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Whether you’re on vacation or live here year-round, a special lunch at one of Santa Fe’s higher-end restaurants is a treat worth indulging in. Many of these celebrated eateries offer smaller (and less expensive) versions or their dinner entrées; others serve different dishes at lunch than at dinner. Either way, lunch is a great way to experience some of the City Different’s renowned restaurants at lower prices.

Santacafé
231 Washington Avenue
984-1788

Santacafé is well known as one of the best—and most expensive—restaurants in town. This casually elegant high-end restaurant also serves an...

Mauka rocks! This attractive, heads-up restaurant, which opened in October, adds a new dimension to Santa Fe’s food scene. There’s nothing in town quite like the Asian-inspired food you’ll find here, served with a gracious smile.

Mauka occupies the space that Kasasoba vacated this summer. The new owners have slightly recast the decor, replacing posters with elegant floral prints and adding background music that reflects the Asian influences and a contemporary approach.

In any relationship, first impressions set the tone. My friend and I were off to a good start. I found an empty parking...

No one seems sure of the origins of the humble margarita. Both Juarez and Tijuana lay claim to what has become the most popular mixed cocktail in the United States. One version alleges that in 1942 a Juarez bartender mixed a French Cointreau with Mexican tequila, worm and all, in celebration of a customer’s birthday. Another story insists margaritas were invented during World War II as a cheap alternative to hard whiskey, which was expensive and hard to get. According to Texas Monthly magazine, a Dallas restaurateur named Mariano Martinez created the first frozen margarita sometime in...

I don’t know many pizzerias that offer whole wheat crust with chorizo (spicy Spanish pork sausage), green chili, pine nuts and a number of other northern New Mexico toppings, as well as more traditional pies. The Upper Crust menu has been inventive, and its quality flawlessly consistent, since it first opened for business in 1979. Its downtown location draws tourists as well as locals. Sandwiches and calzones are also available.

Free delivery, dine in, take out. Hours: 11am – midnight. MC, VISA, DISCOVER, and LOCAL CHECKS. 505-982-0000.

Inside a former hacienda from the late 1700’s,...

For those of us who eat breakfast out, especially (like mom said) if we consider it the most important meal of the day, we are picky about our restaurants. For both locals and visitors, the criteria can be the fresh, organic ingredients, the inventiveness or depth of the menu, the atmosphere, the price, or just a place that’s so unassuming and convenient that it feels like home. No single eatery combines it all, and biases are highly personal, but the list below, in no special order, shouldn’t disappoint. After breaking bread with fellow dawn-worshippers for 25 years, I’ve seen some...

New Mexico is the only state in the union with an official question: “Red or green?” We are not talking traffic lights folks; we’re talking chile and here in the capitol city of Santa Fe, we practically bathe in the stuff. The chile grown and consumed in New Mexico is not to be confused with the spicy meat and bean stew known as “chili” (or in New Mexico, “Texas chili”). Red and green chiles come from the same plant- green pods are roasted while fresh for use in cooking while red chiles have been dried and ground to a course powder. Hence, the “chunky” consistency of green chile sauce and...

Imagine a moment like this: you are walking down Marcy Street in the bustling downtown plaza neighborhood of Santa Fe. It’s a late summer morning. Chef James Campbell Caruso, a white apron tied loosely around his waist, is outside of his new restaurant, La Boca, watering the red geraniums in the flower box, or perhaps sweeping the front walk. He greets you cordially, his smile an invitation to pursue your curious thoughts of “What happened to Paul’s?” or perhaps, “What is this new place?” and “Who is this guy?” Sunlight streams through the flung open top half of the Dutch door to La Boca,...

Red or green? In Santa Fe, it’s all about the chile - the ubiquitous red and green peppers that locals seem to put on just about everything. With more then 21,000 acres under cultivation in 1998, New Mexico is the leading state in pungent chile production. The majority of chile pepper production occurs in the southern part of New Mexico, concentrated along what many people call “The Chile Trail”. Going west to east, this trail takes us through New Mexico's three largest chile producers, Hidalgo, Luna, and Dona Ana counties. Just a tad north, you'll find the “chile capital of the world”,...

Choosing a restaurant for dinner in Santa Fe can be a challenge if only because there are so many choices. Il Piatto on Marcy Street, is tucked in amongst card shops and clothing stores. It's that neighborhood Italian restaurant with moderately priced dishes and a good wine selection that we wish we lived around the corner from. We made reservations for an early, pre-opera dinner and arrived after a stroll around the Plaza.

The regular dinner menu offers a selection of made-daily pastas as well as meat and fish entrees from all regions of Italy. Don't forget to study the list of daily...

When July and August roll around and temperatures heat up, most wine aficionado’s taste turns toward zippy whites, like a Loire Sancerre or a Basque Txakolina. So when the Editor asked me to do a feature on Doc Martin’s restaurant and their new chef, I could hardly restrain my amusement at his name...Zippy White.

Born Gary White, Zippy grew up in Marin County in a household where food was not a big thing, often cooking simple fare for his mother and younger brother. College then led him to Colorado University in Boulder, where he found the environment even more woo-woo than in Marin.