Santa Fe - Labor Day 2010

I think this was our 9th trip to Santa Fe, probably the third in September. Just a beautiful time of year to go there, highs are usually in the 80s and nights cool down to the 40s-50s. Hard to describe, but 80 and sunny in Santa Fe must be what paradise feels like. But on to the food.

Never been to Horseman's Haven, decided to make it the first stop for lunch since it's convenient right off the interstate coming up from the airport. Known for their ferociously hot green chile, which never made much sense to me - Hatch chiles are Hatch chiles, some are hotter than others but they're relatively mild on the Scoville scale. You can choose a heat of 1-5, so I just assumed they dose their stuff with habanero sauce to turn it up for novelty sakes. Whatever, it's gotten them notoriety. But I can now say that I've been to the Horseman's Haven and I can now say I don't need to return. Frozen tasteless patty slapped on a too-large bun, then smothered in an ocean of green chile which makes it impossible to pick up (but they did offer it on the side, my bad I guess). Served with home fries, which I find wrong: burger + french fries = correct/ burger + home fries = wrong. Wasn't horrible, but a wasted meal in one of my favorite food towns, so there's an opportunity cost.


That burger was making it's leaden presence known all day and just wouldn't clear out to make room for anything else. We decided on a light dinner, and since it was such a pleasant evening we went to the Rooftop Cantina at Coyota Cafe. We split some guac and an order of fish tacos. Both were pretty tired and uninspired. Guac was oxidized from sitting around too long, and the fish tacos arrived cold. Eh, whatever, made it easier to leave without ordering anything else plus we weren't that hungry to begin with. But the bigger concern was that we'd now gone 0-2 on meals in SF, and panic was setting in OMG!

Woke up early Friday to hit the road for a day trip up to Georgia O'Keefe country in Abiquiu (pronounced AB-i-cue, like barbecue). The drive up 84/285 north of SF in incredible, the Sangre de Christos seem close enough to reach out and grab.

Stopped at Tesuque Village Market for breakfast. I had the breakfast burrito, which was pretty good for a breakfast burrito

And across the table was the huevos rancheros with a side of pechugas de mi esposa, delicioso! A very tasty meal, which had the salutory effect of restoring our faith in Santa Fe cuisine.


First time driving up to Abiquiu, seemed to take forever to get beyond the not-very-scenic environs of Espanola. But the scenery changes drastically once you near Ghost Ranch, pretty spectacular - easy to see why an artist would fall in love with this area

That trencherman's breakfast nourished us through a morning of hiking around Ghost Ranch and a stroll through the Ray Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos. The museum is interesting, details how Los Alamos became ground zero for the Manhattan Project. Includes recreations of Fat Man and Little Boy, which are more than slightly disturbing. But mainly wanted to go there because the drive into Los Alamos on Highway 502 is breathtaking. Ironic that one of the most beautiful places on the planet was where they figured out how to blast the whole thing to bits.

Got back into SF in mid-afternoon, decided to stop at one of my favorites, Harry's Road House, and grabbed a quesadilla for a snack. Nothing better than their back patio on a glorious late summer afternoon, contemplating the end of days over a glass of cheap vinho verde

After striking out on two meals the day before, decided to play it safe and stick to another old favorite for dinner, The Shed. Hour wait for a table on Labor Day weekend, which worked out well because we put in our name and popped over to the Bell Tower Bar at the La Fonda to catch the sunset. Even being elbow to elbow with loudmouth Texans couldn't spoil that view. No menu needed at the Shed - two margaritas ("Silver Coins" are now on every menu in town: 100% agave blanco/Silver tequila + Cointreau = Silver Coin, who'd a thunk it), green chile stew for me and chicken enchiladas with green for my wife. They've been churning these dishes out forever and they nail it every single time


Breakfast next morning was at Tecolote Cafe. The place is getting a lot of buzz because of Guy Fieri, and roadfood drools all over it too. My wife and I were debating whether we'd eaten here before. I was pretty certain we had, but I couldn't say for sure. Plus it's a ways from the Plaza on Cerillos Road, so you have to drag out the rental car to get there. But anyway, we got there at 9am on Saturday AM and were seated immediately thank God, because by the time we left there were 50 people lurking outside - IMO no breakfast is worth any kind of wait. And Tecolote was no exception. My wife had the renowned Atole pinon (blue cornmeal and pine nuts) pancakes with a side of jalapeno bacon

I had the sheepherders breakfast, which is your basic farmers breakfast mix of potatoes and eggs, except this comes with chorizo and green & red chile mixed in - before deflowering

and after

I dunno, we were unimpressed. The ingredients were top notch, but the end result was pretty dull. They make a big emphasis on the menu that they use very little salt, but jeez - does that mean you have to abandon all seasoning? Breakfast ingredients are pretty bland to begin with, to assemble them without jazzing them up with some savoriness leaves you with a plate of good ingredients without much flavor. But if your business plan includes pulling in tourists by the gross, I guess you're best off playing to the lowest common denominator. (btw, I still can't say for sure if I've eaten there before this trip, not exactly the highest praise in my book)

But hey, it's green chile harvest! Big trailer was in the parking of Tecolote, selling them for $10/sack plus they'll roast them for you. Too bad it's a pain to bring them on an airplane, the smell alone is intoxicating


And on to the Farmer's Market. They've made changes, for the better, since I was last here. The market used to be in a gravel parking lot in the old railyard, now it's in a permanent location with half indoors and half outdoors. No dogs allowed, what a concept!

