Santa Fe in the Fall

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Tomatillo Papaya Salsa

Day 1, Tuesday:  After a very long drive from Fort Worth we arrived in Santa Fe.  Our only food stop along the way was at Red Robin in Amarillo.  I happen to like their chili and there is not much to choose from in Amarillo, unless we wanted to stop by the Big Texan Steak Ranch and try the 72 ounce steak dinner.  When we arrived in Santa Fe we checked into our hotel, The Chimayo De Santa Fe Hotel on the Plaza.  Tune Up Café was our destination, a place we saw on a DDD episode a couple years ago.  Former Café Pasqual chef, Jesus Rivera, started it in an old gas station.  I love his papusas and chile rellenos, so that’s what we had for our appetizers.

Jesus and Charlotte Rivera, owners of Tune Up Cafe

We weren’t disappointed in our entrees either, mine the special, Chipotle Lime Mahi Mahi with Mango, Tomatillo, Papaya, Jalapeno Sauce with a bright green Cilantro Rice, and well-seasoned Black Beans.  My two glasses of wine, one ordered by mistake, didn’t hurt my mood.   Steve’s Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas were spicy, saucy, and just right. 

Day 2, Wednesday:  Tecolote Café was our choice for breakfast.  Steve is crazy about their Huevos Rancheros so that’s what we had.  Their green chile sauce has a spicy kick to it.  The bakery basket filled with blueberry muffins, chocolate chip muffins, and biscuits is a nice touch. 

Plaza was cool and sunny every day we were there.

We planned to skip lunch but I wanted to sample Roque’s Carnitas, from a food cart in the Plaza.  This guy is famous and has been featured on TV, in newspapers and magazines and was on the Food Truck Race episode filmed in Santa Fe.  Sorry to say it was not that great.  Bland meat, too raw onions and peppers in a tortilla.  My weeknight fajitas made after working all day are so much better, so we don’t know what all the fuss is about.  I also wanted to try the famous Fritos Pie at the Five and Dime.  Best Thing I Ever Ate featured it recently.  Lukewarm canned tasting chili on Fritos with raw onions and cheese served in the Fritos bag, is not the stuff of my dreams.  OK, we tried it, into the trash it went along with the half eaten carnita.

Galisteo Bistro and Wine Bar

Galisteo Bistro was my pick for dinner based on reading up on top restaurants in Santa Fe.  It was also my way to get a break from New Mexican chile food, but don’t tell Steve!  We were pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere, a quiet, cozy place with an open kitchen.  While waiting for our table I was watching the chefs prepare the food and I had flashbacks of working the line at culinary school.  Everything was ready to go, chopped and prepared, stored in little containers in a cart.  Each dish was made to order in hot skillets with fresh sauces and herbs.  We were seated right next to the kitchen so I could watch the chef prepare our orders.  We tried a small plate, the Chipotle Shrimp, spicy shrimp, seared and served with a couple very nice sauces, great for dunking the chewy bread.  Steve wasn’t interested in my Cheese Flight with Double Cream Brie, Chardonnay marinated raisins, dates, and toasted pinons, but I convinced him to try a bite.  It was a true taste bud teaser and he couldn’t stop eating the little crostinis.

Salad with Cajun Seared Tuna

Cheese Flight

Chicken Saltimbocca

Mud Puddle

With my glass of Paso Robles Cabernet, I was definitely enjoying this bistro.  My Citrus Dressed Field Green with Roasted Orzo Salad and Raspberry Vinaigrette and a Cajun Seared Yellowfin Tuna was light and satisfying.  The tuna was perfectly seared and the components of the salad were crunch, smooth, creamy and bright.  Steve’s Chicken Saltimbocca was pan roasted, layered with fresh sage, prosciutto, fontina, with a nice brown butter madeira sauce, served with some Vegetable Orzo Confetti.  It was hot, savory, and prepared just like the classic versions I’ve tasted, but the sauce added a deeper dimension to the dish.  We ended our meal with the Mud Puddle, a layered coffee ice cream, chocolate crumbs, and mocha mousse concoction, topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds.  I love that dessert.  I think I’ll copy it and make it myself sometime—isn’t that the greatest compliment?

We stopped at the Cantina, Casa Sena, to listen to music and enjoy an after dinner drink.  Seems the staff are all quite talented and they took turns singing show tunes while the piano player accompanied them.   Very nice.

Day 3, Thursday:

Café Pasqual is one of my all-time favorite restaurants.  A few years ago I was introduced to their Huevos Rancheros and chile sauces.  I bought their cookbooks and started making some really good food.  This time of year the crowds were gone and we were seated right away.  Our waiter said we looked familiar and asked if we were at Galisteo Bistro the night before.  He is a waiter there too!

Cafe Pasqual's Pappas Fritas

I had the Pappas Fritas, a dish I’ve never tried but one I had seen someone else eating and had plate envy last time we were there.  Red potatoes are sliced and sautéed until crispy around the edges.  They are placed in a bowl, on top of a corn tortilla, covered with green chile sauce, melted jack cheese, topped with two over easy eggs, some scallions and sour cream.  Yum, yum, yum.  Steve’s bacon, egg, and green chile quesadilla was sad in comparison so I shared my huge bowl of goodness with him.  Did I say I love Café Pasqual?

