My friend Bobbie and I went to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a long weekend July 10 through July 13. I discovered on this trip that it is very dangerous to go to Santa Fe with a girlfriend instead of a husband. Spending too much money is very easy with this mix. I worked a half day on the 10th, came home, grabbed the bags and we left for the airport. It seemed like we had plenty of time, according to our calculations, to get to our hotel, refresh and possibly take a nap, before heading to our first reservation which was dinner at the Santacafe. Things were not going right from the start. For any of you who have flown Southwest Airlines, I'm sure you know what a pain they can be. We obtained our boarding cards and our numbers put us in the second group. Unfortunately, we could not adequately hear the announcements from the person who was directing the boarding. By the time we realized that this was the case the plane was nearly fully boarded. Southwest employs a policy of festival seating. Bobbie and I could not find seats next to each other. Bobbie squeezed into the middle seat in one row. I found another row with an empty middle seat and asked if it was taken. It was not but instead of getting out and letting me take that seat, the gentleman in the aisle seat moved over into it freeing the aisle seat for me. That was very nice. Very nice, indeed. This enabled me to arrange a swap with the person in the aisle seat next to Bobbie. Very good. Our car rental was with Alamo. Alamo is not on the airport grounds so that took care of the original plan for me to rent the car while Bobbie collected her bags. I only had carry ons. Off to the Alamo site to rent the car. Even though the car we were assigned was brand new (ony 7 miles on it) the owners manual didn't exactly match it and it took a while to figure out how to work some of the more minor features, like the side-view mirrors. Finally, we were on the road. Time was slipping away. Maybe we wouldn't have time for that nap but a short refresh was still in the plan. We drove without incident to our hotel and checked in. No problem. Off to our rooms. I went into to my room. No problem. Next door, over at Bobbie's room, problem. She couldn't get her door open. I tried. I couldn't get her door open. We tried and tried. The key did not seem to want to open the door. Bobbie sat at her room with her bags. I went to the front desk to get help. There were lots of people checking in and it took a while before I could get anybody's attention. Back at the room, the hotel employee took Bobbie's key and, just like that, the door opened. Why couldn't Bobbie do it? Why couldn't I do it? Now we were both operating the key lock without any problem. There must have been some kind of spell cast on the lock that the hotel employee needed to break. By now all of our relax time was gone and we needed to quickly dress for dinner and hie to the restaurant. I have never witnessed a colder summer night in Santa Fe. The wind was blowing. There was lightening around, but not in, the city. Even still, we chose to sit on the patio. The dining room seemed so crowded and noisy. It probably would have been fine once we sat down and relaxed but instead we sat down and shivered. I went out to the car to get my coat. I'm glad I had it with me. For the first course Bobbie ordered the Grilled Shrimp Satay with Red Curry Peanut Sauce and Mango Salad. It was good enough. Bobbie liked it. Bobbie was drinking coffee. I ordered the House Cured Gravlax with Tomato Caper Vinaigrette and Pickled Red Onions. This was the best gravlax I've ever eaten. I was thrilled. I decided to drink a glass of Champagne with my appetizer. There was one French Champagne and one New Mexican Champagne on the menu. I asked the waiter if I would be disappointed with the New Mexican Champagne. He said that he thought I would like it. I decided to take a chance on it. I had a glass of non-vintage New Mexico Gruet/Blanc de Noirs Brut. I did like it and it matched my gravlax very well. For the main course Bobbie ate the Oven Roasted Chile Relleno with Asadero Cheese, Mushrooms and Quinoa Roasted Chipotle Cream. This was a very nice chile relleno. I liked the Chipotle Cream sauce a lot. My main course was the Seared Breast of Chicken with Red Pepper Polenta, Arugula and Basil-Poblano Chile Glaze. My chicken was served before the wine I had ordered to drink with the dish, an Australian 1996 Lindeman's Shiraz/Cabernet "Cavarra". I think that it is incorrect service when the wine does not preceed or accompany the course for which it is ordered. At an expensive restaurant I do not accept this kind of service. I told the person who delivered the food that my chicken would sit on the table getting cold up until the point that my wine was served. He got the picture and brought the wine immediately. This dish would have been good had my chicken not been so very over-cooked. In fact, after eating about half of my chicken, I decided not to finish it. I ate everything