AUGUST 2011
Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Taos
Urban Muralist Jaque Fragua
Mediterranean & Italian Cuisine by Chef Owner Steven Lemon
Three Course Prix fixe menu Daily lunch specials Mon - Fri 5-8 New Menu inspired by $19 availability of freshest
local farm ingredients. Wine dinners every 3rd Thursday of every Wine dinners everymonth. 3rd Thursday of every month. Daily lunch specials New Menu inspired by availability of freshest local farm ingredients. Squash Blossoms now available.
Patio open
Reservations 505.455.2000 15 mins. from Santa Fe | 84/285 Mon 5pm-9pm North, 86 Cities of Gold Rd. ues Thru saT 11am-9pm T Between the Nambe Shop Closed sunday & Pueblo of Pojoaque Poeh Museum www.oeatinghouse.com
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A Taste of Life in New Mexico
AUGUST 2011
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Buzz | by Patty and Christie pg. 06 What’s in, what’s out, what’s hot, what’s not … that’s the buzz!
ON OUR COVER:
Native artist Jaque Fragua. His work, Medusa, was done for the Firegod Gallery in Corrales to mark their recent opening. It is done on an old well cap.
On Our Cover: Jaque Fragua | by Christie Chisholm pg. 15 “I was lonely until I found art. Until I found spray paint, a paintbrush….” A memorable interview with Jaque Fragua, who lives between the two worlds of gallery and street art. Curbside Cuisine | by Christie Chisholm pg. 20 All the chic cities are doing it, and here’s Albuquerque’s version. Welcome to the world of curbside cuisine. Some Enchanted Evening | by Arin McKenna pg. 23 Visitors worldwide come to experience the enchantment of Friday night on Canyon Road. But now localflavor readers can continue the experience of enchantment with dinner at one of our top picks for restaurants as renowned for their art as their food. A Splash of Summer Whites | by Barry Fields pg. 30 Nothing awakens the summer palate like a carefully chosen white wine. After visiting with a half-dozen wine experts in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, we’re ready to give you their choice selections so that you too can enjoy a splash of summer whites.
Rose B. Simpson
Rose B. Simpson | by Gail Snyder pg. 34 During the media blitz of Indian Market, you will have the opportunity to read many stories about this rising star artist, but none will touch you as deeply as this one.
Photo: Gaelen Casey
Five Courses | by Greg O’Byrne and Erin Wade pg. 40 Join two of our town’s most experienced foodies, Greg O’Byrne and Erin Wade, as they feast on the fivecourse tasting menu prepared by Chef Mark Connell, of Max’s. At the Table | by Chef Johnny Vee pg. 44 This month, Chef Johnny Vee has dinner with two of the sweetest pastry chefs in New Mexico—Andrea Clover, of the Inn at Loretto, and Darci Rochau, of the Tamaya Resort and Spa. The Gift of Laughter | by Gail Snyder pg. 48 Our thanks to Ricardo Caté for sharing his gift of laughter with us each day in his comic Without Reservations—and for bringing all of us just a little closer together in the process. Still Hungry? | by Caitlin Richards pg. 52 Homegrown tomatoes: “The first one of the summer is fought over; the last one of the summer is cried over.” Here are four luscious recipes from some of our favorite Taos chefs, each one celebrating homegrown tomatoes. 2011 ~ P u b l i s h e r s Patty & Peter Karlovitz Editor Patty Karlovitz P u b l i s h e r ’s A s s i s t a n t Caitlin Richards A r t D i r e c t o r Jasmine Quinsier C o v e r p h o t o : Kate Russell A d v e r t i s i n g : Michelle Moreland 505.699.7369. Lynn Kaufman 505.417.8876. Mary Brophy 505.231.3181. P r e p r e s s : Scott Edwards A d D e s i g n : Alex Hanna D i s t r i b u t i o n : Southwest Circulation L o c a l F l a v o r 2 2 3 N o r t h G u a d a l u p e # 4 4 2 , S a n t a F e , N M 8 7 5 0 1 Te l : 5 0 5 . 9 8 8 . 7 5 6 0 Fax: 988.9663 E-mail: localflavor @earthlink.net We b s i t e : w w w. l o c a l f l a v o r m a g a z i n e . c o m localflavor welcomes new writers. Send writing samples to localflavor@earthlink.net localflavor is published 11 times a year: Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan. S u b s c r i p t i o n s $ 2 4 p e r y e a r . Mail check to above address. © Edible Adventure Co.‘96. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used without the permission of Edible Adventure Co. localflavor accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to be reputable, but can’t guarantee it. All editorial information is gathered from sources understood to be reliable, but printed without responsibility for erroneous, incorrect, or omitted information. Unity Dances font: copyright (c) 2009 by S. John Ross. “Cumberland Games & Diversions” is a trademark of S. John Ross.
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Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Chef’s Gala
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival gratefully acknowledges the exceptional chefs whose contributions made our 5th Annual Chefs’ Gala possible:
Chef Fernando Olea
Chef Christopher McLean
Chef Christophe Decarpentries
Chef Mark Connell
Chef Eric DiStefano
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Chef Eric DiStefano
Chef Sam Reed
A heartfelt thank-you from the Festival to Corey Fidler, Food and Beverage Director at Hotel Santa Fe, for his invaluable contribution as coordinator of the Gala Dinner.
Chef Xavier Grenet
Chef Mark Kiffin
Chef Catherine O’Brien
The Festival thanks Kim Otis and the Albuquerque Catering Company for contributing hors d’oeuvres and National Distributing Company, Inc. for contributing the liquor during the cocktail hour.
The Festival thanks Southern Wine and Spirits for arranging the generously donated Gala dinner wine from the following contributors: Duckhorn Vineyards • Dreyfus • Dry Creek Vineyards • Empson • Groth Vineyards • Grgich Vineyards Gruet Winery • Palm Bay Imports • Pasternak Imports • Eric Solomon Selections • Treana Vineyards
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the Albuquerque by Christie Chisholm
among many other books. If that still doesn’t register, that’s the series recently turned into Games of Thrones on HBO. He was also included in Time Magazine’s 2011 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Anyway, he’s a genius, and on September 3 he’ll be the guest star at a benefit for the Friends for time to catch The Comedy of Errors, The FUSION Theatre Company’s been doing the Public Library. A lecture and book Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet. a tremendous job with its 2011 season. You’re all likely familiar with the tales, but With the theme “Right Off Broadway,” signing starts at 7:30 p.m. at the KiMo Theatre, with a VIP reception at 6:30 the Vortex has done something different it’s put on Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps p.m. Don’t miss it. Tickets range in price with the well-known romantic tragedy, and The Seven: Tangled Webs, a collection from $20 to $120. 423 Central NW, setting the Montagues and Capulets in a of 10-minute plays, with talent and 505.768.3544, www.cabq.gov/library. post-apocalyptic, punked-out wasteland. finesse. As Albuquerque’s only equity Visit www.vortexabq.org for show times. theater company, FUSION guarantees Get your Shakespeare fix for $15 a show that audiences will see professional ($10 for students ten minutes before actors and stellar shows. So I’m excited by Patty Karlovitz curtain) or for a $40 festival pass. 2004 1/2 about God of Carnage, their newest patty@localflavormagazine.com Central SE, 505.247.8600. offering, which runs August 18 through September 4 at The Cell Theatre, with For all of you who fell in love with our The tomatoes in your garden have grown a couple special performances at Santa July cover and story featuring Rulan plump and crimson. That patch of herbs Fe’s Armory for the Arts (September 2 Tangen and her indigenous dance is overgrown. You have so much zucchini and 3).The Tony Award–winning play is ensemble, Dancing Earth, you’ll be you’re considering getting a booth at a comedy about two sets of parents whose delighted to know that they will be the local farmer’s market just so you can escalating war over a suburban tiff serves performing at the James A. Little unload some of it. Want to figure out as a commentary about human nature. Theater on August 19, at 8 p.m. This some marvelous ways to use your late Tickets are $30 or $25 for students stunning group of dancers will perform summer harvest? Los Poblanos Inn & and seniors. For show times, visit www. their award-winning production, Of Cultural Center has just the class for you. fusionabq.org. 700 First Street NW, Bodies Of Elements. The performance “Tomatoes, Herbs and Summer Squash” 505.766.9412. by a contemporary native dance will teach you all you could ever want to company adds yet another dimension know about cooking with your end-ofI love the Aquarium Overnights. They’re to the amazing array of cultural and season bounty. The class is one day only, such an awesome way to get kids excited artistic events scheduled during Indian on Thursday, August 11, from 2 to 5 p.m. about nature and biology. Another one Market Week. For ticket information It costs $85 per person. To sign up, visit is coming up on Friday, August 19. The call 505.988.1234 or go to www. www.lospoblanos.com. 4803 Rio Grande evening starts at 7 p.m. and lasts until dancingearth.org. NW, 505.344.9297. 8 a.m. the next morning. The whole aquarium will be open for exploring, and They call it “burger enlightenment,” games and crafts will be provided, along and they may be absolutely right. bRgR with a marine movie in the Aquarium (pronounced bee-ar-gee-ar) is a new theater. Children under 18 must be Downtown eatery that specializes in beef. accompanied by an adult, but grownups Actually, it specializes in special beef: the are welcome sans kids. Don’t forget your local, grass-fed, hormone- and antibioticsleeping bag. Tickets are $30 a person, free kind. It’s also got 20 different kinds and pre-registration is required. 2601 of burgers on its menu, with meats that Central NW, 505.848.7180. www.cabq. include that glorious grass-fed beef gov/biopark/aquarium. along with chicken, fish, lamb, bison, yak and—get this—kangaroo. There’s also good news for the vegetarians in the crowd. bRgR doesn’t just give lip service to veggie burgers. Its menu offers four different kinds of homemade (not frozen) | Rulan of Dancing Earth vegetarian and/or vegan options. That’s Robert Mirabal, the two-time Grammy freaking fantastic. Other nosh-worthy Award winner who graced our August notables include three different kinds of 2008 cover, is again capturing headlines. mac and cheese, salads featuring local and This time it’s for his one-man show, sustainable ingredients, a meatball platter Po’Pay Speaks, a presentation of the and, well, more delicious sides than I have history and continuing influence of the room to mention here. Oh, and every revered Native leader Po’Pay, a sixteenthitem on the menu is under $10. Add to century visionary and mystic. Mirabal that a full beer, wine and cocktail menu, told localflavor that it was his intention and we’ve got ourselves one great new to “inhabit the spirit of this great restaurant. So whether it’s the Kobe burger leader—what he accomplished and why, with thyme-oregano aioli, black truffle foie So don’t sue me, this event isn’t until and if he were still alive, what his message gras and scallions or the black bean burger Saturday, September 3. But it involves would be to Pueblo people today.” The with jack cheese and mango salsa that’s George R.R. Martin, and that’s not show premiers on August 16 at the stirring your stomach, come give this new something that should be missed, so I feel Albuquerque offering a try. It sits right on I should give you adequate warning. If for Heritage Hotel’s Lodge at Santa Fe. Yet another stunning example of the range the corner of Third Street and Central. some tragic reason you’re not sure who of creativity of our Native American 505.224.bRgR, www.brgrabq.com. George R.R. Martin is, he’s the author community. of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series,
| Twilight Tour at the Zoo It’s really hot outside. Like, ridiculously hot. I’ve lived in New Mexico for 15 years, and sweltering summers are nothing new, but there’s something about the heat this year that makes me wilt after only a few minutes in the sun. Maybe that’s why a Twilight Tour at the Zoo sounds so appealing. Not only will you get to hang out in the shade, but also you’ll likely get to see more animals—or at least different kinds of animals—than you would if you went during normal zoo hours. That’s due to the nocturnal nature of certain beasts, but it’s also because we’re not the only ones who cower from the hot noonday sun. The tour is this Tuesday, August 2, and it goes from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It’s $15 for adults and $10 for kids and seniors, and the price of admission includes a guided tour in a small group. Space is limited, so register ahead of time by calling 505.764.6214. 903 10th Street SW, www.cabq.gov/biopark/zoo.
