But (gasp!) will there still be wings?
The already anemic nightlife scene in our beloved Santa Fe has taken a taken a serious turn for the lame over the past few years, with no more Paramount and Bar B, no El Paseo music space, no unexpectedly awesome shows at Club Alegria, not even a Swig anywhere in sight. Anyone yearning for the Saturday night trifecta of great cocktails, great food and serious booty shaking has probably left town by now.
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This summer, however, chef David Sellers is teaming up with Catamount owner Tom Odai to launch an ambitious plan that could bring Santa Fe's prodigal hipsters back home. The idea is to boost up the Catamount a little-to make the downstairs dining space a bit more like a brasserie, and to make the upstairs kind of "clubby," as Odai puts it-meaning more like a nightclub, with space for dancing, a better wine list, creative cocktails and simple, seasonal bar food. But wait-don't panic. The Catamount space is huge. They're not taking away the pool tables, the sports on TV or (hallelujah!) the buffalo wings.
"In Santa Fe there's such a thin nightlife market that we can spread ourselves out into a pool hall, sports bar, lunch, dinner and more," Odai says. "Dave's the most unpretentious chef you'll ever meet and probably the most talented chef in the Southwest. We'll be giving a larger, younger crowd access to his food at the Catamount."
Sellers pleased crowds with Southwestern and Asian-tinged dishes that still ***image2***somehow felt like comfort food during his tenure as executive chef at SantaCafé (full disclosure: I worked there a few years ago, so I know Dave pretty well). Last July, he ventured out on his own by transforming the old Julian's restaurant on Shelby Street into his new restaurant, Amavi, which focuses on dishes from France, Italy and Spain. The unifying factor in all of Sellers' cooking is his focus on local, market-fresh ingredients.
"In other parts of the world everyone-even people who don't really know how to cook-shops for ingredients at local markets and just cooks whatever is seasonally available. It's such a beautiful way to eat," Sellers says.
If you're a foodie like me, you know that eating organically and locally (which necessarily also means seasonally) is a hot trend with chefs all over the country right now and is as good for the planet as it is delicious. The most serious of locavores even grow their own food-which is exactly what Odai and Sellers are going to do. So far, they've set up a tomato and herb garden on the roof of Amavi, and they're currently shopping for a farm where they hope to expand their homegrown crop to all sorts of fruits and vegetables.
Taking cues from "make-it-all-yourself" celebrity chefs like Alice Waters (Chez Panisse), Sellers plans to oversee a bakery that will produce breads for both Amavi and the Catamount, as well as make his own mozzarella and proscuitto for the panini they plan to serve at the revamped bar. What else is on tap for the Catamount menu?
"Well, our ideas for the food are still very much in the formative stage," Sellers says. "Mediterranean (like the panini) will definitely make a showing, as well as stuff with mass appeal like Southwest food, which can be done really well if you make everything yourself, and maybe even some Asian dishes. I've kind of been missing Asian dishes since I left SantaCafé. The important thing is that everything will be low-priced, seasonal and simple, and that could be translated into many different types of cuisines."
The coolest upgrade may be the late hours the food will be available. Sellers plans to give Atomic Grill a run for its money with menu items on sale until at least midnight-maybe until 2 am.
"We haven't decided yet, but there's definitely a lack of good late-night food in this town," Sellers says. "Atomic is extremely successful because right now it's the only game in town."
So who is this new bar meant to attract?
"We think our regular customers will be quite pleased with the changes," Odai says. "We're really not taking anything away, we're just adding to what's already there. After 13 years, the Catamount is ready for a change."
When asked to brainstorm what they'd like their clientele to look like, Odai and Sellers mention that they'd like to bring in more young locals and tourists-people who would naturally be walking around town at 10 pm and looking for something fun to do. They plan to add regular music to the roster of activities at the Catamount-probably a house DJ rather than live bands. The décor will be seriously spruced up, which will probably mean at least a brief closure, but Odai doesn't expect significant construction to begin until the fall.
"First you'll see changes in the food, before anything else happens," he says. "Then slowly this summer you'll see some physical changes, too."
Santa Fe Reporter