65) arrived over a bed of whipped potatoes. The thick tenderloin, marked from the grill, had a good crust on it, even if it was cooked a little past the desired medium rare. The very rich bone marrow demi-glace, served on the side because it contained gluten, added an intense, salty charge to the meat. The potatoes were silky but weren’t uniformly heated.

The fetching presentations continued with a dessert of Red Chile White Chocolate Mousse ($12). At the center of the dish was a pyramid of vanilla-bean-glazed mousse with a sort of ramp corkscrewed around the outside. A pane of vivid red chile sugar glass rose up from it like a rooster’s comb. The dish contained surprises, like a core of peach compote inside the mousse and clusters of mango pearls that looked like caviar but popped sweetly in the mouth.

The pace of the meal was a little on the slow side, but not agonizingly so. The two hours or so at the table was enough time to watch the sun go down and the lights come up outside.

After the initial glitch with the gluten-free inquiry, the server did an estimable job. Early in the meal, I mentioned how much I liked the bread. When she brought the check out later, she also delivered a whole new serving wrapped for takeout: a gesture much appreciated and much enjoyed the following day.

Bien Shur has entered a new era with chef Escovedo at the helm. While its prices will continue to limit its accessibility, the chef’s creativity with the ingredients and presentation make it worth a special occasion.