LARGEST GRAND PRIZE IN HONOR OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH. WE ARE SHINING A LIGHT ON THOSE WHO’VE HELPED PAVE THE WAY HERE AT HOME. FROM THE ARTS TO HISTORY, CULTURE AND FOOD. OUR FIRST STOP, NEXUS BREWERY REPORTER FAITH BOURNE, WHO ASKED THE OWNER ABOUT HOW HIS RESTAURANTS HAVE CAPTIVATED SO MANY OF YOU FOR SO MANY YEARS. MEET KEN CARSON. HE OWNS MAX’S TO AWARD WINNING RESTAURANT LOCATIONS IN THE HEART OF NEW MEXICO, SERVING UP GOOD OLD SOUTHERN LOVING DISHES WITH A NEW MEXICAN TWIST AS HE LIKES TO CALL IT. AND WHO CAN FORGET THE BEER. BUT CAN SECOND RESTAURANTS NEXT, THIS SMOKEHOUSE HOLDS A DEEP CONNECTIONS. ALBUQUERQUE’S BLACK COMMUNITY PLAZA TELLS ME BACK IN THE SEVENTIES, THIS BUILDING USED TO BE THE ELKS NIGHTCLUB FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS HERE IN NEW MEXICO. THEY OFTEN FACED DISCRIMINATION THEN BECAUSE OF RACE. BACK IN THE SEVENTIES, YOU COULD ALWAYS GET BACK INTO A CLUB, BUT YOU DIDN’T FEEL ALWAYS AT HOME. WE WOULD END UP COMING BACK TO THE ELKS CLUB BECAUSE THAT WAS A PLACE THAT WE FELT VERY COMFORTABLE AT THE TIME. HIS FRIEND JOHNNY GOODWIN, A MEMBER OF THE ELKS NAVAJO LODGE, WAS ALSO A DEEJAY AT THE NIGHTCLUB WHEN I JOINED IN 1974. YOU ARE THAT WAS SOME PRETTY DEVIOUS GOING AROUND. THERE WERE PLACES YOU COULDN’T GO AT THE TIME, AND PEOPLE ENJOYED COMING HERE BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE CLUB ROOM, INVITE EVERYBODY IN. WE DIDN’T CARE. THERE. COLOR’S RACE. WE DIDN’T CARE. WE JUST AN ORGANIZATION THAT TRIES TO BRING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER. BUT JOHNNY’S LOVE FOR MUSIC KEPT HIM GOING. I LOVE MY MUSIC. I JUST REALLY GET INTO IT AND I TALK TO THE PEOPLE AT THE MUSIC, YOU KNOW, JUST TO MAKE THEM FEEL WELL. WE WOULD ALL SIT AROUND AND SAY, WHAT IF WE BOUGHT THIS BUILDING? AND WHAT IF WE COULD CHANGE IT AND MAKE IT INTO SOMETHING DIFFERENT? NOW, 40 YEARS LATER, A DREAM COME TRUE. IT’S A HISTORICAL PART OF OUR BLACK COMMUNITY, AND I WANTED TO CONTINUE IT ON PRESERVING CULTURE THROUGH FOOD, MUSIC AND DANCING, MAKING ONE KOAT ACTION NEWS SEVEN NEWS. AND HERE’S A FUN FACT FOR YOU. THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NAME NE
NEXUS: Soul Food, Smokehouse & the ‘Exbeerience’
In the 1970s, Nexus Blue Smokehouse was originally the Elks nightclub for African Americans in New Mexico. They often faced discrimination due to race.
