Local Flavor Dec 2011-Jan 2012

December 2011 ~ January 2012

Albuquerque’s Top Ten Dishes Santa Fe’s Top Ten, too!

Winter nights

Cozy-Up Wine Bars Theater Lights

Gift ideas

Toys for the Kitchen Great Looks for Guys

Santa Fe f Albuquerque f Taos

Best of 2011

Happy Holidays & thanks for a great year!

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317 Kit Carson Rd. Taos, NM • elmontesagrado.com 2

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

magazine.com

Buzz

ON OUR COVER

by Christie Chisholm | 08

It’s the last big scoop for 2011. What’s in, what’s out, what’s hot, what’s not—that’s the buzzzzz.

Winter on Acequia Madre, Santa Fe. Photo by Kitty Leaken

Santa Fe’s Top Ten Dishes of 2011

by Chef Johnny Vee | 12

Chef Johnny Vee takes a delicious look back on 2011 and names his ten favorite dishes.

Your assignment: Try all ten and tell us if you agree!

Wine Bar Chic in the Duke City

by Barry Fields | 20

Lots of places use the term “wine bar,” but these three cozy spots in Albuquerque set the gold standard. Join us for a sip or a flight at the Slate Street Café and Wine Bar, Prairie Star, and Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro. They’re the real deal.

Toys for the Kitchen

by Kelly Koepke | 24

Each year passionate home cooks look to localflavor for the latest in toys for their kitchen. Wait ‘til you see what we rounded up this year!

Curtain Call!

by Gail Snyder | 28

page 36

The vibrant world of avant-garde theater in Albuquerque celebrates the holidays in its very own special way.

page 21

inside: Bitter End Bitters

by Mary Strong Jackson | 32

Once again, New Mexico pushes the culinary envelope in the world of local artisanal foods. A big round of applause to Bill York and his amazing handcrafted bitters.

Albuquerque’s Top Ten Dishes of 2011

by Christie Chisholm | 36

Writer Christie Chisholm takes on the awesome challenge of naming Albuquerque’s top ten dishes of 2011. Have you tried them all?

Dress Him Up

by Tania Casselle | 40

Buying gifts for guys—especially clothes—can be a formidable challenge. We put a little fun (and zest) into it with fabulous clothes and accessories from local shops—and a fabulous guy to match.

How the Pros Do It

by Greg O’Byrne | 44

page 20

Three restaurant pros—Erin Wade of Vinaigrette, Harry Shapiro of Harry’s Roadhouse and Quinn Stephenson of Coyote Café—tell us how they created their stellar wine lists.

The Spirits of Don Quixote

by John Selby

| 49

Tucked away in the hills of White Rock, a remarkable young couple, Ron and Olha Dolin, are distilling handcrafted liquors, grappas, brandies, ports and wines from local grain and fruit.

A Gift from the Pueblo

by Gail Snyder | 54

Each year, famed Santa Clara Pueblo potter Linda Jo Povi Askan creates a limited number of miniature Nativity scenes—a touching reminder of the spiritual ties that bind us all.

In the Enchanted Forest

by Devon Jackson | 56 Photos: Gabriella Marks

Deep in the snowy heart of Taos, there’s an honest-to-goodness Enchanted Forest just waiting for you to strap on your snowshoes or cross-country skis.

Still Hungry?

by Caitlin Richards | 60

page 38

Four great recipes to add to your Christmas cookie collection! Our thanks to Java Joe’s, the Treehouse, TuneUp and Las Cosas Cooking School.

December 2011 - January 2012 ~ Publishers Patty & Peter Karlovitz Editor Patty Karlovitz Publisher’s Assistant Caitlin Richards Art Director Jasmine Quinsier Cover photo: Kitty Leaken Advertising: Michelle Moreland 505.699.7369. Mary Brophy 505.231.3181 Prepress: Scott Edwards Ad Design: Alex Hanna Distribution: Southwest Circulation LocalFlavor 223 North Guadalupe #442, Santa Fe, NM 87501 Tel: 505.988.7560 Fax: 988.9663 E-mail: localflavor @earthlink.net Website: www.localflavormagazine.com 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. Subscriptions $24 per year. 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.

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

magazine.com

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

5

letter

For me, photographer Kitty Leaken captured the very essence of New Mexico in this cover photo. It was taken on a chilly winter afternoon on Acequia Madre, the main street meandering through Santa Fe’s old Eastside. For several years I lived in that neighborhood not

A Feast for the Senses

La Plazuela at La Fonda on the Plaza is a feast for the senses. The room is stunning and the menu sophisticated, showcasing old favorites with New World twists and truly authentic Northern New Mexican cuisine. Our wine list is award-winning, our service is impeccable and, according to the reviewers, you’ll be dining in the “best of Santa Fe style”.

Come make memories with us.

Dinner reservations recommended. Call 505.995.2334.

800.523.5002 Reservations 505.982.5511 Front Desk

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

100 E. San Francisco Street Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

magazine.com

Photo: Jasmine Quinsier

www.lafondasantafe.com

far from where the shot was taken, and drove by this very house hundreds of times. There was nothing very exceptional about it; it just blended into the neighborhood. And perhaps that is why I feel it captures the essence of living here. We are surrounded by quiet, unassuming beauty wherever we turn--then suddenly we see it on the cover of a magazine--and it takes our breath away.

It’s also the way that I feel about the stories that we write. We are surrounded by so many wonderfully creative caring people, and usually we see them as just another one of our neighbors or acquaintances, a part of the neighborhood.

Then suddenly we read about them and only then do we appreciate how extraordinary they really are.

The first group of extraordinary New Mexicans we want you to meet are all chefs. (Not a surprise from localflavor.) Each one of them--ten from Santa Fe and ten from Albuquerque--created a dish so memorable we named it one of our Top Ten Dishes in 2011. The stories, written by Santa Fe’s Chef Johnny Vee and Albuquerque’s Christie Chisholm, are a great read. And a great resource. You have plenty of time in the cold months ahead to go through their choices one delectable dish at a time. What a wonderful way to stimulate the economy and stimulate your senses--in fact, it should be every foodies New Year’s resolution.

On the wine and spirits side we take you to the Don Quixote Distillery situated in the mountains high above Bandolier and close to the Los Alamos labs where Ron Dolin practices his other profession. Ron and his wife, Olha, handcraft liquors, grappas, brandies and ports by hand from local grain and fruit. They are at the forefront of an artisinal movement that is sweeping through our country--the deep desire to return to old ways and local handcrafted goods. You will love reading about them here and I know you will be inspired to visit them at their tasting room and toast another wonderful reason for living here.

Our second spirited artisan is Bill York who handcrafts a line of bitters that carries the name The Bitter End. Bill, a mixologist by trade with a scholarly background in molecular biology and a passion for international cuisine, now distributes his enticing potions to Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and even France. But to us, he’s a local boy following his passion in the Land of Enchantment.

Every year localflavor readers also look to us for the latest in culinary gadgets and gizmos (we like to think of them as toys for the kitchen) and we have not disappointed. Writer Kelly Koepke checked in with ten local kitchen and gift shops from Taos to Albuquerque and asked for their favorites--it’s our way of playing Santa’s helper. Moving to a slightly more sophisticated gift venue, we also have an eye-popping story on men’s clothing entitled, “Dress Him Up.” Three local Santa Fe retailers, Uli’s, Harry’s and Red River Mercantile helped us put together three fantastic looks for the gentleman in your life. We think you’ll love the ideas and we know you’ll love the photos.

As we end another year at localflavor we want to thank our advertisers who are at the very heart of our success, and our loyal readers who inspire us with their enthusiastic support and encouragement. We love what we do and we’re excited to embrace 2012 and all of the wonderful stories that are still out there to tell.

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

7

thebuzz ALBUQUERQUE

by Christie Chisholm

Los Poblanos gets a lot of mention in this column. That’s because the historic inn and organic farm has carved out an irreplaceable niche for itself in the community—through the CSA it hosts, the culinary events it constantly puts on, the farm store it stocks and the lush, cottonwood-soaked atmosphere it provides for its guests. But now we’re not the only ones recognizing the institution for all it does. Los Poblanos was selected as one of Fodor’s Top 100 Hotels Worldwide.

That’s huge. Not only was it the only New Mexico property to make the cut, it’s also one of a mere 29 properties listed in the United States. It’s really no surprise, though, when you consider Los Poblanos’ field-to-fork philosophy, rustic-chic charm and rolling, 25-acre property. So congratulations, Los Poblanos, and thanks for all that you add to our Southwest burg.

4803 Rio Grande NW, 505.344.9297, www.lospoblanos.com.

| Los Poblanos There’s a new ballet in town that demands attention, and now’s the perfect time of year to give it some. Festival Ballet Albuquerque only started in May 2010, but it’s kept itself busy with the Firebird Ballet last fall and Dracula, A Love Story in the spring. Now it’s offering up a new twist to the classic Nutcracker story.

Set in 1800s Territorial New Mexico, The Nutcracker Ballet in the Land of Enchantment retains staples like the Nutcracker himself and the Snow Queen but adds shepherdesses, a storyteller doll and Western Victorian costumes. With a cast of about 100 nearly all-local dancers, New Yorker Julie Cobble takes the lead as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Check it out on Thursday and Friday, December 22 and 23, at 2 and 7 p.m. at the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Roy E. Disney Center for Performing Arts. 1701 Fourth Street SW, 505.296.9465, www. festivalballetabq.org.

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

If you prefer the traditional version of the holiday classic, go see Ballet Repertory Theatre of New Mexico’s take on The Nutcracker at the historic KiMo Theatre from Dec. 10 through 24. Tickets range from $5 to $25. 423 Central NW, 505.768.3544, www.cabq.gov/kimo.

It’s hard to think of a more sophisticated way to welcome the holidays than with a symphony. The season opening of the New Mexico Philharmonic should be no exception. The season will ring in with a bang—or, in this case, a baton—on Saturday, December 10, at 6 p.m. in Popejoy Hall. The nonprofit collection of musicians only formed this spring, so this gala opening concert holds a symbolic weight. The Philharmonic aims to make it count with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #5 and Aaron Copland’s Rodeo and Old American Songs. Robert Tweten serves as conductor, and after working for opera companies throughout the U.S. and Canada, he landed positions as assistant conductor for Chicago’s Lyric Opera and as head of music staff for the Santa Fe Opera (he still maintains those positions at both institutions). Soprano soloist Kirsten Lear comes to the organization from a career singing for opera houses across Canada and in Texas, as well as for the Santa Fe Opera. She got her start after graduating magna cum laude from both Carnegie Mellon University and Syracuse University.

Obviously, this isn’t a performance to be missed. Six other concerts, featuring different works, will play at Popejoy through April of next year. For a full calendar of events, visit www.nmphil.org.

Before we leave the topic of performances that get you in the holiday mood, there’s another event worthy of a mention. On Saturday, Dec. 11, Popejoy Hall hosts Mariachi Christmas, with all the dress swirling, violin playing and feet stomping you could ask for. This year, Mariachi Aztlán, which has traveled throughout Mexico and the Americas, joins forces with Ballet Folklórico Paso del Norte.

The one-time-only show starts at 3 p.m.

505.925.5858, www.popejoypresents.com

| Mariachi Christmas

magazine.com

A new Downtown eatery has started to garner the attention of Albuquerque foodies. Pasión Latin Fusion Restaurant combines ingredients and techniques used in Latin American cuisine with Chef Elvis Bencomo’s modern twist. That creativity is evidenced in dishes like the banana-breaded fish tacos, Azteca bread pudding, yuca fries and goat cheese–style cheesecake. Pasión is also a family affair, co-owned and managed by Bencomo’s wife, Monica, and his brother, Orlando. Plus, the restaurant strives to use locally grown products and produce whenever possible.

Stop by and give this passion-fueled place a try. 722 Lomas NW, 505.503.7880, www. pasionlatinfusion.com.

Here’s a little something to keep an eye out for next month. Congregation Albert Brotherhood and Sisterhood and Hadassah of Greater Albuquerque are hosting New Mexico Statehood Centennial: A Celebration of Writing.

Headlining the event on Sunday, January 8, are Anne Hillerman (Tony Hillerman’s daughter) and photographer Don Strel for their Tony Hillerman’s Landscapes: On the Road With Chee and Leaphorn.

In addition to a presentation by the two, Don Bullis, author of New Mexico: A Biographical Dictionary, will also give a behind-the-scenes account of the people involved in securing New Mexico’s statehood, and Naomi Sandweiss will present a pictographic history of the Albuquerque Jewish community from her book Jewish Albuquerque: 1860-1960.

It all happens from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Congregation Albert (3800 Louisiana NE).

Tickets are $25 in advance (send a check payable to “Hadassah” to Sandy Hansen, c/o Congregation Albert at the address listed above and clearly print the names of attendees on the memo line) or take your chances at the door for $30. The price of admission includes lunch. 505.883.1818, www.congregationalbert.org.

You knew it was coming. The North Fourth Holiday Stop & Shop is upon us.

Located in one of the best areas in town to hunt for gifts, the Stop & Shop lands on this Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4. More than 40 businesses along Fourth Street from Solar to Alameda are participating, with discounts, prizes, refreshments and entertainment. Plus, you can enter drawings for three grand prize gift baskets, each of which is valued at

more than $300. Find out all you need to know at www.losranchosshops.com.

Here’s a little shout out for The Grove Café and Market’s expanded catering services. Now you can also order custom hors d’oeuvres, classic cheese and antipasto platters, sandwich platters, boxed lunches, salads, cupcakes, cookies and scones. Breakfast options are especially exciting, with scores of housemade English muffins, bowls of freshcut fruit, yogurt and granola, and, of course, breakfast burritos. We’re eager to celebrate the growth of one of our favorite Albuquerque restaurants. 600 Central SE, 505.248.9800.

| Cupcakes at The Grove For those of you who may have thought eating vegan was a fad, Annapurna is around to prove you wrong. This December the “place for healing cuisine” is celebrating its 10th year of serving up delicious, homemade, organic, vegan food.