Will Power 2: The Vortex Theatre’s 2011 Summer Shakespeare Festival runs through August 7. There’s still
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Photo: Kate Russell
SANTA FE
magazine.com
Photo: Kate Russell
in our own backyard gardens. The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market is in full swing with markets on Tuesday mornings, Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings. There are also market days on the Southside, Eldorado, La Cienega, Tesuque and Española. Just go to www. farmersmarketsnm.org for a listing of all of New Mexico’s farmers’ markets; you’ll find maps, contact information and links for each of them.
| Robert Mirabal From all over the world, thousands of patrons of Native arts come to Santa Fe for Indian Market, but it’s the savvy collectors who come early to enjoy the prestigious Whitehawk Antique Shows. In fact, seasoned collectors of antique Native American and tribal art wait all year for the chance to mingle and talk with the more than 100 dealers who will be there. They are surely some of the most knowledgeable and well-respected in the country. The 28th Annual Antique Ethnographic Art Show opens with a preview gala on Thursday, August 11, from 6 to 9 p.m. and continues through August 12 and 13, when it will be on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday , August 14, their companion show, The 33rd Annual Indian Art Show opens with a preview gala from 6 to 9 p.m. and continues through the August 15 and 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both shows are held at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Tickets for either preview gala are $75 per person; show tickets are $10 each, and all may be purchased at the door. And this year they’re adding a series of free lectures to the venue. www.whitehawkshows.com. The Wheelwright Museum is another integral player in the drama of Indian Market and this year offers several seminars, all with provocative titles and subjects. The one that really made me smile was “Indian Market Survival Guide” (heaven knows I’ll need it). Led by moderator Chip Conway, featured artists and seasoned collectors will discuss their personal collections and offer perspectives on the ins and outs of Market. Conway also leads a roundtable discussion entitled “Who We Are” with a group of young emerging artists. The seminars, artist demonstrations, book signings and other activities are all scheduled for August 18 and 19. For detailed information, go to www. wheelwright.com. Just as August reaches a crescendo not only at the opera but also in local galleries and at our nationally recognized Spanish and Indian Markets, a crescendo is being reached in the fields of our farmers and
In addition to updates from farmers’ markets, localflavor receives news and photos from the many community gardens sprouting up all over town. One of my favorites is a recent email from La Familia Medical Center and the wonderful staff there who serve our community so admirably. Dr. Kristen Widmer, a resident physician at La Familia, and Diana Gonzales-Pacheco, the center’s registered dietitian, created a garden on an empty lot just up the hill from the Alto Street clinic as part of an informal employee project to promote healthier eating and enjoy each other’s company under the beautiful New Mexico sky. This is a snapshot of a recent picnic where they enjoyed their August harvest, swapped a few tales like real farmers and shared the special camaraderie that comes from working together in a garden.
TAOS
by Patty patty@localflavormagazine.com. Although this event is in September, here’s a heads-up now in case you want to build an entire Labor Day weekend trip around it. On Sunday, September 5, at 5 p.m., the Great Chefs of Taos will sponsor their Fourth Annual Paella Cook-Off at the beautiful Sabroso Restaurant. It’s a wonderful event where top chefs including Aric Zamora of The Gorge, Zippy White of Taos Inn, Henry Chaperont of El Monte Sagrado and Tim Wooldridge of Sabroso will pair with a student enrolled in the Taos High School culinary arts program. Benji Apodaca from the school will also be cooking with the kids. Lucky diners browse and taste the various paellas and enjoy tapas and sangria, all for $59 a ticket. Proceeds go to the culinary program. For more information and to purchase tickets in advance, call 575.779.8334.
is looking for another rainmaker! We offer a $1,550/month salary with 20% commission on sales after base. We’re a lifestyle magazine with a proven track record of 17 years, distributed in over 450 locations between Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos and a readership of over 70,000. We’re known for our editorial integrity, cutting edge design and savvy distribution, but it’s the sales staff that is at the heart of who we are. Be one of our rainmakers! Send me a brief cover letter and your resume to patty@localflavormagazine.com.
Who: Rudy Hunziker What: “Retiring” Lead Volunteer Chef
Where: St. Elizabeth Shelter’s
Resource Center When: Twice a week for fourand-a-half years Why: A big Thank You for your dedication and for helping to prepare 50,885 meals during your time here.
| La Familia community garden Not quite as old-fashioned as an ice cream social but certainly as fun, the Blue Corn Brewery will be hosting a Beer Social on August 16 a 6:30 p.m. The cost is $15 per person, for three beers paired with small bites. The menu has a “Fresh from the Farmer” theme and will offer “bites” like Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Silver Coin Tequila–Grilled Shrimp. Yum. Our church’s ice cream socials never sounded that good. 505.984.1800. In the July story on Rulan Tangen entitled, Dancing Earth, a quotation attributed to her mentor and grandmother figure, Geraldine, was incorrect. It should have read: “You have enough of that crazy dance [referring to non-Native dance] in your life….You need to do this.” The error was an editorial one, and not that of the writer Ana June.
Building Futures • Changing Lives www.steshelter.org We serve more than 150 meals every Tuesday and Friday to Santa Fe’s hungry men, women and children. You, too, can volunteer to join our fabulous lunch team. Just call Susan at 982-6611. Compliments of localflavor magazine
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
AUGUST 2011
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On Native Ground
J
aque Fragua says he doesn’t like to talk about himself, or about anything, really. He likes to listen. That’s how he interacts with the world—listening, and listening some more, and then condensing all he’s heard and painting it somewhere, anywhere, quietly and like a prayer.
Yet Fragua lets his words tumble forth like a flood, as though he’s been holding them back too long and they’ve finally ripped through the dam. He hardly seems out of practice. The 24year-old speaks quickly but intentionally, touching on the nature of art, selfidentity and the history of his people with one broad stroke. But first, he starts at the beginning. Fragua is from New Mexico, raised on the Jemez Pueblo, which still does and always will serve as his center community. “Growing up there, it was like being transported to another world,” he says. Although Fragua has since traveled, and painted, all over the country and beyond, in cities like Brooklyn, San Francisco, Oaxaca, Vancouver and soon Paris, it’s the pueblo that remains his primary inspiration. He moved to Tucson about a month ago, and he’s lived in Seattle and Denver, but he always returns home for communal ceremonies. “I feel like it’s ‘the reservation,’ and ‘the rest of the world,’” he says. Fragua’s not even sure how many members of his community know he’s an artist, and a pretty successful one. This may be partially due to the fact that most of Fragua’s work is street art; sometimes it’s commissioned (or as he calls it, “legitimate”), and sometimes it’s not. The latter is always anonymous, and it isn’t something he goes bragging about. Another factor is the way his community thinks about art and work, he says.
story by CHRISTIE CHISHOLM p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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On Native Ground “You can’t be defined by a career,” Fragua says. “It’s a way of life.” As an example, he points to his parents, both of whom are artists in the Westernized mindset. His mother works with textiles, and his father is a painter, too, but “they don’t know it,” he adds. “In a Western context, it is art. In my understanding, it’s not art; it’s just a part of what I do.” His parents support his work, though. He remembers his first painting—a watercolor of fish in the ocean, something he’d never seen in person. Red Rocks Community College picked up the piece for a show. “My dad bought it, but he didn’t tell me,” Fragua says, smiling. He was ten. Despite the success of his first artistic foray, it didn’t occur to Fragua until much later in life that he wanted to be a painter. As a teenager, he was much more interested in dance (usually break-dancing) and music. Fragua’s a virtual one-man band, with experience playing guitar, drums, bass and piano in addition to knowing his way around turntables. He’s been in blues and jazz bands as well as punk, rock and roll, and hip-hop groups. Fragua hates the term “renaissance man,” but that’s probably because he hears it so darn often. It was after finishing a degree at the Institute of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe, that he started to focus more on painting. Once he concentrated on it, the medium filled something inside him that had been waiting, vacant, his whole life. “I was lonely until I found art. Until I found spray paint, a paintbrush,” he says. “The thing about art is it stays there.” He acknowledges that music can be recorded, but spurts of improv on a guitar dissipate like vapor. It’s the improv that appeals to him the most. “It’s more spontaneous, paint on a wall,” he says. “It feels like I capture a sound on a wall—the rhythm in a line, the way it bounces, thickens, lightens. When I see that, I feel good, comforted.” Yet permanency isn’t important to Fragua, who acknowledges that some of his most spur-of-the-moment work is painted over the next morning by graffiti cleanup teams. “It’s not immortality I’m concerned about,” he says. “It’s about living life with intention.” Fragua doesn’t usually paint what many people think of when they hear the word “graffiti,” which he describes as “scrawls on walls.” He likes to focus on more tribalistic forms, what he refers to as “Native pop art,” patterns that represent protection and beginnings. Water designs and clouds, which 16
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represent life, are a big theme in his work. He likes redesigning the rain cycle that can be found in every middle school biology textbook, adding in Native American iconography. “Where are the people in those diagrams?” he asks. Fragua takes it upon himself to fill them in. While Fragua makes a living off his commissioned work—such as the mural on the El Rey Theater he painted, titled “Contemporary Traditions,” with two other artists—as well as canvas works he sells in galleries, his favorite pieces are painted covertly and on the fly. His favorite pastime is wandering around deserted areas at night, often in the wild, with a couple cans of spray paint in his pocket and the sound of nothing but his thoughts. “No one will see it except for myself and God,” he says. “It’s the private collection.” These moments are Fragua’s way of communicating with something larger, in terms of both understanding himself and sending a prayer to the creator. “When it’s just me, it feels like it’s untouchable,” he says. “Maybe someone will see it, get to that same space. I find that sacred.” There are many pieces Fragua intends for people to see, though, and he has a message he wants to communicate through those works. “I like to share my story and other people’s stories, and the stories of my ancestors, my community, my friends, my family,” he says. Sometimes this takes a lighter or more subversive form. Other times the subject matter is more difficult. “I have the courage to be able to speak up, and I have this outlet,” he says. “I want to speak out for others, for victims of abuse. Where I come from, a lot of people are still suffering from it.” Fragua hopes to unlock emotion through his work. “I want to engage people to look at their reflection,” he says. “And I want everyone to be healthy.” Fragua recognizes that he lives a little on the edge, straddled between the law and his art. “I like to feel invincible,” he says. “Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not.” He’s talking about the time he went to jail for painting on a building that was then demolished one month later. “My whole understanding of the world is so skewed,” he says. “I got a taste of sovereignty, its own rules and laws. I want to be the same way.” Still, at the heart of all he does, he says, are simple desires: to express, inspire and exist in a world of his own making. He tries to hang on to an element of his ten-year-old self, painting something he yearned for but had never seen. “I love my innocence,” he says. “It’s why I do what I do. I’m just a guy painting.” Jaque’s work can be seen at the Firegod Gallery which recently moved to 1000 Old Church Road in Corrales. 505.252.3300. www.firegodgallery.com. A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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A Taste of Life in New Mexico
AUGUST 2011
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Curbsidecuisine story by CHRISTIE CHISHOLM
photos by GABRIELLA MARKS
| Founder Cynthia Beiser
I
