A Poke in the Rye

Santa Fe's newest farm-to-table concept dares to be over the barrel

Whatever invisible forces help guide the culinary evolution of Agua Fría Street (is it something in the water?), one thing is certain: The roadway tends to attract passionate restaurateurs who envision something different from what is generally offered by more tourist-leaning downtown dining establishments, especially those in the Plaza bubble. Case in point: Joseph's of Santa Fe and Raaga.

The newest kid on the Agua Fría block is radish & rye (548 Agua Fría St., 930-5325), the brainchild of owners Dru Ruebush, Camille Bremer and master mixologist/sommelier Quinn Stephenson, who is also a partner in Geronimo and Coyote Café. Billed as a restaurant that celebrates farm-inspired cuisine and all things bourbon, r & r occupies the former home of Ristra, but it is now unrecognizable as such. Keeping with the farm-inspired theme, the dining room is bathed in earth tones, gorgeous wood flooring, scenic paintings of farm landscapes and bourbon barrel houses, and linen napkins that recall the flour-sack towels of a much simpler time.

Even the servers sport logo-clad earth-tone aprons, and the cocktail menu (branded with the restaurant's initials) is sandwiched between bound, antique-y looking wooden planks. The atmosphere definitely doesn't suffer from an identity crisis, but with all those hard surfaces for bourbon-lubricated voices and slightly-too-loud piped-in blues and country music to bounce off of, dinner conversation can become cumbersome when the place is busy—which, at the moment, is pretty much always. The streetside patio opens in a week or two, so if you're planning on an intimate conversation, shoot for a reservation out there.

Chef David Gaspar de Alba, an El Paso native and seasoned farm-to-table chef who came to Santa Fe from Portland, Ore., keeps r & r's menu short but incredibly diverse, and as the seasons and local harvests change, so, theoretically, will his menu. The June menu included 13 small plates and six larger plates, as well as five side dishes. On paper, vegetarians are out of luck when it comes to larger plates, but the chef is happy to accommodate with advance notification.

Almost 20 specialty bourbon cocktails ($12 each) at r & r are made using a specially selected barrel stock of 90-proof (at bottling) Buffalo Trace bourbon, and they range from sweet to herbal to almost-bitter. A Dragonfly cocktail of chamomile-infused bourbon, local honey, lemon and soda is on the herbal-to-bitter spectrum, and oh man—this strong puppy needs to sit in its ice for a bit. A Brown Derby, which consists of bourbon, grapefruit, Aperol (a bitter-orange botanical aperitif) and local honey, is a sweeter, fruitier, iceless option. There are about 10 other bourbons to choose from for sipping, but if you're a gin, vodka or wine man, no worries: This bar has you covered.

When possible, r & r aims to serve up locally sourced produce. All meat is hormone- and antibiotic-free, and all fish is wild-caught or sustainably farmed. It's a shame, though, that the menu doesn't reflect these claims with some provenance for said ingredients, and frankly, relating the "localness" of certain items is not a task I would wish on busy servers anyway. When I ask multiple servers which ingredients are local, I am told, "Some are, and some aren't." Good to know. Perhaps a nightly menu slip that explains what is sourced locally and sustainably would help explain the food, the brand and the concept further.

Still, damn, this food is incredible. A small plate of steak tartare ($14) with Calabria chiles, lime oil, quail-egg yolk and crostini is a brilliant exercise in raw eating. Sticky with yolk and tomato-red minced raw beef (origins unknown), there is no real hint of lime or acid. But the beef is so flavorful, I don't care. I complain that the crostini are too tough/crispy to eat, and management agrees, bringing out a plate of grilled bread to replace it. Heaven.

Crispy fried green tomatoes with creamy pimento and cheese ($10) almost steals the small-plates show. It's like tasting a piece of Southern food history with a tempura twist. A small side of locally harvested radishes with housemade lemon butter and salt ($8) makes sense for a restaurant with "radish" in its name, and it's worth ordering as an appetizer. The (very) small plate of three or four grilled cauliflower florets, lemon butter, capers, sage and pecans ($10) raises some alarms: burnt capers, unseasoned pecans, un-lemon-y butter…this one needs work.

Chopped radicchio with creamy anchovy dressing, croutons and piñón ($12) is a crunchy, deliciously bitter/slightly fishy triumph, although the addition of a grated hard cheese (pecorino, perhaps?) doesn't make its way onto the menu. I am happy it's there, but others may not be.

Memorize this: "Corn chowder with green chile and smoked bone marrow" ($14). This is the pinnacle of chef Alba's small-plate greatness. Creamy, silky-smooth corn chowder with potatoes, green chile and a few floating jalapeño slices to surprise you, all topped with a Flintstones-sized bone stuffed with tender, greasy smoked beef marrow. This is when you need to order a side of grilled bread ($2), because the dish is, for some reason, not served with it. Your server might not offer it to you, either.

Radish & rye nails a lot of things, from its careful branding and design to its menu concepts. Its service team seems invested in its mission, even if it's not entirely versed on the intricacies of the menu on any given night. Staffed by some of Santa Fe's best, they will find their stride. Better communication between the kitchen and the servers, both during service and in staff meetings, is perhaps a good start.

At A Glance
Open: 5-9 pm Tuesday-Thursday,
5-10 pm Friday-Saturday, closed Sundays and Mondays
Best Bet
: Fried green tomatoes
Don't Miss:
Corn chowder with smoked bone marrow

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