by Wolf Schneider
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| Shopper in puffy jacket enters La Montanita Co-op today. |
Now is the cold and quiet time in Santa Fe, when we stoke
our fireplaces with piñon and cedar wood, and reflect on our lives with
grounded energy as bare branches shudder outside. Santa Fe often goes its own
way. So far we’ve escaped the polar vortex. It’s mostly in the teens and 20s
when our days start and we’ve had some snow. We relish our 325 days a year of
sunshine now, parking where sunlight streams into our vehicles. In January, town
tends to be lightly occupied, mostly with locals in puffy jackets, some skiers,
and business-suited legislators here for the session. The opulent Texans and
Oklahomans in their sheepskin coats who contribute greatly to our economy were
living it up during the holidays, but now they're gone. It's just us, reading
new books like Cindy Chupack’s witty The
Longest Date, glued to the new season of “Downton Abbey,” and taking
comfort amongst ourselves.
We've got two new restaurants to do that at. At the high end
is Joseph’s Culinary Pub (www.josephsofsantafe.com),
with rustic fare like the Pumpkin, Kale, Corn, and Local Porcini Enchiladas
($22) and Crispy Duck ($28). Affordable to all is chef/owner Brian Knox’s new
Shake Foundation, with a soft opening underway for its green chile
cheeseburgers, starting at $3.95. Knox usually veers towards more highbrow
establishments, like his legendary Café Escalera, Aqua Santa, and Standard
Market, and everything he does is quality (his friend Bruce Nauman designed the
logo for Standard Market; yes, that
Bruce Nauman). Myself, I’ve developed a jones for the Field of Greens drink custom-blended
at La Montanita Co-op (http://lamontanita.coop/).
Only movie craft service key Ernie Montoya makes a better green drink. On the
horizon is Santa Fe Souper Bowl XX on February 1, with more than 25 restaurants
competing with a hot cuppa something imaginative.
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| Photographer: David Alfaya, Taken in Artist Studio: Gregory Lomayesva |
Movie publicist Wolf Schneider has been editor in chief of the Santa Fean, consulting editor of Southwest Art, and can be followed on Twitter @wolfschneider1.
