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Hi ....

I'll be in Santa Fe next week for a photo workshop and was looking for some recommendations.

Anyone ?

thanks !

Try our own LTH poster Bill/SFNM for a first hand report. I can list many of my favorites but I'd rather let him give at it first!

Thanks, Like to Eat Out. LTH's own ParkerS also hangs out on here, so I'm sure he has some good recommendations.

Depends on what kind of food you like. Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe was great for many years, but suffered as Miller expanded his empire and was not on site very much. However, the place is in new hands and the chef from Geronimo's is now at Coyote. The menu has been evolving a bit from it's Nuevo Southwest origins. I'm going next week, but I understand it is a worthy high-end venue.

Bistro 315 is always doing interesting things.

The best table in town is Trattoria Nostrani, but not everyone who comes to Santa Fe is looking for an Italian experience.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Los Potrillos is doing some nice casera Mexican food (not New Mexican).

There are a million places doing New Mexican food. I would say Maria's is one the I like the best, but I'm not a big fan of this kind of food - lots of heat and little more.

So let me know what kind of food you like and I can offer some additional suggestions.


Bill/SFNM

Thanks Bill, I guess I look at it more like a tourist because I love northern New Mexican food and I would direct him to The Shed or Tia Sophia's. How is the rooftop Cantina at Coyote Cafe? It is a pleasant place to sit and a place that rarely gets mention, the Ore House on the Plaza is a really great place for drinks and watching the world go by along with their afternoon happy hour fare. I rarely get back but we used to spend quite a bit of time in Santa Fe, several weeks at a time and several times a year.

Hi ...

I guess I'd be looking mainly for New Mexican or Mexican. I can find good pizza/italian/steak/french here in Chicago so I'd love to try the local specialties ! A friend directed me to the Frontier Restaurant (she went to UNM) so I'll be hitting that before driving up from Albuquerque.

I don't blame you. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you get much better Mexican food in all the great Chicago places I read about in LTH than you do here. Most of the migration from Mexico is from the northern states that do not have nearly as rich a culinary tradition as the rest of Mexico. In terms of local specialties, I forgot to mention El Paragua in Española (about 20 minute drive from the Plaza). And I'm sure Antonius (are you here?) will recommend the green chile cheeseburgers at Bobcat Bite. Both are institutions.

El Paragua
602 Santa Cruz Rd,
Española, NM 87532
505-753-3211

Bobcat Bite
420 Old Las Vegas Highway
Santa Fe, NM 87505
505-983-5319
unusual hours

To get a good idea of old New Mexico, a trip to Chimayo night be in order. Rancho de Chimayo is a great lunch spot with a nice tiered patio built around the old family hacienda. If you are taking a photgraphy class the trip to El Santurio de Chimayo is worthwhile. New Mexico has the most beautiful light to shoot photos in!


http://www.ranchodechimayo.com/

It's been far too long since I was in Santa Fe to recommend anything—Bill's in charge of that. (But I must mention the wonderful memories I have of Coyote Cafe about 2 yrs after it hit its stride. Simply wonderful!)

One thing I never miss in ABQ: El Norteño. It's run by a very nice family, genuine home cooking (the tongue is fantastic), simple, clean clear foods. Friends drop by there every six months or so as they're passing through, and everyone raves.

Geo

http://www.elnorteno.com/index.shtml

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Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

Amen to that!

Santuario de Chimayo




Lunch at Rancho de Chimayo

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

The Frontier is a family favorite of ours as is the Shed.

The Frontier is a 24 hour eatery immediately across the street from the University of New Mexico campus. It is a hole-in-the wall eatery that looks like it has expanded into four or five additional storefronts. All are decorated with various art.

The food is very inexpensive but quite excellent. I really liked the green posole and the carne adovado which was spicy and rich.

I fed my 13 yo nephew and myself for $15 and we had almost more than we could eat.



