Local Flavor September 2011

SEPTEMBER 2011

Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Taos

&Chile

Wine

2011

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SEPTEMBER 2011

magazine.com

GOURMET PICNIC SUPPLIES Dry cured chorizo, aged genuine Manchego cheese Manzanilla olives stuffed with lemons, anchovies, or blue cheese canned Bonito tuna, sardines, smoked mackerel Feta stuffed Greek peppers, artichoke salad stylish toothpicks, olive wood plates and utensils Vichy Catalan sparkling water, Inca Kola Paella pans, hand painted ceramics, recycled green glassware clay cookware, cookbooks from Morocco to Mexico chocolates, cookies, and Chupa Chups!

The Spanish Table S e p t e m b e r 2 1 - 2 5 . 2 0 11

109 N G uadalupe, Santa Fe, NM M on - Sat 10 am to 6 pm ; Sun 11 am to 5 pm (505) 986-0243 w w w .spanishtable.com w w w .spanishtablew ines.com

prouD pArtiCipANt iN the 21St ANNuAl WiNe & Chile FieStA Featuring Rosés of the Fiesta, ideal for pairing with our signature salads, built upon fresh, organic greens from our ten-acre farm in Nambé.

Presents Chef Lars Liebisch, Fissler USA’s official chef, for three demonstration classes featuring Fissler pressure cookers and the Hurom Slow Juicer.

Savory soups, griddled sandwiches, a dozen wines by the glass, & housemade desserts supplement the salad bistro menu.

joiN uS For Flight NightS StArtiNg iN oCtober!

709 Don Cubero Alley Santa Fe, NM 87505 505.820.9205 www.vinaigretteonline.com

Friday, September 16, 3:30pm Soups, Chilies and Stews: Pressure Cooking Quick and Simple Saturday, September 17, 10am Healthy but Delicious Saturday, September 17, 3pm Meals under 30 minutes: Gourmet under Pressure

Class Fee $40 and discounts on Fissler and Hurom will be offered on the day of the class.

Call the store for more details or check our website.

181 Paseo de Peralta, DeVargas Center • Santa Fe (505) 988-3394 • www.lascosascooking.com

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Wine & Chile 2011

inside: ON OUR COVER:

Chefs of the 2011 Wine & Chile Fiesta Buzz | by Patty and Christie pg. 10 What’s in, what’s out, what’s hot, what’s not … that’s the buzz!

The Big Buzz | by Chef Johnny Vee pg. 14 A madcap recap of the past culinary year—it’s the annual Big Buzz!

Heitz Cellar | by Greg O’Byrne pg. 20 Localflavor salutes Heitz Cellar, this year’s Honorary Winery Achievement Award winner at Wine and Chile Fiesta.

Sake to Me Baby!

by Christie Chisholm

pg. 24

Sake. It’s a really big deal. Who knew?

Take It to the Limit | by Elizabeth Tannen

pg. 28

Eleven thousand square miles of the Land of Enchantment, all in one sweeping view. Are you brave enough to take the ride?

Rooftop Party pg. 32 We just had to share these candids from our annual party on the rooftop. More than 100 chefs joined us on the rooftop of La Fonda to create our amazing cover.

I Heard It on the Grapevine

All the Fun of the Fair

Each year more than 80 vintners come to Santa Fe to make our Wine and Chile Fiesta one of the best in the nation. This year, localflavor gives you a scoop on what’s going on in their world. And remember, you heard it on the grapevine.

Every year since 1881 Albuquerque has played host to our wonderful state fair. Take a bite of local flavor from all over our state—it’s delicious!

by James Selby

pg. 40

Kitchen Renaissance | by Gail Snyder pg. 44

The farm to restaurant movement is the single most important trend of this decade for chefs. Where do we stand?

Notable Names in Santa Fe

by Tania Casselle

pg. 59

Who’s Who on the Cover pg. 62 Who do you know? Who do you love? They’re all here in the “Who’s Who.” What Was I Drinking? | by Tom Hill

pg. 64

Match wits with our resident wine wizard. Bet you can’t answer all ten questions correctly!

Susan’s Fine Wine and Spirits

Say Cheese! | by Tania Casselle pg. 66 No one knows more about the pairing of artisinal cheeses and fine wine than Laura Werlin. She shares a few golden rules of pairing with localflavor readers— and there’s lots more to learn at her Wine and Chile seminar.

One of Santa Fe’s most respected wine buyers also happens to possess one of Santa Fe’s most respected palates. Whether you’re a novice or a certified wine geek, Susan Eagan and her great staff always deliver.

Still Hungry? | by Tania Casselle pg. 68 We were so taken by Laura Werlin’s cheese expertise that we persuaded her to share four of her favorite recipes.

by Caitlin Richards

pg. 50

In a town that glitters with culinary stars, there are a handful that are in their own constellation. Meet the most notable culinary names at Wine and Chile.

by Philip de Give

pg. 54

SEPTEMBER 2011 ~ P u b l i s h e r s Patty & Peter Karlovitz E d i t o r Patty Karlovitz P u b l i s h e r ’s A s s i s t a n t Caitlin Richards A r t D i r e c t o r Jasmine Quinsier C o v e r p h o t o : Kate Russell A d v e r t i s i n g : Michelle Moreland 505.699.7369.

Mary Brophy 505.231.3181. Lynn Kaufman 505.417.8876. Anita L. Feight 505.235.8642 P r e p r e s s : Scott Edwards A d D e s i g n : Alex Hanna D i s t r i b u t i o n : Southwest Circulation L o c a l F l a v o r 2 2 3 N o r t h G u a d a l u p e # 4 4 2 , S a n t a F e , N M 8 7 5 0 1 Te l : 5 0 5 . 9 8 8 . 7 5 6 0 F a x : 9 8 8 . 9 6 6 3 E - m a i l : l o c a l f l a v o r @ e a r t h l i n k . n e t W e b s i t e : w w w . l o c a l f l a v o r m a g a z i n e . c o m localflavorwelcomesnewwriters.Sendwritingsamplesto localflavor@earthlink.net localflavor is published 11 times a year: Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan. S u b s c r i p t i o n s $ 2 4 p e r y e a r . Mail check to above address. © Edible Adventure Co.‘96. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used without the permission of Edible Adventure Co. localflavor accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to be reputable, but can’t guarantee it. All editorial information is gathered from sources understood to be reliable, but printed without responsibility for erroneous, incorrect, or omitted information.

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Taste the New Southwest Inspired by Northern New Mexico and infused with local and organically sourced ingredients, Chef Charles Dale’s new menu blends a sense of balance, a sense of place with a sense of comfort to create a new twist on Contemporary American Cuisine.

Terra restaurant is pleased to be hosting two wine dinners for Santa Fe Wine & Chile* The Hess Collection on Thursday, Sept. 22nd at 7 pm Grgich Hills on Friday, Sept. 23rd at 7 pm

877.262.4666 198 State Road 592, Santa Fe encantadoresort.com *Advanced reservations required. To book call 505-946-5800.

Theletter

Agave Lounge. Santa Fe’s first true nightlife experience.

Opens Sept. 6 at Eldorado Hotel & Spa. Signature Cocktails Locally Crafted Beers Tequilas | Small Plates Premium Wine List Complimentary Parking

Open 11:30 am - close 309 W. San Francisco | 505.995.4545 |

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AgaveLoungeNM

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I’m writing this during the last week of August—always a time of quiet reflection for me as another one of my birthdays slips by, another eagerly anticipated Indian Market (always more richly creative than the last) unfolds, the curtain drops on the final opera of a truly spectacular season, the children are back at school and the staff of localflavor is nearly finished producing one of our largest issues of the year, Wine and Chile.

The Wine and Chile Fiesta comes at the perfect time. There’s not even a moment to lament about things not savored over the summer or the prospect of a quiet winter ahead; we have a fiesta to celebrate! The bacchanalian event is legal this year—twenty-one years of age and more feisty than ever. With more than 90 world-class wineries coming to town and 75 of our greatest restaurants competing to create an absolutely unforgettable signature dish to serve at the Grand Tasting, emotions are bound to run high. You can see it on the chefs’ faces as they come to the rooftop of La Fonda, where we do the annual Wine and Chile cover shoot. Over 100 chefs and sous chefs came this year to proudly represent their restaurant, their kitchen, their profession. Nothing gives me greater pleasure during the year than to represent the hospitality community, and I think that you can see it on my face as well.

Although the Grand Tasting is officially sold out, there’s usually a small but brisk last-minute exchange of tickets if you’re lucky enough to know someone who knows someone. Reservations at the wine dinners are easier to land, since there are more than 50 wine dinners scheduled between Wednesday and Friday night of the festivities. The wine dinners are heady affairs, sometimes with the owner of the winery or vintner himself there to talk about his passion and vision of winemaking. Some chefs have made lifelong friends with wineries in this way and plan spectacular menus to pair with the wines. Even the more casual or modest places will wow you on this, their Cinderella night to shine.

There are also luncheons, cooking classes, cooking demonstrations, tastings, culinary tours and a host of wine seminars. Most of the seminars are led by the nationally acclaimed Master Sommeliers Joe Spellman, Emily Wines and Tim Gaiser. If you love wine, these seminars are the chance of a lifetime to learn about and taste the finest. (A little sip of things to anticipate: Kathleen Heitz Meyers of Heitz Wine Cellars will host a six-vintage vertical tasting of their finest Cabernet Sauvignons from 2001 through 2006.)

We also introduce a new column entitled I Heard it on the Grapevine—a take on our annual Big Buzz column that gives a rundown of all things culinary in Santa Fe. Like the Big Buzz, it’s a fun recap of the comings and goings of the major players, but instead of chefs, this one shines the spotlight on the everchanging world of the wine makers, growers and wineries who are at the very heart of Wine and Chile.

One of my favorite stories in this issue is not limited to the Santa Fe culinary community but includes Albuquerque and Taos as well. The most profound change in restaurants in the past decade has been the deepening relationship between chefs and local farmers and ranchers. This is, of course, a nationwide movement and one to which many restaurants give no more than a superficial nod. Not so here. More than fifteen years ago a lively, eccentric chef named Elizabeth Barry brought a group of chefs and farmers together to take the first step toward creating an alliance. Localflavor was there—and we are here now to celebrate the fruition of this movement. Elizabeth eventually turned exclusively to farming, and the fledgling alliance went by the wayside. But the seed had been planted. Thank you, Elizabeth, and thank you to all who came after.

The issue is not all food and wine. We also head to Albuquerque to enjoy another annual September institution: the New Mexico State Fair. Undoubtedly the most diverse of all celebrations, the fair is 130 years young this year and as much fun as ever. If you’ve never been, you won’t be able to resist after reading this story. If it’s already a family tradition, you’ll smile at writer Tania Casselle’s very British insights. If you want to read about another Albuquerque landmark often enjoyed by more international visitors than New Mexicans, we have that, too. “Take It to the Limit” takes you on a breathtaking ride on the tram.

Ah, summer, sweet summer—you are close to being only a memory. We have a fiesta to celebrate!

Thebuzz

by Christie Chisholm

Photo: Kate Russell

By now, all the locals know that Gruet Winery puts out some of the best wine this side of the equator. No New Mexico New Year’s or birthday party is complete without a glass of its light and sparkly Rose. Now Gruet’s released a brand-new still wine to add to its already stellar selection. But the 2010 Chenin Blanc isn’t just any addition. Made with 100 percent estate-grown fruit from vines a quarter of a century old, it was blessed by perfect ripening conditions and fermented in stainless steel, helping it retain its fresh, bright, citrus aromas.

With a silky texture, an ever-so-slight cream quality and notes of green apple, pear and lemon peel, the Chenin Blanc is perfectly paired with oyster, seafood or sweet and spicy Thai. Pick up a bottle and see for yourself. www.gruetwinery. com.

| Laurent Gruet Ooh, Mother Road Theatre Company has a new show. This is exciting, because everything I’ve seen by this still relatively new company has been exceptional.

This one promises to be no different.

Theater veterans Vic Browder and Julia Thudium direct Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, based on a story Miller once overheard in his Brooklyn neighborhood. It goes a little something like this: Eddie the longshoreman is in love with his niece (not by blood).

Eddie’s also got two houseguests in the form of his dead wife’s Italian relatives.

The niece, Catherine, falls in love with the youngest Italian and proposes to him.

As you might imagine, chaos ensues.

This promises to be a good one, so don’t miss out. It runs September 9 to

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October 2 at The Filling Station (1024 Fourth Street SW, 505.243.0596). Tickets are $18 general and $12 for students and seniors. For all other relevant information and to buy tickets in advance, visit www. motherroad.org.

A feast of locally farmed and organic meats, fruits, vegetables, grains and spirits, prepared by some of the finest chefs in the 505. A place setting at the incomparable agriculture beauty of Los Poblanos Inn and Cultural Center. Your hunger for food and philanthropy sated in one fell swoop. That’s what you’ll get at the Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust’s annual Harvest Dinner. RGALT lives with the purpose of protecting New Mexico’s resources and rural quality of life for Bernalillo, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro and Valencia counties. Comprised of farmers from the Middle Rio Grande Valley, the nonprofit works to save farms, ranches, wildlife and open space. At its yearly fundraising dinner, you can help keep all of that going and get something in return.

Until September 4, you can get a ticket for $90 (or two for $160), and after that date you can get one for $100 (or $175 for two). The event starts at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 18, and features the talented chefs of Savoy, Seasons Rotisserie, Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro and Los Poblanos.

4803 Rio Grande NW, www.rgalt.org.

frites; fresh grilled naan; and rock shrimp, avocado and corn fritters, to name a few.

Want another taste of good Zinc news?

The restaurant is now open seven nights a week, having added dinner service on Sunday, and The Cellar Bar’s got live music four nights a week, since adding Fridays. So there you go. 3009 Central NE, 505.254.ZINC (9462), www. zincabq.com.

There’s another promising show hitting the stage this month. Tricklock Company unleashes the full performance of Cloud Cover, or Conversations With Harry (an early bit of it was shown at an Excavations performance at last year’s Revolutions International Theatre Festival). As Tricklock’s website says, the piece “began as an ‘experiment in love,’” and has evolved into something that captures human connection “through storytelling, French cheeses and the unique properties of a roasted shallot.”

Personally, I want to know more about the shallot. Catch it from September 22 through October 9 at the Tricklock space on UNM campus (1705 Mesa Vista NE). Tickets are $15 general and $12 for students and seniors. 505.254.8393, www.tricklock.com.

Photo: Sergio Salvador

Albuquerque

won’t just help dogs, though. Research has shown that dogs and humans get the same types of cancers, which means the more work done toward curing one group, the more it will benefit the other.

On Sunday, September 25, head to Rotary Park in Bernalillo at noon to register for $25 (or register beforehand for only $20). The walk begins at 1 p.m.

Other than receiving a nice endorphin glow and a sense of altruism, you’ll get a gift bag, a Puppy Up! bracelet and a bandana. There will also be live music, guest speakers, demonstration, vendors, adoptable pets, games, a Memorial Wall and a very fuzzy grand marshal. Preregister and find out all you need to know at www.2milliondogs.org.

It’s a day for good deeds. Another way you can spend your Sunday on September 25 is at Project Share Inc.’s 17th annual Full Hearts Filling Empty Bowls fundraiser. Project Share is devoted to feeding Albuquerque’s hungry and homeless. For only $25, you get a bowl made by a New Mexico potter, soup from some of the best restaurants in town, breads and desserts from local bakeries, live music, a silent auction and more. It’s from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1515 Yale SE. 505.452.0585, www.projectshareinc.org.

Downtowners rejoice: A brand-new café has opened up, and its extensive menu centers around local cheese and produce and natural, nitrate-free meats.

Stop by Café Lush for breakfast and get the Lushaladas (stacked enchiladas served with chile, cheese and breakfast potatoes and topped with two eggs), the Breakfast Pizza or your classic morning time burrito. Lunchtime offers a bevy of sandwiches, wraps, pizzas and salads (such as the sweet potato–beet salad— mmm), with house-made dressings and aiolis. And don’t forget about house-made desserts, like the terribly tantalizing fresh blueberry espresso ice cream. Stop by and give this addition to the Downtown scene a hungry welcome. 700 Tijeras NW, 505.508.0164, www.cafelushabq.com.

Santa Fe | Los Poblanos

In case you needed another reason to go to Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro, here it is.

