If you were to ask us, “Hey, Fork—who has the best desserts in Santa Fe?” We’d probably spin some yarn about how they’re all special in their own way and blah blah blah, but the fact is, we actually do have an undefeated favorite dessert in the city, and it’s Tune-Up Café’s tres leches cake. You wouldn’t think apple slices would work when it comes to tres leches, but Tune-Up proves that they do, and that’s before you even get into the strawberries and blueberries and the borderline perfect whipped frosting.
As for the rest of that menu? Well, we’re kind of tired of pretending Tune-Up is still great at this point, because we actually can’t recall the last time we had a decent meal there, and we’re not sure how many more times we can keep visiting just because we happen to know a weird number of people who live near the restaurant.
The Fork
And we just keep trying and trying and trying. Maybe that’s because of the tres leches (which we don’t eat every time we visit, because have you tried their strawberry rhubarb pie? Also excellent!), but in recent weeks, we’ve tried a number of dishes and come away every time wishing we’d visited another restaurant. Salmon tacos ($18.95)? Once excellent and delicious, now dry and served on tortillas that don’t appear to get heated at any point. The house burger ($9.95)? A great test of almost any restaurant’s prowess that we’ve seen grow smaller over the years and which has most definitely gotten drier, too. A ribeye special one recent evening ($31.95)? Well, we think this week’s photo kind of says it all. We aren’t sure what was up with the creamy mushroom sauce or the unseasoned broccoli or the gristly and crazy-thin piece of meat we received, but it was kind of the nail in the coffin when it comes to our future non-tres leches Tune-Up visits. Point blank? It was just plain gross.
And look, we bet we know what you’re thinking—probably something about how we just don’t get how hard it is for restaurants, especially busy ones; how Tune-Up is staffed by well-meaning people doing their best. While we agree in principle, we’ve come to our “Aw, c’mon, man!” conclusion precisely because we once loved Tune-Up, and we know they can do better. And we want them to do better, because, as we’ve said, we know a weirdly high number of people who live near there, and we’d love to love that spot again. We aren’t calling them out to simply be like, “Yeah, the end,” so much as we’re hopeful this piece might spark a fire of some kind—y’know, because we assume this piece will make the restaurant’s workers and patrons mad. Let us be clear that we’ve always received top-notch service at Tune-Up, and we also saw who we think was a manager moving a keg around by her damn self, which was quite badass. But even when you’re in love with that cake and you like the staff and you also find the ambiance to be stone-cold adorable and comfy, there’s still a feeling of disappointment when you slap down more than $30 for a steak that just doesn’t cut it. For roughly $10-$15 more, you could hit up a spot like 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar or Market Steer or something. So what we’re saying is, we’re ready to love you Tune-Up, but you’ve gotta make it worth our while. We’re rooting for you!
This has the word “Tune” in it, so it connects. End of discussion.
Also
- On the day this Fork drops (being April 1, but also, like, please note that we’re not putting any April Fool’s jokes in here), Roland and Sheila Richter will have officially left Joe’s Dining behind. In a post to the restaurant’s Dija Know? blog/newsletter, Sheila writes that they’ve sold to restaurateur Joaquin Garofolo for an undisclosed amount. Garofolo and his family will officially be in charge April 1. Regular readers might know we weren’t the biggest fan of Joe’s food, as proven by this report card from last October. Still, we wish the Richters well and wish we could also retire rather than having a plan to die at our desk.
- There’s a brand-new Cuban joint in town on Lena Street. The aptly named Lago Café comes to us from Santa Fe’s Lago family, and though it’s only been open for a few days so we haven’t had the chance to swing by, we’ve already heard great things from friends who’ve popped by for that sweet, sweet Cuban cuisine. If we do go soon, we’ll report back.
- Cerrillos Road’s Jaripeo Grill & Beer (just a killer name for a restaurant, btw) just announced it’ll be open on Tuesdays, which we guess was a dark day before, and to celebrate, they’ll offer $2.50 pupusas all day…on Tuesday. We just thought you should know.
