The Fork's partner went and cursed us all a couple weeks back by saying, "It probably won't snow again, right?" Now, we don't really believe in curses, but yo, that straight-up cursed us. As we write this, schools and government workers were called off due to snow and we had to trade in our light cardigan we've been rocking for that puffy jacket again. Le sigh.
But y'know what? It's not all bad. For when it is cold, dear readers, there are steps one can take to food out, drink up and otherwise embrace how hard it is to get one's car out of the driveway.
Hot cocoa comes to mind, and we happen to know a stellar cup is always ready—y'know, minus the time it takes them to make it—and places like Chocolate Maven (where they literally use a variety of specialty not-yet-melty chocos to concoct the heady brew), Kakawa Chocolate House (technically, they call it "drinking chocolate," but melty choco is, like, their thing!) and, we hear, the Plaza Café Southside.
Or maybe meat is your treat (see, people who say we never talk about meat? SEE?!) and you're on the prowl for meatloaf (gross name, pretty delicious as we recall from our omnivore days)? The way we hear it, The Pantry might be the best place to go for some of that jazz. One TripAdvisor reviewer even went so far as to say "Highly recommend the meatloaf!" Wow, take it easy, buddy—don't flip your lid, y'know?
"But, The Fork," you're probably whining with your bespittled little rat face. "I don't want meat!" To that we say, hey … take it easy. We will help you. We will help you by letting you know that Julia, the restaurant at La Posada (which, by the way, is reportedly haunted by a ghost named Julia), has that delicious cold-time combo of grilled cheese and tomato soup—with chipotle in the soup. Score one for you, nerds.
You can also soup pretty much anyplace, from the hallowed halls of The New Baking Co., where Backstreet Bistro's Hungarian mushroom soup recipe wound up (it's also at Lion & Honey, by the way) to SFR favorite Palacio, though don't forget they're closed on Tuesdays. We'll remind you that the Choco Maven has a rotating cast of vegetarian and vegan soups (sorry for the second mention, but their soup's just that good), that you can find some of the best French onion soup ever at the French Pastry Shop (plus that spinach crepe is outta control) and, lastly, that Whole Foods really upped its soup game when it re-kajiggered its buffet zone—but we still don't like you, Bezos! GAAAAH! BEZOS!!!!
If, however, you also have trouble leaving the house when it's cold, our friends have recommended the following items for when they're cold:
Turkey Chili
“It doesn’t matter what recipe you use, but it’s a lot more fun if you develop one your own,” says one pal. “Either way, the ground turkey should be of a high quality and you should be prepared to spend numerous hours getting it just right.” Here’s a recipe from The New York Times, though, just to help you get started.
Oatmeal
It’s gotta be steel-cut, it’s gotta include things like apples and walnuts and maybe add something like cranberries later but, if you have a slow cooker, you can start the night before and have it waiting in the AM. Solid! Here’s a list of affordable slow cookers—so no complaining!
Everything Chile All the Time Always
Make green chile stew, OK? You want recipes? Huh? DO YOU?! Here’s one. Here’s another. Here’s even one more. No joke, too, it’s good in summer. And, as we learned secondhand from an old Mad Men episode, hot things when you are hot is good for you somehow.
What do you do for late-onset coldness?
This person makes sopapillas too small, but these might be good on a cold late-winter's but technically spring, although is it? Calendars are hard.
Also
-There's a new cooking sheriff in town, and her name is Hue-Chan Karels of Open Kitchen, a sort of cooking school that does special events for the culinarily curious. Learn more, and get psyched.
-The onslaught of Restaurant Week(s) continues, this time in Los Alamos/Taos. You got that right, Fork Fan—they're food-weeking in those towns for three more days. That's a lot of restaurant weeks, but of all the places we've traveled to or lived in, this one's our food favorite. Eat it, England! Just kidding—everyone knows British food is the worst.
-Oh. Em. Gee. There's now an official Tapatío lottery scratcher from the New Mexico Lottery. With a top prize of $10K, it's a pretty big deal.
