ramblings of a Seattle travel, food and photography hound
The Las Conchas Fire of 2011 was the largest in New Mexico history. It eventually burned 150,000 acres and threatened Los Alamos, home of the Los Alamos National Lab. We in the West have become accustomed, almost inured to hearing about forest fires like this. Every year, their ranges, frequencies and intensities seem to grow, a... Continue Reading →
Having been disappointed by Café Pascual yesterday morning, we looked for somewhere else to have breakfast. Within a stone's throw of Pascual was a restaurant that is part of the Hotel St. Francis—Tabla de los Santos. Chef Estevan Garcia has impressed quite a few people with his takes on New Mexican cooking. Our burrito with eggs and... Continue Reading →
Most non-parishioners come to Loretto Chapel to marvel at the spiral staircase. A fascinating legend surrounds its construction. Originally, when the chapel was built in 1872, there was no stairway to the choir loft. The nuns prayed to St. Joseph to intercede. At the end of nine days, a carpenter appeared at the church who... Continue Reading →
One of the cult foods in Santa Fe is the beef carnitas from Roque's wagon, parked at the edge of Santa Fe Plaza. A whole half pound of sliced marinated beef top round is grilled with onions and green chiles (I'm presuming Hatch), picking up a smoky flavor, then piled into a large flour tortilla,... Continue Reading →
We had breakfast at one of the legendary restaurants in Santa Fe, Cafe Pasqual. The portion being large, we split the highly recommended Huevos Motuleños, easy-over eggs on a bed of black beans, topped with feta cheese and served with corn tortillas and sauteed bananas. This was a major disappointment (☆☆). First, the eggs were cooked hard.... Continue Reading →
There is no indication as you're driving northeast along Highway 68 to Taos that the Rio Grande River will reveal itself in the middle of one of Earth's biggest geologic rifts. About halfway out of Espanola, the river at this time of year was lazy. Several rafters were making their way down river near Rio... Continue Reading →
Tonight, we were in the mood for Asian food, so I came across a Yelp review of Shibumi Ramenya in Santa Fe. There wasn't anything revealing about the reviews, but we went anyway. As soon as we walked in, the interior exuded a minimalism that is classic Japanese. Although the name ramenya means a ramen... Continue Reading →
Leona's was a little gem in Chimayo, across the walkway from the Santuario. Since 1977, Leona Medina-Tiede has been serving delicious snack foods, primarily burritos and tamales. I ordered the carne adovada burrito, very different from the adovada I had at El Bruno's. This was a wonderful adovada, more tender than Bruno's, more garlicky, shredded... Continue Reading →
To get to Santa Fe, rather than returning the way we arrived in Taos along the Rio Grande, we drove an alternate route, called the High Road, which winds through small towns in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. All the towns are at least 7,500 ft in elevation (with Truchas at an amazing 8,000 ft),... Continue Reading →
In 1976, an American anthropologist, Spencer MacCallum, sought out and found Juan Quezada, a potter in Mata Ortiz, a small town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, approximately 100 miles south of the U.S. border. Years earlier, he had been impressed with and purchased one of Quezada's pieces at a general store and began a... Continue Reading →
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