SANTA FE

The food photos here are dispersed with scenes from Madrid - a 45 minute drive from Santa Fe; once a coal mining and railroad town - turned ghost town - brought back to life by a small artist community. We loved our time spent in Madrid and highly recommend a couple hours out there to check out the shops, the Railroad Museum and Mine Shaft Tavern. Also pictured - I ventured to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum solo as none of the girls had much of a desire to see it. O'Keeffe is a legend in not only Santa Fe but the art world in general - I was glad to have spent some time immersed in her world.

Breakfast: 

Cafe Pasquales - located in the heart of downtown Santa Fe; the bright and festive dining room features Kelly green furniture and hand painted tiles. One of my favorite meals overall, I had Huevos Motulenos - two scrambled eggs, sautéed banana, feta, green peas, roasted tomato-jalapeno salsa, green chile tomatillo salsa, black beans + a corn tortilla. Such a unique and incredible dish! They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner here.

Tune Up Cafe - casual counter service café for a quick + hearty breakfast featuring a cute outdoor patio just outside of downtown. I kept it simple with Cornmeal Pancakes and maple syrup. 

Lunch: 

El Farol is hailed as Santa Fe's most historic + iconic restaurant and bar since 1835. Located in the Canyon Road neighborhood, El Farol came highly recommended and while we had a nice lunch - we had a bone to pick! Three of us ordered meals (BLT, Grilled Cheese, Cheeseburger) listed on the menu with French Fries, naturally! We received our lunches with chips and were disappointed, mainly because the waiter didn't think to mention that the restaurant was out of french fries (what?!) One of us would have legitimately changed our lunch orders. Two of us would have opted for the  salad. My El Farol Grilled Cheese with cheddar cheese, piquillo peppers, smoked paprika aioli, bacon + avocado on pan rustico was good, but I think we'd have to experience dinner here to understand the hype. 

Dinners: All of our dinners were a stones throw from the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe!

The Shed features traditional New Mexican cooking that won a James Beard award for excellence in 2003. The Sheds chili comes directly from the farm and is ground on the premises to guarantee freshness. I had the Blue Corn Bean Burrito in what they call "Christmas" style, meaning its smothered in both Roasted Green chili and Red chili. It was SPICY and sublime.

La Boca - Funny story. Via a message on Instagram I learned that 8 time James Beard Award Nominee, Chef James Campbell Caruso is a good friend of mine from high schools Uncle! He came out to greet us and chat so that was a neat connection. Serving Modern Spanish Cuisine La Boca offers contemporary tapas in a space with a lively European wine bar feel. A fanfare of plates starts with Piquillo Peppers (same idea as Shishitos but OMG the spicy ones are pure fire, I got one first bite and wow) and ending with a delectable Paella. In between - everything from my favorite tapas Patatas Bravas to a juicy Watermelon Salad to creative Cantimpalitos - grilled spanish chorizos presented on vertical sticks!

Sazon - Chef Fernando Olea hails from Mexico City and Sazon is his interpretation of contemporary and traditional Mexican dishes. The space heralds captivating pieces of artwork, stunning décor and beautiful tile. This dinner was tricky - we could only get a 5 pm reservation and as much as we tried to time it right, no one was hungry! The tasting of five moles to kick off the meal was marvelous; I truly appreciate a good mole and had never tasted so many creative interpretations. I had a very good Spoa de Amor and Timbales - a trio of mini corn, beet and spinach cakes with mandarin habanero foam, creamy sauce of chile poblano and gruyere cheese. 

Drinks: most everywhere had live music, from Jazz to cover bands. We visited Tonic (the art deco bar pictured), Evangelo's, Dragon Room Lounge and Cowgirl BBQ. 

Once again, the girls and I had the best time discovering another really cool city. Thank you, Santa Fe!

Where should we go next year?!

Paella Party

A couple weekends ago our friends hosted a Spanish themed dinner party at their apartment in the South End. There was manchego cheese, green olives, white wine sangria, seafood paella and flan. Their 11 month old son, Fausto, hung like a champ with the adults and provided us with lots of laughs. He's the cutest most lovable baby I've ever known. (That precious face!) The paella loaded with scallops, mussels, clams, cod fish and more was even better than I remember it being in Barcelona. And the flan was a dream. I imagine it is not an easy dessert to per-fect and yet, it was perfect. The entire evening was. I am lucky to have such awesome friends.

Barcelona Cuisine | El Rey de la Gamba

Presenting El Rey de la Gamba: The King of Prawns; the Catalan seafood restaurant which officially wraps Barcelona cuisine week here on III. The open air terrace where rows of white linen table cloths and metal chairs backed by red fabric sit under a large tent is located on Passeig de Joan de Borbó which borders the harbor of Barceloneta. The trip would not have been complete from a culinary perspective if we didn't get ourselves some Seafood Paella! While pretty much every other restaurant on Las Ramblas serves this dish, which embodies a serious mass touristic appeal, we had a couple spots in mind in the Barceloneta neighborhood and were hopeful to get a really good batch!This restaurant ended up being a spontaneous choice. That night we had some minor issues with our map (the road we needed to find was not on it), got lost in a sketchy 'hood (the type of spot we did not want to look lost) before ending up on a main strip, starving and a little defeated. El Rey's location, beckoning neon sign and giant seafood posters indicated a tourist trap, but we decided to go for it. Our disingenuous waiter had a friendliness that felt forced, which might not have been so bad if it was consistent! Other times he seemed to be annoyed by our presence and his attitude was rather lethargic.That being said, we still managed to get cold beers and hot food in a respectable time frame! The iconic Catalan tapas to begin the meal, Pa amb tomàquet was essential, per usual. The fresh tomato and fruity olive oil punctuates so perfectly each crevice of the hearty bread. Gosh I love this stuff. (Or couldn't you tell?) I've been eating it by the plateful! When in Catalonia....And then came the piece de resistance, a ginormous pan of Seafood Paella with paprika and saffron infused rice, studded with bright green peas and soft set mini potatoes, dusted in fresh parsley and served with lemon wedges.
The bomba rice was wonderfully flavored and executed to a perfect tenderness. Its liquid absorbing capabilities are what make it ideal for paella, the grains expand substantially to become fluffy without being sticky. The bottom layer becomes slightly toasted, adding a welcome textural contrast. The mussels seemed to pale in comparison to the plate we had at Tapas 24. However, we were still delighted by the pan of food overall. We relished the experience, savoring every tender shrimp, juicy prawn and briny clam.

I wouldn't peg El Rey de la Gamba as a restaurant you must visit, especially since you can get paella almost anywhere. However, for us, it was simply meant to be! Definitely do some research, have a trustworthy map on hand, and whatever you do, don't miss out on this iconic seafood and rice dish if you travel to Barcelona!

Well my friends, this officially wraps Barcelona cuisine week; what a delicious journey it has been! I plan to incorporate a couple photo montage posts of the city sights before saying goodbye to Barcelona. Then, it is onward to the final destination of the trip, San Sebastian!