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Thursday, July 13, 2006

Moriarty High's Loss Our Gain

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    I made a quick U-turn. What caught my eye was a temporary sign, one I hadn't noticed before, on Old Route 66 in front of the Moriarty Flea Market. I was on my way back to the Telegraph on Sunday after watching a youth baseball game at the sports complex.
    "Aunt YeYa's Food," the sign said.
    The glands in my lower jaw immediately kicked in.
    I'd missed the chow at Aunt YeYa's, a restaurant formerly located along the south side of Old Route 66 east of N.M. 41. It shut down in March 2005.
    I parked my Chevy and proceeded to scan the flea market.
    Saw the neatly stacked rows of bullets in their plastic cases on a table in front of the yellow bus. Checked out the bicycles and a CD player in front of another booth.
    "So, where's the food?" I asked myself impatiently.
    Then, aha, there it was— a little one-room, adobe-colored building off to the left.
    No sign. Just the menu on a white piece of paper sheathed in clear plastic next to the window.
    And there was Aunt YeYa herself, Henrietta Romero, taking orders. She had been the administrative assistant to Moriarty High athletic director Ed Johnson during the 2005-06 school year after the original Aunt YeYa's closed.
    "I quit (the school position) about a week ago," Romero said. "We started (the food establishment Saturday). It's just to-go."
    I ordered a tasty green chile cheeseburger, chips and a Coke. Of course, there are enchiladas and some of Aunt YeYa's other favorites on the menu as well.
    Romero said she and Joe Garcia had planned on operating her new endeavor just on weekends.
    But she said many of her former customers dropped by this past weekend and asked her what they were to do the other five days now that she's back to her calling.
    As a result, Romero said Aunt YeYa's will be open on a trial basis on weekdays this week beginning at 7 a.m. each day to serve the breakfast burrito crowd and will probably remain open through lunch.
    She emphasized that the outdoor-service-only joint, situated behind the flea market building, will vary its hours from whenever she feels like opening to whenever she wants to close.
    Aunt YeYa's will also take phone orders. Call 610-6833.
    Romero said she left the Moriarty High job because the total hours and the type of hours required— many evenings— were too much. But she stressed she enjoyed working with the coaches and athletes.
    As a sports reporter, I'll miss Romero's courteous and professional presence at the athletic office. But I'm sure I'll still get to say hello quite often.
    Harold Smith can be reached by phone at 823-7104 or by e-mail at hsmith@mvtelegraph.com.