“Ex Novo means from scratch,” points out storied Albuquerque chef Mark Quiñones. Talking excitedly in between shouting orders to his kitchen crew of more than 20 at the newly opened Ex Novo Brewing Company’s Downtown location, Quiñones recalls that when he met Corrales brewpub founder and owner Joel Gregory the two got to talking “about what mattered to us most. And what we had in common was people and our love for community. And doing things from scratch.” So it’s no surprise to see the new business partners have constructed a vibrant, modern food-and-drink space out of an abandoned automotive service station in Downtown Albuquerque.
After a week of “soft openings” to test out the staff, the newest location of Ex Novo Brewing Company has peeled back the construction fencing on a multifaceted restaurant/brewery/cocktail lounge/delicatessen concept. The space on the corner of Central Avenue and Seventh Street formerly housed a Firestone tire and auto repair shop. The iconic art deco garage was built in the early 1930s, but the business shut down in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic. It sat empty until it caught Gregory’s eye.
A resident of Corrales, Gregory first launched his beer-based, mini-empire in Oregon, founding brewpubs in Portland and Beaverton. Gregory took the leap in 2019 and returned to his hometown, constructing a third Ex Novo location in Corrales. The pandemic of 2020 hit bars and restaurants hard, however, prompting some tough decisions. Gregory admits that, “The Pacific Northwest just wasn’t working out for a number of factors.” In December of last year, he sold off the two Portland locations to concentrate on his New Mexico holdings — including the Downtown location, which had been in the works for nearly four years.
Interviewed at the newest Ex Novo location’s final soft opening, shouting over a teeming crowd of happy patrons, an animated Gregory says from the moment he returned home to Corrales, he started looking for a second New Mexico location.
“Corrales is a wonderful, beautiful destination, but some people don’t like to cross the river,” he says.
In addition to providing easier access to Albuquerque residents, Gregory wanted the opportunity to add “a full-on restaurant.” The original Oregon locations and the popular Corrales spot all rely on food trucks to keep hungry patrons tied to their chairs.
Gregory “put the word out to some friends who are in real estate.” That’s when the old Firestone building cropped up.
“We toured this place over four years ago for the first time and started sketching out plans,” he says.
What drew Gregory and his brew crew to Downtown Albuquerque “first and foremost was this building. I don’t think I would have just gone Downtown without a building with character and a bit of a story and in a place that really needed it. Also, we just really want to see Downtown thrive. And we wanna be part of that.”
The result is Ex Novo’s biggest location “by far.” There’s an outdoor patio with fire pits and space for more than 100 guests. There’s an upscale casual restaurant downstairs with plenty of local beer on tap. Upstairs is an atmospheric cocktail lounge called The Bitter Nun, whose cocktails spotlight New Mexico-made spirits. And in the building’s southwestern wing sits the soon-to-open Sammy’s deli, named after Gregory’s son.
“We originally wanted to rent out the space, but we heard from residents: ‘We need more sandwich spots, we need more casual lunch options,’” he says.
So Gregory opted to add the deli to his already stacked list of priorities. Sammy’s is billed as a “grab-and-go deli” with “family pricing,” a pay-what-you-can model for breakfast and lunch. It is expected to open in a few weeks.
But Gregory’s main reason for opening a new location was the opportunity to collaborate with Marc Quiñones, who serves as director of culinary operations and executive chef. Quinones worked at Sandia’s Bien Shur for five years, at the Inn at Loretto for three years, at Hotel Andaluz for six years and at Hotel Chaco for more than a year. He was nominated for a James Beard Award and has appeared on numerous televised cooking competitions, including Hell’s Kitchen and Beat Bobby Flay. (Spoiler alert: he did not.)
“Honestly, one time I just looked up award-winning chefs in the area, and he came up,” confesses Gregory. “We have mutual friends who connected us as a potential fit. So we had lunch one time and just talked visions, talked where our careers were going and where business was going. And the intersections were amazing… Ever since then his energy and his passion for the cuisine have been driving a lot of the decisions we’ve been making about what the space is really going to be. It’s a really good partnership.”
The focus at Ex Novo is on small plates. As Gregory sees it, “A really exciting way to experience food is getting to try a lot of different things.”
A trip down the menu will yield such temptations as Berkshire pork belly, asparagus calabacitas, guajillo chile Brussels sprouts, New Mexico pinon and bacon fried rice and honey bacon wrapped almond stuffed dates (a favorite dating back to Quiñones’ time at Hotel Andaluz’ MÁS Tapas y Vino).
According to Quiñones, “This menu is New Mexico Ranch cuisine. It’s for New Mexico, it’s by New Mexico, and it honors ancestral New Mexican ingredients and our people. A hundred years ago, New Mexicans, by necessity, were hunters and ranchers. A lot of people don’t know this but we’re high desert–4,000 to 10,000 feet. When you walk outside, we’re not Phoenix, we’re not Nevada. A hundred years ago someone would walk outside and what was available? Wild game. It was carne asada elk. It was buffalo. They had to kill it. And they didn’t have any ovens or refrigeration. So they’d have to figure out how to cook it. They would preserve it with salt, chile and aromatics and cooking in kettles in the ground.”
A glance around Quinones’ bustling kitchen does, indeed, reveal a wealth of simmering kettles filled with elk, buffalo, pork ribs and other Southwestern favorites.
If the fully booked opening weekend of Ex Novo is any indication, Albuquerque’s Downtown neighborhood might be on the upswing. As little as two years ago, large swaths of the area were boarded up. As Gregory puts it, “This whole block was vacant, dark. That can’t happen for too long. I think it means a lot to see places lit up.”
Between Ex Novo and other projects (renovations are finally back on down the street at Hotel Blue), Gregory thinks Downtown business is on an upward swing.
“I think it’s early, but I like the signs. I like the people involved. There’s a lot of really great developers that have this all-in mentality on Downtown,” he says. “I’ve gotten to ride on their coattails, see what they’re excited about. I’m like, ‘Yeah that makes sense. Let’s all work together to make it happen!’”
Chef Quiñones is similarly bullish on a Downtown revival, and says “Our Downtown is among the best in the world.”
As for Ex Novo’s Downtown debut, he’s nothing but excited.
“Hopefully this is the cornerstone of love and prosperity and a place for everybody to come for company,” he says.