FINE FOOD FEST TO THE MAX!

Our last week in Santa Fe was a glorious food-fest. We ate ourselves into oblivion. When you get to be our age, that's our primary form of entertainment and I must say that we were entertained very well!
We went back to La Choza for lunch and met our friends, the Ellises.

We had a very nice visit with them as well as a good meal. And speaking of meals, I'm going to post a slide show of some of the wonderful dishes that we had during the week as this will be the best way to look at them. Of you don't see this post after you have read this entry, click on older posts and it should come right up.
That evening we went back to Jinja with the Gratz's and had another great meal. They, along with the Ellises are full time residents in Santa Fe. Linda is a wonderful artist.

The next morning Frank and Jose played golf and I took the morning off.

He had bought me some pizza from Whole Foods the night before, so I had a great lunch while I watched TV. A nice little break for both of us.

That evening we went to the plaza for the entertainment. In the month of July, there is live entertainment every noontime as well as in the evening.

We found out that our friend, Patty's niece, Eliza Gilkyson was in town and would be performing. Her "warm up" as she wold be called in Las Vegas, was a singer named Busy McCarrol and she was also very good as well.

Eliza has built a reputation as one of the most original and influential folk artists of our time. She was born in Los Angeles, where her dad Terry was a successful songwriter with many hits like "Memories Are Made of This," which Dean Martin took to #1 on the charts, and "Bare Necessities" from Disney's The Jungle Book and The Cry of the Wild Goose. Eliza left California to define her own path. She spent time in New Mexico and Europe before moving to Austin, which she has called home for more than two decades. She lives there with her husband and children but travels world-wide entertaining.

Patty has many well known family members. Along with her niece Eliza and her brother, Terry, she is also the aunt of Anna Wintour who is the editor of Vogue magazine.

She is the person that Meryl Streep portrayed in the film The Devil Wears Prada.
It seems that at all events in Santa Fe, people want to dance .

This poor couple must have thought they were going to a square dance, but it didn't really matter. They danced and had a great time anyway, gingham skirt, cowboy boots and all.

These outdoor festivities always draw a big crowd. The weather is perfect and there is no charge, so why not get out and celebrate!

Even the dogs come to town for the entertainment. It always amazes me to see how well they all seem to get along.

We have seen this woman and her dog at many events on our trips to Santa Fe over the years. Do you suppose they both attend Weight Watcher's meetings together?

I have always heard that people begin to look like their dogs and now I believe it!
Since there was such a large crowd and you had to bring your own seating, we pulled out my wheelchair for the first time on this trip. It worked very well and I had a ring side seat. Papa pushed me to the restaurant after the performance. He's finally getting to be a much better driver. He's starting to call me Miss Daisy. All he needs is a chauffeur's cap.

We went back to The Shed and this time we ate. It's a wonderful place and the food is great. We never pass up a good New Mexico style enchilada and these are among some of the best in town.

We had a bit of a wait which was to be expected, and we took advantage of the extra time and had a drink on the patio.

Since I had my own chair with Papa's portable seat from the concert, I had a place to sit while we waited. He was able to sit on a bench while we waited.

The next day we met our long time friend, Young Woo at Tomasita's for lunch. He and I met when we were at a photographic workshop in Italy and Egypt 25 years ago and the three of us have been good friends ever since.

He and I usually cook together when we're in town but he had just returned from his home in California, (he has several here in the U.S, as well as in Europe) so we decided to eat out instead.
He is also an artist and a very good one. He works mainly in watercolor. Here is one of his paintings that I have hanging in our home. What could be more appropriate than an angel holding red chilies in front of the Santuario de Chimayo. I call her the Guardian Angel of Enchiladas ;-)

We had to make one last trip to our #1 favorite hole in the wall, Tia Sophia's before we headed back to Texas.

I've saved most of the food shots for the slide show, but I had to slip these of Tia's Christmas enchiladas and their wonderful soppillas in as a last tribute to excellent NM cuisine ;-)

On our next to last night on this trip, we went back to Max's with Chuck and Linda.

Their food is so remarkable that you can't possible go there only once when you're in town. We weren't about to miss out on an opportunity to taste this delicious cuisine at least one more time this visit.