To celebrate their anniversary, Annapurna will be handing out special envelopes during the month of December. Bring the envelope back in January and open it to reveal your prize. Prizes include Annapurna t-shirts (organic cotton, of course!) and cooking classes. And don’t forget dessert--Annapurna features an abundance of gluten free desserts from their bakery! In Albuquerque, 2201 Silver Ave, NE, 505.262.2424 and 7520 4th St NW, 505.254.2424. In Santa Fe, 1620 St. Michael’s Drive, 505.988.9688. www. chaishoppe.com If you’re out doing some shopping in Old Town on Saturday, December 10, make time to stop and listen to a free holiday strings concert at San Felipe de Neri Church at 7 p.m. Led by Guillermo Figueroa, the quartet features Valerie Turner on violin, Cherokee Randolph on viola and David Schepps on cello. The program will start with Mozart’s String Quartet in B-flat, K. 458 (aka The Hunt), Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Schubert’s Ave Maria. After an intermission, the group will come back with a lineup of holiday favorites. Try to get there early to secure a seat. 2005 N. Plaza NW, www. sanfelipedeneri.org.

Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico is releasing a Christmas CD, called Winter: an evocation. To celebrate the new work, the group is performing a couple concerts this Friday, December 9, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, December 11, at 3 p.m. Featuring Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols

and world-renowned harpist Lynn Gorman DeVelder, the event costs $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $5 for students with ID. It’s at The Cathedral of St. John, 318 Silver SW, 505.821.1956, www. polyphonynm.com.

| Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico A quiet “Holiday Event” (that’s the only name it’s been given) in the East Mountains has the potential to be really cool. It starts with six local authors signing books. Then there are the samples from a variety of local businesses, including the beyond divine Chocolate Cartel and Polish foods from Eurozone. Amid all of that, there’s a wine tasting. And while you’re there, you may as well check out the gifts, ornaments and decorations for sale. But perhaps the best part? The live wolf “ambassador” from Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. So go get a book signed, eat some food, sip some wine, buy some stuff and see a wolf. Sounds like a great afternoon to us. It’s from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Triangle Grocery on Saturday, December 10. 12165 N. Hwy. 14, Cedar Crest, 505.281.3030, www.trianglegrocery. com.

SANTA FE

Photo: Gaelen Casey

by Christie Chisholm

| Josh Baum Josh’s Barbecue closed its doors last month, but brisket lovers shouldn’t despair, because it’s only temporary. In midDecember, Josh’s is opening right back up again, but in new digs on the Southside and with a new name. Look for your favorite pulled pork and smoked turkey at The Ranch House, at 2571 Cristos (right near Kohl’s). Not only will the new place offer the same barbecue as before, it’s going to have a greatly expanded menu, with new appetizers, salads and a special grill menu with steaks and salmon. That’s not the only thing that’s expanding, though,

since the new location will also have two dining rooms, a tap room, a full bar and two covered patios. See? I told you not to worry. For now, you can still find it at www.joshsbbq.com.

These days, it’s nice to celebrate the opening instead of the closing of an independent, locally owned bookstore.

And when that shop also happens to be for children, well, that’s even better. The adorable Bee Hive just opened at 328 Montezuma, right in the space Cupcake Boutique used to occupy. (Cupcake moved next door and is more gorgeous than ever.) Just in time for the holidays, the little Bee Hive bungalow stocks everything from picture books to young adult novels, and there are plenty of puzzles, cards and craft kits in the mix, too. So go welcome your new local bookstore to the neighborhood with some presents for the tiny people in your life. 780.8051, www. beehivekidsbooks.com.

You’re likely already familiar with the gorgeous, high-end clothing and handbags offered by local designer Laura Sheppherd at her Salon de Couture. Now, for the first time, the shop is hosting a sample sale to make room for next year’s Laura Sheppherd, Pronovias and Jovani collections. Starting December 2 and lasting as long as there’s inventory, dresses and gowns will be 50 percent off. Go early, and Sheppherd recommends making an appointment. Also coming out of the Salon de Couture this month is a Masha Archer Wearable Art Jewelry Trunk Show from December 16 to 31. Shown in museums and galleries around the world, Masha’s one-of-a-kind necklaces and earrings make for memorable gifts, either for yourself or for someone special. 65 W. Marcy, 986.1444, www.laurasheppherd.com.

Don’t be fooled—you can shop (and vote) with your dollars at the Farmers’ Market even in the middle of winter. The Farmers’ Market is open in the Railyard through December, every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. In addition to cold-weather crops like greens, root vegetables, apples and greenhouse tomatoes, there will still be staples like grass-fed meats, cheese, baked goods, dried foods, body care items and crafts. During the holiday season, normal market rules are relaxed to open up the space to a larger array of ornaments, crafts and gifts. Also this month there are Railyard Artisans Markets every Sunday through December 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The great thing about these markets is that they provide an opportunity to meet artisans whose works are featured, from guitar makers to photographers. Lastly, there’s a Special Artisans Market Holiday Faire on Saturday, December 17, from 3 to 7:30 p.m. And don’t forget that all these events include live music and food.

Get your grocery and holiday shopping done and feel good about it. 1607 Paseo de Peralta. www.santafefarmersmarket.com.

While on the topic of supporting your community, this year the Santa Fe Alliance has joined a national campaign called Shift Your Shopping, aimed at inspiring people to buy local. The Alliance’s Local Guide is out, and you can pick up a copy at its office at 1404 Taos Street. To peruse a local business directory and find out more, visit www.santafealliance.com and www. shiftyourshopping.org.

croissants, muffins and strudels are making the drive from the flagship Albuquerque location to the little Santa Fe bistro, which also offers salads, sandwiches, quiche and more tarts and cookies than you could reasonably eat in a lifetime, although you may want to try anyway. Stop by for breakfast, lunch or dessert from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. 311 Old Santa Fe Trail, lechantillybakery.com.

Expanded burritos are always good news.

In this case, it’s Knapp’s Wraps, Burritos and More that’s growing into a space in Design Center Santa Fe this month.

Open for breakfast and lunch, Knapp’s not only makes burritos to order, it also serves up pulled pork, Southwest cheese steak, fish tacos, quiche, soup du jour, pastries, desserts and, of course, coffee. 418 Cerrillos, 982.0048.

Here are a few noteworthy tidbits about The Spice Lady, the new store where you should probably go from now on when you have a need for seasoning. It carries more than 30 different kinds of salt (that’s dedication). It also carries more than twodozen varieties of curry. And the trend continues, with loose teas, herbs and offthe-wall spices like fennel pollen. Once you’ve stocked up on all the cinnamon and cumin your heart desires, check out the mortar and pestles, salt and pepper mills, and other spice accoutrements. This place is a foodie’s fantasy. 509 Cordova Rd, 471.3833

| Aspen Santa Fe Ballet What’s the frosty holiday season without The Nutcracker? Here, there’s no better company to watch perform it than the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Whether you want to dazzle your children with the Sugar Plum Fairy or feel like a kid again watching toy soldiers come to life, the cast of 60 dancers, actors and circus artists will probably deliver that cozy wintertime feeling you’ve been looking for. There are only four performances—on Saturday, December 3, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, December 4, at 1 and 5 p.m.—so don’t wait to get tickets.

The Santa Fe School of Cooking just made it into Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine. The local business was featured in the publication’s “Experience Gifts” feature, which showcases ideas to “get off the couch and into the world.” The School of Cooking was nestled under “Experience Gifts for Gourmands,” where it was one of only six U.S. establishments to make the cut. Here’s a big pat on the back for the School of Cooking. If you want to get out “into the world,” you can find the school at 116 W. San Francisco, 983.4511, www. santafeschoolofcooking.com.

| Santa Fe School of Cooking | Botanica While we’re talking about ballet, here’s a little note about a new full-length piece, Botanica, hitting the stage on Tuesday, January 24, at 7:30 p.m. As the spring season starts to peek around the corner, Botanica lives in the realm of flowers and plants, with a score layered in birdsongs and Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Prices range from $20 to $72, and both shows are at The Lensic, Santa Fe’s Performing Arts Center. 211 W. San Francisco, 988.1234, www.lensic.org, www.aspensantafeballet. com.

Le Chantilly Fine Pastries is also growing with the new Le Chantilly Café at Garrett’s Desert Inn. Laura Shirley’s

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

Welcome a new chef to Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi. Executive Chef Juan Bochenski is a native of Argentina who earned his Professional Cookery degree in 1995 in Buenos Aires. He spent the next 12 years working around Australia and in Paris and London. In 2008, he joined Rosewood’s 300-acre Jumby Bay in the Caribbean. Now, at the Anasazi, he’s ready to add a New Mexico touch to his global culinary sophistication. The Anasazi has a long and proud tradition of great chefs-we can’t wait to see what Chef Bochenski brings to the table. 113 Washington, 988.3030, www.innoftheanasazi.com.

The welcomes don’t stop there, though.

Mike Esber was also just appointed as the executive chef of Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort & Spa at Buffalo Thunder, and Steven Lemmon claims the same title for DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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Lino Pertusini, of Osteria d’Assisi, just returned from Italy with a little something extra in his luggage--a new executive chef!

Chef Cristian Pontiggia, like Lino and his family, hales from Lombardi, where he attended culinary school before cooking in such prestigious restaurants and hotels as the Bellagio, Bormio, Livegnio, Aprica and Milano. In celebration of Osteria’s seventeenth anniversary this November, Chef Cristian will be featuring a variety of special dinner menus throughout the next month. Stop in, meet the new chef, and raise a glass to wish Lino another 17 years!

58 S. Federal Place. 505.986.5858, www. osteriadassisi.com

We owe an apology to Hannah Hoel, who was featured on our cover last month. Not only did we scramble the spelling of her name, we also stated that she attended the wrong college. Hoel is a student at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. She also holds a bachelor’s from Goldsmiths College at the University of London and a master’s from St. John’s in Eastern Classics. She is now working on her third degree, in fine art, at SFUAD.

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Photo: Kate Russell

the Pueblo of Pojoaque. While Esber will oversee the Red Sage Restaurant, the Painted Parrot, Hilton banquets and room service, Lemmon will take control of the Turquoise Trail Bar & Grill.

(Lemmon is also the owner and chef of a perennial local favorite, O Eating House.)

Congrats to both fine chefs. 30 Buffalo Thunder Trail, 877.848.6337, www. buffalothunderresort.com.

TAOS

| Chef Cristian Pontiggia Speaking of longevity, the Spanish Colonial Arts Society is presenting its 23rd Annual Winter Spanish Market this year. Kicking off the market on Friday, December 2nd, is the Winter Nite Party, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. For the first time artists will not only be exhibiting, but will be selling their art at this special event which also features music and food. Exhibits will continue at the Santa Fe Convention Center Saturday, December 3rd 8 a.m. to 5p.m., and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other Winter Market events include a Holiday Home Tour on Saturday, featuring four spectacular Santa Fe homes all decked out for the holidays. Sunday morning everyone is invited to the St. Francis Cathedral Basilica for a special Winter Market Mass at 8 a.m. Sunday afternoon revive yourself with a traditional English Christmas Tea at the Hotel St. Francis.

For information, prices, and tickets to all events, call 505.982.2226, ext. 103 or www.spanishcolonial.org.

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El Meze Restaurant is rolling out its new winter menu showcasing regionallyinspired rustic dishes with influences from New Mexico, Spain and the Mediterranean. Chef Fred Müller, one of Taos’ most creative chefs, changes his menu with the seasons and still manages to source outstanding ingredients from the bounty available around the Taos area. He calls his cuisine “la comida de las sierras,” or “food of the mountains.” Local favorites: Truchas Yerba Buena (a grilled whole trout with preserved lemon, mint, cilantro, garlic, Moroccan butter and herb salad) and his Tamale de Cardenas (a buffalo tamale, chile verde, Campo de Montalban and Tucumcari feta). Food of the mountains, indeed. 1017 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, El Prado, 575.751.3337, www.elmeze.com.

If you’re looking for Santa, you can find him at El Monte Sagrado’s Breakfast With Santa, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, December 10th. Face painting, gift bags, cookie decorating, Santa and more! ($25/ adults and children over 10, $15/children 3-10). El Monte Sagrado continues its holiday celebrations with a Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day Buffet at the De La Tierra Restaurant.

Then rock in the New Year in the Rio Grande Ballroom to the sounds of Tijerina while enjoying a delicious meal, a champagne toast at midnight and a dessert table! 317 Kit Carson Road, 575.758.3502, www.elmontesagrado.com.

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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N E T P TO | Eric DiStefano

story by CHEF JOHNNY VEE p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

I

was reading the just-released Wine Spectator’s Top 10 List of Wines for 2011 with great interest. I reflected on how we consumers gobble up top ten lists and, providing they come from a source we trust, tend to follow them.

(I won’t be following Kim Kardashian’s Top Ten Ways to Save a Marriage!) David Letterman has made a career out of them; the music industry relies on them to promote new music.

So it is always fun for me to put together my own list at the end of the year, hoping that you, the reader, will agree with some my choices. Perhaps, by giving my own personal recommendations of the dishes that floated my boat in 2011, I also might send you in that delicious direction to check them out for yourselves. As for my credibility, I think the fact that I have worked in the industry for 40 years, teach about cooking and write about food, means that I have a worthwhile opinion. But hey, if you disagree, even better—one man’s pork belly is another man’s purse.

So here are some of the great dishes our talented chefs have wowed me with this year, not in any particular order. I am truly blessed to have this job; dining well is the best revenge in this nutty economy. Right now I’m off to purchase the best wine in America; Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2009. I’ll drink to that!–JV

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Creamy Cognac Crustacean Bisque at the Coyote Café Once upon a time, a chef ’s talent was measured by his soup. If that is still true, then Eric DiStefano’s Creamy Cognac Crustacean Bisque at the Coyote Café is perfect proof of the man’s genius. The decadent soup’s depth of flavor and richness is testimony to DiStefano’s classic training (he counts legendary chef Daniel Boulud as a fan) and his understanding of how to make a dish shine.

Whether served in a demitasse as part of a fabulous tasting menu or in a bowl on its own, it is always chock full of lobster chunks that take it to another level. As with all of DiStefano’s culinary wizardry, I find myself thinking about this soup and craving it year in and year out.

Coyote Café, 132 West Water Street. 505.983.1615.

| Joseph Wrede

Green Chile Cheese Smash Burger at The Palace Restaurant & Saloon Perhaps the most talked about restaurant to open this year, The Palace Restaurant and Saloon has been vying for a spot in Santa Fe’s celebrity chef lineup. The handsome remodel of the historic site is a worthy home for Joseph Wrede’s eclectic Italo-American menu. While folks wax lyrical about the duck fat fries and sexiest pasta carbonara in town, I love the Palace’s Green Chile Cheese Smash Burger for lunch or as a bar bite. Two natural grass-fed burgers hit the griddle with cheddar and green chile between them and then are popped on a buttery sesame seed bun. A yummy green chile aioli brings the flavors together; you gotta love a burger that runs down your chin. The house-made potato chips siding it have a kick, but be sure to order the duck fat fries, too.

