Category: Santa Fe

Fine DiningNew MexicoRating: OutstandingSanta Fe

Geronimo – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:06 AM

Consistency over time, excellence every time–that’s what sets apart the one or two restaurants all the cognoscenti herald as the very best. These few truly extraordinary restaurants don’t so much raise the bar or reinvent themselves continuously as they do maintain the rarefied levels which earned them the distinction of being singled out in the first place.  Almost without exception, the Santa Fe restaurant most consider the best restaurant in a city of great restaurants is Geronimo.  It’s been that way for years.  If you’ve ever dined at Geronimo, your next visit isn’t likely to provide any revelatory surprises unless…

AmericanClosed in 2016Diners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenSanta Fe

Zia Diner – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:54 AM

In the year 1880, La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís” (“The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi”) bore little semblance to the popular vacation destination and tourist town it is today.  In fact, it was still pretty much a dusty frontier town of the old west with statehood more than a quarter century away.  Despite a population growth of nearly forty percent over the previous decade, Santa Fe was hardly considered a burgeoning center for commerce, much less tourism.  That would all change with the arrival of the Atchison,…

New MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailRating: GoodSanta FeTravel Channel Eats New Mexico

Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:00 PM

In 1712, the provincial governor for the kingdom of New Mexico decreed that henceforth, an annual reenactment of Diego De Vargas’ triumphant reentry into Santa Fe would be celebrated every year. Santa Feans have dutifully obeyed the proclamation ever since, making the Fiesta de Santa Fe the oldest civic celebration of its kind in North America.  Approaching its 400th year, the Fiesta is renown not only for its pageantry and pomp, but for its respectful reflection on a significant historical event. By 1951, however, the Fiesta as we know it today, had degenerated into a parody of its former self,…

AmericanClosed in 2012Gone But Not ForgottenSanta Fe

Real Food Nation – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:16 PM

“Come on, you know you want it!”  Television commercials, movies and especially cartoons frequently depict temptation as a battle being waged by two miniature versions of the person being tempted. Faced with a crisis of conscience–doing the right or the wrong thing–a devil-self (complete with horns and a pitchfork) suddenly pops up on the left (or sinister) shoulder and an angel-self on the right.  Quite naturally, the devil-self prods and prompts for the person to do the wrong thing while the beatific angel-self implores the person to resist temptation. When waging an internal conflict as to whether or not I…

BreakfastNew MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: N/R (Not Rated)Santa Fe

Atrisco Cafe & Bar – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:10 PM

From the snow-capped mountains to the coral shores You’re the only one my heart adores You’ve only got three competitors Tacos, enchiladas and beans From the Mississippi to the Amazon There’s not much we don’t agree upon Wish we could get together on Tacos, enchiladas and beans Love ’em, dozens of ’em I consume them by the score And when I’m through, what do I do I stamp and holler for more You can have the fourth position on my list Must admit your kisses would be missed But how in the world could I exist Without tacos, enchiladas and…

BarbecueClosed in 2012Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSanta Fe

Josh’s Barbecue – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:35 AM

Perhaps indicative of the world becoming more broad-minded and accepting, “peasant food” (which usually includes traditional foods of specific regions) is now looked upon as a culinary art form in which skillful cooks are celebrated for employing the wisdom of the ages to prepare wonderful meals using inexpensive, generally home-grown, ingredients. In France, the term peasant food is actually translated as “food of the country” because it is usually associated with poor rural farmers.  In Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, peasant food is regarded as a visible tribute to the inherited knowledge culled by generations of peasant food producers honing the ideal…

BurgersClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanSanta Fe

Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill & Burgers – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:38 PM

The economic malaise of recent years has prompted Americans to become more judicious on how they spend their disposable income (the little that’s left after all the usual bills, expenses and taxes are paid off).  Instead of splurging on gourmet meals at high-end restaurants, Americans are going to those same high-end restaurants for a reliable old favorite that in years past would not have graced their menus.  More than ever, Americans are turning to an American original,  our ultimate comfort food and favorite sandwich–the hamburger–and not the “gobble and go” burgers proffered by the bastions of fast food. American consumers…

Food Network Eats New MexicoJames Beard Foundation (JBF) Award Nominees & WinnersNew MexicoRating: OutstandingSanta FeTapas

La Boca – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:49 AM

In a 1997 episode of Seinfeld, the “show about nothing,” George Costanza declared food and sex to be his two passions, reasoning that “it’s only natural to combine them.”  Jerry’s retort, “Natural?  Sex is about love between a man and a woman, not a man and a sandwich.” George Costanza may actually have gotten it right!  The mouth is actually considered an erogenous zone, an area of the body with heightened sensitivity, the stimulation of which may result in a sexual response. While most people don’t get sexually stimulated by eating, the mouth does host very sensitive taste receptors, including…

BrunchFine DiningFood Network Eats New MexicoRating: ExcellentSanta Fe

La Casa Sena – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:55 AM

He was an academic prodigy, one of the first two persons admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the Territory of New Mexico. He had a distinguished military career in the Union Army before being mustered out with the rank of Major. He served as sheriff of Santa Fe county for more than ten years and was a political power broker for both the Republican and Independent parties. Despite such an impressive pedigree, Civil War-hero Major Jose Sena might have been forgotten by the annals of history had it not been for his fabulous Territorial-style adobe house a…

FrenchSanta Fe

Cafe Phenix – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:02 PM

“A mythical bird that never dies, the Phoenix flies far ahead to the front, always scanning the landscape and distant space. It represents our capacity for vision, for collecting sensory information about our environment and the events unfolding within it. The Phoenix, with its great beauty, creates intense excitement and deathless inspiration.” – Feng Shui Master Lam Kam Shuen, The Feng Shui Handbook It’s only appropriate that a cozy little restaurant named Cafe Phenix would be part and parcel of a neighborhood revitalization effort being spearheaded by a close-knit community of artists. Much like the advent of Soho, a New…

AmericanFood Network Eats New MexicoRating: GoodSanta FeThe Best Thing I Ever Ate

The Pink Adobe – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:31 PM

Culinary historians credit the advent of the modern Santa Fe fine dining scene to a painter who moved to Santa Fe shortly after World War II to join the burgeoning art community. Having to support herself and a young daughter, Rosalea Murphy turned to something else at which she excelled–the culinary arts. As with most rags to riches success stories, Rosalea did not immediately set the Santa Fe dining scene on its ear, but then this wasn’t the “City Different” now widely recognized as a tourist Mecca. Good things take time. Great things take longer. When she first launched the…