HERITAGE SUMMER/FALL 2020
HOTELS & RESORTS MAGAZINE
ESCAPE TO ENCHANTMENT
Â
CHEF MONCHÂTRE CULINARY MASTER
BEYOND THE PLATE SAWMILL MARKET
STEP BY STEP
HERITAGE INSPIRATIONS
ESCAPE TO ENCHANTMENT Select from any of Heritage’s World Class Hotels PACKAGE 1 Eight Nights Four Destinations $729 PACKAGE 2 Six Nights Three Destinations $579 PACKAGE 3 Four Nights Two Destinations $399 TAOS El Monte Sagrado Resort & Spa
SANTA FE Eldorado Hotel & Spa | Inn and Spa at Loretto Hotel St. Francis | Hotel Chimayo de Santa Fe
ALBUQUERQUE Hotel Chaco | Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
LAS CRUCES Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces Offer expires Feb 26, 2021, blackout dates may apply.
800.617.7804 HHANDR.COM
Welcome HERITAGE HOTELS & RESORTS MAGAZINE
SUMMER/FALL 2020 Published by Heritage Hotels & Resorts, Inc. 201 Third St. NW, Ste. 1140 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102 Phone: 505-836-6700 contactus@hhandr.com hhandr.com
Publisher/CEO
JIM LONG Heritage Hotels Publication Editor
MOLLY RYCKMAN Heritage Hotels Publication Art Director
SARAH FRIEDLAND
Editorial, Production & Design by: e-squarededit.com Project Editor
EMILY ESTERSON Art Director GLENNA STOCKS Contributing Writers ASHLEY BIGGERS LYNN CLINE KELLY KOEPKE GAYLE VANCE
Dear Guest: Heritage Hotels & Resorts is pleased to offer the most exclusive Escape to Enchantment packages to all guests considering New Mexico for a vacation getaway. We recognize that many people’s plans have changed over the past few months, however, the need to get away still remains strong. New Mexico is the ideal vacation destination being the 5th largest state in landmass, 37th in population with 15 National Parks and Monuments, 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 34 State Parks. New Mexico’s breathtaking landscapes, endless miles of open spaces, legendary history and traditional architecture, contribute to your perfect vacation itinerary. With luxury hotels located in Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces, Heritage Hotels & Resorts can be your home away from home during your eight-, six-, or four-night stay, if you select from one of our exclusive packages. Begin your journey in Taos, where visitors can hike the Rio Grande Gorge or raft the Taos box. Venture to Santa Fe to visit Canyon Road art galleries, hike Santa Fe mountain trails, or explore the historic plaza and museums. For the food enthusiast, stop by Sawmill Market in Albuquerque to experience the best culinary scene in the city, explore Historic Old Town or venture to the Petroglyph National Monument. Journey on to Las Cruces, where visitors can see the largest gypsum sand dunes at White Sands National Park or wander to
Spaceport America for an exploration in the new frontier. We recognize the importance of a safe escape. Heritage Hotels & Resorts has always taken great pride in our cleanliness and have continued to improve the quality and standards for our guests during these times. We believe strongly in our enhanced cleaning procedures and our personal protective equipment program to protect our guests and staff. We ask you to Escape to Enchantment with us.
Bienvenidos/Welcome Jim Long Founder/CEO Heritage Hotels & Resorts, Inc.
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ESCAPE TO ENCHANTMENT One state, four destinations endless experiences, spectacular prices.
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BEYOND THE PLATE by Ashley M. Biggers The Sawmill Market offers a new culinary destination in Albuquerque.
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LEVELING UP WITH CHEF MONCHÂTRE by Lynn Cline Level 5’s chef represents many cultures.
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DOUGLAS MERRIAM
Features
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Also in This Issue
1 WELCOME
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4 WHAT’S NEW The latest happenings at Heritage Hotels & Resorts.
6 STEP BY STEP by Ashley M. Biggers Heritage Inspirations walking tours take you off the beaten path.
8 THE ART OF VIRGIL ORTIZ
By Suzanne Newman Fricke, Ph.D.
The dynamic Cochiti artist depicts stories of community and history through art.
38 THE MYSTERY OF LORETTO CHAPEL by Kelly Koepke A Santa Fe landmark has a compelling— and mysterious—history.
42 A BRAND APART
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By Gayle Vance Heritage Hotels’ Lodge properties are evolving to serve value-driven travelers.
44 CULTURALLY DISTINCT RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS Plan your next New Mexico trip—explore
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Heritage restaurants and hotels.
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What’s New The Latest from Heritage Hotels & Resorts ROOFTOP POOL The new rooftop pool at Eldorado Hotel & Spa invites guests to relax and unwind while taking in the most breathtaking views of Santa Fe’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Enjoy the perfect high desert climate Santa Fe is famous for before refreshing in the most luxurious pool. Soak up the sun on the expansive pool deck with private cabanas or escape to the spacious pool or one of two hot tubs. For guests looking for a cocktail or light bite, try a drink and appetizer at Eldorado’s pool bar. Reserve your poolside guest room with a private patio steps away from the most refined and relaxing pool experience in Santa Fe.
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Opposite Page: The stunning new rooftop pool at Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe. Left: The Inn and Spa at Loretto. Below: The second location of Crafted will open at Inn and Spa at Loretto in August. This location will feature coffee as well as tastings of New Mexico wine and spirits. Also opening in August is the Salon at Loretto. Guests will be able to enjoy hair and nail services.
ROOFTOP EVENT SPACE Located adjacent to the rooftop pool at the Eldorado Hotel and Spa is a new, intimate event space. This area overlooks Santa Fe’s charming downtown and has views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for a stunning way to welcome VIPs and wow them with Eldorado’s impeccable service. It’s a perfect place to host unforgettable receptions and weddings.
NEW MEXICO’S NEWEST TASTING ROOM Santa Fe’s newest tasting room is located at Inn and Spa at Loretto where guests can experience exclusive tastings of New Mexico’s premier wines and spirits, as well as handcrafted coffee. Crafted is dedicated to educating guests about the story of New Mexico grown and sourced ingredients, showcasing the best quality New Mexico has to offer and providing a first-class tasting experience. Crafted Santa Fe is the second location for this premier brand, the first located in Hotel Chaco in Albuquerque. The new tasting room features gins, whiskeys, and brandies from Santa Fe Spirits, as well as exclusive New Mexico wines.
THE SALON This new salon located at the Inn and Spa at Loretto offers a warm and friendly atmosphere of highly skilled professionals, experienced in haircutting, coloring, styling, and nail services. This sophisticated environment is the perfect stop in any traveler’s day to get ready for an event, wedding, or night out. The new salon spa is the perfect complement to the already established Spa at Loretto recognized as the #5 “Best Hotel Spa in the U.S.” by USA Today 10Best. HHANDR.COM
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AMANDA POWELL FOR HERITAGE INSPIRATIONS
Visitors explore Santa Fe’s traditional architecture.
