Sayonara Santa Fe...

I like alliteration better than accuracy

But, we really do need to leave Santa Fe and move on, but there is a lot of things still on the plate. Maybe we’ll try and condense (thank goodness you say) because we have to get into the present so i can talk about that idiot in the car behind me today..

so......

Our third Santa Fe Big Deal Meal was at 315 Restaurant and Wine Bar, better known as Bistro 315 (or 315 Bistro). It is an outpost of French Cuisine in the land of the Southwestern food. I read so many good reviews of it that I added it to our list of Big Deal Meals. Because of the afternoon train ride we reserved for 7:30, and arrived pretty much on time. It is kind of an unassuming building done in Adobe, but once inside it indeed lived up to its Bistro appellation. A bit loud, bustling, several small dining areas, tables set in white cloths (by golly, I don’t remember any white paper squares!!) and crystal. On this evening (Saturday) there was a jazz trio playing and we were seated just around the corner which made a nice sound barrier.

Another Bistro touch was that the specials were on a blackboard that was brought to your table, and its size pretty much commanded a chair of its own. Probably about a foot and a half by two and a half. Our server apparently was otherwise occupied (didn’t come right away) but the manager came over and took our drink orders (glass of wine for MFO and a DMOTRWAT) for the Feeder. The drink pretty much passed as it was made properly, but beside the twist (plus) was that damn maraschino cherry (minus) which was removed without question and the second drink was just fine.

The menu reflected French preparation and ingredients (condense here, no listings). I had hoped to have lamb which was lauded in several of the reviews I found, but it was missing. Mussels which also got raves were on, so I had that, and MFO had a scallop dish. On the specials board was a foie gras appetizer, and readers will know that I am a complete sucker for that particular dish. Now I will confess that the price tag was a hefty $24, but when you’re in for a nickel…. Etc. Well, (condense) that dish was one of the best (I think I can use that word personally) dishes I have ever had, at least within memory. And the server stopped by and said would I like a small glass of Sauternes to go with… Very nice touch, and yes I would. By the time I got home, I of course forgot the preparation, so went on their website and did a “contact us” to send a note asking if the chef could tell me the preparation. To their credit and my astonishment I received a very nice note from the executive chef: “ Bill,the foie gras you had was seared and served over a slice of grilled corn bread and a green tomato jam. I always make a big batch of green tomato jam at the end of tomato season and it will last for a long time. The jam is made from a light caramel of just sugar, onions, mustard seed, fennel green tomatoes, salt and pepper”. Everything just worked. It was great. And since I was in a French restaurant I felt a white Burgundy would be fine and selected a 2008 Joseph Drouhin Chablis, 1er cru, Vaudon. The manager brought the wine and said that it was one of his favorites… While I usually take these comments with a grain of salt, I think he was sincere. He talked about how hard it was to cellar, how he took good care of that one, etc. And, like the Foie Gras appetizer, it was one of the nicest bottles I have had. Just the right balance of fruit and acid, and yes it tasted good with the appetizers, scallops, and the mussels. Notice the Feeder didn’t say “paired”.

Condense: we shared a chocolate pots de crème for dessert. A wonderful meal… and i didn't even talk about the idiot at the next table...

So a wrap up of our Santa Fe Dining

Big Deal Meals: Tie between Terra and Bistro 315 – different categories (formality, service style, cuisine), both great. Third was Restaurant Martin, mostly because I couldn’t get a damn drink. Food was good, sauce ran on plate. Didn’t get to try The Compound, Geronimo, Coyote Café, or Pink Adobe.

Breakfast: One entry, Pasquales. Unique, do it.  Ohori's coffee... very nice shop. Pastry shop by the Plaza, good stuff.

Lunches: Mucho Gusto; Rancho de Chimayo; The Shed; Café at Indian History Museum; Legal Tender (part of train ride). All good, not a clear winner. All except last “Mexican”… all well prepared

So a wonderful trip had to come to an end, we had a glorious time, with the exception that the altitude never left us, and we felt the effects until we descended to Albuquerque. Just something to think about if you’re considering a trip.. and you are of our generation.

In order to get this into your hands, I will not include any photos today… there are some worth seeing from the train ride and a little side trip we made into the country by car. Will use them as PS’s in the near future..

