Sante Fe/ABQ Trip Report -- with focus on Clafoutis

[Marty L.]

Returned recently from six days in Santa Fe (and a few hours in ABQ). Thanks largely to this Board and Gil's Thrilling and Filling Blog (http://nmgastronome.com/blog/), we had many decent meals, some significantly better than that.

Roughly in descending order, from very, very good to eh, they included: La Boca; Jambo Cafe (what wonderful folks, and homey, terrific cooking -- great to see SF has flocked to them); Restaurant Martin; Tecolote Cafe (the atole pinon pancakes I was craving); Rancho de Chimayo (surprisingly solid across the board, given the volume; and superlative, gracious service under trying circumstances (I believe the waitperson's name was Shaylana, or something to that effect)); Shohko Cafe (not bad sushi!); Roque's Carnitas on the Plaza; Vinaigrette; Chocolate Maven (great for kids -- watching the croissants being made); Cafe Da Lat (ABQ); El Molero Fajitas on the Plaza; Il Piatto (everything very rich, but handled a large party very well); Frontier (ABQ); Tia Sophia's. Others in our group also lauded Harry's Roadhouse and Mary & Tito's (ABQ), neither of which I was able to get to.

Deserving of special kudos, however -- not least because it doesn't get enough attention here -- is Clafoutis, which is a real gem where one would least expect it. Just-right breakfasts; great baked goods; unforced coviviality; a warm gathering of locals every morning; and perhaps the best baguettes I've had outside France -- perfect, really. A great find. (I can only vouch for breakfast, although given the uniform quality of work in the kitchen, I'd be willing to wager they have terrific lunches, too.

)

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Harry's Roadhouse
96B Old Las Vegas Hwy, Santa Fe, NM 87505

Cafe Da Lat
5615 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108

La Boca
72 West Marcy Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Tia Sophia's
210 W San Francisco St, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Tecolote Cafe
1203 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505

Shohko Cafe
321 Johnson St, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Restaurant Martin
526 Galisteo, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Clafoutis
402 N Guadalupe St, Santa Fe, NM 87501

[artychokeasana]

Just this morning we had a family breakfast featuring pastry from Clafoutis-my husband thouroughly enjoyed chatting with the locals gathering at the door just beofre their 7 am opening and was, I think, a bit enamoured fFrench owner-describes as lovely and very attractive. Upon his return we enjoyed plain and filled crossiants and cinnamon rolls. My favorite was the flakey, buttery plain croissants.

[Marty L.]

As good as the croissants are, you really must try the baguette -- yearning for one daily back here in D.C.

P.S. Fear not -- true enough, the owner is lovely and charming, and French . . . but she's married to the baker!

[artychokeasana]

Phew :-)

Sadly the baguette will need to wait for a return visit-we leave today and I am stuffed with sopapillas!

[finlero]

Thanks for the report; it's always nice to get some post-trip feedback to make sure we locals aren't out to lunch (or if we are out to lunch, hopefully we're enjoying something tasty).

Totally agree on Clafoutis, we're lucky it's here. For my personal tastes, I've found their strengths to be:

boulangerie > patisserie > kitchen breakfast > kitchen lunch

Everything is good, but the baguettes and croissants are my favorite.

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Clafoutis
402 N Guadalupe St, Santa Fe, NM 87501

[Erich]

Agree with Finlero's assessment. They're just across the street from my SF office. Lovely folks.