Step by Step Heritage Inspirations walking tours By Ashley M. Biggers
N
INETEENTH CENTURY american newspaper correspondent Paul Scott Mowrer wrote, “There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country.” Guests of Heritage Inspirations walking tours get an authentic feel of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos as they stroll historic and up-and-coming neighborhoods. On these tours, “historic and contemporary threads are creatively woven together to allow our guests an opportunity to familiarize themselves with each city,” says Angelisa Murray, co-owner of Heritage Inspirations. The tours journey beyond the typical visitor
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attractions to discover each area’s soul. Because residents of each city are hired to guide the outings, guests also get a local’s perspective on history and current happenings. Taos Artisan Walking Tour + Chocolate highlights the town’s artist-colony beginnings and shows how that tradition lives on. Lesley Morgan leads the tours, which depart El Monte Sagrado Resort & Spa and weave in and out of narrow alleys between original adobe buildings. The tour passes the Couse-Sharp Historic Site, the former studio of Taos Society of Artists founding members E.I. Couse and Joseph H. Sharp, and ducks into the Old
Taos County Courthouse to see WPAera murals painted by Victor Higgins. Morgan says her personal favorite stops are those that introduce visitors to Taos’ contemporary artists, including Tres Estrellas Gallery, and the studio of landscape painter Richard Alan Nichols. The tour concludes with an artisanal finish: a visit to Chokola Bean to Bar, which makes organic, small-batch chocolates—as the name implies— from bean to final creation. Albuquerque’s art is a personal highlight for guide Roberto “Bobby” Gonzales, who leads Mezcla de Culturas, A walking tour of Albuquerque’s Sawmill District and Historic Old Town. “I love
walking through the sculpture garden at Albuquerque Museum,” Gonzales says. This tour celebrates the Duke City’s mix of cultures and its evolution. “This tour is a shared journey where guests get a glimpse into Albuquerque’s past and still living history,” Gonzales says. “Our guests begin the tour on what was once the farmland that supported the Villa de Alburquerque, and, as we move about, we explore hidden haciendas, [Old Town] plaza, two chapels, and move through more modern places such as the Albuquerque Museum, Spur Line Supply Co., and Hotel Chaco from which our guests get a bird’s-eye view of the neighborhoods we just explored.” The Sawmill District is one of the city’s historic, and now up-and-coming neighborhoods that travelers may miss if exploring on their own. In Santa Fe visitors leave the beaten path. “With this tour, we pride ourselves on showing our guests another side of Santa Fe,” says guide Noah Blessey. “We already know that people will be drawn to visit the Plaza, Palace of the Governors, Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis, and the staircase of Loretto Chapel. We’ve designed the tour to take our guests away from these areas.” The tour departs Hotel St. Francis to explore the Barrio de Analco District and San Miguel Chapel. It ventures over to Canyon Road to visit El Zaguán, the historic home and garden of merchant James L. Johnson. Blessey delves into Santa Fe’s signature architectural styles. The tour concludes with a glass of wine from New Mexico’s own Gruet winery. Overall, Blessey says tour guests “love the fact that they’ve been taken away from the plaza. It adds authenticity to their experience of the tour and their visit to Santa Fe and New Mexico.”
Heritage Inspirations Walking Tours Santa Fe Historic Architectural & Interiors Walking + Wine Tasting Tour
Mezcla de Culturas: A walking tour of Albuquerque’s Sawmill District & Historic Old Town
Taos Artisan Walking Tour + Chocolate
Coming Soon E-Bike Tours or Rentals Venture through the Santa Fe Plaza or ride through the neighborhoods of Albuquerque’s historic Old Town or new Sawmill District on an electric bike. E-Bikes allow anyone to bike at their comfort level, whether you are a riding enthusiast or a casual rider; the experience is tailored to fit everyone. This is the perfect opportunity to spend the day with friends and family doors. Heritage Inspirations Locations: Inn and Spa at Loretto 211 Old Santa Fe Trail Santa Fe, NM 87501
Hotel Chaco 2000 Bellamah Ave. NW Albuquerque, NM 87104
For more details and pricing, visit heritageinspirations.com
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Spirit World Army, Taboo II Series, 2019; Cochiti red clay, white clay slip, red clay slip, black (wild spinach) paint, 17"h x 14"w x 8"d.
The Art of Virgil Ortiz The dynamic Cochiti artist depicts stories of community and history through art. By Suzanne Newman Fricke, Ph.D.
F
OR VIRGIL ORTIZ (Cochiti) and his family, ceramics are a fundamental part of life. Ortiz says he “was born with clay in my hands.” Trained by his mother, noted potter Seferina Ortiz, and his grandmother, Laurencita
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Herrera, Ortiz learned the historical complex and labor-intensive technique for making ceramics in the Southwest. The artist collects and treats raw clay, forms pots by hand without using a wheel, gathers wild plants for paint, and fires in a ground
Courtesy of the artist.
Roxanne Swentzell’s piece The Guardian sits above the reception desk in Hotel Chaco.
Courtesy of the artist.
Courtesy Gallery Hózhó
Translator, Commander of the Spirit World Army, lithograph, 2020, Tamarind Institute.
reVOlution Couture worn by Aeronaut character; constructed using recycled billboards, 2019.
fire rather than a kiln. Ortiz’s ceramics follow the distinctive shapes and designs of Cochiti while addressing challenging subjects from the world around him and an imagined future based on the trajectory from the past to the present.
twentieth century, these figures were not as desirable to museum collectors who traveled through the Southwest and were not allowed in Native American art fairs, like Indian Market. The Cochiti production of figures fell until Helen Cordero introduced Storyteller figures in 1964, featuring an open-mouthed grandmother or grandfather seated with numerous children. Since 1990, Ortiz aided in the revival of monos figures. He also included controversial images, such as figures with tattoos, piercings, or leather harnesses associated with S&M. He does not shy away from difficult issues in Indigenous communities and the world at large, such as PTSD, suicide, the missing and murdered Indigenous women across North America, and social issues stemming from the impact of centuries of colonization.
EARLY TALENT Ortiz’s skill in ceramics was apparent from an early age. He won his first award at the annual Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Santa Fe Indian Market when he was 14 years old. “Clay is the core of all my creations,” says Ortiz. “My work centers on preserving traditional Cochiti culture and art forms. It’s important to recognize that Pueblo communities are very much alive and have a level of vitality that speaks to generations of strength, persistence, brilliance, and thriving energy.” Ortiz is highly skilled in recreating historical examples like storage jars and other pots, but also the historic monos, effigy figures that are caricatures of outsiders. While monos were popular until the
CERAMICS AND BEYOND His training in ceramics led Ortiz to explore many other media, including photography, digital art, HHANDR.COM
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Vigil Ortiz Photography & Digital Art featuring Tahu 2180, Leader of the Blind ArchersTM; central character in Ortiz’s Revolt 1680/2180 saga.
film, costuming, jewelry, and fashion design. In 2002, he collaborated with fashion designer Donna Karan, creating graphic patterns for scarves based on images painted on ceramics. His experience encouraged him to start his own fashion line in 2006 called Indigene, which includes clothing for men and women, handbags, and scarves, based on images from his ceramics. He collaborated with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian to create a collection of silver jewelry decorated with the symbols from Cochiti potters, including wild spinach leaves, water, and turkey tracks, the last of which is the artist’s signature. Ortiz pulled together all of these skills for his long-term project, Revolt 1680/2180. Executed in ceramic, costumes, video, photography, paint, and digital art, he has expanded his narrative about the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, an uprising against the Spanish military and religious colonizers. Led by Po’Pay from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, the peoples at different Pueblos coordinated their efforts and, on the specified day, expelled the Spanish priests, soldiers, 10
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and other colonists to reclaim sovereignty over their lands. With more than 400 Spaniards killed and 2,000 settlers forced south, the Spanish colonizers remained in Mexico for more than a decade before they returned in force, re-established control and maintained it through brutal suppression. For Revolt 1680/2180, Ortiz envisioned a dystopian future 500 years after the Pueblo Revolt in which Indigenous time-travelers return to the time of the revolt to aid their ancestors. The narrative fights the Western linearity of time, suggesting an Indigenous perspective where the past and future exist in the present to show a cyclical view of history. Tahu, the Blind Archers leader, was blinded during an archery contest with a conquistador and wore a shield over her eyes. The Translator, who guides the warriors through time and space, is represented as two overlapping faces with three eyes so she can see the past, the present, and the future. The Aeronauts resemble pilots with helmets decorated with hieroglyphic designs, able to steer the Survivorships. Venutian Soldiers are huge su-
This photo and opposite page courtesy of the artist.
GALLERY HÓZHÓ AT HOTEL CHACO
Virgil Ortiz’s signature Rez Spine Carry-All Tote and accessories.
perheroes, very tall beings dressed for battle; they wear oxygen tanks and respirators to purify the tainted air so they can breathe. Ortiz has represented each of the figures in various ways, as monos, painted on jars, constructed as costumes, and in videos, each iteration offering more to the narrative. His work has gained an increasingly broad audience. He’s had solo exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, and the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey. He’s been invited to create a set design and costumes for a concert in honor of jazz visionary Sun Ra at the Temple of Dendur in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. This year, he is an artist in residence at Arizona State University, where he will attempt to create life-sized ceramic figures like the terra cotta army uncovered in Xi’an, China. No matter the media or subject, Ortiz’s work expresses his commitment to his community and its unique history, which is essential for an artist who continues to live at the Pueblo where he was born. Ortiz continues to seek and grow as an artist, as seen in his signature—the turkey track. Ortiz chose the turkey track, marking an X as his symbol, because at Cochiti, the birds are noted for their dynamism, expressing the artist’s need to keep artistically growing while remaining true to his heritage.