TODAY

The Feeder doesn’t usually divulge his plans ahead of time, in case they change, or don’t work out, or it turns out lousy, but I will share this one with you. As a (further) celebration of our advancment into the 8th decade of existence, both FOJ’s and their wives are arriving today and tomorrow we are all going over to the Inn at Little Washington for an overnight stay in the Inn, and dinner at the chef’s table. At a cost that monetarily is astounding, but the experience will be……. Priceless.

I think they would like us to

DFD

Many Museums

Everybody is probably ready to leave Santa Fe at this point, but there’s maybe a couple of days yet…including the food wrap up containing several luncheon spots and Big Deal Meal Number 3.

But today we’ll visit some of the museums and attractions (one of which includes lunch). Being sort of a Southwest cultural center (as well as the State Capitol), Santa Fe boasts a number of museums. Among others there is the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and a nice little out of town complex called “Museum Hill” which contains the museums of Indian Arts and Culture, International Folk Art, and the Wheelwright Museum. Downtown along with the O’Keeffe and Museum of Art, there is also the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, and the Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum. So there is no lack of things to look at if you’re so inclined.

We did fairly well. We started out with the O’Keeffe, and I would have to say that while we weren’t disappointed, it was not what we expected. Most everybody is familiar with her work, those big lush flowers, bones and flowers, some abstracts, and so forth. Well, most of those “famous” pictures are displayed someplace other than in the museum in Santa Fe. To be sure, there were a few, but mostly there were “other” works less familiar and no less beautiful, but not what we had hoped for. There was a little docent speech while we were there, and we learned something of the artist. She was quite a gal….

The New Mexico Museum of art had a few more of her works, along with a lot of historical presentations of Pueblo life, Indian rituals and dances, that sort of thing. They also had some more contemporary things. Palace of the Governors is pretty much devoted to archeology of the place and has lots of potsherds, windows in floors to see original foundations and lots of antiquities.

There is something like “museum fatigue” that sets in at some point where it’s “just” another painting, pot, sculpture, etc., and you have to learn it’s time to quit. While that happened at the above museums we didn’t experience it at the

The whole “Museum Hill” complex is a beautiful, quiet spot overlooking the valley.

with very peaceful grounds

The Cultural museum is relatively new, and therefore has more interesting exhibits than cases and cases of arrowheads and dusty blankets. It is separated into little areas of focus, like Ancestors, which tells the story of the earliest inhabitants of the region, then goes on to Cycles where you learn about rites of passage and so on. One area called “survival” has little video clips of people relating how they were put in “Indian” schools after they were more or less evicted by the white man and how they were trained to be “white”. Very interesting. You don’t feel very proud about how the native peoples were treated as “we” moved in. What a rich and diverse culture they had. And, in some respects they still do. There are still clans and tribes that maintain their culture and language.

Museum fatigue didn’t set in, but hunger did, so we took a break and had lunch at the little café on site. They had an outdoor seating area and the weather was cooperative and we took advantage of that while MFO contemplates the menu.

We lubricated the selection process with a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc and a local beer.  She finally settled on the breakfast burrito (eggs, sausage, chiles), and I chose some beef tacos (always mindful of the heat)

They turned out to be very nice. Sometimes museum food is pretty good.. greens were fresh, food was at the appropriate temperature..

Notice the little dish of sauce next to the Tacos? A tiny forkful warned the feeder to avoid the rest of the contents… it’s just me..

Anyway fortified by the food and the view we returned and did the rest of the museum, killing the rest of the day. The grounds have several pieces of statuary

 

Including this impressive Apache Mountain Spirit Dancer

Scares me

Plus other interesting pieces were scattered about the area.. 

There was a little plaque explaining the symbolism of this (see how the middle flows into the circular part...) following some Indian legend on the creation of the world.  To me, it's just nice...

The theme of the museum is "Here, Now, and Always".   After visiting the museum you can appreciate it.  Very soul satisfying day. Between the altitude and the stumping around the museums, in the evening we stayed home and had lovely cocktails.. so we didn’t have to be

DFD

Hollow Happyween!

Speaking of trick and treating, did you look at the google doodle today? Those folks are so clever.