In honor of Black History Month, KOAT shines a light on those who have helped paved the way in New Mexico from the arts to history, culture and food. First stop: NEXUS Brewery.Nexus Brewery & Nexus Blue Smokehouse are two popular award-winning restaurants in the heart of New Mexico owned by New Mexico native Ken Carson. Both restaurants serve soul food with a New Mexican twist, a great selection of beer and smoked BBQ.However, Nexus Blue Smokehouse, located on Broadway in Albuquerque, New Mexico, holds a deep connection to the African American community. According to Carson, the original building for Nexus Blue Smokehouse used to be the Elks nightclub for African Americans in New Mexico, because they often faced discrimination due to race. “The Black community started here on South Broadway years ago and this was really the only place we were allowed to live. Back in the seventies, you could always get back into a club, but you didn’t feel always at home. So, we would always end up coming back to the Elks Club because that was a place, we felt very comfortable,” Carson said. “Among my friends, we would talk about situations where we would go into a club, and they would play music we liked. Suddenly, once a few of us got there, the music would change to other things, so we would feel like they turned the music to have us leave. Some people just weren’t allowed in the club. There would be situations where they would find technicalities on things like what they were wearing, and that would be another way to stop you from coming in.”At the time, his friend, Johnny Goodwin, a member of the Elks Navajo Lodge, was also a deejay at the club. “When I joined in 1974, there was some prejudice going around. There were places you couldn’t go at the time, and people enjoyed coming here because it was a nightclub,” Goodwin said. “We invited everybody in. We didn’t care. Colors, race. We didn’t care. We’re just an organization that tries to bring the community together.”Elks, founded in 1968, is a fraternal order dedicated to community service. “I’m a member of Navajo Lodge 863. I’ve been a member of this lodge since 1974. It’s an organization that brings people together. It’s a community organization. We help the community. We help churches, we feed the homeless. We do a lot of great things. We also have our education department once a year where we gather in different cities. We give out scholarships to students as well.”During those days, Carson said he and his friends would often have conversations about purchasing the building but could never imagine what it has turned into today —A dream come true. “We would all sit around and say ‘What if we bought this building? And, what if we could change it and make into something different?’”Carson was originally a banker before turning his dreams into reality. Celebrating Black History MonthExplore New Mexico’s oldest Black churchA New Mexican shares the life of as a Tuskegee Airman Black owned businesses you can support during Black History Month and year-round “I decided I wanted a business like the customers that I used to serve as a loan, as a banker. That’s where my inspiration came from —all the hard work of the people down in Berlin, in Los Lunas that I worked with. I admired them so much and what they had achieved. Owning a business and being an entrepreneur seemed to be something that I wanted to try,” he said. “At my home, we had Southern cooking, because that’s where our roots are from, but we also have roots here in New Mexico. So, when I was doing my business plan, I decided maybe something unique would be to create this thing called New Mexican soul food.” “One of the things we make at the smokehouse is red chili barbecue sauce. The red chili barbecue sauce is almost 95% red chili. The other ingredients are brown sugar and things like that. It actually makes a great barbecue sauce,” Carson said. “Historically, we felt there’s more to this building than just a building. To me, it’s a historical part of our Black community, and I wanted to continue it on. I felt good about the fact that the Elks gave me the opportunity to buy the building so we could continue the legacy of this building going forward.” Above: Visit Black owned businesses in New MexicoNexus has now turned into the New Mexico staple we all know and love. It has been featured on Food Network on hit shows “Food Paradise” and “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Nexus Brewery has also won several awards for its beer. “We had Guy Fieri from ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ come through about six or seven years ago. Even to this day, people still find that show and they come into the restaurant from out of town. So, it’s actually a way of economic development for Albuquerque,” Carson said. “We’ve won six worldwide beer championships for our beer— Imperial Cream, Honey Chamomile, our Beam me up, Scotty. Those have all won awards, and we’ve been recognized nationally for our beer.”Fun Fact: The inspiration behind the name ‘Nexus’ stems from Ken’s love for the movie Star Trek. “I’m a big ‘Star Trek’ fan. The movie ‘Star Trek Generations’ where Kirk and Picard meet— They meet in the Nexus, and it’s this perfect place where everything is right,” he said.Visit: Nexus Brewery
In honor of Black History Month, KOAT shines a light on those who have helped paved the way in New Mexico from the arts to history, culture and food. First stop: NEXUS Brewery.
