Well, we’re back. Blow your party horns. Deploy the ticker tape. Release the hounds. We don’t know about you, dear readers, but having spent the last week or so eating pretty much garbage and drinking cokes and lying there in a post-holidays daze, struggling to breathe, we’re almost glad to be back to the grind. We had so many Christmas avocados (that’s a thing, right?), we demolished more than one choco orange (including one with bits o’ toffee in it), and we even had a ham sandwich, which felt alright.
And you? How were your holidays? You can email and tell us, we’ll read every one of them. We sure hope they were OK. But, as we say, we’re back now, so let’s do this.
We went kind of food-themed this year for Christmas, in part because it’s always on our mind and also because Le Forkette was in the market for some cajeta (that’s goat milk caramel, ya goobs) she didn’t have to make herself. We scoured the town for that stuff, by the way, finding some pretty great goat milk caramels from Big Picture Farm at the new Los Poblanos Farm Shop Norte. Though they were outstanding, it still wasn’t quite the same (she wanted to put the cajeta on ice cream). Where did we find it in the end? El Paisano Supermarket, of course. And we had that stuff on ice cream. And we added piñon. And it was awesome.
We also fell in love with new Moroccan restaurant Tajine during our break, and our editor dragged us there no fewer than twice. The totally organic and vegetarian/vegan joint is kinda hidden inside BODY of Santa Fe over there on Cordova Road, and it slaps so hard. You’ll find a full review in the print edition this week, so you should read that and/or put Tajine on your list ASAP. Why, you can even see an image of their food at the top of this edition of Le Fork.
We also cooked at home a bit, including one of our favorite dishes being a simple linguine number wherein you make the pasta, drain it, toss in some olive oil and diced tomatoes and chopped spinach. The tomato and spinach cooks slightly in the heat of the newly made pasta, and the whole thing takes almost no effort but feels fancy. Maybe add some garlic to taste?
This was also the year we learned downtown boutique Sub Rosa Mercantile carries fine olive oil from hipster brand Pineapple Collaborative. And though the company’s vibe smacks of rich kids deciding they can just go ahead and make olive oil because what else are they doing, we admit it’s a delicious addition to our kitchen. Same goes for a few products we picked up from the new La Boca Bodega from the folks at—get this—La Boca. We picked up a fine balsamic vinaigrette from Spain whose branding we forgot but which La Boca chef James Campbell Caruso assures us is “really phenomenal.” We can’t wait to put it on something, and we wonder if it’s weird to save vinaigrettes for special occasions.
And that about brings us up to speed. In summation, we ate too much and are still kind of coming down. No, that didn’t stop us from eating some of the cookies baked by the husband of SFR’s publisher, but we’re definitely gonna lie down now. Just for a second. Check back with us next week.
Same as we ever was.
Also
-Have you heard about Liberty Gourmand, a new self-proclaimed luxury vegan kitchen in Santa Fe? You’ve not?! We might just add a few more of these!!!! Anyway, you can learn more on the website, but the gist is that you can order delicious vegan food a couple times a week, and it looks pretty amazing and we could all be eating a little better. SFR included it in this roundup of environmentally forward businesses last year. Vegans seem to feel pretty good a lot of the time—just ask Kevin Smith.
-Not Santa Fe, but we regret to inform you that Albuquerque noodle joint Magokoro Japanese Restaurant has permanently closed. We know this hits our ABQ friends hard, and it always sucks when a beloved restaurant wraps things up. If you’re in Santa Fe, you can always visit Mampuku Ramen.
-You know how Yelp-dot-com makes everything harder for professional food writers? Well, even though that is totally true, we hear that it published a piece about the top places to get hot chocolate in the US, and that Santa Fe’s Kakawa Chocolate House was named the number two spot in all the land. Nice! We’ve been over there...it’s totally good.
-Word on the street is that Bourbon Grill is going through a bit of a menu change. In fact, something like four readers wrote to us to ask us to get to the bottom of it. The answer? Sometimes menus change, jeeze.
-Also in word on the street news, Eldorado Living magazine reports that the owners of Thai on Canyon and Madame Matisse are likely set to take over the lease on the building that housed recently shuttered French boite Le Pommier—apparently for an Italian restaurant. Sacre bleu! Or an Italian exclamation!
-People ask us all the time if Santa Fe Restaurant Week is returning, and while we were busy taking the one break we get all year, supervillain Teya Vitu from the Santa Fe New Mexican went out and learned it’s indeed returning this year. You win this round, Vitu, but you’re going down at Wrestlemania! Anyway, what’s Santa Fe Restaurant Week? It’s a week wherein you’ll save a few bucks dining out. May the $4 you don’t spend comfort you throughout the rest of the year. Find the week going down starting Feb. 20.
After two years dormant, downtown restaurant India House has reopened under new management—a pair of former servers who Voltron’d together to make it work.
-We’re not sure if this affects Santa Fe or New Mexico because we don’t eat red meat, but eagle-eyed reader Susan D. pointed out to us that Morsach Meats Inc. has recalled some of its frozen beef products over possible E. Coli. Learn more here and check your freezers. Also, Morsach Meats sounds like a supervillain to us. We might be conflating it with Moloch from Watchmen, but...y’know.
“If I could only get that kiss!”
More Tidbits
-STOP THE PRESSES! Starbucks is changing how its rewards program works and...well, who gives a shit? You can learn more right here, people who don’t get that drinking local coffee is cheaper and better. Have fun at Chipotle or whatever other unimaginative places you go to quaff and consume.
-Turns out the FDA has named sesame a major allergen—the ninth item to be federally recognized as such. Tough blow, people allergic to sesame, because what’s a burger bun without them seeds?
-Food & Wine-dot-com has a fun little story about North Carolina bakery that has used the same gingerbread recipe since 1807. Apparently it’s super good and has that real 1807 taste. Hahaha! We said that like 1807 taste is a thing. We’re picturing foods that are preserved in a thick layer of salt and that suck. But gingerbread from that time? Somehow seems more valid, right?
-OK, it’s starting to feel like companies are playing a prank on us with the whole merch no one needed thing. The newest entrant to the Fork Octagon of Dunking on Dumb Products: The Hefty Snack Scarf, a literal scarf from the Hefty brand (that’s trash bags, y’all) that has a pocket in which to keep your snacks. While we don’t hate the idea, we wonder what kinda doofus is willing to walk around with something bearing the Hefty logo. Sounds like a hefty load of crap.
-Once again, Eater-dot-com provides solid writing that makes you think in the form of a piece on butchers. Why butchers, you ask? Well, writer Korsha Wilson looks into the butcher world to check on opportunities for Black folks looking to get in the game. Turns out it’s not so easy, which should surprise no one—just about everything in this country is pretty racist.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
As we mentioned before, find a nifty little review on new eatery Tajine in this week’s print edition of SFR.
Number of Letters Received
54
*To be fair, though, that accounts for the week we were off and not checking emails.
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)
“Don’t do it. Don’t. Just don’t.”
*We particularly love that this one had no other context. We hope we don’t accidentally do “it.”
Actually Helpful Tip(s)
No tips, but a very nice writing educator told us that she likes our style, and we’re gonna cry because it’s nice!
*It was seriously so nice, but we also do seriously want tips. Seriously. Hit us up with the things you know.
Begrudgingly back at work,
The Fork