A couple months ago the Albuquerque hotspot started a happy hour­–like Intermezzo in the main dining room.

What is that? Well, from 3 to 5 p.m.

Monday through Saturday, you’ll get European-inspired beer- and winefriendly snacks with specials on martinis, champagne and other wonderful things like mojitos. Snacks come in the form of spiced amber beer nuts; mussels and magazine.com

| Tricklock’s Cloud Cover One out of every three dogs gets cancer. Out of those, half will die. That depressing thought comes courtesy of 2MillionDogs.org, but don’t worry, the organization’s not just going to leave you thinking about sick puppies without also offering you a ray of hope. At the 2MillionDog Puppy Up New Mexico!

Walk and Fundraiser, the nonprofit will ask you and your pooch to walk for canine cancer research and comparative oncology funds. Those donated dollars

by Christie Chisholm The Eldorado Hotel & Spa is bringing a new offering to Santa Fe’s bar and dining scene. The Agave Lounge is slated to open September 6 inside the awardwinning restaurant The Old House.

With a menu of shared plates, premium cocktails, specialty martinis and a lengthy wine list, the lounge holds great promise.

Meet some friends for a communal snack or drop by to watch the game on the flatscreens. Also, if you hurry and visit the lounge’s website at www.eldoradohotel. com/dining/agave-lounge, you can

download and print out a coupon that will get you one free shared plate of your choice. 309 W. San Francisco, 505.988.4455.

accessories, she’s spent the decade growing her product and her name. Stop by to feel the fabrics, gaze adoringly on the gowns and wish her a happy anniversary.

505.986.1444, www.laurasheppherd.com.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is returning home to finish its 15th season with one last encore performance. After traveling to Chicago, Montreal and Wolf Trap, Virginia, ASFB is back in Santa Fe with three treats: a new ballet called Over Glow by Jorma Elo, the whimsical Kiss Me Goodnight by Spanish choreographer Cayetano Soto and the iconic Stamping Ground by Jiri Kylian.

The single night of performance is this Saturday, September 3, at The Lensic (211 West San Francisco) and it starts at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $20 to $72.

505.988.1234, www.aspensantafeballet. com.

| Designed by Laura Sheppherd Santa Fe treasure Laura Sheppherd is celebrating 10 years at her flagship store on 65 West Marcy. In a space that embraces couture (did you know that one of her dresses graced the red carpet this spring?) along with cozy and luxe sweaters, jackets and coats and irresistible

Photo: John Cornicello

It’s a blend of violin and guitar, history and performance. Los Martinez is made up of renowned violinist Lorenzo Martinez and vocalist/guitarist Rob Martinez. Together, they intertwine a collection of redondos, polkas, corridos and marchas with insight into the history behind the music. Lorenzo was a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award Fellowship recipient, and Rob has made a name for himself nationally as a historian and genealogist as well as a performer.

Catch them both at The Maria Benitez Cabaret at The Lodge (750 North St. Francis) from September 8 through 18.

Tickets are $45 and $55, with some discounts available, and shows start at 8:30 p.m. Get your tickets at www. ticketssantafe.org or 505.988.1234.

| Ricochet We told you about Rancho Viejo Village Market a few months back—about the emporium’s gourmet food items, artisan olive oils, fresh-baked Plaza Bakery breads and wines from around the globe. The “little market that could” has started a weekly event that’s fun, free and something you probably want to know about. Every Friday from 5 to 6:30 p.m., Rancho Viejo breaks open three or four different kinds of wines for tastings and a handful of different cheeses from Boar’s Head and Bountiful Cow. It’s simple and delicious.

Go in for a sampling at 55 Canada del Rancho, Suite F. 505.474.2828, www. ranchoviejovillagemarket.com.

Photos: Gabriella Marks

| Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

You really shouldn’t miss this one.

Ricochet (a self-described “contemporary circus”) is coming to town for a few days this month to show off Smoke and Mirrors, a performance that’s part acrobatics, part dance, part contortion and part high-flying feats. The theme?

Examining “the current state of America in the pursuit of happiness.” Pursue your happiness and go see this show. But don’t bring the kids unless they’re 13 or over, because this spectacular tidbit includes glimpses of flesh and adult themes. It’s at The Armory for the Arts Theatre (1050 Old Pecos Trail, 505.984.1370) on September 23 to 24 and September 30 to Oct. 1. Tickets are between $15 and $25 on a sliding scale. Find out all about it and look at some gorgeous pictures on its website, www.ricochet.name.

| Jane Winter of Rancho Viejo Village Market

These are the things that get a nerd like me really excited. The Santa Fe Antiquarian Book Show is setting up shop again at El Museo Cultural (555 Camino de la Familia) on September 30 and October 1. What is an antiquarian book show, you ask? It’s a place where more than 30 dealers from across the Southwest and beyond bring out-of-print books, first editions, photographs, prints, maps and all sort of other ephemera. In other words: It’s awesome. A few authors will be around to sign books, and you’ll be able to find the requisite coffee and snacks on site. Go and soak up the glory of it all. For all the information you could possibly need, call 505.983.0088 or visit www.santafebookshow.com.

have time to sign up. It’s on Saturday, October 1, at Buffalo Thunder. If you really want to feel good, consider being a big brother or big sister—there’s a “little” just waiting for you. 505.983.8360 or visiting www.bbbsnorthernnm.org.

New York Deli has gotten in the habit of presenting “Music in the Park” every Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at its Upper Eastside location (420 Catron, 505.982.8900). Live light jazz filters through the “Taste of Central Park” patio, mixing with the sounds of the neighboring stream. These weekend treats will continue through September, while the weather is nice. Check out its website to find out which bands will be playing every week. www.nydelisf.com.

Taos

Nia addicts and aficionados, this is for you. The mother of Nia (aka the woman who co-created the exercise form, which combines martial, dance and healing arts), Debbie Rosas Stewart, is coming to StudioNia Santa Fe to guest instruct classes on September 30 and October 2. She’ll be offering the Nia 5 Stages Teacher Certification in addition to two classes that will be open to anyone (5 Stages on September 30 and the Master class on October 1, both at 6 p.m.). You know they’re going to fill up fast. Secure your spot early. 851 W. San Mateo, 505.989.1299, www.studioniasantafe. com

| “Littles” Joseph and Elijah with Mayor Coss at last year’s gala

The Great Chefs of Taos event mentioned in the August Buzz had an incorrect date. We’re running the announcement again with the correct date. On Sunday, September 18, at 5 p.m., the Great Chefs of Taos will sponsor their Fourth Annual Paella Cook-Off at the beautiful Sabroso Restaurant. It’s a wonderful event where top chefs including Aric Zamora of The Gorge, Zippy White of Taos Inn, Henry Chaperont of El Monte Sagrado and Tim Wooldridge of Sabroso will pair with a student enrolled in the Taos High School culinary arts program. Benji Apodaca from the school will also be cooking with the kids. Lucky diners browse and taste the various paellas and enjoy tapas and sangria, all for $59 a ticket. Proceeds go to the culinary program. For more information and to purchase tickets in advance, call 575.779.8334.

Did you know that Big Brothers Big Sisters has been in operation for more than 100 years? One of the ways the organization has been able to fulfill its mission of pairing children with role models is through events like The Little Gala for a Big Cause. Benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico, the gala will offer a silent auction cocktail reception and a live auction with original artwork from esteemed Native American artists Dan, Arlo and Michael Namingha. The evening’s feast will be prepared by several staunch supporters from the restaurant community, Pranzo Italian Grill, Blue Corn Café, Saffron of Santa Fe, Red Sage, Balconies on the Plaza, Delancey Street, Jambo and Amavi. For $150 per person, you can partake in all those culinary concoctions and feel good about it. We’re letting you know about this one a little early so you A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Join Executive Chef Eric Hall for his premier

La Crema Wine & Chile Fiesta Dinner at FUEGO Friday, September 23 • Five course dinner Reception at 7:00pm • Dinner at 7:30pm $150.00 plus gratuity and tax per person

DATING J Pankey 24 x 36 inches Oil The Gallery Collection at La Posada

Fuego is a AAA Four Diamond Award-winning restaurant Winner of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence since 2004

The A rT of ouTdoor dining Kick Back and Enjoy

The Patio at La Posada Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner

Wine & Chile dinner book online at Opentable.com • Reservations 505-954-9670 For more information call 866-331-ROCK (7625) 330 E. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe • laposadadesantafe.com

Vail • aspen • BeaVer Creek • BreCkenridge • JaCkson Hole santa Fe • MiaMi • doMiniCan repuBliC • JaMaiCa • st. luCia

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THE ALAMEDA CONDOS in The New Heart of Santa Fe

www.thealamedacondos.com • 1405 Vegas Verdes Drive

THE

AL AMED A SANTA FE

Lifestyle &

Santa Fe was voted

“2nd Best Place to Live”

by Condé Nast

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Wine & Chile 2011

The

T

story by CHEF JOHNNY VEE

his year’s rollercoaster restaurant scene might be described by the phrase, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” There were the usual openings and closings, revampings and renovations in our exciting culinary landscape, but as with the new bride that axiom usually refers to, there were also some surprises on the honeymoon night!

Over the past few years I have described the local players in our hospitality industry as resilient, durable and tenacious, given their persistence and determination in weathering the insane economy. But after surviving this grueling year of ups and downs in the stock market (as well as the debt ceiling hanging over our collective head), I have a renewed respect for our chefs and restaurateurs who keep on keeping on. Not only are they tough, they are downright heroic. In tribute to the many fabulous meals and delicious bites that have crossed my palate thus far in 2011, here are a few highlights—certainly not an exhaustive list but some of the edible memories that make my mouth water on reflection. I offer up a toast to the folks who created them.

photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

market dining option with their charming Supper Club located steps from Real Food Nation. I still remember a honking huge Berkshire porterhouse pork chop I knocked off shortly after they opened and MacLauchlan’s crazy Polenta Cake with Red Beet Ice Cream. The cozy dining room has the feel of a family home where the food is cooked by Mom—that is, if Mom is a gourmet cook.

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Paddy Rawal of Raaga

Real Food Nation stalwarts Kim Müller, Andrew MacLauchlan and Blyth Timken gave the southeast part of town a nice upSEPTEMBER 2011

I was miffed when I heard that Tom Kerpon had left Rio Chama but happy to hear he was helping transform the popular Ore House into Balconies on the Plaza. Talk about location, location, location. The menu was a variation on the theme of the previous incarnation (if something ain’t broke don’t fix it),but Kerpon’s skill and spin have kicked it up a considerable notch. Though spiffed up prior to reopening, Balconies will close in November for a few months to allow a complete overhaul. The sprawling bar has, I think, some of the best margaritas in town.

Eric Lamalle and Xavier Grenet, the French guys that have commandeered Ristra for over a decade, took over the former A La Mesa space and are taking a stab at Mediterranean cuisine with Azur, which boasts a lovely, stylish dining room and menu that promotes sharing and noshing. I think the menu has found its footing. At first the Franco take on aggressive Med flavors seemed too delicate, but recent visits have shown that Grenet is finding his cojones with spices (and the stuffed piquillo peppers are a wonder).

Of some of the new joints that have joined our lengthy list of local eateries, my favorite, I think, would have to be Raaga.

Charismatic chef Paddy Rawal took the town by storm with his big-city take on Indian cooking. So impressed was I on my first meal there, I returned the very next night; that never happens. The large menu offers great vegetarian options and allows diners to experience regional Indian flavors with multiple herbs and spices that make the sauces pop. The under-$10 lunch buffet is the best in town.

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Buzz

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Andrew MacLauchlan and Blyth Timkin of Real Food Nation

magazine.com

Some old favorites celebrated birthdays.

Back Street Bistro has been ladling up delicious soups for 17 years. La Casa Sena is 27 and offers a perfect dinner out on the terrace this summer. (Chef Patrick Gharrity’s luscious Butternut Squash

Izmi Sushi, the popular Asian restaurant, is settling in nicely in its new digs on Marcy Street. They moved earlier this year from St. Michael’s Drive to downtown, and as a result have seen a lot of new faces. And, happily, a lot of the old faces have followed as well. The new location is sleek and modern, with high ceilings, windows that let in a lot of natural light and an elegance that wasn’t found in its former strip mall location. Chef/owner Brent Jung says of the new space “this is a lot more fun.” Izmi Sushi serves dinner nightly and lunch Monday - Friday, accompanied by a wine and sake list. Speaking of sake, Brent was gracious enough to allow us to photograph our sake story at Izmi Sushi!

| Tom Kerpon of Balconies on the Plaza

|

Photo: Kate Russell

Lasagna has almost turned me into a vegetarian.) A meal this delicious is ideally followed by a nightcap at La Cantina, where you’ll be serenaded by the most talented singers this side of Broadway.

Louis Moskow of 315

Is it possible La Boca is five years old already? A newly svelte James Campbell Caruso is still packing them in, adding weekend brunch to his winning business plan (and he’s also got a second cookbook in the wings). I love James’s way of constantly surprising the palate with ever-creative spins on tapas. If I am looking for more traditional Spanish cuisine, I love El Mesón, right up the street. They will turn 15 in 2012.

Santa Fe restaurants and chefs continue to spread the word about our gourmet goodies on national television.

Café Pasqual’s Huevos Barbacoa Con Chile D’Arbol was touted on the Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and former La Posada chef Rahm Fama hosts his own Food Network program called Meat & Potatoes. Martín Rios wowed the host of United Tastes of America with his Homemade Sesame & Flaxseed Tortillas with Seared, Spice-crusted Ahi Tuna, Smoked Chile-avocado Purée and Grilled Pineapple-Cucumber Salsa. Rios has certainly taken his Mexican roots and run with them.

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Ruben Rayes of Rooftop Pizza

| Brent Jung of Izmi Sushi

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Martín Rios of Restaurant Martin

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Some of the casualties of the challenging times include Koi, which sent Joel Coleman off to San Francisco in search of greener pastures and more fans. You’ll find him at Elevation 66 Brewpub in El Cerrito; he’s a very talented chef and I hope he finds his niche. Although Louis Moskow closed his Railyard Restaurant and Saloon early

Photo: Kate Russell

The ever popular Tecolote Café (I crave their bread basket) became the reality TV brunt of a not-very-funny episode of a new show called Ludo Bites America. The flamboyant and annoying host Chef Ludo terrorized the owners and staff of the Cerrillos Road restaurant solely for the purpose of creating his inflammatory program.

Personally, I am ready for the reality TV phenomenon to die out. When will producers realize that we viewers do not get a kick out of people being belittled and yelled at, especially in kitchens? Kudos to the owner and staff who all put on a brave face and suffered the abuse while still coming out looking like the pros they are. It was fun seeing local foodies like Matt Yohalem and chile-man Matt Romero in the mix, but geez … I think Ludo bites!

Katharine Kagel of Pasqual’s

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Wine & Chile 2011

Both Matt Ostrander and Andrea Clover, chefs of Luminaria at Inn and Spa at Loretto, intrigued me enough to include them in my At the Table column this year. Ostrander took over as Executive Chef, and Clover handles the desserts.

A highlight of my year was sharing the kitchen with both of them, as well as celebrity chef Sara Moulton, for a wine dinner we did in May at the beautiful hotel.

Taking the Railyard space is Junction, with a large and fancy menu that complements its sports bar setting. Amavi chef Megan Tucker (who oversees both places) has outdone herself with the eclectic menu that runs the gamut of bar food, from the nachos and wings right up to Tuna Tacos and Flatiron Steak Frites with Truffle Butter.

Jennifer May, my favorite bartender in town, has come back to Santa Fe to pour at Junction, and I have managed to scope out a few tables that allow you to turn away from the TVs should you really be there for the food.

Photo: Gaelen Casey

this year, he moved the full liquor license over to 315, and now you can add cocktails to the fun at my favorite cozy and romantic café. There is a nifty, new, gently priced bar menu featuring Sole Tempura with Lump Crab Salad, Lemon Basil Aioli and Wonton Crisps—my favorite with a bracing martini.

Café Paris has left us, but it looks like something will be opening there soon … sushi, I hear?

