Gaping Foodless Canyons, my vacation - in progress

At the end of the month, the whole family is flying to Vegas, for two+ weeks of driving around the southwest: Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Durango CO, and Moab, Escalante, Bryce, Zion and Cedar City in Utah.

In Vegas, we won't miss Lotus of Siam, but there's not much I can find elsewhere except for Santa Fe, which seems to be a giant magnet sucking the cuisine out of neighboring states. Roadfood lists a couple of places, but nothing that makes me want to run to them.

Any suggestions?

A few years ago I planned a trip driving around that part of the world, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, etc. Arrived at one of the Grand Canyon hotels at night, got up the next morning to go see the big hole-- and discovered that three feet of snow was in the process of falling. (This was March; I had a funny idea that the Southwest was, y'know, WARM, which it apparently is-- at lower elevations than most of the big parks.) Facing the prospect of being stuck in the hotel for a week with nothing to do, everyone was quickly determining somewhere else to go and most of us settled on Zion, the nearest park that wasn't snowed in. So, inadvertently, I wound up having a week-long vacation at Zion, which means, needless to say, that I ate in every restaurant in town, some two or three times.

And you know what? It wasn't bad. Good breakfasts at a couple of places, including the Bumbleberry Inn (which does however have a bad case of the cutes) and the Pioneer Restaurant, with the Zen koan-like slogan, "Home of home-cooked cooking." (Though for sheer slogan hilarity, there's the place somewhere on Route 66 whose big neon sign promises "Ho-Made Pies." Nice of someone to take the poor gals out of the urban environment and find them work out west.) Decent upscale dinners at a lodge-like place on the edge of town. Etc.

So, I guess my point is, except maybe where there's skiing there probably aren't a lot of stunningly good places but it's a part of the world where heck, they make the classic American stuff pretty decently.

Durango will probably have the usual hipster burger and Mexican joints, as well as some more upscale attempts.

In the stretches between places, look for local places offering Mexican/New Mexican food that seem to attract latinos. I've had many a good bowl of red or green chile accompanied by a basket of sopaipillas in that part of the country, often found just on the side of the road.

Be wary of Mexican/New Mexican places that attract a lot of Anglos, I've had some very weird experiences where I thought I knew what I ordered but it came in a remarkably different form (not talking foam and trapezes here, more a dumbed-down bad food experience).

Over the last number of years I've done alot of backpacking in the area. Our last night of the trip is always in a hotel in the town we fly from so we can end with a hot shower and hopefully a good meal. Santa Fe will of course reward you nicely but Durango will probably be the only other really good food you'll find.

We always finish our trip in Durango at a restaurant called Seasons Rotisserie and Grill. A little on the pricey side(though not by Chicago standards) it doesn't break any ground with exciting cuisine but it's good solid fare. Nice wine list. Of course, after backpacking cuisine(I use the term lightly) for 3 nights, it's like eating at Charlie Trotters. http://www.seasonsonthenet.com/

Cedar City will be a wasteland for food, as will anyplace around Escalante or Moab. Heavily entrenched in Mormon territory they care more about several courses of wives than a menu degustation. The area has incredible beauty and fantastic hiking but figure on eating very basic food. Can't recommend anything.

However, maybe backpacking cuisine should be a topic for future discussion.

RevrendAndy wrote:Of course, after backpacking cuisine(I use the term lightly) for 3 nights, it's like eating at Charlie Trotters.

The only thing worse than 3 nights of backpacking cuisine is three nights of having to listen to RevrendAndy snore for three nights. My culinary favorite in Blanding, UT is the Patio Drive-in which serves a killer green chile cheeseburger. Andy will disagree with me on this. It might be because of the response he got from the kitchen staff when he requested the black truffle reduction on his burger.

IMO, at the Patio, the only thing killer about the burger is the trip to the bathroom an hour later. And by the way, if you haven't had green chili and truffle, try it, it's delectable. It pairs particularly well with an earthy syrah.

You probably have a ton of Santa Fe recommendations. The town right now is full of tourists - you can't swing a chile ristra without hitting a Texan swinging a chile ristra.

If you like tamales, one Santa Fe experience you might not have on your list is an ancient little neighborhood grocery store on Camino Don Miguel off Acequia Madre which sells tamales from a hot box next to the cash register. These tamales have a very high filling-to-masa ratio, not the way I like to make them, but still outstanding, especially if you can get them just after they've been made. I would buy one of each (usually red pork, red chicken, green chicken), eat them on a table outside, and then go back in and buy more based on which, if any, you liked best. These tamales, IMO, are better than any you'll get at any of the restaurants in town.

Bill/SFNM

If you find yourself at Zion National Park, check out Springdale, UT. It's a quaint little town sort of within the park, I suppose if you're heading in east from 15. Springdale has lots of good, homey food, with surprisingly gourmet-ish hints. There's a pizza/pasta place which shouldn't be missed... good salads and interesting pizzas.

