Santa Fe - Food, Opera and problem drinking

It was that time of year again. Pack up the dogs and Andy's Better Sister-in-Law and I headed to Santa Fe for the Opera and other pleasures. This year we had tickets for Mozart's Magic Flute and the Santa Fe Opera did not disappoint. It was a world class performance.

We drove down on Wednesday and checked into the Casa Pueblo. Owned by the Eldorado Hotel, it's a nice inn, close to the plaza and of course, they take dogs. We felt like Italian food for our first night so made reservations at Il Piatto. But first, we thought we would inaugurate our trip with martinis at the Old House bar in the Eldorado. Sue always displays better judgement than me so she only had 1 Bombay Sapphire martini. I went for two.

We then departed for Il Piatto and a dynamite dinner, as usual. Sue had gnocchi and I had the farfalle with braised duck.



I didn't bring my camera to dinner, but you get the point. A bottle of red wine was a good match but thanks to the martinis, I couldn't tell you what we ordered. I do remember some sort of chocolate dessert as well as a couple of glasses of port. It was a miracle that I made it back to the hotel but didn't feel so great the next morning. But I do remember that as usual, Il Piatto was great. Highly recommended.

Since dinner on Wednesday involved so much alcohol, we decided that for Thursday's lunch the only thing to do was tamales and tequila tasting at Maria's.





OK. We didn't have this tequila. It was a bottle I picked up at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Convention this year and is not yet widely distributed. But it is great stuff. The tamale is one that Sue made a couple of months ago and has been in our freezer. But, Maria's tamales are fabulous! Homemade, of course. Their green chile stew, however, is only so-so but the fresh tortillas are worth it. From the tasting, our favorite tequila was the Tres Generaciones anejo followed by the El Tesoro Paradiso Anejo.

It was a late dinner Thursday night at the Coyote Cantina. We had the trio of appetizers and the chipotle shrimp was a definite standout. Probably because I can't remember the other two that came on the plate! But I also had their tortilla soup, called Sopa Azteca. It was outstanding but I don't know why they call it Sopa Azteca unless the secret ingredient is a freshly plucked beating heart. The only disappointment was Sue's margarita. You'd think that the Coyote Cantina could make one that wasn't watery. But it couldn't hold a candle to Reverend Andy's special blend marg.

Lunch on Friday was one of our regular favorites, the Plaza Restaurant. Many people think that because it's on the Plaza, it's a mediocre crappy tourist joint serving canned stuff like this:



Couldn't be further from the truth. My posole with green chile was excellent and I opted for a fresh flour tortilla instead of their signature sopapilla. Sue had the sopapilla and a comforting turkey burger. We hit the plaza for breakfast on Saturday for their superlative Papas Fritas.

Friday night was the opera and we did our traditional tailgate party with some friends who met us there. We picked up a range of delicacies from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Actually, we didn't find anything at Trader Joe's but I thought I'd mention it because so many people get orgasmic at the very mention of TJ's. I really don't get it. Whole Foods had much better stuff. We put together a charcuterie tray that also included cheese, fruit, peppers, olives, onions and a baquette. Dessert was a variety of dark chocolate truffles and chunks. A bottle of Cotes du Rhone and a bottle of Syrah provided lubrication.



Saturday's dinner was an absolutely stellar meal at The Compound.



No, they are not serving traditional Chinese food. Here are Idgie and Buddy waiting for us on Canyon Road just a short distance from The Compound earlier that day while we went gallery hopping. I didn't bring my camera to this meal either.

Here's what we had in no particular order. As a tribute to Mayor Daley, we began with sweetbreads with foie gras and a corn soup with foie gras. Also a couple of orders of tuna tartare. Entrees were a pork loin chop on polenta, gnocchi (guess who) and two orders of beef tenderloin. Everything was executed to perfection. We began with a bottle of (James) Arneis followed by a William Hill Cab. Lots of chocolate and cheese for dessert as well as madeira and port. It was expensive and worth it.

All in all, another successful visit to Santa Fe.

Nice...strap me in ORD-ABQ, it's chile harvest. Is it possible to have a bad meal in Santa Fe?

Fast Eddie wrote:Nice...strap me in ORD-ABQ, it's chile harvest. Is it possible to have a bad meal in Santa Fe?

Yes. I've never been crazy about Tomasita's although some people swear by it. And we did have one really bad Thanksgiving dinner at the Old House. But, it just might have been the holiday thing.