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Mark Connell of Max’s

In the big leagues, Coyote Café and Geronimo remain my favorite places to wow out-of-towners; the sexy Den cocktail bar under the Coyote is the most civilized watering hole in town. For a quick drive out of town, I love how Encantado Resort and Spa makes you feel like you are in different latitude, and I happily remain a junkie for Charles Dale’s cooking, especially his truffle fries and cheese tots. As long as you can still dine outside, the terrace at Restaurant Martìn is a beauty. Try Martìn Rios’ Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict on Buttery Brioche with Lobster Hollandaise on the brunch menu—truly decadant!

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Apparently the Food Network has their own magazine and in the September issue, in a feature called 50 States, 50 Pizzas, our very own Rooftop Pizzeria won mention for their #3; a pie topped with grilled chicken, Alfredo sauce, pinon nuts and green chilies on a blue cornmeal crust. I’ve had the winning slice and agree with the acclaim, it’s always fun to see new ways our talented chefs sneak green chile into their dishes.

Photo: Kate Russell

Young Mark Connell at Max’s is still our most provocative chef in town. An otherworldly tasting menu I had there recently challenged my palate and tricked my senses. An Opah filet, that was delicately cooked sous vide, came sauced with a cucumber broth that was so light and fresh it summarized the taste of summer in one bite. If only all food experiences could be as surprising, startling and astounding as Connell’s one-bite white chocolate passion fruit orbs served at the end of the meal.

Brilliant!

As we look toward to the very near future, perhaps the most exciting new restaurant opening in town is The Palace. News that Taos chef Joseph Wrede is setting up shop in our fair city was a breath of culinary fresh air to foodies who have long been fans of Joseph’s Table. With a major redo funded by entrepreneur (and unbelievably calm and classy) Dave Bigby, the grande dame of Santa Fe dining lore has been gussied up and returned to her former splendor, complete with red plush wallpaper and swanky banquettes.

The great bar and back patios are all refurbished and ready to become the center for Downtown hanging. Wrede’s Italiancentric menu will tip its hat slightly to the days of yore while taking the landmark proudly into the 21st century. The star chef ’s famous duck fat fries will be served on a menu that includes such delicious sounding dishes as Rocky Mountain Trout with Crispy Skin Trout Chicharrón, Tarragon Beurre Blanc & Blue Crab Pico de Gallo and my favorite pasta on the planet, Pasta alla Melone-Linguine in Lemon Tomato Crème, tossed with Rocky Ford Cantaloupe & Prosciutto and Mint.

Something old is certainly new.

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Charles Dale of Encantado

magazine.com

The smell of roasting chiles in the air prophesies that we’re in for a scrumptious autumn and winter! - JV

Photo: Kate Russell

Photo: Gaelen Casey

| Megan Tucker of Amavi

Photo: Compliments of Santa Fe Dining

| Eric Lamalle of Ristra

Photo: Kate Russell

Photo: Kate Russell

| Quinn Stephenson of The Den at Coyote

| James Campbell Caruso of La Boca

| Patrick Gharrity of La Casa Sena

Photo: Gaelen Casey

Photo: Gaelen Casey

| Joseph Wrede of The Palace

|

Johnny Vee

| Matt Ostrander of Luminaria

| Andrea Clover of Luminaria

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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At The Lensic • Tickets from $20

Half-priced tickets for children 6 - 14 with adult purchase.

505-983-1414

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www.santafesymphony.org

The 2011-2012 season is funded in part by the Santa Fe Arts Commission, and the 1% Lodger’s Tax, New Mexico Arts, a division of the Office of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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SEPTEMBER 2011

19

Heitz

Wine & Chile 2011 story by GREG O’BYRNE

Wine Cellars T his September Kathleen Heitz Myers returns to Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta in a year that sees her family celebrating Heitz Wine Cellars’ fiftieth anniversary. Kathleen first attended SFWC in 1994 with her father, Joseph Heitz, who at my request, hosted a vertical tasting of his Napa Valley winery’s Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet, one of the New World’s most compelling expressions of the grape.

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Joe Heitz

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Heitz Trailside Vineyard which is located in Rutherford. Heitz has a total of 375 acres planted in grapes throughout the Napa Valley

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SEPTEMBER 2011

magazine.com

Kathleen has been a part of SFWC for many years and made many friends here. She attends this year to receive SFWC’s Honorary Winery Achievement Award, given annually to a singular winery that has been a proven qualitative leader in its region for at least 30 years.

When Joe Heitz and his wife, Alice, courageously started Heitz Wine Cellars by buying an 8.5-acre St. Helena winery and vineyard planted to Grignolino in 1961, there were fewer than a dozen wineries in Napa Valley.

Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet, the first wine to be designated as a singlevineyard wine in the Napa Valley in 1966, would be on the “first growth” list of any classification of California wines today. Wine Spectator, for example, underscored this wine’s legendary status by selecting Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet as one of The Top 12 wines of the 20th Century.

At the SFWC Fiesta in 1994, Joe Heitz poured a six-vintage vertical tasting of Heitz Martha’s Vineyard, vintages 1984 through 1989. Seventeen years later, second-generation president and CEO Kathleen will host a sixvintage vertical of the same wine, vintages 2001 through 2006.

I prepared to write this story first by calling Kathleen in Napa to arrange an interview and second by rummaging around in my closet to fetch out my last bottle of 1991 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard. The wine was profound, fresh and lovely; it arrested my senses and made me remember what I love about Cabernet, from both Bordeaux and Napa. Since I generally enjoy my wines young, I find Napa Cabernet to be at the apex of drinkability at ten years old.

The 1991 Martha’s was extremely youthful­–only now transparent ruby in the center, only now turning slightly orange at the rim, with a minty, chocolate nose that jumped out of the glass and a palate of just-picked raspberries and red cherries that lingered in the mouth for a long time.

When I shared this tasting note with Kathleen while reminiscing about Joe and the early days of SFWC, she recounted a recent experience of tasting an all-inclusive 1966 through 2006 vertical of Martha’s in Germany with a collector and said,“I was expecting some of the older wines to be less vibrant, but we were blown away with how fresh and youthful all of them were. I was extremely pleased. We always wait to harvest when the grapes are ripened to perfection, but balance and the ability of aging was always part of the plan for the wines.”

The minty-eucalyptus nose of the 1991 is intense, and though it varies by vintage, it is a consistently distinctive marker of Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet that makes the wine stand out in blind tastings. Some attribute this characteristic to the eucalyptus trees planted along Martha’s Vineyard.

Kathleen says, “The unique marker of mint comes from an old proprietary clone of Cabernet planted on the Martha’s Vineyard.” It gave the 1991 an aromatic lift that was echoed on the fresh palate.

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David Heitz, winemaker

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Kathleen Heitz Myers, president

Photos: Compliments of Heitz Wine Cellars

At his 1994 Santa Fe seminar, Joe Heitz adamantly stated: “It’s not eucalyptus. It’s mint. Why can’t people just say it smells like Cabernet?!” I remember fondly welcoming Joe to the packed crowd of guests attending the seminar at the Hilton of Santa Fe and how in his own unique, contentious and take-control manner he schooled the audience on the merits of Napa Cabernet.

Al Lucero, a past president of the SFWC Fiesta, was one of the guests. Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser, now the leading educator of the court of Master Sommeliers and a SFWC wine seminar moderator for the past dozen years, was working for Heitz Wine Cellars at the time. Tim and I double decanted six bottles each of the six wines in the back of the room and handed them to my pouring team, which included Santa Fe wine personalities—some gone, some still standing—such as Philip de Give, Derek Werner, Andy Lynch, Brian Williamson and Dominique Chauvacier.

After introducing Joe to the seated audience, each guest with a six-vintage vertical of the world’s best wine before them, Joe’s first statement was, “We can talk about anything and everything about the wines—there are no stupid questions—but one thing I will not talk about is price.”

Al Lucero was the first to shoot his hand up in the air. From the front of the room, Joe stood looking at him inquisitively, his grey eyebrows arching above his piercing eyes, and Al asked, “How much do these wines retail for?”

Joe stared him down and sternly said, “Young man, I just told you we will not talk about price!” At this time it was widely known that the prideful Napa vigneron was the first to get $100 for his Napa Cab. From the beginning, in the mid-sixties when first growth Bordeaux wines such as Lafite and Mouton were selling for $10 a bottle, Joe was adamant in getting almost the same for his Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet because he believed in the quality of his wine, and he was confident that it would do well on the world stage.

Joe Heitz was a legend in Napa. Preceding Robert Mondavi Winery by five years, Heitz Wine Cellars blazed many new trails for Napa under Joe’s visionary leadership. A 1951 master’s degree graduate at UC Davis in viticulture and enology, Joe Heitz was in the first graduating class to do so. After ten years as assistant winemaker to the legendary André Tchelistcheff at Beaulieu Vineyard, Joe embarked upon a list of “firsts.” He was among the first to use French oak as a component of Napa Valley Cabernet and the first to champion single vineyard designation, which he did with Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet 1966.

At his 1994 seminar, Joe summed it up. “Why are we trying to make the best Bordeaux wine we can? Why aren’t we trying to make the best Napa Valley Cabernet that we can?” And that he did.

In 1964, Heitz acquired an 1898 stone winery on a 160-acre ranch property, which became the Heitz winery and home. At the same time, Heitz started an exclusive agreement with Tom and Martha May, owners of the 34-acre Martha’s Vineyard in the Oakville AVA. In recognizing the quality of the grapes, from the 1966 vintage Heitz vinified the fruit separately and designated the vineyard on the label. The 1968 Heitz Martha’s received critical acclaim and was widely considered the greatest wine made in America up to that time. For more than two decades, The New York Times wine columnist Frank J. Prial contended the wine remained “the benchmark by which California Cabernets were judged.”

Joe’s children Kathleen Heitz Myers and David Heitz are now at the helm, as president and winemaker, respectively. They have each been integral to the success of the family business since the 1970s.

Kathleen went to school in St. Helena, started college in Switzerland, finished at University of Oregon, did graduate work at UC Davis and started working at the winery in 1978 in sales and marketing.

Recalling what it was like growing up in Napa Valley, Kathleen said, “Most thought we would not make it in the early sixties. We were one of only ten wineries when we started out. My dad had a

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Heitz

Wine & Chile 2011

La Casa Sena Wine Shop T He O nLy S TO re D OW nTOW n Offering A fu LL S e L e C TiO n Of Wine An D Premium S Piri TS

Wine Cellars

vision and a lofty goal of making one of the best wines in the world.

Napa is a different climate than Bordeaux—more sun, easier to get ripe. He traveled and knew the world of wine and wanted to be on the same playing field as Bordeaux, but he also wanted to make a unique wine typical of our own region.”

Producing 40,000 cases annually, Heitz Wine Cellars is one of the few remaining family-owned, medium-size Napa wineries, one of the members of a short list that includes Silver Oak, Phelps, ZD and Caymus. Heitz has 375 acres of vineyards, all cultivated by organic principles per certification.

“What’s it like today running a small, family-owned Napa winery?” I asked.

“My parents were an American success story. My mother is still alive, and we still get motherly advice. We are into the third generation. David’s son Harrison might join us next year. We have seen a lot of trends come and go. You have to stay on top of new technology but stay true to your style. Fortunately, we have a consistent style that is recognized and appreciated.”

“What is it that you like about coming to Santa Fe?” I asked.

“When we first started attending the SFWC in the early nineties, we made a lot of friends, Mark Miller and Al and Laurie Lucero among others. The Old House and many other restaurants were always supportive with dinners. It was always fun, and still is, to see the community really pull together with everyone cooking.

The entire family has always loved Santa Fe. Your community has a similar feeling to the Napa Valley, a very special place that is known for both its beauty and its spirit.”

SFWC Fiesta in honored to be part of celebrating Heitz Wine Cellars 50th anniversary. At the Reserve Tasting, the Grand Tasting and the Live Auction luncheon, guests can join the celebration by enjoying Heitz wines at this year’s events, including most from the comprehensive list below.

Purchase Any Of The 2200 Bottles On La Casa Sena Wine List.

HO ur S: Monday - Saturday 11am-7pm (through the end of September) Sunday 12pm - 5pm Monday - Saturday 11:30am - 6pm (winter hours) Sunday 12pm - 5pm W e S eL L C O O L W i n e

125 East Palace, Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 982-2121 | lacasasena.com

RiO ChaMa Proudly Hosting

Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon A 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville, oak aged for 3.5 years

Bella Oaks Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Heitz Cellars dinner

Wente Vineyards dinner

thursday, september 22nd

Friday, september 23rd

A 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford, oak aged for 3.5 years

Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon A 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford, oak aged for 3.5 years

Varietal wines The estate’s varietal labeled wines consist of the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Grignolino, and Zinfandel.

From 100% St. Helena Grignolino, they produce a dry rosé.

Fortified wine The estate produces two non-vintage fortified wines. In addition to a Grignolino Port, there is an Ink Grade Port made from classical Portuguese grape varieties.

6:30pm

6:30pm

Price $210 per Person

Price $85 per person

(inCludes sales tax & Gratuity)

(Plus sales tax & Gratuity)

For a complete menu and reservations call 505-955-0765

l i k e u S O N Fa C e b O O k F O R w e e k ly u p D aT e S , a N D S p e C i a l S Open Daily from 11am until closing 414 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-955-0765 | riochamasteakhouse.com

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SEPTEMBER 2011

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We also carry over 20 varieties of keg beer Wine tasting every Saturday 4pm - 7pm Competitive Prices • Largest Selections Friendly Staff • Something for every Taste

Let the search begin at our Fifth Annual Book & Paper Show!

FINE WINE & LIQUOR

Friday, September 30, 4 pm - 9 pm Saturday, October 1, 9 am - 5 pm El Museo Cultural 1615-B Paseo de Peralta (555 Camino de la Familia) Santa Fe, New Mexico Special guests include Jack Loeffler, Mary Emmerling, Mark Winter, Stacia Lewandowski, and E. Helene Sage $10 Both Days / $6 Sat. Only www.santafebookshow.com (505) 983-0088 082511 iota lf sept.pdf

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8/29/11

2:39 PM

Established 1981

Established 1981

• Temperature Controlled Wine Cellar • Wine Manager on Duty • We also carry over 20 varieties of keg beer • Wine tasting every Saturday 4pm - 7pm

505.455.2219

kokoman@cybermesa.com Hwy 84/285 • Pojoaque 12 miles North of Santa Fe celebrating 30 years in business

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Anasazi September Fiesta de Santa Fe

Anasazi Bar, Patio & Restaurant Al Fresco Beverages and Dining September 8'th, 2011 to September 11'th, 2011 Venue Service Hours Vary, Please Call For Information

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Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta Justin Winery Dinner

Presently Stocking: Over 3500 Wines 800 Beer Choices 105 Single Malt Scotches 220 Types of Vodka 222 Tequilas 136 Types of Rum

September 22'nd, 2011 6:30 PM

Join Master Sommelier Joe Spellman of Justin Winery, in Paso Robles, California and Executive Chef Carlos Hannon of Rosewood San Miguel de Allende, for a 5 course dinner and wine pairing. Justin Sauvignon Blanc, Justin Chardonnay, Justin Cabernet, Justin Isosceles Red Blend and Justin Obtuse dessert wine will be featured.

$125.00 per person exclusive of tax and gratuity

113 Washington Avenue Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 988-3030 Innof theAnasazi.com

505.455.2219 • kokoman@cybermesa.com Hwy 84/285 • 34 Cities of Gold Rd., Pojoaque 87506 12 easy miles due North of Santa Fe A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Sake

Wine & Chile 2011

D

eborah Fleig and Linda Tetrault’s warehouse looks like some sort of long-term art project. In a way, perhaps, that’s what it is—a shifting expression of the last 12 years of their lives, from the strings of paper origami globes that drape off the windows in their office, to the bakers racks packed to their wiry gills with fabric-covered boxes and multicolored scissors, to the walk-in cooler in the back stuffed with towering stacks of freshly imported sake bottles. It’s a place where Fleig walks barefoot over wood floors and Tetrault’s two boys come after their first day of school to play and wait for their mom. The Floating World warehouse is also a home to a breed of wine you may know nothing about.

Sake is a wine, after all—a rice wine—and the good stuff is made with not much more than rice, water and yeast. It’s a combination that leaves out the sulfites and tannins and, therefore, the headaches and other ornery byproducts of drinking. But we’re not talking about the sake you’ve sipped hot from a sushi

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SEPTEMBER 2011

to me baby!

bar, the kind that tastes and feels like nothing more than warm, astringent vapor. Fleig and Tetrault’s sake—soon to be your sake, too—is an entirely different beast, and it may make you turn your back on your beloved Beaujolais.