I just drove through that way on my move from Chicago to Vegas. The detour through Zion was worth it. Absolutely beautiful, and I hate the outdoors!

If you're going to be in Santa Fe, you night as well try the somewhat legendary (although legends vary and are suspect) "Frito-Pie." It is sold in the old pharmacy/soda fountain near the plaza and is as new world meets um, new world Hispanic Cuisine (or, tourist mongering faux tradition) as you can get. It's a bag of Fritos with chili (not pork-based fire-roasted chile which is smothered on just about everything in the southwest and wonderful) and a gob of shredded cheese. You eat it out of the Frito bag with a fork. It's a favorite at high school basketball games in New Mexico. I didn't say it was great but it is a tradition of sorts.

My brother lived for years in Dolores, CO and everyone says it's completely delightful and a refreshing alternative to Durango--sweet hippie bakeries and bookstores and a lovely river rushing through town. But I've never been so can't advise.

Despite the jokes about the green chile burger above, my husband, a native Chicagaon, had a life altering green-chile smothered cheeseburger somewhere outside of Taos (we can't remember quite where but that's another story) and since he's felt this longing that we've just about given up on. So if you try one and like it, do tell, because we'd love to know.

But it would be kind of torture since green or red chile doesn't exist in Chicagoland.

Anyhow, enjoy. My best experiences have been at mom & pop places in the SW or just ask someone,"Where's the best green chile in town?"

bjt

bjt wrote:It's a bag of Fritos with chili (not pork-based fire-roasted chile which is smothered on just about everything in the southwest and wonderful) and a gob of shredded cheese. You eat it out of the Frito bag with a fork.

As my teenage son says, "meh."

I see the same thing 'round here, they call it a "walking taco" at park district football games, boy scout outings, etc. It beats velveeta-on-cardboard-tortilla-chip-nachos, but not by much.

bjt wrote:Despite the jokes about the green chile burger above, my husband, a native Chicagaon, had a life altering green-chile smothered cheeseburger somewhere outside of Taos (we can't remember quite where but that's another story)

BJT,

I remember an outstanding meal on the drive from Santa Fe to Taos at Dollie's Cafe in Espanola, NM. Darn if I can remember if what was so delicious was posole or green chile burger. Only way I remember the name of the place is I was moved enough to buy a hat.

As an aside, I found, while looking up Dollie's on google, google beta maps where you can get satellite imagery right down to street level.

This is a bit like Keyhole, which goodle owns and offered as a two week trial. I tried Keyhole on the free trial after Ed Fisher/Gleam mentioned it on LTH a while back. Very cool, but I did not feel the need to purchase after the trial period ended.

Just looked up Keyhole and it seems google is now offering the basic version for no cost. If this is the same program as Keyhole it's interesting and fun. As a caution, if you don't have a quick connection and fairly new computer Earth Google is going to be more annoyance than fun and interesting.

Enjoy,
Gary

The free version of google earth is quite cool. The ability to overlay CTA/Metra stations/tracks on the normal map is incredibly useful, and the flying effects are nice too.

But, as gary said, it requires a broadband connection and a computer running windows. They've got a mac version in the works, but no release date yet.

[My brother lived for years in Dolores, CO and everyone says it's completely delightful and a refreshing alternative to Durango--sweet hippie bakeries and bookstores and a lovely river rushing through town. But I've never been so can't advise.]

Oh yeah, Dolores. It's been about 20 years since I've visited and at that time there were no hippies or memorable bookstores. "Sweet" was not the adjective used to describe it. The most endearing place there used to be the Hollywood Bar. I remember being in late one summer night with a friend knocking down beers. There was a fan set up at the end of the bar to provide some air flow. The bartender was cleaning glasses near that part of the bar. One of the "sophisticated" clientele who had probably had about 7 Jack & Cokes and was now working on a pitcher of beer, took the 3/4 full pitcher, walked to the end of the bar and threw the contents into the back of the fan. Physics caused the beer to completely soak the bartender who promptly grabbed a baseball bat, leaped over the bar and began chasing the perp. My pal and I thought this would be an excellent time for us to exit.

And, this was on a relatively quiet night at the Hollywood!

I graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango - a long time ago. I was in their third graduating class back in 1966. I grew up in Farmington - fifty miles south of Durango. I have lived and visited the area off and on, but have lived in Georgia for over twenty years.

Disclaimers out of the way - here are my thoughts. At the Four Corners are vendors selling various foods and trinkets. Plan to be hungry enough to get a Navajo taco. If you aren't very hungry - plan on splitting it three or four ways. They are very large. Navajo tacos may also be found throughout the reservation communities. The best I ever had was in Tuba City, but I understand that that particular restaurant has recently closed.

