Campo: Intimate Farmland Chic

Campo is the resident restaurant at Los Poblanos Inn and Organic Farm, a quaint institution in Albuquerque, New Mexico that, yes, really is a farm—known for its organic lavender and peacocks that wander the grounds at will. The inn plays host to a lot of the more stylish visitors to the city including the odd Hollywood somebody who’s out here shooting a film. I always bring out-of-town guests to Campo. It’s the kind of place you want to show off.

I’m sure the inn is worthwhile, but I’m here for the bar. The dining room is closed when I come with a friend on a Monday (it’s only open for dinner by reservation Wednesday-Sunday night), but there’s an abbreviated dinner menu available at the bar every night. There’s plenty of seating available in the small bar, with a high bar facing the front door, a lower wrap-around one behind it, and a few small tables with plenty of high-back benches and leather chairs. It’s a beautiful, cozy space that prompts you to dress up a little, but take it easy once you get there. The place is undeniably chic, but not in the spartan and cleansed-of-any-warmth way that I discover in a lot of contemporary cocktail bars.

We take the two remaining seats at the high bar and promptly realize we know the bartender. “Autumn!” my dining companion says, and we all catch up as she brings us water and menus. We’re seated right in front of Autumn’s “pantry:” a little tray full of homemade bitters, infusions, vinegars, and other bottled concoctions for the house cocktails.

My friend chooses the Fig & The Artichoke cocktail with fig-infused W.L. Weller bourbon—it’s basically a figgy Manhattan, rich and earthy, a good drink for the depths of a late January night, when you’re ready for winter to be over already but there’s no end in sight.

I ask for a white wine recommendation and am given a taste of the 2017 Raul Perez Albariño, a Spanish wine I’ve never had or heard of. It tastes clean as snowmelt and a little minerally, with a savory sea salt finish. I order a glass and add it to my list of wines to look up (and buy) later.

We order a few dishes to share and settle in. I’ve just picked up this friend from the airport and we haven’t seen each other in a long time, so we talk a mile a minute. I take a sip during a lull in the conversation and look around. “I’d like to stay here for a long time,” I tell her. “Yeah,” she quickly agrees, “let’s do that.”

Our three plates come out quickly. We start with a seasonally curated cheese board: three cheeses, each with its own bread or cracker, plus a flavor element of jam, pickles, or preserve. This time around it was a raw milk blue cheese with fennel marmalade and seeded shortbread, a mild Asiago-style cheese with pickled mushrooms and lavash, and a goat’s milk brie with quince paste and butter crackers. The pairing between cheese and starch is perfect each time.

My friend orders the brisket sandwich that’s on special. The brisket is smoky and tender, shot through with a vinegary marinade and sandwiched between herbal peach jam and caramelized onions on a house-made seeded bun. This likely won’t be available on any given night, but it bodes well for whatever dish is on special).

We split a beet and arugula salad with shaved Manchego cheese and pickled red onions. Everyone has a version of this salad now, but Campo’s addition of breadcrumbs and toasted pecans gives it a really wonderful added texture.

You should absolutely go to Campo for the food, because it’s fantastic. But also go for the atmosphere, which is something I’ve never found elsewhere—a little bit outside the city, on a farm, with plenty of out-of-towners (and peacocks) coming through. It feels like a place apart from everyday life, a bit of a fairytale. Time tends to slow down and then fade into the background when you’re sitting at the bar with a good friend, empty plates and glasses stretching out between you.

CAMPO | 4803 Rio Grande Blvd NW | Los Ranchos De Albuquerque | New Mexico