volume 7, number 9 September 2002
New Mexico's Premier Food, Arts and Lifestyle Magazine

Goodies at the Spanish Table

It's time for Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, the peak of the culinary season in Santa Fe. This year's schedule of events is as exciting as ever. A host of national and local chefs will be on hand to show off their talents including Daniel Patterson (from Elisabeth Daniel restaurant in San Francisco), Andrew Di Cataldo (from Patria in New York City), Julian Serrano (from Picasso at the Bellagio in Las Vegas) and Nancy Oakes (from Boulevard in San Francisco). They will join a large group of wine growers and vintners, here to teach about the latest hot wine trends. Local chefs who have special classes and/or luncheons on offer include: Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Deborah Madison, Lois Ellen Frank, Joseph Wrede, Xavier Grenet, David Huertas, Kelly Rogers, Ryan Hardy, Lane Warner, Cheryl and Bill Jamison, Martin Rios and Louis Moskow. Tickets sell out early for the most popular event, the Grand Food and Wine tasting, held on the Santa Fe Opera grounds on Saturday, Sept. 28. Call 505-438-8060 or go to www.santafewineandchile.org for a complete schedule. You must register by phone.

Apologies to the Aztec Café for a few outdated facts that we listed in last month's Scoop. The new phone number is 505-820-0025 and Sarah Wilhelm is now the sole owner of the neat cafe. Apart from the hot and cold sandwich menu, Sarah is making homemade ice cream daily with the intriguing green chile pistachio, fast becoming an Aztec favorite. The Aztec is open every day from 7am to 7pm.

Santa Fe and the food world lost a cherished cookbook author, food writer and bon vivant with the passing of Michael McLaughlin on July 6. McLaughlin had lived in Santa Fe since 1995 and along with writing cookbooks and collaborating on other authors' cookbooks, also worked with the three Cookworks stores nationwide. He wrote food features for such publications as Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Cook's Magazine and House Beautiful. McLaughlin's collaboration on a cookbook with the owners of The Silver Palate gourmet shop in New York City led to a career that leaves a legacy of 25 cookbooks. His final work, Michael McLaughlin's Great American Home Cooking, will be published in 2003. Condolences to all his family, friends and contemporaries, who will no doubt be comforted by the memories and recipes that will keep his spirit alive.

The Spanish Table gourmet food and cookware store opened last month at 109 N. Guadalupe Street in the space formerly occupied by Kelly Liquors. Store manager and Albuquerque native Karen Fiechter couldn't have been friendlier as she gave me a tour of the charming store. Owner Steve Winston was on hand to help launch this, the third store, and gave me a brief history of the company. The first location opened in 1995 in Seattle, with a Berkeley store opening in 2001. Fiechter had been the Seattle store manager and when she yearned to return to her native New Mexico, Winston thought, heck let's do a store in Santa Fe. Apart from the huge array of paella pans, clay-fired cazuelas, pitchers, jugs and plates, there are also olive oils, Spanish sherry vinegars, saffron and chorizos. The cookbook section is filled with Spanish, Portuguese, Cuban and even Puerto Rican cookbooks, some in Spanish. The large selection of Spanish CDs on offer make the Spanish Table a one-stop shop for a complete Spanish party. Stop by the Spanish Table and welcome them and plan that paella dinner now.

Lady D's Gourmet Goodies (505-474-0455) is a charming new pastry shop in the Plaza Santa Fe, not the plaza, but the ever-growing development area between Cerrillos Road and Rodeo Road. This hot out-of-the-oven bakery is the dream business of mother-daughter team Dee Auchterlonie and Janine Lawrence. Both had pastry experience in different cities and decided to team up in Santa Fe after Dee had visited our fair city from St. Louis, Mo. Daughter Janine was working in Philadelphia at the time and jumped at the chance of being her own creative boss and loved the idea of working with Mom. The Zafarano Drive location is central to all parts of the city and is nestled between the Famous Footwear Store and Super Nails, across from Target. The list of original goodies is too long to mention here but suffice it to say you won't be able to pass up the eclairs, cream puffs, lemon and lime curd tarts, lemongrass-honey cookies (my favorite), chocolate dried-cherry truffles, gingersnaps with real grated ginger, mini hazelnut puff pastry rolls called French knots, biscotti and much, much more. Items change daily and the proprietresses love stocking their most popular pastries regularly, but also constantly try new ideas to keep the showcase ever changing. There are three outdoor tables and hot coffee in case you can't wait to get home to enjoy your booty. Special orders are no problem, in fact already customers are bringing in their favorite old family recipes to get them recreated by the pros. Stop by soon, I dare you to leave empty handed!

Brazilian barbecue has hit Santa Fe at the recently opened Asado (505-985-0518, 1007 St. Francis Drive in the old JB's Family restaurant space). Asado is the creation of José Venzor, who also owns Carmen's Pizza on Cerrillos Road. It will feature a classic churrascaria setup with servers circling the room, tempting hungry diners with skewers of all different types of grilled meats and sausages. A salad bar and dessert bar complete the meal, and a beer and wine list will be available. Asado is open for lunch from 11am to 2:30pm and dinner from 4pm to 11pm every day of the week. I can't wait to check it out and start splashing around in chimichurri sauce!

Do you have information for the Santa Fe Scoop? Call 346-0660 ext. 245 or e-mail foodnews@lacocinita.com.

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