A Journey Through Southwest Café with Owner Barbara Nevins

Join sommelier Jillian Fontana in the debut episode of Ridgefield Table: A Peek in the Kitchen, brought to you by the Ridgefield Theater Barn, as she interviews Barbara Nevins, the owner of Southwest Café. Barbara delves into her 37-year journey of sharing New Mexican cuisine influenced by Pueblo tribes. Explore her passion for food, the popular Hatch Chile Wine Dinner, and the art of wine pairings. Discover the familial relationships fostered in the restaurant, including the American dream story of Barbara's head chef. Learn about Southwest Café’s commitment to community, from organizing AIDS benefits to the Margarita 5K. This episode offers an insider’s view of the café’s culinary delights, vibrant atmosphere, and community engagement.

More About Artist Erin Nazzaro: https://www.instagram.com/erinnazzaro/?hl=en

00:00 Welcome to Ridgefield Table

00:28 Meet Barbara Nevins of Southwest Cafe

01:06 The Challenges of Running a Restaurant

02:39 Exploring New Mexican Cuisine

05:09 The Hatch Chile Wine Dinner

07:28 Pairing Wines with Spicy Food

09:40 Upcoming Wine Dinner Events

09:56 Excitement for the Second Event

10:20 Building a Family-Like Team

11:47 The Chef's Journey

12:53 Art and Ambiance of the Restaurant

14:03 Modeling for R.C. Gorman

16:16 Future Plans for Southwest Café

17:03 Community Involvement and Events

19:15 Conclusion and Farewell

Welcome to Ridgefield Table, a peek in the kitchen.

2

This is Jillian Fontana.

3

I'm a local sommelier in town, and

I'm working with the Chamber of

4

Commerce in Ridgefield to bring you

a wonderful podcast supporting all

5

of the restaurants and eateries in

the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut.

6

This podcast is sponsored by

the Ridgefield Theatre Barn.

7

The Theater Barn recently underwent

this beautiful expansion, It's

8

a wonderful asset to Richfield,

and we're so lucky to have them.

9

Now for our first episode, I'm welcoming

Barbara Nevins, and Barbara is the owner

10

of the Southwest Cafe in Richfield.

11

So Barbara, thank you so much

for coming on our podcast.

12

Thank you for having me, Jillian.

13

I've heard you've been a

restaurant owner for some time now.

14

How did you get into the

business of restaurants?

15

I've been working

16

Barbara: for since I was 17 or

17

18 years old.

18

And I always wanted to own my own.

19

And I finally did 37 years ago.

20

Wow, 37 years.

21

So what year was it that you opened?

22

1987.

23

87.

24

Yeah.

25

I also came from the restaurant

business, and it is not an easy

26

industry, I know, from experience.

27

How have you dealt with that?

28

Oh, it's a constant evolution.

29

It's, it, there's, you're always putting

out fires literally and figuratively.

30

But you have to have it in your blood

somehow, otherwise you can't do it.

31

I can't tell you how many people I've had

as customers that come in and say, Oh, I

32

really want my son to own a restaurant.

33

Can you talk to him about it?

34

And I always look at the parent and

say, How much money do you want to lose?

35

Because unless they want to do it, and

then they have to work their way up.

36

You don't just walk in the door and

say, I'm going to own a restaurant.

37

You have to know a little bit about it.

38

And that it's more than one party

and shots of tequila every night.

39

It sounds glamorous from the outside.

40

That's right.

41

But when you're behind a bar, in

the kitchen, not so glamorous.

42

But it's really fun if you love it.

43

It's a fun business.

44

It is.

45

And you're always up against the

wall doing some, putting out, I guess

46

I'm putting out fires here and there

wondering if everyone's going to show

47

up for work or , plumbing issues going

to happen, which happened last week.

48

And.

49

You just never know.

50

But that's part of the fun of it, too.

51

It is.

52

And you never know who's going to come

in for dinner and how big your crowd's

53

going to be and what regular is showing

up tonight to go, have a nice conversation

54

with and you just have to love it.

55

You have to have it in your blood or

else you shouldn't bother doing it.

56

It's definitely not boring.

57

No.

58

No.

59

That's one thing.

60

You'll never get bored.

61

Definitely say it's not boring.