Several posts on some message board suggest that there is very good BBQ in Moab. I don't recall the name, but I doubt there is more than one BBQ place in Moab. Locals will know what and where it is.

Silverton - fifty miles north of Durango - has a year round population of less than 500 souls. Last summer they had twenty restaurants - mostly selling lunch to the tourists who rode the train up from Durango. The best places in Silverton vary from year to year - but one or two are usually pretty decent. If you have time, I would suggest you ride the train from Durango to Silverton and return on the bus. Reservations are necessary. The bus ride back allows you to return to Durango sooner and to see a bit more of the area.

Farmington has a brew pub at the corner of Orchard and Main. That should be something like 101 E Main St. It is in an old turn of the century drug store building. It has opened since I was last in the area, but it gets high marks for both their brews and their food from what I have read.

Green chile cheeseburgers are popular throughout the New Mexico area. Blake's Lotta Burger is one of the better sources.

The last time we were in Cuba (midway between Farmington and Albuquerque) we had the best meal I have ever had in Cuba - and I have been visiting Cuba since 1951. I don't recall the name, but it is in a southwestern looking building on the right side (when northbound) after you have passed through most of the community.

I know that I am being vague, and I apologize for that. Just the same, I hope this and the other posts help you to have a most enjoyable visit. Please let us hear about your trip when you return.

Only a few meals so far:
Day 2 Las Vegas (Day 1 was just arrival):
Peppermill: not the cheap breakfast I'd asked recommendation for, but quite good. 10-egg omelets, plate-sized pancakes, chorizo and eggs, all excellent, and all more than we wanted to eat. Located on the strip between Wynn and Circus Circus, it's all decorated in neon and tiffany-style lamps, very surreal for breakfast.

Lotus of Siam: Wow -- much better than my first time there. Sea Bass with chile basil sauce over rice noodles was outstanding (one of the daily specials $19.95), padd sw ew (that's how they spelled it) disappointed Thing 1 (he likes it very very sweet), but beef with pepper garlic sauce for Thing 2 was awesome, as well as MrsF's curry with noodles (forgot which one, one of the specials). Appetizers were spicy wings (very very good), and Issan sausage (terrific). The boys ordered "red soda with cream". This turned out to be flavored, well, red. Mixing the cream in made it rather pink, and the artificial flavors reminded me too much of pediatric penicillin suspension :^P

As many have said before me, Lotus of Siam is a restaurant in Vegas not to be missed. Service is wonderful, and food is a big step beyond most of the Thai available anywhere (although Spoon was nearly as delicious).

Day 3
Quick breakfast of stuff we bought in Walmart the day before so we could get on the road quickly. In Grand Canyon Village (Tusayon AZ), "We Cook Our Own Pizza and Pasta" was better than I expected. Kids like the pizza, Mrs. F had a somewhat bready but tasty calzone, I had cheese ravioli. Decent salad bar for middle-of-nowhere. Excellent hot wings: crispy and a good heat level that doesn't scorch but doesn't make me wish for Tabasco either.

I was going to call this section A Tale of Two Chiles, but it's grown to three or so, so that would be silly.

Let's see how the next days shaped up, chow-wise:
Leaving Grand Canyon after a hike part-way down (freakin' GPS can't pick up a signal near the canyon wall), we stopped at Carvel for ice cream back in Tusayan (in the same center as "We Cook Pizza and Pasta". Good old-fashioned kind of ice cream you just don't see in Chicago much: both soft serve and hand dipped, and their shakes were just soft serve whipped up with extra chocolate syrup. Yum!

After visiting Wupatki and Sunset Crater Nat'l Monuments, we headed for Holbrook, AZ for a night of camping. We dined at Romo's on Route 66 (Hopi near Navaho, the only 90-degree turn on Historic Route 66). It was listed as Best Family Food in "Where the Locals Eat" which is sometimes a hit-or-miss book. That night it was a pretty good hit. A Chicken Fried Steak (american style with gravy) satisfied Thing 1, Thing 2 had the beef chimichanga with red chile, which was basically a whole potroast wrapped in a flour tortilla, fried and smothered with a smoky red sauce. MrsF had enchiladas, and I had the chicken chimi, with green chile. Pretty good, but not a go-out-of-your-way kind of place. Service was fine, but the atmosphere leaves something to be desired, even for Route 66 kitsch.

As I'm typing these offline, I'm going to do one day per message, so the next chile's in the next message.

Leaving Holbrook heading east, we went to Gallup NM to see how good the prices are on silver and turquoise at Richardson's Trading Post and a couple of the other pawn places downtown. Bought a couple pieces (MrsF's got her anniversary present now).

A surprise a couple blocks down from Richardson's is Oasis Cafe, a middle-eastern joint, which also sells middle-eastern groceries, and is attached to another art-and-jewelry place.
Much better than I'd expect for middle-of-nowhere New Mexico. Hummos was smooth and flavored well with olive oil. Lots of mint in the falafel. Kibbeh had a crisp outside and soft inside, much better than my Pita Inn standard of comparison.

