fork mail header
Hey, gang, it’s us, The Fork, back once again to write sentences like, “...and it was the biggest burrito we ever ate.”
Let us first thank you for your responses to last week’s Fork about why we believe Santa Fe needs a diner in, like, the classic diner sense. Because so many readers had so many thoughts on the matter, we’ve chosen to resurrect one of our favorite old chestnuts, and it’s one we know you like, too—letters from the trusty digital mail bag. These letters have been slightly edited in some cases for your reading ease.
“Hey, Fork, do you remember the Super Chief Diner that was in an actual train car in the Railyard? Good times!”
Woah, Meredith M., we don’t remember that, sadly, but we have a buddy we call Super Chief, so we feel very close to you right now. Does anyone else know about this or have photos or maybe you worked there? Hit us up!
“How about a diner/truck stop?”
As we have been known to consume products that make their way about the country by truck, Robert B., we’d support the sort of place where an underpaid driver might grab a bite or score some sleep. Approved!
Are you kidding ? A deli is not a diner! Santa Fe is full of diners. They are everywhere. But not the diner you imagine from the cold up north. NM diners are simply our NM eateries. Don’t try to mess things up. And I believe NY Deli is truly not exactly a deli. It’s not Canters. So we need more matzo, more gefilte and a kosher deli. But please don’t tie deli to diner. Each have their own foods.
Hey, Patris J., as much as love the idea that anyone out there is turning to The Fork to make sweeping statewide restaurant decisions, we’re just not sure we have the kind of pull to mess things up. Also, we’re just saying a restaurant REMINDED us of diners and how we longed for a specific kind of place. Dang!
“Dearest Fork, you’re so right. Santa Fe needs a diner. You know what they say, though. Whenever ‘they’ should make something happen, it usually means ‘we’ should make it happen. We’d make a great team, let’s open raunchy diner together!”
Wow, reader who signed their email Plastic Spoon and Dull Knife—good call. Our proposal is that you handle the money, we’ll eat there sometimes and voice the animated Fork from the commercial who says lines like, “Nothing could be finer than you getting into our effing diner!” We’d probably need to know your real name before we signed anything, though.
“We have been longing for a classic 7 day/24-hour Greek diner for years! Overstuffed menus and sandwiches; milkshakes and plain chocolate milk. In Fort Lauderdale we had Lester’s Diner near the entrance to Port Everglades. It served a ‘bowl’ of coffee...it would be a wrist and thumb workout if you attempted to lift it to your lips with just one hand. Spaghetti and meatballs at 3 am? OK! Bagel and eggs at 9 pm? Sure. A king-size pastry with too much sugar after breakfast at 8 am? You [betcha].”
Oh, Stuart and Barabara S., you just get it and you just get us.
“Well, sorry bro, but in order to satisfy The Fork, The Fork be needin’ to live in an area with A LOT more people than SF. Or go to Denny’s when you get scratchie for 24/7.”
This comment from TC G. on the SFR Facebook page makes a good point, but also, it really does seem like there are plenty of folks here who want what we want. Also, we specifically said no Denny’s last week!
“Oh, I dunno. Every time I’m traveling and end up eating at a local diner in some godforsaken small town (because it’s a real diner), I have to pop Tums for the rest of the trip.”
This comment is also from Facebook, and we have two words for you, Paula L.: Worth it!
* * *
And there are more from there, but most of them are all like, “How you always so right all the time, Fork?”
It’s a gift (said like Alec Guinness in Doctor Zhivago).
We feel the way about diners that Yuri felt about Lara in Doctor Zhivago. And just like in the movie, it is a love that will span all time and probably result in a heart attack.
Also
- With numerous lawsuits underway and multiple restaurants in his Santa Fe Dining empire dealing with recently expired liquor licenses, local real estate/restaurant/gallery magnate Gerald Peters tells the Santa Fe New Mexican that he’ll sell “a modest number” of his properties over the next 10 years. These include the building that houses Palace Avenue’s The Shop Christmas store and another on Paseo de Peralta that houses the Casas de Santa Fe rental company. Peters also owns the Cordova Road building where you’ll find Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen—the same business a Santa Fe woman sued last year after injuring her spinal cord in its parking lot. A jury awarded that woman $31 million. And it doesn’t end there. Another civil complaint from June claims Peters and his wife Kathleen owe $87,000 on a 10-year-old $13 million loan tied to the Plaza’s Santa Fe Arcade shopping center, and another alleges they defaulted on a $2.8 million loan from the bank WestStar. Y’know, this is a lot of stuff, man, and we’re just kind of glad right now that we’re poor, because it seems less terrible than doing business stuff.
