{"id":192,"date":"2022-12-04T04:01:05","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T10:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=192"},"modified":"2026-04-05T14:43:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T20:43:52","slug":"sugar-nymphs-bistro-penasco-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=192","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Nymphs Bistro – Pe\u00f1asco, New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sugar Nymphs Bistro in Penasco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pe\u00f1asco has always been the beautiful stepsister ignored by the dutiful suitors who prefer the company of Taos, its more glamorous sibling. Taos, the mystical art colony to which new age subscribers seem preternaturally drawn is the terminus of the high road, starting and end point of the enchanted circle and one of the most beautiful communities in the country, if not the world. Sugar Nymphs Bistro is helping Pe\u00f1asco lure some of those suitors away…at least for a spectacular meal or ten.\u00a0 A 2002 entry into the Taos county restaurant scene, Sugar Nymphs offers a sophisticated menu that belies Pe\u00f1asco’s rural simplicity while celebrating its agrarian traditions and serving its local home-grown organic produce.\u00a0 It’s quite simply one of the very best restaurants of any genre in the Land of Enchantment.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recognition of its bucolic setting and its outstanding cuisine, Sugar Nymphs Bistro was featured in the October, 2004 issue of Gourmet<\/em> magazine, the internationally renown “magazine of good living.” It was one of eight featured rural restaurants where “the welcome is warm and the flavor regional<\/em>.” Despite the restaurant’s acclaim, to some local residents, Sugar Nymphs remains “that place founded by los hippies.” Those “hippies” would be chef Kai Harper Leah and pastry chef Ki Holste, co-owners of the only kitchen in Pe\u00f1asco nearly as wonderful as my mother’s. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Sugar Nymph Dining Room (Photo Courtesy of Sandy Driscoll)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sugar Nymphs is warm and welcoming, cozy and comforting, a welcome respite from the mundane. It has a sort of neighborly Santa Fe type place in which you can kick back in comfort, bask in the morning sunlight and imbibe the aromas of steaming coffee and delectable pastries. The dining room is homey, its yellow walls festooned with art by the chef herself. Kai Harper is nearly as adept with a brush as she is with the kitchen implements which do her bidding to create some of the best cuisine in northern New Mexico. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kai plied her chef skills in some of San Francisco’s most innovative restaurants, including Greens which is considered almost universally as one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the world. With a chef’s pedigree like that, you know you’re in for a unique dining experience. It’s a dining experience you should start with the restaurant’s signature salad, the Goat Cheese Salad<\/em><\/strong>. Available in two sizes, it’s playfully referred to as a “little goat” or a “big goat” and features organic lettuces tossed in sesame ginger vinaigrette with Sonoma goat cheese, dried sweet cranberries and toasted pecans. It’s one of the very best salads anywhere in New Mexico, a salad so fabulous a carnivore would give up meat for it. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Beet Salad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

14 July 2018<\/strong>: Growing up in Pe\u00f1asco, my family tended to a rather large garden in which we raised corn, beans, pumpkins, carrots, strawberries, lettuce and other vegetables.\u00a0 Despite a true farm-to-table upbringing, salads may as well have been synonymous with “yech,” especially for me and my brothers.\u00a0 That sentiment is common among many Pe\u00f1asquero males of my generation.\u00a0 Sadly, Sugar Nymphs didn’t open its doors until long after the salad-avoidance days of my youth.\u00a0 Perhaps the Nymphs’ beet salad<\/strong><\/em>, a simplicity itself creation of mixed greens, beets and red onions drizzled with a ginger vinaigrette would have ensnared my affections–and if not the beet salad, maybe the black eyed pea salad<\/strong><\/em> would have.\u00a0 As with the beet salad, this is a very simple three ingredient (red peppers and red onions) with a light vinaigrette.\u00a0 Why didn’t these simple, fresh, delicious salads exist so long ago?<\/span><\/p>\n

