Hey, Forkers, we're back, and like the back-ness that we are, so, too, are you also back-eth to it. We're quite an enigma. Anyway, we'd like to talk to you about Mystic Echos, an event at Midtown hotel The Mystic that seems to shout, "Forget the second 'e' in the word 'echoes!'" while it hosts a seriously kick-ass dinner and entertainment program.
Look, we'll be the first to admit that when The Mystic first opened, we were all eye-rolly about its whole deal. And while we stand by how much of its decor and vibe seems to be culled from an influencer-spurred fever dream of what the wide-brimmed hat set thinks Santa Fe is all about, we've had a few solid meals there for sure. Even SFR's culture editor liked it, and both they and we have since caught a bunch of awesome shows promoted by Santa Fe-based Mama Mañana Records and, as of last week, enjoyed an evening of goodness through the aforementioned Mystic Echos event.
Here are the highlights:
-A multi-course meal conceived by James Beard Award-winning chef Sean Sherman, AKA The Sioux Chef (Oglala Lakota Sioux) and executed by local chef Nicole Appels. First course was a black bean soup with sweet potatoes and hominy—first course was a banger. Second course was a three sister salad with grilled corn, bell peppers, zucchini and beans—also a banger. Main course was a choice between grilled trout with sumac and sunflower served over a rice pilaf with a blueberry reduction; braised turkey with acorn squash served over a corrnmeal mash; and a stuffed acorn squash with wild rice and purple sweet potatoes. While we didn't get a chance to try the trout, we can confirm that both the acorn squash and the braised turkey were stellar dishes, though the turkey might eke out the top spot thanks to its smoky and nuanced flavor. The wild thing? Appels is more of a pastry chef, but she absolutely killed every course.
-Indigenous methodology and ingredients, which is to say everything was made from stuff that would've been available around here pre-colonialism, including squash and turkey, for example.
-Fancy-schmancy cocktails that we didn't drink because we've been known to teetotal and apps like buffalo sliders that we totally ate.
-Standup from comic and cartoonist Ricardo Cate (Kewa).
-Numerous Indigenous dances from various tribal affiliations curated by The Lightning Boy Foundation, a nonprofit based in Pojoaque and dedicated to tribal dance. H/t to Artistic Director ShanDien Sonwai LaRance for SLAYING with the dance program and to LBF co-founder Steve LaRance for providing introductions and context for the dances.
-A tobacco-infused ice cream that sounded weird but then was maybe one of the better ice creams we've ever encountered; though that might have something to do with the puffed wild rice (think elevated Krispies, y'all).
Were there other things to consider that might not be perfect? Small ones, yes, and we mention them now just so you know what you might be getting into should you choose to book your spot at any of the forthcoming Mystic Echos events in September (you can do that here). Note that stuff changes and your overall experience could be wildly different from ours.
-Mystic Echos will run you $65-$145 per person, and that's not doable for everyone. Yeah, yeah—not everything is for everyone. Still, we're always out here thinking about the proletariat.
-You'll sit next to strangers. Not a huge deal for some, but absolutely a huge deal for others. The vibe is very wedding-y.
-The ceremonial nature of the service wherein a small army of servers surround a table and set down dishes all at once felt long-winded and strange. In more than one instance, this setup resulted in dishes being kind of cold when we got them.
-The event is kind of long. Again, this isn't a huge deal or anything, but it will very likely eat up your whole evening.
Of course, a whole evening feels like a small price to pay for the super-awesome dance action. We saw a hoop dancer so good it brought a tear to our eye, and the buffalo dance was très excellent. We'd also imagine the folks at The Mystic will work out the kinks over time. So if we're putting a bow on this thing, we do recommend the event quite heartily. Honestly, the menu from Sherman and Appels' skills alone are kind of amazing things to happen to our small town. If you can swing it, tell 'em The Fork sent you. They won't know what that means, but we think it's funny to do that to people.
P.S. It's totally OK to spell "echos" that way, btw. We just like crackin' wise.
Speaking of Mama Mañana Records, Strange Magic from Albuquerque is on that label and soooooooo good.
