We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again—Game of Thrones author/Elden Ring helper-outer George RR Martin has really spread his good fortune around Santa Fe. Given the things he’s done for institutions like the Jean Cocteau Cinema and arts corporations like Meow Wolf, the analog we like to use is that it’s almost like he’s a lottery winner making good on his promises to class up the place with his winnings.
In this instance, maybe we should call him George Bar Bar Martin, too, because homeboy went and built a bar adjacent to his mini Montezuma Avenue empire that includes the aforementioned Cocteau and Beastly Books—opening soon, dear reader, is Milk of the Poppy, a new apothecary style bar (more on what that means in a sec) in the space that formerly housed Big Adventure Comics. For this Fork, a real-ass bar is definitely a cut above the thought of another micro-brewery with a decent burger. Not only does Milk of the Poppy now exist, we recently took a little tour of the space with Al La Fleur, creative director for Marting’s Highgarden Entertainment, the company that oversees his stuff in ye olde Railyard.
Here’s what we know:
Milk of the Poppy is slated to open on Friday, March 21. That’s one day after this year’s first day o’ spring (and also National Crunchy Taco Day, World Poetry Day, National Single Parent Day and National French Bread Day—celebrate those how you will).
Martin’s new space is a concept bar, and the name of the game is “apothecary style.” This means there’s almost like a dungeon quality to the space, from the columns that stand in the room’s center to the botanicals available for the soon-to-come seasonal and signature cocktails. Think of some of the drinks like potions or concoctions courtesy of Beverage Director Sokhang Pan. And while La Fleur can’t give away those details just yet, they do say we can expect some unexpected quaffing options. This includes infusions and reductions and house-made bitters and other accoutrements designed with local-first thought processes and ingredients, plus age-old methodology, techniques and tools culled from the real-world ancient art of doing booze good. Don’t worry, though, because Milk of the Poppy will also do beer, and there’s a pretty serious focus on local ingredients, beers, spirits, etc. Not only that, but the decor is quite rad, from the strange skulls and beakers and Medieval-looking-ass-shit furnished by Rose Hutson of The Crow’s Nest Oddities Store to wooden tables crafted by artisans and a lighting style akin to that of a candlelit throne room. Dang!
Oh, they’ll do food, too. Milk of the Poppy’s kitchen is not what we’d call a full-ass kitchen, and really more of a prep thing. This will likely mean small bites. For the moment, La Fleur is still mum about potential collaborations with local chefs and their ilk, but does say the bar will boast a sous chef handling a seasonal menu (“The Farmers Market is right next door,” they say) and patrons will likely be pumped about future announcements.
There’s no sign with big ol’ words on the Milk of the Poppy Building. Instead, you’ll find a simple logo calling like a flame calls a moth, or some other string of words that isn’t annoying. “When people come in here, we want them to feel like they’ve stumbled into the tavern,” La Fleur says. Don’t fret or anything, because you’ll find it easily if you just go down to the Cocteau and poke around.
Milk of the Poppy is not huge. In fact, La Fleur says, we're looking at a seated occupancy of 55, though that number goes up slightly when we take standers into account, plus the adorable little patio outside, which adds another 30 seats. Don’t expect table service, however, at least not at the start. You’ll need to pony up to the bar to order, but we bet you’ll be OK and work that out.
What about those mocktails? While many a restaurant has found a killer way to charge folks $18 for a cranberry juice with fizzy water, La Fleur says the same care will go into mocktails as it does the cocktails. Again, things are just starting off, so we don’t have example just yet, but the same botanicals and infusions and creativity going into the real booze shall find its way into gentler drinks for the teetotalers (which includes your old pal The Fork most of the time).
Milk of the Poppy’s hours might vary. At least, they likely will to start. The townsfolk will need to get in there and start using the dang place to help ‘em see what makes the most sense. Expect change, which kind of goes for any new venture anyplace in the whole world.
You can rent Milk of the Poppy. You can rent it so hard. La Fleur says the space has already played host to some private functions, and you can have yours there, too. One personal note on that? It’s not fun when corporate types make you go spend a whole day in a bar for work, even if it’s all about history and Trogdors and such. Maybe a wedding reception would be cool. We bet there are Game of Thrones nerds reading this right now and screaming into the other room. “SAMANTHA! WE CAN CUT THE CAKE AT GEORGE BAR BAR MARTIN’S BAR!” Take it easy, shit. And don’t forget to inform your WoW guild of your impending sojourn to the land of milk and honey. Hahahahaha! Take THAT, nerds!
And then there’s all the rest. What can we say? Milk of the Poppy is a beautiful space with castle-y vibes, gorgeous lighting and a bevvie program that, while fledgling, sounds like it will be thoughtful and unique (and we loathe using the word “unique” almost as much as the word “utilize”). For now, the best way to stay informed is to follow @milkofthepoppybar on Insta. There aren’t any posts up yet, but La Fleur says that’ll be the most up-to-the-minute zone for info. In the meantime, remember that it opens March 21. Word? Word.
Burninating the countryside! Burninating the peasants!
