Hatch green chiles are hot stuff in Atlanta restaurants


Hatch chile events

Green Chile Festival, through Sept. 8 at Chuy's, 118 Perimeter Center West, Dunwoody. 770-351-7777, www.chuys.com.

Green Chile Roast, Sept. 14 at the Square Pub, 115 Sycamore St, Decatur. 404-844-4010, www.squarepubdecatur.com.

Hatch chile specials, through Sept. 30 at all three Atlanta Taqueria del Sol locations, including 1200-B Howell Mill Road, Atlanta. 404-352-5811, www.taqueriadelsol.com.

Though they aren’t grown anywhere near here, it’s Hatch green chile season in Atlanta.

The large, slender, pale green chiles, widely considered among the best hot peppers in the world, are grown in Hatch, N.M., about four hours south of Santa Fe, and more than 1,500 miles from Georgia.

But no matter the distance, some Atlanta restaurants have gone for them in a major way, shipping in thousands of pounds of the fresh chiles from the August-September harvest to feature in all sorts of spicy dishes — from Southwestern-style chiles rellenos to Southern-style green chile deviled eggs — while promoting special menus and festivals.

As in New Mexico, batch after batch of the chiles are blackened and blistered in gas-fired drum roasters, releasing a smoky, fruity aroma that’s a big part of the allure. Chiles that aren’t used straight from the roasters are frozen and used throughout the year.

In late August, Taqueria del Sol, the popular Atlanta-based Mexican-American restaurant chain, received its annual shipment of Hatch green chiles, and promptly launched a series of rotating weekly specials in a celebration that will continue through the end of September.

Taqueria del Sol owner Mike Klank was arguably the first to bring the flavor of Hatch to Atlanta. While spending time in New Mexico, Klank developed a taste for the chiles, and soon after opening his first restaurant, Azteca Grill, in Clayton County in 1987, they became a regular part of the menu and a cornerstone his business.

“That’s one of the reasons I opened up a Mexican restaurant,” Klank said. “In New Mexico, it’s a whole different type of Mexican food. The reason it’s different is because of that chile. That chile has a totally different flavor than any other chile. It’s a flavor I love.”

Like many Hatch aficionados, Klank has trouble describing the flavor in a few words. "To me, the aroma is green chile," he said. "It has distinct flavor that's more fresh and fruity than most hot peppers."

In the kitchen, chef and Taqueria del Sol co-owner Eddie Hernandez uses the chiles in traditional tacos, tamales and enchiladas, and gets more creative with green chile jambalaya, pot pie and a variety of fish dishes. But the signature fried green chile relleno, with its crispy coating and oozing melted cheese, is the perennial hit of the season.

“We start getting calls in July, asking, ‘When are the peppers coming?’ And that’s a good thing,” Klank said. “But it means we probably need to get three or four thousand pounds, and we have people roasting them for weeks, nonstop — doing nothing but roasting chiles.”

When Chuy’s landed in Dunwoody in 2011, the Austin-based Tex-Mex chain — known for its wild decor and “Big as Yo’ Face Burritos” — brought its founders’ love of Hatch chiles and good times with it in the form of the annual Green Chile Festival.

“The Chuy’s guys kind of pioneered using Hatch chiles in their concept,” said Jeff Fisher, general manager at the Atlanta-Perimeter location. “There’s a lot of New Mexican influence in the food we serve. The blue corn tortillas and our sauces are examples of that.”

The Green Chile Festival, which runs through Sept. 8, is in its 25th year, with a menu of Hatch items that includes pickled green chiles, pork tacos el pastor with green chile rice, and Hatch Valley chicken enchiladas.

“But this time of year, everything is made with fresh chiles,” Fisher said. “It’s fresh chiles in every dish that uses green chiles. So the festival kind of extends to our entire menu.”

Chuy’s also sells Hatch chiles by the pound to take home, with fresh priced at $2.25/pound, roasted at $3.50/pound, and roasted, cleaned and diced at $4.50/pound.

“The passion that people have for these chiles is incredible,” Fisher said. “In one week, we sold 200 pounds of chiles. People who come in who are from New Mexico or have visited New Mexico really go crazy for them.”

Since joining the Chuy’s team, Fisher’s appreciation for the Hatch mystique has grown, too, beginning with a company trip to New Mexico to experience the harvest.

“The first time I tried one, it was on the vine as we were picking them.” he said. “To me, they are a little more complex than your average chile. And out there it’s a way of life. They say the chiles trigger endorphins. I think that must be true.”

At Square Pub in Decatur, Hatch green chilies are a regular part of the “Southwesternish” menu, with a green chile cheeseburger and chicken enchiladas with Hatch green chili among the favorites.

Since 2011, Square Pub co-owners Jason Wiles and Bob Rhein have been flying out to New Mexico in September to hand select Hatch green chiles, renting a truck to drive the harvest back to Decatur for their annual Green Chile Roast on the Decatur Square.

“We planned the first trip as a promotional thing,” Wiles said. “It’s pretty easy to get chiles shipped to you, but we looked at it as a fun way to get out of town, and a good story.”

In 2012, Wiles and Rhein brought back 8,000 pounds of chiles, though most of the haul was frozen, to be used throughout the year. This year they plan to buy 12,000 pounds, but much of it will be shipped in 2014.

Wiles said he got the green chile bug while he was in school at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.“The first meal I ever ate in New Mexico was green chile chicken enchiladas in my college cafeteria,” he recalled. “I must have gone back four times. I’d never had a green chile before. I’d never heard of it. But I instantly fell in love.”

When Wiles moved to Georgia and opened Square Pub, he missed green chiles so much that he convinced Rhein to give them a try. “When we opened this place we wanted to do something different that would set us apart, and that was it,” Wiles said.

The Green Chile Roast — on Sept. 14, this year — is an all-day party that continues into the night, with chile roasters fired-up in front of the pub, a mariachi band, and a selection of special beers served in casks with green chiles.

The menu features more than a dozen items, with traditional dishes like posole and chiles rellenos, and “South by Southwest” dishes like barbecue pulled pork with green chile slaw, green chile mac and cheese, green chile pimento cheese, chicken fried steak with green chile gravy, and green chile deviled eggs, which usually sell out first.

As to why he expends so much effort procuring, roasting and cooking Hatch green chiles, Wiles said it’s simple.

“Hatch is the Napa Valley of chiles,” he said. “In the same way that certain kinds of grapes grow the best in certain areas, green chile peppers have a very specific climate and soil that they do the best in. There’s definitely a unique flavor that you don’t get from any other pepper. When you fall in love with that flavor, you fall in love with that flavor forever.”