n the middle of summer on a hot stretch of Central, the hum of generators elicits a Pavlovian response. If you’ve been to the Talin Market parking lot on a Wednesday, the sound will stoke your appetite and coax your thirst. Food trucks line the lot like a toy train set, each car serving up something slightly different. Visit the open window of one and get handed a mean slathering of South Carolina barbecue. Another boasts the Texas counterpart. Find fresh veggies and hummus, drunken meatballs, carne adovada and chef salad. Sate a parched throat with homemade lime soda, topped with fresh berries. Crave a little confection? A red velvet moon pie is waiting. 20
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The scene comes compliments of Curbside Cuisine, an assembly of food trucks joined together with a singular purpose: to make Albuquerque a little tastier. Called a “food pod,” the idea is based off models in cities like Portland. Most of the time, the trucks in such models are stationary, but these are mobile, setting up outside Talin on Louisiana and Central every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Food pods not only allow new business owners to jumpstart their culinary endeavors quickly and economically, they also inject them with a dose of instant community. Callie Tolman is one such pod person. She started her catering business, Make My Lunch, in January of last year. Work has been growing steadily for the do-it-all startup, which also offers meal planning as well as grocery pickup and delivery, but Tolman was looking for a way to nudge that growth even further. She’d been working out of the South Valley Economic Development Center’s kitchen, paying an hourly rate for a place to prep. In October, she invested in a food truck, which she mainly planned on using as a portable kitchen for catering events—one she didn’t have to pay for by the hour. It was Cynthia Beiser who suggested Tolman spring for the truck and Beiser who ultimately formed the pod. Beiser is the executive director of STEPS (Southeast Team for Entrepreneurial Success), a local organization that helps people start small businesses. Beiser likes food trucks because they serve as a much cheaper alternative to renting space in a building, and she recommends them to many of the food-oriented startups she works with. Businesses can use them the way Tolman does, or they can use them to sell things like crafts or vegetables. “In Portland, people sell organic meat out of pods,” Beiser says. “You could even take a truck to a neighborhood without a local grocery.” She got the idea for the pod last spring and went to City Councilor Rey Garduño for help, since setting up the pods outside Talin would require a change in zoning. Garduño created the Food Cart Task Force and brought the matter to the City Council and the Environmental Planning
Commission, both of which voted unanimously to approve the zone change and support the pod. After a fair amount of organizing, Curbside Cuisine officially opened on March 6. Tolman’s was one of four trucks that started the pod—along with Oz Patisserie, Marcell’s Carolina BBQ and Bill’s Barbecue. Now somewhere between five and eight trucks line Talin’s lot every week, and at one point there was even a waiting list. The number of customers has also been growing; on a good day, Tolman says she now gets 30 to 40. Beiser estimates that in the four months the pod has been going, most of the businesses involved have grown by about 10 percent. That growth comes with a fair amount of effort. Make My Lunch serves relatively low-production, healthful offerings—things like hummus and veggie platters and cheese plates, although there are some dishes that take up to a couple days to make, like slow-cooked roast beef sandwiches. Even so, it takes Tolman 18 to 24 hours of work to prep for each Wednesday. Those numbers are also partially due to the fact that she likes to display clean linens and fresh flowers outside her truck, and in addition to doing laundry and grocery shopping and cooking, she also hauls in chairs every week. Most trucks provide some kind of seating, and some even set up tents for shade. The do-it-yourself attitude extends to customers, some of whom have gotten in the habit of bringing their own chairs and umbrellas. “It’s a bringyou-own-chair party,” Tolman says. “Like going to the fair.” Eventually, Beiser would like to see some pods become permanent, creating a sort of town center that also features a stage, colorful swathes of nylon for shade, and tables and benches. “I want to watch little old men playing checkers,” she says. In addition to her vision for a popular outdoor space, Beiser wants to set up food pods all over the city, with at least one in each quadrant. She’s already in communication with the city about starting a second, possibly Downtown. In addition to providing more tasty tidbits to an area, food pods may also help clean up neighborhoods. Since Curbside Cuisine started its weekly
event, the transient population in the area has migrated to another location. “We used to have a lot of beggars,” Beiser says. After pausing to contemplate whether the term “beggar” is politically correct, she continues. “We made a pod decision that we would not give anything to them, food or money. That really helped.” She says the decision was a difficult one, because “you want to give people food if they’re hungry,” but the food pod also wanted to create an atmosphere that would be inviting to families. Pod people also do what they can to make the area cleaner, picking up trash and trying to make the lot look tidier than it does when they get there. Even though trucks compete with each other for customers, Tolman says the atmosphere is nothing but friendly, with a sharp synergy among the group. “We all work together as a community,” she says. If someone runs out of forks, another person offers theirs. Tolman needs help lifting something? Her fellow truckers are there to help. That philosophy of support is evident in all aspects of the pod. Because there’s overlap between some of the offerings from the trucks, vendors modified their menus to keep options diverse. Tolman also buys fresh baguettes from a nearby Vietnamese bakery, Banh Mi Coda, every week. Sometimes she’ll purchase a special cheese from Marcell’s Carolina BBQ for one of her platters. “If we run out of food,” she says, “we can go into Talin to shop.” Talin is a big supporter of the food pod. In fact, Victor Limary, Talin’s manager, is actually Curbside Cuisine’s manager now, too. The partnership creates a symbiotic relationship, with Talin bringing in people from an array of backgrounds who might want to stop for a quick bite, and the food pod, in turn, promoting the grocery store. It all adds up to what Beiser calls a “food community,” which is the ultimate goal of the project. “We want the community to grow, prosper and change,” says Tolman, adding that the pod hopes to attract more people to the area. “It’s a fantastic collection,” she says. “And we all have each other.”
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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Some
Enchanted story by ARIN MCKENNA
photos by GABRIELLA MARKS
Evening
T
he Friday night art walk is a Santa Fe institution, a tradition with a nostalgic quality harkening back to times when simple pleasures and quiet camaraderie reigned. It is a ritual pervaded by an air of celebration reminiscent of 19th-century promenades in European cities. The Canyon Road historic neighborhood’s human scale, combined with an inclusive atmosphere, revives a sense of community that is all but lost in modern America. (They don’t call Santa Fe the City Different for nothing.) It is romantic, to be sure. But the romance is not just for couples. Friends enjoying a girls’ night out amble companionably. Single women and men mingle with ease as they browse the galleries. Locals mingle freely with tourists.
What the art walk offers, first and foremost, is food for the soul. Folks making their way down the three-quarter mile gallery-lined portion of Canyon Road will encounter exhibits featuring everything from work by New Mexico masters to a complex and diverse mix of contemporary art. In addition to painting and sculpture, many galleries also feature glass creations, sculptural fiber arts and mixed media designs. Strolling art lovers can admire the elegant lines of a Maria Martínez pot or see early 20th-century New Mexico through the eyes of the Taos Society of Artists painters at the Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery. Or perhaps they’ll be enticed by contemporary representational pieces at the Meyer Gallery or cutting-edge work at Gebert Contemporary. The magic of the evening may be enhanced by the whimsical creations at Chalk Farm Gallery, where living plants and the whisper of fountains encourage visitors to step out of time and rest a bit. Wending through the historic homes housing the galleries also adds to the enchantment. Thick adobe walls hold back the heat, and the randomly connected rooms open like puzzle boxes suddenly revealing a concealed courtyard or an intimate sculpture garden. Galleries often offer visitors crudités or cheese plates—and more than a few serve wine. Musicians are bound to be playing somewhere. Sky Red Hawk’s Native American flute and Ken Estrada’s guitar may echo down the road if Native Spirits is performing. The strains of cello and guitar may spill from an open doorway. It seems that every few feet some new experience delights the senses. Many galleries are open every Friday evening in the summer. Others host opening receptions for new exhibits during the art walks. For an adventure, simply walk down Canyon Road until an enticing doorway draws you in. Or if you prefer planning ahead, check out listings of gallery openings online or in local publications. Either way, you’ll be in for an enchanted evening you won’t forget. The unique combination of factors that converge in the Friday night walks down Canyon Road— world-class art, 18th-century adobe architecture, lush gardens and remarkable light—is more than enough to make for a memorable evening. But when that evening ends at a restaurant with ambiance to match the mood, you’ve really got something special. Why not continue your feast for the senses at a restaurant that emphasizes the aesthetics of both cuisine and atmosphere? We invite you to dress in your favorite casual best, put on your walking shoes, corral a friend or a lover and seize the evening. Here are three dining possibilities to consider. All are popular, so reservations are recommended.
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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The Compound T
he Compound lies at the end of a tree-lined lane adjoining Canyon Road, and if you could step back in time to the turn of the last century, you might spot a visiting movie star or socialite staying in this secluded spot. When the 200-year-old home was converted to a restaurant in 1967, architect, interior designer and folk art collector Alexander Girard was hired to oversee the project. For many Santa Feans and visitors alike, the Girard Wing at the Museum of International Folk Art is a treasure to be visited time and again, not only to see Girard’s incredible collection of folk art but the ingenious displays he created to showcase it. Girard once said, “Art is only art when it is synonymous with living,” and one gets the sense that Girard took great pleasure in designing a space where people could relish both food and companionship. Combining the earthiness of adobe with contemporary design elements, The Compound’s decor is Zen-like, but definitely not austere. Whitewashed adobe walls and ceilings capture the light and multiply it. Picture windows overlook an enticing garden courtyard. Inviting bancos (adobe benches) line the walls. It is as though Girard simplified the space to give its spirit room to expand. Girard’s ceilings are a delight, especially the one in the innermost room. Girard covered the vigas with waves of textured plaster that seem to undulate like the ocean. A stylized snake rides those waves along one edge. Textile tiles adorn two other ceilings. The front room ceiling is a patchwork of colorful upholstery textiles with graphic patterns designed by Girard. Another ceiling is tiled with intricate miniature Navajo rugs. Girard’s artwork melds industrial media and aesthetics with the charm of folk art. A whimsical sun face in bronze and a chrome-plated crescent moon hold court in two of the Compound’s rooms. The faces in these celestial bodies seem to smile back at you—after they have brought a smile to your own lips. Tables nestled in an intimate courtyard are the most coveted. The murmur of a central fountain fills this intimate space. Stone walls covered with ivy, peach trees and lush green vegetation add to the charm. The garden patio, set above the courtyard, is slightly less alluring, but still offers the romance of dining under the stars. Owner/Chef Mark Kiffin received many accolades, including the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef in the Southwest” award in 2005 (not to mention a wine list has been in Wine Spectator’s top 100). Kiffin calls his cuisine Contemporary American, and his main focus is on integrating ingredients of the Mediterranean with those of the Americas. Old World foods the Spanish introduced—like beef, chicken, tomatoes and eggplants—are paired with New World staples such as corn. Kiffin’s signature dishes include Grilled Tenderloin of Beef with Foie Gras Hollandaise and Tuna Tartar topped with Ossetra Caviar and Preserved Lemon. The Compound is located at 653 Canyon Road, in Santa Fe. Dinner is served nightly from 6 p.m. Lunch is served Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., from June 28 to September 4. 505.982.4353.