-We hear that horrifying parking lot nightmare Trader Joe's now carries spirits from Santa Fe's newest, um, maker of … ummm … spirits. That's right, nerds, you too can grab Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery's London Dry Gin, Cane Vodka and Botanical Gin while you're realizing that those Honey O's are probably just repackaged Honey Nut Cheerios. Anyway, word.
-We're a little late to the party, but the Anasazi at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi has a new boss chef, and he goes by the name Peter O'Brien. Put that in your smoker and smoke it.
-Reminder that REMIX Audio Bar, which we frequent because it's near the office, has a constantly rotating cast of coffee flavors, and pretty much all of them have been AMAZING.
-The hours have been updated at the Farmers Market, so click here and be aware.
-Lastly, in the world of local food/drink news, it's been curtains for Duel Brewing for a couple months now, but it also turns out that owner Trent Edwards didn't really want to pay his employees after the biz closed. SFR has the scoop on what they're doing to get what they're owed (spoiler: the Department of Workforce Solutions has gotten involved, and we know what steps they're taking).
More Tidbits
-What is taco rice, and why is Japan reportedly so obsessed with it? These are good questions that probably make little sense—until you read this.
-Skillet.lifehacker.com has some issues with a viral video that explains some sort of way to slice a pineapple. And this is the endgame of the internet—investigative reporting on how someone did or didn't cut an effing pineapple. Jeeze.
-World famous pastry chef Cédric Grolet has a pretty nifty way of creating pastries that look like pieces of fruit. No, but wait, the look SO real, everyone. It's pretty amazing, and people are really into it.
-There's some nonsense about an anti-cheese movement playing out in London right now, and we're kind of like, "We tried! We failed! Pizza's just too good! Oh, this is about sandwiches? Well, same answer!"
-St. Patrick's Day is coming up (The Fork is super-Irish, but you don't hear us making a big deal out of it), and Food & Wine wants to make sure you're prepared with their favorite recipes for corned beef. Now, we've always thought it tasted a bit too much like hot earth (like, literal dirt and earth and stuff), but if you're down, then Erin Go Bragh and all that.
-This link will take you to a photo of Spaghetti-O's inside deviled eggs, and we're just like, let's talk about this. We mean, no thanks, but word? What're your thoughts?
-Chipotle—the "restaurant," not the ingredient—is giving away tons of cash and chips and guacamole, so … now you know that.
-Did you hear that story about Aunt Becky and Felicity "Frasier" Huffman's paying out all kinds of bucks to get their kids into good schools? Welp, it turns out the problem is quite far-reaching, and the food/drink industry's big names are part of the scamola, too. Agustin Huneeus Jr., the kid of a guy with the same name minus the suffix, apparently bent the rules, too, though his charges include water polo. Meanwhile, Gregory Abbott, who is some kind of beverage bigwig, used the mails (yes, mails) for his misdeeds, so that brings charges into the mail fraud territory. Yeesh. The Fork feels bad for the kids, not only if they didn't know, but if they DID. Because if they didn't know, they are probably facing a crisis of ability and smartness; if they did, they're just jerks. Either way, nobody likes it when richies work outside the law like this, so we hope retribution is swift and powerful. Oh, Aunt Becky. Whatever happened to predictability?
HAHAHA! THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED IF YOU DON'T KNOW CABARET!
Finally
In the print edition of SFR, food sorceress Zibby Wilder breaks down more affordable bar menus at fancy eateries.
____________________________________________________________
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence Number of Letters Received
28
*The age The Fork once was.
Most Helpful Tip of the Week
“Nobody likes your stuff.”
*We know! Our mom tells us alllllll the time!
Actually Helpful Tip
“India House has the best [samosas] in town, I think. Many other places have good filings but the pastry is often way thick/chewy.”
*Hopefully that helps the samosa-looker-out-er-for-er?
____________________________________________________________
See you, space cowboys; someday … somewhere …
The Fork
