NM Menu

Just checking the internet and found that Ranco de Chimayo (north of Santa Fe) has a very nice website:

www.ranchodechimayo.com

It's a great read if you want to see some nice traditional New Mexico items. Esp. "Comidas Nativas" ("native" foods). And this is a great time to sit outside in the patio graden and have a Chimayo Cocktail (apple cider, tequila, creme do cassis. lemon juice)mmmmmmmm

have you ever been there?
it's beautiful if you have a few hours to wander the winding roads in search of the place.
very casual atmosphere and the carna adavodo shouldn't be missed.
im my opinion, it's far superior than the el pinto.

I have been there a number of times, including my first visit to NM about 15 yrs. ago (also in Autumn). I also loved the ride thru back roads. I thought it was fairly easy to find, and so worth the effort. I have also driven the road a few times on Good Friday before Easter when the locals make the pilgrimage walk to the Santuario. One year it was in a total snowstorm, the next year everyone had on shorts and T-shirts. And yes, people carry large crosses on their backs on the walk. If you haven't been up there on Good Friday it is quite a memory. A mixture of somber and picnic.

Last time I went to the restaurant I ordered a new dish: shrimp enchiladas. What a flop!!! Shrimp is not exactly NM food, no? They were having their 40 annivesary weekend and serving specials at 1960's prices (like $2-3 a meal). That was great. So next time, back to carne adovada, yes yes.

Is this south of Espanola? I was driving in this area a few months ago, and could not believe the poverty once you got beyond the Los Alamos exit. North of Espanola, while absolutely beautiful, is similarly impoverished.

It is east and a bit south of Espanola, maybe 10 miles or so. Chimayo is a lovely old Spanish community, but also used to be the heroin capital of NM. The semi-isolated rural area, roughly on the drug-trade route from Mexico somehow gave it this distinction. There is a recent book out (don't remember the name) of how the community drove out the dealers. Chimayo is also home to Leona's restaurant near the Shrine and the home of "Holy Chile" from the "Holy Dirt" of the town. They do grow great chile there.

I love the place and the surrounding area, you get the feel of "old" New Mexico. Last visit our server was the young woman featured on their website, very Frieda Kahlo looking and does a nice job of being very attentative. We had lunch on the patio but walked throughout the building and looked at the old family photos. My SF friend grew up in Chimayo and every year I get a delivery of fresh ground chile from his mother's field.

A cornucopia of delicious Mexican cheeses literally at their doorstep and they have to stuff their chiles rellenos with boring old Jack cheese? Oh, the humanity.

I actually had breakfast at Rancho de Chimayo today. They serve breakfast on weekends now. I had a huge breakfast burrito with carne adovada. My daughter and I ordered a basket of cinnamon sopa-"pillows" (I guess they only make them for breakfast. They are tiny sopapillas - about 1 inch - covered in cinnamon sugar. Very good. They servd them in a basket - like 25 or 30 of them!!) They also served me pinon coffee (by mistake. Tho it is a local specialty, I don't like it so I exchanged for reg. coffee).

The ride up from Santa Fe is so nice this time of the year. We drove thru Tesuque (past Tesuque Village Market, which was packed) past Camel Rock and Pojouque Peublo. Past Gabriel's which is one of the greatest [places for table-side guacomole. We turned off near Nambe past local farmer's carts selling pinons, chicos, chile ristras, autumn squashes, etc). I love this part of the ride! The colors are magnificent: blue blue skies, pink earth, light green grass and dark green pinon/junipers. There are all sorts of eroded white mesas, many of which are topped with crosses left by pilgrims.

We stopped at the Santuario which is always special, then on to Espanola where we passed some other favorites: Jo Ann's Ranch o Casadas, El Paragua, etc. There was a local parade in Espanoloa, with all the residents having their lounge chairs set up on the street.

We spent the rest of the day hiking near White Rock and Los Alamos, which was great. Then on the way home, the view is fabulous, too: Near sunset, the hills were actually lavender and organge color while the cliffs were white and gold.

This pretty much explains why I love NM: the foods, the colors, the "atmosphere". Nothin' like it!!!

NYNM,
thank you for being the poet i'm not.
this area has touched something deep within me
and i know i have finally found "home."
i have searched this country from maine to port angeles, to baja to key west
yet something always brings me back.
guess i'm a :desert rat"
street wise and prairie tough.
but in my heart i know i'll never be at peace anywhere else.