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Inn of the Anasazi T
he Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi is like a small oasis in Santa Fe, and walking into its dining room is like walking out of the desert into a spring-cooled cavern—but with far more elegance than any cavern could offer. The sandstone masonry and earth-toned walls are reminiscent of the Ancestral Puebloan dwellings of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Petroglyphs found at those ancient dwellings served as inspiration for contemporary American Indian artists Dan Namingha, Doug Coffin and Darren Vigil Gray, artists whose work is featured in the hotel. All three are renowned for their cutting-edge expressions of their cultural heritage and bold visual statements, resulting in work perfectly fitting to the design of the hotel: Although the inspirations are ancient, the execution is decidedly modern. Like the approach to Chaco Canyon’s Great Houses, the approach to the hotel was designed to impress. But the dark-stained wooden portal dominating the three-story adobe façade—with its concise lines and geometric patterns—is unmistakably contemporary. The Anasazi’s interior is stately, with massive ceiling vigas and oversized kiva fireplaces. That stateliness is tempered by handcrafted furnishings and architectural details. Take the hand carved doors by Morelli. At first glance, they look like artifacts from an 18th century Spanish Colonial home, with their dark wood and rough-hewn features. But a closer look reveals intricately carved, colorful panels patterned after Navajo rug designs. Morelli’s designs complement the contemporary and antique Navajo rugs adorning the hotel floors. Interspersed are Chimayó rugs by master weaver Irvin Trujillo and his wife, Lisa. Both have won numerous awards, and Irvin is a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow. The weavings also upholster bench cushions and soften walls, adding warmth to the earth-toned architecture, while ambient light from custom light fixtures and wrought-iron lamps further softens the space. The hotel’s award-winning restaurant features the creations of Executive Chef Oliver Ridgeway, who has worked at acclaimed restaurants in Britain, with the Olympic culinary team in Australia and at the famed The Carlyle in New York City. Ridgeway was somewhat concerned when he moved to landlocked New Mexico, since his specialty is seafood. But thanks to modern transportation, he is able to create his signature dishes in this high desert oasis, offering guests contemporary global cuisine that incorporates fresh, seasonal and regional ingredients. Ridgeway counts among his specialties Blue Corn–Crusted Salmon with Citrus-Jalapeño Sauce and Nine-Spice Beef Tenderloin with Chipotle–Modelo Beer Glaze. Menus change frequently. Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi is located at 113 Washington Avenue, in Santa Fe. It is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sunday brunch is served from 11a.m.–- 2:30 p.m. 505.988.3030.
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La Casa Sena H
istory exudes from La Casa Sena, which is situated in a 30room adobe home built in the early 1700s. If those walls could talk they would undoubtedly tell the history of Santa Fe, from its Spanish origins to the present day. Who knows which famous artists might have slept in the Garden or Kiva Rooms when this was a boarding house at the turn of the 20th century. The magic starts when you enter Sena Plaza, one of those charmed spots where once people enter they are reluctant to leave. The soft glow of lanterns and the whisper of the fountain make this one of Santa Fe’s most romantic settings, and among its picturesque cottonwood trees and lush gardens is La Casa Sena’s patio seating. Inside the restaurant, the thick adobe walls and low viga ceilings wrap diners in a comfortable embrace. Contemporary elements added in a 2006 remodel provide a counterpoint to the earthy architecture. The most striking of these is an elegant wroughtiron chandelier in the main dining room that casts a soft glow about the room. La Casa Sena’s owner, Gerald Peters, also owns the Gerald Peters Gallery, and part of the appeal of this elegant restaurant is the artwork he chooses for the walls. Striking photographs by Craig Varjabedian and Gus Foster enhance the main dining room. Two large panels depicting lush plant-life by David Wolfe (called Maggie’s Garden) lend an outdoor atmosphere to the North Room. Abstracts by Tom Craighead echo the lounge’s abstract upholstery design. Peters originally chose artwork from the early New Mexico artist colonies, and the Garden Room is the one room Peters left alone when he renovated the restaurant in 2006. Patrons are so enamored with the Gustave Baumann woodcuts hanging there they ask for Baumann Room seating by name. (Some have been doing so since the restaurant opened in 1984.) Chef Patrick Gharrity has garnered high praise both locally and nationally for his cuisine. He is completely committed to using fresh, organic, sustainable and local food whenever possible, and not only because it produces the best cuisine. “The way that the world is going—I have some young children that I would like to see grow up and live in a beautiful, clean world—it’s inspired me to change things around,” Gharrity says. Gharrity buys local meats and produce at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and does his best to get to know his producers. He is also one of the staunchest supporters of a new Farm to Restaurant program, which delivers orders from farmers and ranchers directly to the restaurant. La Casa Sena and La Cantina is located at 125 E. Palace Avenue, in Santa Fe. Dinner is served from 5:30–10 p.m. nightly, lunch from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. daily. Cellar Lounge hours are 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Saturday and noon–10 p.m. Sundays. 505.988.9232.
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summer whites
A splash of
stor y by BARRY FIELDS
P
icture yourself with a special companion as a summer evening comes on, the breeze picks up and the heat dies down. Maybe you’re on a portal or in a garden, feeling the last rays of the sun. To give the moment a romantic touch, complete the image with a shared bottle of white wine.
That’s what many of localflavor’s wine merchants and restaurateurs do. Take Susan Egan of Susan’s Fine Wines, one of Santa Fe’s premier shops for wine buying. “When it’s hot out I like a chilled white wine,” she muses. “It’s refreshing, it’s light, it’s clean.” These sentiments are echoed by Casa Vieja’s Kate Gerwin, who gravitates toward white wines with minerality and good acidity, and by Kokoman’s wine manager Phil Hemberger, who elaborates, “I’ve been drinking nothing but white wine for the past month. There’s a complexity about them that people tend to overlook because they’re so light and approachable.” Among whites most of us like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are made from white grapes. But the ever-popular Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris in French) comes from red grapes. After harvesting and crushing, the skins and stems are quickly removed to prevent the juice from coloring and picking up too much tannin. Tannins are great in high-end, structured reds, allowing them to mellow and change with age, but we usually want our whites ready to drink young, and we don’t want our lips puckering with tannic dryness. Nowadays, virtually all wines are fermented in large steel tanks, temperature carefully controlled at around 64 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Many white wines are then aged in stainless steel, preserving the freshness of the fruit. Yet a lot of us like the American style of aged-in-oak Chardonnays, great for
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sipping even if they’re harder to pair with food. Then there’s malolactic fermentation, which involves adding a bacteria to convert tart malic acid to milder lactic acid. If you like refreshing wines (which Susan Egan describes as “zesty”), you’ll want higher acidity. If you prefer a mellower, buttery flavor, consider oaked Chardonnays, which are usually given this treatment. What whites should you be looking for now? Locaflavor checked in with a few of our favorite stores and restaurants to get their current recommendations. Susan Egan’s shop carries wines from around the world, and she’s hard-pressed to find a region that doesn’t make good whites. This summer, she’s partial to the whites of Compania in Italy. Compania, a southern region on the west coast of the country comprising Naples, Salerno and other areas farther inland, isn’t well known in America. But Susan likes their “vigorous minerality,” a result of volcanic soil. Try the 2009 Terredora Di Paolo Greco di Tufo ($24.99), an outstanding example of the region. For a good, inexpensive white, she recommends producer Saint-Peyre’s 2009 Picpoul-de-Pinet, a little-known
traditional grape varietal from the Languedoc region of southern France ($10.99). With a pale yellow color, it has a bouquet reminiscent of honey, a pleasant acidity and a light, simple, refreshing flavor. Another wine she recommends: the “bright, clean” $15 white (made with the Macabeo grape) by well-known Spanish producer Borsao from Campo de Borja. When localflavor caught up with her at her store, she had recently returned from “Pinot Camp” in Oregon, where she sampled a number of the state’s Pinot Gris. Try the 2010 vintage by Adelsheim, she says, from a producer that prides itself on its sustainable farming practices in the Willamette Valley ($17.99). Ristra’s Eric Lamalle has recently opened Azur, a Santa Fe restaurant focusing on Mediterranean cuisine and wines in the location formerly held by A La Mesa. He and Jamie Taylor, his restaurant manager, like the Saint-Peyre Picpoul-de-Pinet so much they’re serving it by the glass. Lamalle, a native Frenchman, has a European sensibility about wine and enjoys the SaintPeyre’s brightness and freshness. For an inexpensive refreshing glass, he and Taylor are partial to the 2010
Fonseca Twin Vines Vinho Verde from Portugal. As the name implies, the grapes are picked green, not fully ripened, resulting in low alcohol. Made from the Alvarinho grape most associated with northwest Spain (where it’s called Albariño), it has a bit of fizz and is well-balanced and quaffable. Among Italian white wines, Azur is gravitating toward Vermentino, most popularly grown in Sardinia. Yet their highest end Vermentino comes from Bolgheri, in western Tuscany, with grapes grown on Italian superstar Marchese Piero Antinori’s Guado al Tasso estate. It has an absolutely gorgeous minerality and complexity. Kokoman’s Phil Hemberger recommends several whites for summer enjoyment, beginning with wines made from Torrontés, the premier white wine grape of Argentina. “It’s got the crispness of Sauvignon Blanc but a nice floral quality on the nose,” Hemberger summarizes. He suggests the 2010 Crios ($14.99), a good value made by one of Argentina’s few female winemakers, or the bargain 2010 Trivento ($7.49). He also likes Pinot Grigio from Italy, which he describes as “crisp, light, and foodfriendly. You can have it on your back porch with grilled shrimp.” He describes the 2009 Bottega Vinaia ($13.99) from the Trentino region as “dry and structured with a hint of minerality,” and likes the 2010 Riff ($11.99) from the Venezia region in the foothills of Italy’s Dolomite Mountains, a fruitier version of the wine. Another of his finds, by producer Birichino in Monterey, California, is the Malvasia Bianca (an Italian grape). Its exotic, perfumed, rich and fruity qualities make it a bargain at $16.49. At La Posada’s bar you can try a glass of the Riff Pinot Grigio, described by manager Mark Montoya as an elegant wine having “apples, peaches and mineral notes, with a good aftertaste that lasts in the mouth.” Montoya’s also excited by Domaine Alfred Chamisal Vineyards’ 2010 California Central Coast Stainless Chardonnay. Using sustainable, environmentally friendly principles, they
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produce an unoaked wine with good body that Montoya describes as having citrus and pear flavors, “a very bright wine with a really nice finish,” very different from typical American oaked Chardonnay. For a reasonable bottle selection from the extensive list at Fuego, the resort’s fine dining restaurant, he promotes the 2009 St. Cosme Côtes du Rhône Blanc, a blend of southern French grapes, as a rich and delightful alternative to American’s best known varietals. Casa Vieja, on the main street in Corrales, is co-owned and managed by Kate Gerwin, who spent ten years working in the wine cellars of the Napa Valley before she and her chef-partner-husband moved to New Mexico. On her by-the-glass wine list is a Torrontés by producer La Yunta, from the Famatina Valley in Argentina; it has a sweet bouquet like Riesling, with citrus and melon flavors. And Picpoul-de-Pinet makes an appearance with a 2009 from producer Paul Mas. One of Kate’s affordable favorites, it’s from a single vineyard and has been wildly popular with her customers. Two other wines, these from her bottle list, are the 2008 Chateau Graville-Lacoste from the Graves region of Bordeaux, France (a Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blend) and the 2008 Lucien Albrecht Pinot Blanc from the Alsace region of France. Both are classic examples of their areas that won’t break the bank. The main theme that runs through these recommendations is that most of the wines are foreign, and even the American suggestions are outof-the-box varietals or styles. Why? “I love Old World wines because they tend to be more food-friendly,” Kate Gerwin says. Eric Lamalle reflects, “I think people are looking for things outside of the main grapes,” a thought echoed by Mark Montoya: “People are trying to explore new wines while staying in a reasonable price range.” As consumers, we may be becoming more sophisticated, even as we seek out affordable selections. Above all, white wines are for hedonistic enjoyment. As Phil Hemberger advises, “Don’t take them too seriously. Have fun, trust your palate and share them with friends.”