Located in Hotel Chaco near historic Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Gallery Hózhó is a fine arts gallery featuring the work of contemporary artists associated with the state. New Mexico is known for both its long history of excellence in the arts but also for innovating new styles and techniques, continuing older techniques and designs while also creating new approaches and images. Opened by Diné (Navajo) artist Rhett Lynch in 2017, art historian/curator Suzanne Newman Fricke took over as director in January 2020. The gallery displays the work of many artists, including Rhett Lynch, George C de Baca, Alex Peña, Terran Last Gun, Ira Lujan, Mateo Romero, Debora Sipple, and Virgil Ortiz, who work in a wide range of media, such as painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, glass, jewelry, and textile art. Reflecting the unique cultural history of New Mexico, these artists represent different parts of the state, including the Native American communities, such as the Pueblos, Navajos, and Apache; Latinx families who trace their lineage back to the sixteenth century; and many artists who moved to Santa Fe and Taos in the early twentieth century. As the gallery’s name suggests, its guiding principle is based on the idea of hózhó, a Navajo concept that encompasses a unique approach to the world. The word has no direct translation into English. It describes the interconnectedness between order, beauty, health and harmony. A world in hózhó brings wellness to individuals, communities, and the earth. At Gallery Hózhó, art is not a luxury but part of bringing balance and peace, improving the quality of life for the makers and the owners. Gallery Hózhó at Hotel Chaco 505.306.2977 | galleryhozho.com
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Ghost Ranch
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Escape to enchantment One state, four destinations endless experiences, spectacular prices.
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El Monte Sagrado
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t’s called the Land of Enchantment for a reason: New Mexico features breathtaking landscapes, legendary history and unique traditional architecture inspired by pueblos and Spanish missions. New Mexican cuisine has its roots in Spanish and Native American culture. From Taos to Las Cruces, New Mexico’s four major cities each offer their own particular flavor worth exploring. To celebrate New Mexico and welcome visitors back to our world-class destinations, Heritage Hotels & Resorts offers a one-ofa-kind journey through New Mexico’s four major cities with stays at some of the most beautiful and luxurious properties in the state at extremely affordable prices. TAOS Start your four-city New Mexico journey in Taos, the northernmost destination in the Heritage family. Just five hours by car from Denver, this charming, historic, art community is overlooked by the southern spur of the majestic Rocky Mountains. Take advantage of the luxe oasis of El Monte Sagrado. From New Mexico’s grandest canyon to some of the highest peaks in the state, and from rich indigenous culture to modern 14
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art history, Taos and its environs are endlessly fascinating. These are fertile grounds for any kind of vacation—family friendly, arts weekend, outdoors getaway, or spiritual retreat. And the community has been a surprising wellspring of creative inspiration for artists and writers. Get the lay of the land with a drive to the Taos Ski Valley for New Mexico’s premier skiing in the winter and mountain biking, hiking, and chairlift rides in the summer. A 1.9-mile hike from the Bavarian Lodge at the ski area winds through pine forests
TAOS EL MONTE SAGRADO
means “The Sacred Moun-
tain.” The name of this AAA Four-Diamond property reflects its lush sanctuary setting, which nurtures mind, body, and spirit. Experience the harmony of the lavish grounds, soothing waters flowing from an indoor waterfall, indoor pool, and a world-class spa. The elegant guestrooms feature decor to meet anyone’s style. El Monte Sagrado is the perfect retreat for any visitor. One of the most magical retreats in New Mexico.
Rio Grande Gorge
ESCAPE TO ENCHANTMENT Select from any of Heritage’s World Class Hotels PACKAGE 1 Eight Nights Four Destinations $729 PACKAGE 2 Six Nights Three Destinations $579
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PACKAGE 3 DOWNHILL SPORTS Four Nights Two Destinations $399 to Williams Lake at the foot of Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico at an altitude of 13,161 feet. The surrounding peaks—Kachina, Simpson, Old Mike, and Wheeler—form a glacial cirque where snow remains late into the spring. For some contrasting terrain, the Rio Grande Gorge West Rim Trail is fairly flat and boasts views of the deeply carved river’s path. Another great way to drink in the spectacular Taos environs is from the seat of a bicycle while riding the Enchanted Circle. As the snow melts high in the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo mountains, the rivers swell to provide plentiful rafting and stand-up paddle boarding, complete with amazing views. Explore the shops and galleries around Taos Plaza and the surrounding streets of Bent and Ledoux. The 1915 founding of the Taos Society of Artists influenced the town’s art culture, and there are plentiful galleries today. The Harwood Museum of Art chronicles that history and highlights the town’s boldfaced names, like minimalist painter Agnes Martin, who has a gallery devoted to her work there. Continue learning about the extraordinary women of Taos by visiting Standard Oil heiress and fashionista Millicent Rogers’ namesake museum.
TAOS El Monte Sagrado Resort & Spa
SANTA FE Eldorado Hotel & Spa Inn and Spa at Loretto Hotel St. Francis Hotel Chimayo de Santa Fe
ALBUQUERQUE Hotel Chaco Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
LAS CRUCES Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces Offer expires Feb 26, 2021, blackout dates may apply.
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Bandelier National Monument
Santa Fe INN & SPA AT LORETTO, a AAA 4-Diamond resort, epitomizes the intrigue of northern New Mexico through artistic design and world-class accommodations. It is the most photographed building in the state and located in the heart of Santa Fe’s historic Plaza.
ELDORADO HOTEL & SPA
is an iconic AAA
4-Diamond destination in the heart of Santa Fe’s historic downtown. Eldorado features modern amenities, world-class cuisine, and a stunning new rooftop pool.
HOTEL ST. FRANCIS
is the oldest hotel in Santa
Fe, and offers all the modern amenities guests would come to expect from one of the city’s most iconic landmarks of hospitality. The hotel features authentic artisan touches reminiscent of Santa Fe’s early Franciscan heritage, European-style rooms, and a majestic candlelit setting.
HOTEL CHIMAYO DE SANTA FE
is just steps
away from the Santa Fe Plaza and features handcrafted décor, colorful artwork, native weavings, and red chile ristras. Enjoy a ride in the hotel’s 1964 Chevy Impala lowrider.
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SANTA FE For a scenic drive, head south from Taos to Santa Fe on the fifty-six mile “High Road,” recently named by Travel & Leisure as one of the “Best U.S. Road Trips.” This route drops from alpine vistas through tiny towns where artists carry on traditional Spanish Colonial arts, like punched-tin work, straw applique, and representations of saints, called retablos and bultos. Green valleys turn into tan-red striated rockscapes as you head toward Chimayó—center for Rio Grande weavings, and galleries such as Centinela Traditional Arts. Of course, that scenic hamlet is better known for the Santuario de Chimayó, a mission church where pilgrims journey to dip into its vat of healing dirt. Legendary Santa Fe brims with history, heritage and art. For more than four centuries, Pueblo, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo cultures have left their architectural, historical, and culinary marks on Santa Fe. A perfect day in Santa Fe includes strolling the capital city, exploring art galleries, and tasting cuisine only found in New Mexico. Heritage has multiple hotel options in the City Different, each with a different personality to suit the tastes of every traveler. Start the day in the Santa Fe Plaza, a living center of New Mexican history and culture. The Palace of the Governors, the oldest continuous public use building in the country, borders the north side of the plaza. Continue your stroll up Canyon Road—a milelong stretch of Western and contemporary galleries that helps make Santa Fe the third-largest art market in the United States. Dip inside the galleries to see how Santa Fe’s famous light, landscape, and people have influenced visual artists for centuries. Hop in the car for a short drive to Museum Hill. Although you can’t possibly see all the attractions here in one day, pick among the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Museum of International Folk Art, and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, all of which feature world-class collections. For those who love the outdoors, Santa Fe is a great home base. Try the nearby Aspen Vista Trail halfway up Hyde Park Road (which ends at the ski area). During the fall, swaths of golden aspen groves contrast with the deep green pines along this spectacular drive. Pull over along the journey for views of the surrounding Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Sandias and Manzanos to the south, and Mount Taylor and the Jemez Mountains to the west. For the anglers in your group, Rio en Medio is a short drive past Tesuque to the north of Santa Fe. The small river is full of shady fishing holes where wild rainbow trout await your bait. Follow the riverside hiking trail for a mile or so to a refreshing waterfall or continue farther to sample more high-alpine fishing at Nambé Lake. Santa Fe’s 17 miles of Rail Trail runs from the Railyard Park in town through the village of Eldorado to the historic community of Lamy, where you can hop on a train that returns to Santa Fe.