I had the great privilege to spend a winter working around the state of New Mexico (on an expense account, no less!) and had many of the best meals of my life there. One of the standouts, and a dining experience not to be missed, was a place in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque called Ragin' Shrimp. Yes, I'm aware of New Mexico's shortage of coast-line and their abundance of chiles in every size, shape, and color. But this place does shrimp that would compete with the best of New Orleans restaurants and I couldn't drive within 100 miles of Albuquerque without detouring in for a plate. As I remember it, they had a very limited menu (shrimp in a home-made cajun sauce, great green salad, and crusty home-made bread), but everything I ate there was first rate.

Thank you NYNM, I've been traveling to NM for 26 years now and there is nothing better than the New Mexico sky and landscape. Well, I guess the only better thing is the food.

The Rancho de Chimayo is along one of my favorite scenic drives in the U.S, the High Road to Taos. If you're in the area during good weather, it's a must do. See NYNM's post above and

http://nmtourism.org/place/loc/favorites/page/DB-place/category/158/place/639.html

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/Taos/High_Road_to_Taos_Scenic_Drive.html

If these links no longer work by the time you read this, do an Internet search for "High road to Taos."

quote:

Originally posted by Voyageur

The Rancho de Chimayo is along one of my favorite scenic drives in the U.S, the High Road to Taos. If you're in the area during good weather, it's a must do. See NYNM's post above and

http://nmtourism.org/place/loc/favorites/page/DB-place/category/158/place/639.html

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/Taos/High_Road_to_Taos_Scenic_Drive.html

If these links no longer work by the time you read this, do an Internet search for "High road to Taos."

My favorite part of the ride is from the turnoff at Nambe to Chimayo. Its pretty much highway riding until the turnoff, then it goes thru some rural area next to the Rio Nambe (they sell chiles off the road there), through beautiful overhanging treed land esp. great in autumn, then thre "badlands" up to Chimayo. It's the lower part of the high road!
I like it becuase it is different from so much if the USA, very southwest. I had a visitor from Germany once who inisted we take the High Road tour, but after Trampas she said, Oh this just looks like Germany. Rather generic forest land thers. So stick to Chimayo and get that meal (and Chimayo cocktail)at el Rancho!!!!

Rancho de Chimayo is one of my very favorite Roadfood restaurants. The food, location and atmosphere are all just about perfect! I have also had the pleasure to stay at the inn across the street and would highly recommend it to anyone.

quote:

Oh this just looks like Germany.

NYNM, because most visitors to Santa Fe (at least for the first time) are probably also going to want to visit Taos, they might as well take the upper high road, which I found incredibly pleasant. There are worse things than feeling as if you're traveling through Bavaria at times. Otherwise, they'll miss villages like Truchas that take you back hundreds of years.

Your name sounds as if you spend much time in both NY and NM--lucky you!

quote:

Originally posted by Voyageur

quote:

Oh this just looks like Germany.

NYNM, because most visitors to Santa Fe (at least for the first time) are probably also going to want to visit Taos, they might as well take the upper high road, which I found incredibly pleasant. There are worse things than feeling as if you're traveling through Bavaria at times. Otherwise, they'll miss villages like Truchas that take you back hundreds of years.

Your name sounds as if you spend much time in both NY and NM--lucky you!

You know, that's true. I guess most first-time visitors aren't from Bavaria!!! There's lots of variety on the High Road!The old crafts shops near Truchas and Ojo Sacro are special, too.

One of the nice things near Taos is the famous Rancho de Taos Church. I happened to be around there one Christmas and went to Christmas Mass there. Incredible!!! Not tourist at all, just local Hispanics who said the mass in Spanish. It was very touching. I stayed at the Sagebrush Inn and had a lovely Christmas Dinner there. Yes, I am lucky: I have two (tiny) condos, one in NYC and one in SF. Can't get better foods than this!!

We were at Rancho de Chimayo last week for lunch. We both had the beef flautas with refried beans, guacamole and sour cream and served with sopaipillas and honey. Oh, man it was good! Add to this the fantastic Sangria and a little bit of orange sherbet for dessert and it was a perfect afternoon in their outdoor dining area. This area of New Mexico is the best!