- If you’re one of the lucky few who popped by chef Fernando Ruiz’s Escondido Mexican restaurant for Valentine’s Day this year, you might have sampled a sope special with chorizo and refritos. Apparently the dish proved so popular that Ruiz has put ‘em on the menu permanently. So whether you’ve had ‘em or not, they’re there now for good.
- We can’t believe how often we’ve had to explain this to people, but If you’ve popped by French bakery/eatery Clafoutis recently to find it closed, that’s just because the restaurant takes a bit of a break each year. We think that’s cool for the owners and the staff, and we hear they’ll reopen on April 3. Now you know!
- Cerrillos-based cinnamon roll haven (and also full-on restaurant, but, like, those cinnamon rolls!) Black Bird Saloon reopened for the season recently, and owner Patrick Murphy promised us that if you head out there for a bite, you can totally feed the goats and the alpaca.
- Meanwhile, out in Las Vegas (the New Mexico one), business guy Allan Affeldt has announced he’ll sell his Plaza and Castañeda hotels. What this means for foodies who like hotel-based eateries and the food spots within the hotels remains unclear, but we do know this likely won’t happen super-quickly or anything. Read more about it in the Las Vegas Optic.
- Oh, and speaking of hotels? Congratulations are in order for chef Ryan Rainbird Taylor, who has left his Yapopup brand behind (RIP to those ultra-dope brekkie b’s) and embraced Popé, a new restaurant that’ll take over the former Agave Restaurant and Lounge in the Eldorado Hotel & Spa. Details are sparse just now, but you’ll find an announcement via Rainbird Taylor’s new Insta account, @poperestaurant. Also cool? The concept is named for the Pueblo Revolt leader Popé who, in 1680, united the pueblos to rise up against Spanish colonizers. A restaurant named for that guy in the heart of Santa Fe? That’s pretty punk, man. No word on a menu yet, but we’ll be there when the time comes.
More Tidbits
- Have you, like us, been looking for ways to calm your sweet tooth without succumbing to a bunch of bullshit? Then you should hear about the lucuma, a South American fruit that apparently tastes a bit like caramel and that is making inroads into the sugar replacement arena of late. It’s lower-calorie, it’s got antioxidant benefits, it’s not bound to kill you as far as we know!
- Speaking of low-calorie, apparently Starbucks is set to launch a new low-cal coffee drink. We don’t know for sure, but we’d assume it’ll have all kinds of weird chemicals in it. According to Today-dot-com, we should see those bad boys in grocery stores soon.
- Lastly in not-just-local news, a baby brand/breast pump manufacturer called Frida will reportedly release a limited run of its puzzling breast milk-flavored ice cream in about nine months (y’know, because of gestation). And though we’ve spent years saying “If they made whale cheese, we’d at least try it,” we have to say we think this is a bit odd. Of course, maybe it’s amazing, we just won’t know until the time comes.
We can’t regret what we did for love (of tres leches cake).
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In this week’s print edition of SFR, our food critic checks out the new Piazza Caffé, which he apparently didn’t mean to review, but it was just too good to stay quiet. You can read that starting tomorrow. Also, we’re starting to get emails from y’all, but there’s a glitch that doesn’t allow us to respond. Regular reader/writer types know that we usually send at least a little note, so we’re sorry we haven’t been able to keep that up, but we’re working on it.
Number of Letters Received
11
*Please know we’re thinking of you all!
Most Helpful Tip (A Barely Edited Letter from a Reader)
”I don’t want to read this anymore.”
*So don’t!
Actually Helpful Tip
“Try the beef sticks I carry at Ohori's, they are good, not amazing, but I also pay attention to the ingredients.”
*Ohori’s owner Tai Brinegar keeps it so real and is behind what is easily the best coffee in town. We will try those sticks, Tai!
Tuned Out,
The Fork