Fine Wine Tastings Every Friday from 5 to 6:30 pm We have a fantastic selection of fine wine, craft beer, and select spirits. Plus family staples, fruit, veggies, and... The Best Service Ever! Visit your local market 55 Canada del Rancho, Suite F Santa Fe, NM 87508 • 505-474-2828 ranchoviejovillagemarket.com
A Splash of Summer Whites 2010 Trivento Torrontes, Argentina, $7.49 2010 La Yunta Torrontes, Argentina, $9.99 2009 Saint-Peyre Picpoul-de-Pinet, France, $10.99 2010 Fonseca Twin Vines Vinho Verde, Portugal, $10.99 2010 Riff Pinot Grigio, Italy, $11.99 2008 Lucien Albrecht Pinot Blanc, France, $12.99 2009 Bottega Vinaia Pinot Grigio, Italy, $13.99 2010 Domaine Alfred Chamisal Stainless Chardonnay, California, $13.99 2010 Borsao Campo de Borja, Spain, $14.99 2010 Crios Torrontes, Argentina, $14.99 2009 Paul Mas Picpoul-de-Pinet, France, $15.99 2008 Birichino Malvasia Bianca, California $16.49 2010 Adelsheim, Willamette Valley, $17.99 2008 Chateau Graville-Lacoste, France, $19.49 2009 St. Cosme Côtes du Rhône Blanc, France, $19.99 2009 Marchese Piero Antinori Vermentino, Italy, $21.99 2009 Terredora Di Paolo Greco di Tufo, Italy, $24.99 (Prices quoted are average retail. And as always, we encourage you to shop at your favorite locally owned wine shop.) 32
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On Native Ground
story by GAIL SNYDER
Photos: Addison Doty and Chiaroscuro Santa Fe
photos by GAELEN CASEY
| Top row: Vessel, Initiative, Advisors. Bottom row: Filling in the Blanks, Pod II (interior view).
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D
iscussing ideas for her M.F.A. thesis recently, one of Rose Bean Simpson’s mentors at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) listened to her brainstorm possible projects. Then, looking Rose straight in the eye, she told her, “I know you can play artist. But I dare you instead to do the thing that scares you the most.”
“Play” artist? Just Rose’s lineage alone is daunting. Great-granddaughter of famed Santa Clara Pueblo potter Rose Naranjo, with beloved sculptor Roxanne Swentzell as her mom and a handful of othe aunts and cousins also descended from the matriarchal line of artists, this brilliantly gifted 27-year-old shines with originality in any of the vastly diverse mediums she explores—ceramic sculpture, printmaking, drawing, writing, music, dance. There are few (if any) missteps in the short but comet-like career of Rose Simpson. So being dared to do what scares her most is just the kind of opportunity Rose embraces, with equal amounts of terror and glee. Describing watching the recent fire coming down the mountain in her pueblo, she says, “I thought, ‘Wow, I want the world to change, but I’m not ready yet!’ So then I said to myself, ‘Rose, dive into that fear!’” Here’s the challenge she came up with for herself at RISD. In a small, deliberately unadorned space with no façade—wires showing and walls unpainted—“I sat for a scheduled amount of time every day being one hundred percent honest.” With a sign on the wall outside describing her project (“Forthright conduct in an enclosed space”), Rose sat on the floor facing the round doorway she’d constructed. And waited. For whoever—and, more to the point, it turned out, whatever—would appear. “I made sure to walk there every day, because walking balances the left and right sides of the brain. And I touched the water in the river along the way for grounding. I wanted to be completely present when I got there. I’d start noticing exactly what’s happening right now, what I was feeling. I had to be really patient with myself, because I was really scared.” Despite consciously keeping a check on her judgments, she was afraid that her honesty could backfire. “The truth can hurt. I wanted to really observe what’s happening—inside me and also between me and whoever came in—and be able to state it without a charge.” Making a circle of painted clay around the circumference of the wall for protection, she prayed. And noticed whatever came up to notice. “I trusted the sense of space to help me see myself. On opening night, I had a floating feeling. I experienced this empowering empathy, along with a lot of tears—I was just constantly feeling this amazing love for the people in there with me. And then, of course, if I was going to be completely honest, sometimes I’d just have to say things like, ‘Well, my back kinda hurts.’” Every day, things occurred that challenged her intent of forthrightness. “Like, once this student came in bringing with her all this negative energy, telling me, ‘I’m feeling scared.’” Rose argued with herself about whether she should be compassionate, try to help fix her. But that felt false. “So I just said, ‘I’m not here to take care of you.’ It was the best thing that ever happened!” Being present during this time of self-imposed and absolute honesty while truly feeling all her feelings, no matter what, “I gave and received absolution. Total forgiveness. Freedom from all the weight” of the judgments and meanings we foist upon ourselves and the world around us. This quest for honesty, for authenticity, has been Rose’s main artistic pursuit ever since childhood, when, as a home-schooled elementary student along with her brother, she was encouraged to both explore everything and ask lots of questions. Her mom, she says, has always been her partner on a healing path. As she got older, Rose went on to the Santa Fe Indian School for high school and then to UNM for three and a half years before getting her B.F. A. from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She received her M.F.A. at RISD. Along the way, she says, “I’ve been into hip-hop, a skateboarder, a punk rocker,” and involved with all kinds of art mediums, including graffiti art and music. (In her former band, The Wake Singers, she sang lead.) Over and over, she says, through each new permutation of herself that arises, “I keep having to ask, ‘Is this honestly me?’” And, when it’s not, she doesn’t cling to outgrown personas. A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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On Native Ground On her Native and Anglo heritage, Rose says, “I deal with a lot of two-spirit issues.” She describes a project she did a few years back at local casino Buffalo Thunder. “It’s all supposed to look like a mud building, but it’s not. I wanted us to sit back a minute and feel how our ancestors feel, looking on, asking, ‘This is really what our future has become?’” So, drawing with wet clay, she painted various ancestor spirit figures—mischievous, mysterious, a little scary, a little playful—peeking around the rambling building’s rounded corners. “It was all supposed to wash away, like our life and death cycles, but they’re still there!” she laughs. More and more as she grows and changes with her art, Rose is concerned primarily with how to connect with as many people as possible. She came away from her brush with the New York art scene feeling very unimpressed. The pursuit of art as a ticket to fame and fortune is not, for her, true art. Everything she makes—music, ceramics, fabric art, drawings, dance performances—is driven first and foremost by her quest for what makes her grow. “Art, if it’s inspiring, can build inside us a higher noticing. When I see someone else’s artwork that really affects me, I stop, let it go through my soul, soaking all the way through, and I see the world differently afterward. Art is a tool to build our sensitivity to the world. In the indigenous perspective, art is truly a part of everyday life. Your bowl, your chair, the way you walk. It’s not what you do but how you do it. It will inform you, and when you’re fully aware, it’s hard to be selfdestructive.” With rigorously honest examination of all her feelings, Rose also creates drawings and ceramic self-portraits that are often naked in their raw emotional power, not strictly flattering or prettified, but genuine in their human authenticity. A sampling of titles illustrates this drive she has to cut to the chase: How She Felt About How She Felt; Fuel: What It Means To Be A Girl; When It’s All Right Here. A solo show of the work she did during her master’s program at RISD opens at Chiaroscuro Gallery August 13. Rose says she’s grateful to gallery director John Addison for recognizing her work while simultaneously respecting her dread of ever being put into a box. Laughing, she says, “I tell myself, ‘Slow down, Rose. Take my own challenge. Notice. What am I feeling now? What’s behind that? And what’s behind that?’” The world, she acknowledges, is changing—and fast. Tsunamis, fires, floods: “It’s already started. It’s already begun. We’re in this together.” Self-love, Rose believes, will save the world. “And if I can help you love yourself as much as you can, through my art, we can both get through this apocalypse.” Let art enhance our sensitivity to the world around us, she encourages. And notice when we’re judging—whether it be each other, ourselves, art. “The big trick is not ‘nouning’ somebody. Especially yourself. God is a verb. So ‘verbing’ everything in the world around us until we turn it back into the heaven this world is supposed to be is what I want to do with my art. I don’t feel like I have a choice,” she adds. “Because I love it so much, and I want so bad for things to change.” To learn more about Rose Simpson you can go to her website, www.rosebsimpson.com. Chiaroscuro Gallery is located at 702½ Canyon Road in Santa Fe. 505.992.0711. www. chiaroscurosantafe.com. 36
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A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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Five Courses The magic of Max’s
s t o r y b y E R I N WA D E A N D G R E G O ’ B Y R N E photos by GAELEN CASEY
M
aria “Max” Renteria celebrates the fourth birthday of her cozy, off-the-street, backdoor restaurant this month, and just last month Max’s chef/partner Mark Connell celebrated his first anniversary. As predicted in these pages a year ago, Connell has quietly built a reputation as one of Santa Fe’s top chefs.
Despite the glowing reviews and the impressive accomplishment that young Connell has garnered working at some of the country’s top restaurants (including Thomas Keller’s French Laundry, in Northern California, and Grant Archatz’s Alinea, in Chicago), my favorite dining partner, Erin Wade, was a little less than over the moon at our localflavor assignment to report on Max’s five-course tasting menu. Would Connell prove to be another pyrotechnic chef employing gels, foams and other molecular deconstructions that render the tasting menu culinary smoke and mirrors rather than substance and grit? Would he deconstruct a strawberry only to reconfigure it so that it tastes like what it was in the first place? We need not have worried. Warmly greeted by Max’s hostess and then welcomed by Max herself, we were pleasantly surprised from the outset. The first thing we noticed is that the tasting menu dishes are not detailed in the body of the regular nightly menu but instead are listed discreetly at the bottom: “Chef ’s Five Course Tasting Menu, $85.” Happily, this is an open invitation for the adventurous and trusting diner to let the chef just cook. There is something refreshingly unpretentious about the warm, laid-back atmosphere within which Connell concocts his gustatory delights. Somewhere in the middle bite of the second course (a stone fruit salad), Erin and I started to be transported. Each dish built upon the previous until the menu as a whole rose to an absolute crescendo. “If I could, I would do a different tasting menu for each guest every night,” states Connell. He talks about his menu with a combination of practical consideration and boyish joy. Connell’s cooking combines the best of contemporary culinary trends with honest and downright delicious compositions. He is passionate about his favorite cooking techniques and inspirations. “My philosophy is to treat all ingredients as equal to each other. The turnip is as good as the truffle. [Renowned Spanish chef ] Ferran Adrià looks at it the same way, and it makes a lot of sense to me.” Connell’s tasting menu allows him to play with the toys in the kitchen, to understand his guests and to deliver a satisfying meal that respects ingredients while honoring both time-honored and contemporary technique. The brilliant menu speaks for itself, but here is our play-by-play experience of the tasting, with notes from our chat with the talented young chef. Bravo!