The Palace Restaurant & Saloon, 142 West Palace Avenue, 505.982.9891.

| Brian Rood

| Ryan Mann

Fried Chicken with Braised Greens, Potato Croquette and Brown Gravy at Tomme Co-chef Brian Rood’s Alabama roots are showing at the fabulous new Tomme with the Fried Chicken with Braised Greens, Potato Croquette and Brown Gravy. He and Mark Connell are taking the town by storm at both the downtown Tomme and Railyard-area Max’s. The down-home classic is anything but rustic, with impossibly crunchy poultry, bacon-rich greens, creamy sweet corn and a plump potato cake, all reposing on a bed of rich pan gravy. My mouth just watered!

Tomme, 229 Galisteo, 505.820.2253.

Crispy Pork Belly with Soy Cider Glaze at 315 Bistro & Wine Bar 2011 was the Year of the Rabbit, but it should have been the Year of the Pig, due to the popularity of pork on menus nationwide. We had it in chocolate, on donuts, with popcorn, in steamed buns and— in my favorite incarnation—as pork belly. At 315 Bistro & Wine Bar, my local haunt, Chef Ryan Mann’s Crispy Pork Belly with Soy Cider Glaze boasts chunks of seared belly served with an herb salad, star anise–spiced shiitake mushrooms and curls of red bell pepper. The sweet-and-sour glaze that’s drizzled around brings it all together and deserves a big oink-oink. Hmm, I wonder what ingredient will flavor the new year. Truffles anyone?

315 Bistro and Wine Bar, 315 Old Santa Fe Trail, 595.986.9190.

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| Jeff Keenan

| Katharine Kagel

Smoked Trout Hash with Hash Browns at Café Pasqual’s Several new kids on the block wowed me this year, but so did a grand dame of the restaurant scene.

At the 33-year-old (and counting) Café Pasqual’s, the Smoked Trout Hash with Hash Browns is a dish I can never pass up—unless I swap the trout for corned beef. Served with a zippy tomatillo salsa and a golden Gruyère potato cake that sports a delicious cheese-to-potato ratio, the delicately smoked trout and eggs as you like them (runny poached for me) has me licking the plate, literally.

Chef Katharine Kagel possesses unearthly powers!

Café Pasqual’s, 121 Don Gaspar, 505.983.9340.

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Pistachio Cake Donut with White Chocolate Lemon Ganache at Whoo’s Donuts I come from the “it’s hard to screw up a donut” school. I mean, after all, fried dough glazed or sugared is perfect in its inception.

Still, Whoo’s Donuts has managed to improve on perfection. Of all the wildly creative varieties—like Coffee Cream, Pumpkin Fritters, Maple-Bacon and Pineapple Upside Down-nuts, to name just a few—my heart is set on the Pistachio Cake Donut with White Chocolate Lemon Ganache. It reminds me of the glazed peanut donuts of my (chubby) youth, with a twist. My favorite … for now.

Whoo’s Donuts, 851 Cerrillos Road, 505.629.1678.

| Nellie Maltezo

| James Campbell Caruso | Mark Connell

Dark Chocolate Globe at Max’s At Max’s, magic happens all over the menu, but never more dramatically than when a small pitcher of heated sauce is poured over their Dark Chocolate Globe, which then melts away to reveal its dulcet center. The fillings and sauces vary, but this month cranberry mousse and pear sorbet are the wonders exposed when the warm walnut soup dissolves the dome. I love this dish’s theatricality and the staff participation.

Max’s, 403 ½ Guadalupe, 505.984.9104.

Grilled Artichokes with Spanish Goat Cheese and Mint at La Boca Chef James Campbell Caruso may well be the hardest working chef in town; La Boca is always packed. He has a new cookbook coming out this spring, and he keeps his lengthy list of tasty tapas everchanging. I hope he never removes the Grilled Artichokes with Spanish Goat Cheese and Mint. It represents the epitome of simple and straightforward culinary goodness—although I’d trade a relative for the bruschetta with mushrooms, fried egg and truffle oil, too!

La Boca, 72 West Marcy Street, 505.982.3433.

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

Chitarrini with a Fried Egg at Trattoria Nostrani Sometimes simplicity takes a dish to an ethereal level and at Trattoria Nostrani, Nellie Maltezos’ chitarrini (pasta cut on a guitar-like device made up of strung wires on a box) with a fried egg proves that often in cooking brilliance, less is more.

The tender homemade noodles get ever so lightly napped with a butter sauce and a hint of Parmesan. Then Maltezos lets the runny yolks from a farm-fresh egg do the rest. As with all of this wispy chef ’s dishes, the flavors (and her talents) speak volumes.

Trattoria Nostrani, 304 Johnson Street, 505.983.3800.

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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ITALIAN • RESTAURANT BAR • FINE DINING • TAKE OUT

The Finest Italian Cuisine in New Mexico A Christmas gift from the Osteria d’Assisi!

We would like to present to you our new Executive Chef, Cristian Pontiggia from Lake Como, Italy.

| Martín Rios

We continue to provide you with the most consistent and best creations of authentic Italian cuisine.

| Jeffrey and Ramona Schwartzberg

Eggs Benedict at The New York Deli and Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict at Restaurant Martín

986-5858

I definitely judge a breakfast joint by virtue of its Eggs Benedict, so you can imagine my delight and adoration for The New York Deli. It’s as if owner Jeffrey Schwartzberg knew he could seduce me by offering not one perfect version of the egg classic, but six, including the Chesapeake, which boasts crab cakes. I’m a traditionalist, so I take mine with Canadian bacon, but even vegetarians can get their hollandaise fix on both the Florentine and Blackstone varieties. Too good to save for just breakfast, it works for lunch as well.

A very close tie is found at Restaurant Martín, where the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict gets a luxuriously rich lobster hollandaise saucing on a toasted brioche slab with crunchy roasted potatoes on the side. The only downside is you have to wait until a Sunday morning to get it. Ah, Sunday brunch at Martín’s, one of the more civilized pursuits in Santa Fe. The New York Deli, 420 Catron Street, 505.982.8900 and 4056 Cerrillos Road, 505.424.1200.

Restaurant Martín, 526 Galisteo, 505.820.0919.

58 S. Federal Place Santa Fe, NM osteriadassisi.com

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– Dana Ortega Director of Sales & Marketing Inn and Spa at Loretto

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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WineBar CHIC s t o r y b y B A R RY F I E L D S

photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

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Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro

Prairie Star Restaurant and Wine Bar

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ince London Wine Bar in San Francisco opened in 1974, Americans have been discovering the wine bar as a satisfying way to enjoy a glass or share a bottle.

A special quality accompanies a place devoted to wine; this comes both from the managers, who are inevitably enthusiasts thrilled to share their knowledge, and the clientele, often open to discovery. As Myra Ghattas, owner of Slate Street Café, explains, “A wine bar is not just a wine list. It’s an experience.” I recently visited three of them to sample some of the variety offered in the greater Albuquerque area and to talk with the owners and wine managers.

The wine loft at Slate Street Café invites intimate conversation. One evening I sat with a friend sipping a glass of Cline Cellars Cashmere, a silky California southern Rhône–style blend, and taking in the ambience: people enjoying their wine over quiet conversation, jazz playing in the background, paintings of vineyards on the walls, the casual attic look that could pass for bohemian if not for the sleek, contemporary touches. It’s the kind of place you go to hang out in a mellow environment, try a new wine and have an appetizer or even a full meal. (The restaurant is on the main floor.)

Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro has an aesthetic impact as soon as you walk through the door. If the long bar’s zinc countertop consciously evokes Paris of a bygone era, the décor speaks of cosmopolitan chic. High ceilings give an open, spacious feeling, while mustard colored walls create warmth. Walls adorned with modern art and paper globe chandeliers contrast with old oak plank floors and wood chairs. It’s a fun, inviting place to hang out, have a glass of wine (try one of the Roessler varietals, from their very own family vineyard!) and indulge in creative cuisine.

The upscale setting of Prairie Star Restaurant and Wine Bar feels like New Mexico.

Brick floors, rough troweled walls with Santa Fe–style sconces, and dark wood ceilings with thick vigas all contribute to the wine lounge’s classic Southwestern ambience. As I sipped a glass of a beautiful Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Cristom Vineyards, I took in the attractive bar with wine glasses hanging overhead and, outside the wall of windows, a spectacular view of the looming Sandias.

In spite of their differences, these establishments have plenty of qualities in common, not the least of which is the owner or managers’ passion for wine. Myra Ghattas, who worked in food and beverage for Hyatt Hotels for 14 years, opened Slate Street Café in her native Albuquerque to share her fervor for wine. Kevin Roessler— whose father and uncle own and manage the well established and highly regarded Roessler Cellars and the newer R2 Wine Company—has been living and breathing the world of wine for most of his life. And anyone who knows Sam McFall, longtime wine buyer at Prairie Star who managed his first commercial wine program at age 22, is familiar with his boyish enthusiasm, discriminating palate and commitment to fine wine.

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All three wine bars opened because of the serendipitous intersection of love of wine and market need. “I completed the entrylevel coursework for a sommelier at CIA [Culinary Institute of America] in Greystone while working for Hyatt,” says Myra Ghattas. I wanted to use that knowledge, education and passion.” Besides, she adds, “I felt there was a void in Albuquerque. We didn’t have a lot of wine bars, and there was a surge in wine bars in other areas.”

Not that the Duke City had none.

When Zinc opened in 2003, partner Kevin Roessler had a similar perception. “You have to think about when this place was in its inception,” he tells me. “There weren’t a lot of places offering flights or anything off the beaten path. We thought it was innovative to pair American food with a French influence. People come in looking to try something outside the box.” Even though Zinc has only a small bar area, wine is so infused into the concept of the eatery that it accounts for 25% of sales.

Bernalillo may seem an out-of-the-way place for a wine bar, but Prairie Star is on the grounds of the Hyatt Tamaya Resort and regularly draws diners from Albuquerque and Santa Fe as well as locally. It also features the irrepressible Sam McFall. “Our restaurant has had a wine focus since 1986,” he explains, “but it lacked a bar. We always wanted to add one and I desired to promote our wine program.” A 2008 remodel project added the charming room in which we were sitting.

The focus of these wine enthusiasts results in experiences you won’t find in a general bar, on the one hand, or a typical restaurant, on the other. All three put on wine dinners. They offer wine flights (usually a selection of three wines making up a theme—for example, Oregon Pinot Noirs, or selections from the same producer) and half glasses, so you can experience more variety without overdoing it. They all serve wine in large, properly shaped glasses, which improves the flavor of the wine.

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Slate Street Café

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Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro

Furthermore, Ghattas, Roessler and McFall all see themselves as educators. Slate Street lists 20 to 30 wines by the glass at any one time, and Ghattas occasionally offers introduction to wine classes. As Kevin Roessler and I sipped vintage champagne, he estimated they offer a minimum of 20 wines by the glass and up to 300 different bottles. Prairie Star has a Cruvinet, a wine preservation machine that pumps argon gas into the bottles and keeps them fresh, resulting in a whopping 60 wines by the glass and an even larger list. Both Slate Street and Prairie Star have chatty, informative by-the-glass lists that describe the wines, and the Zinc staff all participate in regular tastings with the owners so all the waiters can tell you about them.

Wine bars have existed in Paris since the late 1800s, but why have they taken off in the United States? McFall has a theory that it’s our evolving consciousness and appreciation. “America started making wine that was recognized in the 1970s, and Robert Mondavi drew attention to California as a serious producer. There’s so much great wine being made here now; it develops a level of interest.”

Roessler adds that when you expose people to wine, it becomes more familiar, especially when “we help people break through barriers” of intimidation. He also he sees local neighborhoods—in Zinc’s case, Nob Hill—as a contributing factor to the success of wine bars.

In Paris, you’re apt to find wines paired with simple food— typically rustic fare or cold cuts and cheese with bread. These three restaurants are upscale, offering what Kevin Roessler calls “casual fine dining,” with the wines and cuisine enhancing each other. (But in another nod to France, Zinc offers a “European-style happy hour,” serving appetizers and a cheese plate.)

As to the future of wine bars, all three aficionados interviewed see room for growth. Myra Ghattas points out, “Wine consumption is growing every year,” along with the public’s increasing sophistication and willingness to try new wines. Roessler noted a downturn in fine wine spending that began with the recession in 2008 but is now reversing. And McFall views the world of wine as so vast and alluring that appreciation of it is bound to grow: “No matter what drives you to wine, once you catch that bug, you’re drinking it the rest of your life.”

Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro is located at 3009 Central NE in Albuquerque.

505.254.9462. www.zincabq.com.

Slate Street Café is located at 515 Slate Avenue NW in Albuquerque.

505.243.2210. www.slatestreetcafe.com.

Prairie Star Restaurant and Wine Bar is located at 288 Prairie Star Road in the Santa Ana Pueblo adjoining the golf course. 505.867.3327.www. newmexicogolf.com.

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Look for us in our New Space January 2012!

6% off ALL Wines & Spirits to celebrate our 6 year anniversary!

r! tte e b e ittl eel a l u’ll f e in o W ...Y

Good through Dec 18 on 750ml or larger

On Dec. 10, 2:30-4:30pm come celebrate our 6 year anniversary with a special tasting of Susan’s Single Barrel Buffalo Trace Bourbon!

St Francis at Cerrillos in the Crossroads Center (505) 984-1582 Monday–Saturday 10am-8pm Holiday Sundays Dec 11&18 noon-6pm

Join the growing number of readers who enjoy localflavor on line each month. Our hot links make you a click away from menus, maps, hours and more: www.localflavormagazine.com

A New Winter Menu A Luscious Christmas Eve Meal A Saucy New Year’s Soirée A Warm Respite from Winter A Lot of Reasons to Make Reservations Now

505 428 0690 palacesantafe.com 142 West Palace Ave Santa Fe, NM 87501

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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S Y O T s t o r y b y K E L LY K O E P K E

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n e h c t i K

eed a gift for the gourmet in your life? Or maybe something fabulous for your own holiday table this year? We scoured the kitchen and lifestyle retailers in three cities to find the latest, most beautiful and unique items for all budgets and tastes—and even kids!

e u q r e u q u b l A NOW WE’RE COOKING

Every cook, whether professional or amateur-at-home, needs kick-ass knives. Now We’re Cooking recommends Komachi’s affordable line of high-carbon, stainless steel knives not just because they stay sharp. Their delightful colors also catch the eye! The fluorinated-resin coating resists bacteria, and the ergonomic handle tells you which foods each specialty knife is designed for. “People really love these knives,” says Whitley Chavez at the Albuquerque store.