I've never been crazy about Tomasita's although some people swear by it. And we did have one really bad Thanksgiving dinner at the Old House. But, it just might have been the holiday thing.

Count me as a fan of Tomasita's. I'd be a regular if I lived there (which has crossed my mind more than once). As a matter of fact, I, too, have wondered about the odds of finding a bad meal in SF. I fondly recall a two-week vacation in SF not so long ago where I had every meal at a different place (doubling up only twice) and nary a bad meal. Some I liked more than others, but not a bad one.

Gypsy Boy wrote:As a matter of fact, I, too, have wondered about the odds of finding a bad meal in SF. I fondly recall a two-week vacation in SF not so long ago where I had every meal at a different place (doubling up only twice) and nary a bad meal. Some I liked more than others, but not a bad one.

Since I've been visiting Santa Fe for about 26 years now, I started wracking what brains I have left to ponder this and cannot come up with any bad meal that really stands out. Maybe we should start a new thread: "What's been a really bad meal in Santa Fe?"

The *WORST* meal that I had in New Mexico (and anywhere recently) was at the Santa Fe Chile Company.

I knew that I was in trouble when I walked in. Was it a restaurant, a commercial kitchen, a grocery store/outlet, or a food processing facility? Actually, ALL of the above.

I ordered the Tres Amigos, chips and three salsas for $5.95. We did not receive tortilla chips as you would expect. We received what I believe were those Tostidos round chips which were very heavily salted. The salsas were not fresh but their bottled versions. They were OK but nothing worth writing home about. In fact, I like TJs bottled salsas better.

I ordered the Texas Chili as did my nephew. What I got was pathetic mix of ground beef, tomatoes, and beans. There was no chili powder or cumin. There was a hint of jalapeno but the flavor was not developed enough. Completely tasteless. Hormel canned at least has some flavor.

The real sin was that the tab was $25. I could have had a heck of a lot better meal for HALF the price and been satisfied.

This business has to decide what they are going to be. If they want to be a gift shop, clean up the area and stock it with some good inventory (rather than cases like you find at GFS Marketplace). If they want to be a food processing facility, clean up the place and generate some volume. If you want to be a restaurant, just heating up prepared food isn't going to cut it.


Santa Fe Chile Company
500 Sandoval
Santa Fe, New Mexico
505.995.9667

jlawrence01 wrote:The *WORST* meal that I had in New Mexico (and anywhere recently) was at the Santa Fe Chile Company.

FWIW, my general rule is to stay far away from any restaurant that has "company" or "factory" in its name!

jlawrence01 wrote:The *WORST* meal that I had in New Mexico (and anywhere recently) was at the Santa Fe Chile Company.

This business has to decide what they are going to be.

They have: tourist trap

Bill/SFNM

I can't say that I have had a bad meal in 30 years of going to Santa Fe but last trip we did have an "odd" meal. My friends have been living in Santa Fe for 40+ years and always want to treat me to something new, they go everywhere and know everyone. This trip the "new" place was called Dinner for Two on Sandoval. My friend has known the owner for years at different locales so we were greated warmly. Our server was nice but he kept leaving us to serve for a private wine tasting the owner was hosting at the tiny bar. It was absurb, he would serve one of us, then run off, then bring another plate and run off again, it took nearly a half hour before the four of us had food in front of us! After that we were all but forgotten. The food was so so, not memorable at all and I felt embarassed for my friend who raved about this place but was treated so badly.

A higher-end place you might want to add your list of Santa Fe restaurants to try isLa Mancha at the Galisteo Inn. Enrique Guerrero, formerly of the French Laundry, run this "Nuevo Hacienda" kitchen with great passion. He is in the kitchen, on the floor, at the front, in the bar, everywhere at once!

The setting is spectacular, especially outdoors under the trees, weather permitting. The food isn't all perfect, but many dishes are indeed glorious with a total emphasis on local products.

I've been twice and intend to return often. Galisteo is less than a half-hour drive from Santa Fe.

La Manch Restaurant at The Galisteo Inn
9 La Vega
Galisteo, New Mexico 87540
866-404-8200

Bill/SFNM

Bill, We read a story about La Boca which opened last Saturday in the space formerly occupied by Paul's. If you get the bug to try it, I'd be interested in seeing your post here about the experienc.

Some foodie friends ate there last week. They may have rushed the opening for Indian Market. Promising, but still a lot of kinks to work out. I'll wait a month or two before going.

Bill/SFNM