else on the plate. Our server never came to the table to inquire as to our satisfaction with our food. He had talked to us after we were served our appetizer course, but he was nowhere to be found after we were served the main course. When the server came to take our dessert orders I reminded him that he never came back to our table to check on our progress and satisfaction and even though he never asked how our main course was I was going to tell him now. I told him about the chicken being overcooked. He told me that he would not charge me for it. Bobbie's dessert was three scoops of sorbet. The flavors were gooseberry, red currant, and melon. My favorite was the red currant. I ordered the Upside-down Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. The cake was OK. The ice cream was very good. With my dessert I drank a glass of Dow's 10 year old tawny Port. The total cost, tax and tip included, was $100.00. This price includes the subtraction of the cost of the chicken dish. The chicken dish, had we paid for it, would have added $19.00 plus tax to the total. We added the price of the chicken into the pre-tip total before computing the tip. Santacafe 231 Washington Ave. Santa Fe 505-984-1788 After our meal we took a little late night walk around town and headed back to our rooms. In the morning we awakened to face our first full day in New Mexico. We decided not to have breakfast. We headed to the flea market that is just past the opera house when heading out of town. The flea market was great fun, although our time was limited because we had a lunch reservation at Embudo Station. We spent 1 1/2 hours at the flea market. Although we could not complete the market in that length of time, we were not deterred from making many purchases. I bought some pins for Christmas gifts. I bought a pin and some earrings for myself. Bobbie bought herself some earrings and a couple of bracelets. She also bought some rocks. She bought a few gifts. Time was evaporating yet again. On the way out I wanted to look for a jacket I saw last year. I thought about it all year long and I was determined to buy it if it was still available. It was. I bought it. I love it. While Bobbie was buying one of her bracelets I struck up a conversation with a guy who was selling "mystical" stuff. I don't even know how I found myself in his booth. When it came out that I live in Los Angeles he said that he loves to come to Los Angeles to eat. I remarked that I found that funny because I love to come to Santa Fe to eat. I asked him which places in Los Angeles he likes and dislikes. It appeared to me from his restaurant selections in my home city that he knows good restaurants. We compared notes about restaurants in Santa Fe where I've eaten. He asked me if I had ever eaten at Geronimo's. I said that I had shied away from it because it was on Canyon. He said that I should make a point of eating there. My reservations the next night were at Paul's. I wasn't looking forward to dinner at Paul's with a lot of excitement so I thought I'd see if I could change the plans. We dragged ourselves away from the flea market and headed for Embudo Station with one side trip. We drove up highway 76 out of Espanola. I wanted to find the roadside stands that sell chile powder made from sun-dried Chamayo chiles. Item found and purchased we returned to highway 68 to Emubdo Station. Embudo Station has a restaurant that does not have the best food but the ambiance is lovely. The restaurant and micro-brewery is on the banks of the Rio Grande. You sit outside under the shade trees and the river runs by. I love to sit here and I usually find something to eat. I just may not remember what it is. Bobbie ate a beef burrito with red chile sauce. She had asked for some red and some green sauce but our server declined her request. She drank a Pepsi. I have absolutely no recollection of what I ate. I drank a Hale- Bob brown ale. It was a nice beer. They had a real nice picture of the Hale-Bop comet on display in the restaurant. We saw a real neat snake slither on through. The total cost for two, tax and tip included, was $28.00. Embudo Station U.S. Highway 68 505-852-4707 >From Emudo Station we continued on to Taos. We decided to visit Taos Pueblo. I've never been to one of the pueblos before. We took a tour. It was very interesting. After the tour we found a place in Taos city to park the car. Bobbie bought a coffee at a cafe on the plaza so we could use the facilities. We also used the coffee as an opportunity to rest our weary feet, sitting outside on the cafe's patio. We wandered in and out of some of the shops on the plaza but the stuff all looks the same after a while. We walked up to the Historic Taos Inn. We sat on their patio. Bobbie drank a Pepsi. I drank a Bombay Sapphire martini straight up with a twist. We were lucky to get a table on the patio so easily. The parade of people who wandered by was very interesting. Historic Taos Inn 125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte Taos 505-758-1977 After