Anyway, lest people think that the Feeder is limited to thinking with his stomach and only focuses on food, I should point out that nothing could be further from the truth. Well, not far, but not entirely either.

Santa Fe is home not only to some great restaurants (more to come) but is also considered one of the premier “art” colonies in the country. There is a plethora of museums, and more galleries than one could imagine, and the famous Plaza where there are street displays of Indian art. Turquoise, pottery, silver work, and woven rugs are everywhere. One of the more famous areas is Canyon Road, which has become a Mecca for American crafts, home to many celebrated galleries and artists. Most have the “real stuff” which comes with astonishing, but common prices.

But it doesn’t cost anything to shop, so we decided to spend the morning “doing” Canyon Road area and it’s hundreds (yes) of galleries. Of course the first thing you have to do is find lodging for the car which is handled discreetly.

But then you start down the unassuming quaint little road,

 which is lined with the galleries.

Once you get over your reluctance to enter them, there are lots of things to see:

No matter what your taste there’s something for you

Most of the people in the galleries are very nice and will chat with you, learn where you’re from and generally are nice. And after a while you develop the ability to turn over the piece, or look at the tag, and not utter anything when that little print or statue is $7,000 or more. “how nice, look at this dear” and move along.

We talked to one lady who was displaying some very nice bird drawings, and not too dear, like framed ones you could get for around 300 and unframed a lot less. As it turned out, the artist was there that day because she was pulling out of this particular gallery because her pieces weren’t selling. The gallery owner told us that in her gallery she had no problem selling $10K paintings, but the market for things like the prints wasn’t there. Go figure..

But one of the nice things about gallery row wasn’t what was inside, it was what was outside. You want art? How can you not like things like this:

 And although people create nice art, so does good old reliable Mother Nature!

And the price is free! Anyway any trip to Santa Fe should include a stroll down that road.

okay, back to food...

After building a hunger (pretending we had huge amounts of disposable income), we decided to have lunch at Mucho Gusto a small informal Mexican restaurant tucked in the back side of a little shopping area near one end of Canyon Road. It shows up on a lot of searches for places to go in Santa Fe. It is quite small, very plain, clean, and has tidy green tables, there are large paintings on the wall of (what turned out to be) life in the Yucatan. A very pleasant server approached and asked about drinks. We’d like a Margarita please! Well, guess what? THEY don’t have a liquor license either, but did a feature a “Margarita” made with Agave wine. Actually they were very good and didn’t pack the wallop of Tequila, maybe a good thing at lunch.

The menu was divided into Appetizers, Soups and Salads, Main Dishes, and House Specialties. Here again, if you wanted chips and salsa, please consult the menu. House madeTomatillo salsa with roasted tomato arbol chile salsa: $3.95. Add homemade Guac for another 4 bucks. We demurred. Anyway the menu contained the usual suspects within each category: Tacos; Burritos; Chalupas; Fajitas; and Enchiladas. Within those dishes were further choices of veggies, chicken or beef, and shrimp if appropriate. The Specialties included Flautas, Chimichangas, Carnitas, Mole and Suiza Enchiladas, and a Stuffed Chicken Breast, AKA “The Bomb”. That dish was a chicken breast stuffed with jack cheese, poblano chiles, almonds, sun dried tomatoes, topped with a mushroom chipotle chile cream sauce. Most all dishes came with black beans, rice, and/or pico de gallo. I suspect the same menu serves both lunch and dinner.

MFO decided on a luncheon special green chile burger, and I meekly went for the Suiza Enchiladas, rolled chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce, feta cheese (?), sided by rice, beans, and the pico.

We supped the faux Margaritas, and sort of went over the mornings adventures, and eventually the plates appeared. While the names of the dishes may be the same as you can get around here (Maryland), what was on them definitely was not. No amalgamous plate of everything run together covered with a glop of melted cheese, everything was separated, and each was fresh, tasty and just fine. The enchiladas had real chunks of chicken, not diced or shredded, the sauce was bright and flavorful, and the (fresh) feta cheese added a nice bite. The beans were not “refried” but rather just placed on the plate, the rice wasn’t “blown out”, and the pico de gallo was green, fresh, and tasty. MFO’s burger was exactly medium rare and the chiles were flavorful.

