Reach for a Cuisine Different in the City Different
The Shed
One of the best places to eat in Santa Fe is also one of the oldest, and it’s a watering hole for locals and tourists alike. Around since 1953, The Shed, right off of the Plaza, is always good, always crowded, and always worth the wait — because there will be one, no matter what time you go. It’s boots-and-jeans casual, like Santa Fe itself, and the courtyard is terrific if the weather’s nice, which it usually is. The flat enchiladas are fiery, especially if you go for the red-green combo, aka “Christmas,” but easily cooled down with one of their super-strong margaritas (The Shed Silver is a favorite). sfshed.com
Modern General
Modern General feels like it was uprooted from someplace in Brooklyn, but somehow it works just fine near the Santa Fe Railyard Park. The kitchen- and garden-centric retail boutique is the baby of Erin Wade, proprietor of the build-your-own-salad organic bistro Vinaigrette, which is an easy walk away. The ever-inventive Wade conceived Modern General with her sister, who not surprisingly lives in New York’s trendiest burb. There are Dutch Dewit gardening tools, crocks of French Pommery mustard, simple pottery from Ohio Stoneware, and bags of coffee beans from Cuvée Coffee, a roaster in Austin, Texas, where she has another Vinaigrette location. In the small café in the back of Modern General, you can order up some supercharged antioxidant not-really-pancakes pancakes for breakfast or take a handful of cookies to go. moderngeneralonline.com
Santa Fe Spirits
Colin Keegan started making hard apple cider and brandy with apples from his Tesuque, New Mexico, orchard several years ago. Back then distilling was just a hobby, a way to use his surplus. His apple brandy, still made with local apples, is now one of the signature liquors at Santa Fe Spirits, along with several others he makes: Expedition Vodka, made from Sangre de Cristo water and corn; Silver Coyote Pure Malt Whiskey, a white, not brown, liquor that’s fruity and dry rather than smoky; and Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey, made with mesquite-smoked barley. You can visit, taste, or order up a cocktail made with one of his spirits — then buy a bottle to take home. santafespirits.com
Santa Fe Spirits’ Silver Manhattan
3 ounces Silver Coyote Pure Malt Whiskey
1 ounce sweet vermouth
3 – 4 dashes bitters
2 ounces Santa Fe Spirits Apple Brandy
1 cup hot water
½ ounces simple syrup or honey
1 cinnamon stick
Dash of honey
Photography: Courtesy Tourism Santa Fe, The Shed/Facebook, © Underexposed Photo Studio/Courtesy Santa Fe Spirits
From the October 2019 issue