62

Okay.

63

The food at Southwest Cafe.

64

Can you tell me a little

bit about the cuisine?

65

So I lived in New Mexico, in Taos,

New Mexico, in the 70s, and it's

66

quickly became my favorite food.

67

Mexican food from New Mexico.

68

It's specific to northern New

Mexico, you've heard of Tex

69

Mex or Cali Mex or something.

70

This is New Mex, Mex if

you will, Santa Fe style.

71

And it's different.

72

People don't really think of that,

this type of food with Mexican

73

food, but it's really good.

74

It's just part of the the cuisine

of the northern part of New Mexico,

75

Santa Fe style that you wouldn't

necessarily find in a Mexican restaurant.

76

What are the Native American

tribes in that general area?

77

It's the Pueblo people.

78

Okay, so Taos Pueblo is called twa,

and that's one of the Pueblos and that

79

is located right in the middle of Taos.

80

They were one of the ones that got

to keep their land originally, and

81

it's a beautiful stretch of land.

82

They fought to keep it and a lot of

the Pueblos were not so lucky, but they

83

have the, longest living condominium in

the country because they've been there

84

since about 1400, I want to say, and

you've seen the adobe structures They

85

go multiple layers with only the doors

down below and then they pull up ladders

86

So that's for their own protection so

that they climb the ladders to get into

87

there They're adobe and that's still there

for tourists to go see there are a few

88

families still living there Originally,

they did not have electricity I don't

89

think they do now even on the couple of

families that are left when I lived there

90

in the 70s it was definitely inhabited and

and with no electricity and the running

91

water was a stream The land is beautiful.

92

They've got horses and buffalo

and all sorts of stuff.

93

They have a sacred lake.

94

You're not allowed to go to as you're,

as a gringo, but it's beautiful.

95

I highly recommend if anyone gets out

to that area to just take a tour of the

96

Taos Pueblo because it's run by young

97

native people, Tewa people,

that are working their way

98

through college or whatever.

99

And it's about a 40 minute tour

that they give you little insights

100

about what happened there.

101

Very interesting.

102

And, like I said, it's run

by the natives themselves, so

103

that alone is interesting too.

104

That sounds, that's so interesting.

105

It is really cool, yeah.

106

So let's take it back to

your restaurant, Barbara.

107

So Southwest Cafe, what are you

really excited about right now?

108

We do have our, one of our

big wine dinners coming up.

109

The Hatch chile Wine Dinner is

really my biggest wine dinner.

110

We've been doing wine dinners

for probably 20, 25 years now.

111

About four to five times a year.

112

They've become really successful.

113

The people who go always

sign up for the next one.

114

I have this following that is just lovely.

115

The customers just love it,

but this one is the big one.

116

So you said hatch chile wine.

117

Wine Dinner.

118

. What is a hatch chile?

119

Hatch is a town in southern New

Mexico, and it's known to be

120

the chile capital of the world.

121

And I work directly with

a farmer down there.

122

I've been working with his

relatives over the years.

123

Now he's a young man.

124

He's in his mid thirties now.

125

But I've worked with his great uncle years

ago even, and other relatives of his.

126

I've been out in the fields in Hatch

with the chile's, and now they ship them.

127

I used to have to bring them home

in duffel bags on the airplane.

128

On the airplane?

129

Yes.

130

You would bring them home?

131

chile peppers.

132

It was fun.

133

I'd bring my staff with me and

we'd check big duffel bags of

134

chile, as many as we could.

135

But after 9 11, the security got

a lot tighter and , I can do some,

136

but I can't do as much as I used to.

137

Now, he ships to me, but that, and

that's a lot easier, but it's not nearly

138

as exotic, they are delicious, and I

don't know what the actually season is

139

right now because they harvest them in

August and we usually get our shipments.

140

I think we got our last

shipment last week.

141

We roast them at Southwest Cafe and

we ZipLock them and freeze them.

142

And usually they last

through mid January I'd say.

143

So now you have a Hatch chile menu

for this wine dinner How do you

144

incorporate the chilees with this menu?

145

There's four courses, and each course

has hatch chile in it, even the dessert.

146

And in fact, I'll give a plug to

Debra Ann because she did some

147

hatch chile ice cream for us.

148

Really?

