Midtown Bistro Off the Beaten Restaurant Path Photos by Brad Bealmear
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ometimes a gem is where you’d least expect to find it. You know you’ll find a rich delectable dining experience in and around the plaza, but off of St. Michael’s Drive? The answer is yes. Midtown Bistro, on San Mateo, is tucked away in a Zen fountain garden. If you’re looking for a place to wine and dine away from the tourist trademarks, this upbeat and sensible restaurant is the place to be. Executive chef Angel Estrada, a veteran of Santa Fe’s fine dining scene, is co-owner of the restaurant with longtime Santa Fe restaurateur Edmund Catanach. “Locals tells us they are so happy to have a fine dining spot in midtown,” Estrada says. “Visitors to Santa Fe have discovered us too, and the restaurant is very busy every day of the week.”
The dinner menu highlights top quality meats such as grilled French cut pork chops with roasted sweet potato puree, baby bok choy and habanero pineapple sauce, and filet mignon with roasted poblano gratin, asparagus and red wine demi glaze. Achiote marinated, grilled Scottish salmon is accompanied by fingerling potatoes, broccolini and Tabiko caviar buerre blanc. The free-range chicken breast is prepared with a stuffing of Spanish goat cheese served with buttermilk polenta cake, sautéed vegetables, capers, pancetta and balsamic butter pan sauce. A well-curated wine selection pairs elegantly with each menu choice, from the bluenose sea bass to the rack of New Zealand lamb and the vegetarian black bean and quinoa pilaf.
The scrumptious dessert menu includes chocolate layer cake with Chantilly cream and fresh berries, key lime pie, cheesecake with caramel sauce, crème brule, chocolate mousse, carrot cake, a light and fluffy tres leches cake with strawberry sauce, and an artisanal cheese plate. Saturday and Sunday brunch menus feature the popular pork and chicken taquitos, house-made soup and pasta of the day, a wide selection of entrée salads, fluffy waffles, eggs served any style, omelets, burgers, Pacific blue crab cakes and the signature grilled chicken sandwich with bacon, avocado, mozzarella and house-made lemon pepper potato chips. The New Mexican writer Susan Meadows wrote of Midtown Bistro:
“”The atmosphere is suitable for an important business lunch, a celebration with friends or family, or even a romantic dinner. The ambience is contemporary industrial, with plenty of light, combined with a clubby steakhouse feel, with white tablecloths and red cushy chairs updating the classic banquette.” Anne Hillerman wrote for The Albuquerque Journal, “Wonderful. That’s the adjective that springs to mind when I remember my dinner with friends at the elegant Midtown Bistro. This cleverly named, off-the-beaten-track restaurant has some of the best food in Santa Fe.” “We’re blessed,” says co-owner Catanach. “It has been a lot of fun over the past two years. We opened in 2013. We have a great staff; to have our employees on board with us because they share our passion is an honor, and it reflects to the customers when they come through the door.”
Midtown Bistro 901 W. San Mateo Rd. 505.820.3121 Midtownbistrosf.com