Frontier Restaurant
www.frontierrestaurant.com
2400 Central Ave SE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505) 266-0550

Update on this in case this thread is searched by anyone for future reference. A group of us had lunch yesterday at the cantina in Coyote Cafe. Service O.K. Food extremely disappointing. This is not Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe. This has become a tourist trap. Sad.

Has Miller sold the restaurant or is it a case of abandonment? This is very sad. I had a memorable meal at the kitchen bar years ago. It was fun watching a well run kitchen at work and the food was outstanding.

In '93 I attended a meeting of the History of Science Society in SFNM. A month ahead of the mtg I got reservations for 8 of us foodies at Coyote. It was simply wonderful. I guess it's waaay too much to expect a place like that to hang on for 15 yrs.

Sigh.

Geo

_________________
Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

Miller sold Coyote Cafe. He is opening a new place, Red Sage, in the Buffalo Thunder Resort/Casino in Pojoaque next month. Coyote Cafe is now run by a group that includes the former chef of Geronimo's.

Bill/SFNM, Maybe you can help me remember the name of a restaurant.

Years ago my wife and I were staying at the Inn of the Anasazi. There was a very nice restaurant just down the street away from the plaza, the name escapes me. There were fireplaces in the dining room and a very nice patio/courtyard. The food was, for lack of a better description, contempary New Mexican. Thanks.

SantaCafe?

Thanks, thats the one. I could not remember the name for the life of me. We had a very nice meal at Santacafe some years ago.

I had a bad experience at SantaCafe a few months ago. We waited 45 minutes for a table (we had a reservation), the food was really overpriced and just so-so, we had a really odd table near the door to the kitchen (another patron came over on her way out and said "what a weird spot for a table"), service was TERRIBLE (when we declined dessert, our waiter asked somewhat hostily "Is it because I've been ignoring you tonight?"). The meal was about $120 for two people with a glass of wine each, no dessert. This was my only visit there and maybe it was just and off-night. The place had sort of a Manhattan glamour/power-lunch vibe that I'm not that into. It was really a downer, though, since we were only in Santa Fe one night.
We really enjoyed Cafe Pasquale for lunch It's a bit touristy but cute and quirky/eclectic. The chicken sandwich on their homemade cornbread was outstanding!
I can second the recommendations for Frontier and el norteno. We also liked the feel of the original Range cafe in Bernalillo, outside Albuquerque.
I was traveling with a vegetarian and I couldn't convince her to detour for Bobcat bite--that's going to be a stop on my next trip for sure.

I usually just lurk (want info, don't want to further degrade the signal to noise ratio), but I could not resist here -- I lived in Santa Fe for five years, working in restaurants for the last three, before overweaning ambition sent me to law school. Still wonder if I made the right choice (another story).
Among numerous places that have to be added to this thread, 3 stand out:

1) The Shed, about a block off the Plaza. Try the blue corn chicken enchilada with red sauce for lunch, and do not fail to get mocha cake for dessert. Calvin Trillin discussed the Shed a few years back, but somehow neglected the world's best dessert. The Shed sells its red sauce by mail, and I count on it now on the East Coast.

2) Breakfast at Cafe Pasquale on Guadalupe Street, a couple of blocks from the Plaza. Try their version of either huevos rancheros or a breakfast burrito.

3) Don't miss the pain au chocolat at the French Bakery in La Fonda hotel right on the Plaza.

For absolutely classic diner type New Mexico food, try the Plaza Cafe on the Lincoln Street side of the Plaza (opposite La Fonda). The place looks like a Woolworth's lunch counter, down to the white formica, but it has some of the best New Mexico green chile. If you feel adventerous, try the posole with menudo (a stew with hominy and tripe). It's a matter of taste, but I love it and miss it.
For something fancier in the way of traditional southwestern cooking, try the Pink Adobe.
Out on Canyon Road, try El Farol (more Spanish than New Mexican).

Enjoy -- wish I was there.

