utilise locally available foodstuffs, including corn for flour or dried for use in stews, whole pods of chilli from the strings of ristras, and meat from livestock that could not be kept over the winter. Stews like posole were kept on the stove to feed friends stopping by after Mass or for hosting neighbourhood posadas, Spanish plays enacting Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn. Many of these traditions continue today in New Mexico homes. For example, it is not unusual for spectators attending Indian dances at a pueblo on Christmas Eve to be invited into a home for tamales, a bowl of posole or green chilli stew, or even some carne adovada. Dessert would be flan (custard), natillas (soft custard) or biscochitos (anise-flavoured shortbread cookies). It would be impolite to refuse the invitation to dine, since it is a part of the New Mexican Christmas tradition for everyone who stops by.
Farolitos light the Christ child’s way through Santa Fe at Christmas time. These lanterns are called luminarias in Albuquerque, but don’t try calling them that in Santa Fe.
Dining Out in Santa Fe
A new generation of chifs reinvent the traditional cuisine
while adding quite a few new flavours of their own
Within just a few of blocks of the Plaza in Santa Fe, foodies can indulge every gastronomic whim imaginable. Want to buy the hottest salsa known to man? Like some to-die-for blue corn enchiladas with delicious red chilli? Care to taste some New Mexican wines and beers? Need a ristra for your front porch? It’s all here in Santa Fe.
There are probably more fine restaurants per capita in Santa Fe than anywhere else in the United States, and this is undoubtedly the result of tourism.
As is true of New Mexico in general, people living in and visiting The City Different love their food spicy hot. In fact, a study done a few years ago determined that Santa Fe is the fiery food capital of the United States. Despite the spiciness of the Santa Fe food, visitors should note that there is a wide variety of cuisines available to sample because Santa Fe attracts great culinary artists as well as great visual artists. There isn’t space here to mention all of the city’s great restaurants, so we have described only our personal favourites.
Twilight outside Cafe Pasqual’s, one of Santa Fe’s best-known eateries.
Travel back in time as you reach the end of the Santa Fe Trail at La Fonda hotel and restaurant (100 E. San Francisco Street), a mainstay in Santa Fe for 300 years. Although the current structure is only 80 years old, it is filled with the charm of Old Santa Fe and features thick adobe walls, high ceilings, carved wood furniture, stone floors and big inviting fireplaces. The restaurant is in an atrium with painted windows and turn-of-the-century art, including works by legendary American artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
The menu is inspired by the cuisines of Old Mexico and Spain and contains items such as Grilled Quail Breast with Ancho Chilli Glaze served in a Sweet Potato Taco, Wild Boar Carnitas and rattlesnake dishes.
From artists to outlaws, much of Santa Fe’s history has been witnessed at the bar of El Farol (808 Canyon Road), a popular social spot for locals since 1835. The stories say that it was the scene of many gunfights, and in the 1950s, famed artist Alfred Morang paid his tab by painting a mural on one of the walls. Hidden underneath panelling for a number of years, his work has now been restored and continues to be a popular attraction. The fare is traditional Spanish, and the specialities are tapas (they even have a designated Tapas Room), paella and Spanish wines.
The garden courtyard outside La Casa Sena provides a quiet dining spot for residents and visitors.
The tradition of great restaurants in Santa Fe during the modern era was born more than 45 years ago when Rosalea Murphy opened The Pink Adobe (406 Old Santa Fe Trail). As Rosalea recalls, when “the Pink” first opened, Santa Fe was not the tourist mecca it is today, but rather a “lazy, sleepy town”. She served 25-cent “Pink Dobeburgers”, then imported chicken enchiladas from Mexico, and eventually became the first chef in Santa Fe to serve seafood. Today, the restaurant is in a former barracks for Spanish soldiers, Barrio de Analco, one of the oldest parts of Santa Fe. Despite its name, the Pink Adobe is no longer pink but rather a shade of sandstone. Santa Fe’s Historical Design Review Board has refused to allow the restaurant to be painted its original colour because, according to the board, pink is not an earth tone. During a hearing on the issue, Rosalea presented several samples of pink rocks collected in the desert and mountains around Santa Fe, but the board still refused.
Coyote Cafe owner Mark Miller, who is today renowned as one of America’s leading chefs.
The Coyote Cafe (132 West Water Street) offers a truly unique dining experience because anthropologist-turned-chef Mark Miller presents a different menu each day, re-creating Southwestern and Latin American dishes that predate the arrival of Europeans. It is difficult to suggest any one particular menu item because they change so much, but some past menus have included Barbecued Duck Crepas, layered corn crepes with roast duck, barbecue sauce, and corn chilli relish; and Red Chilli Quail, fresh Texas bobwhite quail marinated in dried chillies and wild mushrooms.
“My café is small but lively,” says Katharine Kagel, chef-owner of Cafe Pasqual’s (121 Don Gaspar Avenue), which has been in business since 1979. Located one block from the historic Plaza, the café serves the food of New and Old Mexico, as well as New American Cuisine. During the day, the atmosphere is informal, but the mood changes at dinner time when the white tablecloths come out and the wine service begins. Signature dishes include Huevos Motuleños, a Yucatán egg dish; and Chicken Mole Presciliano, a Pueblo-style family recipe made with 20 different ingredients. The café also boasts an art gallery that features Mexican murals, traditional Apache cookware and jewellery.
The three cultures of Santa Fe come together in the food and the architecture of Inn of the Anasazi (113 Washington Avenue), where Native American spirituality, Mexican flair and European practicality define the experience. Diners can settle in on cozy bancos to warm their bones by the fire and their insides with cutting-edge dishes like Grilled Tortilla and Lime Soup with Barbecued Yellow Tomato Salsa and Coriander Corn Oil, a popular appetizer that has been on the menu since the award-winning restaurant opened in 1991.
La Casa Sena (125 East Palace Avenue) was expanded from a small house to a 33-room adobe hacienda in 1868 by a prominent Santa Fe family. The courtyard is now one of the city’s most beautiful outdoor dining spots. The restaurant opened in 1983 and serves innovative dishes such as Grilled Pepita Crusted Salmon with Ancho Chilli Hollandaise and Goat Cheese Epazote Quesadilla.
Serving traditional northern New Mexico cuisine, Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen (555 West Cordova Road) was originally a take-away place started in the early 1950s by Maria, the wife of a local politician. After several years she sold it, and it has grown since. Owner Al Lucero says that his place was the first to introduce fajitas to Santa Fe back in 1985. However, margaritas, more than 75 of them, are Maria’s main claim to fame. They are made with only the best authentic tequilas and are hand-shaken, never stirred.
The Santacafé (231 Washington Street), a “Southwest American Bistro” in a 150-year-old building, has been open since 1983 and is a local favourite for its innovative menu and celebrity-watching opportunities. Its decor is not traditional Southwestern but stark minimalist, with bare off-white walls. The signature dish is Crispy Calamari with Lime Dipping Sauce, and the menu includes Grilled Rack of Lamb with Pasilla Chilli
