Full disclosure? We worked for a time at The Shed with Palacio co-founder/owner/food genius Damian Muñoz some years ago. Bur rather than that being a conflict for us, we consider it more like a point in the column about how we know what a great restaurant guy he is. With that in mind, it is absolutely insane to us that he and his wife Maria opened their little restaurant on Palace Ave. in 2012, though now that it takes up most of its building, we guess it kind of makes sense that it would take more than a decade to do that. Regardless, we love it and we’ve kind of sucked at eating there ever since the SFR offices moved farther than a half-block away.
With that in mind, we popped by for dinner one recent evening with a family member, and we remembered exactly why this place has remained so popular—and why it gets to take up most of a huge building now.
It comes down to two main things, at least for the meal we most recently had:
- House-made chips seasoned with a proprietary blend of spices and a tasty, smoky salsa
- Menu items that don’t contain chile but still slap (or smack for the reader who prefers “smack” to “slap”)
First off, the chips and guac ($9; $11 if you want salsa, too) are a dream over there. Just know that. Something about the blend of spices on those thick-yet-crispy chips works so well with avocado flavor. It’s the same basic spice melange that comes on the fries, too, and Muñoz is a genius for having crafted it. Also, Palacio might just have the creamiest guac in town, and the cup it comes in is so huge you just kind of feel shocked by its value.
But the main event, as it were, came in the form of the grilled chicken salad ($13.50). Served with a mix of greens, carrots, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes—plus walnuts, baby!—it’s the sort of salad that could feed two people, not least of which because of the grilled chicken. On the exterior, a not-quite-blackened crisp that features a lightly yet capably bit of salt and pepper; on the interior, a satisfyingly tender and still juicy taste that would be good in anything from a sandwich to…honestly, we’d probably just eat bites of this chicken with nothing else on this side. Throw in the greens and such, though, and get dressing on the side, and you can tell yourself you’re being healthy. Palacio has some others, too, like a simpler garden salad ($10) and the popular pear salad with the eponymous pears, blue cheese and candied pecans ($12.50).
Of course, you’ll find some of the best red chile in town at Palacio, but we’re not really the type to believe that if you don’t eat chile at every meal you’re not New Mexican enough. Even so, if we were on a chile quest, we could do worse than the GCCB (that’s our abbreviation for green chile cheeseburger, which we use to save time and our typing fingies) or the breakfast burrito, the latter of which is absolutely legendary for its hash browns and deliciousness smothered or hand-held. In the end, though, we just love the story of an immigrant family that came to Santa Fe, kicked ass in the biz for a million years and then opened up their own spot—one that remains popular some 13 years later. We salute you, Muñozes!
Andy Palacio is his name, and the word “desire” is his game, so you can see why we included it here.
Also
Word has it that Cordova Road French joint Clafoutis is temporarily closed while the owners take a much-needed break. This happens annually, so everyone can and should just chill out because people deserve breaks sometimes. We don’t know what day it’ll reopen, but if you’re craving Clafoutis, you should call ahead before you show up and then get all mad.
If you’re not following the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta via social media, how the heck will you know about all the wild things they’re planning for this September’s fest?! You won’t! OK, so you could look at their website, but still—despite how it ruined everything we once loved, social media does do a pretty good job at keeping folks updated moment to moment. Just know that.
We just now learned about High 5 Edibles, a combination dispensary/gourmet chocolate shop coming to Siler Road soon. It’s been years since we’ve done any drugs but angel dust, but if we were into cannabis, well, adding chocolate just sounds smart. Someone whould make weed-based peach gummi rings, though. Anyway, High 5 has a website, so you should check it out.
You might’ve heard that Mountain Valley Produce (fka Matt the Peach Guy) has been back in town slangin’ fruit, but we heard that the Palisade peaches for which he’s famous haven’t been in stock…until now. Find ‘em at the parking lot that’s right between The Candyman and American Home Furniture.
Their first album is a banger all the way through, too.
More Tidbits
As an amorphous gas being whose great grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s, we’re thrilled to learn that rosemary reportedly has elements that could combat the most nefarious condition. According to Food and Wine-dot-com, sciencey types have created a new oral drug from rosemary’s carnosic acid, and it has reduced Alzheimer’s biomarkers. Huzzah!
It’s summertime in America, and you know what that means—we are legally required to grill or the people from Weber will have your legs broke. New to the grill game? Don’t sweat, buds, because the dinguses at USA Today-dot-com have tips on how to grill the best burgers ever around. Read ‘em here.
If you, like us, have been confused about the ongoing tariff talk and how that impacts you and your weird family at the grocery store, it would seem that Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan wants answers from stores like Kroger, Walmart and others. Setting aside how long that last sentence was, we hope to learn more about this, too. If you want to learn more about Hassan’s quest, click this link and be like, “I understand politics.”
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
This week in the print edition of SFR, somebody goes to check out that new Cuban joint Lago Café. That drops on Wednesday, June 18.
Number of Letters Received
4
*Apparently there was a typo in one of our Forks that used sfrepoter rather than sfreporter, so let us just say that our email is thefork@sfreporter.com.
Most Helpful Tip (A Barely Edited Comment From a Reader)
“I had to actually type the whole email into my outgoing message!”
*Oh, God, no?! The whole thing?!
Actually Helpful Tip
“It says ‘repoter,’ Fork.
*Thanks for the heads up, guy!
Salad-dazed,
The Fork
