The Fork

How Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen Stole Our Heart

First, an apology. We weren’t here for you last week, dear readers. We didn’t mention it in the previous missive. We’re sorry. All we can say is that we had a very good reason, and that our co-workers are just and true—and that we’re sorry if we let you down. We’re not insane, but we do know that you count on our newsletter as hard as anyone can count on anything. And though we know your tears were surely plentiful like you’re Amy Locane or something, just know we were thinking about you while we were crying ourselves.

Now then! ON WITH THE EFFING SHOW!!!

Brekkie Ts

What do y’all know about Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen? That it has a pretty healthy menu? That it’s about community agriculture? That it’s a Black-owned business? All those things are true, and it’s also chock-full-o’ delicious options—but what do you know about the breakfast tacos (or Brekkie Ts, if you will—and you WILL will)?

We didn’t know a lot, but we do now, and we’re here to tell you to get on this train, and get on this train fast. Y’see, after moving offices from Marcy Street in downtown Santa Fe, where the nearby restaurants are plentiful and lunch choices can be made with the laissez faire air of some kind of French emperor, we’ve been a little stumped for food choices in our new Midtown office on Pacheco Street. We love the neighborhood, and we’re not saying there aren’t great restaurants nearby, just that instead of popping out the front door, we almost always have to make a plan. That is, unless we go with Sweetwater.

And that is what we have done. Thrice now in recent days. And though looking over the menu at choices like paleo burrito with a faux tortilla of spinach and egg ($11.25) or the salmon donburi with sake and a butter sauce served over brown rice with peas, eggs and pickled watermelon radish ($17), the one item that’s been calling our name is the vegetarian Brekkie Ts (or breakfast tacos if you insist, which you mustn’t). Three little pockets of blue corn tortilla love are packed with scrambled eggs, avocado and jack cheese, which all sounds pretty normal, but throwing in the sliced watermelon radish and pico de gallo is a stroke of genius. Betwixt the tasty egg (and you know what we mean if we say it’s not, like, a Denny’s caliber egg, right?) and now thrice-perfect avocado, we all know what to expect. But the tangy bite of the radish and the subtle kick of the pico de gallo elevate this bad boy to something special.

After the first time, we wondered why more Santa Fe eateries don’t do breakfast tacos. Yes, we’ve found them from trucks and in non-Downtown/Midtown areas, but in the pantheon of local restaurants everyone loves and frequents, it’s a rare item.

After the second time, we thought back to a fateful trip to Austin, Texas, during which Brekkie Ts were the order of the morning and no amount of sweating and sweating some more could take that away from us. We did not run into Elijah Wood (who is, of course, famous for his role in Back to the Future II).

After the third time, we were not only impressed by the consistency of quality from Sweetwater, we somehow stumbled into one of those glorious eating moments when your tastebuds tell you that they need something specific, and then you get that exact thing and it’s brilliant. You know what we mean, right? It’s such a simple thing...wanting something and getting it. But it’s important, especially when you’re 4,000 words deep on some shit you’re writing and your brain starts to scream “BLUE CORN TORTILLAS, STAT!”

So, in summation (or in the grand tradition of TL;DR), just believe us when we say you need these Brekkie Ts. We need them. We’re seriously about to order some more right now having spent the last however long waxing poetic about ‘em. Go wild, Fork Frenz.

Amy Locane was also in Airheads, so you might say she’s the hero of our lives.

A VERY FORKY THANK YOU

OK, so Fork Fren Marc Y wins our everlasting love and gratitude for straight up dropping a Japanese Kit-Kat by the office. You may recall we were wondering how one would get their hands on one of those Kit-Kats made with chocolate aged in whiskey barrels. Marc Y delivered. Just look at this thing—LOOK AT IT!

Yes, we took that photo, and yes, we ate that bad boy right after. Honestly? It was a little weird. We didn’t love it. BUT we do love Marc Y as that was one of the kindest and most thoughtful gestures EVER.

You ready for something cool? Look below.

This is not for the whiskey Kit-Kat, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Also, did you know Kit-Kats are beloved in Japan because they symbolize good luck? Adorable.

Also

-Up-and-coming butcher shop superstars Beck & Bulow received a big ol’ $250,000 LEDA grant from the state earlier this week—and an additional $50,000 from the City of Santa Fe. This means the biz will hire 24 workers over the next three years and then 28 more over the next seven, and that it’ll probably expand beyond its already impressive customer list of 10,000 normies and 250 restaurants/businesses.

-But the state-subsidized food biz assistance news doesn’t stop there, frenz, oh, no. In fact, Sunland Park’s La Primera Tortilla Factory recently received LEDA assistance to the tune of $50,000, and that means it’ll add 14 employees over the next three years. According to this-here press release we got, the company will also invest something like $2.7 million into equipment.

