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‘Garden to glass’: How this restaurant became a James Beard finalist
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The only New Mexico restaurant advancing to the final round of the James Beard Awards this year is nestled in the Village of Los Ranchos.
Campo at Los Poblanos is one of five restaurants vying to win the award for outstanding wine and other beverages program, the foundation announced Wednesday.
“It shines a light on everyone and our team members, too,” Wine Director Dylan Storment said. “It really lifted their souls and made them really proud to be part of such an organization.”
The restaurant has been in the running for a James Beard award in the past, with Head Chef Chris Bethoney nominated as a semifinalist for Best Chef in the Southwest in 2024 and his predecessor Jonathan Perno being named a semifinalist for the same award in 2019.
However, this year is the furthest it’s gotten and the first time the James Beard Foundation has given its bar a look.
“We’ve all worked so hard over the last decade-plus to create a beverage program we were super proud of,” Storment said.
To elevate its drink program, the bar has followed the same philosophy the kitchen has, using ingredients from its farm in its cocktails.
“Farm to table, garden to glass, in a sense,” Spirits Manager Joseph Simonson told the Journal.
Simonson teamed up eight years ago — when the establishment got its spirit license — with Director of Dining Matt Dickinson and Storment to make the drink program as robust as possible.
“We’ve cut no corners in creating this program to be exactly what we feel is like the best program that we can possibly do, to have it acknowledged by this organization is crazy,” Storment said.
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Campo at Los Poblanos was among eight New Mexico establishments — five of which were in Albuquerque — to receive a semifinalist nod, but the only one to advance.
The ceremony where winners are announced will take place June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
“It feels great to be able to represent New Mexico and the whole community — we’ve had tons of support from locals and nonlocals as well — but to be able to represent everything here means a ton to us, too,” Dickinson said.