Although this was the second of…I forget, “Mexican” places we tried (more to come!), we found it to be typical of what we encountered. Fresh ingredients, nicely prepared and tasty. We definitely would recommend and return to Mucho Gusto with much gusto!! Just very pleasant.. and you didn’t much have to worry about

DFWhatever, although Gallery cruising would demand some sort of nice dress. Despite what others seemed to feel was appropriate..

more meals to come!! oh, and diversions as well.  I'm NOT one dimensional, see....

An Enchanting Evening....

I am going to veer outside the lines for a bit, and break the chronological account of our Santa Fe trip because I had such a unique experience Tuesday night (on my real Birthday!) that I have to pass it along before it fades… 

Of course it ultimately involves food, but first a little background.  In the long ago distant past, MFO and I visited my best friend and his (then) wife in Santa Fe.  Her mother had opened a “dude” ranch and resort property named Rancho Encantado. That visit generated several memories which have persisted to this day.  Can’t find my car keys this morning, but let me tell you about lunch 40 years ago.   Anyway, one of the memories was that after my friend and I walked in the desert for a while (young and hearty as we were) we stopped in the bar and asked the barkeep what he would recommend.   He produced what I believe was my first ever Gin and Tonic.   What a perfect drink. 

Secondly, at the time of our visit, somebody was making a movie in the desert, and the cast was staying in the Rancho.   Johnny Cash and (2^nd) wife June Carter were there as was a daughter, Rosanne.  I wish I could report that Johnny and I sat around and chatted, but I don’t think we ever saw him.  We did however, meet Rosanne.   As part of the visit we went to the set one day off in the middle of nowhere. 

Since our visit decades ago the property has changed hands and owners a few times, but the place still holds memories for us.  Currently it is an Auberge property, with name shortened to Encantado Resort.  Auberge properties are luxury resorts, catering to world class clientele.  This particular one also houses Terra, a highly rated restaurant.  They were featured in a Food & Wine article lately..  So we decided we would return to the place and hey! While we’re there why not have dinner!! So it was our Big Deal Meal number 2, and by the schedule it had to be Tuesday night.  Now, serious diners will slightly recoil at Tuesday night, which is sometimes avoided because the chef might not be in the house, and various other reasons, but we had little choice.   I had made the reservation by phone instead of Open Table again because we were too far out and I feared (unnecessarily as it turned out) the Film Festival thing. 

They followed up a few days before assuring us that the reservation was in place.  So after we DFD’s we drove out the few miles north of Santa Fe and after driving to the golf cart shed we redirected and found our way to the front entrance..  Two young men appeared and opened both doors for us (MFO at the wheel).  Good evening folks how are you?   We’re here for dinner.   Are you Mr. and Mrs. Moody?  Yes we are..  Well we’ll park the car for you.  The second young man ushered us in the door, and directly to the hostess stand.  Again, “welcome Mr. Moody your table is ready, please follow me.  Well, our table was ready all right, there were no other guests at that time.  You may sit at any table that appeals to you.  We chose a little two top by the window where the dregs of the sunset was visible over the darkening desert.  The room is in muted tones that reflect the color of the desert, has high ceilings, and one side is all glass, while the opposite wall is all banquettes. Tables were set with linens, sparkling glassware and silver.  MFO approved the chairs.  The hostess set down the menus and wine list and left. 

People sometimes ask the Feeder why he loves these high end (and yes, expensive) evenings.  What followed was a perfect example of why he does.  All the components were there.  They knew our names.   They let us choose our own table.  Our server’s only question upon approaching the table was whether we preferred tap or bottled water.  After pouring he asked if we would care for a drink.  Why, yes, we would.  I of course levied the drink test, and MFO decided on wine (remembering we had to drive home).  She chose a Grgich Hills Sauvignon Blanc from a rather extensive wine list. 

Without dwelling on it, the Feeder always sort of holds his breath when doing the drink test in a high end restaurant, but he needn’t have worried.  A perfectly made, nicely proportioned drink with a lovely curl of lemon was presented.   As for MFO, the service wine glass was replaced with a larger crystal one, and the bottle of Grgich was displayed.  A small taste was offered, and upon a head nod, a generous pour was done.  Not just plop a glass of wine on the table and hope it's what you ordered.  Shortly a basket of a variety of breads was brought to the table.  Lavash, some light biscuits.