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First Course
Kumamoto Oysters on the Half Shell with Prosecco Granité and Lime O’Byrne: Kumamotos are my favorite oyster. I prefer the sweetness of Northwest oysters to the brininess of Atlantic oysters, and I love the Kumamoto’s small size. By squeezing the lime on the granité spooned atop the oyster, an extra dimension of flavor almost exploded on the palate. Connell: As an amuse, it’s obvious to start with prosecco and oysters. I combine both by making a granité with prosecco. And then, by adding a touch of salt in the granité, the lime juice makes it pop. I don’t want to drown the pure flavor of an oyster in the heaviness of cocktail sauce.
Second Course Stone Fruit Salad with Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Fennel, Arugula, Basil and 18-year-old Balsamic Wade: I like the creamy tang of the buttermilk, paired with sweet thin-sliced peaches and nectarines. The subtle aromatics from a touch of basil and fennel arugula add complexity without overwhelming the delicateness of the stone fruit. And no foam! I like that the complexity comes from the simple fruit flavors themselves. I noticed the arugula had the telltale signs of being local—a few flea beetle pinholes.
Fourth Course
O’Byrne: I found very pleasing high notes with a wonderful undertone of balsamic. The light squares of panna cotta melted in the mouth, while the fennel added a crunchy counterpoint and the basil popped atop the sweetness of the fruit flavors.
Line-Caught Striped Bass, Cherry Tomatoes, Black Garlic and Crispy Hake Brandade with Sea Bean Provençal and Sweet Pea Purée
Connell: While working at the French Laundry, I spent three weeks working on the farm. We wouldn’t always go back to the restaurant for family meal; oftentimes we would stay on the farm and eat. One afternoon I picked all the peaches and apricots, arugula, basil and fennel flowers and put them together for our family meal salad. Here at Max’s, I added buttermilk panna cotta, which adds a texture element. The aromatics lift the salad.
O’Byrne: Again, a play between two fishes and two textures that were beautifully combined with the sweet pea purée. The tomato and sea bean Provençal playing the role of the acid and salt. Wonderful.
O’Byrne: Granité, usually a dessert, was used with the oysters—now, panna cotta with a savory salad!
Wade: The color of the pea purée, painted in a broad brilliant swathe on the white plate, is stunning, a beautiful backdrop to the elegant fish and earthy tomato Provençal.
Connell: I like using savory ingredients in desserts, as well as using pastry techniques in savory cooking. I think a chef should be able to do both. I remember as a kid you start by cooking sweet things like cakes, and then when you grow up you start cooking savory things. Along the way, we sometimes forget where we started with, but I like to combine both. It’s fun.
Connell: Fiddlehead ferns went out of season, but then sea beans came along, and with their nice crunch and saltiness, dressed-up they made a perfect complement. We make the salt cod in-house. By experimenting, we found hake is very similar to cod, and we treat it the same way to make our own salt cod. We are going to put hake on the menu, then we have trim, and we can make our brandade.
Third Course Foie Gras Torchon with Snap Pea Salad, House-made Brioche and Rhubarb Syrup Wade: This is the perfect amount of foie gras, which doesn’t happen too often. Rich, light, buttery texture—I could eat this every day. The rhubarb syrup provides a beautiful balance and sweet counterpoint to the savory foie but with a nice acidic zip that keeps it from being cloying. O’Byrne: I thought that the satiny smooth foie was perfectly complemented by the crunchy brioche, and the rhubarb syrup played a welcome role by being both sweet and acidic. Connell: Obviously foie with the acid of the rhubarb is classic. The technique on the foie is somewhat untraditional. We soak the foie in milk overnight, season it the next morning with vanilla bean and port wine, and then we sous vide at 64 degrees for four minutes. Then we press it through a cammy, pipe into cylinders and refrigerate. I prefer to be creative with technique rather than be showy with combining ingredients that don’t usually go together.
O’Byrne: Mark, what is black garlic? Connell: I noticed it became popular a few years ago. We like it a lot here. It’s fermented whole cloves of garlic. Fermenting turns the garlic black, sticky and sweet. We reduce the tomato juice after taking seeds out and then add the sweet earthy flavor of black garlic. Super simple.
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Five Courses Fifth Course Sous Vide Wagyu Strip Loin and Lobster with Morel Mushrooms, Peas and Lobster Sauce O’Byrne: I generally love the fat of ribeye and find tenderloin too tender and lacking in flavor, but the two small, perfectly cooked pieces of wagyu strip loin had powerful flavor and texture. The Oregon morels with the lobster and English peas were stunning, and, combined with a restrained sauce, this dish made a symphony of flavors that delivered a whole greater than the sum of the parts. Five stars! Connell: I did it for the Chamber Musical Gala dinner for the first time. Morels, peas and lobster are a classic combination. For the tarragon potato cake, I like to use herbs in the potato, as it picks up the flavor. For the sauce, we take lobster trim and shells and make a reduction with brandy, white wine and chicken stock, then reduce. As a counterpoint to the preparation of meats cooked sous vide, I often finish by searing and brushing with brown butter.
Pre-Dessert Course Strawberry Sorbet with Black Pepper and Thai Basil Flower O’Byrne: Again, we see Connell’s deft marrying of sweet and savory. Wade: The strawberry sorbet “predessert” was like a perfect three note chord—flirty, crowd-pleasing strawberry sharpened with the bold zing of black pepper, harmonized by the mellower spice of a fragrant Thai basil flower.
Dessert
Dark Chocolate Globe with Cappuccino Semifreddo, Cream of Hazelnut Soup and Compressed Joconde O’Byrne: The warm hazelnut soup poured tableside over the cold chocolate ball creates a molten pool of sweet delights that melt into the other components of the dish. The pacing and portions of each dish made for a not too heavy meal. As we finished each dish, we were left wanting just one more bite, which was the sign of justright portions.
Final
White Chocolate Passion Fruit Blast O’Byrne: Just when you think your senses cannot possibly take anymore, Mark offers a surprising explosion of pure passion fruit essence within a delicate cocoa butter white chocolate shell. Connell: Everyone gets one at the end of their meal. We don’t have people leaving disappointed. It is exciting to have Mark cooking in Santa Fe. His knowledge of classic cooking and his universal respect for all ingredients, combined with his passion and ability with modern technique, makes for thrilling and satisfying dining. Erin and I can’t wait to go back.
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Max’s is located at 403½ South Guadalupe, in Santa Fe. 505.984.9104. www.maxssantafe.com.
Mark Connell is assisted in the kitchen by Chef Brian Rood and Chef David Mora.
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AUGUST 2011
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At the
Table
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story by CHEF JOHNNY VEE photos by GABRIELLA MARKS
Darci Rochau, from Tamaya Resort and Spa in Bernalillo, and Andrea t was a twentieth-century writer named Ernestine Clover, from Inn and Spa at Loretto, are both young, vivacious and Ulmer who coined the phrase, “Life is uncertain. already seemingly at the top of their (sweet) games. I learned that they Eat dessert first.” It seems to ring even truer in share very similar ideas about the art of creating tempting desserts, despite coming from dissimilar backgrounds. The gals have been competitors in these uncertain times of drought, fires, debt ceilings, two rounds of competition at The New Mexico recession, earthquakes and Michele Museum of Natural History Foundation’s annual Fantasy (Andrea won in her category last Bachmann. (Get the sweet stuff now, “I worked for a while at The Chocolate year, Darci in her category this year), and Darci has ’cause the shit is about the hit the fan!) I appeared on and won the Food Network’s Chocolate Candy Lady in Old Town,” have an old-fashioned palate, however; Challenge, taking home first prize for her amazing Andrea says, chuckling. chocolate train straight out of the Wild West. once I’ve had something sweet, I’m “You know about her erotic Clearly, these are two culinary professionals worth finished for the meal and often forgo their salt … or sugar. saccharin sorbet intermezzo courses cake shapes, right, and her Once we are all seated on the comfy terrace that sits in the shadows of the spires of the Loretto in a multi-coursed dinner for fear my novelty section? Well, you Chapel, we are happy to learn that Executive Sous taste buds will yell, “Done!” and I’ll Chef Brett Sparman has taken control and is can imagine!” miss out on the meat course. cooking for us without us having to bother with Mu from Mu Du Noodles introduced me to the concept that in Asian cooking (unlike American) it is customary for dishes to flip-flop back and forth between sweet and savory. For example, on a traditional dim sum menu, sweet custard pastries may be served mid-meal, after steamed pork buns but before spicy spare ribs. Perhaps it is the yin and the yang of that yummy cuisine, but either way, thoughts of dessert light up the faces of both young and old, across every nation and political persuasion. So it was with great delight that I got to sit down with two local pastry chefs on the luminous patio at Luminaria, at Santa Fe’s Inn and Spa at Loretto, on a hot summer evening and delve in to their collective culinary psyche to see what makes them tick.
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menus; Chef Matt Ostrander has the night off. Sparman’s delicious five-course meal prepares us for a decadent sampling of Andrea’s goodies that will follow. Inn and Spa at Loretto Marketing Director Dana Ortega has been kind enough to put Darci and her husband up for the night in the hotel, so we can enjoy wine to cool us off. Hubby hangs out in the lobby bar while we do the interview. I start by asking each of the women to give me a brief career history so we can focus on their thoughts on techniques and ideology. Andrea begins, “I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and my mom wasn’t a very good cook, so I spent summers with my great-aunt Vernita in Iowa making biscuits and such. Everything we baked with came off the
farm. All through high school, every time I had a project to do, I would give it a food-related spin. I remember making a panorama of a Roman arena, completely out of graham crackers. I even had an Easy Bake Oven. I knew baking was what I wanted to do from a young age. I got a culinary degree from the Le Cordon Bleu program in St. Paul and did my internship in a resort on a private island in Florida. The first day I arrived the food and beverage director said, ‘You do know about the scorpion infestation on the island.’ Well, I did then! Everywhere you walked you were squashing them under your feet, it was a nightmare.” (Just then our appetizer arrives: beautifully plated Chicken-Fried Soft Shell Crabs with Romesco Sauce.) Andrea explains that she went on to work in a variety of resorts, including one where she had to make 2000 cheesecakes in a day. (“Ugh,” she exclaims.) After having a son and becoming a single mom, she realized it would be important to be near family and relocated to Albuquerque, where her mother had recently moved. She did stints at Red Sage at Buffalo Thunder and the Hotel St. Francis. She now has a second youngster to take care of and has been at the Loretto for just over two years. Darci, too, has a young son. Born and raised in Albuquerque, she originally intended to be a fashion designer but instead got bitten by the pastry-making bug and headed to The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, to attain a pastry and baking degree. “I liked the connection between designing desserts and fashion design. My first husband was a professional hockey player and played for the New Mexico Scorpions, and after I interned at The Coyote Café we headed to Las Vegas.