Inn and Spa at Loretto
TOURISM SANTA FE
Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
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Aspen Vista Trail
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Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
Albuquerque HOTEL CHACO
invites luxury travelers seeking
authentic cultural experiences at this AAA 4-Diamond property. Heritage Hotels & Resorts commissioned Gensler, one of the world’s most renowned architecture firms, to celebrate the Chaco Culture and UNESCO World Heritage site through inspired design and timeless artwork to keep the cultural spirit of the southwest alive in modern times.
HOTEL ALBUQUERQUE AT OLD TOWN welcomes guests with a distinctive blend of historic grandeur and contemporary comfort. Drawing inspiration in design from the region’s rich Hispanic heritage, Hotel Albuquerque is a destination that seamlessly blends cultural influence with modern amenities.
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ALBUQUERQUE Head south from Santa Fe to New Mexico’s largest city: Albuquerque—a rich metropolis of culture, history, and outdoor recreation. For hundreds of years, Puebloans have farmed the fertile Rio Grande Valley, where modern Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as a Spanish settlement and named for the Spanish Duke of Alburquerque. Start your visit in the historic Old Town and Sawmill District areas (home to Hotel Albuquerque and Hotel Chaco) where the modern city was founded and you’ll find Albuquerque’s essence: narrow streets leading to shops, galleries, and museums; the San Felipe de Neri Church, and the Albuquerque Bio Park: including the Albuquerque Zoo, Aquarium, Botanic Garden, and Tingley Beach. In Old Town, you can shop for items unique to New Mexico at over 150 stores and galleries. The Albuquerque Museum, The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, The Rattlesnake Museum, and the Explora Science Center are also within walking distance of the Old Town area. While in the Sawmill Dis-
Hotel Chaco
trict, visit the Sawmill Market: New Mexico’s first artisanal foodhall offering an array of local cuisine and culinary traditions. The Sawmill Market features a diverse mix of local food vendors, full-service restaurant experiences, unique retail, a wine bar, and a brewpub (see page 22). For an aerial view of the city, head to the mountains on the east side of town and take the 2.7-mile ride on the Sandia Peak Tramway: North America’s longest aerial tram. At the top, the more than 10,000-foot crest of the Sandia Mountains is a perfect vantage point for viewing the Rio Grande Valley and hosts a variety of hiking trails varying in difficulty from short and easy to strenuous. Especially rewarding in the fall, the 10.1-mile North Crest Trail hike offers a glimpse of the aspen leaves changing from green to gold. Back down in the valley, visit the Rio Grande Valley State Park and the Rio Grande Nature Center, where wildlife sightings abound. Coyotes, roadrunners, porcupines, ducks, egrets, and even bald eagles can be seen dwelling amid the cottonwood-lined trails that parallel this stretch of the Rio Grande. From fall to
spring, the Rio Grande Valley is home to the migrating sandhill cranes, visible along the river and even in pastures and backyards in nearby neighborhoods. Albuquerque is also home to one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America: Petroglyph National Monument—a profound archaeological site to visit. Over 25,000 images have been carved along the 17-mile escarpment of volcanic rock by Native Americans and Spanish settlers. Majority of these petroglyphs are believed to have been carved by the ancestors of today’s Pueblo people from 1300 to the late 1680s, while a small portion is believed to pre-date the Puebloan period dating as far back as B.C. 2000. Other petroglyphs found in the area, carved by Spanish settlers, date into the 1700’s. LAS CRUCES Jump on Interstate 25 and pass the scenic Elephant Butte lake, and the Hatch valley, where much of the famous New Mexico green chile is grown, and head to Las Cruces (3.5 hours). This town blends HHANDR.COM
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Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces
university hip with old Mexican charm (just 45 minutes to the border). Las Cruces sizzles with the smoky heat of green chile, Old West ranching history, and Mexican heritage. Next, head to the Organ Mountain foothills, where a tranquil desert trail at Dripping Springs Natural Area will rope in some of the area’s history as it passes a stagecoach stop and other sights. On your way back to the city, lasso Old West history and today’s ranching culture at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. With 300 days of sunshine on the calendar each year in Las Cruces, it seems almost required you hit the golf course and soak in some sun by the pool. Tee off at Red Hawk Golf Club, a peren-
Las Cruces HOTEL ENCANTO DE LAS CRUCES
offers a
seamless blend of functionality and fun where state-of-the-art facilities collide with the natural attractions of the surrounding area. Guests enjoy culturally-inspired hospitality with distinctly refined amenities; such as the luxuriously landscaped pool and garden area.
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nial winner of best-in-state from Golf Digest. Before dinner, relax by Hotel Encanto’s palm-tree lined pool. In Old Mesilla, visitors can see firsthand the Spanish/Territorial adobe architecture and the 1906 San Albino Basilica. Not much has changed here in 100 years, but now the adobe buildings house a charming selection of art galleries, restaurants, museums, and gift shops. Stroll the plaza and imagine life here 100 years ago. Hundreds of species of migratory birds converge at the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park near historic Mesilla and just minutes from Las Cruces. Ranger-led tours and self-guided nature walks are sure to inspire wildlife sightings. Bring a picnic and spend time in the gardens and peruse the visitor center exhibits while you’re there. For something completely unique to New Mexico, take a 45mile drive to White Sands National Monument, the world’s largest gypsum dune field. Bring some cardboard boxes or a plastic sled and “sand surf” the dunes. Tours, nature walks, full moon programs, and other special events are available as well. After spending a week in New Mexico, you’ll know why its the Land of Enchantment. From modern New Mexican cuisine to traditional tacos, from adobe buildings to Spanish colonial basilicas, scenic rivers, deserts, and cool green mountaintops, a New Mexico vacation is the adventure we need, all just a scenic drive away.
New Mexico Bucket List
❏ Visit Bandelier National Monument
❏ Hike Petroglyph National Monument
❏ Explore Chaco Canyon
❏ Ride the Sandia Peak Tramway
❏ Visit Lincoln, New Mexico, Billy the Kid Country
❏ Sled White Sands
❏ Explore the Village of Chimayó
❏ Ride the Rail Runner
❏ Fly in a hot air balloon
❏ Visit Loretto Chapel and its miraculous staircase
❏ Glamp in New Mexico
❏ Walk Old Town, Albuquerque ❏ Hike Rio Grande Gorge ❏ Drive Turquoise Trail Byway
❏ Enjoy a green chile cheeseburger
❏ Drink a margarita
❏ Ride New Mexico bike trails ❏ Visit Taos Earthship homes ❏ Attend a Flamenco Performance
❏ Take a cooking class
❏ Drive The High Road to Taos Scenic Byway
❏ Visit Taos Pueblo, UNESCO World Heritage Site
❏ Visit Jemez Springs Soda Dam and Valles Caldera
❏ Roadtrip Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway
❏ Visit the Manhattan Project National Historical Park
❏ Experience Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks
❏ Visit Canyon Road art galleries
❏ Travel to Abiquiu,Ghost Ranch and O’Keeffe Country
❏ Hike Santa Fe Mountain Trails
❏ Hike Sandia Crest trail
❏ Visit Spaceport America
❏ Enjoy a New Mexico Craft Beer
❏ Explore Acoma Pueblo
❏ Hike in the Organ Mountains
❏ Visit Pecos National Historical Park
❏ Visit an artist’s studio
❏ Golf in the high desert
❏ Ride in a lowrider
❏ Raft the Rio Grande River
❏ Buy New Mexico art
❏ Visit Sawmill Market
❏ Drive on Historic Route 66 ❏ Birdwatch at Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge
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❏ Sample Red or Green Chile
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
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Beyond the Plate The Sawmill Market offers a new culinary destination in Albuquerque By Ashley M. Biggers
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PHOTOS THIS SPREAD DOUG MERRIAM
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n early March, the Sawmill Market, New Mexico’s first food hall swung open its doors revealing a light-drenched 33,000-squarefoot space on Bellamah Avenue a couple blocks north of Old Town in Albuquerque, across the street from Hotel Chaco and Hotel Albuquerque. Sawmill Market’s debut is elevating New Mexico’s food and beverage scene, according to Mark Montoya, director of operations for the Sawmill Market. “This is really a chance to bring food and beverage purveyors in Albuquerque and
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make them neighbors and partners,” Montoya says. “We’re going to push each other with a little healthy competition and try to one up each other to put together an experience that exceeds even our high expectations.” However, there’s more to this hall’s story than food. Led by Heritage Hotels & Resorts, the Sawmill Market is on track to become a community gathering space and a cornerstone in a plan to return an industrial neighborhood in the heart of Albuquerque into a thriving live-work-play district once again.