“We carry the knives in purple, pink, yellow, red and orange. They’re affordable at between $14.95 and $22.95, too.” Never put your knives in the dishwasher; that dulls them. Nobody loves a dull knife, no matter how pretty.

Now We’re Cooking, 5901 Wyoming Blvd NE, 505-857-9625

HEY JHONNY Hey Jhonny owner Karl Latino is so excited about the olives, olive oils and marmalades from Marin County’s McEvoy Ranch, his emails all come in capital letters! The artisanal extra-virgin oil, pressed from 1500 olive trees imported from Tuscany, is certified organic, with a medium body and aromas of fresh-mowed grass ($24.50). The Meyer lemon marmalade has just three ingredients—organic Meyer lemons, water and sugar ($12.50)—and makes a zingy marinade or topping.

Or simply choose a jar of Tuscan olive blend for a quick appetizer or hostess gift ($12.50).

Hey Jhonny, 3418 Central NE, 505-256-9244

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ST. JAMES TEAROOM Serious tea drinkers know that the St. James Tearoom is the place to experience a true English tradition. The St. James gift shop is almost as much fun as the actual tea service. Nancy Myers, gift shop manager, has stocked the shelves (and ceilings and walls) with tea accoutrements from around the world. The extraordinary line of nature-themed porcelain teapots, cups and saucers from Franz are works of art and functional pieces, each hand-painted in vivid colors. They’re a splurge for sure ($75 and up for cups/saucers, $165-300 for teapots), but beautiful, exotic and sure to become cherished keepsakes.

St. James Tearoom, 320 Osuna Rd NE, 505-242-3752

THE A STORE You may have noticed some changes at The A Store, Nob Hill’s design and lifestyle retailer, who has been around for an amazing 26 years. The layout’s been reconfigured, a demonstration kitchen’s being added and cooking classes from local chefs are planned for spring. What hasn’t changed is the popular line of Los Poblanos Organics local lavender products, created using a steam distillation process right on the farm to extract the essential oil and ensure absolute purity. Salve ($4), bath salts ($8), hand and body lotions ($12) and soaps ($5) made with locally grown lavender all make affordable gifts with an elegant touch.

The A Store, 3500 Central SE, 505-266-2222

Taos TAOS COOKERY Known for its multi-color glazes, each piece of Ojo Sarco pottery is one of a kind, high-fired porcelain, locally made by Kathy Riggs and Jake Willson. Taos Cookery has a wide selection of Ojo Sarco pottery, including the staff favorite a glazed appetizer tray ($84), called Millennium. “The half moon-shape and small dipping bowl is fabulous for chips and salsa, as a sushi and soy sauce platter, for veggies and dip, or whatever you want to use it for,” says Kari Delaney of Taos Cookery. This unique set is microwave and dishwasher safe, too. Check out the other Ojo Sarco bowls, mugs and plates while you’re there.

Taos Cookery, 113 Bent St., 575-758-5435

MONET’S KITCHEN Monet’s Kitchen, founded as a tribute to the Impressionist painter Claude Monet, pays homage to the fact that artistry can be found in the kitchen as well as on the canvas. Lindsay Dinkins-Eden loves the new Le Creuset tabletop line of stoneware plates ($19), bowls ($19) and mugs ($15). With the same style and durability you expect from the French cookware maker, this line is also freezer-, oven-, microwave- and dishwasher-safe. The vibrant colors also complement the other Le Creuset cookware and table items. Stick with a single color or mix and match the rainbow. It’ll be easy with hues like Cassis, Flame, Dune, Dijon, Fennel, Truffle and Ocean.

Monet’s Kitchen, 124-M Bent St., 575-758-8003

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for the

Santa Fe LAS COSAS Only the serious chef will appreciate the “King of the Kitchen Knife,” the new Bob Kramer cutlery by Henckels. And the only place you can buy them in New Mexico? Las Cosas in Santa Fe, says owner Karen Walker. Once available only to the trade, a Bob Kramer knife, starting at $139, can now be added to the collection of a home cook. These high-carbon steel beauties are crafted for strength, edge retention and longevity; this is the kind of knife that passes from one generation to the next. It’ll become your favorite knife, Walker promises.

Las Cosas, 181 Paseo de Peralta, 505-988-3394

SPANISH TABLE Tagine, tagine, tagine. The word rolls deliciously off the tongue. But really, what you want these perennial favorites from Spanish Table to do is cook fish, lamb, stews and vegetarian dishes.

This year, the store has large tagines (for 6 people, $60) and smaller vessels (serves two, $40) in a spectrum of natural colors: green, white, yellow and blue. “They fly out the door,” says Karen Squires, manager. “Made in Tunisia of terra cotta clay, these tagines keep all the steam encapsulated and the flavor saved while cooking. And we encourage everyone to use the traditional spices from the region, too. They’re so good for you.”

Spanish Table, 109 N Guadalupe, 505-986-0243

CIELO TABLETOP Cielo Tabletop’s gorgeous placemats, napkins and napkin rings in the shade of the year, turquoise, are showstoppers. They add such elegance to even the most ordinary table, you’ll almost be afraid to wipe your lips. The Anichini Nobel herringbone napkin (in Capri, $45), and Kim Seybert organza lettuceedge napkin (in Ocean, $28), span the gamut from casual to sophisticated. Add the Kim Seybert Pop Rocks glass and beaded napkin ring ($28) for a sense of whimsy. Put them all atop the Kim Seybert glass beaded ikat placemat (with a cotton backing, $100). Your guests (or lucky gift recipient) will be wowed!

Cielo Tabletop, 318 S Guadalupe, 505-992-1960

DESIGN WAREHOUSE Are you an Egg Head? Book Lover? Starving Artist? Larry Keller of Design Warehouse (perhaps the most fun place you can visit that doesn’t sell booze) gushes about their new line of Jane Jenni Personalities plates and cups for kids. Their clever, “oh, I get it!” graphics and words appeal to grown-ups, too—so much so that your kids may never get to use them. Made of dishwasher-safe (top rack, please) melamine and featuring bright colors, plates are $10 and cups $6. Don’t microwave them, because they’ll melt! And then you’d be a Sad Sack.

Design Warehouse, 101 W Marcy St., 505-988-1555

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FORM & FUNCTION Why not something unique? Something delicious?

Red Sangria Pitcher, Specialty Goat Cheese from Valencia, Cava Vinegar, Almond Turron, Mantecados y Polvorones, Almonds, Chestnut Honey in a Clay Crock, Moroccan Olive Oil

Beautifully handcrafted Impeccable performance

We also carry Paella Burners, Cookbooks Hand-painted Ceramics, Green Glass Clay Cookware: Tagines & Cazuelas Jamon Serrano, Chorizos, Smoked Paprika YES, WE SHIP!

The Spanish Table

109 N Guadalupe, Santa Fe, New Mexico M on - Sat 10 am to 6 pm ; Sun 11 am to 5 pm (505) 986-0243

www.spanishtable.com www.spanishtablewines.com

Great Gift Ideas!

SantaFe Pens Pens, Journals, Vera Bradley, Stationery & Writing Accessories Sanbusco Market Center 500 Montezuma Ave

505-989-4742 www.santafepens.com

New! Shun RESERVE Charcoal & crimson PakkaWood handle 33-layer “ladder” pattern Damascus blade

New to Las Cosas: PREMIER Walnut PakkaWood handle Hammered finish reduces drag VG-10 steel clad with 33-layers Damascus steel 181 Paseo de Peralta, DeVargas Center • Santa Fe (505) 988-3394 • www.lascosascooking.com

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n i a t r Cu ! l l Ca story by GAIL SNYDER

I

n wintertime’s lonely sparseness, nature inevitably contracts her life force, her early darkness blurring day’s margins into night. Cold invades our bones, and the looming holidays lure into our dreams family memories past and present. This is the time we find ourselves most irresistibly drawn to live community performance, for the same reason we’re drawn to the hearth, it’s that elemental experience of communal warmth and connection we seek. It’s not our differences we want to focus on now; it’s our shared humanity.

Live theater is the legacy passed down to us by our ancestors. Gathered together in the dark, watching stories of our common foibles, vulnerabilities, grandiosities play out on the stage before us, we collectively hope that the characters will somehow be granted redemption, however impossible it might seem. Because then, in the poignancy of shared heartbreak and the exhilaration of laughing out loud with the crowd, each one of us gets to be absolved as well.

This is the season to notice and celebrate miracles. It’s the season of magic, of faith in the return of the light. These are the common threads running through the following three local Albuquerque theater companies’ performances this holiday time. These three original plays—each with its own unique twist and surprising revelations, each with generosity and holiday verve—bring us the opportunity to celebrate together the true meaning of connection.

All About Christmas Eve According to playwright/actor Kenneth Ansloan, All About Christmas Eve celebrates all those “delightful 1940s and ’50s Christmas films.” It follows main character Eve, “a sweet, young thing who, with each Christmas Eve, becomes harder and more callous. Of course,” he admits, “I’ve always been a sucker for an angel coming down and having to show the lead character the errors of their ways.”

The angel, Norma, named after Sunset Boulevard’s iconic silentscreen diva Norma Desmond, “probably one of the most famous people on earth during the silent screen days, is totally wild and zany and over-the-top in our play.” Norma, in need of even more help than Eve, “is of course constantly exasperating God!” Ultimately, Ken adds, Norma and God are able to help the selfobsessed Eve, because they can relate to the wrong paths she’s taken in life. “We can all lose our way, but it’s never too late to let joy and love into our hearts. And what better time than at Christmas to let this transformation take place?”

Eve is played by A.J. Carian, Norma by Joe Moncada and God by Ken himself. The three actors are part of the Albuquerque Dolls theatrical troupe who have been performing together for more than 15 years. “The show is all drag, but it’s for everyone. A large part of our audience is straight!”

All About Christmas Eve is playing at the Aux Dog Theatre on December 1-4, 8-11 and 15-18.

Ticket information at info@auxdog.com or 505.254.7716.

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Wooden Snowflakes

photo: Elizabeth Dwyer Sandlin

Set in rural Kentucky, Wooden Snowflakes follows the cynical and jaded Eve who is forced by an ice storm to take refuge with a stranger, Simon, a woodcarver who fervently believes in Santa Claus.

“What I love about Wooden Snowflakes,” says Duke City Rep’s artistic director, Amelia Ampuero, “is that it’s really about the healing power of love and faith.” A hushed sense of intimacy allows the audience to feel, says Amelia, “that we’re witnessing these private little moments between two people.”

As the play unfolds, says Wooden Snowflakes director Katie Becker, we begin recognizing ourselves onstage, “the part in each of us that wants to believe in magic and true love, as well as the part of us that wants | Kate Costello and Peter Diseth to protect ourselves from those things so we won’t get hurt.”

Duke City Rep, a professional, non-profit theater company employing actors, designers and technicians from all over the country, is, according to Katie, really excited to be working with local actors Kate Costello and Peter Diesth. And, she adds, “One of the great things about playwright Cathy Bush is that she’s so adept at writing these Appalachian characters that ring true without being stereotypical.”

“We’re really looking forward,” says Amelia, “to bringing a bit of that culture to the high desert!”

Wooden Snowflakes is playing at the Kosmos (aka Factory on 5th Art Space) from December 8-11 and December 15-18. Ticket information at www.dukecityrep.com or 505.797.7081.

photo: Pat Berrett

Nutcracker on the Rocks Says Shira Greenburg, director of Keshet Dance Company’s 15th annual production of Nutcracker On The Rocks, “It’s an incredibly fun twist on a classic tradition. We like to say it’s like the original, without the nap.” As in all things Keshet, Nutcracker incorporates multiple styles of dance and all members of the community--a hallmark of the non-profit modern dance company. “Everyone who auditions gets into the show, providing they can make all rehearsals, including some with physical and developmental disabilities, many of whom dance from their wheelchairs. The message is that magic and possibilities are all around us to be embraced.”

This year’s cast is their biggest yet, with 134 dancers. “And the main characters, Marie and the Nutcracker, are Vladimir Conde Reche and Simone di Pietro Reche, professors of dance at UNM, married in real life, creating a delightful energy on stage. And their daughter plays one of the mice.”

The soundtrack is high-energy, beginning with the traditional Tchaikovsky Overture, then kicking into James Brown’s “I Feel Good” and lots of other favorites by the Velvet Underground, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Billie Holliday, among others. It ends again with Tchaikovsky, “so the whole performance is bookended by the traditional music that started it all.”

Nutcracker on the Rocks is playing December 2-4 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Ticket information at www.keshetdance.org.

