Visit Santa Fe for Great Food (but don't forget Albuquerque)

If cities have a soul, Santa Fe's soul emanates from its food, a synthesis of its native and Spanish heritage with Western U.S. influences and more recently an appreciation of the variety of the world's cuisines and the importance of the local, organic ethic. My wife and I have visited Santa Fe at least once a year for the past 22 years (the last nine with our son). We also have made excursions to Taos and Albuquerque but it is Santa Fe that draws us each year. We are well aware of its reputation as an ultra chic, elitist enclave but we ignore that aspect of the city when we visit to focus on the history and culture.

And most importantly the food. As long as we have been coming to this special place, I am impressed at how many restaurants from those early days are still around. There have been some lamentable closures, though, the most recent of which was the shuttering of Cloud Cliff Bakery, Cafe and Art Space. Stopping by Cloud Cliff for breakfast on our last day before heading home had become a tradition. I always looked forward to a dose of their organic food, eclectic art and progressive politics to complete our trip.

The disappointment of losing Cloud Cliff was balanced on this weekend trip by our successful strategy of trying out restaurants we had never been to before. Some of these had been around a while but for some reason we just hadn't made our way to them until now. Maria's New Mexican Kitchen (www.marias-santafe.com) is a Santa Fe icon, having served its popular menu of New Mexican standards under its current ownership for 23 years. We went for lunch and enjoyed our meal so much we wondered why it took us so long to get there. By the way, I had a beer with my lunch but everything I read says their margaritas are legendary. For dinner our first night we ate at Andiamo (www.andiamoonline.com) in the Railyard District. I had read good things about this place for several years and we were glad we finally made it in. This is serious Italian food at reasonable prices. Located in a cozy house, this is an elegant, yet casual restaurant well worth a visit. For breakfast the next day, we stopped by Counter Culture (no website), whose name is an apt double entendre for this funky, casual place. We enjoyed our breakfast: pancakes, burrito, eggs, pastries and really good coffee. But looking at the extensive list of sandwiches on the lunch menu, I made a mental note that this would be a lunch stop next year.

But I have to say the highlight of the trip was our dinner at La Boca, (www.labocasantafe.com) which is located just a couple of blocks north of the Plaza. The place, as it happens, recently had been named the city?s best new restaurant by several publications. La Boca essentially is a tapas restaurant, which was perfect for us because we like to try a variety of items when we dine, especially at a restaurant for the first time. The prices were reasonable, though you must be careful because those little dishes can add up just like at a sushi restaurant. The only down side is that the place is very small, even a little cramped.

This year, we decided to spend our last day in Albuquerque. In addition to taking our son to the impressive Museum of Natural History and Science, we enjoyed three very good meals. For dinner Friday night, we went to the Nob Hill Bar & Grill. This place was the perfect combination for us: a lively neighborhood bar and restaurant that serves very good food. No question this is a hip, hopping place ? and it deserve to be, as much for its contemporary take on comfort foods, as for its inviting atmosphere. The next morning we went back to the Nob Hill neighborhood for breakfast at the Flying Start Cafe. The draw was hearty entrees, an extensive array of baked goods, and strong coffee, not to mention a great selection of magazines. As a bonus, the restaurant (and its seven sibling restaurants and related Satellite coffeehouses) prides itself on using organic ingredients whenever possible and sourcing as many products as possible from local producers. If I lived in Albuquerque, I'm sure I'd be at this place at least three or four times a week. Before we made our way back to Denver that afternoon, we stopped at the Gold Street Caffe in downtown for a quick lunch. We found a small but friendly and nicely appointed restaurant. Our sandwiches were large, well made and tasty; a fine send off before we headed home.

I have long been of the opinion that Santa Fe is one of the best dining cities in the country. First, the city has its own unique cuisine, a blend of Spanish, Mexican and Native American influences, but also has great restaurants serving a wide variety of world cuisines. Our recent trip confirmed this once again. And the last day of our trip gave us some hints that Albuquerque is worth more attention in the future.

Wine Books Makes Great Holiday Gifts

As much as we wine lovers like to get gifts of wine for the holidays, we also appreciate wine books. As you begin to think about what to get the wine devotee in your life, here are a few suggestions.

