New Westerners

Ghattas Family has a Way with Food.

By Alan Kleinfeld, 1-05-06

This isn’t a restaurant review. It’s a history lesson. A story of how a pharmacy with a soda fountain in the 1940s paved the lives and careers of one Albuquerque family. From the beginning, it appears as if the Ghattas family has had food thrust upon them as a business. And thankfully for us, they’re good at managing it.

The patriarch, Robert Ghattas, is a pharmacist by trade. He began working with Pete Duran at Pete’s pharmacy in the late 1950s. Back in the day, soda fountains in pharmacies were common. You could drop by, get your dose of cod liver oil or penicillin and grab a “malted� and a sandwich.

A few years later, Robert purchased the pharmacy from Pete and the soda fountain came with it. The name, too. Robert figured since Duran’s Pharmacy was already well known, changing the name would be the wrong move.

The decision to keep the name proved to be the right one. But as happens over time, tastes change and the soda fountain became less profitable. Not wanting to close it, Robert started playing with the menu, trying to find something that locals would crave. What a perfect predicament for a pharmacist. Instead of mixing and combining and measuring medicines, Robert had a chance to use those skills to design edible delectables.

After some experimentation, the menu finally became New Mexican in nature. People ate it up. Literally. It’s practically the same menu today and the tables remain full. Located close to Downtown Albuquerque, professionals and blue collar alike dine at Duran’s Central Pharmacy for breakfast and lunch. After a patio was added not long ago, the seating capacity went up to 47, which allows the Ghattas family to serve about 300 meals a day.

Robert and his wife, Monika, have four children: Mona, Marcel, Marco and Myra. Each of them worked in Duran’s Central Pharmacy at one point or another growing up. Whether it be dishwasher, bus boy, counter help, cashier or even tortilla maker, all of them got a taste of the restaurant biz. Marco is the only one not currently involved with the food operations. He’s in construction. But then every family has its black sheep.

Mona, the oldest, went for a career that dabbled in both. She became a pharmacist like her poppa and works at Duran’s Central Pharmacy in that role. But when help is needed in the restaurant, she’s been known to trade in her smock for an apron. You go, girl.

Marcel, the oldest son, decided after college and a short stint doing refrigerator and A/C repair that he preferred the food business to being in the hot sun atop a roof repairing the HVAC, so he went back to his dad’s place and became manager of the restaurant, where he’s been for the past 20 plus years.

Ready to expand the operation, in December 2005 Marcel opened up Duran’s Station, Duran’s Pharmacy sister restaurant, in a converted firehouse in Northeast Albuquerque. The menu is nearly identical to the one downtown, but instead of breakfast, Duran’s Station services lunch and dinner and offers beer and wine. It’s slightly larger and can seat a few more diners.

Little sister, Myra, took a more daring step in the food business when she opened up the Slate Street Café in Downtown Albuquerque. Although she offers the famous Duran’s chile, her menu varies greatly from the two other Duran family locations.. Like Duran’s Pharmacy, she serves breakfast and lunch. But that’s about where the similarities end. Myra chose to go with comfort foods, foods, as she puts it, that are approachable. The menu varies from chicken noodle soup to fish ‘n chips to sandwiches. You can even order a PB&J. She’s doing something right, I suppose. Slate Street was voted best new restaurant in 2005 by Albuquerque The Magazine.

Myra’s restaurant experience began at Duran’s Central Pharmacy, but it continued well beyond that. After college in Boston, she spent 14 years with Hyatt Hotels, staying involved with their food and beverage operations. She handled room service, convention services, bar operations and just about anything else to do with what you consume with your chompers.

Along the way, she became a certified Sommelier, which worked out perfectly since she just opened the Wine Loft at the Slate Street Café. Stop by and try a glass of red or white Wednesday through Saturday evenings. You can also make a meal out of her bar menu.

Food is still a family experience for the Ghattas clan. When Marcel opened up the Station, both Mona and Myra showed up to help out in the kitchen. Myra says that growing up in the Ghattas household was all about traveling and dining and cooking and trying new foods and having adventures together. That attitude appears to have spilled over to their love of running restaurants. Lucky us.

Get More Info on Ghattas Family Dining by calling:

Duran’s Central Pharmacy
815 Central Ave. NW
505.247.4141

Duran’s Station
4201 Menual Blvd. NE
505.830.0007

Slate Street Café
The Wine Loft at Slate Street Cafe
515 Slate Street NW
505.243.2210

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