I wanted to work in the best restaurant, which at the time was Picasso. There initially wasn’t a position for me, but after two weeks of staging they made room for me, and I became the pastry assistant. I was the first female to hold a key position in either the front or the back of the house.” Darci had a stint owning her own bakery, which sadly failed. Then a divorce propelled her to head back to Albuquerque. “I moved back with my dog, Nutella,” she says. She did desserts for various local restaurants in which she had worked prior to her Las Vegas adventure, including Prairie Star and the Season’s/Savoy/Zinc group. Eventually she landed the Tamaya gig, which has really put her on the map—and TV, to boot. I want to get to the nitty-gritty of how a pastry chef works. “What’s the wildest dessert you have ever made?” I ask. “I worked for a while at The Candy Lady in Old Town,” Andrea says, chuckling. “You know about her erotic cake shapes, right, and her novelty section? Well, you can imagine!” Darci reminisces, “I did desserts using an herb called hoja santa [an aromatic herb with a velvety heart-shaped leaf, popular in Mexico] once. That was pretty unusual. I put it in a panna cotta with oranges.” “Which element of the hot-sweet-salty-sour profile do you like best?” I inquire. Andrea: “I love it when you can bring them all into play in one dessert.” “I agree,” says Darci, “but of the four, salty is my favorite.” (Incidentally, given a choice between chocolate and vanilla, Andrea prefers vanilla, while Darci goes for chocolate.)
“I play with neo-classic desserts and fiddle with them. I take comfort foods and give them a spin, like my root beer float tart, with root beer ice cream, which was on my menu last summer.”
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desserts by Darci Rochau A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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At the Table “What’s your favorite flavor combination for desserts? Andrea: “I think strawberries pair wonderfully with Fresno chiles, because the chiles have some definite floral notes.” Darci: “I like using Valrhona chocolate with Hatch red chile—love it!” “Where do you each go to find inspiration for your creations?” Andrea: “I like to take everyday normal things and reinvent them, change it up. Take hot elements in a dessert and make them cold, and vice versa. My Riesling frozen sabayon is served with warm pear nectar, for example.” Darci: “I play with neo-classic desserts and fiddle with them. I take comfort foods and give them a spin, like my root beer float tart, with root beer ice cream, which was on my menu last summer.” “What’s the toughest dessert to make technique-wise?” Andrea: “Soufflés, definitely.” Darci: “Macaroons, hands down.” “Now tell me some recipe flop stories.” Andrea: “When I first moved here and was trying out to work at the Hotel St Francis, I attempted to make brownies without making high-altitude adjustments. They exploded in the oven! Oddly, they hired me anyway.” Darci: “I screwed up a 50-quart batch of crème brûlée once.” “Favorite ingredients to bake with?” Andrea: “Alcohol, for sure.” (To which I add, “and sometimes it even goes into the dessert …”) Darci: “I love orange zest.” Both chefs are fans of peanut butter desserts and agree that crunch is their favorite texture to include in a dessert. Darci notes, “There is this amazing product called Butter Flake Feuilletine, from France. It stays crunchy in a dessert and never goes soft.” Andrea adds, “I love it too.” When I pressed them to share some “war stories” of working in what is still a male-dominated profession, Darci recalls working with a French chef who screamed and yelled and threw things. Andrea admits to having had greater challenges with women bosses. “For some reason, women feel the need to prove themselves in the cooking profession.” Darci finishes with, “I always think that the proof in is in the pudding.” And in this case, it really is! We have been lingering over a delicious dinner. Now it’s time to sample Andrea’s goods. Darci’s husband, Greg, joins us to help with the sweet feast. I’m a little embarrassed to admit we went through six desserts. (But hey, we’re all professionals, and this is a part of the job.) The feast included Riesling Frozen Sabayon, Coffee-Chocolate Doughnuts, Strawberry Fresno Consommé with Champagne Sorbet, Red Chile Crème Caramel, Marble Chocolate Stout
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Darci Rochau, from Tamaya, and Andrea Clover, from Inn and Spa at Loretto
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Cheesecake Brûlée, and Seasonal Fresh Berries with Marsala Mascarpone Chantilly Cream. As the multiple plates arrive, a wrong turn by a server tips over a glass of espresso chocolate sauce that side swipes the cheesecake as he is navigating it over my head to place it on the table. A two-ounce serving of the gooey stuff dribbles down my shirt and into the back of my trousers. The poor guy is mortified, but I exclaim, “Desserts this good just beg to be worn!” My favorite dessert is the berries, my enjoyment of which is all the more heightened when Andrea excitedly describes each element of the dish to Darci, who oohs and ahhs and exclaims, “Love that!” Two foodies sharing trade secrets. I ask the women what their favorite all-time dessert has been thus far in their careers. Andrea: “A simple angel food cake with macerated berries and homemade vanilla ice cream. It was in my hometown.” Darci: “I remember having fig ice cream at Geronimo once years ago, and it was amazing, I’m an ice cream gal.” Since I can feel the spilled sauce now slowly coagulating on my body, I figure it’s time to finish so I ask the chefs where they see themselves heading in the future. Andrea: “I want to go to Spain and study their cuisine. They are so forward-thinking in their cooking with molecular gastronomy and flavor combinations.” Darci: “I want to compete with the Olympic Pastry Team. But I want to have a second baby first!” Feeling a sugar crash coming on, I thank the chefs for our evening and back out of the restaurant, sauced buttocks first. I reflect on the enthusiasm these young women exuded as we chatted. Their passion for their careers makes a good case for Ms. Ulmer’s quote. Here’s another sweet and relevant one, from Erma Bombeck: “Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.” JV Andrea Clover’s desserts can be enjoyed at Luminaria at The Inn and Spa at Loretto, 211 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe. 505.988.5531. www.innatloretto. com. Darci Rochau’s desserts can be enjoyed at The Corn Maiden at Tamaya Resort and Spa, 1300 Tuyuna Trail, Santa Ana Pueblo. 505.867.1234. www.tamaya.hyatt.com.
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On Native Ground
story by GAIL SNYDER photos by GAELEN CASEY
S
o-called “Indian humor” isn’t easy to describe. It’s offbeat, often veering suddenly to make a ninety-degree turn, and it gives the reader that great gift of getting to poke fun at themselves and their own foibles. Cartoonist Ricardo Caté, creator of the comic Without Reservations, describes Indian humor as the result of “us living in a dominant culture, and the funny part is that we so often fall short of fitting in. Sometimes we don’t even get it, and that’s humorous.”
This distinction is not always clear to Anglos, who sometimes misconstrue the comic as making fun of Natives and Native culture. And that’s hilarious to Indians, too--because, that, they get. Ricardo uses a story from his own life to illustrate Indian humor. “One day, I was supposed to take my grandmother—that’s Lucy M. Garcia—to town for 25 new picture frames. She’d just had her walls replastered. So I dropped her off at WalMart and drove back home. After supper, my mom said, ‘Go help her with the frames,’ so I went back over to her house. My grandma said, ‘They’re already up. It’s all done, as you can see. Sit down and eat.’ So I did. I was facing the wall, and I said to her, ‘Grandma, the wall looks very nice. But who are all those white people?’” He started drawing comics with his friend David in seventh grade. “It was our first year of junior high. Suddenly we had six or seven teachers now instead of just one, and each one had their own personal classroommanagement style. We thought it was funny to draw about it, these comics about our experiences in those classes, starring him and me and our teachers.” He stops to quickly sketch the characters of himself and David from those days: Ricardo, serious, deadpan, wearing glasses and a button down shirt; David with a sort of bowl cut, beady eyes and buck teeth. “We were misfits, academically advanced, and a lot of time, we’d finish ahead of the class. We drew the girls’ gym teacher, who we thought seemed more like a guy; the fun teacher; the dictator; the pristine one; the military-style guy from Texas—you didn’t even want to cough in his class!—the cooks in the cafeteria, awful, mean. And the janitors, especially—one of my best
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friend’s grandpa. He’d give us words to spell, and if we got them wrong, he’d send us to the back of the line.” Ricardo remembers his childhood on Santo Domingo Pueblo fondly. His friend David was half–Santo Domingo, half-Sioux from South Dakota and so didn’t speak the language very well; and neither Aloise nor Jamie were full-blooded Santo Domingo. Everybody else on the pueblo was fullblooded, so their little band stood out. “We didn’t have a lot of resources, but we’d make our own fun. Like daring each other to do crazy things. Kiss a certain girl—I had to do that—say the Pledge of Allegiance in the Texas teacher’s class. David had to ask Althea for her hand in marriage. Other kids would be making turquoise jewelry with their parents. We were weird, but we had each other. And we traded comic books a lot.” Ricardo’s dad broke his back and ended up having to spend a long time in the hospital. “He was in searing pain. My family became pretty bad off financially. Christmas was not very good. My mom was always crying, and so I started to draw these cartoons about our family. They would lift her spirits. That was the first time I realized that humor has such huge healing powers.” He read comic books voraciously “and I had a crush on Blondie.” But it wasn’t till he discovered Mad Magazine that humor really changed his own life. “That’s when I discovered that other people had that same sick humor as me! I used to think something was wrong with me.” In 2001, Ricardo’s dad passed away. “He’d been involved on the pueblo with veterans’ meetings, education and housing committees, meeting with senators in Washington, D.C. for many years, and he’d ask me to make cartoons for certain senators as a gift. ‘This guy likes to hunt,’ he’d tell me. Then I would draw a cartoon about hunting, because he used those cartoons to break the ice with them. He said my ability to make people laugh is a gift.” Still, Ricardo didn’t really do anything more with his gift until 2004. “I went back to school for my job, and I got involved with the student paper. Everybody else knew each other, and there I was, in my 30s, this new guy sitting in the back of the class. They’d be talking and I’d be back there doodling—cartoons, of course, about college life, mostly. When it came time for the first edition of the year to come out, they suddenly noticed they were short one whole page. Everybody was in a panic, and then I slowly raised my hand. ‘I might have some stuff to fill your paper,’ I told them.” He didn’t start drawing Native cartoons until a few years later, for The Southern Ute Drum. “I liked doing those more, because I had more to contribute, more to say, and the ideas came easy.” But the way he became the first and only Native cartoonist whose comics appear in the mainstream papers was less straightforward. “I walked into the New Mexican office one day, applying for a journalism job,” he says. “It was already filled, but I had my drawing pad with me, and I asked the the editor, Bernadette Garcia, if I could show her my comics. She said, ‘You can’t just walk in here. We buy all our comics through the syndicates,’ and she explained all about what that was. When she finished, I said, ‘Would you at least look?’ At first she got impatient, like, wasn’t I even listening? But once she started leafing through them, she was laughing. She called the sports writer over, and pretty soon eight or 12 people were all standing there laughing at my comics. She said, ‘We’ve got to have this!’”
