Alex De Vore
Cloud cakes, a pesto omelet and a green chile cheeseburger from Café Fina. Not pictured is the stawberry rhubarb pie eaten too quickly.
A sojourn to Café Fina (624 Old Las Vegas Highway, (505) 466-3886) last weekend marked the third time I’ve found a killer meal along Old Las Vegas Highway in recent weeks. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on out there food-wise, but I’m not about to question it so much as I’m just gonna go ahead and trek out there as often as possible. Of course, there are likely those who live in the area reading this and smirking and saying things like, “Welcome to the party, loser,” under their breath. I’m glad to be here, I should say, and I could easily see making the triad of Harry’s Roadhouse, Jambo Bobcat Bite and Café Fina a regular rotating brunchtime/lunchtime occurrence for me and mine. Café Fina from owner/chef Murphy O’Brien hits the top of my list starting now, though. Frankly, it’s top-notch for anyplace, any highway.
Straight away, Café Fina’s bright and clean interior is among the most welcoming restaurants I’ve ever experienced, and the Kona coffee sourced through Santa Fe’s Aroma felt and tasted so good. I’ll surely return for the to-go-only dinner menu, but the seated brunch on a Saturday checked all my boxes and then some.
First things first: You’ll order at the counter should you visit Café Fina yourself, but be prepared so you don’t hold up the line. Café Fina’s prices are so affordable, so more-than-fair, that you might do a double take to make sure you aren’t reading a misprinted menu or something. You’re not, though, the prices really are just that fair, especially for the quality of food on offer.
As this was a brunch outing, my companion and I were instantly drawn to the ricotta cloud cakes ($11.95), Café Fina’s take on pancakes. I incorrectly assumed they would be those jiggly pancakes you see in food videos about Japan, and though they tragically were not, they exceeded my expectations. Even selecting that dish proved hard, however, with so many other items dancing on the menu enticingly. At a mere $11.95, the migas seemed like a steal, as did the Eldorado omelet ($12.95) with ham, mushrooms and asadero cheese. Secure in our flapjack order, we ultimately landed on the pesto omelet ($10.95) with organic eggs and mozzarella, plus the green chile cheeseburger ($12.95) for a lunchier taste as well a glimpse into how O’Brien and company handle a New Mexican classic. Did we also order a slice of the strawberry rhubarb pie ($5.50)? You bet your ass we did. Did we eat it before the rest of the meal? Yup.
Starting with the pie, my companion exclaimed, “This is the best strawberry rhubarb pie I’ve had in my entire life!” Like, she practically shouted that. I’m not even a huge fan (gimme that key lime any day), but her pronouncement was so emphatic that I dove in headlong to discover she was correct. Pre-made pie shells have been the bane of my sweet existence at Santa Fe’s lesser establishments, but never has a pie’s home-made provenance been more apparent than with the flaky, crispy, flavorful crust at Café Fina. Is “best in town” too strong?
Before we knew it, our other items arrived, all looking gorgeous. I’d like to shout out our server, who announced the toast included with the pesto omelet looked a little overdone, so he’d fired off another order to make sure it was just right. That sounds small, but it suggests consideration—empathy, even. And when that other toast arrived, it was just right. Same goes for the burger, a nicely-sized number cooked with precision to my requested medium and served with half fries/half salad (an extra 50 cents and so worth it). Not only did O’Brien’s version taste fresh and lovingly prepared, its chile contents were spot-on in volume and adhered to the bun with a small dollop of mayo. The fresh onion and tomato (sliced thin, which is brilliant) were of the highest quality, too, and the leafy salad with a bright oil-based dressing wowed. I love the split fries/salad idea because it allows the diner to have a couple fries like they actually want with enough salad to feel like they’re being good. Turns out I was so entranced by the burger that I failed to sample the pesto omelet before it was consumed, though I choose to take that as high praise.
Stuffed already, we still had the cloud cakes to consider. Served with a not-too-sweet whipped cream, real maple syrup and fresh berries, we devoured them. This was more than worth the ate-too-much exhaustion that followed, and we practically crawled to the car. Outside, the Kure Cannabis outpost next door felt like a genius display of synergy. The drive back to town came only with conversation about the food. Would it be weird to go back the next day? How soon could we return to Café Fina? Not soon enough.
