Sunny Santa Fe

   My birthday was Wednesday, and it was a perfect excuse for my mom and I to meet in Santa Fe for a two-night stay.  No surprise, it was a (too) fast, fun weekend full of food and drink.
   After flying into Albuquerque, we drove to Santa Fe, stopping at the original Range Cafe in Bernalillo along the way.  Carne adovada tacos and tamales with red and green chile.  Every bite was awesome.  I love the two chiles together, also known as "Christmas" when ordering in New Mexico.  Both can be very spicy depending on the chiles and the season, but the red had more heat at the restaurants I went to on this trip.  I like the balance of the sweet, roasted green chiles and the smoky red chiles.  We were off with a bang.
   That night we had dinner at a Spanish tapas restaurant, El Farol.  Lovely food and a jumpin' little joint with the locals once the band started playing. We had the grilled romaine stuffed with Spanish goat cheese and roasted tomato vinaigrette. Grilled shrimp with chipotle mango cream. Grilled rib-eye skewer with chimmichurri and crispy, spiced patatas bravas.  Chorizo with fig aioli (the most intriguing for me- I want to make it).  Penne in poblano, manchego, and pinon cream.  Sauteed spinach with raisins, garlic, and pinon.  Baked Spanish goat cheese with pinon flatbread, roasted garlic and asparagus.  Reggiano crusted artichokes in lemon-caper butter.  We were too full to even finish all the tapas, but that didn't stop us from ordering dessert!  A luscious tres leches, different from many I've had.  It had a lot of cinnamon and the cake was swimming in plenty of sweet milk.
   The next day we made a trip to the Santa Fe Farmer's Market. What a treat; it was fun to see their community thriving and loving their local farmers and producers.  We grabbed a couple pastries from local bakeries for breakfast- a huge chocolate croissant and a stuffed green chile and cheese flatbread.  Mom also picked up a wonderful loaf of purple walnut bread (excellent with the local raspberry jam) to take home.
   We had lunch at the The Shed with margaritas, tacos and enchiladas in Christmas chile, posole, and green chile potato stew.  All great, but we liked the Range better.
   For dinner on Saturday we went to Aqua Santa; a small restaurant off the beaten path and a new favorite for locals.  A short, well-composed menu.  The warm escarole and calamari salad was bright and rich.  Halibut with lentils, tapenade and greens were cooked perfectly, but they needed a bit of fat and salt.  The chicken was incredibly moist and tender with a caramelized skin and velvety sauce over greens and polenta.  I loved this dish.  And the flirtatious chef in the open kitchen was kind enough to send us extra wine and dessert!  A strawberry rhubarb crisp and a flourless chocolate cake.  A fun dinner, and fortunately we had a long walk home before falling asleep with full bellies.
   On the morning of our departure we had breakfast at Tecolote Cafe.  Eight choices of bread for the French toast- have to appreciate that!  The blue cornmeal pinon pancakes were worthy of breaking into song and dance.  Nutty, fluffy, the subtle crunch of cornmeal... I'm looking forward to creating my own version.
   I had a great weekend with my mom and look forward to a second visit to Santa Fe.  For now, I need to eat some salad.