“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah, The Fork—it’s 4/20, bro! Hahaha!”
That’s some of you. That’s what some of you sound like.
And you know what? JUST STOP IT! We get it—some of y’all like weed. We even thought we’d try to do a weed edition of Le Fork but realized it hasn’t been OK between us and cannabis since the ‘90s, so...yeah. Look, here’s a link to a story about a guy who makes food with cannabis from last year’s SFR Summer Guide, but for now, we’re wrapping up our rule of threes series (of which there have been three because we are a genius), but we’re just gonna go ahead and get into our current top three spots for dinner in Santa Fe.
105 E Marcy St., (505) 424-1311
Look, we’ve been around this crazy globe and we’ve eaten a lot of sushi in a lot of places. Like, we think it’s adorable that some of you think you’re sushi geniuses because you’ve watched a couple Netflix shows and you read whatever thing about sushi grade whatever—JUST STOP IT. However much you think you’ve had or you know, unless you’re an 80-year-old sushi chef trained from birth, we know more than you. We just do. Sorry. Anyway, we’ve been many a place with sushi of late, and we’re here to tell you that, at least as of this moment, Izmi has it going on and wins our love. It’s simple—the cooked items are killer (especially the green chile tempura item; shout-out to the lunch-only bento boxes), and every single piece of nigiri or sashimi we’ve had in recent months has been top-notch in terms of flavor, texture, presentation and overall value. Added bonus? We’ve never had any trouble getting in for a table and there’s something so nice about springtime on Marcy Street. Jeeze, we miss having an office there sometimes.
112 W San Francisco St., (505) 983-7302
The people who know about La Fogata KNOW about La Fogata, if you catch our drift, but you should also know that knowing is half the battle, or whatever. This bad boy was founded in 2015 in one of those out-of-the-way downtown subterranean spots, so while we would never assume to know how bonkers the biz is, we would also kind of assume (oh, shit, we DID assume after all) that they’re not getting as much love as they deserve over there. You can get a drink served inside a literal pineapple. Elote! You can get mole so tasty that the only thing left to say is, “Dang, that mole is tasty.” La Fogata also has reasonable (for downtown) prices and some of the nicest staff we’ve encountered anyplace. Looking for tacos? Look here.
730 St. Michael’s Drive, (505) 471-0440
We didn’t really think that anyone could top the Second Street fish and chips around here, but when a buddy forced us to return to Loyal Hound after years of, ummm, not going to Loyal Hound, we found out we were wrong. The staff here is also so super-nice. Plus, the pulled pork sliders and fried chicken/waffle dish tasted so dang good we looked up and said, “Excuse us, this is so dang good.” Y’know, Midtown Santa Fe really has it going lately. It’s way cooler than downtown these days, bro. Way cooler. WAY cooler. Anyway, summer’s coming and Loyal Hound actually has a much nicer little patio zone than you’d expect for an eatery in a strip mall. Tell ‘em The Fork sent you. They won’t know what you’re talking about, but people should know about us.
What do you all do for dinner these days? What’s your top choice? Top three? Hit us up!
Snack Corner
Hey, y’know what? We want to add things and change things and try things out. We’ve been Forking it up for eons now, and it gets old sometimes, y’know? Like, if we’re bored, surely you’re gonna be bored, right? Right. So we are gonna try something here, take it or leave it (and feel free to write us about it), and it’s all about snacks. We want to highlight snacks, both as a means to highlight those snacks, but also as a means by which to try new snacks (World Market, here we come).
This week’s highlighted item? Snyder’s Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzel Pieces.
We’re aware these things exist because SFR Ad Boss (that’s a title right?) Robyn “No Nickname” Desjardins started bringing snacks into the office (it’s a pretty great thing to do), and pretty much all of us have gone nuts for this specific one. They’re crunchy, they’re tangy, you can fully house, like, three bags in an afternoon without thinking about it. In short? If you see these out there in the world, try them.
Now start suggesting snacks or pay the price!!!!
Also
-Seems Plaza-adjacent eatery Lone Spur Café, which took over the second story space that once housed the San Francisco Street Bar & Grill, has shuttered permanently. We can’t say we’re surprised. We never did make it over there, though some folks we know did and said it was pretty bad. Our apologies go out to the employees who have to endure this bleak new reality.
-Word on the street is that Kelly’s Liquors (there’s also a Kelly Liquor Barn for when you need a barnful of liquor) is back in the delivery game. As of just last week, the company was even offering $20 if you hit certain criteria. Now, we don’t know if the code still works, but you can and should try to use 20KELLY at checkout to see if that does anything. If it doesn’t, we apologize, we’re just passing on what we read in the email.
-BREAKING: You should be eating more almonds. After a recent blood screening for work purposes, a very nice nurse told us that we could up our good cholesterol, and that eating almonds is a good way to go about that. As such, we bought a huge bag. Do you think it still works OK if you obsessively eat most of a huge bag in a mere few days? Aw, whatever—almonds are good!
-Have we already mentioned Ozu, the new bento box/Japanese joint over on Lena Street? We admit we haven’t eaten there just yet, but a takeout menu found its way to our desk, and items like the sake onigiri with king salmon or the kinko ochazuke with rice porridge and shittake sound SO good. Take a look here and tell us what you think.
-You might have noticed the building going up on Cerrillos Road where the Cheeks stripclub used to be. It’s gonna be a Dutch Bros. Coffee location, which we mention because someone we know was all freaking out about the project getting scrapped. Turns out (and this is sheer conjecture) folks might prefer a new building to one where a bunch of dudes in thin sweatpants went to get weird.
See? Knowing IS half the battle.
SHOUT-OUT FROM A READER!
“Hey, Fork! Try the Bread Shop on Lena Street. Best kept secret in Santa Fe. Amazing foccacia, pastries (frangipane toast is to die for) sandwiches (roasted veggie sandwich on their shop-made baguette).”
We agree with reader Barbara WR, as did our boss when he reviewed the place in February. Hey, y’all—you want to go to there.
More Tidbits
-Edible cannabis company Zen Cannabis is out to break records with its Big Zen Chocolate Bar, a massive bit o’ chocolate that clocks in at a whopping 420 pounds. Now, that includes 4.2 million milligrams of THC, too, and is reportedly worth $42,000. Nice, guys. You really got “420″ in there as many times as you could, huh?
-Sounds like McDonald’s burgers are gonna get fancier. According to Food & Wine-dot-com, the mega-chain is out to have toastier buns, meltier cheese and caramelized onions on its Big Macs and cheeseburgers, so...y’know, there’s that.
-Reese’s now has creamy AND crunchy versions of its über-popular peanut butter cups. Now, you might wonder if this means they come one of each to a pack, since Reese’s cups come two to said pack. Sadly, no, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Still, it’s nice to have options.
-We were just talking with someone about food’s place in the grieving process, and then this—a piece from HuffPost’s food section that explores how different cultures use food when the sad times come a-rolling in. Neat! Y’know, not in the death part, but in the ways people do things. Existence can be so interesting, y’all.
This is pretty much what all cultures have to say about food.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In the print edition of SFR this week, there’s not so much food coverage as there is weed coverage (which often leads to food). It’s worth a read, though, we promise.
Number of Letters Received
39
*We love when you tell us we’re cool, but send them tips, y’all!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)
“No, seriously, I don’t like ‘brekkie b,’ either.”
*Tough!
Actually Helpful Tip(s)
“Buy an ice cream scooper, trust us.”
*Oh, we do, reader Rich M. We’ve had one for years. You’re right though.
And we’re three...threeeeee-falllllllin’,
The Fork
