Ken and Sue Fusco moved to Durango nine years ago and opened Ken & Sue’s (636 Main Ave., 970-385-1810). Its eclectic menu represents Asian, Indian and down- home comfort foods, including a favorite, Aunt Lydia’s meatloaf, with red wine gravy.
“It’s actually from my Aunt Lydia, who’s 90 years old now and lives in Boca Raton (Fla.),” says Sue Fusco. “She can’t believe something she used to make is actually on a menu.”
While Sue works the front of the house, her husband, Ken, a CIA- trained chef, works his magic in the kitchen.
Also worth noting:
Children’s cafe P is for Peanut (473 E. College Drive, 970-385-4525) features Ants on a Log (celery sticks filled with freshly ground peanut butter and topped with raisins; Mud on the Floor, (whole wheat
graham crackers topped with honey, cream and semisweet chocolate); and endless permutations of bread, jam, butters and honey. Menu includes soups, salads, smoothies and organic milk.
Gazpacho (431 E. Second Ave., 970-259-9494) plates traditionally Northern New Mexico fare – Guacamole & Blues (homemade guac with blue-corn tortilla chips); a mean green chile cheeseburger; vegetarian chalupas and sopaipillas stuffed with your choice of beef, chicken, beans and cheese or carne adovada.
Seasons Rotisserie-Grill (762 Main Ave., 970-382-9790) is not the place to dine if you’ve got to make an 8 o’clock curtain or the next showing of the latest blockbuster. Warm, tones of brick red and a rich, earthy yellow serve as backdrop to action emanating from the wood-burning grill and rotisserie. Chef’s Table seating offers a kitchen-eye view of the culinary action.
Steamworks Brew Pub (801 E. Second Ave., 970-259-9200) is not just another beer joint. Chef Sean Clark has taken pub food to another level, offering such items as a Cajun Boil for those who like their shrimp, sausage, corn and crab hot ‘n’ spicy, or their mussels steamed in beer. He knows his way around fresh fish, steaks and chops too.
Sushitarian (601 E. Second Ave. 970-3882-0001) offers straight- ahead sushi with some concessions to those less familiar with the bite-sized fish-and-rice combos. Situated directly across from East by Southwest, the restaurant that brought sushi to Durango, chefs here fashion such artworks as a 16- piece sashimi dinner of octopus, shrimp, albacore, salmon and whitefish – or a sushi dinner that includes freshwater eel, flying fish roe, hamachi, and spicy tuna roll. Aesthetically pleasing, all offerings here look good enough to, well, eat.
Close by the historic Strater Hotel is Mahogany Grill (699 Main Ave., 970-247-4433). Neither the ambience nor the entrees come cheap, so be prepared. You do get what you pay for, whether its the Confetti Mushroom and Cheese Ribbon Ravioli, Cioppino, a New York strip steak topped with Gorgonzola, bacon and carmelized onions. All this and a piano bar too – we ain’t talking honky tonk.
You can’t leave without at least one meal at Durango Diner (957 Main Ave., 970-247-9889), which makes and markets its salsa and famed green chile. Not so much a landmark as an institution, the diner makes your standard faves – hotcakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and such, but the homemade cinnamon roll is special, as is the chile relleno with eggs. The diner opened in 1965, and ever since it has been serving food that won’t break the bank or leave you hungry. Breakfast will probably last all morning and most of the afternoon, unless you’re cutting horses or roping cattle, which folks do less and less in these parts.
Staff writer Ellen Sweets can be reached at 303-954-1284 or esweets@denverpost.com.