The stuff you find at most Japanese restaurants in the U.S. is called futsu-shu.

This normal table sake corners 80 percent of the market. The differences between it and higher-grade sakes start with temperature—the premium beverages are served cold, not hot.

Referred to as tokutei meishoushu collectively, higher grades are smooth, almost syrupy, but without any saccharine hints. Fleig likes to drink hers in a chilled glass with a slice of cucumber. Perhaps the most interesting thing about these varieties is that their flavors range robustly, from airier, champagne-like sakes to those that resemble a good port.

Fleig and Tetrault, along with two other panelists, will be teaching people about this relatively unknown form of sake in a seminar at this year’s Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta.

It’s the first time a sake seminar has been included in the Fiesta’s lineup of events, and it’s something Fleig and Tetrault have been lobbying for over the last few years. The hour-long course aims to expose people to the delicacies and complexities of sake through tastings, lessons on how sake is made, tips on how it should be drunk and advice how to

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order good sake at a restaurant.

Take, for instance, this little nugget: The thing that most determines a sake’s quality and flavor, as one might imagine, is the rice.

There’s table rice, and then there’s sake rice.

About 100 different varieties make up the latter. When rice is used to make sake, it’s first polished to rid it of the fats and proteins on its crust (the good stuff if you want to put it on your plate instead of in your glass), leaving a pure starchy center. The more polished the rice is, the higher quality sake you get. The really polished stuff, the rice that’s rubbed down to 50 percent of its original size, looks like slightly translucent pearls.

This rice range helps determine flavor, but the rest of a good sake’s taste comes from nuances in the local water at each brewer and the yeast used. “In old factories, the yeast occurs naturally,” says Fleig, adding that brewers leave vats open for a time to let the yeast in the air infuse them. “They’re living things.”

Unlike other kinds of wine, sake is meant to be drunk fresh, not aged, says Tetrault.

“Sake is more about consistency,” she says.

Therefore, much of the sake you drink may have been brewed within the last couple years.

An interesting juxtaposition is the fact that sake keeps longer than other wines. “Sake doesn’t oxidize like wine,” says Tetrault.

story by CHRISTIE CHISHOLM

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p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

“You can keep it in the fridge for weeks or months.”

Fleig and Tetrault got into sake after starting their other business, the Ten Thousand Waves spa store, which they took over in 1999. The two have known each other much longer, though, since they both attended St. John’s College. Both were vegetarians when they were juniors, and the school let them take over the kitchen every Friday night to make veggie-friendly entrées for the whole student body. Perhaps that’s what led them to start their first business fresh out of college as caterers. That first venture was short-lived, and soon both went to the East Coast for graduate school, Fleig to earn an MFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in NYC and Tetrault to get an MBA from Dartmouth.

In 1999, the two joined forces again at Ten Thousand Waves, and their new ownership of the store led them to take a series of trips to Japan to look for new spa products and antiques. It was during these trips that they both began to fall in love with sake, or the higher-quality forms of sake they hadn’t yet encountered in the U.S. Fleig would stuff as many bottles of the stuff as she could into suitcases to lug back, proudly claiming to have squeezed in 36 bottles into a single suitcase on one trip. Eventually, they

decided that they wanted to bring the sake they loved back home legitimately and share it with others, so they began the arduous two-year process of becoming importers. That was two years ago, when The Floating World was born.

Fleig and Tetrault acted as distributors while waiting for their federal importing license to come through, and this summer, it finally did.

The two ladies got the first shipment of their own imports in July.

Over the last two years, Fleig and Tetrault also studied sake in New York City under John Gauntner in his Sake Professional Course and followed it with a round of sake exams in Tokyo. The two now have the highest level of sake sommelier education available, and they belong to a group of only about 80 people worldwide who can claim the same.

Another panelist is on her way to the same status, though. Ayame Fukuda is a general manager with the Shohko Café, her family’s business, and the vice president of sales at a sake distribution company run out of the restaurant. Fukuda has completed the NYC course and hopes to make it to Tokyo to complete her training in the future.

What she loves most about sake is how it makes her feel—or how it doesn’t make her feel. “I’m Asian, and a lot of Asian people can’t absorb alcohol very well,” she says. “Some of us get super, toxic red ... I never enjoyed drinking

Deborah Fleig, Linda Tetrault and Ayame Fukuda

because it made me feel red and icky.” Sake doesn’t give her that reaction, though. “It’s clean,” she says. “It’s not as acidic as wine; there are no sharp edges. It doesn’t have that bite.” She describes it as “harmonious” to drink, and she’s right, because it melds with so many things—from other beverages to a wide scope of cuisines. “I can drink it warm, cold, on the rocks, with juices,” she says. “It’s clean and it allows me to drink alcohol.”

Don Weston, regional sales manager for Vine Connections and the final panelist, likes sake because it’s so easy to pair with a variety of cuisines, he says, especially the lighter, fishoriented fare he’s accustomed to where he lives in the Pacific Northwest. “In the seminar, I would like customers to take away that sake is not your parents’ or your grandparents’ sake,” he says. “It’s a whole different dimension.”

Fukuda echoes that sentiment. “I want people to walk away with their curiosity being piqued to learn even more about sake,” she says. “Like, ‘Oh my God, my whole world has just opened ... this is the drink of life.’”

The seminar and tasting, “Sake to Me Baby!” is scheduled for 3 p.m. at La Fonda on Friday September 23 during the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta. Tickets are $75 per person and available at santafewineandchile.org.

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TakeIt

TO THE LIMIT

s t o r y b y E L I Z A B E T H TA N N E N photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

A

lbuquerque is home to one of the country’s most impressive tourist destinations: the Sandia Peak Tramway, also known as the world’s longest tram. (Technically, as of this year, it’s the second-longest … but more on that, and why we don’t care, later.) The tram draws tourists from all over the world who come for the ride and the landscape. And yet, many lifelong Albuquerque residents have never, ever been.

As Tramway Training Instructor Grant Williams puts it, “It’s a funny thing: All over the world, when people have wonders in their own backyard, they tend not to frequent them.” (As a native New Yorker who has never been to Ellis Island, this is something I can verify.)

But exploring one’s own backyard, it turns out, can be incredibly rewarding—especially when that backyard includes something as unique and striking as the tram.

So, in case you’re among those who need them, here are nine reasons why you should plan your next (if not first) visit.

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1) The Views

Let’s just get the biggest, most obvious draw out of the way: The Tram provides visitors with scenery that is truly extraordinary. From the base in the Sandia Foothills, less than thirty minutes from downtown Albuquerque, you travel a rise of 3,819 feet—almost three miles— during which you pass over four climatic life zones. On that fifteenminute trip, you can watch for wildlife: eagles, hawks, mule deer and black bears. And once you arrive, you get that panoramic view, the one that stretches 11,000 miles around the Rio Grande Valley, from Mount Taylor in the west to the Estancia Valley in the south. One tram operator, Chad Terry, told me he loves his job so much because the view is always changing. “Every single day, every time of day, it’s different,” he said. “And in each season it changes … it’s never the same.”

2) Because It’s Twenty Degrees Cooler at the Top

I would like to tell you that I learned this one scorching summer day, lingering at the seventy-five degree summit for a long, cool hike (which is something I did do, later, and is highly, highly recommended). But, instead, I learned this lesson on one of the coldest days of winter: one that coincided with my first date with my most recent boyfriend. We had planned to go for a hike and somehow talked ourselves into the idea of combining this endeavor with a ride on the tram. The ride was romantic (thank you, severe winds), but I hardly need tell you that little hiking occurred; at the summit, the temperature was negative twelve degrees. We walked around for approximately four minutes, the wind slamming our bodies and the cold stinging our faces, before depositing ourselves at the bar for hot toddies (which is all to say that, no matter the conditions, the tram can, and likely will, provide a good time).

3) The Hike

Fortunately, on most days in Albuquerque the temperatures tend to be a bit more reasonable. And assuming you choose one of these days for your visit, you can enjoy access to many of the miles of Cibola National Forest trails. One common favorite is the easy, relatively short (about a mile each way) path to the Kiwanis cabin, a cool stone structure, visible from the tram’s upper terminal, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s for the workers who built the trails.

Alternatively, if you’ve got somewhere between four and eight hours to spare, you can always buy a one-way ticket for the tram and hike your way down!

4) The Legend

Okay, so the Sandia Peak Tramway is not the longest aerial tramway in the world anymore. In October 2010, a 3.54-mile-long tram opened in southern Armenia. But this doesn’t seem to have fazed the tram’s staff. Jim Symonds, who has worked for fifteen years as Upper Terminal Operator and whose house is in the ground terminal parking lot, sports a brass Vietnam veterans’ belt buckle, a wellworn baseball cap and not a lot of teeth. He shrugged me off when I asked him about the sign that still claims the title of World’s Longest Tramway. “There’s that one in Armenia,” he said, “but we don’t talk about that. We’re not going to go through the trouble of changing all the advertising.” You’ve gotta love the New Mexico version of local pride.

5) The Tourist Store

Sometimes it takes ascending about four thousand feet to realize that you need some Mexican jumping beans. Or a giant bright green lollipop that says “Sandia Tramway.” But, seriously, if you share anything of my genetic predisposition for taking the wrong fork at any given opportunity, it may not be the worst idea to invest $7.95 on the hiking trail map that they’ve got for sale.

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6) The Company

TO THE LIMIT

One tram operator told me that he spots locals on the tram about as often as black bears (which, this time of year, are not so terribly infrequent). In the same breath, he said he’d met people from Germany, China and various parts of Africa—along with celebrities including, most recently, Scarlett Johanssen. (“She didn’t talk much.”) It is a popular complaint among the staff that if locals come at all, they come when they’ve got visitors— the upside of which, for us locals, is the chance to chat with such a diverse crowd. On my last visit I encountered the requisite Texans (Amarillo, Ft. Worth), along with a couple from Serbia, a family from Los Angeles and some New Mexico expats living in Arizona (who, I should note, are thinking about returning to Albuquerque because of their love for the Sandias).

7) The Comedy

Tram Operator Chad Terry told me he considers it part of his job description to keep passengers entertained. Wearing orange Ray-Bans and a wide grin, Chad demanded that everyone aboard raise their arms and say, “Wheee!” as the tram passed under the two towers on the way down. (Most complied.) And as we prepared to disembark, he thanked us all for choosing Sandia Peak Tramway. “I know you have a lot of options when you choose your tram…” he said, to which one quick-witted passenger replied, “Thank you, Southwest!”

8) The Adventure

If you have any fear of heights whatsoever, I suggest that you don’t stop in the lobby of the lower terminal by the glass case that displays models of the tram cables; those things that pull that four ton structure (along with a maximum of fifty passengers) up and back are alarmingly thin. The track cable on which the carriage rolls has a diameter of 1 5/8 inches; the haul cable, which attaches to the underside of the carriage, is 1 ¼ inches in diameter. (Don’t worry: They might look small, but they weigh over 100,000 pounds.) I also suggest that you tune out the tram operators when they say how long it would take you (or the tram) to drop the thousand feet, give or take, that separates the tram from the mountain’s granite surface: eight seconds. The real adventure, though, is one that—for obvious, insurance-related reasons—is available only to tram employees: riding, harnessed, on top of the tram. (It’s necessary for maintenance but also, I’m told, crazy fun.) So if you find yourself feeling a little queasy, just be grateful that you’ve got more than rope holding you up.

9) The Bargain

When the tram opened in May of 1966, it cost $3 for a roundtrip ticket. Now, it’s $20—less than what those three dollars would be worth today. If you’re in need a reminder of why it’s worth the cost, see above for reasons one through eight. And enjoy the ride!

The Sandia Peak Tramway is located at 10 Tramway Loop Northeast in Albuquerque. They are open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. 505.856.6544. www.sandiapeak.com.

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SEPTEMBER 2011

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P324

Rooftop Wine & Chile 2011

p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

>>

and GABRIELLA MARKS

Hold the Line from left to right: Eduardo Rodriguez, Coyote Cafe; Luis Hernandez, Blue Corn Cafe; Jose Chavez, Rooftop Pizzeria; Charlie Jackson, Rio Chama; Alexander Cuffee, Sleeping Dog; Roland Richter, Joe’s Diner; Carlos Hernandez, Ore House at Milagro 139; Jonathan Paczott, Tia’s Cocina at Hotel Chimayo; John Vollertsen, Las Cosas Cooking School

Hotel Chefs >> back row from left: Oliver Ridgeway of Anasazi Restaurant at Inn of the Anasazi; Mike Meisel of Red Sage at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino; Lane Warner of La Fonda on the Plaza; Christopher McLean of Las Fuentes at Bishop’s Lodge; front row from left: Eric Hall of Fuego at La Posada; Estevan Garcia of Tabla at the Hotel St. Francis; Matt Ostrander of Luminaria at Inn and Spa at Loretto 32

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grapevine

Wine & Chile 2011 story by JAMES SELBY Background photo: Kate Russell

I

I Heard It on the

With any good show, effort should not be obvious. Our Wine and Chile organization, its restaurants and its wineries work unremittingly to create a worthy event. So do distributors. New Mexico has a three-tier system, which means that local and national distributors must be commercial liaisons between wineries and our restaurants and stores. At the Wine and Chile Fiesta, it’s the distributor who makes sure hundreds of wines end up at various functions and in your glass. In appreciation, localflavor is showcasing a few wineries and distributors that have long supported the proceedings.

As general manager for local distributor Fiasco Fine Wine, the erudite Byron Rudolph is more of a behind-the-scenes guy than he was in his previous position as wine director at La Casa Sena. Fiasco carries some of the world’s finest wineries, like Susana Balbo’s Crios from Argentina, Napa’s Davis Family and Alma Rosa Winery and Vineyards.

Established in 2005, the latter immediately became one of Santa Barbara’s top-notch producers—little wonder considering that it’s owned by Richard and Thekla Sanford, who pioneered Pinot Noir in Santa Ynez Valley in the 70s at their namesake Sanford Winery. Along with Chris Burroughs, Alma Rosa’s tasting room manager-cumambassador, the Sanfords are familiar faces—and practically considered royalty at Wine and Chile. (It helps that Chris made a memorable appearance in the movie Sideways.)

If you can find three more gracious folk in attendance, I’ll eat Chris’ ever-present cowboy hat.

Set in landscapes reminiscent of Thomas Hart Benton paintings are two of Fiasco’s A-list wineries. Elk Cove Vineyards, a family-operated winery founded in 1974, is one of the pioneers of the Willamette Valley. Nearer the apogee of the region’s prominence in the late 80s, Domaine Serene burst upon the scene to the acclaim of Pinotphiles.

Both remain leaders from the area, creating acclaimed vineyard designated wines.

Enduringly popular in Santa Fe, Elk Cove’s La Bohème is a dark, concentrated Pinot Noir, perfect for a tailgate party at the opera. Serene’s hard to come by Jerusalem Hill, planted in what was once a pear and hazelnut orchard, evokes red fruit, rose petal and smoke. From Napa Valley, Fiasco brings in Ladera wines, whose estate vineyards date from 1877. How to describe their Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon? If it were a movie star, it would be Javier Bardem: dark, bristly, mysterious, deeply sensual. While trophy brands garner attention and long lines at the tasting tables, here is a wine of integrity, a loyal friend to Santa Fe. 40

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Photo: Vvvstep | Dreamstime.com

n the land of a thousand fiestas, Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, in its 21st year, merits its salient stature along with the granddaddy, Fiesta de Santa Fe, and the one full of hot air, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Wine and Chile, from humble beginnings and now internationally vibrant, attracts the world’s top wineries, eminent food and wine professionals and patrons of all stripes. However, in the legend of the chalice it’s easy to lose sight of the thing contained, and at Wine and Chile, as events crank up—dinners, luncheons, seminars, auctions, even golf—and the gates open for Saturday’s Grand Tasting on the grounds of the Santa Fe Opera--wineries may lose their identity amid the hoopla.