That evening we made Albuquerque, and tried another Where the Locals Eat place, The Owl, on Eubank, just off I-40. Not everything on the menu is covered with green chile, but everything we ate was: A Chile Cheeseburger, an Albuquerque Patty Melt (grilled onions and toasty rye make a great foil for the chiles), a Chile Dog and Mom's Quesadilla (with cheese and bacon and sour cream and guac in addition to the chile). All were terrific, and probably the best chile we've had on this trip. On the other hand, the coconut cream pie was a disappointment. Artificial cream topping, not enough coconut, and a soggy crust made for a sad pie. Ask me about my childhood ur-pie experience in Chattanooga some time.

Albuquerque took us to Santa Fe. Lunch was on the plaza: Roque's Carnitas, really fajitas of steak, onions and peppers in a drippy tortilla: excellent, and this pushcart's been hyped from Roadfood to the Trib. Also pork/red chile, cheese/green chile tamales were very good (although the latter was a bit dry). They also make a good lemonade.

No dinner to report -- friends in town made dinner (great Posole, guys, plus the steak and shrimp)

Taos: After rafting on the Rio Grande (lotta fun, supposed to be even better, though colder in spring), lunch in Taos at Taoseña on the main drag into town. Highly recommended to me for their smothered chile cheeseburger, it was indeed very good, but I thought their turkey-laden green chile didn't hold a candle to The Owl's.

Dinner that night was in Red River at Old Timer's Bar and Cafe. Service was awful, food just OK. I wish we'd thought to make reservations at Sundance in Red River, since that's where everyone was lined up to eat, but we didn't feel like waiting an hour and forty-five minutes.

Leaving Red River, we visited San Luis Colorado, the Great Sand Dunes National Park (thanks Bill Clinton for upgrading from Monument), and the Zapata Falls (very cool canyon), before heading out to Durango, CO.

Dinner was at Ariano's, 150 E College Dr, Durango.
They're listed as Northern Italian, but aside from the Tuscan Pork Chop (very tasty and meaty and juicy, although the beans were a little underdone), and the use of proscuito di parma, I can't say they're particularly northern. Fresh pastas, tasty sauces, and an outstanding corn cake appetizer: fried sweet corn cakes flavored with cayenne, with a very crisp outside atop red bell pepper puree, topped with mascarpone. As Rachel Ray would say, "Mmm mmm mm mm mmmm." A little on the pricey side for basic above-average Italian ($11-30 for pastas and entrees), but typical for Durango.

Just a quick update -- Utah is proving tough on chow.
Moab has been OK -- the Moab Brewery has a nice selection of tasty food (although I've been told it's not truly local, just a 'localized' chain). Beer-B-Q pork sammy had slices of pork with a nice smoke flavor, but an insipid sauce -- properly topped with slaw, but if you do that, why add a lettuce leaf? Beer cheese soup was terriffic, too. I've already forgotten what else we had.

Lunch that same day was in the Moab Diner. Nothing amazing to report there, but certainly an OK stop.

The next night was in Torrey, Utah, near Capitol Reef. A Coyote Cafe sounded great (rattlesnake cakes, f'rinstance), but at $18-30 for entrees a little out of our price range. Monday night $1 shakes at Brinks' Burgers sufficed. Nothing beyond basic carryout burger fare, but they fried all the fried stuff (rings, corn dogs, fries, fish n chips) to perfection.

The coffee shop at the junction of 24 and 12 has fantastic bagels, and free internet with a $3 purchase.

We had dinner the next night in an unimpressive place in Tropic, near Bryce Canyon. Short ribs were OK, trout was pretty tasteless, so I'm not going to elaborate beyond that.

RevrendAndy wrote:Cedar City will be a wasteland for food, as will anyplace around Escalante or Moab.

Cedar City tonight actually was pretty good for ordinary fare: Pizza Factory pleased us all with a barbeque pizza that wasn't insipid (although it did benefit a lot from some crushed red pepper) with mushrooms, chicken and red onion, and calzones topped with meat sauce that Thing 1 and Thing 2 overstuffed with more meats. Decent salad bar, and an excellent "Never on Sunday" sunday on top of a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie (3 scoops with chocolate and caramel sauces with whipped cream for $4.95) -- they sell the dough, plus some wonderful looking lollipops in flavors such as Root Beer Float, Orange Creme and Lemon Meringue. The front desk of the hotel recommended a couple other places -- nothing is going to be foodie fare, but at least we found very edible.

And by the way, we aren't backpacking, although we did pack backpacks, and are staying in tents about half the time -- it's 'car camping'. We have made a couple of meals, and this would be a good topic for discussion.