149

Specifically for Southwest, and

we're going to put that with

150

chocolate hatch chile crepes.

151

Yes.

152

Really?

153

Okay, so for our non Ridgefield listeners,

Deborah Ann's is a wonderful chocolate

154

and ice cream shop in downtown Ridgefield.

155

So good.

156

You have to stop by if

you've never been there.

157

So , that's amazing.

158

So she's creating the ice cream just

for the dessert portion of the menu.

159

Now, what about the wine?

160

So if, for people who may not

know me already, I'm a certified

161

sommelier, so I'm a wine expert.

162

Now, It's notoriously difficult

to pair wine with spicy food.

163

. So Barbara, how do you handle the

wine pairings for this dinner?

164

I taste a lot of wines.

165

I have my sales reps bring me cases

of wines and I pop 'em open and I try

166

and drink and, I do what you would do.

167

I'm not drinking the whole bottle.

168

I'm drinking sips and.

169

Not swallowing the sips , sometimes I do.

170

Sometimes, yeah, sometimes no.

171

Yeah, but you'll find and you know

this I think that a fruitier wine

172

tends to go better with spicy.

173

Now a lot of people say, oh, I

don't like sweet wines but you,

174

if you have it with the Spicy food

you'll find that you probably do.

175

Yeah, it's a big difference.

176

So you taste the wines with that in

mind For example, like a true sauvignon

177

blanc you think is very citrusy

it's more grape fruity that flavor.

178

I don't really go for that for the

most part unless there's some South

179

American ones that I found that are

have a little more sugar to them.

180

Yes, but Generally speaking.

181

Yeah, like this wine dinner

will have a Viognier For one.

182

I have a rosé for one.

183

I've got a Malbec so these aren't

particularly sweet, sugary wines,

184

but you use the word fruity, right?

185

So I would definitely agree with

something that has quite a bit more fruit.

186

It will have a little more sweetness,

but it's not an overly sweet wine.

187

No.

188

It's not like a dessert wine every time.

189

Every wine.

190

No.

191

And our dessert we've picked a Lambrusco.

192

I love Lambrusco.

193

Just as a little fun, sparkly,

bubbly, that's a little bit

194

on the fruity, sweeter side.

195

The wine isn't supposed to be

a dessert wine as such, but it

196

does have enough to it, I think,

197

is it a red Lambrusco?

198

Yes.

199

Okay.

200

If you've never had Lambrusco,

the most common color you

201

would find would be a red one.

202

However, it is made in white and rosé.

203

And then within the red ones, they

have different grades of sweetness.

204

So a lot of times they'll use

the term amabile or dolce to

205

describe the sweetness level.

206

And then if it's a dry one,

it would be called secco.

207

That's my little wine plug for today.

208

So now when is this wine dinner occurring?

209

We initially set the date for November

fourth, and it sold out in two days.

210

So what are you going to do?

211

What about the people

who want to support it?

212

So we added a second night, November 6th.

213

Oh, fantastic.

214

Yeah, and that's selling

out pretty quick, too.

215

So people are so excited that

they couldn't get to the first

216

one, now they have the second.

217

I'm glad I have an in with you so I can

get there at least maybe on the 6th.

218

Yeah.

219

It's fun.

220

They are a lot of fun.

221

And we seat people.

222

All together in banquet style seating,

so you're seated with other people.

223

We put real tablecloths,

real candles on the table.

224

So it's a fun upscale event,

225

.

So you mentioned when you would go out to look at the hatch chilees that

226

you would bring some of your staff.

227

Is this something you normally do?

228

That seems like a pretty generous thing

to fly your staff out to New Mexico.

229

My staff has become family to me.

230

I have several people that have worked

for me for decades, like 27, 28 years.

231

So they are like family to me,

and they treat me really well.

232

So that's some people call it team

building if you're in the corporate world.

233

We just call it, let's go

to Taos for a couple days.

234

And we've done it several times.

235

Your team respects you probably,

I'm guessing, because you treat

236

them with a lot of respect as well.

237

We both, we, we do.

238

We definitely work together, hand in hand.

239

I couldn't do it without

them, that's for sure.

240

Like I said, I have one guy in the

kitchen that's been with me for 28 years.