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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One recent Without Reservations that Ricardo likes (his own worst critic, he pans more than he actually approves, once they appear in print) shows two panels of the same Native woman in her old pick-up truck, the back loaded with black garbage bags. The only difference is in the top panel she’s frowning, and in the bottom she’s smiling. The caption underneath reads “Trash day, laundry day.” When Ricardo was diagnosed with diabetes not long ago, he included that in the comic, as well. “I was having all these morbid thoughts when I first found out, thinking, ‘This diabetes monster might kill me!’ Then I thought, ‘Maybe I can draw a whole week’s worth of comics about this, a way of making fun of it, get it out there on the table, like ‘Hi, I have diabetes, this is me, nice to meet you.’” Sometimes the humor is more pointed, biting even. “We Natives are the caretakers and we’re watching Mother Earth being destroyed. I don’t want people to dismiss the fact that there was a price for this land. It was paid for with blood. The population of Native Americans in the U.S. is now 0.9 percent—not even 1 percent! This is my voice; this is my way of communicating.” The characters in the strip are mostly Native, except for one he calls The General. “In 2007, I did a play with my class (Caté teaches in the Bernallio school district) about Columbus being put on trial by the Taino, the first indigenous people he encountered. He and Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand were all being tried for the murder of millions of indigenous people. I’d read more about Columbus—his wife had passed away, for instance. ‘Look,’ he says in the play, ‘I’m an explorer, this is what I do. If not me, someone else would come along. We’re sorry about the diseases, but I also took some of yours back to Europe, and I have a twelve-year-old boy to raise at home.’ At the end of the play, the foreman of the jury comes out and says, ‘Ladies and gentlemen of the court, the jury finds the defendants—’ We left it up to the audience. “I actually have a respect for Columbus and Custer. Custer was a formidable foe. He played his role in history; and he represents the dominant culture. I don’t hate them, but I am aware of what they were capable of and what they and oher Europeans did that affected the Natives of this country. That’s why I just call him The General.” Ricardo’s youngest child, Nicolette, 13, just started last year at the Santa Fe Indian School. Because he’s done a lot of speaking to classes there, whenever students see him, he’s greeted with cries of, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s Ricardo!’ and Nicolette is proud of him for that. His mother, who sells jewelry under the Palace of the Governors’ portal, comes home telling him which of his comics’ panels were popular with the other vendors. “People need hope,” he says. “We can’t turn into something we’re not. But in Without Reservations, everything’s on the table.” Not pushed under the rug. Plus—we’re all laughing!
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The Face and Voice of Wine & Chile
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• Each year our readers anticipate the arrival of our biggest magazine of the year – the Wine and Chile Issue. After 15 years it’s still as exciting as ever for us, too • On news stands September 1st to promote early reservations for your wine dinners • Copies sent to all out-of-state ticket holders, featured wineries, and national food editors • Additional copies at hotel registration desks, wine and food seminars, dinners, and, of course, The Big Event • Regular distribution in over 440 locations throughout Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Taos • 35,000 copies – 75,000 loyal readers state-wide
For early reservation specials please contact Michelle Moreland at 505.699.7369 or Mary Brophy at 505.231.3181
still hungry?
story by CAITLIN RICHARDS
Andalusia White Bean and Tomato Gazpacho Graham’s Grille
H
Chef Lesley Fay grew up on a farm in Southern California and never tasted a store-bought tomato until she moved out of her parents’ home when she was 18. “I was shocked. I love tomatoes but I grew up on homegrown, so it is hard to get into tomatoes without flavor.” Chef Fay loves all heirloom tomatoes. “Brandywines have a great flavor and work well with this recipe. Some of the Zebras and Yellow heirlooms do not have as much flavor, but boy are they gorgeous. The thing about heirlooms is that they are not grown to look perfect—they are grown to have flavor.” Coming from California, Chef Fay bemoans the short growing season in New Mexico. “I think that is why we are all so excited when tomato season is here.”
Mixed Green Salad with Tomatoes and Ripe Stone Fruit with a Citrus–Black Pepper Vinaigrette
from Chef Lesley Fay
Serves 6 to 8 6 fresh medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced 4 cups fresh tomatoes put through a sieve, strainer or china cap plus 1 cup tomato juice, blended or juiced 2 1/2 cups cannellini or navy beans, rinsed and drained 1 cucumber, peeled and diced 3 jalapeños, seeded and minced 4 green onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 stalks celery, diced 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup orange juice 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley 1 Tablespoon minced fresh basil 1/2 Tablespoon minced fresh oregano 1/2 Tablespoon minced fresh mint Salt sugar and fresh ground pepper to taste To peel tomatoes you will need hot boiling water in a pan deep enough to submerge all tomatoes. Poke a small hole in each tomato skin and put tomatoes in boiling water. Turn off heat and let sit for 4 minutes. Remove. Let rest for 5 minutes and then peel. Open tomatoes and with a small spoon remove the seeds gently. (A few seeds won’t harm unless you’re on the cooking show Chopped.) Rinse and drain the beans. Have all ingredients in front of you, and get a big bowl or pan that can go into the freezer when you are done chopping. Follow directions to peel and chop the remaining ingredients. Combine them all and chill. Before serving, taste again to check for the necessity of any addition of salt or pepper. Serve very chilled with your favorite artisan crackers. Graham’s Grille is located at 106 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, in Taos. 575.751.1350, www.grahamstaos.com.
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“
omegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes. What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes? Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes…” Recorded by John Denver
from Chef Zippy White
Doc Martin’s Restaurant Chef Zippy White thinks that real summer tomatoes are a delicious fruit. “There’s nothing better than a BLT with a ripe, delicious tomato.” He is a fan of Brandywine tomatoes and also Yellow Taxis, which he got turned on to in Portland because of their great flavor and striking color. During the winter, when garden tomatoes are only a memory, Chef White suggests roasting the available tomatoes; that way, “you can bring out their sweetness.” This recipe is a variation on a salad currently on the menu at Doc Martin’s. Serves 6-8 For the salad: 1 pound mixed greens 2 or 3 pieces of ripe stone fruit of choice (peaches or nectarines) 3 of your favorite tomatoes 1 small red onion mint leaves Slice tomatoes and stone fruit, thinly slice red onion and rough chop mint leaves. In a mixing bowl, place greens and appropriate amount of dressing; toss to coat. Place greens on plate. Put tomatoes and stone fruit in bowl and add a teaspoon of dressing; toss. Alternate tomatoes and fruit on top of salad, garnish with red onion and mint. For the vinaigrette: 1 cup fruity olive oil 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 1/8 cup cracked black pepper salt to taste Whisk together above ingredients and add salt to taste. Doc Martin’s Restaurant is located at 125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, in Taos. 575.758.2233, www.taosinn.com
T
echnically fruits, commonly called a vegetable and loved by either name. Home gardeners love to grow them, and go to great lengths to extend their growing seasons (start them early with water walls around them!) and to find new ways to grow them (upside down?). Whether it comes from a large tomato patch or a single plant in a container, there’s nothing like a fresh, homegrown tomato. The first one of the summer is fought over; the last one of the summer is cried over. And when you’re really lucky, there’s that period in between when there are too many tomatoes. Localflavor decided to beat the Santa Fe heat and head up to Taos to ask four chefs just what to do with all those tomatoes. These recipes will have you hoping for a bumper crop this year.
Zucchini Carpaccio with Tomato-Herb Vinaigrette from Chef René Mettler
Trading Post Café
“The worst mistake that people make is to put tomatoes in the refrigerator,” says Chef René Mettler. “They end up tasting like cucumbers.” And don’t put them on the windowsill either— air, not heat, is what they want. Chef Mettler suggests putting them in a nice bowl on the dining room table, where they act as a centerpiece until you use them. Chef Mettler goes through about 100 pounds of tomatoes a week, and if you walk into the Trading Post you’ll see bowls of tomatoes along the bar in front of his open kitchen. Why are tomatoes so popular? “People love them!” Serves 6 - 12 For the carpaccio: 8 oz ricotta cheese 2 medium-size zucchini 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 medium-size tomatoes, seeded 2 bundles of fresh chives Fresh ground salt and pepper Tomato-herb vinaigrette (see recipe below) 6 chilled 12-inch dinner plates Thinly slice zucchini and place them overlapping in a circular motion along the perimeter of the plate. Lightly season with salt and pepper. In a bowl combine ricotta cheese and one bundle of diced chives. Dice seeded tomatoes and mix together with the other bundle of diced chives and 2 Tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Place the tomato and chive mixture in the center of the plate and layer with a scoop of the ricotta cheese mixture. Garnish the zucchini with the tomatoherb vinaigrette to complete the plate. For the vinaigrette: 1 Tablespoon pitted kalamata olives, finely diced 1/2 medium-sized tomato, seeded and finely diced 1/2 shallot, finely diced 1/2 yellow pepper, finely diced 1/2 red pepper, finely diced 3 sprigs of parsley, chopped 1 pinch of each fresh herbs: oregano, basil and marjoram 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar 5 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Fresh ground salt and pepper to taste In a bowl, mix olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Slowly fold in all remaining ingredients. Serve at room temperature. The Trading Post Cafe is located at 4179 New Mexico Route 68, in Ranchos de Taos. 575.758.5089, www.tradingpostcafe.com.
Tomato Ragout from Chef Mauro Bettini
Stakeout Restaurant
A self-proclaimed fanatic about tomatoes, Chef Mauro Bettini grows his own to use at the Stakeout Restaurant: “Big Boys, cherry tomatoes … oh, about 15 different types!” He has a greenhouse to extend his season, then relies on local Taos tomatoes the rest of the year, noting that “everything is organic.” His favorite heirloom tomatoes are purple and yellow and “all of them! Tomatoes are just so good for you.” He shared with us his recipe for tomato ragout. Put it on penne for a simple pasta dish; put it on a grilled chicken breast or steak, or almond-crusted salmon. “The wonderful thing about tomatoes is that they go with almost everything.” And Chef Bettini encourages you to make the ragout your own by adding green or red chile or black olives. “Creativity makes the chef.” Makes 1 batch; use some, freeze some for later. 12 tomatoes 3 red onions 4 Tablespoons chopped parsley 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic salt and pepper to taste balsamic vinegar to marinate (enough to get all the ingredients nice and moist) Core tomatoes and cut in half. Skin and thickly slice onions. Coarsely chop parsley and garlic. Toss tomatoes and onion with balsamic vinegar; marinate for 20 minutes. Grill vegetables on a hot grill until good grill marks appear (approximately 5 minutes). Put all ingredients in blender and lightly blend until chunky. The Stakeout Restaurant is located at 101 Stakeout Drive, in Ranchos de Taos. 575.758.2042, www.stakeoutrestaurant.com.
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Taste the New Southwest Inspired by Northern New Mexico and infused with local and organically sourced ingredients, Chef Charles Dale’s new menu blends a sense of balance, a sense of place with a sense of comfort to create a new twist on Contemporary American Cuisine.
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LAURA SHEPPHERD Salon de Couture
... an extraordinary collection of designer clothing.
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Ready to Wear or Custom Design
65 W. Marcy Street , Santa Fe , NM 87501 / 505 986.1444 www.laurasheppherd.com
New Sister Restaurant to Ristra Offering Cuisines from the Regions Surrounding the Mediterranean CEL EBRAT ING F IF TEEN YE AR S ACCL AIMED BY NE W YORK T IME S, Z AGAT, T R AVE L + L EISURE BON APPETIT AND JAME S BE ARD F OUNDAT ION
Mediterranean Tapas • Salads • Entrees Dinner from 5:30 pm • Wine Bar • Patio Dining 505.992.2897 • 428 Agua Fria • www.azursantafe.com
LUNCH TUE SDAY – SATURDAY 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM DINNER NIGHTLY FROM 5:30 • BAR MENU • PATIO DINING
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