The Yard at Sawmill Market is an outdoor gathering, dining, and play space.
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A view of the yard of The American Lumber Company, the largest in the Southwest. The American Lumber Company opened in 1903 and closed in 1916.
A STORIED HISTORY The Sawmill District was once an agricultural and residential neighborhood. The Tiguex Peubloans were some of the earliest residents here; they established their village near the site of today’s Old Town around 1350 AD. Today, the neighborhood’s Tiguex Park (across the street from city museums near Sawmill) pays homage to their presence. Some one hundred years after modern Albuquerque’s founding, residents of the growing city built houses along the major roads in the district—now Mountain Road, Sawmill Road, and Rio Grande Boulevard. Just after the turn of the 20th century, American Lumber Company’s arrival began transforming the area into an industrial hub. In 1903, the company built a plant just outside the then-Albuquerque city limits to mill lumber from the Zuni Mountains, 100 miles west. Eager to tap into this industry, the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway laid a spur off its main north/south line, allowing the company to make easy shipments in and out of its 110-acre facility. By 1908, the American Lumber Company had become the largest lumber enterprise in the Southwest—so much so that it had its own dedicated plant from the Albuquer26
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que Gas & Electric Company. It employed more than 850 people. Though it operated under a few different names, the lumber company was the neighborhood’s industrial monolith until 1942. That year, when the northward expansion of 12th Street bisected the area, the lumber company began dismantling its operations. With that land to spare and farmland selling, new companies moved into the neighborhood, including Paxton Lumber Co., which opened its new showroom and warehouse on Bellamah Avenue in 1958. The family-owned business produced wood paneling and other hardwood products. In the 1970s, the City of Albuquerque began altering the area’s identity. Former farmland became grassy Tiguex Park. In 1979, the Albuquerque Museum opened on a former truck terminal site. By the early 1990s, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and Explora both joined the neighborhood along Mountain Road. During these decades, many of the large-scale milling operations had shuttered, leaving vacant industrial spaces in their wake. Since its 1996 founding, the Sawmill Community Land Trust has been a catalyst for the neighborhood as it reclaims
Frank Paxton Lumber Company opens it’s warehouse in Albuquerque in 1958.
Sawmill Market is the cornerstone of a development plan which aims to remake the Sawmill District into one of the most exciting neighborhoods in New Mexico. industrial sites and builds an exciting neighborhood with apartments and shops. The Sawmill Market also reclaimed industrial space, while also paying homage to the past. It took over the former Paxton Lumber Co. building. The market is the cornerstone of a development plan led by Heritage Hotels & Resorts, which aims to remake the Sawmill District into one of the most exciting neighborhoods in New Mexico. A REIMAGINED SPACE When Heritage Hotels & Resorts envisioned the former Paxton Lumber Co., it planned to incorporate many of the building’s original elements—including the Douglas fir ceiling and beams—while creating a modern, industrial design. Designers also kept the mill’s towering sawdust collectors; however, they moved the collectors from a slab in the back of the building to the front of façade, thus elevating them
to an eye-catching landmark. “We really wanted to honor the sense of place,” Montoya says. “We kept all the industrial elements exposed. Doing so provided significant challenges, but it kept up our ethos of authenticity.” When introducing new elements, the designers stayed true to the building. Nearly all the wood surfaces—from built-in bookcases to picnic benches in the common seating areas—are also Douglas fir. Metal fixtures and decorative elements highlight the industrial space, while still making it feel warm. Nearly floor-to-ceiling windows and doors on the south, east, and part of the north side flood the interior with light. The windows also lend a sense of place by bringing the outside views in. The anchor restaurants and bars have distinct designs that highlight the food. For example, Flora, a fresh Mexican concept, exudes a sophisticated, festive atmosphere with a tile mural bursting HHANDR.COM
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The view towards Mercantile Café
with hot-pink flowers on a teal background, while Mercantile Wine bar delivers a modern oasis, with a graphic, woodcut bar. THE CULINATIVE EXPERIENCE With twenty-five different concepts in the space, Sawmill Market focuses on the local: Montoya says, “All the businesses are New Mexico–owned. This is not like the mall where you’re going to find a lineup of chains.” As a whole, the market “showcases diverse foods in New Mexico,” Montoya says. “The market brings together a broad array of cuisines.” In part, diners have Lauren and Jason Greene, of The Grove Café & Market, a local favorite on Central Avenue to thank for that. The Greenes served as concept designers for the market; they researched and curated the line-up of restaurant concepts and specific businesses. Wandering the market is like taking a homegrown, global culinary tour, from the hearty noodle soups of Naruto Ramen to the French pastries of Blue Door Patisseries to the from-scratch Amer28
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ican breakfasts at XO Waffle. Blue Door Patisserie Chef Jove seamlessly melds the tradition of the French pastry with elements of the modern patisserie. Chef Jove emphasizes the Albuquerque scene with local produce, dairy and artisan-made ingredients. XO Waffle creates authentic Liége Belgium waffles with a brioche dough, imported Belgium pearl sugar, and signature toppings with a New Mexican twist. Local farm sourced ingredients are front-andcenter at Mercantile Café, a farm-to-table restaurant, and Mercantile Wine Bar, which will feature housemade charcuterie and local wines. Some forty local beers will be on tap at Paxton’s, as well as kombucha and house-made ginger beer. Fresh ingredients are also at the forefront of Botanic Bar, a mini-bar within a greenhouse-like space in the center of the market. Mixologists will create cocktails and mocktails with locally sourced herbs and botanicals, house-made shrubs, and other handcrafted ingredients. Red and Green is the market’s New Mexican restaurant. Some restaurateurs launched their first brickand-mortar locations at the Sawmill Market,
Mercantile Café
PHOTOS THIS PAGE DOUG MERRIAM
Tulipani Pasta
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Flora Mexican Restaurant
Plata Coffee
Cacho’s Bistro
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LEFT SIDE PHOTOS, HERITAGE HOTELS, ALL OTHERS DOUG MERRIAM.
Paxton’s
including Cacho’s Bistro, which has been serving burgers, hot dogs, sausages, its signature patatas its Venezuelan food at the seasonal Railyard Albravas, Chef Josh Gerwin’s version of red or green buquerque Market on Sundays, but opened its chile cheese fries—as well as a butcher shop. first counter-service location at Sawmill Market. “This location allows me to realize the concept of Tulipani Pasta, another farmers market regular, butcher shop and restaurant as one cohesive busialso opened its first permanent location. “Openness while partnering with others in the market as ing up a tiny pasta shop at the Sawmill Market a community to cultivate our collective success so is a wonderful way to test we can offer an unprecmy concept and reach a The vibe in the area, the other edented customer expebroader audience without vendors in the Market, the chance rience,” Gerwin says. “I the daunting investment think [the Market] will to be part of something really of a full-scale restaurant,” be a place that fosters says founder and pas- unique in Albuquerque is why connection and comta maker Alanna Casa- we are at the Sawmill Market. munity and I am really le. “Tulipani’s customers proud to be a part of it.” will have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful A seafood restaurant, a grilled cheese joint, community seating areas and an outdoor enterand a soft serve ice cream stand will join the martainment space that I wouldn’t be able to provide ket in the near future. A few retail vendors also them in a stand-alone storefront.” Tulipani will be have shops in the Sawmill Market, including the serving fresh pasta dishes, as well as a changing second location of Spur Line Supply Co., Stella’s line-up of packaged fresh pastas for customers Flowers, and Simply Olive Oil. to take home. “I am looking forward to working Albuquerque’s first bean-to-bar chocolaterie, alongside other local vendors and businesses in Eldora Chocolate, is opening its second Duke such an inviting space. It’s exciting to be a part of City location at Sawmill Market. Eldora makes our city’s first food market of its kind. … I already its chocolates with organic, natural, or fair-trade adore the Old Town and Sawmill neighborhoods, ingredients. Customers can choose between there’s a lot of history and character in the area. I twenty different made-from-scratch chocolate hope this market will introduce even more vitality, bars, a dozen varieties of truffles, single-origin both energetically and economically,” Casale says. chocolate tasting bars, as well as drinking and HAWT Pizza Co., which stands for “Have a sipping chocolates. Wonderful Time,” will also be landing its mobile catering company at the Sawmill Market. Using THE ATMOSPHERE a massive, red-tiled, 100-percent wood-fueled The setting is a large part of what the market’s oven, HAWT dishes out artisan pizza and paninis founders hope to create. They envision a citywide cooked in only ninety seconds. These dishes comliving room, where travelers and Albuquerqueans plement its salads and herbal teas. “We love the gather, and where residents from the neighboring concept of family, friends, and community coming apartments walk for dinner. At the Sawmill Market, together to break bread and enjoy life in a beaupeople can grab lunch, stay to play in the Ping Pong tiful environment, this is what we have built our tournament in the game sheds out back, and linger business around. … The vibe in the area, the othover dinner and desserts. The communal seating arer vendors in the Market, [and] the chance to be eas foster this vibe, as does The Yard, an all-season part of something really unique in Albuquerque is outdoor dining and play space where a stage offers why we are at the [Sawmill Market] with the very live music throughout the year. first Hawt Pizza Co. brick and mortar,” says owner It’s all part of this former lumber and industrial Felicia Meyer. hub’s next phase, as the Sawmill District evolves Santa Fe hotspot Dr. Field Goods is opening its into a thriving hub—with the Sawmill Market first Albuquerque location at Sawmill Market with leading the way. HHANDR.COM
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Chef Monchâtre inside Level 5.