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Learning Opportunities in 2012 at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center P

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Reservations: Kay @ 505-212-7052 or indianpueblo.org/workshops

Panel Discussions in conjunction with our new exhibition “100 Years” - Free ADmission Supported by the WK Kellogg Foundation

March 14 · - Changing Roles: Women in Leadership, Health, Education and Art Panelists: Rosemary Lonewolf, Santa Clara Pueblo, Lela Kaskalla, Nambe Pueblo, Katherine Augustine, Laguna Pueblo, Glenabah Martinez, Taos Pueblo/Navajo April 18 · - New Pueblo Direction: Young Voices Respond to 100 Years of State and Federal Policy Panelists: Lee Francis IV, Laguna Pueblo, Jodi Brushia, Laguna Pueblo May 16 · - Indigenous Science/Cross-Cultural Science: Teaching for the Future Panelists: Dr. Shelly Valdez of Laguna Pueblo, Kirby Gchachu of Zuni Pueblo June 20 · - Indian Reorganization Act and its Impact on the Pueblo of Laguna Speaker: Former Pueblo of Laguna Governor, Roland Johnson July 18 · - Maintaining Pueblo Languages: The Challenges posed by 100 years of policy Speaker: Dr. Christine Sims of Acoma Pueblo, Linguist and Educator August 22 · - Mount Taylor: A National Trust Historic Site Panelists: Theresa Pasqual (Acoma Pueblo) of the Acoma Historic Preservation Office, Shelly Chimoni, (Zuni Pueblo) & Executive Director to the All Indian Pueblo Council

Pueblo Baking Class with Bernadette Z Cotten, Isleta Pueblo January 27 & 28 | $75 Pine Needle Basket Weaving with Mary Lou Olivas, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo February 11th & 12 OR 18th & 19th | $60 Introduction to Pueblo Weaving with Pueblo Weaver Louie Garcia, Tiwa/Piro Pueblos March 3, 10, 17, 24, & 31 | $220 Pueblo Science Class with Educators Dr. Shelly Valdez, Laguna Pueblo and Dr. Kirby Gchachu, Zuni Pueblo March 24 | $25 per adult; $10 per youth Southwest Gourd Painting with Dominic Arquero, Cochiti Pueblo March 31 & April 1 and May 7 & 8 | $65

September 12 · - The Return of Taos Blue Lake: Religious Freedom and Cultural Identity Panelists: Gilbert Suazo, Sr., Taos Pueblo, Linda Bernal Yardley, Taos Pueblo

Pueblo Watercolor class with Mallery Quetawki, Zuni Pueblo April 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26 | $155

November 14 · - Pueblo Indian Suffrage and the Legacy of Miguel Trujillo Speaker Josephine Waconda, Granddaughter of Miguel Trujillo

*Stay tuned for more classes each month in 2012

For more 2012 events and details visit IndianPueblo.org 2401 12th st NW Albuquerque NM 87104 Toll Free: 1-866-855-7902

Dinner and a Show

www.FarinaPizzeria.com 505/243-0130 Open early Friday, Saturday and Sunday for pre-theatre dinners

Wagon Mound Ranch Supply

offers a great selection for your Holiday Shopping • Lodge Cast-iron Cookware • Western Music • • Cookbooks • Geier Gloves • Enamelware • • Silk Wild Rags • Arbuckles’ Coffee • Mooremaker Knives • Jewelry • Collectables • Kid’s Books & many more gift choices for the hard to shop for “Western” enthusiast of all ages!

6855 4th Street NW, all the way in the back!

Los Ranchos, NM 87107 Give us a try, you’ll be glad you did!

Two Great Restaurants, the Same Great Corner!

Corner of Edith & Central | Catering Available

Dinner and a Show Beer, wine & now a full bar.

Come in and let us lift your spirits!

Happy Hour Mon-Fri from 3pm-7pm www.ArtichokeCafe.com 505/243-0200

Get 15% off your dinner by presenting your show tickets

Hey, Albuquerque, have breakfast with localflavor!

Find us at these local favorites...

Monday - Saturday 9:30 - 5:30 505-341-2489 www.wagonmound.com

Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary in New Mexico

Daily Grind Donut Mart Downtown Java Joe’s Flying Star Friends Café Frontier Green Café Grove Market Café Range Café

organic, vegan, gluten free holiday pies ABQ 2201 Silver SE (corner of Silver & Yale) 505.262.2424 Mon-Sat 9am-9pm • Sunday 10am-8pm

Satellite Coffee

ABQ 4th Street NW (north of Osuna) 505.254.2424

Sophia’s Place

Santa Fe 1620 St. Michael’s Drive 505.988.9688

Winning Coffee

Mon-Sat 9am-9pm • Closed Sundays

Mon-Sat 9am-9pm • Sunday 10am-8pm

www.worldvegetariancafe.com A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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s t o r y b y M A RY S T R O N G J A C K S O N photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

C

hipotle, coffee, black pepper, thyme, cocoa, lemon, cinnamon, mint—these are the names of just a few of the enticing spices, herbs and chiles used by Bill York to produce the amazing array of bitters for his artisinal line of cocktail flavorings called The Bitter End. Is Mr. York a chemist, scientist, chef, artist or magician? He seems to be all of the above but humbly states that his plan and passion is to simply help elevate the craft of mixology. He works his magic by mixing science, fun, and a knowledge of world cuisine to create handcrafted delights that when added to alcohol produce tantalizing cocktails.

Bitter

Bill York’s background prepared him perfectly for the job of condensing flavors into a bottle. Often what we enjoy as a child is the best guide to finding pleasurable and fulfilling work as an adult. Fortunately for Bill, his father was a chef, and his parents encouraged experimentation in the kitchen.

Bill won his first cooking competition in the fifth grade with his crêpe suzette. Now he combines cooking skills with an interest in science, a good business sense and an enjoyment of cooking, eating, drinking—a blend that makes him a skilled bitters maker and entrepreneur. Today his product is distributed in Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Santa Fe, New York and France.

After earning his undergraduate degree in pre-med, Bill decided that becoming a doctor was not the direction he wanted to pursue. Because he still enjoyed science, he continued his studies, earning a master’s in biology with a strong molecular bent. Working as a bartender gave him the chance to use his knowledge of science and his love of cooking to create unique drinks for his customers, and so his interest in mixology began.

Bill explains, “When I was a bartender, I enjoyed the more esoteric aspects of bartending. The whole mixology thing appealed to me, so I decided to take a stab at making my own bitters. Mixing a drink, getting it just so, and making it repeatable was an enjoyable challenge.”

“I work in the computer field but started playing around with mixology three years ago,” he continues. “About one and a half years ago, I rented a kitchen to meet health code laws and seriously began my bitters business. I use a lot of scientific glassware (because that is what I’m comfortable with) as well as vacuum filtration. I get a very clear product. A lot of spices and herbs need to be ground to get them to extract better.

Cardamom has a hard shell that needs to be broken open so the alcohol can be absorbed in a shorter amount of time. A lot of particulate matter occurs with spices and herbs, and it naturally suspends and is cloudy. Some bitters makers leave it cloudy, but I like mine nice and clear. Honestly, as strong as my bitters are, it would not cloud a drink. It only takes a couple of drops in the alcohol.” | Chris Milligan 32

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EndBitters

| Bill York

All the work is done by hand; no automated machines are involved in this special process. The spices, herbs, and chiles are cut and ground by hand. The ingredients are precisely measured by hand; the infusions are prepared by hand, and the bottles are dispensed by hand. And, yes, hands even place the labels on the bottles. As Bill states on his website,” we are so paranoid about letting machines near our products that we put the labels on by hand. So if they look a little skewed, well, just consider that is your proof that we were up late.”

At the Secreto Bar in the Hotel St. Francis where I meet Bill for this interview, his friend and collaborator Chris Milligan, bartender and mixologist, greets us. Chris uses Bill’s bitters in some of the drinks he designs for his customers, and the mutual respect and friendship between Bill and Chris is evident. Chris describes his admiration for Bill’s bitters as he mixes several drinks for this lucky writer to sample. Bill states that his collaborations with master bartenders like Chris are what promote the craft of making bitters and delighting drinkers who venture out in search of the not-so-ordinary cocktail. The first taste treat that Chris mixes for me uses the Memphis Barbecue Bitters in a drink called I’ll Take Manhattan. This is one of the most popular drinks at Secreto using The Bitter End bitters.

The Manhattan has a smokiness with a bit of heat that engages the senses and warms the throat.

Bill says, “All of my bitters are based on world cuisine, and all are very spicy—not like hot-sauce spicy, much hotter than hot sauce, but it takes just a few drops.”

The second drink Chris creates is called the Plum Spicy and it arrives, pretty in pink, very deceiving in its soft pastel color. The ingredients—plum, honey, lime, 10 Cane Rum, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur and Bill’s Jamaican Jerk Bitters—makes this a delicious drink and one about which you’ll never hear a drinker say, “Something’s missing.”

Chris’s final triumph (and my favorite), the Marion Berry, consists of gin, champagne, strawberries, rosemary, lime and honey, with Thai Bitters.

And what is the response of customers?

Response has been 100% fantastic,” says Chris.

“People ask about the unusual looking bottles at the bar. Their interest is sparked and then we have a conversation about what they’re in the mood for. Bill’s bitters add just the right amount of spice but not enough to overwhelm. A custom drink is created to fit the mood and the tongue.”

Bitter End Bitters can be found at Susan’s Fine Wines and Santa Fe PS in the Design Center, or you can visit Chris at Secreto, where he will help to create your own signature drink.

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TOP TEN Restaurant Dishes of 2011

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story by CHRISTIE CHISHOLM photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

Albuquerque

ood, like all other forms of art and beauty, should be judged by the beholder. What piques and pleases one person’s palate may not resemble what tickles the taste buds of another. And so declaring what individual dishes make up the best of what Albuquerque’s restaurants have to offer seems impossible, and maybe a little bit implausible, too. The truth is that there are countless stunning culinary creations in the Duke City, from gourmet, seasonal standouts to the comfort food you always want to warm up to. So while this list is far from comprehensive and subject to the whims of my own collection of cravings, I believe it still shows scope of the city’s offerings, and the talent of its cadre of chefs.

Moules Piquantes at P’tit Louis Bistro I’m just going to come right out and admit it: P’tit Louis is my favorite restaurant in Albuquerque.

I knew when cobbling together this list that the Parisian bistro would have a bright, shiny place on it. The only trouble came in deciding which dish to feature, because there are so many I could have chosen, from the delightfully lush mousse au chocolat to the béchamel-endowed croque-monsieur. Perhaps I always knew the moules piquantes would win out. Steamed in white wine, these fantastically fresh mussels come with a twist that will win the heatseeking hearts of many New Mexicans: chile peppers and jalapeños. The savory, fiery broth makes the ideal dip for P’tit Louis’ crisp yet tender fries, which are served next to the moules in a mile-high mound.

P’tit Louis Bistro, 228 Gold Ave. SW. 505.314.1110.

Fesenjoon Stew at Pars Cuisine

| Shahnaz Tafti 34

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

When it comes to Persian, Pars reigns over Albuquerque’s Mediterranean menus. The palatial interior of the restaurant—filled with billowing fabrics and ornately carved wood—only adds to the elegance that comes out of chef and co-owner Shahnaz Tafti’s kitchen. Even simple items are crafted with sophistication, elevating them to a status worthy of a cross-town drive. This may be best embodied through the fesenjoon stew. This classic Persian dish consists of not much more than walnuts sautéed in pomegranate sauce and served with chicken and basmati rice (just the rice for the vegetarians in the crowd). But the rich, slightly tart flavor of the stew adds complexity and the compulsion to keep going back for more.

Pars Cuisine, 4320 NE (west side of I-25).

505.345.5156.

magazine.com

| Sean Sinclair and Enrique Siqueiros

Grilled Sesame–Crusted Ahi Tuna at Slate Street Café We may live in the desert, but it’s still possible to find fish that’s scooped out of the ocean mere hours before it lands on your plate. Slate Street’s seafaring ingredients are delivered within 20 hours of being pulled from the water. That freshness is reflected in the restaurant’s fish dishes, especially when it comes to the ahi tuna. While there’s a lunchtime version of Slate’s take on the tuna, it’s the dinner listing that serves as the main attraction.

Dipped in black and white sesame seeds and then seared, the filet comes encircled by swirls of bright orange habañero and green wasabi cream sauces. The colorful plate is completed with a bed of jasmine steamed rice and a vegetable spring roll. Owner Myra Ghattas says the dish is one of few that remain from the restaurant’s original 2006 menu. “People just love it,” she says, adding that as a result “we’ve opted to never take it off our menu, even when we do seasonal changes.”

Slate Street Café, 515 Slate Ave. NW. 505.243.2210.

| Harvey Smith

Blue Corn–Crusted Fried Chicken at CoolWater Fusion There is something simply phenomenal about CoolWater Fusion’s fried chicken. It starts, says owner Glenn Williams, with organic chicken. Then it’s dredged through buttermilk and blue corn. But the magic to this dish comes in the form of a honey glaze, which is imbued with red wine, chipotle, tarragon and paprika. One bite of the spicy-sweet concoction and you’ll want to slather that sauce over everything in your fridge. And here’s a perk: It also comes gluten-free.

CoolWater Fusion, 2010 Wyoming NE. 505.332.2665. | Glenn Williams

Fresh Atlantic Salmon Coulibiac at Brasserie La Provence As soon as you sit down to brunch at Brasserie La Provence, you’ve won. There are, of course, the white tablecloths and European charm. Then come the mimosas. No matter what you order, you’re delivered a basket brimming with housemade and buttery-soft croissants, baguettes and Danishes.

And then there’s the Atlantic Salmon Coulibiac, which is as rich as it is decadent. A significantly sized salmon filet gets the royal treatment, wrapped in puff pastry and served with spinach, white asparagus and a savory chive beurre blanc. Because the flavors are on the heavier side, keep your mimosas coming to make it magnificent.

Brasserie La Provence, 3001 Central NE in Nob Hill.

505.254.7644.

Hjortkjaer Claus |

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TOP TEN Restaurant Dishes of 2011

Albuquerque Americano and Chocolate-Almond Croissant at Café Giuseppi Sometimes it’s a five-course meal that makes you feel like a millionaire. Other times, it’s the little things that satisfy the sweet spot in your gastronomic soul. Take, for example, an ordinary yet extraordinary pairing: an Americano and croissant. When both are made expertly, they fulfill some primordial desire. It so happens that Café Giuseppi makes the best Americanos in town (and far beyond, I imagine). Never bitter and always slightly caramely, if I could get away with it I’d have one permanently holstered to my hand. And then there are the croissants, offered plain as well as in almond and chocolate-almond varieties. It’s the last choice in that list that wins top honors, though. Not just filled with chocolate-almond goodness, these pastries are gooey with it—in fact, they may warrant a fork. Somehow the perfect combination of flaky and sticky, they’ll make you smile, guaranteed.

Café Giuseppi, 3222 Silver Ave. SE. 505.268.1858. | Glenn Foster

Grilled Bone-In Tender Belly Pork Chop at Jennifer James 101 Truly, anything that comes out of Jennifer James and Nelle Bauer’s kitchen could probably make this list. Their food is exceptional, without exception. But the two chefs and co-owners believe that, in many ways, this dish—served with house-made apple brandy mustard, mashed half sweet potatoes and celery-apple slaw—embodies their culinary philosophy. It starts with ingredients they love and simple inspirations. The idea for the mustard grew out of a recent trip the two took to Paris. The pork chop found itself on the plate due to the fact that it’s the “cleanest-tasting” they’ve ever had, says James. Bauer, who created the dish, says she wanted to include it in the fall menu because she knew James would love it. That motivation paid off. While the pork is everything the two claim, it’s the mustard that makes the meal, adding that addictive, mouth-watering sting to every bite (it comes on the side, of course, so exactly how much sting you get is up to you).

