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Sante Fe Culinary Adventure

There is a wonderful little food company in Santa Fe, New Mexico named "People Gotta Eat". I couldn't help thinking of this company as 25 of us recently spent 3 days in Santa Fe taking cooking classes and eating at the fantastic selection of restaurants in this lovely city. The indulgence started with full tastings at our three cooking classes at the Santa Fe School of Cooking and then moved on to some truly fabulous restaurants, which offered a variety of sumptuous dishes with a Southwestern flair. "People Gotta Eat" became our motto and we lived up to it in fine fashion.

After settling into The Hotel St. Francis, we walked a short distance to Café Pasqual where our adventure began.Café Pasqual is a small but delightful restaurant where we sampled Corn Cakes with Calabacitas & Quesco Blanco Salsa; Roasted Beets & Pumpkin with Field Greens, Chile Pecans & Spanish Bleu Cheese; Guacamole & Monterey Jack Quesadillas.

From there, we went to our first cooking class of Traditional New Mexican Cuisine at the Santa Fe School of Cooking.Chef Allen Smith taught us the differences between red chile sauce and green chile sauces as we sampled Enchiladas made from fresh corn tortillas, Pinto Beans, Posole and Capirotada.

We then moved on to dinner at the famous Coyote Café. Some of the enticing dishes we tried were Maple & Chile Glazed Wild Pacific Salmon; Grilled Double Cut Pork Chop with Caramelized Fuji Apples & Sweet Potatoes; Pecan Grilled Filet of Beef and Pumpkin & Goat Cheese Gnocchi.

The next morning we had a wonderful Southwestern Breakfast class conducted by Chef Eddie Lyons. A refreshing Liquado made with cantaloupe started the day off right, as we tasted Chilaquiles with Chicken and Green Chile Tomatillo Sauce, Chile Glazed Bacon, New Mexican Frittata and Piloncillo Baked Apples with Cajeta.

We tried to walk off a little of the morning's feast by visiting the Loretto Chapel, the famed Plaza and some of the beautiful shops in the area. That afternoon we had our third class, Contemporary Southwestern Cuisine. The hands down favorite was Lime Marinated Salmon with Ginger Lime Butter, Roasted Corn & Black Bean Salsa. But we didn't stop there, we also had to try the Seasonal Greens Salad with Orange Sherry Vinaigrette, Southwestern Scalloped Potatoes with Green Chile and Cheese, Stir Fried Julienne of Summer Squash, Carrots & Red Peppers and a creamy Vanilla Flan.

A brisk walk to our dinner at Ristra, in a century old Victorian house, helped to make room for Lobster Brioche Tartelette; Grilled Spiced Duck Breast with Turnip Gratin, Rhubarb Empanada & Raspberry Sauce and a delicious Sea Bass special.

The next day brought the term "shop 'til you drop" to a new level. We managed to fit into a shuttle bus, which whisked us around town to various locations. From the nicest "Flea Market"I had ever seen, to the Jackalope shopping complex, then back to the wonderful shops of downtown Santa Fe and the Plaza, we had a ball. Even our lunch at Bert's Taqueria, was an unbelievable feast of platters of roasted meats, beans, rice, tortillas, guacamole and a variety of salsas. Once again, we stuffed ourselves.

It was hard to part with the quaint Hotel St. Francis after such a lovely stay, so we consoled ourselves with a departure lunch of tacos with all the trimmings at the Albuquerque airport. We did our best to live up to our adopted motto…"PEOPLE GOTTA EAT" and will always remember Santa Fe for it's beauty, delicious Southwestern food, the wonderful Santa Fe School of Cooking and 3 great days with new and old friends.