 |  |
 |  |
We came to walk the streets of Santa Fe at the end of every day during our stay in New Mexico, to see the sights and to explore city's dining scene. We chose three very different restaurants to explore as well.
***
Our first meal was at the Anasazi Restaurant, located at a luxurious hotel the Inn of Anasazi. The Executive Chef Oliver Ridgeway offers an excellent contemporary Southwestern menu with dishes that feature very unique and creative combinations of ingredients and flavors.
Blue Corn Crusted Crabcakes were served with a sweet and smoky tomato jam and a flavorful and refreshing avocado-poblano sauce.
Next, we had the Double Cut Colorado Lamb Chops with green chile grits cakes, cumin carrot puree, snow peas, and pasilla cherry demi glace. I loved the concept of this dish, and the flavor combination was very creative. However, I found the grits cakes to be a little too rich for me, and the pasilla cherry sauce was too subtle with all the other components, cumin carrots in particular, taking over the main flavor of the dish.
We also tried the 9-spice New Mexican Beef Tenderloin with poblano gnocchi, spinach, wild mushrooms and coffee-pinon glaze. The beef was very flavorful with all the spices and the glaze. The poblano gnocchi were outstanding, perfect soft little pillows loaded with wonderful smoky delicious flavor.
For dessert, we had scrumptious apple-rhubarb crumble with oatmeal crunch and white chocolate ice cream.
***
Our best dinner in Santa Fe was at the famous Coyote Cafe originally started by celebrity chef Mark Miller, and continuing with the unique culinary perspective of the current Chef Eric DiStefeno who brings Asian flare to modern Southwestern dishes.
We started with a delightful Sweet New Mexican Corn Soup, smooth and silky, served with a generous portion of black truffles and garnished with fresh thyme.
For our main courses, we chose the two signature dishes of both Coyote Cafe and its sister restaurant Geronimo. The Fiery Hot and Sweet Mexican White Prawns were succulent and flavorful with a terrific spicy kick. These were served with a cooling basil caper aioli and scallion mint salad. The crispy almond sushi rice cakes were really light and paired wonderfully with the prawns.
The Chef's famous Tellicherry Pepper Elk Tenderloin was amazing with smoky flavors infused with hints of rosemary, really buttery and tender. It was served with delicious roasted garlic smashed potatoes, Applewood smoked bacon, and brandied mushroom sauce.
Both the Prawns and the Elk Tenderloin were excellent and if anyone would like to make these dishes at home, the recipes are available online: Elk Tenderloin recipe and Prawns recipe.
For our dessert, we had a "flight" of house-made ice creams and sorbets. The flavors included chocolate mint, strawberry, guava, mango-lime, and fig. These were all delightful but everyone's favorite was the fig ice cream.
***
On our last night in Santa Fe, we chose a casual but very popular and award-winning restaurant The Shed. Here you can sample true New Mexican cuisine, a mix of Pueblo Indian, Spanish, and Mexican influences, celebrating Hatch chile and blue corn.
We tried the Enchilada and Taco Plate which consisted of a blue corn enchilada filled with cheddar cheese, onion, and a soft blue corn taco with cheddar cheese and ground beef, both covered with red chile sauce.
We also sampled a Green Chile Burrito, filled with pinto beans, white cheddar and onion, and covered with roasted green chile sauce.
We enjoyed all three meals in Santa Fe, getting a fabulous experience of different styles of upscale and casual New Mexican cuisine.