Jennifer James 101, 4615A Menaul Blvd. NE. 505.884.3860.

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| Nelle Bauer and Jennifer James

The Breakfast Sandwich at The Grove Café and Market It’s called, merely and modestly, The Breakfast Sandwich. But this assortment of scrambled eggs, tomato, lettuce and mayo squeezed between two sides of a fluffy, house-made English muffin deliver a brunch-time satisfaction that’s hard to match. I like to order this menu items with a few modifications, which I think transform it from noteworthy to unforgettable. Switch out the scrambled for poached, add some thick avocado slices to the mix and ask for some of Heidi’s raspberry jam on the side, and you’ve got yourself the makings for a really good day.

The Grove Café and Market, 600 Central SE. 505.248.9800.

Lauren and Jason Greene |

Duck Confit and Pumpkin Ricotta Agnolotti at Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro Ravioli is often associated with heaviness. A chunky pasta added to the menu solely to sate vegetarians, many versions of it disappoint. But Zinc has imbued this standard with an almost inexplicable airiness. The pumpkin-ricotta filling is mousse-like, the pasta itself is delicate, and the broth it’s bathed in—with Grana Padano, fried sage, shiitake and the lightest of asparagus slivers—is so good it could be served as a soup. And with an option to leave out the dark, succulent duck, it’s still a viable entrée for the veggieminded.

Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro, 3009 Central NE. 505.254.9462. | Chris Pope

Flourless Chocolate Truffle Torte at the Artichoke Café It’s exactly as good as it sounds. This mink-soft wedge of dark chocolate truffle comes drizzled in pistachio crème anglaise and topped with port wine cherries. It’s rich yet not overpowering, sweet yet subtle and hauntingly, almost unfairly fantastic.

Whether it’s the end to a meal or a destination dessert, it’s worth it and will make you see cocoa-dusted stars all the way home.

Artichoke Café, 424 Central SE. 505.243.0200. | Tony Nethery

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Great Gifts for Guys | Model Deollo Johnson In addition to modeling, Deollo Johnson dances professionally, teaches dance, martial arts and gigong, and conducts trainings on diversity and leadership. A Washington D.C. native, he currently “bases” in Santa Fe.

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Uli's U

li goes only by her first name, and her shop’s style reflects that same sense of individuality—the “I’ll do it my way” spirit of Santa Fe. Guys who don’t take a slavish approach to following fashion

will love the Couture velveteen British Army jacket ($398). “It gives him an edge and says that he’s an individual and wants to be noticed.” Pop it over a cotton Couture T-shirt ($58) that’s “very soft and easy to wear” and pep it up with a Carrot & Gibbs bow tie ($68). A dash of blue in the tie picks up the “really cool” Reward jeans ($78).

Uli says the great thing about this outfit is that it works on every body type and height. If you can’t buy every piece, opt for the jacket, popular with all ages from 20 to 80, to give a twist to many different outfits. “It’s a very Western town, and this is a little bit more dressy.” Alternatively, a beautiful cashmere sweater, scarf or hat is eternally welcome, and Uli notes that men also love good socks and ties as gifts.

The humble sock is elevated from so-so to suave with striking color combos and can transform any outfit: “For the woman, it’s a purse. For the man, it’s socks!”

208 W. San Francisco, 505.986.0577, www.ulisfashions.com 40

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Red River T

Mercantile

he so-called heritage look celebrates brands that have stood the test of time since before World War II. “It’s utility meets fashion,” says Steven Traer, who opened his own store in May after a 30-year career in men’s apparel. “I see Santa Fe as still this kind of rugged outpost, and these heritage brands fit in with the romantic side.” Hence the C.C. Filson wool mackinaw ($290) from a line dating back to 1914, originally designed for timber workers in the Pacific Northwest. “It’s a perfect Santa Fe coat: warm, with a bunch of pockets for all the stuff guys have to carry.” The Barbour quilted waistcoat ($99) is a versatile best seller, and we all know how long a Barbour coat lasts.

“I bought one back in 1982, and our son who’s 27 still wears it up in San Francisco,” says Traer. Men ooze macho in a plaid shirt, like this soft cotton shirt from M. Gordon ($79.50). “The beautiful autumnal colors tie the vest and coat together without being too matchy.” Cotton canvas Mountain Khaki pants ($82.95) offer an alternative to jeans and are equally durable as a great hiking pant—or top them with a sport coat.

Accessories to complete the updated authentics look? An oilcloth messenger bag with blanket flap from Will Leather Goods ($250) and a leather cuff ($40) from the same brand to make a change from New Mexico silver and turquoise.

235 Don Gaspar #1, 505.992.1233

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Harry's I

f clothes maketh the man, Greg Voida reckons this outfit speaks of a man interested in quality and uniqueness. “He’s

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willing to come here and find something a little bit different. You could wear this to work, out to dinner, to a cocktail party or gallery opening.” Who epitomizes this kind of effortless sophistication? “A George Clooney type of guy.” The Jack Victor jacket ($595) in a year-round–weight wool travels well and makes the transition from formal to jeans. Teamed with a Jhane Barnes signature shirt ($165) and wool trouser ($295) by Zanella, “the color combination is real rich.” Borsalino’s felt travel hat ($250) looks like a dress hat but rolls up to tuck in your pocket, and the Chelsey Imports silk scarf ($95) feels like cashmere and comes in a black/burgundy reverse, as well as other color combos. “Wear it dressy or as a muffler for warmth. Scarves make an easy gift—you don’t have to worry about the size.” An Allen Edmonds belt ($115) in textured leather with a silver tip hits the spot for Santa Fe style. Voida appreciates the trend toward a trimmer silhouette, with flat-front pants and slimmer-cut coats. “I think it makes most men look better; it’s more flattering. Generally when buying an outfit, you buy the jacket first. But if someone said I can only buy one piece, I’d say choose the shirt, because that’s something you won’t see again.”

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How the Pros Do It story by GREG O’BYRNE

W

hen building a restaurant wine list, it turns out that size does matter, but bigger isn’t always better. A smaller wine list requires that each selection be a perfect one, while a more extensive list means struggling to maintain inventory and training servers on lengthy tomes. I talked to three Santa Fe restaurant owners—Harry Shapiro of Harry’s Roadhouse, Quinn Stephenson of Coyote Café and Erin Wade of Vinaigrette—and asked each of them to describe what goes into creating the lists that complement their very unique restaurants.

Harry’s Roadhouse

Harry’s Roadhouse is known for his high-quality, great-value, American roadhouse food, New Mexican and Mexican dishes, and his wife’s pastries. The most casual of the three restaurants, with the lowest menu price point and the most covers, Harry’s has a concise wine menu of 17 bottles, all of which are available by the glass.

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Given the Roadhouse menu and clientele, what do you consider when choosing a wine for the restaurant’s wine list?

Shapiro: Over 90% of our wine sales are by the glass, and most of the people who come into Harry’s come in and ask for their drink by a generic name: a Bud, a margarita, a merlot, a pinot grigio. So we have to be very selective within a small list. We are also restricted by price range. I don’t want to charge $10 for an entrée and $12 for a glass of wine. The interesting challenge within that price range is in finding wines with character that can please the most palates.

With 11 of the 17 wines from the Old World, is it fair to say the value in the lower price point for wine is from Europe?

Shapiro: I never thought of it that way. We have daily specials, like Mexican pork shank or a Cuban dish, and I find wines from Spain and France can be more interesting. We don’t get a lot of people interested in pairing food and wine, but we offer it. We are starting an experiment to feature more wines by the bottle, where we will spend $20 on a bottle of wine and charge $30, to offer a broader selection for people more interested.

What’s your favorite wine on your wine list?

Shapiro: La Cana Albariño from Spain and Casal Garcia Vinho Verde from Portugal, because they are good wines in warm weather, and I like them with spicy food, which we tend to feature. For red, the Coteaux de Languedoc rouge works, because it’s not heavy and it has a lot of deep interesting flavors.

What wine is the most popular right now on your wine list?

Shapiro: Pinot noir. We have Chime pinot noir from California for $7.50 a glass. It’s hard to find a pinot at our price point with varietal character, but this one fits. Malbec and merlot are also very popular.

What’s the funniest thing that ever happened when serving a guest?

Shapiro: I was serving wine to a beautiful woman and dropped the bottle. A big shard of glass popped up and went down her cleavage. I didn’t know what to do but asked if she needed help. She said not to worry, that the last time she was out someone had a heart attack at the table next to her, and this was no big deal.

What do you drink at home?

Shapiro: Whatever samples my wine salesman Raphael brings me. I love Brick House pinot noir for special occasions.

Coyote Café and Geronimo

I first met Quinn Stephenson at the Hospice du Rhône wine event in 2003. He was 21 and had been bitten hard by the wine bug. Coyote Café founder and chef Mark Miller was his mentor at the time, so I have always associated Coyote Café and Quinn with wines from France’s Rhône Valley. Having worked for Miller myself for many years, I know well his belief that low-tannin, full-bodied wines from the Rhône partner well with the heat and tannins in chile-based cuisine.

| Harry Shapiro of Harry’s Roadhouse

As partner at both Geronimo and Coyote Café, Quinn has followed through with his passion and earned the title of Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Quinn manages two wine lists, one medium and one large. Geronimo’s wine list is four pages long, with 200 wines sold by the bottle. Coyote Café’s is 12 pages long, with 500 wine choices. Both are special-occasion restaurants and are among the most expensive in New Mexico. A bustling mecca of Southwestern cuisine, Coyote Café has evolved under current chef/owner Eric DiStefano’s creative hand to have a more global menu, while at the quiet and luxuriously appointed Geronimo, he has focused on more French and Asian cuisine.

How do the lists at Geronimo and Coyote Café differ in terms of selection and management?

Stephenson: I enjoy working more with a smaller list. Inventory control is easier; you can have more quantity of your selection and run out less. As an owner, you are concerned with your inventory being tied up. In lean times, it’s a lot different having $300K tied up in inventory versus $75K. On the other side, in lean times the larger inventory can get you though without having to make additional purchases. Smaller lists are also better for staff education and ease of reprinting.

| Quinn Stephenson of Coyote Cafe and Geronimo

What are the focuses of the two lists?

Stephenson: At Coyote we have 32 menu items, featuring cuisine from around the world, so we need a more global list. I am still building on 25 years of inventory (e.g. verticals of mid-nineties Araujo and Shafer Hillside) that have been properly cellared. We used to have a huge Rhône focus when Miller was here, but now with Eric the food isn’t always spicy. One day we need a German riesling to go with the spicy prawns, the next day a grüner for the summer salad, and then here comes the big cowboy steak and you need a big cab.

At Geronimo, Chef is focused on seafood and French-Asian flavors, so we are more focused on crisp whites and lighter bodied reds, with the majority being white. Pinot works so as not to overpower the subtle flavors of the many fish dishes on the menu. And in the last two years I developed a Burgundy selection.

What are people drinking?

Stephenson: We are selling bottles all night long between $60 and $90 a bottle. As a varietal, malbec is incredibly popular. It’s crazy. It’s high-quality wine for a good value. Medium-bodied, soft, round, approachable.

If you could take one wine home tonight, what would it be?

Stephenson: From Geronimo, a Beaux Frères pinot noir with some age. From Coyote, 2000 Cos E’stournal.

Vinaigrette

Like Harry’s Roadhouse, Vinaigrette practices the art of building a small and focused wine list. Vinaigrette founder and wine enthusiast Erin Wade has a palate that is well suited to her savory salad restaurant. Wade maintains a dozen wines by the glass, with a penchant toward zippy, high-acid whites and lighter bodied and lower-tannin reds to pair with her innovative salads. The restaurant, celebrating its third anniversary, has proven itself a real winner with locals while also capturing a national following.

Also like the Roadhouse, Vinaigrette needs to stay within a lower price point for wine. Wade explains that for herself and manager Robin Schoen, this presents a challenge that “forces us to be extremely selective in our choices and ultimately leads to a tighter, more focused list with no extra fat.” Wade makes the case that it is fairly easy to find great quality wines that price out between 10 and 15 bucks a glass, but it’s difficult to find

| Erin Wade of Vinaigrette

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How the Pros Do It them for between 5 and 10 bucks a glass. “Finding wines that surprise with their quality and originality, that taste like wines that are twice as expensive, often means steering away from the big names like pinot or cab or chardonnay to the lesser know varietals that haven’t been priced to the sky from excess demand.”

What do you look for when choosing a wine for your wine list?

Wade: As a “salad bistro,” our menu is full of light, bright cuisine, so we tend to look for wines that will pair nicely with the lighter fare and also stand up to our high-acid vinaigrettes. That means wines with structure and acidity and zippy fruit character. I love high-acid whites, and that tends to be where we have the most fun on our list—grüner veltliner, riesling, yummy northern Italian blends, albariño.

What’s the focus of your wine list?

Wade: Zippy, zesty, fruity, bright. Honest varietal character. We are always trying to come up with new synonyms for that quality in a wine both Robin and I love, and we are running out of descriptors! We have the classic wines like cab or chardonnay, but even in these we tend to choose ones that are on the lighter side, with expressive fruit and not too much oak character. We absolutely gravitate towards wines that aren’t over-oaked or over manipulated. Just as our food is simple, honest, and looks and tastes like what it is, we like our wines that way, too.

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What’s your favorite wine on your wine list?

Wade: The Domaine de Colette Beaujolais-Villages is an incredible wine—so delicate, pure, fruit-driven and quenching. Also the Fontsainte Gris de Gris rosé—it’s literally all I drank from about May 1 to October 15. Positively addictive.

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What is the most popular wine on your wine list right now?

Wade: We grudgingly put it on the list, because we aren’t particularly big fans of most malbec, but we found one that we really like—Doña Paula malbec from Mendoza—and it sells like gangbusters.

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How many wines by the bottle? By the glass? How did you get there?

Wade: We have five reds, five whites, one or two rosés and a bubbly, all available by the glass, accounting for 99% of our sales. Sometimes, when we have something we absolutely love but is slightly outside our price range or a little too esoteric for a by-the-glass placement, we put it on our “special bottle” section; we have anywhere from four to ten of these.

I always wanted a tight, well-edited list where everything earned its keep.