Magnificent foodstuffs on display, just beautiful. Huge variety of fruit and vegetables, 90% of it grown in the 15 counties of Northern New Mexico. If you've ever spent any time around this part of the country, then you know that they get about 12 inches of rain a year and what they generously call the soil best resembles concrete, and on top of that you're at 7,000 altitude. I'm always astounded that the natives were able to scratch out any kind of existence out of this soil. let alone build permanent settlements. But I guess careful irrigation will work wonders, because the proof is in the produce on display in this market. Never underestimate human ingenuity

Although I couldn't lug along a sack of green chiles, I did bring back 10lbs of dried pinto beans, red chile powder, and some McIntosh cheddar (a nuclear orange/yellow bearing a striking resemblance to velveeta, it's melted over pretty much every dish) - you can stuff it in with your dirty underwear in your suitcase, plus Homeland Security won't confiscate it. Cooked up some up the beans and made a carne adovado with the chile this morning, outstanding. Dried beans that actually have character, what a concept.

College football opener was Saturday. My wife is a crazed Notre Dame fan and I went to Michigan, so we had to find a sports bar - the Catamount Bar fit the bill, 12 screens upstairs and they're happy to put your game of choice on one of them as long as you're spending money. Cool bar, they have a balcony that looks over Water Street and all the doors are pulled open so a breeze blows through. So you can spend an afternoon drinking and watching football and still feel like you're in the quasi-outdoors, gotta love this city. A glorious Meechigan victory was accompanied by many fine Santa Fe Pale Ales, and the bar food was surprisingly good - jalalpeno poppers were not your usual Sysco abomination, but instead made from scratch and stuffed with goat cheese


By dinner time we were pretty New Mex'ed out and decided to get something different. Ze French Bistro was nearby, meh. I made the mistake once of getting Mexican food in Paris, I now know better than to get French food in New Mexico.

But breakfast Sunday morning made up for a lame dinner. We stayed at the Inn of the Anasazi and had breakfast here to make a quick exit for the airport. Expected overpriced blah, but it was surprisingly good - best breakfast of the trip. I had my beloved huevos rancheros, which came with a roasted tomato salsa and green chiles and asadero cheese instead of the ubiquitous orange cheddar. Fine dish prepared by a chef who actually tastes the food that comes out of his kitchen, excellent (sorry for the shabby cell phone pic, doesn't do it justice)

My wife had the ranchero breakfast skillet (potatoes, black beans, red & green chile, eggs), which was also a winner


And so we leave the magic kingdom, and then back to the real world. Till the next time...

Horseman's Haven Cafe
4354 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM 87507-9720

Rooftop Cantina - Coyote Cafe
132 West Water Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501-2137

Tesuque Village Market
138 Tesuque Village Road
Santa Fe, NM 87506
(505) 988-8848

Harry's Roadhouse
96 Old Las Vegas Hwy
Santa Fe, NM 87505-9367
(505) 989-4629

The Shed
113 East Palace Avenue
Santa Fe, NM 87501-2010
(505) 982-9030

Tecolote Cafe
1203 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505-0943
(505) 988-1362

Catamount Bar & Grille
125 East Water Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501-2851
(505) 988-7222

Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi
113 Washington Avenue
Santa Fe, NM 87501-2016
(505) 988-3030

Fast Eddie: great report and I loved the photos.

I am a big fan of green chile and was drooling at some of the pics. We had explored NM as a potential retirement destination a few years ago and now I'm thinking we should have landed there!

We've spent considerable time in Arizona looking for the perfect red chile. We like the stuff at Santa Cruz Chile in Tumacacori.

little500 wrote: We had explored NM as a potential retirement destination a few years ago and now I'm thinking we should have landed there!

Landed is the right word , it's otherworldly, especially coming from the midwest. What I find fascinating about the area is the constantly shifting landscapes. I like to do a day trip on each visit, and especially north of the city it seems like every 10 miles or so there's a distinctive change in environment. Different geologic formations with varying coloration of the sediment layers, verdant meadows tucked in valleys, riverbeds lined with cottonwoods, volcanic mountain ranges, uplift mountain ranges. On top of that you get four true seasons, and all of them are pleasant - 300 plus days of sunshine without the overwhelming heat. It's a special place.

Great photos of my favorite place! We started traveling to New Mexico in 1980 and made it a twice a year trip for many years. Sorry to say we never went to Horseman's Haven and now I am glad we never did, what a wreck of a green chile cheeseburger. The Shed is one of my favorites, a nice stack of blue corn enchiladas and their great sangria makes me happy! Have you ever tried Tia Sophia's? That's our favorite breakfast spot, just a few blocks west of the Plaza. Again great photos!

Yes, been to Tia Sophia many times but didn't make it on this trip. That's our usual breakfast place around the Plaza, I like it a lot better than Cafe Pasqual. Used to really like Cafe Pasqual but over the years it seems the food has gone downhill while the prices have soared.