Also
- In the ongoing saga of The Teahouse, we now hear that the Canyon Road eatery might not close after all despite some social media posts last week that popped up announcing it would close only to disappear the following day. Apparently the biz has new owners, though we can't get confirmation as to who they are just yet. Maybe someone will answer the phone over there one day. Barring that, we'll stop by and ask in person, promise. No word on any menu changes, but we're still here for chef Martin Blanco's ube dishes. Whatever the case may be, someone should answer the phone over there if they want to let people know the biz is still open.
- Did you hear the one about how Pranzo owner/chef Steve Lemon shot some unhoused dude in the face with a pepperball last week? A pepperball, by the way, is like a paintball-meets-pepper-spray kind of thing. Anyway, according to the Albuquerque Journal, Lemon's business neighbors have said he's shot at unhoused folks in a similar fashion before, but this time he was arrested and charged with multiple felonies. We find it bizarre that the Journal referenced an SFR review of Pranzo in the same story about Lemon's arrest, but we don't work there so we can't speak to their editorial process. No bad press, we guess? Anyway, the Santa Fe New Mexican spoke to Lemon about the incident, which you can read about here. Our take? While we get that property damage is a tough circumstance, damage to things is not what we'd consider violence—and just because other unhoused people have done whatever shouldn't be a green light to go all Batman on someone—they're not a monolith. Of course, we weren't there, but we generally side with the underdog.
- OK, this one is not Santa Fe or anything, but we wanted to wish a happy birthday to La Posta de Mesilla in—get this—Mesilla, because the much-loved restaurant just turned 85. One thing we like about New Mexico is how old some things and places are, and we can just, like, go to those old things and places. If you've never been, La Posta is all about Mexican and New Mexican food, plus we hear the steaks are legendary.
- We LOATHE when the Santa Fe New Mexican beats us us to things, but they got us good with info on the St. Michael's Drive Blake's Lotaburger. In short, though the burger joint as we knew it was indeed torn down, 'twas only to make room for a newly redesigned spot with a drive-thru (a first in Santa Fe).
Have you signed our petition to bring Jim Varney back to life so he can make more Ernest commercials for Blake's?
More Tidbits
- Want to get into wine and hang around wine bars, but the wine people out there have done little more than make you feel like you'll never know enough about wine to be cool? Eater-dot-com understands, and has thus compiled a handy FAQ for would-be wine bar patrons. You know what we always say—a journey of a million bottles starts with a single quaff.
- Just last week we were like, "Oh, cool, Walmart is cutting prices." But the bloom's off that rose, baby, as we learned while writing this Fork that the company has recalled apple juice sold in 25 states for elevated arsenic levels. Yikes! Learn more by clicking here.
- Lastly this week, another wine item. Well, it's a Champagne item, really, as USA Today has a fun piece about pairing bubbly with fries. Honestly, that sounds pretty high society-core to us. We might even just get fries and not worry about Champagne (or champagne if you're nasty).
A totally scientific breakdown of The Fork's correspondence
In this week's edition of SFR, it's one of those no-food weeks. Sorry, y'all, it's on the list but with ownership changes and whatever, the wheels of eating-ness have been moving slowly. At least The Fork comes out most weeks, right? You love us, face it.
Number of Letters Received: 17
*Cue that one Sinatra song—not the one about him being 17, but the one from Robin and the Seven Hoods, obvi.
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader):
"Why should we write to you?"
*In response to our assertion last week that a mere 10 letters from readers was "pathetic." We'd point out that you technically did write to us, so...your move, we guess.
Actually Helpful Tip(s):
"OMG you are soooo right about the cajeta. We bought it last year while on the artist open studio tour in Cerrillos."
*Reader Julie B would like you to know that you should get that cajeta we were talkin' about last week. It's good advice!
"You have reminded me about when I used to visit my sister when she lived in Mexico City. The groceries had liter-sized bottles of cajeta for cheap. So smooth and creamy. It was nice stirred into a cup of coffee, too."
*Cajeta coffee?!?! Now THAT is an actually helpful tip.
Mystically yours,
The Fork