I got away from that for a little while, because I couldn’t say no to the very charming, very lovable wine reps in Santa Fe, so I kept creating new placements for wine I liked and the list ballooned a bit. Now Robin says no for me, and we are back to a really concise wine list that forces us to make hard choices for the benefit or our guests.

What’s the funniest thing that ever happened when serving a guest?

Wade: We served a guest a glass of our Beaujolais, thrilled that someone was finally listening to our recommendation. Now, we purposely serve this wine chilled, because we think it appropriate for a light red like Beaujolais, and it allows it to warm up and evolve in the glass, reaching optimum temperature. Anyway, after a few moments the guest marched up to the bar from his table and demanded that Robin or I “stick our finger in this wine” because it was “freezing cold.” He said that he had worked in fourstar restaurants and never heard of cold red wine. He was really furious.

Needless to say, we added “served chilled” to the menu.

What do you drink at home?

Wade: My boyfriend’s ridiculously expensive wine.

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The Spirits of

Don Quixote

story by JOHN SELBY p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

Y

ou want to talk handcrafted? At the Don Quixote Distillery & Winery in White Rock, New Mexico, Ron and Olha Dolin take the term literally.

Yes, they craft their liquors, grappas, brandies, ports and wines by hand from local grain and fruit. Yes, Olha draws the labels and etches bottles herself. Yes, Ron, on days off from his job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, built the tasting room at their home, where you will see flashes of their two young children, and, in slower motion, Max, the cork-chewing Labrador. And, yes, Ron also designed and built the backyard distillery, which, in 2005, was the first to be licensed in New Mexico statehood. All these things easily establish the Dolins’ bona fides in the realm of local handcrafted goods.

On a cornflower blue Sunday, I arrive early for my appointment and take a ten-minute drive through the residential streets of White Rock. We aren’t in adobe land anymore. These homes—kempt, comfortable and well maintained—could be in Naperville, Hillsborough, or a modern-day Bedford Falls. But winding around the plateau on Rio Bravo Drive above Bandelier puts me in my place.

Settled on the patio in front of the tasting room, the Dolins and I chat over coffee. Ron, whose black hair spikes, one assumes, because of a pillow and not a gel, has the chiseled features of his Central European ancestors who settled in Chicago. At the time, “Big Al” Capone had cornered the market on distilling and bought hard candy at the store owned by Ron’s grandfather.

“When I built my first copper still, a sheet of copper cost $500,” Ron says. “For the fifth, the last I plan to build, the same sheet cost $1500.”

I ask how one transforms a sheet of copper into a still shaped something like an onion dome atop a Russian church. Ron says, as if explaining to a handyman skill–challenged writer how to hammer a nail, “You have to configure how much you need to create the shape, cut it out and weld it.”

Oh, like a dress pattern?

“Yes,” says Ron with relief, “same thing.”

Alembic stills available for purchase—like those from Portugal, where, according to Ron, the best ones are produced—are designed to be used at sea level. The higher the altitude, the lower the atmospheric pressure, so liquid doesn’t have to get as hot to boil. “My stills are designed to use at our altitude,” says Ron. “It’s a much gentler process and results in a smoother spirit.” That spirit, the base of Don Quixote vodka and the newly released bourbon, is distilled of organic blue corn from eastern New Mexico, to put the locale in local.

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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The Spirits of

Don Quixote

Olha Dolin (pronounced Ol-yuh) strides from the house and plops comfortably into a chair. She is Ron’s wife and the master distiller in the family. Ringlets of hair mirror the roundness of her eyes and face; her expression reflects an assurance of someone born into one culture and having adopted another. She is articulate, her English clear with a telltale Slavic accent. The couple’s meeting was straight out of a Tom Hanks romantic comedy. While corresponding with a Ukrainian engineer during a project for the lab, Ron suggested he and the engineer get together while he vacationed in Kiev. A sly note was returned to say that the engineer, knowing no English, had been employing an interpreter, Olha, to carry on his correspondence. It was she who was writing. It was she with whom Ron was carrying on. It wasn’t until a year into their marriage they discovered both had experience distilling, Ron as a science geek in his dorm and Olha growing up in the river port city of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, where her father and grandfather were distillers.

“We distill the Old World way,” says Olha. “The Russian way is like American: Grains are cooked in a mash, and it is very much harsher. We use the Ukrainian way. We malt our blue corn, like they do in Scotland with barley.” (Malting is the method of sprouting live grain by adding warm water and turning it by hand frequently over a period of several days.) “It is a slow process, but the blue corn has beautiful flavor and texture that reflects in the spirit,” says Olha.

In the distillery, a small laboratory with interior windows looks onto the main floor where an open tank the size of a large hot tub sits empty.

A burlap sack of barley rests beside it. “This is where I malt grains,” says Olha.

Asked where they sourced their barley, Ron says, “Local feed store.”

Along one wall, the handmade copper stills are partially encased in bases of white and blue tile. These act as insulation to hold in heat, just as a square Delft oven would. There is a tall rack with two kinds of barrels.

While makers prefer to age bourbon in used, rather than new, French oak barrels because they are “neutral” and impart less vanilla flavor and color, initially, by law, it has to go into American oak casks. These whiskey versions are rudimentary country cousins to the French but are only a fifth of the cost. The difference in quality of the barrels is as striking as between a Range Rover and a delivery van.

Bowls of snacks sit on the tiled bar in the tasting room. There are plants, artwork, the occasional child’s toy, and self-made shelves that display bottles of Don Quixote and their second label, Spirit de Santa Fe. (Vodka, gin and brandy are sold under this label in 375 ml. bottles, an idea put forth by their distributor to appeal to tourists.) It has the comfortable feel of a rec room inhabited by an active family. Visitors arrive on the dot of noon, and the tasting room comes alive. Ron and Olha pour us samples of Don Quixote Blue Corn Vodka. The label features Olha’s colorful sketch of the man from La Mancha holding a lance, looking dolefully into the distance.

Usually, when I sip vodka, I have the sense memory from childhood of the taste of a thermometer swabbed in rubbing alcohol. Not here.

Blue is the sweetest of corn varieties, and that translates to Don Quixote’s vodka. Its weighty mouth feel, like that of poached fruit, has a lingering finish.

Next, is their wheat-based gin, which Ron, in good humor, calls “free range” due to the botanicals—juniper, chamisa, piñon, rose hips— that he and Olha harvest from the Jemez Mountains. It reveals a citrusy hit from infinitesimal strips of lemon zest added during distillation.

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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Ron instructs us to put our nose in the glass of Blue Corn Bourbon but inhale through our mouths; otherwise, the alcohol overwhelms the aroma. It works, and what comes across is a nutty, sweet scent of maple. The flavor is sophisticated, slightly toasty and smooth. “Corn is gluten-free,” adds Ron. “Bourbon has to be 51% corn. Our bourbon is 75% blue corn, with the balance wheat and a touch of rye.”

If you are considering starting your own distillery, you owe a debt of thanks to the Dolins. “When we began applying for a distillers license, while federal laws were current, New Mexico laws pertaining to distilling had not changed since 1933, with the repeal of Prohibition,” recalls Ron. “Often the two were in conflict. Now both are more or less in agreement, but that’s why it took us three years and a lot of back and forth to finally get ours. Distillers after us got their license within a year.”

“Yes,” says Olha, “it gave us a long time to work on recipes!”

The Don Quixote Distillery & Winery is located on State Road 4 near Bandelier National Monument, 35 miles from Santa Fe and 19 miles from Pojoaque. In October, the Dolins opened a second tasting room and retail shop in the former Line Camp, a legendary roadhouse on US 84/285 in Pojoaque, NM. 505.695.0817. www.dqdistillery.com.

“We didn’t plan to make wine,” says Don Quixote’s Ron Dolin, “but the state made us apply for a wine license, because they said if we wanted to make port, we would have to make wine. We figured, why not?”

Wine: Manhattan Project: Cabernet-based red French Colombard white blend Merlot

City Different: Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Malvasia Bianca

Emotion: Temptation, late-harvest apple wine Desire, a Sherry-style fortified wine Seduction, a rose petal–fortified wine Passion, a fortified plum wine

Fortified Wine: Angelica, a Muscat-based brandy, sweetened with unfermented juice Mon Cherie, an eau-de-vie with the addition of lightly fermented cherry juice Dulcinia, a Port-style fortified wine Rio Rojo and Rio Blanco

Don Quixote Brandy: Pisco, a Peruvian-style brandy Qalvados, an apple brandy Grappa, made from the pulp and skins of grapes collected after wine is made Malvasia Bianca Grappa, from New Mexico–grown grapes, a fruitier version Brandy, barrel-aged from white grapes

Eau-de-Vie: Mon Cherie, also appears in the form of a traditional, un-aged cherry brandy

Don Quixote Extract: Anasazi, Blue Corn vodka vanilla Pisco, Muscat brandy vanilla Qalvados, Apple brandy vanilla Mon Cherie, Cherry brandy vanilla Fruit, with Don Quixote brandy Ginseng, with Blue Corn vodka

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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A Gift from the Pueblo story by GAIL SNYDER p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

S

anta Claran potter Linda Jo Povi Askan laughs when she remembers her first firing without the supervision of her grandmother. It was just Linda and her uncle out there.

They were pretty nervous.

“There we were, hovering over the fire, worrying, holding our breath. Would we do this right or would it all break or burn up? And when we took it off the fire and lifted the cover, all our pieces were perfect, every single one! We were so happy we just stood there, admiring them all. And just then a big gust of wind came along and blew a bunch of leaves across them! They were all marked up! We thought, ‘Oh, no!’ But Grandma came out, and she looked at them all, and she said, ‘It’s OK, we’ll just fire them again.’ And we did, and they came out fine.”

Pottery making was the fabric of her family’s life from all the way back to when Linda was very young. “That’s what they’d be doing at our house—and at all our relatives’ houses—so it was everywhere we went, from house to house. When I was a child, I played with broken pieces of clay. And then they started me polishing the broken pottery pieces with stone. As we got a little bigger, all the children helped. We would fire together at my grandparents’ corral.”

The traditional firing technique Linda learned from her grandmother is done outside. There is no kiln, no tracking the time or temperatures. “We do it over an open fire,” she says, “using materials we gather ourselves—cottonwood or pine and dry horse manure. Sometimes a storm blows in, and we have to wait for the clouds to break, then hurry up and fire before they blow back in. We experience firing visually, paying attention to the fire, making sure it’s evenly burning, being aware the whole time.

We get our clay down at the river. That’s what Grandma used to do. This is my family heritage,” she explains. “It’s not foolproof, but it’s the way that I learned and I’m comfortable with it.”

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Besides pots, her grandmother favored making animals, Linda says. “All kinds of forest animals, and dinosaurs, alligators—always with a touch of whimsy. She made plates, too. She worked for as long as she could. You can trace when she started to become ill from looking at her pieces.”

Linda inherited this passion for making pottery from her grandmother and her own mother. She’s been doing it for over 45 years: black-on-black and red polychrome traditional pots, intertwined figurines, carved wedding vases, storytellers, plates, animals. And hand-coiled miniature nativity sets. “My mother started making those sets. Hers were more the kind with a sheepherder holding a cane, and his sheep, with trees and a camel, a cow or donkey. She inspired me with her work, so I tried it and it just grew from there. For mine, I was looking for something different.”

The style of her nativity sets has evolved over time. Because she’s halfNavajo, Linda’s little Mary and Joseph figures sometimes resemble those Arizona relatives—Joseph, for instance, with a little bun. Mary may have braids or she may wear her long black hair flowing down her back. The family might be wrapped in blankets with traditional Navajo designs. Linda’s baby Jesus is sometimes swaddled to a cradleboard.

And then she experienced something that inspired a radical change to her wise men. “I danced the Santa Clara Pueblo Buffalo Dance. Actually doing it was a

very special time for me. I felt the dance. It was very different from watching—more uplifting to your spirit.” Consequently, she began modeling her wise men figures as buffalo, deer and eagle dancers, each wearing his traditional headgear and robe or blanket.

“All their faces are different, if you look at them closely.

This one’s singing; this one’s playing his drum.”

Each wise man exudes his own particular wisdom, a believable authority that’s amazing for a figure the size of your thumb.

Some of the sets are done in black-on-black style; the others are red polychrome. Each figure is elaborately painted, carved, detailed. Some hold intricately carved pots the size of a small button, complete with tiny round opening. “I get the idea for each one, and then I just start working, pinching here and there. The clay starts taking the form and I just go with it. Their heads might be in different positions, or the way this mother is holding her baby—not all do it the same. I see that in the clay.” It’s as if she spends quality time with each one, focusing on them her generous attention, her sense of wonder and delight. As a result, Linda’s nativity figures possess a quiet majesty, a grace, a distinct feeling of the great Southwest, from whence they came. And they also, like her grandmother’s animals, impart a childlike sense of whimsy.

“Last night,” she says, “my granddaughter was looking at some little plates I’d made for the sets.

Before I knew it, she picked one up and put it in her mouth, real fast.” Linda laughs. “She likes the taste of the clay. We all do. Everyone eats a little of the broken pieces.” The clay itself comes from right there in Santa Clara. “The process of mixing it I learned from my grandmother and am passing onto my daughter and grandchildren. We all go out together and just start walking, to gather what we need. It’s fun; we enjoy being outside as a family, the kids picking up whatever they find along the way to bring home—dried flowers, stones. Cornmeal plays a part in this, too.” She always

includes a little ceremony, she says, giving thanks for her life, her children and her healthy family.

“Pottery’s been good to me. I make my sets in miniature, because it’s a size people can afford. I sell them all, but some I have kept a little bit longer than others—I’m guilty of that! I like to set them on my table, turn them, look at them, admire them until it’s time to send them off,” she admits, sounding like a proud mother.

Linda has fond childhood Christmas memories.

“My mother liked to cook. We’d push all the tables together in the living room, and she’d invite all the relatives. The whole table would be full of food grown in our fields. My grandfather grew his field every year—blue corn, melons, my parents grew all kinds of vegetables—and we’d harvest fruit from the trees that my mother, my grandma and me canned.

“We had a Christmas tree. My mother was active in the Catholic Church so we’d go with her. And my grandfather, every year, would light those little bonfires, made with pitch wood that would burn brighter in the days leading up to Christmas for the coming of Christ.

I’d stand around the fire with him, feeling nice and warm.”

Asked what makes her nativity sets special to people, Linda says she believes they really enjoy something different, the sense of what is sacred in the Native perspective combined with the familiar story of innocence and light that we connect with the nativity scene.