Breakfast Quesadilla

On our way to Taos for a day trip, we stopped at Chimayo.  Chimayo is known for Chimayo red chiles and weavers.  We stopped at Ortegas to pick up some more coasters (our German Shepherd ate most of the ones we bought before).  We were told the chile hook up was in the museum shop next door.  We spoke to the woman there and she told us that Chimayo chile powder was hard to get, very rare and very expensive.  $80.00 per pound!   We had promised to bring some back for Anthony at La Choza in Azle,  so we got 4 ounces for him, and 4 ounces for us.  Seems that the true Chimayo chile seed has been mixed with other seeds and there has been a recent effort to purify the seed.  The DNA of the Chimayo chile is used to verify the real thing.  Can’t wait to make something with this chile powder!

The real thing--Chimayo red chile

Taos is a quaint, mountain community, very artsy and nice to walk around in due to lots of streets closed to traffic.  The weather was perfect for strolling around and seeing the sights.  The Plaza was small, lots of shops and interesting characters.  One interesting character was the guy at the “great noodles” cart.

He had a small cart, a big wok on a gas burner fueled by a propane tank, ice chests filled with his ingredients, and a bunch of metal bins with vegetables, etc.  Sauces were in old Sriracha bottles on his cart.  Hmm, this was very interesting.  He had quite a selection of Asian noodle dishes.  Although we had lunch plans I had to try one of his dishes as part of my food research, right?  We order the Red Curry Coconut Rice Noodles with Vegetables.  I watched him make it and saw that he makes each order, one at a time, and it takes a while to cook all the vegetables and noodles.  He packs it all in a Chinese take-out container, tops it with chopped peanuts and scallions.  We shared a few bites of this research, but saved room for the real lunch.

Graham’s Grill with Lesley Fay

Lunch in Taos was at Graham’s Grill, a highly rated restaurant featuring Chef Leslie Fay, trained in the Napa area in California.  We sat in the patio with the sun warming us and ordered sandwiches.  Steve had his first Green Chile Cheeseburger of the trip and I had a Wild Salmon BLT with Chipotle Aioili.  Both were served on fresh bakery brioche buns, cooked just right with fresh vegetables, crispy sweet potato fries and handmade sauces.  We were ready to head back to Santa Fe. But first I purchased Lesley Fay’s cookbook. 

Jambo Café was our choice for dinner later.  The café was rated #1 in Santa Fe in numerous ratings and although it was out of the way, on Cerillos Rd., we decided to try it.  After all the new Mexican food a Caribbean African café sounded pretty good.  I had the special, Jamaican Jerk Pineapple Shrimp Skewers With Curry Basil Brown Coconut Brown Rice with Sauteed Spinach.  Steve had Hummus and Coconut Shrimp.  I also tried the Butternut Squash and Black Lentil Soup.  The shrimp skewers were spicy and exciting, if you can use that term for food.  The sauce was indescribable, full of spices and herbs with a range of tastes I could not even identify.  I wanted to keep eating that dish until everything on my plate was wiped clean, not my usual behavior.  The chef is very good at this unimposing strip center restaurant and I can see why the place gets such high ratings.  I think we need to come back for lunch tomorrow.

Chef/Owner Ahmed Obo

Jamaican Shrimp Skewers

Coconut Shrimp

Hummus

Day 4, Friday:  I sent Steve to Starbucks for a sandwich so I could skip breakfast and have an appetite for lunch at Jambo Café.  I wanted to try the Organic Jerk Chicken. 
We planned to continue on our Chocolate Trail before lunch and then go to Las Golindrinas Living History Museum after lunch.

Cooking ovens and well

After stopping at Kokowa Chocolates, Chocolate Smith, and HC Higgins Chocolates we had lunch at Jambo Café.  My Jerk Chicken was good, but not as good as last night’s shrimp skewers.  It was something I could easily make at home and was  bit of a let down after the fantastic meal last night. 

Our last dinner in Santa Fe was at Café Pasqual’s.  We had to wait a long time for our reserved table, about 25 minutes, but finally sat down.  We had the special salad, Field Greens with Buffalo Mozarella, Proscuitto, Fresh Dates, Tomatoes, and Honey Vinaigrette with Carta de Musica (a special thin flatbread on top).  It was an excellent salad.  My entrée was the Yellow Fin Tuna with Rice and Spinach, am altogether forgettable dish.  Steve’s Barbacoa Tacos, though, were outstanding, full of flavors, complex and interesting.  We got out of there and headed to La Casa Sena Cantina to have an after dinner drink and listen to some show tunes.

Grilled Yellowfin Tuna

Dos Tacos Barbeqoas

James Eustace, hand crafted bracelet, anniversary gift from Steve

Outside our hotel, Cuban band playing lively music, lots of dancing

Saturday morning, time to head back to Azle.  We went to Cafe Pasqual's for breakfast before heading to the Santa Fe farmers market. I wanted to try the Huevos Barbacoa Con Chile D'Arbol Salsa and it was really good!  Steve had pancakes--he was through with chiles for awhile.

Huevos Barbacoa con chile d'arbol salsa