It's a marvelous little restaurant that only seats about 20 people and it's tucked away in little walkway off of Guadalupe.

We went there one other time this trip with the Ofman's. We parked on a side street as parking is limited and then took a short cut where we had to duck under a wire fence to get to the restaurant. I'm sure that they wondered where on earth we were taking them. Having been there several times before, we knew that they were going to be in for a real treat. I can honestly say that they serve some of the best food that we've had anywhere in the world. Not only is it different and delicious, the presentation is awesome. The food shots will be in the slide show so you can see what I mean.

Here is a photograph of Max, the owner. She's a delightful young woman, a very hard worker and has a rare jewel in this excellent restaurant.

She now has a new young chef that is part owner of the place and he is a real treasure. I couldn't believe how young he looked. Such a cutie and he can cook as well. What a perfect combination!

He is the executive chef and partner and his name is Mark Connell and he is unbelievable. After high school, he completed an European styled apprenticeship in Vail, Colorado and then attended ICIF’s Masters Program in Costiglioli di Asti, Italy where he studied classical Italian cuisine and worked at renowned restaurant Costa Salici.
When he returned to the US, he worked in Laguna Beach, California at Montage Resort’s flagship restaurant, Studio, under James Boyce. He attend Culinary Institute of America’s Pastry Program at Greystone. At CIA, he was voted “Most Valuable Patissier” of his class by some of America’s most respected Pastry Chefs. Mark finished his time in California at The French Laundry.

Returning to Massachusetts, Mark was the Sous Chef and Pastry Chef at Salts Restaurant in Cambridge under Gabriel Bremmer, one of Food and Wine Magazine’s “10 Best New Chefs” 2006. He then helped open contemporary Italian Restaurant Bina Osteria as Chef di Cuisine before moving to Santa Fe. Max's is blessed to have him at the helm in the kitchen. A meal there is a real treat!
On our last day we decided to have lunch at Restaurant Martin. It is right down the street from our condo and is another fine new restaurant in Santa Fe. The chef renovated an old place and made it a very chic new gourmet restaurant.

The chef/owner, Martin Rios, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, grew up in Santa Fe and started in the restaurant business as a 17-year-old dishwasher, eventually working his way to executive chef at several restaurants and hotels. Chef Rios received his formal training at the Culinary Institute of America and supplemented that with experience and training in some of the worlds most honored restaurants and with well-known culinary masters.He was featured in the 2008 season of Iron Chef America, and is the only New Mexico chef to have won the Robert Mondavi Culinary Award of Excellence. When Rios was chef at the Old House Restaurant at the Eldorado Hotel, Zagat's Restaurant Survey listed the restaurant as the best dining experience in New Mexico and one of the best restaurants in the United States and the restaurant was awarded both the AAA Four-Diamond Award and the Mobil Four-Star Award. Chef Rios has been name Chef of the Year by the City of Santa Fe and has been named Chef of the Year twice each by the State of New Mexico and the New Mexico Lodging Association. He has also been named a Celebrated Chef for the National Pork Council and was featured in the Bon Appetit Magazine cover story "The American Restaurant: Our Favorite Places." We ate outside and everything was perfect.

As we waited for our food, I watched the wind gently blow the trees and the shadows of the leaves danced on the umbrellas. What a perfect spot for an outdoor luncheon.

All the beautiful people were there for lunch. This young woman was fascinating to watch ... full of style and grace. Certainly a little eye candy for the men!

Frank ordered me what I thought was white wine but it turned out to be a French aperitif called Lillet. It was different but actually it was very good.

The meal was magnificent and the perfect way to end the trip. We now have two wonderful restaurants to add to our list of recommendations when people ask us where to eat in Santa Fe ... Max's and Restaurant Martin. They are superb.
I won't tell you what we had for dinner that night as we packed, but their mascot and logo was a little Chihuahua.
We left for Texas around 3:30 a.m and had an uneventful drive home. All in all, it was a wonderful visit and we're looking forward to going back to the Land of Enchantment soon.
One last thought ... after having eaten all this wonderful food and drinking delicious wines, I last 4 pounds while I was there. That proves that there are fewer calories is good food and good wine!

XOXO and Bon Appetite, Pcasso