To gastronomes around the world, Provence equates to incomparable cooking, especially with vegetables at their peak of freshness. So, when you see Provencal Pistou<\/em><\/strong> (made with locally grown pinto beans, sweet parsnips, caramelized onion and tomato) on the menu, don’t hesitate.\u00a0 This is a must order dish. \u00a0 Pistou is actually a paste made from raw garlic and basil, similar to Italian pesto, but is most often prepared as a minestrone.\u00a0 Sugar Nymphs’ version is worthy of the Provencal region of France.\u00a0 It’s the perfect cure for a cold winter night.\u00a0 Amazingly, it may not even be the best soup on the menu. That honor might belong to a white and pinto bean butternut squash soup<\/em><\/strong> that may leave you swooning. It’s everything Webster had in mind when defining soup as a quintessential comfort food.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hungarian Mushroom Soup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

14 July 2018<\/strong>: There’s so much more to Hungarian food than goulash, the paprika-seasoned meat stew, but if you challenge your friends to name other Hungarian delicacies, chances are they won’t be able to do so.\u00a0 Just as goulash is considered an essential Hungarian comfort food, so too is Hungarian mushroom soup<\/strong><\/em>, a very flavorful rustic treat.\u00a0 On a cold winter day–and it gets very cold in Pe\u00f1asco–it’s pure comfort in a bowl.\u00a0 Sugar Nymphs’ version is replete with fresh fungi sliced into various sized pieces.\u00a0 It’s seasoned with Hungarian paprika, often referred to as “Hungarian red gold” for its rich flavor, pale red color, pleasant aroma and slight piquancy.\u00a0 Sugar Nymphs’ rendition is terrific.<\/span><\/p>\n

The entree which captured Gourmet<\/em> magazine’s attention is the Chipotle Pork Loin<\/em><\/strong>, saut\u00e9ed pork loin served in medallions with a lively tomato chipotle cream that tantalizes your taste buds. The magazine should have dedicated its entire issue to that porcine perfection. With a seasonal menu, the fabulous chipotle pork loin may not be available when you visit, but don’t fret. The menu always includes several wonderful entrees with which you’ll fall in love–entrees such as the individual meatloaf<\/strong> with roasted tomato sauce<\/strong><\/em>. While meatloaf may be the quintessential comfort food, the Sugar Nymph’s version sets the bar. The meatloaf is seasoned with cumin, Spanish paprika, onion, garlic, oregano, tomato and cheese. It is served with potato gratin and green beans. Unlike the crusty cardboard tasting meatloaf served at many diners, this one is tender and moist. The roasted tomato sauce is fabulous, so good you’ll use it as a gravy on your potatoes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Meatloaf
The Sugar Nymphs fabulous meatloaf<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rather than lament the absence of the chipotle pork loin, you might want to celebrate the presence on the menu of the grilled chicken with lemon pepper Pappardelle pasta<\/em><\/strong>. The grilled chicken is prepared the French way. It is seasoned and placed on the grill under a brick, allowing it to cook rapidly and remain moist after serving.” The grilled chicken is served with a lemon pepper Pappardelle pasta with goat cheese, tomatoes and grilled asparagus. It is a fabulous entree emboldened by the scintillating moist and tender chicken breast.<\/span><\/p>\n

In its June, 2010 edition, New Mexico Magazine<\/a><\/strong> celebrated New Mexico\u2019s Best Eats, eight of the best dishes served in restaurants throughout the Land of Enchantment. Two versions of each dish\u2013a “down-home” version and “uptown” version were selected. The magazine accorded the honor as state\u2019s very best uptown green chile stew<\/strong><\/em> to the green-chile bison stew at Sugar Nymphs. It\u2019s a well-deserved honor few would dispute.\u00a0 Despite being somewhat leaner than beef, bison is unfailingly tender and just slightly sweet.\u00a0 Moreover, it’s a delicious and healthy alternative to beef.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Chicken Rancheros<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

