Super-fantastic Journeys

 The food in Santa Fe is amazing and there are lots of options.  However, the first thing I want when I come and visit is the flavors of New Mexico.  There is a big difference between New Mexican cuisine and eating Mexican food at your local Mexican restaurant back home.  Especially if you live and Texas and they serve everything smothered in queso and call it Tex Mex. For this category, I am going to break it into several posts, based on the different regions of New Mexico so the list is manageable and to help with a forced ranked order for each list.  The North Central region incorporates the towns of Taos, Espanola, Chimayo, Santa Fe, and others located in the frequently visited portion of New Mexico. These are ranked ordered based on my favorite locations.  When evaluating we try to visit new places all the time.  The first two places are locations that we always hit because they are simply amazing.  It is hard to rank them and we usually visit both on every trip unless we just are

When we visited Santa Fe the last time we committed to trying new places that we had never visited before.  I was doing some searching on Yelp for highly rated locations with lots of reviews and learned about Herve Wine Bar.  We have walked by this location every time we have come to Santa Fe, but the signage does not really tell you what it is.  This is a hidden gem right in the middle of downtown.   The long alleyway-like entrance is beautifully decorated and gives some hints as to what is inside with the half wine barrels along the wall. The alternating colored sail canopies capture your eye up against the sky.  All of this leads to the large wooden door at the end of the entry that takes you to the secret. When you enter Herve you go into their retail area where a hostess greets you and shows you to a table.  As you enter the main seating area, it opens up into a glass ceiling atrium with plans, patio string lights, and an inviting atmosphere.  We visited on a Saturday night and go

 The Old Santa Fe Inn has its roots as a motel along Route 66.  It is in a great location, just four blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza and two blocks from the Railyards, a new and growing area with breweries, distilleries, restaurants, shopping, and restaurants.  If you want to park your car and explore Santa Fe on foot, you have found an ideal spot.  The Old Santa Fe Inn is our first choice when making reservations to stay in Santa Fe. The original portion of the motel has been refurbished with new bathrooms and comfortable guest rooms.  You can still feel the motel's history and imagine guests pulling in after journeying across Route 66.  When we first started staying here, this was the full extent of the hotel.  Over the years, they have built several expansions, and the rooms in the new building are just as magical as the older section of the hotel. When you pull into the hotel, the main parking area is in the center of the complex.  The main office is conveniently locate

Every time that I come to Santa Fe, the first place that I want to eat at is La Choza.  La Choza is where the locals go for great New Mexican dishes inspired by the local cooking style.  The food at La Choza is always excellent.  The challenge with La Choza is that you either have to arrive right after they open or know that you will need to wait for a table because it is so popular. I have tried a variety of the dishes on the menu to ensure I have had a comprehensive sampling of their dishes, but my go-to favorite is the delicious but straightforward stacked enchiladas.  Stacked enchiladas are definitely a local style, unique to New Mexico cuisine.  It is two tortillas with cheese and onion inside and smothered in green chile and more cheese. It is heated until the cheese is fully melted.  It is also quite common to get an over-easy egg on top, which is the icing on the cake. Choza offers the common sides of rice and beans, but an item that seems to be another New Mexico favorite is p