While enjoying the drinks, we finally turned to the menus.   If you have time you should go look at their menu.  It is divided into “Sense of” balance, comfort and place.  "Comfort" includes a burger option, chicken (as a Palliarde), and fish (crab cake encrusted halibut),  "Place" means there is local lamb, etc.  It is a nice concept.   And, it is one of those menus where you look at one dish and say “wow! I’d like to try that”, and then “whoops, that looks good also”.  A great menu.  After a good deal of angst, I finally settled on the “seafood trio”, and the Date Basted Local (Galisteo) lamb.  MFO wanted to try the warm chicory salad, mostly seduced by the Broiled Humbolt Fog (which alert readers will know as a lovely cheese).  She selected the Kobe Hanger Steak as her entrée.. 

While I was thrashing around the wine list (reds of course) a gentleman approached the table and welcomed us and said he was the manager of the restaurant.  Then, he said something like “I really liked your picture!” and went on to explain that he had found me as King Oyster!!!  Can you believe that?   He actually tries to find out things about his guests and was pleased to find my alter ego as the King!   I was flabbergasted!  That led to some great conversations throughout the evening (there was only one other table at this point).   Since he caught me in the midst of looking up Robert Parker’s vintage chart, I told him what we ordered and asked for a suggestion.  He said he had enjoyed the ’07 Trilogy Proprietary Red from Flora Springs.  Go for it. 

First courses arrived, mine in a triparted dish with two lovely thumb size prawns, a lovely ceviche of scallops with cilantro, and a small medallion of tuna in a little vinaigrette.   MFO’s salad was fresh crisp and the cheese was to die for. Somewhere in here, the server interjected that the Kobe Hanger Steak was not available.  Okay, marks off for that, he should have known unless the only other table took the last one.  He offered instead a filet which she accepted. 

Okay reading fatigue is probably setting in here.  Entrees were wonderful.  My lamb was some of the most flavorful I can remember in a long time, and unlike Restaurant Martin there was nothing running to the side of the plate, it was beautifully presented, and the plate was warm but not “watch that plate it’s very hot”  translated to “it’s been under a heat lamp for a while”.  Both meat dishes were cooked exactly right as ordered, richly flavored.  And, as you would hope and expect, the sides stood tall on their own, not merely something to cover up blank places on the plate. My little goat cheese timbale was a little wrap of flavorful goat cheese and I think there may have been a little bacon in there..  wonderful.  Somehow the wine disappeared. 

We decided on dessert, and I had a little cheesecake with an ingredient which I cannot for the life of me remember (thank you Trilogy), but there was a little meringue disc next to it with a hand piped “Happy Birthday”.  Coffee was strong and hot. 

So it’s all those little things (names, by the glass, silver replaced as appropriate) that mount up to a great experience, and I will never forget the fact that King Oyster was brought to the table.. The place remains enchanted!!

And that, my dear readers, is why I do not mind paying large sums for that experience.. life is short.

More later, and of course we were

DFD

A frustrated Feeder....

The feeder stands (well, seated actually) before you a frustrated and humbled man. Feeling the tug of loyalty to my readership, I thought I would be able to keep up with the flow so to speak. Well, flow yes, keep up, obviously not.


We last chatted on thing culinary after starting out with a breakfast at Café Paquals, and then sort of melting into the couches for most of the day and feeling somewhat revived we got DFD’d and sought out Big Deal Meal one, at Restaurant Martin. Now, when we were in the planning stages of our trip, I discovered someplace along the way that our stay coincided with the annual Santa Fe Film Festival. Of course that sent me into a panic figuring all the prime dining spots would be filled up with all the beautiful film people fresh from the French Rivera. So I tried to book Martin though Open Table (which I am warming up to, by the way) only to find they would book only a month out. So, I actually picked up the phone and called. The young lady I talked to said that the manager was busy with “staff meal”, but he would get back to me. Oh, Boy, here we go.. well, guess what. A couple of hours later the phone rings and it is the manager saying that he would be glad to book us for our chosen night. So, that was accomplished. Then, a week or so before we left, I got another call from him. Uh oh…. But all he wanted to do was inform me that they were having a Frog’s Leap wine dinner on our evening, and did I want to participate in that? Having been to as many of those as I care to do for a while, I declined, made sure the regular menu was available and thanked him for his consideration. Then, just before we left I had another call from his assistant confirming our reservation. I said I was also worried about noise from the Froggy folks, but she said she would keep us away.