8 September 2022<\/strong>: Among the most interesting and delicious items on the menu is the curiously named chicken rancheros<\/strong><\/em> (grilled chicken breast topped with ranchero sauce made with green chile, saut\u00e9ed onion, garlic and tomatoes served with Yukon gold mashed potatoes and veggies). \u00a0The ranchero sauce is fabulous, a true showcase for green chile and its fiery qualities. \u00a0There’s so much of it that it practically covers the Yukon gold mashed potatoes. \u00a0For those of us who don’t like mashed potatoes without gravy, it’s dynamite. \u00a0The grilled chicken breast is completely buried under the mashed potatoes and ranchero sauce. \u00a0Again, that’s a good thing. \u00a0Chicken is my least favorite protein, but this is one chicken dish I’d never kick off my table.<\/span><\/p>\n

8 September 2022<\/strong>: \u00a0Since this blog is essentially my bully pulpit, indulge me by letting me rail against something snobs like me consider a food faux pas. \u00a0Despite Ruths Chris’ contention that “Creamy mashed potatoes round out a firmer steak\u2014like a ribeye\u2014while a tender filet stands out against a heartier baked potato. Either way, the best meal is achieved when the elements balance each other out, and steak and potatoes accomplish just that,”\u00a0<\/em> let me argue that mashed potatoes and steak shouldn’t be on the same plate–ever–not even if the Yukon gold potatoes are 24-karot. \u00a0That’s especially true when a ribeye<\/strong><\/em> is this<\/em> good (picture my arms outstretched to indicate a great distance). \u00a0No more than six-ounces, this steak is seasoned magnificently and is very tender for a ribeye. \u00a0The accompanying vegges are fresh and delicious, definitely worthy accompaniment. \u00a0Next time it’ll be two portions of veggies and no mashed potatoes (unless they’re covered in gravy).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Grilled Ribeye Steak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A daily standard is the restaurant’s pizza<\/em>, a rectangular slate oven baked masterpiece that’s as good as pizza anywhere in New Mexico. That goes for pizza in which one solitary ingredient, say pepperoni, is featured or for one of the fabulous specialty pies. One appropriately called the “West Coast<\/strong><\/em>” features a succulent amalgam of marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, capers, caramelized onion and goat cheese. It’s a memorable pie! <\/span><\/p>\n