The wine industry is somewhat incestuous, both professionally and personally, and entanglements reveal themselves year after year. John Mahan, a Wine and Chile board member, served as GM for Bacchus Wine, (a division of Southern Wine & Spirits of New Mexico), and later did a wham-bam stint at Gruet Winery as national sales manager, before happily settling into his current job as fine wine manager back with Southern. Quick of mind and smile, Mahan and SWS represent, along with giants Mondavi, Beringer and Chateau Ste. Michelle, two-for-one rock stars Bruno D’Alfonso (formerly a winemaker for Sanford) and Kris Curran (Sea Smoke, Foley), who not only partner in producing wines under mutual and individual labels but were married in 2007.

We can hardly speak of stars and not mention the godfather of wine, Francis Ford Coppola. In 1975, he refurbished the Rutherford domain of Gustave Niebaum, nineteenth-century founder of Inglenook, establishing Niebaum-Coppola, re-christened Rubicon Estate in 2006 for their flagship Bordeaux-style blend. Having united all original properties, and recently hiring Philippe Bascaules of Château Margaux as winemaker, Coppola, in April of this year, in an epic cinematic ending, attained the rightful name to restore to the estate: Inglenook. As God is his witness, we will never drink jug wine again!

Photo: James Zandecki

Speaking of French families, Champagne region ex-pats and siblings Nathalie and Laurent Gruet were among twenty-something wineries represented at the inaugural Wine and Chile Fiesta in 1991, and they continue to host the annual golf tournament that brings the event to a close. The Gruet Winery has established itself throughout the US as a premiere producer of domestic sparkling wines, and it unquestionably put New Mexico on the AVA (American Viticultural Area) map. Partnered with the Bacchus group, the Gruet family

Photo: Gabriella Marks

Photo: David Hart

Photo: Timo Balk

Tall, elegant Emily Padon of National Distributing Company is also a hard working board member of Wine and Chile. NDC represents Ferrari-Carano, Silver Oak, Chandon and many iconic labels deserving of appreciation for their continued support. Kenwood Vineyards was put forth as a particularly steadfast contributor. Producing classic value varieties in Sonoma County, Kenwood also bottles one of my favorite Cabernet Sauvignons, the Artist Series. À la Mouton-Rothschild, famous artists are featured on the labels, among them Picasso, Klee and Miro, as well as eclectic celebrities like writer Henry Miller and counter-culture designer David Lance Goines, who created Kenwood’s first and most controversial “Naked Lady” label in 1995, as well as Ravenswood’s label. (In April, Goines spoke at the New Mexico History Museum.)

Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles, midway between Santa Barbara and Monterey, is a partnership of importer Robert Haas of Vineyard Brands and the family Perrin of famed Château de Beaucastel. Their domestic bottlings of Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah, Rousanne and Viognier blends rival those from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the mother church of France’s Rhone Valley.

is preparing to release their first vintage of Chenin Blanc, a crisp, minerally white made from old-vine plantings in southern New Mexico. Sharing that sparkling bill in ’91 was the luxury liner of French Champagne and perennial favorite, Veuve Clicquot. With their famous yellow label, as recognizable as a swoosh, Clicquot brings their je ne sais quoi as well as rare vintage wines to the tastings and auctions.

Enrique Mercure, New Mexico born and raised, spent time working in the Pacific Northwest before returning to home to become GM for Bacchus, bringing with him an affinity for Oregon wines. To add to an already strong portfolio including Archery Summit, Rex Hill and Domaine Drouhin, he recently acquired Bethel Heights, Adelsheim, Argyle and Sineann. Sineann is an artisan winery, and owner/winemaker Peter Rosback hand-selects fruit from the area’s finest growers. Winemaking is a global community, and Rosback, like Paul Hobbs or Jayson Woodbridge (Layer Cake), travel, source and bottle wines in regions throughout the world under their labels.

Sineann makes Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand, Cabernet and Merlot from Washington State and Pinot Noir in Oregon.

While commerce and its sidekicks, promotion and marketing, certainly play a large part in propelling the event, there comes a point when boosterism falls away and revelry is on. Deep in its roots, the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, a gathering of workers and farmers and those of us who take succor from their efforts, is a harvest festival.

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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or our fledgling Farm To Restaurant Delivers program (F2R), brainchild of the Santa Fe Alliance, it’s the classic underdog story. Due to a sluggish and unpredictable economy, visitors and residents alike are thinking twice about the efficacy of each expenditure they make. As a result, Santa Fe chefs, all of whom are walking a fine line between creative innovation and keeping prices down, are less likely than usual to court unnecessary risks.

Meanwhile, even in the best of times, northern New Mexico is a challenging place for food growers. According to Jacona

Renaissance story by GAIL SNYDER

p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L

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Photos: Kate Russell, Gabriella Marks and Gaelen Casey

Farm owner, Phillip Loomis, “with the extreme cold this past winter, a dry and unusually windy spring, the fires and smoke earlier this summer and, through it all, the long drought,” 2011 has been the most difficult he’s ever experienced in 20 years of farming.

And yet, despite such daunting odds, Santa Fe’s Farm to Restaurant program, not quite two years old, stands in the forefront of this pioneering movement: It’s one of the most successful in the entire country! How is that possible? Like all good underdog stories, this one involves a vast, interdependent web of people—from chefs to farmers to grassroots organizers to people like you and me—for whom Cole Porter could have written, “The difficult I’ll do right now/The impossible will take a little while.”

In matters of food appreciation, Santa Fe has had a head start over many other parts of the country. As a unique destination spot, the City Different has always had more than our share of world-class restaurants. And our farmers’ market (which actually began way back in the late ‘60s, with a group of farmers selling their produce on Saturdays from the back of their trucks) has become a vital, bustling crowd pleaser in its permanent year-round home at the Railyard.

Additionally, during the early days of locavore awareness, as Alice Waters and others of her ilk introduced the many beneficial reasons to “eat local,” a few—and then more and more—Santa Fe chefs took up the cause. Meanwhile, the group magazine.com

"We now have 30 restaurants as members so far; 15 or so of them are very consistent, ordering every week. Their hearts are in the game—they need no convincing!” -Nina Yozell-Epstein

| Salvador Corona

Friends of the Farmers’ Market, formed in 1996, expanded its goals to become the local non-profit Farm To Table, born out of several needs, among them the enhancement of marketing opportunities for local farmers through community outreach and networking.

So Santa Feans’ support, encouragement and celebration of fresh, locally grown food has steadily built up a healthy head of stream over these past few decades. Farm to Table Executive Director Pam Roy, who during the mid-‘90s was executive director of the Farmers’ Market board, has long seen a need for connecting farmers to restaurants so they could sell their produce wholesale. Back then, she and the Market staff investigated the possibility of creating such a program, “but we were daunted by how much hard work such an enterprise would take to initially get up and running!” Branching from this focus on creating a local food shed came the rise of interest in sustainability on all levels and, in 2001, a new non-profit organization, the Santa Fe Alliance, was founded. Their mission is to build a local living economy, ensuring that economic power resides right here at home with the strengthening of locally owned businesses and resources to create a strong, vibrant community.

With these goals in mind, it was only natural that the Alliance take on creation of Santa Fe’s own chapter of the Farm To Restaurant movement and, in 2005, the local program was born. Executive Director Kathleen Chambers, who on her own initiative had earlier instituted the Santa Fe chapter of the national group Green Drinks, says, “The first thing we did was send out an initial questionnaire to all area chefs, asking for feedback about their buying practices at the Farmers’ Market. They said, ‘It’s too crowded, too expensive.’ We said, ‘How can we help?’ We saw early on that we needed volume to make our F2R program work.”

The Santa Fe Alliance jumped in to help. “Last year,” says Vicki Pozzebon, the Alliance’s executive director, “with help from expert consultants at Farm To Table who already worked with farmers selling directly to restaurants, and input from farmers at the Market, we came up with a workable plan.” Then they applied for and got a USDA grant providing the organization’s seed money. “We started with just 15 participating restaurants,” Kathleen adds.

“We needed to keep it small at the beginning stages, because we couldn’t over promise.”

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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| Matt Yohalem of Il Piatto

Photo: Gabriella Marks

Katharine Kagel of Pasqual’s

| Danny Rhodes

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| Patrick Gharrity of La Casa Sena

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| Matt Romero

| Nina Yozell-Epstein an

“...everybody is so very dedicated that it makes for a great relationship based on trust and appreciation of each other’s goals.” -Guido Lambelet

nd Danny Rhodes

Photo: Gabriella Marks

| Megan Tucker of Amavi

| Roland Richter of Joe’s Diner

And, with Farm to Restaurant as the middleman, coordinating what seemed at first like overwhelming details, interested chefs got linked up with farmers who wanted to sell their products wholesale.

Here’s how the delivery system works. Interested restaurant owners sign up to be contacted. Every Wednesday, Deliveries Coordinator Nina Yozell-Epstein emails them an order sheet, with a list of what’s available; the chefs fill it out and send it back by Saturday morning. She divvies out portions of the total order to different member farms, sends the bill to the Farm to Restaurant bookkeeper and that organization pays the farmers upfront. (“It takes the pressure off and saves the farmers the headache of billing,” says Nina). The average number of hours between produce being picked and being delivered is 36. The farthest the food travels is a morning’s ride. In early August, Farm to Restaurant delivered 2,500 pounds of produce; by the end of the month, as more vegetables and fruit become available, they expected that number to double.

“We now have 30 restaurants as members so far; 15 or so of them are very consistent, ordering every week,” adds Nina. “Their hearts are in the game—they need no convincing!”

Those 15, which include La Boca, Backroad Pizza, La Choza, Jambo, The Shed, Il Piatto and Walter Burke Catering, are Farm to Restaurant’s backbone. These chefs are passionate about the program. They all mention wanting the freshest products possible, wanting to support local farmers and helping people understand why it’s important to know where your food comes from. Kim Müller, chef for Real Food Nation, who orders weekly deliveries and grows much of their own produce behind the restaurant, adds, “F2R encourages more young farmers to start their own farms,” vital because the average age of farmers in the U.S. is approaching 60. “And it helps to preserve heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables in danger of disappearing.”

Joe’s Diner is another regular—and diehard—customer. In fact, every Saturday afternoon, after Market, owners Sheila and Roland Richter invite the public to “meet your farmers at Joe’s.” At these events, folks can sit down, ask questions, become acquainted with who grows their food and “put a face to a vegetable.”

Guido Lambelet, chef for the catering company Bon Appetit, which plans and prepares the food for IAIA and the Santa Fe Opera functions, also orders weekly deliveries. “What’s not to love about it?” he asks. He mentions the incredible quality of the meats and produce, the straightforward ordering process. “And everybody at the Santa Fe Alliance is so very dedicated that it makes for a great relationship based on trust and appreciation of each other’s goals.”

Chef Megan Tucker of Amavi, another believer, calls Farm to Restaurant a tremendous timesaver for the crazy-busy summer months. “With F2R Delivers, I send one email a week, and I am able to supply 75 percent of Amavi’s and close to half of Junction’s produce needs for the week.” Patrick Gharrity, La Casa Sena chef, shops at the Market himself, gets deliveries from two independent farmers and also orders weekly from Farm to Restaurant Delivers. To really utilize this program, he says, it takes “a creative, flexible mind, an excited staff and menu liberty.” And, addressing the importance of more chefs getting on board so that more farmers can also join, he says, “Add this to your repertoire! You’re a celebrity! People look up to you.”

The Santa Fe Alliance just won the Santa Fe Community Foundation’s Piñon Award for Visionary Non-Profit. This will be a tremendous help for all of Farm to Restaurant’s programs, including the popular weekly Cook With The Chef. And, of course, the organization gives a huge boost to area farmers.

Phillip Loomis, who has been participating since the program’s beginning, says, “I can definitely grow more because of F2R, especially because we’re selling wholesale. I hope first that it can be successful and support itself outside of the grants, and then that it can help farmers extend production with walk-in refrigerators and greenhouses.”

Says longtime organic champion Katharine Kagel, chef of Pasqual’s and another enthusiastic supporter, “Farmers for me are real living heroes who coax nourishment out of the soil. They don’t just grow food, they inform our choices.”

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Wine & Chile 2011

names at Wine and Chile

story by CAITLIN RICHARDS

|

photos by GABRIELLA MARKS

I

Photo: Kate Russell

Photo: Kate Russell

n a town that glitters with culinary stars, there are a handful that are in their own constellation. Meet the most notable culinary names at Wine and Chile.

Joseph Wrede, The Palace

James Campbell Caruso, La Boca

Mark Kiffin, The Compound

AAA Four Diamond Award at Joseph’s Table, 2003-2010. Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, 2007-2009.

DiRoNA Award of Excellence, 20042009. Wine Enthusiast Restaurant Awards Award of Distinction, 2007.

Food & Wine Magazine Best New Chef Award, 2000. How wonderful for Santa Feans that chef Joseph Wrede has chosen to come to Santa Fe and make his home at the newly renovated Palace restaurant. The menu has yet to be revealed, but we know anything this award winning chef cooks up will be amazing and have the Palace restored to its rightful place among the pantheon of Santa Fe dining.

Chef James Campbell Caruso, according to his bio on Chef-opedia, started out studying anthropology.

As anthropology is the study of humanity it’s not too far from asking “what defines” society to food and cooking. Chef Caruso made a name for himself doing just that at La Casa Sena and El Farol before opening La Boca in 2006, where he has since earned much recognition. Five James Beard Foundation award nominations and being a finalist in the Copa Jerez International Food and Sherry Pairing Competition (2010) head that list.

Chef James is also author of two cookbooks; El Farol: Tapas and Spanish Cuisine (Gibbs Smith, 2004) and España: Exploring the Flavors of Spain, which is due out in April 2012.

Chef Mark Kiffin has been working in kitchens since he was 15. Clearly he started paying attention at an early age. The James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef in the Southwest, 2005,” and chef and owner of The Compound Restaurant is one of only 12 chefs asked each year to host a prestigious out-of-house James Beard Foundation dinner. In 2004 Bon Appétit called The Compound ‘one of the region’s best restaurants, showcasing Mark’s sophisticated brand of southwestern cuisine with Mediterranean accents.”

Kiffin is co-author of several cookbooks; Coyote Pantry, The Great Salsa Book and The Indian Market Cookbook with Mark Miller and The Steak Lover’s Companion with Fred Simon. Mark took private Tango Dancing lessons all last year, he one day plans to dance in a Milonga in the streets of Buenos Aires!

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Charles Dale, Terra at Encantado In 1988 Charles Dale opened his restaurant, Renaissance, in Aspen, Colorado, where he quickly garnered major accolades, including Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef in America,1995; the James Beard Foundation nomination for Best Chef, Southwest, 1998 and 1999; Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence; The DiRoNa Award; the Mobil Four Star Award; and a host of favorable national and international press. In 2000, he opened Rustique Bistro earning Esquire Magazine’s prestigious Best New Restaurant in America Award. In 2008, he came to Santa Fe to open Terra restaurant in Encantado Resort, which, in 2010, became the first and only hotel in New Mexico to be awarded the AAA 5 Diamond Award.

Food writer John Mariani named Terra one of the 20 Best New Restaurants of 2008.

Charles is also the author of the Chefs’ Guide to America’s Best Restaurants.

Photo: Kate Russell

Mark Connell, Max’s Chef Mark Connell was voted Most Valuable Pâtissier in his class at the CIA at Greystone. He studied classical Italian cooking with ICIF’s Master’s program in Costiglio di Asti, Italy.

He then honed his skills with stints at The French Laundry under Thomas Keller, Studio in Laguna Beach under James Boyce and Salts Restaurant in Cambridge under Gabriel Bremmer.

He helped open Bina Osteria as chef de cuisine before moving to New Mexico.

In the September issue of Food and Wine magazine, they say, “For Mark Connell, the new chef at Max’s, Southwestern cuisine is, again, all about the farms. But instead of giving ingredients a Mediterranian twist, he transforms Santa Fe’s best with modern tehniques. I’ve heard that Connell is one of only two chefs in town to have mastered sous vide cooking; he uses it to turn wagyu flank steak buttery soft, topping it with ramps and artichoke puree for his five-course tasting menu.”

Martín Rios, Restaurant Martín A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, Chef Martín Rios grew up in Santa Fe and has a strong commitment to the community He was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation “Best Chef of the Southwest” in 2010 and 2011, and was a Featured Chef at this year’s James Beard Gala. He is the only chef in New Mexico to have won the Robert Mondavi Culinary Award of Excellence. He went head to head with Bobby Flay on “Iron Chef America: Battle Tomato” and is currently featured in the September issue of Food & Wine Magazine.

