SantaFe.com

Almost 100 Frito pies are sold every day at the Five & Dime General Store, which celebrates its 10th anniversary Thursday.

Plenty of locals stop by the East San Francisco Street business to get their daily fix, says snack bar employee Lorraine Chavez, who has been preparing and serving the cheesy and spicy Frito Pies for a decade.

Chavez and the entire snack bar staff cook a huge pot of fresh, homemade chili made with ground beef and red Chimayo chile every morning on an electric stove in the store's small kitchen. Beans are added to the chile before three, 4-ounce ladles of the mixture...

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
by Emily Van Cleve • Journal Santa Fe

Breakfast is the most underestimated meal of the day. Breakfast fuels the body for the rest of your busy day! Your body is like a car and your belly is the engine. To start the car you have to have an engine first of all, then you have to start the car right! So, the quality of the fuel decides how your car will start. Choosing high quality fuel aka food will get you going in the morning.

This article is all about what fuel is the best for your engine and the car. Most of the American population rush off to work without even thinking about breakfast until they see their coworker, Debbie...

Thursday, May 1, 2008
by Julie Lueking • SantaFe.com

It hasn't been a good week for Willem Malten, owner of Santa Fe's Cloud Cliff Bakery and Cafe.

Malten announced over the weekend that Cloud Cliff will close after 25 years in business. And Tuesday morning, Malten arrived at his bakery-restaurant to find that every single piece of patio furniture had been stolen. That's about 30 chairs and four tables. A Buddha statue also was taken.

It was the third time Cloud Cliff was hit by thieves in the past few months.

Malten, who has said he's shutting down the Cloud Cliff because of soaring wheat prices and increased personnel costs from Santa Fe's...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
by Vic Vela • Journal Santa Fe

The owner of Cloud Cliff Bakery and Cafe says Santa Fe's living wage law, coupled with soaring wheat prices, has forced him to close.

A Santa Fe institution for a quarter century, Cloud Cliff will close its doors Sunday with a farewell brunch for employees, Willem Malten told the Journal last week.

Malten said Santa Fe's minimum wage law— now set at $9.50 an hour— has made Cloud Cliff's wholesale bread business less competitive around New Mexico and eroded his profit margin.

"I have not been able to pay the rent here for over a year," Malten, 52, said.

The loss of Cloud Cliff is likely to...

Sunday, April 27, 2008
by Raam Wong • Journal Santa Fe

And the secret ingredient is? Tomato. But chef Martin Rios of Santa Fe's creative use of the ingredient was not enough for him to defeat the "Iron Chef."

Sunday evening, more than 100 food lovers gathered at the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe to watch Rios compete, via television broadcast, against celebrity chef Bobby Flay on The Food Network's "Iron Chef America."

Rios, chef at Inn of the Anasazi who recently announced he is leaving to be partner at Geronimo in the City Different, prepared five dishes in the competition. For the Sunday event, he re-created all of the dishes, plus dessert.

Monday, April 21, 2008
by Eric Billingsley • Journal Santa Fe

Eating out in Santa Fe can be expensive, but you don’t have to break the bank to have a special lunch. Sure, we have our share of the usual fast food places. A few of the chains—say, Bumblebee’s and Bert’s Burger Bowl—serve good food at reasonable prices. But here in Santa Fe, local is the way to go. Whether you’re exploring the downtown Plaza area, are out and about, or heading out of town on a day trip, you’ll find some wonderful restaurants that feature a variety of entrées under $10.

Monday, April 14, 2008
by Annie Lux • SantaFe.com

These days, meals are all too often eaten straight out of the microwave, crammed in between a thousand more important commitments. But when you’re in the mood to linger over every scrumptious bite, enjoying hushed conversation to the clink of crystal while a discreet waitstaff attends to your every need, Santa Fe offers bountiful opportunities for fine dining. Here are some of the best, in alphabetical order. Don’t forget to call ahead; hours and menus change seasonally at most restaurants, and reservations are recommended.

Located in the heart of the Plaza area in downtown Santa Fe,...

Monday, April 7, 2008
by Hillary Welles • SantaFe.com

If it’s been awhile since you’ve eaten at Il Piatto, that little Italian restaurant just down the block from City Hall, put it back on your “A” list. Never had lunch or dinner at Il Piatto? Now’s the time.

Three of us had an exceptionally good meal here last week, and some of the food rose to fabulous. The happy and well-informed service added to our enjoyment. Yes, the place is crowded and noisy, but that urban buzz rarely found in Santa Fe adds to the fun.

In addition to the regular menu with antipasto, pasta, soup, salads, meat and fish, we received the daily special menu and a...

Friday, March 28, 2008
by Anne Hillerman • Journal Santa Fe

Forget for a moment the long stretch of cars outside on NM 528. Ignore Intel’s industrial bulk next door. Block out the vision of the Sandia Mountains looming to the east. Instead, when you walk into Venezia’s New York Style Pizzeria, close your eyes and inhale. You could be in the Bronx, or even Little Italy. Because that smell is New York style pizza at its finest.

Order a slice. See that crust, how it’s hand-tossed, puffy at the edges, and tapers to a thin, crisp middle? That’s how you make a pizza crust. The sauce is of course made fresh each day with nearly a dozen different spices,...

Saturday, March 1, 2008
by Rena Distasio and Joe Picard (Photographer) • localflavor magazine

If you can’t tell a book by its cover, you can’t tell a restaurant by its name. Sleeping Dog Tavern conjures up images of a sports bar with lots of beer and standard pub fare, which pretty much describes its former incarnation. At first glance, when you descend below street level into a subterranean lounge with two televisions (down from the previous seven), it’s what you still expect. Bogey wouldn’t be out of place at the large bar in a dimly lit room with plum colored ceilings, an unobtrusive carpet, dark tables and black chairs. The “outdoor” tables in the airy San Francisco Street...

Saturday, March 1, 2008
by Barry Fields and Michelle Vest (Photographer) • localflavor magazine