The restaurant does a booming take-out business with pizza being the most popular to-go item. For several decades, the closest pizza restaurant to Pe\u00f1asco has been Pizza Hut in Taos. As such, that’s the pie against which all other pizzas have been measured for many residents. It’s heart-warming to see the love of this village for Sugar Nymphs pies. Each pizza is hand-tossed, made with the restaurant’s own dough and sauce and there’s only one size–approximately 14 inches sliced into eight edible triangles. The Pe\u00f1asco<\/em> pie starts with sauce and cheese then is topped with lots of pepperoni and freshly saut\u00e9ed mushrooms. It’s made the fabulous fungi very popular in the village. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Meat Lovers Pizza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4 December 2022<\/strong>: On Sunday mornings after church, the streets of Pe\u00f1asco may seem abandoned until just before eleven when out-of-town Landrovers, BMWs and Mercedes Benz head to Sugar Nymphs where they share the gravel parking lot with mud-caked pick-up trucks. The commonality among the owners of the assorted conveyances on the lot is the desire for perhaps the best Sunday brunch in Taos county.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brunch is served from 11AM through 3PM. As with lunch and dinner, the menu varies, but one Sunday standard is the presence of scones<\/em><\/strong>, perhaps the best we’ve had in New Mexico (although you could get a legitimate argument from Cafe Bella<\/strong><\/a> in Rio Rancho). These scones are complementary with some brunch entrees. \u00a0Even though many patrons will ask to buy a dozen or so to take home, they’re not for sale (although you can order as many as you want with 24-hour notice). Unlike some scones which are as desiccated as the desert, these are moist and tender yet flaky. They are served with housemade jams, worth getting up for by themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Scones with Cherry Jam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4 December 2022<\/strong>: Because man and woman cannot live on scones alone, Sugar Nymphs has a fabulous brunch menu. It’s limited in the number of entrees, but very well varied. The menu includes a hot special (which might be beef stew), sandwiches and salads and not so traditional breakfast entrees such as Pantalone French toast. \u00a0As with any restaurant worth its salt, sugar, parsley, sage and other spices, one of the secrets to a beloved menu is changing things up, refreshing the menu with new and different items what will blow you away just as your current favors have. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the new specials we’ve enjoyed is the pumpkin spice waffle<\/strong><\/em> (served with sweet butter and maple syrup with a choice of scrambled eggs or bacon). \u00a0Yep, tis the season for pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin spice mocha and pumpkin spice everything (a Journal Center area auto shop even offers pumpkin spice oil changes). \u00a0Sugar Nymph’s pumpkin spice waffle is terrific, especially when slathered in that hot melted butter and drenched in syrup. \u00a0It may make you regret that the pronounced flavor of pumpkin spice isn’t available year-round. \u00a0No, it probably can’t do that, but it’ll make you happy during the three or four months it’s pumpkin spice season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Waffles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4\u00a0December 2022<\/span><\/strong>: True New Mexicans can have <\/span>green chile cheeseburgers<\/em><\/strong> for breakfast, lunch or dinner (and some of us would like them for dessert, too). Sugar Nymphs’ rendition is one of the very best in the state–six ounces of freshly ground choice beef with Cheddar cheese, and green chile on a housemade focaccia bun. The green chile isn’t especially piquant (except to maybe my Kim), but it’s smoky and flavorful with a pronounced roasted flavor and aroma that announces itself. Thinly sliced white onions and small plum tomatoes adorn the burger. The focaccia is hard-crusted and delicious, a perfect canvas for the other ingredients. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the mathematically challenged among us who can’t conceive of a third-pound burger being bigger than a quarter-pounder, six ounces of beef is bigger than both. \u00a0Though you can request your preferred degree of doneness, at Sugar Nymph’s every burger we’ve had has been more medium-well than the medium-rare we ordered. \u00a0Still, it’s a delicious burger, particularly with an autumn blend chile. \u00a0Because \u00a0The Dude, our debonair dachshund isn’t welcome in the comfy confines of the restaurant, we normally have take-out. \u00a0One of the drawbacks of doing so is no mustard, mayo or ketchup on your burger unless you request it beforehand.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Green Chile Cheeseburger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sandwiches are offered with soup, salad or home fried potatoes. The potatoes are papitas style–small cubes of potato perfection. Though not exactly a traditional accompaniment for a green chile cheeseburger, savvy diners will opt for the soup of the day. If it’s the white and pinto bean with butternut squash soup, you might never want French fries again.<\/span><\/p>\n

A more traditional (for New Mexico) brunch offering is Sugar Nymphs’ green chile scramble<\/em><\/strong>, scrambled eggs with bacon, green chile, Cheddar cheese, sweet red peppers and onions served with home-fried potatoes and a buttermilk biscuit. The red peppers are roasted to perfection, the Cheddar mildly sharp and the bacon crisp. Strawberry jelly on each table seems made just for that flaky and tender buttermilk biscuit. This is a great breakfast entree.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Maybe, Probably, Definitely the best Carrot Cake in New Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