Leveling up with Christian Monchâtre
Level 5’s chef represents many cultures.
Berkshire Pork Osso Buco with anasazi beans, kale, green chile, tomato, lemon, rosemary and corn
By Lynn Cline
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Photography by Douglas Merriam
LOFT IN ALBUQUERQUE, in his fifth-story office next to the kitchen of Hotel Chaco’s Level 5 Rooftop Restaurant & Lounge, decorated French chef Christian Monchâtre reflects on his diverse and dynamic culinary career. His talents have taken him to far-flung places—Italy, Germany, Mexico, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii and even Vietnam, where he helped locals establish sustainable fisheries as a source of income. Now, as executive chef of Level 5, Monchâtre has 34
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immersed himself in another culture, rooted in the indigenous Southwest.
GLOBAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCE The chef’s passion for people, cultures and history makes him the perfect fit for Hotel Chaco’s Level 5, a name that pays tribute to Chaco Canyon’s ancient Pueblo Bonito and its five levels. He’s also well-suited for Heritage Hotels & Resorts, dedicated to celebrating the Southwest’s rich multi-cultural
heritage, a blend of Native American, Mexican, Spanish, and American Western influences. “I was reading about the Heritage Hotels & Resorts Group and about its philosophy,” says Monchâtre, who moved to Albuquerque from Los Angeles. in 2018 after his wife, Lisa took a job as chief financial officer with a healthcare company. “I love ethnicity, I love community and the story of Heritage grasped me. My wife and I had stayed at Heritage’s Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, and I realized Heritage also owned Hotel Chaco and Hotel Albuquerque, with [Tablao Flamenco], and I thought, ‘Okay, those Heritage guys, I need to meet them.’” Up at Level 5, with sprawling views of the city and stunning architecture and decor that are contemporary yet allude to the ancient, mysterious culture of Chaco, Monchâtre seems at home. It’s been a long journey through many cultures that brought this world traveler to Albuquerque, and his venerated cuisine reflects each and every global influence.
FROM PARIS TO ALBUQUERQUE – AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN Born in Paris, Monchâtre began his culinary career in the Loire Valley of France, in his family-owned restaurant Le Jaquemart & Le Relais de Monplaisir. Under the guidance of his chef-owner father and his older brother, who served as butcher and charcutier, Monchâtre honed his skills at making pâte, galantine and other cold French delicatessens. He also learned to cook according to the seasons and with local ingredients, including apples from the family orchard. In the Loire Valley, his love of cooking took root. Monchâtre had another passion, which took front burner for a time. “I used to ride horses in the jumping competition, but the only way I knew how to make money to support my horses was cooking,” he says, with a grin. Thus, he worked at the Antica Tratoria dello Sperone, which overlooked Milan’s famous horse track. “I used to say that, for a while, I cooked to support my horses.”
Mussel-Curry Glazed Ling Cod with green peppercorn, lemon-garlic whipped potatoes and carrots.
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The Artisanal Charcuterie & Cheese starter.
Inside and outside seating is available at Level 5.
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The kitchen eventually lured him back full time, and in 1993, he moved to Los Angeles after visiting friends there. He took a job in the Westwood neighborhood of LA as a sous chef and quickly rose to executive chef at La Bruschetta, which holds the Ospitalità Italiana Seal of Quality award for authenticity. A few years later, he opened his own restaurant in Encino, which quickly garnered impressive reviews for its global fare. “I cooked international cuisine—Italian, Uruguayan, Argentinian,” Monchâtre says. “The restaurant was named Gypsy Grill. I was doing a bit of everything from everything I’d learned. All the way to here, in Albuquerque, I have never stopped doing that. Whatever you learn, you take it with you, you make it better and you tweak it to make it fantastically out there. And you know it’s good because people rave about it.” Not only has Monchâtre’s cuisine drawn rave reviews, it has earned him the prestigious Medal of the Chevalier of Merit and a Chef of the Year title from the Club Culinaire of French Cuisine. He also has been inducted into L’Académie Culinaire de France. Founded in 1883, the world’s oldest association of the highest order of culinary and pastry chefs is devoted to perfecting, preserving, and promoting French culinary arts. While you may not see rillettes de Tours, nougat or other regional specialties of the Loire Valley on the menu at Level 5, you will find a few dishes that reflect Monchâtre’s classic training, including his Artisanal Charcuterie & Cheese starter, a chef’s selection of cheese, cured meats, olives, and house-pickled vegetables, served with flatbread. The Frisée & Poached Egg Salad is a classic bistro dish hailing from Lyon, and the Filet Mignon of Beef comes with a croquette Bearnaise, along truffled potato coulis, woodland mushrooms strudel and orange-braised endive. His breakfast menu features New Mexico Lavender & Honey Ricotta-filled Crêpes. Monchâtre also includes globally infused dishes, such as Miso Steam Chilean Sea Bass with shiitake mushrooms and Day Boat Seared Scallops with sea urchin-lemongrass maitre d’butter and pear and leek risotto.
Diners enjoy the creative menu.
SOUTHWESTERN CUISINE SPRINKLED WITH INTERNATIONAL FLAIR The menu at Level 5, though, is most focused on showcasing native New Mexican and Latin American ingredients with an international flair—local, regional and native ingredients that are carefully sourced then created in dishes with a combination of modern and classic techniques. “I take the ingredients of this land and use them in dishes that I create,” he says. “An example—I have an agnolotti that is filled with corn and queso fresco and is served with green chile sauce. It’s a seasonal dish. Basically, what I’m trying to do is to make the ingredients of New Mexico shine in the techniques that I use and to recognize the farmers and the people who are growing these ingredients.” Monchâtre also relies on ingredients that are as local as you can get, grown in Level 5’s on-site Chaco Garden. Everything from eggplant and turnips to tomatoes and fennel as well as well as basil, thyme, sage, and other herbs is harvested from the garden for use in the kitchen, a soil-to-soul concept that directs which dishes will end up on future menus.
This approach is in keeping with the seasonal cooking that Monchâtre learned in his family’s restaurant in the Loire Valley. “To me, what’s most important about food is the quality of it, the freshness of it,” he says. “All ingredients have to be fresh and of super high quality.” Whether he’s making a simple soup or preparing the best seafood and wild game as the executive chef at elite private clubs in California—the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles, San Francisco’s Pacific-Union Club and Rancho Mirage’s Thunderbird Country Club—Monchâtre has always impressed diners with his artistry. Whether he’s cooking for presidents, business titans, or celebrities, he relishes the opportunity to meet the people who dine in his restaurants. “I’m a people lover,” he says. “I think the diversity of the people I have met here in Albuquerque is what has attracted me to this place. Meeting the diners at Level 5 keeps me sane because I love traveling. I’ve met doctors, researchers, writers, and artists. I always want to know and understand who are the people that come to eat, what did they like and didn’t like, and why.” HHANDR.COM
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The Loretto Chapel’s mysterious staircase seems suspended in space.
The Mystery of Loretto Chapel Is it a builder’s genius or divine intervention?