Before opening Restaurant Martín, Chef Rios garnered a AAA Four Diamond Award and a Mobil Four Star Award at the Old House in Santa Fe, where he was also featured in a Bon Appétit cover story “The American Restaurant: Our Favorite Places.” According to his website, Chef Martín wanted a “comfortable place where people could enjoy Chef Rios’ awardwinning progressive American cuisine in a refined and pleasing atmosphere.”

According to us, he nailed it.

Presciliano Ruiz, Cafe Pasqual’s Presciliano Ruiz grew up in a large family on a large ranch outside of Durango and learned to cook in order to eat. He has been cooking at Cafe Pasqual’s for 25 years, where he cooks dishes such as Huevos Barbacoa, which was recently (8/1/2011) named by Chris Santos as “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” on the eponymous Food Network show. Pasqual’s has also merited two visits from Food Network’s Rachael Ray, for her shows “$40 a Day” and “Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels; Weekend Getaways” Owner Katharine Kagel is author of two cookbooks; Cooking With Cafe Pasqual’s and Cafe Pasqual’s - Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe and is currently featured in Gourmet Magazine Live “Where the Chefs Shop.”

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

Eric Distefano, Coyote Cafe Chef Eric Distefano’s smiling face graced the kitchen of Geronimo, and with Geronimo was involved in the opening of Swig, The Palace, Señor Lucky’s, The Spotted Donkey and Luc’s in Scottsdale, before moving to his own kitchen at Coyote Cafe, where is executive chef and part owner. He is currently executive chef at Coyote Cafe and Geronimo. Chef Distefano originally moved to Santa Fe to head the kitchen at Hacienda del Cerezo; after a year and a half he was set to move back east when he heard about the opportunity at Geronimo. He is the co-author of a cookbook, Geronimo: Fine Dining in Santa Fe (Ten Speed Press, 2004). There is a restaurant in New York or D.C. that is the poorer for his decision to stay in Santa Fe, and Santa Fe is that much the richer for Chef Eric’s culinary contributions to our town.

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Susan’s story by PHILIP DE GIVE

photos by GAELEN CASEY

Fine Wine and Spirits

| Assistant Michael Waddington and owner, Susan Eagan

You are stuck. You need to impress someone with the perfect bottle of wine--that first at-home dinner date that promises romance, a wine-geek friend about to celebrate the big five-o, the new job that seemed an impossible dream just days ago. It’s time to celebrate and you’ve been assigned to get a bottle of wine and it has to be the right bottle. Who are you going to call?

If you head over to the southeast corner of Cerrillos and Saint Francis in Santa Fe, you’ll find your answer at Susan’s Fine Wine and Spirits. The moment you walk in you’ll notice the huge variety of displays from Oregon, California, Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, and more. There will be wines you’ve never seen before. But most importantly, there will be help. Before you get very far, you’re sure to encounter Susan or one of her knowledgable sales staff who will offer assistance and guide you toward your purchase. You might walk out with a bottle you had not anticipated buying or even knew existed, but you know it’s just the right bottle. “That was easy” you tell yourself, but as with every successful retail businesses, there is a lot of planning, hard work and experience that made that transaction possible. This store thrives because they understand Santa Fe’s wine scene and instinctively know what people want in their wine experience.

Santa Fe’s special wine culture starts with its restaurants. In so many other markets when you go out to eat, you see the same nationally distributed wines on the wine list or by-the-glass. While many of them are

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excellent and reliable, they may sometimes feel overly familiar. When winery representatives come to Santa Fe, they are often surprised by the selections offered on premise, whether it’s a steakhouse, diner, sushi bar or upscale white-tablecloth restaurant. Our restaurants will experiment with a southern Oregon Tempranillo, a Portuguese red from Estremadura, an Apremont from Savoy, Picpoul de Pinet from the Languedoc or a Sicilian Fiano—and will have the food to pair with those offerings. It is not a big market, but the eating establishments display big-city sophistication when it comes to wine and food.

But what happens when you try and find one of those wines to take home? The restaurants often provide the initial exposure, but a store has to provide the opportunity to follow up, and as this magazine has shown in its series of stories on Santa Fe wine retailers, this town has an outstanding collection of retail establishments with very good buyers. Each store has unique strengths and assets to recommend it. What makes Susan’s different is the time the owner has spent in the industry here.

Susan Eagan has had 18 years of experience working in restaurants back East and in New Mexico, plus 20 years in retail in Santa Fe. (She laughingly emphasizes that she started at a very young age.) Her Santa Fe résumé includes gaining management skills at The Steaksmith, Santa Fe Trail Fine Wines and Kelly Liquors. Over the years, she eagerly associated herself with several knowledgeable people in the wine industry who became her mentors, names from the who’s who of New Mexico wine celebrities that long-time residents will recognize: Randy Breski, Ken Shoemaker, Pierre Seronde and Andy Lynch. She learned everything she could from them, constantly tasting wines and enriching that knowledge with travel to wineries in France, Italy, California and most recently Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

| From left: Blas Ramirez, Justin Boyes, Michael Waddington, Steve Dietz

In addition to building a databank of comprehensive tasting notes compiled during her tenure as a long-time retailer in Santa Fe, Susan has also built up an extensive contact base in the industry. With this experience she can locate a wine or liqueur for her customers and sometimes have it in the store the next day. Unlike the national or regional chain grocery stores, she does business with all the wine and liquor wholesalers and does not need to go through a centralized corporate office to find and order a wine. Looking for a rare single malt Scotch or Crème de Violette for a recipe or special mixed drink? A prized Nigori sake? Perhaps a Treixadura from Ribeira, in northwest Spain, a txakoli from the Basque Country, a Banyuls dessert wine from southwest France, a Dolcetto di Dogliani from the Piedmont in northern Italy? Susan carries these products, and, if necessary, she will convince the wholesaler to bring it in or even inventory it for her. She recently succeeded in bringing in a line of French white Burgundies that had been discontinued by the wholesaler. “Because of our good working relationship, we can elicit a response from sales representatives and actually serve our customers needs… as they deserve.”

Few buyers spend more time with their wholesale representatives finding out what is available than she does. That investment of time requires support, and hers is outstanding. It starts with her partners. Susan co-owns the store, a family enterprise, with her first cousin Frank Bowlin, his wife, Nirmala Ganapathy, and Nirmala’s sister Prabha Ganapathy. Frank and Nirmala provide business and information technology expertise and work actively behind the scenes.

In the store itself, Susan has assembled an excellent staff. She met Michael Waddington when he came in shopping for what is now a rare bourbon, and he eventually became her assistant store manager. She describes

him as a “voracious learner and the state’s go-to beer guy.” He is also one of the city’s more knowledgeable Scotch aficionados and is rapidly reaching that level with fine wine. Steve Dietz has worked for several restaurants in Santa Fe and has developed a great instinct for wine and food pairings. Kat Schilke (who loves to tell the customers “I am not Susan”) has had retail experience in Vail, Colorado, and is a passionate cook, because “it’s all about the food.” Rounding out the team are two energetic and enthusiastic Millennials who grew up in Santa Fe: Blas Ramirez, a specialist in single malts and sake, and Justin Boyes, who manages inventory and is also the resident artist for the wine displays. The staff lives and breathes Susan’s own brand of retail philosophy. As she puts it, “There is no shame in saying ‘I don’t know, but I can find out.’” She is also fond of telling her employees, “We don’t sell up; we sell to. Listen as closely to the person wanting a $20 gift as to the one wanting a $100 gift.”

Now in her sixth year in business with staff in place, ownership secure, and a solid customer base, Susan was ready for the the next step. Where does a burgeoning business in a recovering economy go? Physically, not far at all. While exploring the idea of growing, Susan discovered that her customers liked her existing location at the intersection of two of Santa Fe’s busiest thoroughfares, Cerrillos and St. Francis. When the larger space next door became available, committing to moving was an easy decision, and the extra room gave her the idea of including a bar to give customers a chance to sample new wines and old favorites. Susan’s Friday afternoon tastings, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., have always been well attended, and the new wine bar will bring the store to the absolute cutting edge.

Susan has been preparing to move since January, but, as is often the case in Santa Fe, commercial relocation has not been easy. With completion

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Susan’s

Fine Wine and Spirits

I NVI S I B L E CI T Y D E S I G N S graphic design

clients A RT s m a r t / A RT f e a s t A s s i s t a n c e D o g s o f t h e We s t Cornerstones The Essential Guide G e o r g i a O ’ Ke e f f e M u s e u m Inn & Spa at Loretto Local Flavor M u s e u m o f N e w M e x i c o Fo u n d a t i o n New Mexico Municipal League S a n t a Fe We a v i n g G a l l e r y Victoria Price Art & Design WildEarth Guardians w w w. i n v i s i b l e c i t y d e s i g n s . c o m

scheduled for mid-September, the new space will be ready for the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, will be more shop-able and will make the holiday season that much more enjoyable. For Susan, the future looks solid. She feels that her business niche is well established, “because chain stores have gotten more corporate and rigid in their buying habits and inventory control, and we can establish a creative environment and be responsive to customers’ needs and special orders. We can provide a level of service that is above and beyond.”

Her formula for success is deceptively simple. “You have to like people. It’s all about listening.”

Susan’s Fine Wine and Spirits is located at 1005 Saint Francis Drive in the Crossroads Center at Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe. 505.984.1582.

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57

Rustic furniture and home decor that will turn your house into the home of your dreams.

STEAKHOUSE The Black Diamond Lounge

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Speciality Deli Meats and Cheeses Wine Boutique “PRIME could be the best sandwich shop in the Duke City!” Gil Garduno

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6855 4th St. NW ▼ Los Ranchos, NM 87107 Vernon's 505-341-0831 ▼ PRIME 505-890-9150 www.yougottapassword.com

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Great views, a unique downtown atmosphere

Wagon Mound Ranch Supply

When you’re done with your wine come on down &

chile-out!

September 3rd, 11am til 2pm - Book signin’ Slim Randles, A Cowboy’s Guide for Growing Up Right & Western talent Jim Jones singin’ and playin’ September 25th, 4 til 6pm, Live music with: reknowned Western recording artist, Joni Harms These are BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) Events The Village Shops at Los Ranchos 6855 4th Street NW, all the way in the back!

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organic, vegan, gluten free foods ABQ 2201 Silver SE (corner of Silver & Yale) 505.262.2424 Mon-Sat 7am-9pm • Sunday 10am-8pm

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Monday - Saturday 9:30 - 5:30 505-341-2489 www.wagonmound.com 58

SEPTEMBER 2011

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www.worldvegetariancafe.com

r i a F

All the fun of the s t o r y b y TA N I A C A S S E L L E

P h o t o s c o u r t e s y o f N E W M E X I C O S TAT E FA I R M E D I A A R C H I V E S

n a sunny September morning last year, I stood on Albuquerque’s Central Avenue, old Route 66 herself, to watch the New Mexico State Fair Parade. A family of at least four generations sat in front of me, looking as if they’d moved in for the day with their folding chairs, shade umbrellas and coolers. As there were

some two hundred floats in the parade, I envied their foresight. In my birth country of England we hold parades, too, but few last for two and a half hours, and they tend to be more restrained affairs involving rather less baton twirling. I propped myself against a wall and settled back to observe with my reporter’s eye, interested as much in the crowd’s reactions as the parade itself. An hour later, watching all of New Mexico pass before me, mariachi ensembles and beauty queens, vaqueros and boy scouts, Native American veterans and souped-up low riders, I was cheering fit to bust and pumped up with pride at my adopted home state. “Look at my reserved British wife,” my husband commented. “You’re making more noise than all us Americans combined.”

That’s probably a stretch, as the parade attracts an estimated 25,000-30,000 spectators, but I was quick to buy a mango-on-astick to soothe my raw throat when we headed over to the State Fair afterwards. It’s hard not to swell with state patriotism at this annual extravaganza, when Albuquerque becomes the hub for even the farthest flung reaches of New Mexico to turn up and strut their stuff. In these ultra-connected days of Twitter and Facebook, there’s still nothing like getting together in person to celebrate the diversity of the state, and an astonishing 600,000 visitors roll up each year to the State Fair at EXPO New Mexico to do just that.

For some, the New Mexico State Fair is rich in family traditions. BreAnne McClellan from Albuquerque’s Westside has visited the fair every year with all her family. As a child, she and her cousins were always treated to head-to-toe new outfits for the occasion: cowboy hats, shirts, jeans and boots. Now she’s got a six-year-old son of her own. “We have a family tradition since my son was born,” says McClellan. “He and my father take a photo together every year at the photo booths at the fair, so we have all of these pictures and can see how everyone’s changed over the years.

We buy my son a whole new outfit each year too!”

McClellan enjoys the food, of course, but she also loves the Villa Hispaña and the dancers and drummers in the Indian Village. “My son likes to do the dime toss. He’s addicted. We have to take ten dollars in dimes every time. He won a remote control truck one year, and always wins cups, shot glasses and toys.” She laughs. “If nothing else, we’ve got extra coffee mugs and glasses!”

Joanne Bodin, Vice President of the New Mexico Orchid Guild, which provides an orchid display at the State Fair, looks forward to the fair as a time to connect with her grown-up son.

They celebrated his 21st birthday there, and for 23 years mother and son have continued the custom. “Every year my son and his girlfriend fly in from California for the State Fair, and we go

A Taste of Life in New Mexico

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F air

All the fun of the

together. We go on the Ferris wheel, walk around, check the baby animals and the pigs, and definitely every year we eat fresh corn with butter and spices. I only see him once a year, so it’s a big deal.”

Twenty-six-year-old Janelle St. Marks has been going to the fair all her life, and she visits at least three or four times each season. “The best part is probably the State Fair parade. My family gets there early in the morning to get a good place. We take chairs, and we always sit in the same spot.

We’ll go to the fair the same day or next day, about ten of us.” She enjoys the food, the concerts and the high school bands, and she takes her four-year-old son to see the animals. “We like the sheep. They’re friendly, and they actually let you pet them.”

The opportunity to feast on corn dogs, turkey legs, fried Twinkies and funnel cake is a big temptation for many. And as with all state fairs, it’s easy to imagine that the motto is: “If it can’t be fried and stuck on a stick, it doesn’t deserve to be eaten.”

This year, a new vendor will be serving up chocolate-covered bacon. But novelty snacks aside, there’s a serious aspect to State Fair food.

“It’s a great venue for us to reach not only people in New Mexico but the thousands of tourists the State Fair attracts,” says Noreen Jaramillo of the New 60

SEPTEMBER 2011

Mexico Department of Agriculture, whose events include the Battle of the Salsas and an organic food promotion. Their dairy promotion might draw visitors for the free ice cream, but they also learn about the dairy industry in New Mexico, which generates the most receipts after the beef industry. The popular watermelon carving is a juicy event, too. “People don’t realize that we grow a lot of watermelon in New Mexico,” says Jaramillo. “And did you know that New Mexico has the largest concentration of pecan orchards in the world?”

The New Mexico Country Store showcases food grown or processed in New Mexico. “It’s a great way to buy local, and for people to realize all the different New Mexican products.” New Mexico’s agricultural industry has an economic impact of six billion dollars, including jobs, and every corner of the state plays its part.

“It’s especially important to reach the younger kids,” says Jaramillo. “We’re losing sight of the importance of agriculture, not solely in New Mexico, but in the United States. So many people think you go to the grocery store or the fast food restaurant to get your food. I tell kids that from the time you wake up to the time that you go to bed, you are impacted by the agricultural industry.”

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That includes textiles such as wool and cotton; the fair’s sheep-shearing demonstrations are a particular crowd pleaser. Other culinary events include a fry bread contest in the Indian Village, and contests for pies, bread, chile, cake decorating and junior baking. And how could we miss the Great American Spam Championship?

While today we enjoy a thoroughly modern State Fair, it’s rooted in the territorial fairs held in Albuquerque from 1881. Those ended about three decades later, after a year when the fair fell victim to rain storms. Fast forward to Governor Clyde Tingley, who, during another era of economic depression, led an initiative to buy land at the current EXPO New Mexico site.

The first New Mexico State Fair debuted there in 1938, and the buildings on the grounds are worth a close look; many of them, and the old elm trees that shade the fair, date back to the Works Progress Administration funding secured

by Tingley from President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the New Deal.

As well as boosting regional pride and introducing us to neighbors from around the state, the State Fair brings economic benefits.

