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Like most “converts”, California native Art Gonzales, who grew up in Cerritos, goes the extra distance to share his passion for southwestern cooking he formally learned in Santa Fe, New Mexico.   And it was in New Mexico where he also first encountered the hatch chile roasting inside a barrel roaster at a farmer’s market.  It was the moment of enlightenment.

It came when he was in his late 20’s,  first embarking on his chosen career of firefighter at age 18, and then falling in love with cooking once he began preparing dinner for the firehouse, he fell in love with cooking. Following an injury eight years late, he tried his hand in the He tried out restaurant industry at our favorite, Spaghettini, and Mahé in Seal Beach, CA.

He soon relocated to New Mexico, working for the high pressure Hyatt New Mexico under chef Hans Seblin, picking up a distinct if subtle Asian flair, and moved on to higher and more relaxed ground in Santa Fe at the famed Geronimo, where he was mentored by James Beard Award-winning chef Eric Distefano in French technique in the kitchen and European front of the house skills.   He had such a close working relationship with Distefano that he worked with him on a special project outside of Phoenix at the in Boulders Resort.  Chef Art returned to Santa Fe to work in local boutique resorts with Chef John Cox until opportunities in the newly burgeoning Southern California restaurant scene beckoned, and he landed at McKenna’s in Long Beach.

Gonzalez and longtime girlfriend Vanessa Auclair, operations manager for Roe and Panxa, debuted Roe Fish Market in 2012, (closed for between 2015 and 2016) and Panxa Cocina, which opened in 2014 in Belmont Heights.  And the story continues to unfold with Gonzalez sharing his passion and knowledge of refined Modern Southwestern cuisine and culture.  It is about  the first southern western restaurant since John Sedlar’s St. Estephe decades ago.

The affable chef’s heritage of Oaxacan, Mexican and German comes through in his attention to detail and his warm hospitable personality.   He is becoming a hero to the Long Beach culinary scene, and rightfully so. I would drive to Panxa Cocina anytime, and have already promised my food writers friends to bring them, too.  Of this past season (and perhaps year), he stands out (along with Sammy Monsour of Preux & Proper, South City Fried Chicken, and Executive Farmer, Nate Pietsos)

Gonzales looks back with pleasure at the years he spent cooking in Santa Fe, New Mexico and returns regularly for menu inspiration and renewal, “for its farmers markets, Spanish influences, and small-town sensibilities”.  New Mexico is like that — I always wished I could bottle the air.

Patterned  after the rustic cooking of the region, diverse Southwestern cuisine is known for its diversity and fusion of recipes.  It’s heritage is regarded as the Spanish colonial settlers, cowboys, Native Americans and Mexicans over the centuries.  Similar in many ways to Mexican cuisine, it involved larger cuts of beef – and pork, and less use of offals.

Chili reigns supreme, and the official “state question” is “Red or green?”, referring to a diner’s preference to color of chilies.  However, in the internationally renowned chile city of Hatch, only green chiles are grown – and labeled carefully from the time they are harvested.

It is so odd that “Southwestern Cuisine” is never confused with that of the most southwestern states of all.  New Mexico claims it as pure Southwestern, Texas cooks up a Tex-Mex version and Arizona’s style is often called Sonoran, since the desert claims a third of the state.

I sat at legendary Mark Miller’s Coyoto Cafe counter trading stories with the chefs.   He cooked with Edwardo Rodriquez, who today is co-owner of Coyote Cafe.

Back at his own critically acclaimed, popular restaurant, Panxa Cocina, Gonzalez shines a spotlight on Modern Southwestern cuisine and some of it’s most fundamental ingredients of blue corn, hatch chiles and tequila. Chef Art’s restaurant itself has become an homage to New Mexic0 and southwestern cuisine, reflected in the striking organic decor filled custom Southwestern art and artifacts.

The Chile Pepper Institute is the only international, non-profit organization dedicated entirely to the education and research related to chile peppers.  Established in 1992, builds on the chile pepper research started in 1888 by notable horticulturalist, Dr. Fabian Garcia (the father of the U.S. Mexican food industry) when he began to standardize chile pepper varieties. Dr. Garcia developed the New Mexico pod type, and since then, New Mexico State University has had the longest continuous program of chile improvement in the world with chile breeders developing cultivars for flavor, heat, and culinary needs.

The New Mexican-type chile is an important ingredient in the food industry. Each year the Institute cultivates the world’s only Chile Pepper Teaching Garden, with more than 150 unique and popular varieties at the Fabian Garcia Science Center. It is a living classroom where students, researchers, and the public learn about the science, history, and versatility of chile pepper varieties.

The Chile Pepper Institute also hosts an annual conference dedicated to educate growers, manufacturers, and the general public on the progress on chile pepper research. At the Institute visitors discover chile research posters, chile pepper books, art, and hundreds of high-demand and hard-to-find chile pepper seed varieties. All the best is NuMex.

“We are honored to be able to partner with New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute and Dr. Bosland to celebrate an ingredient that I have been enamored with for my entire career. We hope that guests will have a newfound love for Hatch chiles after celebrating with us all month long here at Panxa Cocina,” said Chef Arthur Gonzalez.

For more information on New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute please visit //cpi.nmsu.edu, or follow the Chile Pepper Institute on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.