So, with my research providing excellent reviews for the restaurant, and their following up, our expectations were high for Big Deal One. My DFD for the evening was my blazer (travels well) and my “Maryland Tie”. Turns out the place is just down the street from our Santa Fe digs, and we arrived just in time. They were happy to see us, and commented profusely on my tie. The restaurant is composed of several small rooms and we were led into a smallish room with 5 tables with a larger one set for a party. We were greeted by our server who gave us menus and the wine list, filled the glasses and left to attend to other tables.. Hmmm, that’s odd, I was dying for a DMOTRWAT but was not afforded an opportunity. He returned shortly and asked if we would like some wine. Well, actually, I would LOVE a DMOTRWAT. It was then I learned that they do not have a liquor license that allows them to sell spirits. (Head: WHAT The…!!!; Mouth: well, give us a minute to look”). He did and we decided on a split of some champagne. Excellent choice. I of course did not write down the bubbly, but it was brought in two glasses, no bottle. It was very tasty. He took the opportunity to inform us that the Blue Point Oysters on the appetizer list was replaced by a preparation of Tempura battered Pacific oysters in a broth with a variety of matchsticks vegetables over a flan. Wowee!...

Again he left us to sip and consider and about this time the Frog People apparently arrived in the next room with a fair amount of din and celebrating. At this point I was a bit warm under the collar, but MFO suggested I remove the blazer which I did and calmed down. And although through the door we could hear the Frog Guy talking about the winery a bit, they became quite quiet and were not a factor for the rest of the evening. I decided to try the fancy oysters (with risotto ON the list!), MFO selected the organic beet salad and then the Berkshire Pork Tenderloin (Coffee-Maple Rub, Eggplant-Pepper Puree, Herbed Gnocchi, Five Spice-Bourbon Reduction) and I for some reason (stomach still on the east coast) went with the Roasted Chicken (Stew of French Lentils, Plum Tomato Concasse, Wild Mushrooms, Broccolini, Black Truffles). And as I know you all read lots of restaurant reviews, a benchmark dish is how they do roasted chicken. For the wine I selected a Willamette Valley ’08 WillaKenzie Pierre Leon Pinot. It was not too dear, but we did not get different glasses than were on the table.

It was uncorked and a sample proved it very good, so we had a little while waiting for the food. Bread had appeared, and with noise subsiding things were looking up. Starters arrived soon thereafter, my oysters in a large white bowl, golden brown, with little matchsticks of cruncy radish carrots, beside them with just enough broth to not drown them. The oysters were just over golf ball size, forcing me to use a knife and fork. Usually that is death with oysters, but they held up and had very good flavor with the crunch of the tempura. By the end, however the flan had sort of dissolved and it wasn’t pretty, but it was good. MFO’s salad was a strip of greens in the middle of a rectangular plate with mostly watercress, some goat cheese, fresh carrots and a light sherry dressing. It was very tasty.

Well, this is getting long again so I’ll briefly state the entrees were also very good, thick cuts of just right tenderloin, and I had two little chunks of chicken, I think a breast and then an airline breast. Lovely sauce. Very tasty. My only complaint (which I was shushed away from verbalizing) was that MFO’s Bourbon Reduction had somehow “run” across the plate making a big patch of somewhat dried sauce. Were it me, I would not have left that plate leave the kitchen.

So our big deal one meal had a couple of chinks for me. I think not informing you that you can’t get a cocktail (I scoured the website) is not up front. Changing the “stock” wine glasses wouldn’t have hurt. Having a “run” of sauce is not right (Shut up, Bill). But, the food was up to what I expected so you come away with a mixed experience. Others might not have noticed any of this. I am cursed. I will say that maybe they kind of thought about some of this, because they took the Champagne off the bill. Did the Wine Dinner affect ours? Maybe.  If/when I return to Santa Fe, I would most assuredly go back, but maybe not first.