Around 700-800 people will work at the 2011 State Fair each day, from parking attendants to stagehands, and the organizers estimate the fair generates twelve to fifteen million in revenues for the community.

The 2011 fair won’t feature a man shot from a cannon over the Ferris wheel (as was reported in the early days), and they’ve abandoned the fireworks this year too (“It scares the horses”).

But almost anything else you can picture a New Mexican doing, the best of them will be doing it at the State Fair: arts, crafts, tribal dances, entertainment by local performers, plus the PRCA Rodeo, concerts by nationally touring country music artists, Chinese acrobats and a Flying Dog Show starring canines of TV fame. The fair’s new attraction is a movie stunt adventure, with professional stunt actors performing jumps and falls from Hollywood movies. Let’s hope the actors don’t overindulge in that chocolate-covered bacon beforehand!

The 2011 New Mexico State Fair takes place from September 9 to 25, and the State Fair Parade is on September 10. The main fair and rides will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, with the exception of agricultural contests, which also welcome general public spectators. Event and admission information: www.exponm.com/fair.

Saturday, September 24 • 1 - 9:30 p.m.

The Seventh Annual

Fun for the Whole Family!

• Home Made Salsa Tasting and Judging • Salsa Music and Dance Showcasing New Mexican Performers Special Performance by

Spanish Harlem Orchestra Children's Area Includes Face Painting • Arts & Crafts • Hands on Activities

www.abqsalsafiesta.org 311 or (505)768-3556 (Relay NM or 711)

Cultural Services Department, City of Albuquerque, Richard J. Berry, Mayor.

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Who’s

Wine & Chile 2011

Who?

1. Lane Warner, Executive Chef at La Fonda on the Plaza; 2. Peter Vigil, Banquet Chef at La Fonda; 3. Candelario Rivera, Sous Chef at La Fonda; 4. Candelario Gonzalez, Chef at Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen; 5. Leonard Trejo, Executive Chef at Garbo’s at Rainbow Vision; 6. German Rivera, Sous Chef at Garbo’s; 7. Augustin Bencomo, Grill Chef at Vanessie; 8. Estevan Garcia, Executive Chef at Tabla at Hotel St. Francis and Tia’s Cocina at Hotel Chimayo; 9.

Jonathan Paczott, Sous Chef at Tia’s Cocina; 10. Miguel Gutierrez, Sous Chef at Hotel St. Francis, 11. Morgan Earnshaw, Sous Chef at Balconies on the Plaza; 12. Ericka Rodriguez, Executive Pastry Chef at Coyote Cafe; 13.

Carlos Hernandez, Chef at The Ore House at Milagro 139; 14. Elio Licano, Sous Chef at Del Charro; 15. Jose Guzman, Executive Chef at Del Charro; 16. Eduardo Rodriguez, Executive Sous Chef at Coyote Cafe; 17. Tom Kerpon, Chef at Balconies on the Plaza; 18. Christopher McLean, Executive Chef at Las Fuentes at Bishop’s Lodge; 19. Roland Richter, Chef/Owner at Joe’s Diner; 20. Matt Ostrander, Executive Chef at Luminaria at Inn and Spa at Loretto; 21.

Paddy Rawal, Chef/Owner at Raaga; 22. Andrea Clover, Executive Pastry Chef at Inn and Spa at Loretto; 23. Rueben Reyes, Executive Chef at Rooftop Pizzeria; 24. Luis G. Hernandez, Chef at Blue Corn Cafe; 25. Joel Hernandez, Line Chef at Rooftop Pizzeria;

51. Paul R. Novak, Chef de Cuisine at Geronimo; 52. Jaime Villalobos, Sous Chef at Geronimo; 53. John Vollertsen, Chef at Las Cosas Cooking School; 54. Grenet Xavier, Chef at Ristra and Azur; 55. Gillian Labe, Sous Chef at Jambo Cafe, 56. Ahmed Obo, Chef/Owner at Jambo Cafe; 57.

Rubon Terrazas, Sous Chef at Ristra; 58. Andrew Nichols, Chef de Cuisine at The Compound; 59. Alvaro Ramirez; Executive Sous Chef at La Casa Sena; 60. Marcos A. Rodriguez, Line Cook at Jinja Bar and Bistro; 61. Fernando

Photo: Kate Russell

26. Jose Chavez, Line Chef at Rooftop Pizzeria; 27.

Alejandro Diaz, Food and Beverage Manager at Lodge at Santa Fe; 28. Russell Thornton, Executive Chef at Rio Chama; 29. Antonio Sena, Executive Chef at The Lodge

at Santa Fe; 30. Paul Hunsicker, Executive Chef at Club at Quail Run; 31. Charlie Jackson, Sous Chef at Rio Chama; 32. Alejandro Hernandez, Sous Chef at Anasazi Restaurant; 33. Chris Tostenson, Executive Chef at Sleeping Dog Tavern; 34. Alexander Cuffee, Sous Chef at Sleeping Dog Tavern; 35. Patrick Mares, Junior Sous Chef at Anasazi Restaurant; 36. Hyunsook Lee, Owner of Izmi Sushi; 37. Patrick Gharrity, Executive Chef at La Casa Sena; 38.

Presciliano Ruiz, Chef at Cafe Pasqual’s; 39. Victor Medina, Chef at San Francisco Street Bar and Grill; 40. Noe Sanchez, Sous Chef at La Casa Sena; 41. Santiago Ceja Campos, Sous Chef at Ristra; 42. Carlos Primero, Chef at Azur; 43. Brent Jung, Owner of Izmi Sushi; 44. Steven Lemon, Chef/Owner at Ó Eating House; 45. Oliver Ridgeway, Executive Chef at Anasazi Restaurant; 46. Dorian Garcia, Chef de Cuisine at Izmi Sushi; 47. Joseph Wrede, Chef at The Palace; 48.

Jeffrey Kaplan, Executive Chef at Castle Ranch Steakhouse; 49. Brian Sepulveda, Sous Chef at Red Sage; 50. Mike Meisel, Chef at Red Sage;

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Flores, Kitchen Manager at Jinja; 62. Jose L. Rodriguez, Sous Chef at La Boca; 64. James Campbell Caruso, Chef at La Boca; 65. Marco Aguilar, Junior Sous Chef at Bishop’s Lodge; 66. Amaury Torrez, Chef at Mine Shaft Tavern; 67. Sllin Cruz, Executive Sous Chef at The Club at Las Campanas; 68.

Marlon Segura, Sub Chef at Mine Shaft Tavern; 69. Carlos Torres, Executive Sous Chef at Bishop’s Lodge; 70. Eric Hall, Executive Chef at Fuego at La Posada; 71. Carlos Rivas, Chef at Santa Fe Bar and Grill; 72. Mark Connell, Chef at Max’s; 77. Charles Dale, Executive Chef at Terra at Encantado; 78.

Martin Rios, Executive Chef at Restaurant Martín; 79. Jessica Quintana, AM Kitchen Manager at Junction; 80. Megan Tucker, Executive Chef at Amavi; 90. Francisco Diaz, Sub Chef at Osteria d’Assisi; 91. Ever Pap, Sub Chef at El Farol; 92. Tony Smith, Executive Chef at Old House; 93. Juan Navarete, Sous Chef at Santa Fe Capitol Grill; 94. David Reyes, Chef/Kitchen Manager at Santa Fe Capitol Grill, 95.

Jackie Dieringer, Manager at Il Piatto; 96. Genovevo Rivera, Chef at El Farol; 100. Armando Rivas, Sous Chef at Old House; 101. Roey Valim, Owner of Steaksmith; 102. Bruce Ross, Executive Chef at The Club at Las Campanas. pictured in front row, not numbered: Kate Swenson, Marin Bulatewicz, Julio Nieto of Whole Foods pictured, not numbered: Angel Estrada, Executive Chef at SantaCafé, between #55 and #69; Antonio Mendoza, Chef at Pranzo, front row far left; Damayante Calderon, Pastry Chef at Pranzo, front row far right.

21ST ANNUAL

Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta SEPTEMBER 21—25, 2011

2011 WINE SEMINAR HIGHLIGHTS

How to Taste (and Talk) Like a Master Sommelier SFWC Fiesta welcomes Master Sommelier Emily Wines to our event. Emily joins Master Sommeliers Tim Gaiser and Joe Spellman for a fun, informationpacked tasting seminar. Six oustanding wines will be poured and the trio of Masters will provide tips on tasting like a pro, food and wine pairing techniques and more.

(WS1) Wednesday 2:00pm to 3:30pm at La Fonda (75 ppl) ~ $75

Sake to me Baby!

Mosel Riesling: Slate Makes the Difference

We’ve all enjoyed a glass of Sake, but what makes it so unique and special? Tour the world of Sake and its styles guided by a panel of Sake experts, including one of the America’s top “Sake Advanced Specialists,” Santa Fean Deborah Fleig. How is Sake made? How does the type of rice affect flavor? What is Junmai? Daigingo? Genshu? Nigori? How do you pair Sake with food? Taste, sip and discover.

Nik Weis, winemaker/owner of St.-Urbans-hof, by sharing seven of his Mosel Riesling wines, will show how the Riesling grape gains enormous structure and flavor when grown upon slate soils. Slate releases its minerals easily to the vines. This minerality gives structure and a refined and silky drinking pleasure, while the slate-iness binds the relatively high acidity from the Riesling grape with its natural sweetness.

(WS8) Friday 3:00pm to 4:00pm at La Fonda (75 ppl) ~ $75

(WS3) Thursday 11am to Noon at La Fonda ~ $75

RES TAURANT & WINERY DINNER SCHDULE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 Amavi & North Berkley Imports 988-2355 Amaya & Saintsbury 955-7805 Jambo & Black Mesa 473-1269 Ore House at Milagro & Delicato 995-0139 Restaurant Martin & Robert Mondavi 820-0919 Red Sage & Vine Connections 819-2056 Rooftop Pizzaria & Galante 984-0008 Santa Fe Bar & Grill & Irony 982-3030 Steaksmith & K Vintners 988-3333 Supper Club @ Real Food Nation & Morgan 466-2440 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 315 Restaurant & Sineann 986-9190 Anasazi Restaurant & Justin 988-3030 Castle Ranch & Francis Ford Coppola 473-2800 Café Café & Winebow: Wines of Southern Italy 466-1391 Club at Quail Run & Pine Ridge & Archery Summit 986-2222 Cowgirl Western Bistro & Wine Guerrilla 982-2565 Dinner for Two & J.Lohr 820-2075 El Farol & Casa Rondeña 983-9912 Joe’s Diner & Kunde Family Estates 471-3800 La Plazuela & Malbecs of Argentina from TGIC 995-2316 Max’s & Domaine Serene 984-9104 Mine Shaft Tavern & Cline Cellars 473-0743

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 O’Keeffe Café & Franciscan 986-2008 Old House at Eldorado & Stags’ Leap Winery 995-4530 Osteria d’Assisi & Ferrari-Carano 986-5858 Restaurant Martin & Silver Oak 820-0919 Rio Chama & Heitz Wine Cellars 955-0765 Sleeping Dog Tavern & Alma Rosa 982-4335 Tabla de los Santos & Spanish Wines of Eric Solomon 992-5863 Terra at Rancho Encantado & Hess Collection 946-5800 Vanessie & Rodney Strong 982-9966 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar & Schug Estate 986-9190 The Compound & Elk Cove Vineyards 982-4353 Fuego at La Posada & La Crema 986-0000 La Casa Sena & Duckhorn Vineyards 988-9232 Las Fuentes at Bishop's Lodge & Clos du Val 819-4035 Luminaria at Inn at Loretto & Zaca Mesa 984-7915 O Eating House & Feudi di San Gregorio 455-2000 O’Keeffe Café & Mumm 986-2008 Old House at Eldorado & ZD Winery 995-4530 Osteria d’Assisi & Empson - Einaudi Barolo 986-5858 Pranzo Italian Grill & Simi 984-2645 Rio Chama & Wente 955-0765 Tabla de los Santos & Black Mesa 992-5863 Terra at Rancho Encantado & Grgich Hills 946-5800

S ch e du l e & T i cke t s : www.sant af ewineandchile.or g or

505-438-8060

what Was I drinking?

O

by TOM HILL

kay, so we didn’t know what to call it. It’s definitely not Wine 101, but we still want you to have fun with our new little quiz from the wine wizard himself, Tom Hill. And if you’re able to answer seven out of ten questions correctly, you can send us your own idea for a title. (Answers on the next page.)

1. New Zealand is most noted for their Sauvignon Blancs. They are often described as:

a. buttery, oaky fruit bombs b. wet kitty liter c. asparagus and new-mown grass d. gooseberries and cat pee e. sea salt and grilled lamb chops

7. For a U.S. winery to make a red Meritage wine, it must:

2. California Viogniers are often on the ripe side and can best be described as:

a. pineappley b. Dolly Parton-esque c. earthy and pear-like d. alcoholic and fumey

a. Cabernet Sauvignon b. Zinfandel c. Chardonnay d. Nebbiolo

1. melons, apples 2. black currants, oak 3. lilacs, road tar 4. raspberry, blackberry

4. Zinfandel has long been regarded as “California’s own grape.” It is, in fact, also known as:

a. Primitivo b. Black St. Peters c. Crljenak Kastelanski d. Tribidrag e. All of the above

5. Zinfandel was brought to California in the late 1800’s by:

a. Italian Gold Rush immigrants b. Agoston Haraszthy c. Paul Masson d. August Sebastiani e. None of the above

6. The first Syrah was made in the USA in 1974 by:

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a. Walter Schug of Joseph Phelps Winery b. Bob Lindquist of Qupe Winery c. Gary Eberle of Eberle Winery d. Craig Jaffurs of Jaffurs Winery e. Adam Tolmach of Ojai Winery

SEPTEMBER 2011

a. Use the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot or Carmenère grapes. b. Pay an annual fee to the Meritage Alliance c. Age the wine only in French oak barrels d. Present an affidavit to the Meritage Association that Robert Parker has given it a score of 90 or above. e. All of the above

8. A white Meritage wine can only be made from the following grapes:

3. Match the following grapes with their most common descriptor:

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a. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon b. Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle du Bordelais c. Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc d. Sémillon and Sauternes e. Any of the above grapes

9. Which of the following varieties is NOT grown in the Burgundy region of France?

a. Pinot Noir b. Pinot Chardonnay c. Aligote d. Pinot Blanc e. Sauvignon Blanc f. Pinot Gris g. Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc h. All of the above are permitted.

10. Robert Mondavi is a legend in the US wine industry. He:

a. Established the first new, modern winery in the Napa Valley in 1966 b. Popularized the dry fermented, barrel aged Sauvignon Blanc with the name Fume Blanc c. Established the Woodbridge Winery in 1979 near his birthplace of Lodi d. Created the first partnership with a noted Bordeaux producer, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, and the Opus One Winery e. All of the above

don’t peek !

Answers: 1. d New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs display a range of characteristics, but “cat pee on a gooseberry bush” is probably the most common descriptor.

They can occasionally be on the stinky side, and kitty litter is also an apt description.

Proud sponsor of the 2011 Wine & Chile Fiesta We welcome Kathleen Heitz Myers of

2. b & d California Viogniers tend to exceed 14% alcohol, which can sometimes make them seem hot and fumey, a bit like fingernail polish remover. These are also often described by California Rhône fans as Dolly Parton Viogniers, always accompanied by the appropriate hand gestures.

3. a 2, b 4, c 1, d 3 These varietal characteristics don’t always match the descriptors, as characteristics are often a function of the soils and growing conditions (terroir). But, in general, these are the descriptors most commonly used.

4. e Zinfandel has been shown by DNA typing to be identical to Primitivo in Italy’s Campania region and the old Croatian variety, Crljenak Kastelanski.

Recently at an herbarium museum, an ancient leaf sample from an extinct Croatian variety, Tribidrag, was also found to be identical to Zinfandel.

5. e For many years, the legend was that a Hungarian immigrant, Agoston Haraszthy, brought back Zinfandel from his foray to Europe to import new varieties to California. Recent research shows it was imported from Vienna to grow in the hothouses of the East Coast wealthy, where it was known as Black St. Peters. It then made its unknown way across the country to California.

