Santa Fe Restaurant Walk
Last Friday afternoon, we did a restaurant walk hosted by the Santa Fe School of Cooking. It was a walking food tour which visited four local restaurants. At each stop, we enjoyed a private tasting with the chef (or other key player). It was a wonderful way to learn about the local food scene, meet fellow travelers/foodies, and learn a bit more Santa Fe history. We had a blast! My only regret is not doing the tour at the start of our month in Santa Fe so that we would have more time to revisit all of our favorite stops. There are currently three different restaurant walks, so we look forward to doing another tour on our next visit.
Stops and tastings from our restaurant walk:
Santa Fe School of Cooking - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, paired with Chardonnay. This was so delicious that we requested the recipe! Our tasting was held in their demonstration kitchen, where we met our tour guides and picked up our very cool chili-pepper-red water bottles.
Capital Coal - Gochujang Glazed Pork Belly Tacodillas, paired with Riesling. These were amazing. The taco shell was actually a quesadilla made from two blue corn tortillas and jack cheese - genius! The Riesling was a surprisingly good complement. We met Chef Dakota Weiss, who explained their food hall concept, and who is clearly a star to watch. Plus, the restaurant is jam-packed with wacky, wonderful art - the most Instagrammable space we’ve seen in Santa Fe.
Zacatlán - Arugula Salad with hibiscus-poached pear, paired with red wine. This was good but not memorable. We didn’t get to meet James Beard Best Chef award finalist chef Eduardo Rodriguez, but his sister greeted us.
La Plazuela at La Fonda - Chile Rellenos with pork posole, paired with house sangria. Absolutely delicious. Our tasting was held in a meeting room (also in the historic La Fonda hotel). The hotel historian shared fascinating stories about La Fonda; it was a Harvey House and a social hub for Manhattan Project scientists (and spies). Executive Chef Lane Warned shared his recipes with us (and Steve made the posole the next day, hooray!).
Palace Prime - Pavlova with raspberry ganache, vanilla créme, and strawberry sorbet, paired with Unico Yuzu sweet vermouth. Fantastic! It was the perfect dessert - light and refreshing - and the unusual pairing with vermouth really worked. The dining room was very elegant, like a supper club, quite fitting for a place that was formerly (in the 19th century) a posh saloon and gambling hall operated by the infamous Doña Tules.
If you are planning a visit to Santa Fe, we enthusiastically recommend Capital Coal and La Plazuela, along with our all-time favorites Sazón (where we did a tequila and mole tasting) and Coyote Cantina (where we go every chance we get). We also recommend doing a restaurant walk!