13 August 2017<\/strong>: You almost have to wonder if some restaurants, especially of the upscale genre in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, are trying to dissuade their guests from ordering dessert. \u201cMadness,\u201d you say. Consider this. You\u2019re charged a king\u2019s ransom for desserts that take you three or four bites to consume\u2014even if you\u2019re trying to savor each bite slowly. If you want a dessert that\u2019s worth what you pay for it, visit small town New Mexico. Visit Sugar Nymphs in Penasco. There a slab of chocolate cake is a bounteous, beauteous behemoth. You can eat a hearty portion and still save a generous half for later. There\u2019s no scrimping on portions. Nor is there diminishment of deliciousness. The triple layer chocolate cake<\/strong> <\/em>is probably the best in New Mexico. So is the organic carrot cake<\/strong><\/em>, a rich, moist, creamy slab of swoon-inducing greatness. Reminiscent of the transformative Mexican wedding cake at Mary & Tito\u2019s<\/strong><\/a>, it\u2019s chockful of pineapple and flavor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sugar Nymphs is in the same building as the Pe\u00f1asco Theater (formerly known as the El Puente) which was built in 1941 and served as the original movie house for the village. Colorful murals of local imagery (such as a woman from nearby Picuris Pueblo making micaceous pottery) festoon the entire frontage. <\/span>During my youth the movie theater specialized in the cinematic exploits of both Western cowboys and the Mexican charros while the area in which Sugar Nymphs is situated once hosted a small restaurant.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Triple Layer Chocolate Cake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sugar Nymphs has become a popular and utterly delicious reason to visit Pe\u00f1asco, but while you’re there make sure you take in the Jicarita Peak which governs Pe\u00f1asco’s skies like a sovereign queen perched on her throne keeping a vigilant watch over her people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sugar Nymphs Bistro<\/strong><\/span>
\n15046 State Highway 75
\nPe\u00f1asco, New Mexico<\/strong>
\n575-587-0311
\nWeb Site<\/a><\/strong> | Facebook Page<\/strong><\/a>
\nLATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 04 December 2022
\n# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 9
\nRATING<\/strong>: Excellent<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u2013 High quality dining experience; very good to excellent food, attentive service, and a well-maintained atmosphere; worth a detour.
\nCOST<\/strong>: $$
\nBEST BET<\/strong>: Goat Cheese Salad, Provencal Pistou, Chipotle Pork Loin, Grilled Vegetable Lasagna, Pizza, Scones, Green Chile Scramble, Green Chile Cheese Burger with Bacon, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Cake, Meat Lovers Pizza, Beet Salad, Hungarian Mushroom Soup, Pumpkin Spice Waffle<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pe\u00f1asco has always been the beautiful stepsister ignored by the dutiful suitors who prefer the company of Taos, its more glamorous sibling. Taos, the mystical art colony to which new age subscribers seem preternaturally drawn is the terminus of the high road, starting and end point of the enchanted circle and one of the most beautiful communities in the country, if not the world. Sugar Nymphs Bistro is helping Pe\u00f1asco lure some of those suitors away…at least for a spectacular meal or ten.\u00a0 A 2002 entry into the Taos county restaurant scene, Sugar Nymphs offers a sophisticated menu that belies Pe\u00f1asco’s rural simplicity while celebrating its agrarian traditions and serving its local home-grown organic produce.\u00a0 It’s quite simply one of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,165,141,563,286],"tags":[2305,2308,2299,2302,2298,842,1864,2301,2300,2303,2297,2304,789,2306,2307],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american","category-brunch","category-new-mexico","category-rating-excellent","category-taos","tag-cakes","tag-carrot-cake","tag-chef-kai-harper-lea","tag-goat-cheese-salad","tag-gourmet-magazine","tag-green-chile-cheeseburger","tag-green-chile-stew","tag-greens","tag-ki-holste","tag-new-mexicos-best-eats","tag-penasco","tag-pies","tag-pizza","tag-scones","tag-triple-layer-chocolate-cake"],"yoast_head":"\nSugar Nymphs Bistro - Pe\u00f1asco, New Mexico - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=192\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sugar Nymphs Bistro - Pe\u00f1asco, New Mexico - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pe\u00f1asco has always been the beautiful stepsister ignored by the dutiful suitors who prefer the company of Taos, its more glamorous sibling. Taos, the mystical art colony to which new age subscribers seem preternaturally drawn is the terminus of the high road, starting and end point of the enchanted circle and one of the most beautiful communities in the country, if not the world. 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