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VERYONE LOVES A GOOD STORY. The Gothic-style Loretto Chapel in the heart of downtown Santa Fe is the source of three mysterious tales surrounding its spiral staircase. The staircase seems to hang unsupported, without a center post or other architectural structure holding it in place. First, some history. In 1852, the Catholic Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, living in Santa Fe, sent out a plea for pilgrims and missionaries to spread the faith through the new territories. Consequently, a handful of nuns from the Sisters of Loretto made the arduous journey, arriving in Santa Fe to establish a girls’ school; the Academy of Our Lady of Loretto opened in 1853. The academy closed in 1968, and the property sold a few years later. Today, Heritage Hotels & Resorts’ Inn and Spa at Loretto is on the site of the old academy. In the 1870s, as the construction of the Cathedral of St. Francis was winding down just a block away, Lamy suggested that the builder, French architect Antoine Mouly, also erect a chapel for the sisters. He modeled it after Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. The Loretto Chapel, completed in 1878, hews to the Gothic Revival style, complete with spires and buttresses. The colorful stained-glass windows were ordered from Paris, while the sandstone was quarried near the town of Lamy, about 20 miles from Santa Fe. But there was a problem with the little chapel. Mouly’s plans neglected to include access to the choir loft, some 22 feet above the chapel floor. Then he died. The sisters sought a local carpenter
By Kelly Koepke
to build them a staircase that would not take up too much of the chapel’s small footprint, but they couldn’t find anyone. And they rejected the idea of using a ladder, preferring a less strenuous way to access the loft.
MYSTERY NUMBER ONE: WHO BUILT THE STAIRCASE? Years later, or so legend recounts, the devout sisters prayed for nine days to St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, for a solution to their problem. Afterward, a mysterious, gray-haired stranger appeared on a burro. He had only one requirement: complete privacy to build the staircase. Stories differ as to how long the old man stayed—one night, three months, nine months—but they all end the same way: the stranger disappeared without being paid, leaving behind 33 beautiful, tightly spiraled steps that climb precipitously from floor to loft. The mother superior claimed she didn’t know who built the staircase, and no mention of supplies or workers for the project exist in her meticulous records. Was the mysterious man St. Joseph himself, answering the sisters’ prayers? Was he simply an itinerant carpenter looking for work? Or, as lo The Sisters of Loretto sought a carpenter to build a staircase that was forgotten in the architect’s original design.
COURTESY PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS PHOTO ARCHIVES (NMHM/DCA), PA-MU-263.01
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remains that the stairs stood unsupported for years, the sisters using them without incident. The design is, even to this day, as innovative as it is beautiful. The carpenter used only square wooden pegs—no nails or glue—to fasten the pieces together. Theories abound, offered up by architects, engineers, and physicists, as to how the staircase previously stood without support. Some point to the double-helix shape, the small diameter of the inner spiral (which could act as a center pole) and the pegs, all of which give strength and stability, despite a disconcerting bounce when weight is placed on the steps. A paper published recently in Physical Review Applied by David Tománek of Michigan State University and Arthur G. Every of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, analyzed the helical coil structure of the staircase. The professors’ conclusion is that the very design of the spirals is what provides its stability. But Every, in an email to Loretto Chapel curator Richard Lindsley, stated, “Being able to describe the physical origin of the rigidity of the staircase does not make it less miraculous. It makes it more miraculous in my mind, since the builder would have to be more ingenious than all civil engineers so far!”
The Gothic Revival–style chapel is modeled after Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
cal historian Mary Jean Straw Cook posits, was he Francois-Jean Rochas, an expert woodworker who had done other carpentry projects around Santa Fe? Straw Cook discovered a logbook entry from the mother superior to support the theory: “March 1881: Paid for wood Mr. Rochas, $150.00.”
MYSTERY NUMBER TWO: HOW DOES THE STAIRCASE STAY UP? Mystery number two is how the staircase stands. When built, it had no visible means of support—no center pole and no attachment to the wall. (The current railing and a bracket fastening the staircase to a nearby pillar were added in 1887.) However, the fact 40
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MYSTERY NUMBER THREE: WHAT IS THE STAIRCASE MADE OF? The last mystery of the miraculous Loretto Chapel staircase has to do with the kind of wood the stranger used to build it. The short answer is spruce. But the devil—or in this case, the miracle—is in the details. In 1996, after analyzing a wood sample taken from the staircase, wood technologist Forrest N. Easly concluded that the density of the material does not match any kind of known spruce. In fact, the wood is so dense, it has the properties of a hardwood—but spruce is a softwood. So where did the wood come from? A mystery, indeed. Whatever your take on the mysteries of the Loretto staircase, the structure is beautiful, elegant, and an intriguing part of the City Different.
TAOS
El Monte Sagrado Resort & Spa 855.846.8267 ElMonteSagrado.com Palacio de Marquesa 855.997.8230 MarquesaTaos.com
Pictured is Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe.
SANTA FE
Hotel Chaco 855.997.8208 HotelChaco.com Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town 866.505.7829 HotelAbq.com
Eldorado Hotel & Spa 800.955.4455 EldoradoHotel.com Inn and Spa at Loretto 866.582.1646 HotelLoretto.com Hotel St. Francis 800.529.5700 HotelStFrancis.com Hotel Chimayo de Santa Fe 855.752.9273 HotelChimayo.com
ALBUQUERQUE
LAS CRUCES
Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces 866.383.0443 HotelEncanto.com HHANDR.COM
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Nativo Lodge artist room “Weaving Wonderland” by Leandra Yazzie.
A Brand Apart Heritage Hotels’ Lodge properties are evolving to serve value-driven travelers. By Gayle Vance
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RAVELERS COME TO NEW MEXICO TO SEE and savor the cultures that make our state such an appealing place to visit. But when choosing where to stay, not every traveler seeks luxury amenities like valet parking, concierge service or a mint on the pillow. Some visitors would rather spend a bigger share of their budget on the cultural experiences New Mexico offers. For these visitors, Heritage proudly introduces the
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Lodge Collection—a new hotel brand that suits their needs to a T. “Lodge hotels are for guests who put value first and want to immerse themselves in authentic experiences,” says Nate Wells, the Lodge Collection’s president. These properties feature the historically inspired architecture, styling, and decor for which Heritage is known—but with a fresh, forward-looking perspective. “The national hotel chains offer value-driven brands as part of their portfolios, but they
lack soul,” says Wells. “Each Lodge hotel is unique, and each is actively engaged in preserving and advancing our regional culture.” The new collection is launching with two existing hotels, Albuquerque’s Nativo Lodge and the Lodge at Santa Fe. Both properties will undergo renovations to better reflect this new brand, and more hotels will be added to the collection down the road. Nativo Lodge will offer new, upgraded room furnishings and a casual restaurant serving distinctive, seasonal fare. These addi-
La Emi performs in the Maria Benitez Cabaret Theatre inside the Lodge at Santa Fe.
tions will complement the hotel’s existing lobby bar and its heated, indoor-outdoor pool, which you can enjoy all year long. Nativo was recently named the “#1 Artsiest Hotel in America” by World Property Journal, and the title fits. With its generous displays of contemporary Native American art, Nativo could practically pass for a gallery or museum. Take Nativo’s “Artist Rooms,” for example. These stunning, one-of-a-kind accommodations don’t just display works of art—they are works of art. Each Artist Room is created by a noted member of the contemporary Native American art world. Collectors and enthusiasts know their names: Rhett Lynch, Ricardo Caté, Andrea Vargas-Mendoza, Douglas Miles, Marla Allison, Patrick Cloudface Burnham and many others. “Every room starts out as a blank canvas,” says Wells. “And every artist has 100 percent creative autonomy.”
