Geronimo Lopez built the adobe house that is the setting for this restaurant in 1756. Completely restored, it has a charming dining area on the front porch and a contemporary interior with fireplaces, sensitive lighting and modern art. The food is what chef Eric DiStefano likes to call “Global Eclectic.” Starters might include Maryland blue crab cakes with a caviar-dill sauce, braised leeks and a baby watercress salad; or Chardonnay-poached Maine lobster salad with crispy polenta and cornichon-dill sauce. Main courses could be peppery elk tenderloin and apple-smoked bacon with roasted-garlic mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas and a creamy brandied-mushroom sauce; or maple-teriyaki Scottish salmon with Israeli couscous “risotto” and sweet peas, all served with white wine butter and pineapple chutney.
Traveling the World in Search
of Truly Enchanting Places
New Mexico
Overview
From Andrew Harper
Perhaps more than those of any other Southwestern state, the sparsely populated mountain and desert landscapes of New Mexico exude an atmosphere of the ancient. Aztec and Pueblo ruins sit in the shadows of massive natural sandstone formations; Mogollon cliff dwellings in the Gila Wilderness invoke ghosts of the 13th century; petroglyphs from thousands of years ago preside along the Rio Grande; a volcano once traversed by mammoths and bison lies dormant in the northcentral wilderness.
In the foothills of the southern Rocky Mountains, Santa Fe, the oldest capital city in North America, is also home to the nation's oldest public building. The legacy of the Spanish colonizers' culture is pervasive in the rodeos, ranches and cattle drives that remain a part of modern-day New Mexico.
But a sense of the future is equally salient. The famous International UFO Museum and Research Center at Roswell allows visitors to decide whether a flying saucer really did crash here in 1947. The Old Town of Albuquerque is a historic village updated with modern shops and boutiques, and the ski slopes at Taos and Santa Fe fuse the slow geologic time of soaring peaks with modern downhill velocities.
Hotels
All recommended hotels in New Mexico
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Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa FeResort of 65 casita accommodations on 57 acres at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. |
New Mexico | |
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Rosewood Inn of the AnasaziIdeally situated adjacent to Santa Fe’s plaza, this hotel contains 58 stylish rooms within a modest adobe building. A Southwestern motif incorporates Native American rugs and artifacts, along with kiva-style gas fireplaces. |
New Mexico | |
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The Inn of the Five GracesJust a short walk from Santa Fe’s historic main plaza, the 24-room Inn of The Five Graces is housed within several restored buildings. |
New Mexico | |
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The Lodge at ChamaSporting retreat crowning an 8,000-foot ridge on a 36,000-acre working ranch in the San Juan Mountains, two hours north of Santa Fe. |
New Mexico |
Dining
All recommended restaurants in New Mexico
La Casa Sena
This charming restaurant in the heart of historic Sena Plaza is set in an adobe house built in 1867 by Jose Sena, a hero of the Civil War. It has a superb collection of landscape paintings and handcrafted furniture, plus a lovely tree-shaded patio. The menu offers imaginative Southwestern cuisine. Appetizers could include a wild-boar sausage ragout with black beans, heirloom tomatoes, garlic and red chard; or Pacific Northwest mussels and Baja scallops flavored with coconut and kaffir lime with garlic, ginger and scallions in white wine broth. Main courses might be red chili-crusted pork with roasted root vegetables, red chard and veal jus, or clay-baked ruby trout wrapped in banana leaves with lemon and basil. The spectacular 67-page wine list has more than three dozen by-the-glass selections.
Ristra
This Victorian adobe house contains three stylish rooms with geometric ceilings and minimally adorned walls. The flavors of France and the American Southwest blend in inventive ways, thanks to chef Xavier Grenet. Look for starters such as plump sea scallops en papillote with spinach and a spicy saffron sauce, or crispy herbed calamari with a zesty lime dipping sauce. Main courses might be grilled rack of lamb with a tomato-confit orzo, red chard, mint-jalapeño glaze and a marjoram jus; or grilled ahi tuna with eggplant caviar, a potato- leek gratin and watercress coulis.