At this time, we have two more Big Deals. One has occurred and it included one of the most memorable dishes I have eaten in a long time, plus I had a bottle of wine that ranks right up there with any I’ve had. But, we’ll get to that.

Plus three lunches, another dinner, shopping delights, museums. Sigh.. I'll try. 

People around here must have nice 401K’s.

And I must admit that most

DFD!

Ps, a little extra, we had lunch at a place today, and I took my camera to the table because I wanted shots of the outside and interior. A couple roughly our same age was seated next to us, and he had a little camera around his neck. Hmmm... and when his food arrived out came the camera and an image was taken. His wife sort of was looking at me, and I gave her a thumbs up.  It takes a blogger to know one!! We’re everywhere

Slow Start in Santa Fe...

slowly coming up to speed
We woke up for our first whole day in Santa Fe (hey! that rhymes), and we both felt like we were run over by a truck. I suppose age, time zones, travel stress, altitude changes all took their toll, and resulted in a slow start to the day. We did however manage enough gumption to venture over to the “plaza” area and got breakfast at Cafe Pasqual's a hands down choice for breakfast according to various sites (yelp, trip advisor, and so forth – yes, I know but a guide). After flailing around with parking some we found the place and went in. As advertised it was crowded and loud but it was very obvious people were enjoying themselves. I think I counted about 15 tables including a big community one in the middle of the room. The walls are decorated with tiles and typical Mexican paintings and piñatas and various other stuff are hanging from the ceiling. All the reviews said to expect a wait, but when we walked in and announced “two” he said “sit right over there” at a little table by the bottom of the stairs to the upper landing… see if you can spot MFO

There is a long list (21!) of stuff on the (served all day til three) breakfast menu. MFO settled on the smoked trout hash, and I went with the traditional Huevos Rancheros.. I would have tried the much praised corned beef hash, but figured traditional should be tried. I was asked if I wanted red, green, or tomatillo sauce and settled on red which I was assured was not too hot. Water and coffee were supplied and we had a good time just watching the bustle of the place, presided over by the guy at the front who took great pride in giving people options: “you can sit right now at the community table, or five minutes for that little table on the landing or maybe 10 for your own table”, stuff like that..

The food arrived fairly smartly, mine a big bowl of deep red dark sauce with two eggs perched atop, and MFO’s a nice plate of small pieces of smoked trout over a gruyere potato cake, and green tomatillo sauce. Most readers know that I am not a fan of overly spicy things (good job feeder – go to Santa Fe!!) and a tentative taste of the sauce revealed that it was pretty much okay, spicy but with good chile flavor. Now, without getting too indelicate here, my system was in not too robust shape to begin with, and I was fearful of pelting it with large doses of chili pepper. We were, after all a good ways away from home.. So I mostly ate the eggs nicely sauced with the sauce but largely left the (large bowl) untouched. It was, after all research more than dining. MFO finished hers and when the server came to clear he spied my almost full bowl. I stammered out some excuse like just wanted to try it, but was early for us, etc., and assured him it was no comment on the quality. Next time I’ll go for the hash. 

After breakfast we shopped a bit around the square peering in windows and windows of southwestern “art”, pottery, jewelry, large hats, boots and so on. Some were worthwhile and some was, well, IMHO junk. After a bit we both decided that rest was needed as the rarified air at 7000 feet was pooping us out.

The rest of the day was spent mostly inside the digs. We wanted to be ready as possible for Big Deal Dinner one so mostly we rested, and read, and listened to music. Later in the afternoon, we thought a light lunch seemed enjoyable so we decided to have some bread and cheese and a bottle of wine on the back patio

It was very pleasant.. that's ciabatta, double cream gouda, whole foods "home made" guacamole by the way with the Chamisal Unoaked Chardonnay... quite tasty



I also had time and played a little with the camera shooting some stuff around and in the house..

So feeling a little better, we made ready for big deal meal one at Martin’s which we will discuss tomorrow.. as I always say, doing gets in the way of blogging.. oh yeah, we made sure we were



DFD

PS - nice relief job last night Card's bull pen!!