241

I've got two women in the front of the

house that have been with me 28 years.

242

One is with me, 30 now.

243

I have identical twins.

244

Both of them are one of the,

that I just mentioned, and

245

their one year old is sister.

246

Who's also been with

me for about 18 years.

247

That is unheard of I think the

newest hire outside of the summer

248

kids is probably PJ and he's been

with me for about 10 years, 8 or

249

10 years, that's a great bond.

250

Yeah, I know.

251

They're really good.

252

I know sometimes it's hard to get some

good help, and we've talked about your

253

team, but I'm curious about your chef.

254

How did you find him?

255

Oh, Julio has been with me for about 12,

13 years now, and he came in from Ecuador.

256

He didn't speak any English, and

he started off as a dishwasher.

257

I helped him get his green

card, and He learned how to

258

do the prep cook, line cook,

259

and he was like a sponge.

260

He never left their side.

261

He learned everything he could from them.

262

So , if the chef went away on vacation

or if we were in between chefs, he

263

would come up to me with his phone

and show me all these recipes that

264

he wanted to try for specials.

265

He was so interested in food

from the minute I met him.

266

He learned English.

267

And then I said, you've

got to go to chef school.

268

So I helped him get to chef school.

269

He graduated from there.

270

And now he's my chef.

271

He's been my chef for probably five years

now, and he does my wine dinner, creative

272

entrees and specials and everything else.

273

And he's worked out very nicely.

274

So I've been into the restaurant,

of course, several times.

275

And when you walk in, the first

impression is the color and the art.

276

So where do all of these

art pieces come from?

277

New Mexico is known for being very

artsy, especially Taos and Santa Fe.

278

And I was very good friends

with a few artists from Taos,

279

that have made it pretty big.

280

One, R.

281

C.

282

Gorman is very well known in the

art community, and he's Native

283

American, he's a Navajo man.

284

He shows at the Smithsonian, actually.

285

I have some of his art there, and

a few other artists from Taos.

286

I also show with Erin Nazero, who's local

. She paints in Mexico and South America,

287

and she's got all the colors that we need.

288

And she's a lovely woman.

289

So we sell her art right off the

wall, because people come in and

290

go, Oh, we really want that piece.

291

And, they've walked out with pieces..

292

It's just beautiful.

293

It suits us well.

294

Wow.

295

Because we're so colorful.

296

Yeah.

297

You know what I'll do, since we have a

local artist represented in the notes for

298

this show, when people come to look at

the podcast, I'll write this information

299

down that way if they're interested

in purchasing or looking at any of

300

her pieces, they have access to that.

301

She's great.

302

Did you ever get to meet R.

303

C.

304

Gorman?

305

Yes.

306

I knew him very well.

307

We were very good friends.

308

I met him because I was waitressing in

a restaurant in Taos in the 70s and I

309

went up skiing one day before my shift

and got carried down in a stretcher.

310

Oh no.

311

And I tore ligaments in my knee

and I was in a Velcro wrap cast and

312

told me to stay off it for six weeks.

313

Of course, this was the last six weeks

of ski season, so I not only couldn't

314

ski anymore, but I couldn't make any

money anymore for the last of the season.

315

So I was very distraught,

didn't know what to do.

316

And then in comes R.

317

C., he was a regular at the restaurant

anyways, very flamboyantly gay man,

318

a lot of fun to be around, and he

liked his champagne with lunch.

319

And he came up to me and said, My dear,

can that thing come off your knee?

320

And I said, yeah, yes, but I can't

stand up as he goes That's all right.

321

Would you model for me?

322

Would you consider modeling for me?

323

And I said you want me to model for you?

324

I've never modeled before

There's a lot of art in Taos.

325

And so they all use a model.

326

He said, oh, yes, my dear I want

my models to be flat chested and

327

big assed And oh my goodness, okay

And that the rest is history So

328

what happened to this piece of art?

329

You actually went and did this?

330

I did about five or six pieces

for him, and he has since passed

331

away, and whatever happened

to the art from the modeling?

332

Oh the one piece, he did a

trade with Andy Warhol for me, a

333

stand up, a vertical nude of me.

334

Andy Warhol traded for one of his

reverse image, side silhouettes of R.

335

C.

336

Gorman.

337

And it was really cool.

