Here is an update on the restaurant scene in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
First and foremost, if you could eat only one meal in Santa Fe it should be at Cafe Pasqual. It is one of the most original and creative restaurants in the United States. It has retained New Mexico traditions in some dishes and has gone far beyond in others. It is also consistent. We ate there twice in December and it was as good as 5, 10, 15, or 20 years ago. However, it is best for breakfast or lunch since there are so many interesting places in town for a more elegant dinner.
Aqua Santa remains our favorite restaurant in town. The chef/owner Brian Knox was previously the chef at the long gone but not forgotten Cafe' Escalara. The style would be very popular in the San Francisco Bay area with the emphasis on quality ingredients speaking for themselves, some slow food movement influences, and some faint residual hints of Deborah Madison. The burrata with mustard greens was worth the trip to Santa Fe.
If there are any negatives, it would be that quite a few tables have been added to the already small space at Aqua Santa. That has raised the noise level significantly. However the wait staff manages to find a path between the tables and the service is excellent.
Having read good things about Geronimo, we went there again for the first time in many years. We were not disappointed. Every dish we had was imaginative and excellent. This is a more elegant restaurant than Aqua Santa. The tables are farther apart and the noise level is low.
With regret, I must withdraw my previous recommendation of Trattoria Nostrani. I sense a change in ownership or in the kitchen, but do not know the facts. In fairness, some of the dishes we had were excellent but others were telling. We shared a primi of gnocchi with frog legs. The gnocchi was flawless. The sauce was delicious. However, the frog legs were tough and tasteless. (At this point you are probably asking why we would order frog legs in New Mexico in December. Good question! My only answer is that at a great restaurant you would learn why it was a good idea.) For a segundi, our waiter recommended a roast baby chicken. It was tough and dry. Inexcusable.
The Compound is similar to Geronimo in elegance. It seemed to have been rearranged since our last visit. The tables are less crowded and the overall space seems larger - a welcome improvement. I could not fault the food on any specific point, but it did not seem to have the excitement or sparkle that it had when the restaurant was re-opened in 2000 under Mark Kiffin. It is a restaurant you should know, but half a notch down from Aqua Santa and Geronimo.
Having had a bad experience the last two or three times we went to Coyote Cafe', we did not go there this trip. However we have read that Coyote has a new chef and that they are trying to regain the glory they had when Mark Miller was cooking there. They have a long way to go. I wish them well.
I like the Shed, but not so much that I think that it is worth waiting in line when there are other good places near by. We bypassed the line at the Shed and had a very enjoyable lunch at Casa Sena.
El Farol is always good but we did not have time to go there this year.
A note on popularity: As usual, Cafe Pasqual had a waiting line from 7:30 AM until after 7 PM. Live with it. The wait is worth it. Aqua Santa, Geronimo, and Trattoria Nostrani were sold out for the first and second seating. Geronimo and Nostrani called us the day before to reconfirm. The Compound was two thirds full.
(A note on the photo. It was taken inside the New Mexico Museum, looking at a window. It has nothing to do with restaurants, but a photo is always interesting.)