6. a Walter Schug (now of Schug Winery) made the first California Syrah from a badly virused Napa Valley Syrah vineyard owned by the Christian Brothers. Gary Eberle made the second Syrah in 1977 at Estrella River Winery. In 1982, Tolmach and Lindquist made the first truly great California Syrahs, from Eberle’s Estrella River Vineyard grapes in Paso Robles.

er! t t be e il ttl l feel a ’l ine .You W ..

as this year’s Honorary Wine Achievement Award Winner

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Third Year in a Row.

7. a & b The Meritage (it’s pronounced to rhyme with “heritage”) Association, now Meritage Alliance, was formed in 1988 to promote wines that use a traditional blend of Bordeaux grapes. Carménère and Malbec have virtually vanished in Bordeaux, and very little is planted in California. But Carménère has become very popular in Chile, which now has the world’s largest plantings.

8. b Most U.S. white Meritage wines are simply Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, with neither variety representing more than 90% of the blend. Muscadelle is very seldom planted in California except for some very old vineyards that still exist, where it was then known as Sauvignon Vert.

9. b A bit of a trick question. Sorry. For many years, Chardonnay in California was labeled as Pinot Chardonnay. But the Chardonnay variety is not a member of the Pinot family. So there is no variety known as Pinot Chardonnay, though you can buy a Pays d’Oc wine labeled as such (D’amilhac Pinot Chardonnay). Gamay Noir is grown in the Beaujolais region, which is legally a part of the Department of Bourgogne. There is a small planting of Sauvignon Blanc in the St. Bris appellation. A Pinot-Gamay blend is permitted and sold as Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains.

10. e Robert Mondavi was one of the icons of the California wine industry. He tirelessly promoted the consumption of fine California wines with good food and great friends.

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505.766.5100

www.savoyabq.com

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A Taste of Life in New Mexico

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Say

Cheese

Wine & Chile 2011

“White wine is more cheese-friendly than red wine, which everyone hates to hear,” says Laura Werlin, a national authority on American artisinal cheeses and wine and cheese pairings.

She has authored five books, including the James Beard Award-winning The All American Cheese and Wine Book, and each year at her sellout seminars at the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, Werlin introduces her easy-tounderstand methodology to pairing fine cheese and wine. She shares some tips with localflavor, starting with that red wine/white wine insight, which may come as a surprise. Because tannins in red wine are uneasy partners with many cheeses, the wine may taste bitter.

“Many people think that a creamy cheese will soften the tannins in a red wine, when in fact the opposite happens: It exaggerates them,” says Werlin. The texture of both cheese and wine is also important. “If you have a creamy cheese, you don’t want a super-light wine, because that wine is going to get lost in the presence of a cheese that has that full feeling in your mouth. You want to go for a richer style wine. And, of course, flavor does matter, so if you have a strong or salty cheese, more times than not you’re going to have the greatest success with a wine that has opposite flavors, like a sweet wine. Another thing I like to say is, ‘whiter means lighter.’ A whiter cheese speaks to a cheese that’s younger. It hasn’t been aged, so a younger cheese is more compatible with a lighter wine.”

Werlin prefers to refer to “guidelines” rather than “rules” to pair cheese and wine. “When it comes to tasting anything, it’s subjective,” she says. “I encourage people to gather cheeses and wines they like and don’t worry about whether they’re going to go together. The only way to find out is to taste them. That’s how we learn.”

Werlin is speaking from her home in San Francisco and looks forward to returning to the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta for what she estimates is her seventh year. “I think it’s one of the best food and wine events anywhere. When Greg O’Byrne first asked me to come I did back flips.” She enjoys the casualness of the event and describes Santa Fe as one of the most spectacular small towns in the world. “I love Santa Fe. I’m a big outdoors person—I have to be an outdoors person to eat all the cheese I eat. I love jogging along Alameda. I love the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market; it’s one of the best anywhere. I love SITE Santa Fe, the restaurants and food scene in general. I’m staying an extra day this year.

I can’t bear to leave.”

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| Laura Werlin

s t o r y b y TA N I A C A S S E L L E

Of New Mexico’s cheese makers, Werlin tips her hat to Sweetwoods Dairy and also Old Windmill’s goat cheeses. She’s a big fan of Gruet sparkling wines with cheese, especially the Gruet Blanc de Noirs, adding that in lesser-known wine regions, the good wines tend to be a little lighter than the “power house” wines from traditional US wine growing regions. These wines can work better with cheese, as the cheese is not competing with tannins and alcohol.

Werlin has just returned from the American Cheese Society Conference in Montreal and is enthusiastic about some of her new discoveries: apple ice wine and cheese pairings and the origins of monastery cheeses.

She’s less enthusiastic about the new Food Safety Act as it relates to cheese. “It’s a little bit discouraging, some of the changes that may have to be made. While food safety is crucial, sometimes we go a little too far and sanitize foods that aren’t inherently dangerous if made in places where certain standards are in place.”

Apart from ricotta, Werlin hasn’t tried making her own cheese. “I know enough to know how difficult it is, and chances are it would be an unmitigated disaster.

Cheese really is a combination of art and science; you can’t have one without the other to make a great cheese.

And if you make an aged cheese, you don’t know really what you’ve made for many months. So the learning curve is big and slow.”

When you find a wonderful cheese, store it wisely.

“Plastic wrap is the enemy of cheese. Wrap it with wax paper, then you can put plastic wrap around that. But plastic on the surface of the cheese imparts a chemical flavor.”

Werlin always gives recipes in her books, because she discovered that Americans are still trying to figure out how and where cheese fits into their routine. “Do you serve it before or after a meal? If you have leftovers, what do you do?” By creating recipes that showcase the better cheeses, she aims to inspire people to buy cheeses and realize “it’s not just for serving then throwing away.”

Her latest book, published this year, is Grilled Cheese Please!, the second she’s written on the grilled cheese theme. “What’s old is new again,” she laughs.

The book offers 50 innovative, gourmet twists on an eternal favorite. Rustle up a plate of her Chips & Guacamole Grilled Cheese, and stand back for the stampede.

Laura Werlin hosts two seminars this year at the Wine and Chile Fiesta. The first is “Say ‘Oui’ to French Cheese and Wine” on Wednesday September 21 at 4:30 p.m. and the second is on Saturday the 24th when Laura will do a recipe demonstration and tasting. She will also be at the Grand Tasting on Saturday signing her cookbooks. Now head on over to the “Still Hungry” column to enjoy four of her wonderful recipes.

Homeowner at 50 Foreclosure at 65 Hungry Now

Thank you Santa Fe for voting us #1 two years running!

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Help Us in Our Mission to End Hunger in Northern New Mexico

Chef-Owner : Ahmed Obo

Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta Dinner Wednesday, September 21st â&#x20AC;˘ 6pm & 8pm Seatings 5 course Dinner paired with New Mexico grown Black Mesa Winery Wines *limited seating, call for reservations

Come check out our NEW & EXCITING menu items.

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Fiesta de los Ninos September 3rd and 4th

Come out for a wonderful weekend of fun on an old Spanish Colonial Ranch !

Build a mini adobe house & cook a tortilla on the comal!

Dress up like a Spanish seĂąorita or soldado!

Visit with adorable mini horses ABQ bio park presents â&#x20AC;&#x153;From Zoo to You!â&#x20AC;?

Enjoy the music & sing along with Max Manzanares See the puppet show â&#x20AC;&#x153;Puppet Friends Around the World!â&#x20AC;?

Get creative with crafts, make a felt snake and make a mask.

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Come out and play with us!

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-XVW VRXWK RI 6DQWD )H , ([LW Â&#x2021; ORV 3LQRV 5G Programs funded in part by Santa Fe Arts Commission and the 1% Lodgers Tax, New Mexico Arts and New Mexico Humanities Council

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SEPTEMBER 2011

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StillHungry? s t o r y b y TA N I A C A S S E L L E

L

aura Werlin suggested these four recipes to spark up your cheese cuisine, complete with suggestions on wine pairings. A couple feature goat cheese, as New Mexico is so gifted with local chevre producers.

As she commented, “Goats are easier to manage than cows and can live in all kinds of climates, so it makes sense that New Mexico has more goat cheese.”

Brie Toasts

Apricot Coins

with Chardonnay-Soaked Golden Raisins

From The All American Cheese and Wine Book by Laura Werlin (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2003) This hors d’oeurve not only looks festive and tastes terrific, it also could not be easier to make. The goat cheese can be whipped in advance and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Be sure to bring it to room temperature and give it a good stir before using it.

From Laura Werlin’s Cheese Essentials (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2007) Some of the characteristics of a classic American Chardonnay include vanilla, butter, and, if it has been aged in oak, a toasty quality as well.

Because Brie and Chardonnay typically go well together, I decided to deconstruct some of the elements in Chardonnay to create this hors d’oeuvres. The result is both sweet and savory and a great showcase for the buttery cheese. To get the full flavor from the macerated raisins, it is best to make them the day before you use them. Wine pairing? You’re better off with a white dessert wine, preferably late harvest Chardonnay.

4 ounces fresh goat cheese 2 teaspoons milk, more if needed 40 dried apricots, (about 6 ounces) preferably Turkish 2 teaspoons honey 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme) 40 candied walnut halves (see recipe)

12 ounces Fromager d’Affinois (or use any double-creme brie), sliced into 24 pieces (Note: It is easiest to cut this type of cheese when it is cold. Bring to room temperature before serving; bring to room temperature before serving) 24 1/4-inch slices baguette 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 cups water 1 cup Chardonnay 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar 1 vanilla bean, split in half vertically 1 cup golden raisins

In the bowl of a stand mixer place the cheese and milk. (Or, use a medium-sized bowl and a wooden spoon.) Using the paddle attachment, whip the cheese (or stir vigorously) for at least 5 minutes, or until it is very smooth and creamy. If the cheese is still crumbly, add more milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Preheat oven to 400˚F. Brush butter onto both sides of the bread slices.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely.

To assemble: Place a slice of cheese on the bread. Sprinkle with a few raisins and drizzle the syrup over the top. Makes 24.

To assemble, spread about 1/8 teaspoon of cheese on each apricot. (If using California apricots, put the goat cheese on the shiny side.) Drizzle a little honey over the cheese and top with a light sprinkling of thyme.

Place a walnut half on top, arrange the apricots on a platter, and serve.

Makes 40; serves 10 to 12

photo: Maren Caruso

In a medium-size saucepan, combine the water, Chardonnay, and sugar.

Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Scrape the insides of the vanilla bean into the liquid and then put in the remaining bean. Add the raisins. Let steep uncovered for at least 1 hour at room temperature or overnight covered and refrigerated. Drain the raisins, reserving the liquid. Discard the vanilla bean. Place the wine mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to about 1/3 cup, or until the syrup turns a deep golden color. This will take 10 to 15 minutes.

Watch carefully so that the syrup doesn’t burn. If it starts to foam, remove from heat immediately. The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools, becoming a texture similar to a light maple syrup.

Perfect Pairs The combined flavors of the sweet-tart apricots and fresh goat cheese call for an un-oaked Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, or dry Riesling. | Guacamole Grilled Cheese

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Chips & Guacamole Grilled Cheese From Grilled Cheese, Please! by Laura Werlin (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011) In this recipe, tortilla chips are on the outside of the bread to give the sandwich its corn-like flavor and to give you the ability to enjoy all the flavors—the guacamole, bacon, cheeses, and corn chips all at once. Although I prefer using Colby and Monterey Jack separately in this recipe, you can use the combination cheese, Colby-Jack, if you prefer.

Pair with a not-too-oaky Chardonnay.

8 slices bacon 8 large tortilla chips (about 2 ounces) 4 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature 8 slices sourdough bread ½ cup guacamole (recipe follows; or use purchased preferably one with tomato in it) 2 Tablespoons peeled, seeded, finely diced (1/4-inch) Roma tomato (see Note) 4 ounces Colby cheese, coarsely grated 4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated 4 ounces goat cheese Line a plate with paper towels. In a large nonstick skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until very crisp. Drain the bacon on the paper towels. Remove the bacon fat from the pan and wipe the pan with a paper towel, but do not wash it. Set aside.

To make the tortilla chip butter, put the chips in the bowl of a food processor and process until the texture is very fine, similar to sand. Alternatively, place the chips in a sturdy plastic bag. Using a meat mallet or other heavy object, pound the chips until they are the texture of sand.

Put the butter in a medium bowl and add the ground chips.

Using a fork, work the chip “sand” and butter together until well mixed. The mixture will be somewhat stiff.

To assemble: Spread the butter mixture on one side of each slice of bread. Place 4 slices, butter-chip mixture side down, on your work surface. Spread 2 tablespoons of the guacamole on each slice of bread. Sprinkle the tomato on top of the guacamole, if using. Follow with the Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses.

Dot with small pieces of the goat cheese. Finish by placing two bacon pieces on each sandwich. Top with remaining bread slices, buttered side up.

For stovetop method: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Put the sandwiches into the pan, cover, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the undersides are golden brown.

Watch carefully because the chips in the butter can burn easily.

Turn the sandwiches, pressing each one firmly with a spatula to compress the filling slightly. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the undersides are well browned. Turn the sandwiches once more, press firmly with the spatula again, cook for 1 minute, and remove from the pan. Let cool 5 minutes. Cut in half and serve.

For sandwich maker method: Use your sandwich maker for this sandwich only if you have variable heat settings. Otherwise, it will cook too hot and burn the chips on the bread without melting the cheese. To use your sandwich maker, follow directions for assembly above. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Goat Cheese Lentil Salad From Laura Werlin’s Cheese Essentials (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2007) The vinegar in this salad and the creaminess of the lentils are a perfect match with a creamy goat cheese. Ideally, your cheese will be at the perfect ripeness, where the cheese just under the rind has become creamy and the rest of the cheese tastes creamy and yet is still firm. Pair with a Sauvignon Blanc or I might also serve a Riesling.

For the lentils: 1 cup dried lentils 1 large garlic clove, peeled For the dressing: 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill plus whole sprigs for garnish 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt Fresh ground pepper 3 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil For the salad: 4 scallions, finely chopped 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch dice 1 large celery stalk, cut into 1/8-inch dice About 1 cup peeled, finely diced English cucumber 8 ounces soft-ripened goat cheese such as Humboldt Fog or Goat Brie

Guacamole

To prepare the lentils: Fill a 2-quart saucepan about halfway with water. Add the lentils and garlic. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the lentils are tender but not mushy, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a strainer or small holed colander. Remove and discard the garlic and let cool to room temperature.

To make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegars, mustard, dill, salt and pepper to taste. Slowly add the oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly to emulsify the dressing. Set aside. (You can make this 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate, but bring to room temperature before using).

To make the salad: In a medium-size bowl, mix the lentils with the scallions, carrots, celery and cucumber. Add the dressing and mix gently. Add a little salt, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Let sit for at least 15 minutes and preferably up to 1 hour at room temperature.

To prepare the cheese: Cut the cheese into 8 equal-size pieces.

Chef Deborah Schneider has spent a lot of time south of the border in Baja, Mexico. She now brings her Mexican cooking experience north to her Orange County restaurant, SOL Cocina.

I adapted her guacamole recipe because of its lovely balance of flavors, which is often tricky to achieve when it comes to making this quintessential avocado dip.

1 ripe Hass avocado 1 Tablespoon fresh-squeezed lime juice (from about 1 lime) ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 2 Tablespoons finely diced white onion 2 Tablespoons finely chopped cilantro ½ serrano chile, minced (optional) 1 Tablespoon cored, seeded and diced Roma tomato Split and pit the avocado, and mash the avocado flesh in a medium bowl with the lime juice and salt, using a potato masher or a fork. Do not use a blender or food processor. You want to keep the avocado slightly chunky, not make it soupy. Stir in the onion, cilantro, chile, and tomato. Let sit for about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Makes about 1 cup.

Note: This makes more than you need for the sandwiches. Serve the remaining guacamole with chips alongside.

To assemble: Put about 1/4 cup lentils on each of 8 salad plates. Lay a piece of cheese on the side of the salad (rather than directly in the center) but still touching the beans. Garnish each plate with a dill sprig and serve. Serves 8.

Note: There’s no need to use the tomato if your guacamole already has tomato in it.

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Max’s Celebrating 4 years of innovative cuisine

and attention to detail

Domaine Serene wine dinner Thursday September 22

403½ Guadalupe • Santa Fe • 505.984.9104 Open Tuesday-Saturday 5:30–9:30pm • maxssantafe.com

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