The Compound
The spare interior of this stylish restaurant provides the setting for a fine collection of Southwest folk art, as well as chef Mark Kiffin’s creative fare. While he never hesitates to inflect his food with Southwest influences, this is contemporary American cooking at a very high level. Starters might include tuna tartare with a topping of Osetra caviar and preserved lemon, or a Kiffin signature, sweetbreads and foie gras with cep mushrooms, cayenne and sherry. Main courses could be grilled beef tenderloin with cep mushroom O’Brien potatoes and foie gras Hollandaise, or Loch Duart salmon with Lyonnaise potatoes, smoked bacon and asparagus with a morel demi-glace. The very good wine list has more than 200 selections from all major wine areas of the world.
Located in the historic plaza, this property is done in a traditional New Mexican style. I was most impressed with the restaurant and its outdoor patio offering sidewalk seating right in the middle of the festivities. The food and service were excellent.
We just came back and the travel office asked for feedback.
Inn of Five Graces + restaurants
Of course I would be happy to critique the Inn and the Santa Fe experience. This was our third stay at the Inn (first in a few years and since it became a relais & chateau) and we stayed in the Tamarind Room for the first time. The arrival and check in process was very smooth and the room looked nice when we arrived. The room (as they all are) is uniquely decorated with a southwestern and Tibetan motif which I have always found strange but it works. The room had a sitting area and nice bed with a kitchen area and bathroom. The bathroom was slightly disappointing as it is small and old fashioned. After the couple days we were used to it and it served it's purpose. You couldn't take a nice soak or romantic bath and we prefer walk in showers but it was serviceable and clean. The cleaning staff did a great job, the refrigerator is well stocked and free, we had breakfast one of the mornings and the outdoor patio is very nice and the breakfast good (though we aren't big breakfast people). Every interaction we had with the staff was great, they were super, attentive, and very hospitable.
Friday night we went to Bistro 315 before the opera and it is very close and was excellent. We eat there every time because it is close and easy however I would say they have really stepped it up there. In the future we would make a point to go there due to quality not just proximity as the choices seemed more upscale, they did over the interior and it looks great, the prices are reasonable, and the wine list excellent (and reasonably priced given the quality). The opera was great as the location is stunning (I am glad we saw Madame Butterfly but I don't need to see it again though I am sure my wife might have a different opinion).
Saturday we went down to the Plaza and had lunch at Cafe Pasqual's which is a local institution and we sat at the communal table with the gentleman who conducted the opera the night before. The food is very good but I am pretty simple and there is always too much going on for my tastes.
That night we went to Geronimo (as we do every visit) and it was great. I don't know if it was because the Inn made the reservation or we just got lucky but we were able to dine al fresco on the porch (we usual have a difficult time getting a table we like there as some areas are very crowded and we are very particular about seating) and had a half bottle of champagne, appetizers of soft shell crab and duck, a bottle of Zinfandel (I wish their wine list was better as it has a couple very nice $450+ bottles but not much I would consider mid for special occasion dining say $125-200). I had the elk for dinner (for the sixth consecutive time every time we go) and my wife had rack of lamb. Both were excellent and we had dessert (average), espresso, and port. Then we walked back to the inn on the beautiful night.
The next morning we had breakfast and went to the airport.
So this was our fourth trip to Santa Fe and we will go back reasonably soon to see a different season there and again next summer for the opera.
We stayed at the Inn of the Anasazi and wouldn't repeat that (though I don't know that rosewood owned or ran it then). Also didn't like their dining room experience. We have eaten at the Compound (which gets great reviews) and my meal was average at best and my wife's uneatable so we would never go back there.
Geronimo is one of my favorite restaurants in the US (I would rather go there than the Inn at Little Washington or Blackberry Farm) and I think Bistro 315 is much better and next time plan to have a luxurious meal there not having to worry about being out in an hour to get to the opera.
I think Auberge opened a place in Santa Fe that we might be interested in trying however The Five Graces was so nice and the people so helpful and the proximity to the plaza and restaurants so good i am sure we will stay there our next trip but we may chose a room that has a modernized bathroom (we just happened to get one in the older part where they didn't have options but the newer ones are much nicer).
All in all Santa Fe is magical and the Five Graces super. We will definitely be back there soon.
My pleasure, unfortunatly i neglected to put it under New Mexico for some reason that escapes me.
Hello,
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such detailed feedback! We're glad you had such a delightful trip.
Best Regards,
The Travel Office