The Fork

Eat Like Royalty!

We're smack-dab in the middle of Santa Fe Restaurant Week, one of the most wonderful times of the year because all these restaurants around town that might not be affordable to everyday folks the rest of the year are pulling out all the stops (what a weird phrase, right) and offering up special meals. We wanted to highlight the six that have us most excited for everyone so they could try something they've never tried or go somewhere they never dreamed they'd go. You'll have through March 1 to make this happen. Oh, and note that if you click the link above, you can make reservations across town with ease.

315 Restaurant & Wine Bar
For a mere $35 per person, you can be knocking back stuffed portobellini mushrooms with goat cheese, country paté on a toasted baguette and a 10 oz. New York strip steak. The've got lemon crepes, too! LEMON EFFING CREPES! Dinner only, friends.

Sasella
We'd heard mixed things about Sasella, but after visiting for ourselves recently, we must say that it's pretty amazing. For $25 for lunch and $45 for dinner (per person, lest ye forget), you'll have access to chef Cristian Pontiggia's offerings, like Italian mushroom soup, five-cheese tortelloni (which we can personally vouch for) and a sous vide bone-in pork loin with lemon caper and a white wine sauce served with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. Ohmygod. We don't even eat meat, and we'd probably eat that.

Apothecary Restaurant
At first we were like, "That place is for hippies!" but it's mostly a vegetarian's delight with items like baked artichoke brulee, a house pho with ginger, garlic, goji berries, daikon sprouts and more, and the kind of key lime pie you'll dream about. They've got meaty options, too, like buffalo kabobs sourced locally and pad thai with chicken, so don't fret. $20 per person for lunch, $25 for dinner.

Chez Mamou
The French invented food, right? So, like, the food should be pretty good? Sounds like it, what with Chez Mamou's Maine lobster bisque, pan-seared sea bass (reminds us of Jurassic Park) and osso bucco—or the wild flower and honey lacquered duck breast (what?!?) and vegetarian ravioli. That's not even close to everything on offer, and for $25 per person at lunch and $45 per person for dinner, it's kind of a steal.

Izanami
If you've never ventured up the mountain for chef Kiko Rodriguez's inspired Japanese cuisine, now's the time. A mere $45 per person yields items like grilled avocado, fried oysters with sesame-sriracha, wagyu short ribs, lamb chops with a bacon sweet croquette and kushiyashi—charcoal grilled veggie skewers with dengaku-basil piñon pesto. DANG! Dinner only.

The Shed
We understand this is a local institution, but the Carswell family is offering up the legendary New Mexican dishes like pollo adobo, fish tacos and the taco enchilada plate for $15 per person for lunch and $25 per person for dinner. Do you understand what a huge savings that is? DO YOU?!

And that's barely even the tip of the iceberg. As in, there are soooooo many other restaurants on the list. Go for the savings, for for the trying of new things, go because we said so, just go. Honestly, it's a pretty amazing bunch of deals.

Here's a weird video from Today wherein you'll learn how to soup it up like a monarch. Setting aside how Kathy Lee is the worst villain in all of recorded history, this is the kind of information you need. Just kidding, it's weird and you'll be fine without it.

Also

-Just because Zibby doesn't work here anymore doesn't mean she doesn't text now and then. And, since she's super nice, she let us in on an amazing thing we didn't know: Saveur has a killer (mostly) vegetarian buffet. This is the kind of thing everyone should know about…so know about it. Starting now. See below for proof. And notice that we keep our phone CHARGED.

-We just heard from our best friends at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi about how the hotel has released its own tequila. Dubbed Codigo 1530, the private label reportedly aged for 18 months and is 100% natural thanks to help from the hotel's Tomas Avila, as refined a palette as was ever around. Anyway, you can book a private tasting by emailing anasazi.foodandbeverage@rosewoodhotels.com. Cool, right? Then you can say stuff like "There we Codigo again!" They'll laugh politely, we bet.

-It seems like just yesterday we were wishing a happy birthday to Velarde's Black Mesa Winery, and today we're bringing them back into the news with info about how the Small Business Development Center at Northern New Mexico College Star Business Award (yes, that's the name of the award) was bestowed upon the winery for its excellence at wine and business and the wine business. Way to go, Black Mesa!

-We'd like to use the rest of this space to share a recipe from Fork Fan Lesley who, upon hearing that we were sad, totally sent us instructions for making an awesome treat:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan and Gluten Free and Holy Shit Delicious)

1 cup oats
1 1/2 bananas
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all together and bake for 18- 20 minutes at 350F. Makes six-ish cookies.
*Pro tip: take two cookies and add some vanilla ice cream between them, let them sit in the freezer to harden for 10 minutes. Mind blown.

You rule, Lesley!

More Tidbits

-Last week we brought you news of Denver's El Taco de Mexico which won an America's Classics Award from the James Beard people. Ruh-roh, though, because the people of Denver are now worried their secret spot will now be a quagmire of madness and long lines.

-Speaking of James Beard Awards, here's all the semi-finalists for the upcoming to-do.

-In food-ish news but also news for people who maybe have a little bit too much money, McDonald's announced that to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Shamrock Shake (which is an ice cream treat and not a cool dance) it'll auction off a golden, jewel-encrusted shake cup for their Ronald McDonald House Charities. Not kidding. In fact, here—look at this thing:

Ummmmmmm….word?

–The Onion absolutely nails it with this glorious piece of journalism titled "US Citizens: We Love When Thing Taste Like Other Thing," a gripping read that perfectly encapsulates how weird we really are.

-And speaking of that, there's a new Pillsbury cinnamon roll on the streets, and it's flavored like peaches and cream. Why? Because we love when thing taste like other thing.

-If you follow comic artist Tom Tomorrow on twitter (which you absolutely should), then you know he recently injured himself with hot oil. Burns are no joke, nor is hot oil. In face, let some plumbers explain to you why you should never mess around and pour that stuff down your sink.

Finally