Is this the drug store with the lunch counter on the plaza that serves frito pie?

No. The Plaza Cafe is on Lincoln on the west side of the Plaza. The frito pie place is on San Francisco on the south side of the Plaza. I wouldn't call it a drug store but more a tourist goods store, it used to be a Woolworths many years ago. They are within a short distance of one another.

That's the place with the serving window on the sidewalk, right?

Geo

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Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

The Frontier is indeed a great place for New Mexican food. I especially recommend the carne adovada (pork stewed in red chile), which is easiest to try as a carne adovada burrito. This is a small burrito made with one of their sublime flour tortillas and is only a few bucks. Every time I go to the Frontier I also order their Huevos Rancheros with chopped green chile. This comes with a few tortillas on the side for scooping up the delicious beans. They also have a half order of this dish hilariously called "Huevos Lite," if you require only one egg.

Another place in Albuquerque for great New Mexican food is Mary and Tito's Cafe in the near North Valley neighborhood. Their red chile is especially good, perhaps covering one of their huge stuffed sopapillas. I often buy their red chile to go, and although their menu is by no means vegetarian-friendly, they do have meatless versions of both red and gren chile. For a few more vegetarian options (and beer and wine), try El Patio near the University, a cute house with, obviously, a great patio.

In Santa Fe, I second Pasqual's for breakfast or dinner. I think the Pink Adobe is only okay, but love their bar (The Dragon Room). Maria's is good, too. For traditional New Mexican a la Mary and Tito's or the Frontier (very casual), the Horseman's Haven is good, and easy to hit on the way in or out of town.

Of course, one of the best ways to sample local indigenous and hispanic foods is to attend a Feast Day at one of the area pueblos. Leave your camera and cellphone at home, bring your sunscreen, and enjoy the dances. You may be invited into a private home to feast, but there are always vendors selling Indian tacos with chile and other specialties if not. Try a Jemez enchilada if you can: a flour tortilla dredged in red chile, quickly fried, then sprinkled with cheese and onions before being folded into a flat, greasy, spicy crepe. For a list of Pueblo feast Days, see this link:

http://www.santaana.org/calendar.htm

Cheers,
Erin

Mary & Tito's Cafe
Address: 2711 Fourth St. N.W. , Albuquerque, NM, 87107
(Between Menaul and Candelaria NW)
505-344-6266

El Patio De Albuquerque
142 Harvard Dr SE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505) 268-4245

Horseman's Haven Cafe
4353 Cerrillos Rd
Santa Fe, NM 87507
(505) 471-5420

After recommending Rancho de Chimayo here, followed by stevez's wonderful photos, I just discovered that they had a fire in mid July and have been closed. I read an archieve piece in the ABQ Journal that said it was a small fire outside the kitchen but did extensive smoke damage. The article also stated that they would re-open in 4-6weeks. Does anyone know anything more or more recent news/ Bill/SFNM?

This link will probably be the best source of info about the reopening.

Bill/SFNM

I had seen that link already, didn't know if there was some local knowledge more current. Their patio is such a lovely spot for lunch.

Sorry, I guess I didn't understand what you meant by "local knowledge". How about this:

I was down at the feed store yesterday and was chewing the manteca with one of the Chávez twins (the one with the eyes that look in separate directions, not the one who has never been the same since he fell into the hole in the floor of the Santuario trying to get some of the holy dirt. He told me his sister's oldest hijo, the one who sells ristras to the turistas at the old Esso station, is a real brujo with computadoras. He saw that the Rancho de Chimayo has a new web site that says they'll be open in 4 - 6 weeks.

Brilliant. I nominate this for post of the year.

Sorry, I don't see it as charming but took it as pretty smart ass. I was asking a legitimate question, I did access RdeC's website, I was looking for someone who might drive by or be from the area and might know the progress. No worse than all the people here who post on the progress of boarded up or papered over store fronts.