Galisteo Inn: Dining in Santa Fe
Steven Spielberg's film crew may have gone Into the West, but they enjoyed the bar and restaurant at the Galisteo Inn while they were here.
The La Mancha Restaurant at Santa Fe's Galisteo Inn is dining New Mexico style. It offers gourmet fare in a 17th century Spanish hacienda, where movie stars have dined.
New Mexico cuisine is unique. Don't even mention Tex-Mex, but think something more subtle. It combines Mexican spices with Spanish flavors and the best ingredients the Southwest can offer. Santa Fe is full of good restaurants, but the night we dined at La Mancha, at the Galisteo Inn - that was a night to remember.
We began in the bar, where the bartender Raphael told us about the latest film crew to have kept him busy. See my Article about the movies made around Galisteo by clicking here. Raphael mixed a mean margarita, and we eyed up the tapas menu. It would be a shame to pass up treats like portobello mushrooms simmered in sherry with garlic and fresh herbs, or saffron crab cakes with a spicy red pepper sauce. And wow, we're glad we were greedy.
Over in La Mancha, the chef's nervous. He comes in to say hello and tells us a local restaurant critic is due in. La Mancha wins all kinds of accolades. Conde Nast Traveller chose it as one of their 26 'Hot Tables' nationwide in May, 2006. Then in July Bon Appetite included La Mancha in 'Ten of our favorite dining spots in vacation destinations around the country.'
Sample the food, and you know what they mean. It's the kind of menu where you want to try every single dish. Should we have the smoked duck quesadilla with roasted pineapple salsa, or maybe another helping of those divine saffron crab cakes, which also appear on the restaurant menu? Yes, they were so good. I know my husband will have the grilled tenderloin of beef (which is melt-in-the-mouth tender, he says), so I choose the pistachio-crusted grouper, with champagne-poached grapes and grilled asparagus. It's perfectly cooked and the flavors fabulous.
We finish off with one helping of Spanish cheesecake made with anise and a strawberry sauce, which is from a 15th century recipe, and one aptly named Chocolate Decadence. Over at another table the restaurant critic and his wife are talking to the chef and smiling. It's clear from the look on his face that the Galisteo Inn's La Mancha has won yet another accolade. And I'm not arguing.
For a look at the Galisteo Inn and chef Enrique Guerrero's latest menu of "Nuevo Hacienda" cuisine, click here.
