Small Bites

Bouche feels like a place worth coming home to stay. Pull up a seat on their patio to enjoy dinner with a sunset-strewn sky over the top of their walled garden, or take a table indoors, among the hardwood floors and fireplace that recall a country coziness without overstating the point. Chef Charles Dale strolls the tables to check in on those enjoying a flawless and approachable menu. Make no mistake—while the wine list may be four pages (and wait staff happy to counsel you through those difficult choices) and the dinner menu a quarter-page, the emphasis is on well-considered food that draws from local and sustainable choices and the very best of French cuisine. Approachably casual black mussels in white wine and red chile sauce ($16/$26) are worth their weight in tiny forks—and, naturally, sneaking a dip of the housemade bread into. A mountain of truffle frites ($7/$9) dense with umami makes good company. Finish off with crème brûlée or the tart of the evening, which on our visit was built around all the natural sweetness of Colorado peaches.

-Elizabeth Miller

451 W Alameda St., 982-6297
Dinner Tuesday-Saturday, 5:30-9:30 pm
bouchebistro.com

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Santa Fe Reporter