Some of us still regard the Guadalupe Street building that houses REMIX Audio Bar (and Fire & Hops gastropub before that) as Dana’s After Dark, that most excellent nighttime coffee house that played host to many a rave/punk show fan in the late ’90s. The bad news is that the folks who remember Dana’s dwindle by the day—the good news is that REMIX owners Justin Ray and Julie Grace are not among them. In fact, Ray and Grace have carved out a little bit of a tribute to the ol’ coffee shop with their own caffeinated offerings, and they’ve done so while offering opportunities for new and seasoned DJs and kicking off foodservice with ramen options so good you’ll kick yourself for not having sampled them sooner.
To answer your next question, REMIX (222 N Guadalupe St., (505) 803-7949) is totally grappling with the same issues facing many Guadalupe Street businesses just now: The road work throughout that particular stretch has basically kept patrons at bay because nobody wants to deal with the ass-ache. If you can brave the orange cones and barrels, though, you’ll find that Ray and Grace’s place is more than worth the hassle.
It begins with the ambiance. REMIX is mind-bogglingly clean and cozy with its numerous rooms featuring table and armchair seating. To get it out of the way, seating is mildly awkward in a lot of cases, but with playing cards and games available for diners or coffee drinkers, it’s easy to overlook. Mainly, though, it’s the DJs that bring the heat. On a recent night, myself and a companion both remarked that it was cool to have a DJ spinning original music, but not so loudly as to prevent conversation. REMIX also boasts excellent coffee, and being able to snag caffeine in Santa Fe after 6 pm is something the city has long needed.
Once you’re inside and comfortable and have sufficient access to coffee drinks of all stripes, the ramen menu should check the rest of your boxes. REMIX’s menu was designed in part by chef Joel Coleman of Fire & Hops, Body Café and La Lecheria fame, and those who’ve followed his career know he’s an Asian fusion master. REMIX goes the traditionalist route with much of its ramen offerings, though some dishes have little twists. To wit: The shoyu pork ramen with red chile miso broth ($18.50; $4 for extra pork) hits the well-known aspects of such a dish, but the red chile mingles so well with the salty miso flavor that it’s hard to believe such a thing isn’t a mainstay on New Mexico menus.
I ordered precisely that, with extra pork, and found myself thrust into a world for which I was ill-prepared—the one where a nighttime coffee shop also offers some of the best ramen I’ve tasted. Everything was pitch-perfect, from the tender noodles and the flavorful egg to the charred cabbage and watermelon radish. If I’d thought to ask, I would have ordered a big cup of the red chile miso to drink straight, but I was so busy with the melt-in-your-mouth pork that time and desire lost all meaning.
My companion chose from REMIX’s multiple vegan ramen options, specifically the ramen with cabbage, shiitake and white mushrooms, watermelon radish and green onion ($18.50). For their broth, they selected the sesame garlic—a $1.50 surcharge worth every penny for its aromatic additions to the vegan melange. Like the shoyu, the broth for the vegan ramen shone, only this time with a satisfying garlicky bite, and Grace’s knack for preparing noodles to just the right consistency proved remarkable.
This is great news for local vegans who really only have a handful of options like Ras Rody’s or Annapurna World Kitchen or Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen. Japanese cuisine is often meat-heavy (yeah, yeah—not counting tofu), but REMIX has found robust ways to adopt its traditions while breaking new ground. Even better, its offerings are available until 10 pm Wednesday through Saturday, and it has been a long time since Santa Fe has boasted a late-ish night restaurant that wasn’t a chain. For anyone who has been missing the golden years of the Atomic Grill or the aforementioned Dana’s After Dark, this should go a long way toward recapturing those feelings. REMIX will still host its DJ school, too, so assuming folks can contend with the Guadalupe Street construction issues a little longer, we might really have something here. You’ll even find smaller plates on the REMIX menu, including onigiri—with a vegan option—and namasu, a pickled cucumber app with daikon, carrot, ginger and seaweed. REMIX also offers gluten-free versions of some menu items.
The best part, however, came in the afternoon of the day after our meal. REMIX ramen bowls are so large that I couldn’t finish mine in one go. I’ve long asserted that some brothy items taste even better after a night in the fridge, and my shoyu did just that. Even out of the microwave, it had a certain fresh flavor that satisfied my love of New Mexican and Asian flavors. I drank it straight out of the container. I breathed in the red chile and the miso. As the wind blew cold outside and the day came to a close, I felt its warmth spread in my belly. “If this isn’t nice,” I said out loud, to no one, “what is?”