To date, nearly half of the hotel’s rooms have been transformed into these groundbreaking spaces. The work will continue until every room is an Artist Room, says Wells. Convenience is another Lodge-brand feature, and Nativo’s location off Interstate 25 makes it perfect for sightseeing. In 15 minutes you can scoot downtown to take in a gallery or museum, experience one of Albuquerque’s world-class craft breweries, or find a gorgeous walking trail when you want to refresh your senses outdoors. If your travels take you north, another Lodge property awaits. Like its Albuquerque counterpart, The Lodge at Santa Fe makes a great jumping-off point for your adventures. “It’s less than a mile off the Santa Fe Plaza,” says Wells. “Our shuttle takes you there in no time.” Like all Heritage properties, this one pays homage to Southwestern heritage and culture. The hotel’s Anasazi-inspired design
evokes a distant time, while its hilltop location offers some of the city’s most spectacular views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. A few enhancements are planned to help the hotel morph into a Lodge Collection property. These include an updated menu for its popular Hilltop Bar and Grill, a refresh of the large, year-round outdoor pool and hot tub area, and a broader range of cultural events in the hotel’s ample indoor and outdoor public spaces. One of those spaces, the Maria Benitez Cabaret Theatre, already offers a year-round flamenco performance series. The star of the series is La Emi, a spellbinding dancer who came to flamenco at the age of 4. The New Mexico native was a protégé of Maria Benitez, the international dance icon who helped build a New Mexico home for flamenco. “Visitors are moved by these performances and they’re hungry for more,” says Wells. “Our drawing board is filled with ideas for exciting events we know they will like.” HHANDR.COM
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CULTURALLY DISTINCT RESTAURANTS New Mexico is world renowned for exquisite culinary offerings.
Level5 at Hotel Chaco 2000 Bellamah Ave. NW Albuquerque, NM 505.247.0708 • HotelChaco.com Enjoy beautifully layered flavors and outstanding panoramic mountain views at Level 5, the rooftop restaurant and lounge at Hotel Chaco. Savor craft cocktails and an unforgettable culinary journey.
agave at Eldorado Hotel & Spa 309 W. San Francisco St. Santa Fe, NM 505.988.4455 • EldoradoHotel.com Enter a world of celebrated culinary delight and libations at the Agave Restaurant & Lounge. Agave is a chic, casual dining experience with bold, clean flavors and fresh, local ingredients.
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SUMMER/FALL 2020
de la Tierra
Luminaria
Estevan
at El Monte Sagrado 317 Kit Carson Rd. Taos, NM 575.758.3502 • ElMonteSagrado.com
at Inn and Spa at Loretto 211 Old Santa Fe Trail Santa Fe, NM 505.988.5531 • HotelLoretto.com
at Hotel Chimayo de Santa Fe 125 Washington Ave. Santa Fe, NM 505.930.5363 • EstevanRestaurante.com
Enjoy a taste of the local, seasonal flavors
Luminaria Restaurant and Patio is
Estevan Restaurante is elevated New Mexican
that make the region unique. De la Tierra’s
recognized by locals and visitors alike
fare where Chef Estevan Garcia has created a
menu features healthier options including
for its tranquil, inviting setting and inventive,
menu using favorite traditional northern
vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free.
globally inspired menu. We invite you to dine
New Mexico dishes including Chimayó red chile,
and discover the flavors of Santa Fe.
chicos, posole, and calabacitas. All items are organic and locally purchased.
Market Steer Steakhouse
Garduños
Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque
at Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town 800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW Albuquerque, NM 505.843.6300 • HotelABQ.com
at Hotel Albuquerque 800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW 505.222.8797 • tablaoflamenco.org
Enjoy authentic regional New Mexican
Modern meets traditional in this intimate venue.
Chef Kathleen Crook’s creative approach to classic
and Mexican cuisine in the inviting
Enjoy dynamic world-class Flamenco performances,
American food, Market Steer Steakhouse offers a
hacienda-style interior or the lush outdoor garden
exquisite Sevillan tapas, and custom cocktails,
refreshing take on fine dining in a charming atmo-
patio. Garduño's offers an extensive selection of
including house-made sangria. Visit website
sphere. Enjoy a bowl of steaming mussels on the
tequila, wine, liqueurs, and world-class margaritas.
for performance times & tickets.
at Hotel St Francis 210 Don Gaspar Ave. Santa Fe, NM 505.992.6354 • MarketSteerSteakhouse.com
patio or an elegant cut of prime beef inside. HHANDR.COM
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CONNECT WITH US @HeritageHotelsandResorts @HeritageHtls
CULTURALLY DISTINCT HOTELS Each of our hotels and resorts in New Mexico celebrates the rich, multicultural heritage of the Southwest, drawing from its unique blend of Native American, Mexican, Spanish, and Western cultural and historical influences. Through architecture, interior design, original artwork, landscaping, entertainment, and cuisine, Heritage Hotels & Resorts provides guests with an authentic cultural experience in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos, and Las Cruces.
HeritageHtlsandRsts @heritagehtls @heritagehtls newmexicotravelblog.com
Heritage Hotels & Resorts, Inc. 201 Third St. NW, Suite 1140 Albuquerque, NM 87102 HHandR.com Email: contactus@hhandr.com
Inn and Spa at Loretto
Hotel St. Francis
Hotel Chimayó de Santa Fe
211 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 505.988.5531 • HotelLoretto.com
210 Don Gaspar Ave. Santa Fe, NM 505.983.5700 • HotelStFrancis.com
125 Washington Ave. Santa Fe, NM 505.988.4900 • HotelChimayo.com
Condé Nast Traveler’s 2017 readers’ choice
Hotel St. Francis is on the National Register of
A boutique hotel in the heart of downtown,
winner for Southwest and West, this iconic hotel
Historic Places and sits just one block from the
Hotel Chimayo is conveniently located steps
is just steps away from the historic Santa Fe Plaza.
Santa Fe Plaza. This historic hotel embodies
away from the historic Santa Fe Plaza and
The architecture is modeled after Taos Pueblo and
Santa Fe and is named for the city’s patron saint.
celebrates the culture of Chimayó, a distinctive
the property features an award-winning spa, outdoor
The décor features authentic wood furniture
northern New Mexico community. The hotel
pool, and Santa Fe’s only penthouse suite. The hotel
hand-crafted by local artisans. It also features
features the Low ’n Slow Lowrider Bar
has 12,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Secreto Lounge, a Gruet tasting room,
and Estevan Restaurant.
and Market Steer Steakhouse. 46
SUMMER/FALL 2020
Palacio de Marquesa 405 Cordoba Rd. Taos, NM 575.758.4777 • MarquesaTaos.com Palacio de Marquesa is conveniently located near the historic Taos Plaza.The design pays tribute to the remarkable women artists of Taos. This inn offers custom made-to-order daily breakfast.
Hotel Chaco 2000 Bellamah Ave. NW Albuquerque, NM 505.247.0708 • HotelChaco.com
El Monte Sagrado
Eldorado Hotel & Spa
317 Kit Carson Rd. Taos, NM 575.758.3502 • ElMonteSagrado.com
309 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, NM 505.988.4455 • EldoradoHotel.com
Immerse yourself in a world of serenity and
winner for Southwest and West, Eldorado Hotel &
wellness at El Monte Sagrado, the premier luxury
Spa is conveniently located near the historic Plaza.
resort in Taos. The hotel features the award-
Guests experience luxury amenities including an
winning Living Spa, De la Tierra restaurant,
on-site restaurant and bars, rooftop pool, world-
Anaconda Bar, and exquisite indoor and
class Nidah Spa, and more than 22,000 square
outdoor event and meeting space.
feet of indoor and outdoor event space.
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces
800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 505.843.6300 • HotelABQ.com
705 S. Telshor Blvd. Las Cruces, NM 575.522.4300 • HotelEncanto.com
Condé Nast Traveler’s 2017 readers’ choice
This new hotel is a contrast of ancient
Offering historic grandeur and comfort,
and modern elements. Hotel Chaco is the first
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town exemplifies
A unique hotel that reflects New Mexico’s
New Mexico property designed by legendary
Albuquerque style and features an on-site
Spanish and Colonial traditions, Hotel Encanto
global design firm Gensler, which drew
restaurant and bars, outdoor swimming pool,
has a beautiful resort pool lined with palm trees
inspiration from the Ancestral Puebloan people
romantic wedding chapel, and more than
and 35,000 square feet of meeting and event
and the ruins of Chaco Canyon.
62,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor
space. Hotel Encanto features Garduños Mexican
meeting and event space.
Restaurant & Cantina and Azul Ultralounge. HHANDR.COM
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This photo and bottom left by Emily Joanne Wedding Films & Photography
Weddings by Heritage Hotels & Resorts
SUMMER/FALL 2020
Blue Rose Photography Studios
48
Shutterfreek Photography
TAOS El Monte Sagrado Living Resort & Spa, Palacio de Marquesa SANTA FE Eldorado Hotel & Spa, Inn and Spa at Loretto ALBUQUERQUE Hotel Chaco, Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town LAS CRUCES Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces HHandR.com/Weddings