Regular readers will no doubt recall that your old pal The Fork was a vegetarian for many a year. The choice was never about politics or health (we don't care if we live or die!), but rather a whim after we got grossed out by a steak one night.
"Can we go meatless?" we asked ourselves. "Bet we can."
And so we did.
But then the siren call of green chile cheeseburgers called us back. Oh, we've had a steak here and there but still mostly find them kinda gross, and we're not saying we eat meat with every single meal; and while we'd never besmirch the folks for who veganism works, we're just saying that we personally feel a little better with a little meat in our diet.
Still, we don't need the stuff at every meal, and we really love eating meat-free dishes. And lately, we've been kind of clocking the options at local restaurants that we like best, so behold—our favorite meat-free dishes in Santa Fe right now (please note that some items may contain dairy and that these are in no particular order)!!! We can't remember if we did a similar thing recently, sorry if we did—you try keeping it fresh year after year, man!
Crispy Avocado Tacos @Plaza Café Southside
We're pretty sure we've mentioned this before, but with the Plaza Southside's coating of quinoa, sesame seeds and poppy seeds, you really can get an exciting taco without meat. See, that stuff makes them avocados in there ALL crispy, and the included pickled onion takes it to the next level. See that photo above? How good does that look?! Thanks, owner Leonardo Razatos!
Veggie Enchiladas @Palacio Restaurant
For the bazzilionth time, let us remind you that Palacio's Damian Muñoz was one of the dynamo cooks who made The Shed so beloved before he and his wife Maria opened Palacio some years ago. Since then, they've expanded to become a gorgeous downtown spot where we've never once had a bad meal. As for the veggie enchiladas? They come with spinach, mushroom, tomato, bell pepper and red onions. And though we particularly love the Palacio red, we recommend getting 'em X-mas.
Y'all know this one, right? It's the spot next to Vinaigrette and, like Vinaigrette, it's owned by Erin Wade—a badass. Modern General has a pretty sweet menu in general with modcakes (they're like pancakes but way better) and sandwiches and such, but we're very much here right now for the Brothy Greens bowl, a simple but delicious bit of veggie broth with garlic, ginger and a soft boiled egg. It makes the tummy feel so so good.
Current La Lecheria ice cream superstar and former Fire & Hops chef Joel Coleman knows his way around a veggie dish, and pretty much his entire menu at Body Café is awesome, but for us, it's the udon noodle bowl crammed with seasonal veggies, sesame seed and a soy-ginger sauce. They can even make it gluten-free!
We've yet to have a less-than-stellar pizza from Oshia Golden's spot in the CHOMP food hall, but can we talk about his Caesar for just a sec? First off, it's fresh as hell, and that means crispy greens and crunchy croutons made in-house. Second? Golden makes his own dressing, and it has been developed over the years into our very favorite of its kind. Even better, he doesn't slather the poor salad, so...yeah—it's good.
This song uses the word "vegetarian," so that makes it part of this.
Also
- After this item, we'll cool it on mentioning The Teahouse for a bit (unless something wild happens), btu the Canyon Road mainstay has new owners from Amarillo, Texas—Cole and Brittani Campbell. Santa Feans love when Texans come here to do stuff, right?
- OK, this is an Albuquerque thing rather than Santa Fe, but regular readers might recall when we fell in love with Laguna Burger some weeks back? Word. Well, turns out we're not alone, as the Indigenous-owned burger joint with a burger better than In-n-Out (we said it) announced it'll expand to a new location near the University of New Mexico. Yay! We hope they expand to Santa Fe someday.
- People often ask us, "Fork, I need a caterer but I feel so lost. What should I do?" Well, that other SFR writer was pretty impressed with Santa Fe Chef from enduring local food pros Jamie Taylor and chef Jackson Ault, so you should check that out. They just added a bunch of cool seasonal items to their offerings, including a risotto-stuffed pumpkinette, which sounds both delicious and adorable.
- Chef Dakota Weiss has been up to a little something over at her Capital Coal Neighborhood Eatery, and that something is alllll about collaboration. Thus far, Weiss has teamed with Horno Restaurant chef/owner David Sellers for a special brisket bowl (sadly, we missed it), and now we hear he's in the kitchen with Santacafé's Dale Kester. Ooooweee, we wonder what'll come. of this, but it's cool. Just saying.
More Tidbits
- Oh, wild. California already banned fucking with octopuses recently, and the state has now banned sell-by dates. As Adam Conover so succinctly explained in his most excellent Adam Ruins Everything segment on the matter, them sell-by dates don't mean what you think, and they result in sooooo much waste. Side note? You should get into that Conover show. It's fun.
- Liquid Death, being that water brand that puts water into beer cans which somehow excites people, has appointed former PepsiCo and Coca-Cola executive Mike Fine to head up its retail expansion. Reportedly, Liquid Death made over $300 million for the year ending in June. Wild. Let this be a lesson to you that marketing absolutely works on people.
- If you've ever felt like you wanted peanut butter & jelly M&Ms, your time has come. According to Food Beast-dot-com, we can expect this unholy union this December. We like the peanut ones, honestly, but if this is what folks want, who are we to stand in the way?
A totally scientific breakdown of The Fork's correspondence
In this week's edition of SFR, no food, but lots of other stuff! You should visit sfreporter.com and check that stuff out.
Number of Letters Received: 18
*Boo!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader):
"The French dip sandwich is for wimpy weeny wannabes. And they can call them sammies or sandos or even samosas if they wanna. Cuz they sure ain't sandwiches. I think I understand your code now...sammie and sando are code words for ersatz sandwiches. They have bread and stuff, but they fall short of being real. Kinda velveteen or something."
*Y'all, reader Geo G is really mad about this sandwich.
Actually Helpful Tip(s):
"Squirrel is delicious."
*We admitted to reader Matthew Z that we've been considering it since the item about eating squirrel in last week's Fork.
Full of veggies,
The Fork