wetting our whistles we returned to our car. I slipped into the back seat and changed from my short pants into my long pants. Bobbie sat in the front seat and tried to look nonchalant. Our next stop was Jacquelina's. I had called Jacquelina's from home and arranged with the chef to have him prepare a special meal of his choosing for us. Our first course was a seafood terrine in a potato sandwich. This involved a bed of soft cooked and minced potatoes underneath the terrine and a waffle cut fried potato on top. The dish was served with a red bell pepper sauce. It was a wonderful way to start the meal. The second course was a black pepper chicken breast in a Zinfandel cream sauce. The chicken was served with some red and green bell pepper polenta and a small salad of mixed greens with white truffle oil. The truffle oil was wonderful on the salad of mixed greens. I had never seen truffle oil used that way. The third course was roast pork with ancho chile and chipotle chile sauce. The pork was served with a cabbage roll that was stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. Also included in this course were smoked onion hush puppies. The fourth course was puff pastry with onion marmalade and fresh halibut. The sauce was a mango white wine butter sauce. For dessert we were served a cherry sabayon with fresh strawberries and white chocolate shavings. By this time we were absolutely stuffed. I only managed a few bites of the dessert. With the meal I drank a Bohemia beer. Bobbie drank a Pepsi. With dessert she drank coffee. I arrange a "chef's sampler" with Chuck (the chef) every summer. As usual, Chuck prepared a fabulous meal. Dinner for two, tax and tip included, was $76. I also tipped the kitchen another $20 for going out of their way to make the special meal. Jacquelina's Restaurant 1541 South Santa Fe Road Taos 505-751-0399 We took a little walk before heading back to Santa Fe. Bobbie wanted to smoke a cigarette and I just wanted to move. The drive back to Santa Fe was tough. It was late. I was full. I was tired. Back at the hotel I called Geronimo's. People were still there. I made a reservation for our next dinner. I called Paul's and cancelled our reservation there. I think it's very rude to have a restaurant reservation and not to show up. It is not very much effort to call and cancel. The next morning we were planning to do some more serious investigation of the flea market. On our way we stopped at Tesuque Village Market for breakfast. I ate the blue corn pancakes with sausage links and maple syrup. I love the flavor of sausage when maple syrup drips on them. I drank a large orange juice. Bobbie drank coffee. That was it. We sat outside on the patio. I really can't leave Santa Fe without eating at least one meal at the Tesuque Village Market. Breakfast for two, well one with a coffee for the other, tax and tip included, was $16.00. Tesuque Village Market Bishop Lodge and State Road 591 Tesuque 505-988-8848 As we were preparing to leave Tesuque Village Market I noticed that my credit card was missing. I panicked. I returned to our table but it was already clean. I found our server. As soon as she saw me she broke out into a big grin and handed me my card. Bobbie checked her cards, just for sanity's sake, I think. Her debit card was missing. The last time she used it was in Los Angeles. Great. We returned to the hotel to execute a complete search for the debit card. It was nowhere to be found. We called the bank where it was last used. They had not found it. We called Bobbie's bank in Pittsburgh and cancelled the card. Luckily nobody had charged any purchases nor made any attempts to withdraw money from her account. Knowing that her money was intact Bobbie was raring to shop. We spent 3 1/2 more hours at the flea market. I found a beaded belt that just couldn't be left. Bobbie bought an embroidered vest. Bobbie bought me a red glass bottle and a pot holder with the title, "Avocado Opera." It's a riot. As the market was closing Bobbie made a good deal on a black clay pot. I like it a lot. For lunch in the middle of all of this Bobbie ate a cheese and rice tamale. She liked this quite well, much better than she expected. I drank a smoothie with banana, strawberry, and milk. When it was impossible to shop at the flea market anymore because it had reached the end of its day we headed outward from Santa Fe to an Indian store where I like to shop. I don't remember its name but its the first store on the right heading towards Taos. After shopping at the flea market it was impossible to buy anything. There is no doubt that the flea market has great prices that cannot be beat. We returned to the hotel to dress for dinner. I figured that we would drive to the restaurant to locate it and then make the big search for parking. There was no way to anticipate finding parking on Canyon Road. I was pleased to find that the restaurant has its own parking lot. Even if it hadn't, there was plenty of parking available on the street at that hour. Geronimo's has