Rockin’ the ‘Booch, Rockin’ the Wine
We received some complaints for our thoroughly engrossing piece on movie theaters and snacks last week. It would seem that some of you think our newsletter is too long. So, being the petty little piece of shit we are, we’re going to keep things short and sweet this week. If you nerds don’t like that either, well, then we just won’t know what to do. Let’s get into it:
Cheers are in order for some New Mexico brands right now, particularly HoneyMoon Brewery, makers of the finest hard kombucha in all the land. Now, it’s true that HoneyMoon closed the doors on its taproom earlier this year, but that was mainly to make the proper space for focusing on production and distribution—which is why it’s a pretty big deal that the house built by Ayla Bystrom-Williams and James Hill took home the silver medal from the World Kombucha Awards in Barcelona earlier this month. The shortest way we can say it is that a bunch of kombucha tasting experts decided HoneyMoon makes one of the best products in the freaking world, and that’s huge.
“We are incredibly proud and thrilled to have participated and won at such a highly-regarded competition,” owner and CEO Ayla Bystrom-Williams says in a press release. “I especially want to thank HoneyMoon’s Master Brewers, James HIll and Bill Rolland, for their devotion to our uniquely flavored, patent-pending, beverages and for their personal resilience to this amazing journey we’ve been on.”
But that’s not all!!!!
It would seem that Wine Spectator, which is a magazine/website devoted to spectating wine, has named Santa Fe a Great Travel Destination for Food and Wine. In an upcoming story that we understand will drop on Nov. 30, Wine Spectator highlights local businesses such as Market Steer Steakhouse at Hotel St. Francis, The Anasazi Restaurant, Bar & Lounge, La Casa Sena and Sky Railway—oh, and don’t forget our Farmers’ Market, which is so glorious.
The end. That’s it. Maybe you like it better this way? You got it.
Maybe you like it better that way.
Also
-It’s more of a Taos thing, but at the delightfully named Stakeout steakhouse, executive chef Kevin Sousa is expanding hours and adding tableside service come Dec. 1. If you’d like to learn more, they even have a newsletter that, while not as cool as The Fork, sure does exist.
-If you hadn’t heard about new-ish biz Ohori’s Home, take a look at that ad above this box. Then know that it’s kind of a gifty/home goods-y kind of shop for coffee fans and beyond. And now that you know that, you should also know that the shop will host a special event on Saturday, Oct. 28 from 9 am-1 pm that will teach you how to brew a better pot of coffee at home with various types of coffee machinery. Then you should know it’s free, and that people who take the class will get 25% off a brewing device from the shop. Cool! Also? Best coffee in town, no question. Like, by a mile.
-The freaking governor sent out an email saying that tourist spending in New Mexico hit an all-time high in 2022, with $8.3 billion in direct visitor spending. Why is this in The Fork? Because those same tourists spent a total of $1.9 billion on food and bevvies (yup, that’s right—we’re saying “bevvies” from now on), which represents a whopping 23% of all visitor spending in 2022—an 11% increase from 2019. Now, that’s not super-shocking given the pandemic likely made 2020 and 2021 suck so bad that it was pretty much the suckiest bunch of suck that ever sucked, but note that 2019 is pre-pandemic and we’re still up from then. Guess people like it here, especially the food. What’re we thinking it was? Chile?
-Raago-Go might be Raaga-gone, but it seems like a new spot is gearing up to take over the space formerly claimed by chef Paddy Rawal. We’re talkin’ Torogoz Restaurant from sibling team Nain and Johanna Ramirez, a Salvadoran/Mexican joint that’ll likely offer indoor sit-down service and all that jazz.
-We regret to inform you that Eldorado choco biz Jornado Chocolates (which we’re saying like it rhymes with “tornado” in our minds) unexpectedly closed, seemingly out of nowhere. This is kind of wild to us as the business just won third place in SFR’s Best of Santa Fe 2023. We hate to see a local business go, especially when it makes an SFR staffer message us, “I am super bummed. Those piñon caramels were so good.”
-Lastly, in local news this week, you might have already read the story online, but a lawyer for Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill says owners from recently opened Santa Fe Bees restaurant, former employees at Bumble Bee’s, embezzled from owner Barbara Joanne Weil while she languished in the hospital after her husband, Bumble Bee Bob Weil, died. Seemed pretty intense to leave the job at the bee restaurant and move a couple doors down and make your own place bee themed, but we are but a voyager on an endless sea of knowledge.
With Halloween coming, please watch this informative video that gets into why poisoned and/or drugged candy is a myth.
More Tidbits
-Speaking of wine (like we were up above), German and Austrian archaeologists from the University of Vienna found a stockpile of the stuff in the tomb of Egyptian queen Meret Neith. How much wine? Hundreds of jugs, and much of it well-preserved. We swear to Horus that even if it tasted terrible we’d try that shit so fast just to say we did it. Also, can we just say the word “amphora” is so excellent? Anyway, there’s 5,000-year-old wine out there because of Egyptian royalty, and that’s pretty interesting.
-Apparently the apple season hasn’t been so great this year, so some orchard owners are kicking around the idea of ways to better grow those crispy bastards in warmer weather. If you like apples, you might wanna check out this short audio report from NPR that we’re gonna link right here.
-Lastly in the new and not improved shorter version of The Fork that we’re rolling out both to annoy people and because we just plain got busy this week, we hear that peanut M&Ms might be the healthiest candy available, but it’s actually more of a bummer than you think. In reality, at least according to this piece from USA Today, they’re considered healthier by nutritionists simply because there’s a peanut crammed all up in there, which is to say that since they’re not SOLELY corn syrup nonsense, they’re healthier than, oh, say, drinking a gallon of corn syrup. That’s kind of like saying, “What’s the coolest digit to lose?” Like, maybe you could say losing one’s better than the other, but it doesn’t make it great or good for you. People use the word “healthier” so strangely. Anyway, there are probably lots of choco-peanut candies out there, so blah blah blah.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In the print edition of SFR this week, you’ll find that Santa Fe Bees story we were talking about up there.
Number of Letters Received
21
*We can’t believe y’all didn’t like our cool movie/candy edition!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)
“Why do these have to be so long? They should be short.”
*Careful what you wish for!!!
Actually Helpful Tip(s)
Not a single person helped us do anything.
*Boo!
Recipient of many awards,
The Fork