338

But anyways, and then , when Andy

Warhol died went to Sotheby's to

339

look at his collection that he had

up there, and there was my piece.

340

Oh my gosh.

341

How did that make you

feel seeing yourself?

342

It was weird.

343

He made me look like any other Native

American person, so you couldn't

344

tell I was an Anglo or anything.

345

You wouldn't say, oh, there's Barb.

346

Thank God.

347

Thank you.

348

But no, it was good.

349

We had a lot of fun together, Arcee and I.

350

So what is the future

of the Southwest Café?

351

What are you looking

forward to down the line?

352

Southwest Café is, as I always

say, has been organically grown.

353

I don't think you could write a

manual as to how to run a restaurant

354

by Southwest Café because we make

it up as we go along, more or less.

355

That's And I don't mean that in a bad way.

356

It just organically grows on its

own with my staff and myself.

357

The future is a little bit unknown.

358

We just go through the weeks and say, Oh,

maybe we should have another wine dinner.

359

Or maybe we should send

my chef to New Mexico.

360

Or maybe, we should do a benefit for.

361

Whatever our cause would be, which

we've done all of the above, really?

362

What are some of the causes

you've done with the restaurant?

363

early on we did an AIDS

benefit for Bread and Roses.

364

You, it's probably before, way

before your time, but Bread

365

and Roses was an AIDS hospice.

366

It's here in Ridgefield and I did it

in conjunction with Harvey Fierstein

367

and Steve Zemo and myself and we

did more than one benefit for them.

368

It was fabulous.

369

We raised a lot of money for them.

370

We worked directly with the board

of directors of that hospice

371

and they did wonderful things.

372

It was small, but they took care of it.

373

That's incredible.

374

Yeah.

375

That was really needed.

376

Yeah.

377

We do our Margarita 5K every year.

378

And that is for the group home that's

here on Grove Street, Sunrise Cottage,

379

which is now a part of Ability Beyond.

380

We're in like the 20th year,

I think, of doing that.

381

And that originally started because we

had it on the day of my anniversary

382

of opening the business, August 1st.

383

And we did that to give back to the

community what we have been able to reap

384

from the community over all these years.

385

And the Sunrise Cottage residents

come out and cheer the runners on.

386

We have a lot of fun now.

387

We start off with 34 racers, it's

a 5k, and now we've got over 500.

388

I saw all their friends and family

spectating, and we work directly

389

with the Ridgefield Running Store.

390

Megan Searfoss is wonderful, and we have

one of the residents, John Andrew is

391

his name, , he plays a guitar and sings

It's the Jimmy Buffett song, Wasted

392

Away in Margaritaville, right before the

national anthem is sung and the gun goes

393

off for the runners to start their 5K.

394

It's a lot of fun.

395

Everybody has a good time.

396

That sounds like a very good time.

397

And each runner gets a free margarita at

the end of the race in our parking lot.

398

So we have this big party in

the middle of the parking lot.

399

And Southwest Cafe has a band.

400

And it gets packed, and it's

all real fun with all the races.

401

I'll be spectating for that,

because I won't be running,

402

but I will be spectating.

403

We can get you a

volunteer job if you want.

404

We're always looking for

volunteers for the racecourse.

405

Oh, I would love to do that.

406

It's a lot of fun.

407

And do I also get a margarita at the end?

408

You get a margarita.

409

Okay.

410

Then, for sure.

411

Thank you so much for coming down to the

Ridgefield Theatre Barn today I feel like

412

I did just walk in your kitchen, Barbara,

get a really behind the scenes view of

413

what is going on in the Southwest cafe.

414

So thank you so much for coming.

415

thank you for having me.

416

We have a lot of fun over there.

417

Every time I go in, I just

feel like I'm in Santa Fe it's

418

so beautiful and colorful.

419

.

The Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce is so excited to share all of

420

the stories from the wonderful

restaurants that we have in Ridgefield.

421

We have something like

75 plus eateries in town.

422

And so I'm really excited

to share all of the stories

423

For all of our listeners, if you

enjoyed this podcast, please give us a

424

rating, share the episode, or subscribe.

425

We'd really love your support.

426

And we will be back soon featuring

someone else from a restaurant in town.

427

Thanks so much for listening.