"The Grapes Grow Sweet: A Child's First Family Grape Harvest," story and illustrations by Lynn Tuft, with text by Tessa DeCarlo (Rivervine Press, $20), will help get that future wine aficionado interested in the vine. It is a delightful story of the first year Julian, the fourth generation of a family of grape growers, is old enough to help his mother and father with harvest. Colorfully illustrated, the book brings to life the lifeycles of the vineyard both for children and parents. Now in its third printing, the author has added a coloring book companion ($5, coloring book only, $8 with crayons), "Julian's Vineyard Adventures." It devotes a page illustrating each month of the growing year, with additional text describing the happenings in the vineyard and Julian's adventures.

"Small Plates, Perfect Wines: Creating Little Dishes with Big Flavors," by Lori Lyn Norlock (Andrew McMeel Publishing, $17), would be nice for the foodie who is also interested in wine. it is a timely release given the growing interest in small plates - whether they be called tapas, antipasti, mezes, or antojitos. The book is a collaboration with the Kendall-Jackson culinary team, led by Executive Chef Justin Wangler. Fifty delectable recipes are organized into chapters covering salads, vegetables, seafood, meat, poultry and desserts. The recipes also are assembled conveniently into sample party menus reflecting the seasons and various special occasions. Of course, I'm equally interested in the wine pairing tips provided by Kendall-Jackson Winemaster Randy Ullom. After wisely noting the subjectivity involved in wine pairing and counseling that the best advice for pairing food and wine is "to just enjoy yourself," Ullom does offer "a few guiding principles." Like seeking balance in both the food and the wine. With no component too prominent, the possibility of clashes is diminished. Or applying the affinity approach, which matches food and wine with the same kind of intensity or the contrast approach, in which one chooses food and wine that compliment each other. In case you still are unsure, there are specific pairing suggestions, catalogued both by grape variety and by recipe.

"The Art of Terroir: A Portrait of California's Vineyards," photographs by George Rose and text by Rod Smith (Chronicle Books, $25), is another offering from Kendall-Jackson. What a great coffee table book. The focus is on the 85 pages of evocative photos of vineyards stretching along California's coastal regions. The close-ups are enlightening in their detail. The panoramas of the landscape photos are simply breathtaking. While George Rose's photos visually depict the terroir of the vineyards, Rod Smith's essays are an inspired guide to how the vitis vinfera vine "gathers in various forms of energy and captures them in its fruit." At the beginning of each chapter, Smith's poetic descriptions illuminate the influence of those energy sources - light, air, water, rock, air, and cultivation. If you have found all the talk about the significance of terroir to be a little bewildering, this fine book will help bring that concept to life.

"Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy," by Sergio Esposito, with Justine and der Leun (Broadway Books, $28), is a personal chronicle of discovery and respect for tradition. A highly regarded authority on Italian wine, Mr. Esposito operates Italian Wine Merchants in Manhattan with co-owners Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. While the book mostly describes his travels throughout Italy drinking great wine, eating great food and meeting the extraordinary people who create them, it also interweaves intimate stories of his relationships with his family, friends and business acquaintances. Having been born in Naples, he recounts the unhappy experience of emigrating to Albany, New York and later anxiously moving to a small apartment in Manhattan. There, he naturally was drawn to a career in wine, which included a sales job at the House of Burgundy specialty wine shop and formative time as sommelier at San Domenico, one of the best Italian restaurants in the country.

I often am put off by books replete with tales of gustatory excess but Esposito's stories are worth telling. The core relationship that weaves through all the others in the book is that of the authenticity of food, wine, and family. That this elemental association has informed his life is illustrated in Mr. Esposito's accounts of his frequent trips back to Italy. Along the way, he gains a renewed appreciation for the traditions of Italian winemaking and cooking. With the help of co-author Justine van der Leun, the book goes beyond recitations of multi-course, multi-hour meals filled with rare, expensive wines to touch real insights into the worlds of fine wine and dining. The reader is treated to illuminating recitations on the realities of the wine trade, the power of critics, controversies over traditional vs. modern winegrowing and winemaking methods, and the loss of traditional, regional Italian cuisine. In the end, one has gained an understanding and appreciation for Italy and for what Esposito calls 'the Italian way" that belies a long history of stereotypes. That alone makes this book worthwhile.

Please note that you can find these books on Amazon and other bookstores in your area.