From one Foodie to Another

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Friend and foodie in crime, Chelsie.
French toast and breakfast burrito at Flying Star.

Five Places You Must Try in Santa Fe, New Mexico:
1. Guadalupe Cafe
2. Coyote Cafe
3. Pasqual's
4. Tomasitas
5. Harry's Roadhouse
*Best coffee shop and dessert joint with free wi-fi*
Flying Star
the breakdown:
Guadalupe Cafe, located right next door to the capitol building, is a small, un-air conditioned restaurant that serves the best New Mexican food I have ever tasted. Salads are large enough to share between two, maybe three people, and are served in large wooden bowls. A bowl big enough to stick a newborn baby in. Everything is fresh and the specials change daily. My favorite is the chicken and guacamole enchiladas. Lunch and dinner run about $10 a plate and it's worth every penny. The outside patio is lively and there is always a wait. No matter how many times I visit the city, I always make a trip back to Guadalupe Cafe.
Coyote Cafe has a rooftop bar and dining area with blue twinkle lights and the prettiest people in the city. Enough said. The food is to die for. Yes, you can have amazing organic chicken and cheese enchiladas, but you can also have a flat iron steak, amazing burger, or prawns. Whatever you order, it will almost look too pretty to eat. Inside dining is business casual, but you feel like a million bucks. Outside dining, which overlooks the little streets winding in and out of Santa Fe's historic plaza, offers a club like atmosphere that makes you feel like you might be in New York or Cancun. If you're young and looking for a cool place to hang without totally breaking the bank, Coyote Cafe should be your first stop of the night.
Pasqual's- Rare. Perfect. Local. They have mastered the art of breakfast and serve the best homemade desserts. Every artist should eat here once. The intimate setting boasts a shared table and original paintings, twinkle lights, and local folk art. The line is long and the tab is high (breakfast starting at $14, dinner $25) but as you eat from their seasonal organic menu, you will see why the windows are lined with culinary awards and locals are faithful to this incredibly artsy establishment.
Tomasita's family owned, family operated restaurant sits right along the historic train station and boasts some pretty dang hot New Mexico chile. There are not only warning signs throughout the menu, but a sign on the wall as you walk in that suggests you try before you buy... their chile is the real deal. (FYI: In New Mexico they are actually referring to red and green chile's, not the stuff that Wendy's has on its dollar menu and not the red powder that is thoughtlessly thrown into most Tex-Mex dishes. These are bonafied chile's.) This traditional New Mexico restaurant wins this foodies heart for their amazing stuffed sopapillas, flour tortillas, and honey laced sopapillas for dessert.
Harry's Roadhouse is last because it is taking everything within me to share this restaurant. If it were up to me, this place would simply exist for my own happiness... no one else invited! I always get the RoadHouse tostada. I am ok getting the same thing over and over again, because in the course of a week spent at Glorieta, I eat there at least three times, so there is ample opportunity to try other things. The outside patio spills over onto three levels of garden and tables are nestled in between trees, flowers, and yes of course, twinkle lights. The sangria is scrumptious. The mostly organic menu is seasonal, changes weekly, and always includes fresh seafood as well as the most fresh vegetables and fruits available on the market. They make homemade cakes, pie, and ice cream sandwiches daily. Breakfast is to die for. Locals are fiercely loyal. And tucked away on an access road overlooking the mountains makes for a nice change of pace from the tourist heavy Plaza. If God tells me to pick one restaurant to eat at for the rest of my life, I'll tell him Harry's. I'll invite Him to join me too :)
One more stop?
I learned about this place from a local, Dan D., who road his bike from North Carolina to Santa Fe in 1980 and never looked back. Dan D. and his dog Butterball spent a good long while sharing a bench with me this week and we got to talking. He said that if a picture can cause deep introspection and bring you to a place of 'higher consciousness' than you knew it was good. I took his word for it. You should too. Even if you can't go to the gallery, you can check our her website. These photographs capture something rare and beautiful about humanity.