Because Linda digs the clay from her native pueblo land, works it by hand, letting it inform each figure, and fires it outside, her nativity sets carry a powerful, and simple, message. It’s a message of our sacred relationship with the land, the sky, the animals and the elements, passed down through the generations from grandmother to daughter to granddaughter.

Linda Jo Povi Askan’s Nativity scenes and other works in clay can be seen at Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery, located at 100 West San Francisco Street in Santa Fe. 505.986.1234. www.andreafisherpottery.com.

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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The

Enchanted

Forest

story by DEVON JACKSON

photos by ELLEN MILLER-GOINS

T

he Enchanted Forest Cross-Country is one of those places—one of those experiences of place—that not only lives up to its seemingly outdated name (in an age of manufactured forests that are neither enchanted nor enchanting) but offers what forests have been offering up for eons in fable after fable after myth after play after fantasy after epic, from Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Harry Potter: the possibility of liminality and transformation, wonder and awe. And downright fun.

Not at all as intense or risky or exhilaratingly fast-paced as the downhill skiing and snowboarding at Taos or Santa Fe (or even Ruidoso and Sandia Peak), what Enchanted Forest provides is the chance to slow down and smell the ponderosa. “We’re a groomed facility,” says charmed owner Geoff Goins. “That means we break up the hard pack. We pack out snow. We set up the routes and clear and patrol the trails. We put all our effort and energy into creating a place where you can just ski. There’s something really freeing about that.”

Situated just three miles east of Red River on the Carson National Forest, Enchanted Forest is New Mexico’s largest full-service cross-country ski area, with over 30 kilometers of trails groomed for both classic and freestyle skiing, and 18 kilometers

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DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

of trails groomed just for snowshoeing (plus a few other trails earmarked especially for people who want to bring along their dogs).

Enchanted Forest was founded in 1985

by Goins’s father-in-law, John Miller, a Texan who spent his summers in Red River, on land his father bought in 1935. Miller came up with the idea for his winter wonderland while attending a cross-country convention at California’s Royal Gorge, the mother of all Nordic ski areas in the U.S. Until that moment at Royal Gorge, Miller and his wife, Judy, had been operating Red River’s Powderpuff Mountain, a mom-and-pop– style beginner’s ski area. In addition to his Powderpuff gig, Miller had also been leading backcountry ski tours for years.

But his Royal Gorge epiphany told him that if he were to plot a route and groom a trail (or more) through Carson National Forest, they would come. So he returned to New Mexico, took out his compass and set out over the forest’s old logging roads. He also applied for a permit with the U.S. Forest Service, who just happened to be wanting to do something constructive with their forestland right at that moment. Enchanted Forest is now the state’s largest cross-country ski spot, attracting more than 3,000 visitors a year.

Groomed with one side tracked for classic cross-country skiing (diagonal stride skiing) and the other side smoothed for snowshoeing and freestyle skate skiing (which uses a motion similar to that used by ice skaters), Enchanted Forest has lessons for beginning, intermediate and advanced skiers. There’s a full-service rental and service shop in the warming hut/snack bar, as well as a second

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warming hut along the trail system, plus picnic areas here and there.

At 9,800 feet above sea level, the area boasts an average of 230-plus inches of snow every year, and last year it accommodated upwards of 300. Nevertheless, New Mexicans, particularly Albuquerqueans and Santa Feans, continue to call up Goins and ask if he’s gotten any snow. Duh? “The local people don’t believe there’s snow up here,” says Goins, a native of Washington State who’d never been to New Mexico or its mountains before meeting his future wife, the Millers’ daughter Ellen, at Mt. Rainier in the summer of 1989, when she’d gone up to work at Snoqualmie Pass. “I was 21, she was 27,” recalls Goins. “When she told me about her parents and their place here, I got a job from her dad working here before we got engaged.”

Mystified as to why New Mexicans who live at lower elevations wouldn’t think that a place 2,000 to 3,000 feet higher up wouldn’t get any snow, Goins nonetheless responds with a knowing sense of, You’ll see, just come up here. You’ll see. “We also get a lot of questions about our base,” says Goins, again in disbelief. “But once you get everything covered up, the base doesn’t matter. Not for cross-country skiing. Not for snowshoeing.”

Having encouraged his in-laws into retirement last year, Goins, along with Ellen, only wants to enhance the enchantment wherever possible. How, though, can you top the already inviting snowdrifts that swirl around the aspens and the pines? How do you photoshop into existence views like those of Wheeler Peak (New Mexico’s highest point, at 13,161 feet) or Gold Hill or Touch Me Not Peak? How do you beat the experience

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of seeing unorchestrated elk and deer and coyote in their natural element? What you don’t do is, you don’t Disneyfy it. You don’t try to artificially enhance what’s already naturally spectacular. What you do do is, you give people easier, better, safer access to all that great stuff that’s already there.

So. Having brought in the same state-of-the-art groomer used at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, Enchanted Forest offers visitors smooth skating lanes and a firm durable track for skiing on.

But there’s also yurt camping, candlelight walks, pulks (Scandinavian sleds for pulling along the kiddos), a New Year’s Eve potluck, and headlamp snowshoe tours, as well as the ever-popular Luminaria Ski Tour on Christmas Eve (featuring a three-kilometer trail lined with 600 farolitos, so people can ski or snowshoe by candlelight and, when they’re done, feast on hot cocoa and s’mores) and the Just Desserts Eat & Ski on February 25 (when guests can ski to any or all of three different stations and try desserts that have been brought up to those particular places by local restaurants).

Goins relies mostly on word of mouth and a cast of diehard regulars to attract folks to the area, and in the past three to four years, the internet and the various social networking media have given Enchanted Forest a big boost in visibility, if not attendance.

After the UNM ski team spent the weekend training there in midNovember, they posted pictures of themselves doing their thing at Enchanted Forest on their Facebook page. By the next morning, it had made the front page of Norway’s largest online skiing magazine.

Goins recalls the remarks of one recent newcomer lured to the Forest by a friend. “She said, ‘Why pay for cross-country skiing? I don’t get it.’” Here, again, he’s got that knowing sense (You’ll see. Just wait. You’ll see.) in his voice. “Then she went out there. And she got it. She loved it. Because here, you can just ski. We have 14-foot– wide trails. You’re on a high plateau. You have these fantastic views in every direction. There’s wildlife. There’s no worry about getting lost. People have that sense of security up here.”

All of which allow people to just be—where they are, who they are and in one of the more magical places in the state.

Who: You What: Volunteer Where: St. Elizabeth Shelter When: Tuesdays or Fridays Why: To provide meals to your homeless neighbors in need. Resource Center has moved to the old Pete’s Pets building on Cerrillos Road, and we need more volunteers to help prepare lunches.

The Enchanted Forest is three miles east of Red River on NM Highway 38 in the Carson National Forest. 575.754.6112. www. enchantedforestxc.com.

www.steshelter.org

You can find out more by emailing volunteer@steshelter.org or calling Rosario at 505-982-6611.

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Still

hungry?

story by CAITLIN RICHARDS

Tree House Linzer Cookies

A

s a child I was a serious chocoholic, and I remember one Christmas receiving Sandra Boynton’s Chocolate: The Consuming Passion as a gift. One of the recipes it contains is for chocolate chip cookies, and the step listed after “mix ingredients” is, “It is traditional at this point to sample the batter before proceeding.” That was followed by the more conventional line, “Drop the remaining batter from a teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake the cookie about 10 minutes.”

I confess to still enjoying the batter almost as much as the cookie. For a natural air freshener, few things can beat the smell of cookies baking, and for tradition, few can beat baking with loved ones, be it grandparents, siblings, children or a few good friends. For our holiday issue, localflavor went to four favorite bakers to see what special treats they were cooking up.

from Maria Bustamante-Bernal of Tree House Pastry Shop & Café

Linzer cookies, the bite-sized cousins of Austria’s best-known dessert, the Linzer torte, are a wonderful part of the holiday season. “They’re our most popular Christmas cookie,” says Maria. “These elegant European sandwich cookies look great and taste even better, and they’re surprisingly fun to make, especially with a couple of friends.”

Makes about 35 cookies For the dough: 6 ounces butter at room temperature 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg at room temperature 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 cup hazelnuts, roasted, peeled and cooled (Hint: toast nuts until they are aromatic and then wrap them in a towel and rub. The skins fall right off!

Don’t worry if it’s not perfect.)

For the filling: raspberry jam (We use Heidi’s, a local organic jam that is out of this world!)

For dusting tops: powdered sugar Grind the hazelnuts with about half a cup of the flour until you have a fine powder. Do not allow to become oily. Set aside. Cream together the butter and the sugar until mix is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix in. Add the egg and mix in until mixture is once again light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the hazelnut flour, the remaining all-purpose flour and the cinnamon. Mix into the butter/sugar/egg and combine until a dough forms.

Divide the dough in half. Roll half the dough into an eighth of an inch (or slightly thicker) and cut out two-inch circles using a round cookie cutter. (You can get creative here; there are many different shapes you can use, as long as you have a smaller version of the larger shape.) Cut out as many circles as you can (about 35) and place on a cookie sheet. With the remaining dough, roll out to the same thickness and cut out circles using the same cutter as before.

Once these are cut, take a second, smaller cutter and cut out center circles.

They will look like doughnuts. Place these on a separate cookie sheet. Bake the cookies at 350° until cookies are slightly golden around the edges, about five minutes. Watch closely, as cookies can burn easily. Cool completely and set aside. Turn over the bottoms (the cookies without holes) and spread about a teaspoon of jam on each one. Before covering, dust the cookies with holes in the middle with powdered sugar using a sieve. Place a top on each cookie. The jam should show through. Eat and enjoy!

Find more of Maria’s cookies and pastries at the Tree House Pastry Shop & Café, 1600 Lena St. A2, Santa Fe, 505.474.5543, www.treehousepastry.com.

60

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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Chocolate-Peanut Butter Chip Tamales

Espresso Chocolate Brownies

Localflavor’s own Chef Johnny Vee says, “Nothing seems more festive to me than a plate of tamales; they’re delicious edible packages all wrapped up. I include this recipe in both my Annual Tamale Roll class (Saturday, December 17 at 10 a.m.) and my Kid’s Christmas Cookie Class (Saturday, December 17 at 3 p.m.) Happy Holidays!”

Makes 40-50 small tamales

Charlotte Rivera grew up on a peach farm in North East Texas, where her mom did all the baking for the family. Charlotte started her career as a baker in her mother’s kitchen. “I learned just by doing it” she says. They milked the cows and churned the butter, so Charlotte is certainly familiar with natural ingredients. Knowing some people might be uncomfortable seeing a gluten free recipe, Charlotte thoughtfully added specifics in her brownie recipe. Between the chocolate and espresso, you’ll never even miss the flour!

For the husks:

For the brownies:

You will need 40 to 50 corn husks. Place the husks in a large deep bowl and cover with hot water. Place a plate on the husks so that they are submerged in the water. Allow to soften for 20 minutes. When soft, separate the husks and remove any of the corn silk from the husks. Keep in the water as you make the tamales.

2/3 cup gluten-free flour mix, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (available at Vitamin Cottage and La Montanita Co-op) 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate 4 ounces semisweet chocolate 1/2 cup butter 1 cup of sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 eggs 2 Tablespoons instant espresso or 1 shot of espresso

from Chef Johnny Vee at Las Cosas Cooking School

For the filling: 2 boxes brownie mix, any brand 3 Tablespoons masa 1 cup flour 1 stick unsalted butter, melted 1 ¼ cups Peanut Butter Morsel Chips

from Charlotte Rivera of Tune Up Café

For the ganache: Make the brownies as per the directions on the box adding the masa and flour before adding the wet ingredients.

Assembling the tamales: Tear some tamale ties from a few of the husks. Take one husk and open it with the narrow end away from you. Brush interior of the husk lightly with the melted butter. Spread a 3-inch by 3-inch square of brownie/masa mixtures one inch from the bottom. Take 6 of the chips and place them in a narrow strip going from the bottom of the tamale toward the top. Roll the husk over the masa to completely cover the chips. Fold the bottom of the tamale up and twist the top. Tie both top and bottom of tamales with husk ties.

To cook the tamales: Place tamales vertically into a steamer. Add 3 inches of water to the pan. Place a penny in the bottom of the pan, this will rattle and warn you if you are running out of water during the steaming time.

8 ounces chocolate 4 Tablespoons butter 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup cold heavy cream 1 Tablespoon instant espresso or 1 shot of espresso To make brownies: Preheat oven to 325˚. Line an 8” square pan with foil and grease with cooking spray.

Combine the first four dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt both chocolates with butter in a sauce pan over low heat. After chocolate is mostly melted, whisk in sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs one at a time until smooth and glossy. Add espresso. Add dry ingredients; mix until dry and wet are just combined. Pour batter in pan, bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool.

To make ganache:

Steam the tamales over boiling water for 40 minutes or until masa is set up.

Serve drizzled with chocolate and vanilla sauces.

Ginger Cookies from Dave Merriman of Java Joe’s

Dave and his 11-year-old son Hunter came up with this recipe. Baking together, especially around the holidays, is a tradition for these two.

Dave, who first learned to bake from his mother, says he’s always had the desire to bake, and even though it’s now his job, he still loves to bake at home. “It feels good,” he says, to create something tasty for the customers.

Makes a dozen decent-size or 24 small cookies 3/4 cup butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 1/4 cup molasses 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stir in sugar. Whisk until sugar is melted. Once melted, let cool to room temperature. Whip chocolate mixture with heavy cream and espresso in a Kitchen Aide or by hand until creamy and glossy.

Spread ganache on top of brownies and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Charlotte’s delicious baking can be sampled at Tune Up Café, 1115 Hickox Street, Santa Fe, 505.983.7060, www.tuneupcafe.com.

<<<

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon salt Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses. Mix the remaining dry ingredients separately and then mix well with the wet. Roll into golf ball–sized balls and then roll in a little sugar.

Bake at 350° for approximately 12 minutes until puffy and lightly browned.

Enjoy these and other delicious treats from Dave at either Java Joe’s location, 2801 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, 505.474.5282 or 604 North Guadalupe, Santa Fe, 505.795.7775, www.javajoessantafe.com.

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

DECEMBER 2011-JANUARY 2012

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Mark Kiffin, James Beard Award, Best Chef of the Southwest Reservations 982.4353

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