- Not only has Champagne—yes, with a capital C—brand Veuve Clicquot been recognized as Champagne of the Year for this September’s Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, the French company will take over the outdoor Patio—yes, with a capital P—at the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi this summer. The pop-up collab finds the Patio transforming its color scheme to the VC white and yellow, and Champagne fans can get glasses or bottles to their heart’s content. Also wild? The brand was founded in 1772.
- Over at the Pink Adobe, find a special celebratory dining option going down through the rest of the month to mark the restaurant’s 80th anniversary. For $80, diners will get their choice of special starters, either the fire-roasted chile relleno or steak Dunigan for an entree, plus a special selection of wines, beers and/or the Silver Coin margarita. At the Pink Adobe’s bar, the Dragon Room, catch a $19.44 social hour special with drinks including the Rosalita margarita, named for the restaurant’s founder Rosalea Murphy. Santa Feans of a certain age and persuasion will no doubt recall the fun days of yore in the Dragon Room. Oh, that one bartender from, like, 20 years ago, Hannah—how we miss you so!
- Local nonprofit Kitchen Angels announced on Tuesday that its longtime executive director Tony McCarty will retire effective Dec. 31. McCarty counts 31 years leading the org that brings nutritious meals to homebound and/or chronically ill Santa Feans. “It’s been an absolute honor to keep Kitchen Angels poised to handle Santa Fe’s needs, and we’ve set up the organization for success, so I’m hopeful the new person will come in and respond to the needs of the community,” McCarty told SFR earlier this week.
- Market Steer Steakhouse reopened in its new location at 213 Washington Ave. this week, and at least one SFR staffer went over there and ate so much they almost died—and then they ate some more. You can read more about it in this week’s edition of SFR, though note that it’s not a review so much as a piece that’s like, “Decanting station? You bet!”
- Meanwhile, in the wide world of soups, not one, not two, not three, but four—literally four—people we know called us and practically shouted, “Soup Star has chilled gazpacho right now!” OK, so the Southside soupery is known to change its menu up on the daily, but that doesn’t mean you can’t call ahead and ask if the gazpacho is available. Failing that, The Shed’s cold raspberry soup is also chilled and so so good.
- Well, it has been just a whirl of wind over there at Cafécito in the Baca Street Railyard area. Not only did the restaurant welcome chef Jordan Isaacson earlier this year, but it also announced a number of new elements this week. These include a new coffee collaboration and partnership with Santa Fe’s Odd Box Coffee Roasters, another partnership with indoor aquaponic farm Desert Verde Farm and a new Ascaso espresso machine that will apparently up its coffee offerings like woah. We’re into all that stuff.
This is literally a song about cold soup. Well, it’s called “Cold Soup,” anyway.
More Tidbits
- Over in Texas, where Hurricane Beryl has turned just about everything into an ever-loving nightmare, folks are using the app for burger chain Whataburger to gauge where and when power issues are going down or not. Most Whataburger joints are open 24 hours a day, you see, so if the app says one is closed, it probably means the power’s out, dig? Ugh. Dig? Why don’t we just call everyone “Daddio?” Anyway, Texans are doing this because energy concern CenterPoint Energy has offered decidedly less...like, as in not really anything. In summation, burger joints: 1; other jerks: 0. Our take? Anything’s better than crawling.
- Bad news, cooking oil users. A new report claims that state-owned Chinese food company Sinograin (as well as private company Hopeful Grain and Oil Group) have engaged in the questionable habit of transporting cooking oil in fuel tankers without cleaning said tankers in between. Jeeeeeeeeeze, man! C’mon, man! According to CNN-dot-com, the food safety office of China’s administrative state council has announced plans to investigate, and the companies in question have already reportedly launched their own. Our take? This would be terrible.
- The Nestlé-owned Nespresso coffee brand will apparently open a number brick and mortar boutiques tailored to Gen Z coffee drinkers who want to “immerse themselves” in Nespresso. What an odd choice of words for a beverage store. The first store already opened in Austin, Texas, earlier this month, and, following a Seattle location scheduled to open later this year, the company is set to expand into additional markets in 2025. Our take? If you care that much about Nespresso, you are probably an incredibly strange person. All we can think about is the episode of The Simpsons wherein Marge, attempting to celebrate her sisters’ milestone DMV promotions, discovers that the only coffee she has in the house is Nescafé, also from Nestlé. “I’m very, very sorry,” she announces, crestfallen.
A totally scientific breakdown of The Fork’s correspondence
In this week’s print edition of SFR, more on the new Market Steer Steakhouse.
Number of Letters Received: 40
*People love diners in a way, it seems, that we’ve never been loved.
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader):
“Ugh, I hate diners.”
*Do you feel better getting that off your chest?
Actually Helpful Tip(s):
“Whole Foods ice cream sandwiches are really good!”
*To be honest, this was something our mom told us in person rather than a reader by email, but she was right as hell so we thought we’d tell the whole class.
Messages received,
The Fork
