Mark Chino has fond memories of a steak dinner at The Inn of the Mountain Gods in 1975. He did it again Tuesday night – another New York Strip sirloin steak at Wendell’s restaurant, another $9.75 tab.
Chino, 71, was one of 400 diners who helped the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino close out a yearlong celebration of its 50th year in business with a 1975-priced meal.
He has a special connection to Wendell’s Steak & Seafood, originally known as Dan Li Kå Dining Room but renamed 20 years ago in honor of Chino’s father Wendell Chino.
Wendell Chino was a longtime leader of the Mescalaro nation, and led development of the eesort and casino, which is owned and operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe.
The Resort and Casino’s chief operating officer, 43-year-old Frizzell J. Frizzell Jr., said he conceived the 1975 retrospective as an ideal way to commemorate the resort’s half century of success.
To get the idea off the ground, he tracked down the long-abandoned 1975 Wendell’s Steak and Seafood menu on eBay – and shelled out $80 to buy it.
“This whole year what we’ve done on the second Tuesday of every month, we serve the original 1975 menu at the 1975 prices as an appreciation to our guests for coming 50 years and supporting Inn of the Mountain Gods,” he said. “So, people are literally getting $400 meals for $75.”
The steak that cost $9.75 in 1975 is called a New York Striploin on Wendell’s current menu and sells for $65. A side of broccoli cost $1.25 in 1975 and now goes for $12. An appetizer of a dozen oysters was priced at $6 in 1975. Today’s price: $78.
When Executive Chef Brendan Gochenour heard Frizzell’s idea for a 50-year menu price rollback, he said he considered it his duty “as steward of this place” to challenge the plan.
Frizzell’s response, according to Gochenour: “I want to give back to the community for supporting us these past 50 years. It’s a way to honor our heritage and the start of all of this.”
Gochenour watched as the unique celebration sparked a buzz throughout the community. When the specially priced servings were launched last January, reservations started pouring in and were completely booked until October. On Dec. 9, the final night of the promotion, Wendell’s had 402 reservations.
Ruidoso native Gochenour, 56, calls the original menu “a culinary time capsule” that brought back classic French “comfort food,” dishes he was trained on in the 1980s.
The biggest challenge he faced, Gochenour said, was working with older recipes. One offering, pickled herring, was impossible to find, so he decided to create it in-house. His favorite dish to cook, he said, was the Sweet and Sour Shrimp Oriental Style.
Angel Saiza, who worked as a dinner cook at Wendell’s from 1975 to 1978, remembers cooking this exact menu. Saiza learned the trade under John Fyre, who was executive chef at the time.
“He taught us all of the names of food that we never experienced before,” he said.
Former tribe president Gabe Aguilar, 49, who has enjoyed the 1975 dinner special three or four times this year, said he and his family have many special memories related to Wendell’s restaurant.
“When we were kids, we were waiters. All the kids we grew up with were serving, bussing in there,” he said.
More than just a good deal for guests, the unique menu offering allowed the Apache tribe to celebrate how far the resort has come. The resort originally had 134 rooms and now accommodates around 273 guests.
“Where in the United States or in the world are you going to get a pound of king crab legs for $11.50 right now?” asked Alan Kirgan, the resort’s food and beverage director for the past 16 years.
Kirgan, 56, said he’s proud of bringing the Apache culture to everything at the resort, including the serving of Native American beef.
“We try to represent Mescalero in quite a few of our dishes,” Kirgan said. “We try to bring that rustic and homey feeling.”
The resort employs about 70% of the tribe, Kirgan said. It is the second largest employer in Otero County, following Holloman Air Force Base. He said the anniversary signals 50 successful years of strengthening the tribe’s economy while preserving its cultural heritage.
“It’s a symbol of pride for our Mescalero people, our tribal members, because it was really the first major economic project that the tribe undertook in the tribe’s history and it started many people on their way to financial independence,” Chino said.
Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said the Inn of the Mountain Gods was a fixture of the Ruidoso community and its local economy, employing more that 1,500 local residents.
“For five decades, the Inn has not only provided jobs and opportunity for tribal members and the broader community but has also complemented the Ruidoso area as a year-round tourism hub,” Crawford said.