Nexus Brewery & Nexus Blue Smokehouse are two popular award-winning restaurants in the heart of New Mexico owned by New Mexico native Ken Carson. Both restaurants serve soul food with a New Mexican twist, a great selection of beer and smoked BBQ.
However, Nexus Blue Smokehouse, located on Broadway in Albuquerque, New Mexico, holds a deep connection to the African American community. According to Carson, the original building for Nexus Blue Smokehouse used to be the Elks nightclub for African Americans in New Mexico, because they often faced discrimination due to race.
“The Black community started here on South Broadway years ago and this was really the only place we were allowed to live. Back in the seventies, you could always get back into a club, but you didn’t feel always at home. So, we would always end up coming back to the Elks Club because that was a place, we felt very comfortable,” Carson said. “Among my friends, we would talk about situations where we would go into a club, and they would play music we liked. Suddenly, once a few of us got there, the music would change to other things, so we would feel like they turned the music to have us leave. Some people just weren’t allowed in the club. There would be situations where they would find technicalities on things like what they were wearing, and that would be another way to stop you from coming in.”
At the time, his friend, Johnny Goodwin, a member of the Elks Navajo Lodge, was also a deejay at the club.
“When I joined in 1974, there was some prejudice going around. There were places you couldn’t go at the time, and people enjoyed coming here because it was a nightclub,” Goodwin said. “We invited everybody in. We didn’t care. Colors, race. We didn’t care. We’re just an organization that tries to bring the community together.”
Elks, founded in 1968, is a fraternal order dedicated to community service.
“I’m a member of Navajo Lodge 863. I’ve been a member of this lodge since 1974. It’s an organization that brings people together. It’s a community organization. We help the community. We help churches, we feed the homeless. We do a lot of great things. We also have our education department once a year where we gather in different cities. We give out scholarships to students as well.”
During those days, Carson said he and his friends would often have conversations about purchasing the building but could never imagine what it has turned into today —A dream come true.
“We would all sit around and say ‘What if we bought this building? And, what if we could change it and make into something different?’”
Carson was originally a banker before turning his dreams into reality.
Celebrating Black History Month
“I decided I wanted a business like the customers that I used to serve as a loan, as a banker. That’s where my inspiration came from —all the hard work of the people down in Berlin, in Los Lunas that I worked with. I admired them so much and what they had achieved. Owning a business and being an entrepreneur seemed to be something that I wanted to try,” he said. “At my home, we had Southern cooking, because that’s where our roots are from, but we also have roots here in New Mexico. So, when I was doing my business plan, I decided maybe something unique would be to create this thing called New Mexican soul food.”
“One of the things we make at the smokehouse is red chili barbecue sauce. The red chili barbecue sauce is almost 95% red chili. The other ingredients are brown sugar and things like that. It actually makes a great barbecue sauce,” Carson said. “Historically, we felt there’s more to this building than just a building. To me, it’s a historical part of our Black community, and I wanted to continue it on. I felt good about the fact that the Elks gave me the opportunity to buy the building so we could continue the legacy of this building going forward.”
Above: Visit Black owned businesses in New Mexico
Nexus has now turned into the New Mexico staple we all know and love. It has been featured on Food Network on hit shows “Food Paradise” and “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Nexus Brewery has also won several awards for its beer.
“We had Guy Fieri from ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ come through about six or seven years ago. Even to this day, people still find that show and they come into the restaurant from out of town. So, it’s actually a way of economic development for Albuquerque,” Carson said. “We’ve won six worldwide beer championships for our beer— Imperial Cream, Honey Chamomile, our Beam me up, Scotty. Those have all won awards, and we’ve been recognized nationally for our beer.”
Fun Fact: The inspiration behind the name ‘Nexus’ stems from Ken’s love for the movie Star Trek.
“I’m a big ‘Star Trek’ fan. The movie ‘Star Trek Generations’ where Kirk and Picard meet— They meet in the Nexus, and it’s this perfect place where everything is right,” he said.
Visit: Nexus Brewery
Credit: Source link