Also
- Sadly, the rumors are true, and Southside eatery Rustica Fresh Italian Kitchen will close as we know it as of Sunday, Feb. 16. Owners Josh Baum and Ann Gordon made the announcement via Facebook post, adding that they’d sold the business, though to whom we still don’t know. “To be clear, we are not selling because Rustica is doing badly,” the post reads in part. “In fact, Rustica had a record number of guests and sales in 2024. But sometimes, no matter how much you want something, no matter how hard you work to achieve that thing, life decides it is not meant to be.” As far as we know, Baum and Gordon’s other restaurant, The Ranch House, will keep on keeping on (which is a relief, because it’s good as hell), and while we still don’t know who’ll take over what once was Rustica, the post adds that any outstanding gift cards will be honored.
- Last month, SFR profiled local pastry chef Rebecca Freeman with an emphasis on how she was taking over the pastry programs at Santacafé and Coyote Café. This month, the chef herself has unveiled her first-ever dessert at the former restaurant, a tiramisu at Santacafé for Valentine’s Day. Now, we grant you that V-Day was last week and you missed out this time, but that just makes us think you might wanna pay attention to what’s up when it comes to Freeman’s sweet treats. We’re a fan.
- Apparrently Eldorado can expect a new take-out Thai joint soon from local residents Jang and Tom Fitzgerald III. Dubbed Chai Yo, the new restaurant is supposed to open in the La Tienda shopping center soon, though no days/hours have been announced as of yet. Word? Word. Oh, and there’s not a website yet, so just hang tight and we’ll tell you more when we know more.
- This isn’t food-specific per se, but it seems that formerly-vaguely-popular hard rock band Trapt is gonna play an acoustic show at Madrid’s Mine Shaft Tavern on Feb. 26. Tickets run $25, but you might want to look at the things singer Chris Brown has said online before you commit to going all the way to a show to see if they play that one song you barely remember (that one that was all like, “Headstrong! Take you oonnnn!!!”). Now us, personally? We think it’s really weird and that the singer’s whole deal is not super-duper Madrid material. Like, the band’s drummer quit in 2021 because of this singer’s deal. We won’t post any of this bullshit here, but you can find it real easy online if you look.
- Raise your hand if you remember that glorious moment in 2021 when Back Road Pizza offered up Detroit pizzas? They’re a thicker pizza with their own spin on the whole…pizza…thing. They’re also delicious. Sadly, though, Back Road stopped offering the deep dish delights at some point—but it certainly seems they’re back on the menu now. But wait, because it’s a little complicated, and you can’t just pop in there all willy-nilly and expect to leave with a Detroit pie. Instead, you must order the pie online on Wednesdays when the order form goes live, and you’ll get instructions from there. It’s worth it, too.
Comics Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson are all about Detroit and pizza rolls, y’know, in case you’re wondering why we included this video.
More Tidbits
- The crack news team at All Recipes-dot-com posits that you might be buying fake parmesan. Well, it’s kind of more like the actual parm is akin to Champagne, in that unless it’s specifically from the region of Parma and Reggio Emilia, it’s some other thing altogether. It doesn’t make you a jerk to ask, either, especially if you’re paying real-deal cheese bucks.
- Ruh-roh, the FDA has issued a recall on more than 2 million baked goods products, including those from Dunkin’. For why? Listeria concerns, baby. It’s almost always listeria concerns (we’re not a doctor, and that’s not an actual stat so much as a thing we’ve noticed). You can learn more here, though maybe ask yourself what your life is all about if you have Dunkin’ products about which to be concerned.
- On the other end of the food spectrum, CNN-dot-com reports that Acipenser’s Rova and Kasnodar, being the first-ever caviar manufacturers in Africa, are taking the caviar faithful by storm. We’re talking $10,000 per kilogram, though, so good luck suckin’ down them fish eggs. We tried really long and hard to come up with a John Cougar Mellencamp “suckin’ on chile dogs/suckin’ on caviar” joke here, but it just didn’t come to us. We’re really sorry.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In the print edition of this week’s SFR, a return trip to The Teahouse proves fraught with peril, though the beet salad was reportedly quite excellent.
Number of Letters Received
4
*We think we’re getting to the bottom of this, and we’ll explain in a second. Either way, we got some good fried chicken recs!
Most Helpful Tip (A Barely Edited Comment From a Reader)
“I don’t miss reading The Fork, really.”
*Yet you came all up in here to tell us that? We’re under your skin, baby!
Actually Helpful Tip
“I think your letter count is down because once one is in The Fork reading The Fork one can't just hit Reply like one used to. It means remembering, or hoping, that this email still exists and then going back to one's email and opening a new email and ... etc. & etc.”
*Regular reader and writer-er Jeff D. might just be right. It’s much harder to email The Fork these days, though you can always find us at thefork@sfreporter.com or do like Jeff D. does when he says the extra steps have proven a good “snark filter.” If we do hear from you, we’ll love you for it. Or hate you. We don’t know the future,
Milked like a poppy (oh, wait, is that a gross thing to say?),
The Fork