-Did you know New Mexico has all kinds of new liquor law stuff over which you might mull? It’s true. Click this link here to see a little video from one of the state’s ABC affiliates about what that means for workers and businesses and such.

-Looks like beloved milkshake repository (and also they have tots) Sonic is on the lookout for a whole lot of workers in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. From what we hear, the fast food joint is looking to hire 301 full- and part-time positions. Here’s a link to apply.

-Speaking of food-related news items that pertain to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the Ben E. Keith food distribution company opened up an new food distro center in ABQ. It’ll also serve parts of Colorado and Texas.

-And speaking of food jobs, as of March 20, downtown macaron spot Chainé was looking to hire someone. If you don’t know about Chaine Peña’s amazing cookies, hit the site, then follow her on Instagram. Then apply.

-If you love the Santa Fe Farmers Market, you can vote for it to be named one of USA Today’s 10 Best markets in the country. Click here to do that.

-You may have heard rumblings on the streets about how chef Fernando Ruiz suddenly departed downtown steak and seafood spot Palace Prime some weeks ago. ‘Twas unexpected to say the least, but now our spies (by which we mean our boss) are telling us chef Rocky Durham (formerly of Blue Heron at Sunrise Springs) has taken over and is straight-up killing it.

-One of our all-time favorite readers works at Santa Fe Spirits (she knows who she is), and that’s why we’re telling you that the local spirit biz is reopening its tasting rooms to people who can be cool about public health and safety. By the time you read this, those rooms will be open again. And as if that weren’t enough, local baker Coquette will now provide sweet desserts-in-jars for those rooms, including an apple pear crisp, a New York-style cheesecake and baklava drizzled in honey. Pair those with some whiskey? OH. EM. Gee.

-We know we’ve been gone for a full-on week, but that’s a pretty big list of items, huh? You love us, right? RIGHT?! We try so hard!

THE BEST DAY OF THE WEEK IS FRIDAY! Also, this video is foreshadowing.

More Tidbits

-Turns out all this takeout we’ve been...taking out...is becoming a problem for ketchup fans. For you see, Fork Frenz (TM), the country’s restaurants are facing a shortage of Heinz ketchups in them little packages. We’d imagine the folks over at Hunt’s are feeling pretty smug right now, but for people who stick to specific tomato goo brands for whatever reason, this is probably a drag.

-Oh, no—Krispy Kreme is back in the news with Oreo donuts. Like, they’re donuts with an oversized Oreo cookie on top. Jesus, no!

-7-11, which is where we fell in love with Street Fighter II as a young Forkling, is testing out a drive-thru option in Dallas, Texas. It’s the company’s first-ever, and maybe one will come to a place near you? We don’t have 7-11 in Santa Fe, though, so we’ll probably have to keep going to other places that require us to leave our car.

-HAHAHAHA! Apparently the Coca-Cola company is not so down with the voter suppression nonsense going on in Georgia and has been pretty public about it—so angsty Republicans are gonna start drinking Pepsi instead to prove...something, who cares? Lord knows what they’ll do if Pepsi turns out to be run by not jerks, right? Anyway, we’ll just be over here drinking Coke. Jay-kay—we only drink tepid tap water, and we’re pretty sure that when it comes to corporations, it’s not like Coca-Cola is a bunch of singing peacniks romping through the fens and spinneys of Camp Never Hurt Anyone, where the twilight bathes the hedgerows like a lambent flame. Also, when we were a kid, our mom would make us pour her a coke sometimes and never let us have a sip.

-Holy shit, Delish-dot-com has a recipe for a freaking Swiss Roll Cake. SWISS ROLL CAKE! Do you know what this means? Honestly, probably that some people are going to die. BUT STILL!!! IT IS BEAUTIFUL!

-Online reviews site Yelp-dot-com (which you might know as the site you use to be a little crybaby about minor inconveniences like you’re Amy Locane or something) announced it will allow businesses to self-identify as “Asian-owned” from here on out. It’s the fourth such qualifier the site has added, including Black-owned, Women-owned and Latinx-owned. It’s an opt-in thing and will be searchable. Also, if you’re out there perpetuating hate against AAPI, maybe read a different newsletter. Same goes for if you’re hating on BIPOC, women, queer and trans folk and so on, in perpetuity, forever and ever, Amen.

We think this might be the song you hear when you die.

Finally

In the print edition of SFR, folks from the regular staff tried out pizzas from Tender Fire Kitchen and Back Road Pizza—and they were apparently amazing.

A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence

Number of Letters Received

53

*That’s for two weeks, though.

Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)

“You should host a game show.”

*Since you’ve never seen us, though, you don’t know we’re actually a forest troll.

Actually Helpful Tip(s)

“You don’t need an air fryer.”

-More than one person told us this, and we’re starting to agree.

We’re back, Jack!

The Fork