little fireplaces set all around the restaurant. I suspect that it would be a very romantic restaurant in the winter. Even still, I enjoyed it in the summer. For a first course Bobbie and I shared Romaine Leaves with Caesar Lime Dressing, Dry Aged Jack Cheese, Grilled Jalapeno, Cilantro, and Brioche Croutons. I didn't love this. It tasted more of chile than anything else. The salad was not interesting because of it. For a main course Bobbie at the Grilled, Naturally Raised Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Potato, Pinto Beans, Tomatillo Verde Sauce and White Cheddar. I ate the Mesquite Grilled Chile Rubbed Tuna with a Warm Chinese Noodle-Oyster Mushroom Salad, Grilled Onion Wasabi Beurre Blanc and Guacamole. My tuna was something on the order of 1 1/2 inches thick. It was perfectly cooked. Nice and raw in the middle. And it was very tender. A beautiful piece of fish in a lovely sauce. Bobbie drank Pepsi. I drank two glasses of 1995 Oregon Foris Pinot Noir. It was a wonderful wine. For dessert Bobbie ate the Mexican Flourless Chocolate Almond Torte with Brown Sugar Bourbon Sauce and Chocolate Almond Bark. I ate the House-made White Chocolate Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Wafer Sandwich with Chocolate Drizzle and Candied Pine Nuts. The dish was supposed to come with mint ice cream but I requested the change and they made it for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream but could have done without the rest of the dessert. With dessert Bobbie drank coffee. I drank a glass of the 1995 Robert Pecota Muscat Blanc. I like this restaurant a lot. I'm glad we went there. I look forward to trying it again. Geronimo Lodge 724 Canyon Road Santa Fe 505-983-6678 After dinner Bobbie returned to the hotel while I attended the opera. I saw Handel's Semele. Very interesting. Half of the cast was terrific. The other half wasn't. I spent most of the night nostalgic over the opera house. I am very unhappy that it is undergoing rennovation. This would be my last time in the opera house while the roof was still open. I do not look forward to the full roof even if the sides will still be open. The next morning we ate brunch at the Inn of the Anasazi. This was my second time eating here. I don't understand why this restaurant gets such good press. While their dishes are imaginative, I don't think they work. The best thing I've ever eaten (or tasted) is the Caesar Salad. I ate the Grilled Corn Tortilla and Lime Soup with Barbecued Yellow Tomato Salsa and Cilantro Corn Oil. It was OK. Not more. I also ate the Crisp Thai Shrimp Dumplings with Miso-Lemon Oil and Habanero Mustard. This wasn't bad. Not great. Bobbie at the Two Eggs Over Easy with Green Chile Potatoes and Housemade Chorizo. Bobbie thoroughly enjoyed it. I wanted to order wine but in New Mexico liquor cannot be served on Sunday before noon. Sigh. I drank an orange juice followed with a 7-Up. Bobbie drank coffee. This is my last time eating at this restaurant. Brunch for two, tax and tip included, was $35.00. Inn of the Anasazi 113 Washington Ave. Santa Fe 505-988-3236 After brunch we took a quick tour of the shops around the plaza while Bobbie bought a few more gifts and then we headed back to Albuquerque. Bobbie's flight left at 1:00 and my flight left at 6:40. I had 6 hours to kill. I came up with several plans. My first thought was that I would leave the airport, go into Albuquerque, eat a fine lunch, and go wine tasting at the wineries in the vicinity. There was no way I felt like doing this. My next thought was that I would find a park, lie under a tree, read a book, and sleep. At the last minute it occurred to me that the stadium where the Dukes play is very near the airport. I've never been to a Dukes game. I dropped Bobbie off at her airline and had a talk with some of the airport traffic security personnel. Directions to the stadium in hand I was off to see a baseball game. There was not a cloud in the sky. I parked the car and lathered up with sun screen. At the ticket window I was pondering my choice between box and general admission seating. Box seats are $5. General admission seats are $4. The ticket seller offered the additional information that the general admission seats were in the shade. How did she know I was thinking general admission? In the stadium I drank a couple of beers (Lowenbrau) and ate some peanuts. This was my last meal on my New Mexico trip. I even caught a little shut-eye. I slept through one inning. I was jolted awake by some entertainment or other much to the amusement of the people sitting around me. I took plenty of ribbing from these total strangers. I take it back. I was in a baseball stadium. We all know each other. There are no strangers at a baseball stadium. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to New Mexico. I can't wait to return next year. It was fun spending the weekend with Bobbie. I think she enjoyed herself also. Kay From [email removed] Mon Apr 13 07:56:01 EDT 1998 Article: 30771 of ba.food
Santa Fe, NM