Issue One: Tacos

editor’s note

A corn tortilla can wrap more than a handful of food. Take this handful of stories as proof. Hard shell or soft, vegan or not-so-much, guisado or grilled, with salsa or straight up, there are more ways to construct a taco than there are stars in the known universe. Consider this issue, this magazine in fact, as a cosmic exploration into just a fraction of what’s out there. Of what’s possible. “Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,” said Blake, presumably eating a taco, “and Eternity in an hour.”

This is The Bite. More than mere cosmic exploration, this is a plunge into what makes our state so rich. This inaugural issue is the first in a series of monthly love letters to the cooks and the chefs, the bartenders and the barbacks, the bussers and hosts, the restaurateurs, the runners, the dishwashers, the farmhands, the chile packers, the butchers, the diners, the picky eaters and plate lickers, and all the rest who love to savor the food they eat and the drinks they drink. These pages contain a bit of the grit and sweat, sweetness and soul, that feed New Mexico’s diverse food scenes. Here and in the issues to come, we seek a wide range of perspectives, in the spirit of drawing readers into the open territory of our culinary landscape. Without further ado, tacos.