We took a short break after our day of hiking and exploring. Our room was very comfortable, I'm sure we'll stay here again next time.
For our "special" meal in Santa Fe, I had originally wanted Sazon, but due to the chef recently winning the James Beard Best Chef Southwest (2022), I just wasn't able to get reservations. So I searched around a bit and saw Geronimo mentioned on many lists. And I managed to make reservations with no problem.
And deciding to make the 20 minute walk up (and then down) artsy Canyon Road would turn out to be a lot of fun. The street is full of historic adobe houses, most of which have been turned into art galleries.
Canyon Road is made for strolling, exploring and enjoying all the art.
I'm glad we headed out early as we spent a good amount of time checking out various galleries and all the wonderful art!
My favorite by far is "Peace Offering" by the late Walt Horton, in which a squirrel offers up an acorn to a sweet looking and curious bear. It looks so wonderfully adorable. You can't help but smile when you see it!
Geronimo is located in a historic 250 year old building. The namesake of the restaurant is not who you think it would be, but rather it is named for Geronimo Lopez who was the house's original owner.
While many folks were seated on the veranda, we chose seats in the warm and classy dining room.
The service was excellent, the perfect mix of efficient professionalism without being snobby or intrusive. Things got off on the right foot with a glass of Champagne.
After perusing the menu; the Missus decided on the four course Vegetarian Tasting Menu ($80) with a wine pairing ($90). I decided to order two appetizers and a side for my meal.
The Missus's first course was a nice Endive Salad.
Nice peppery-bitterness from the endive, I thought the onion vinaigrette had a good pungent-sweet balance.
Up for me was the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio ($30).
Man, this was so good. The clean, almost sweet slices of Wagyu Beef went so well with the bitter-nutty arugula. The shreds of Parmesan added salty milkiness, while the classic addition of capers provided the right amount of a pickled sour and salt. The herb oil really wasn't needed, but the mustard horseradish sauce was just perfect on this.
Next up for the Missus was the Wild Mushroom and Sherry Bisque.
In what was a very classy move, I was brought out a cup of the bisque as well since I had to wait for my next course! Super cool! The bisque was decadently smooth and velvety, but the Missus said there wasn't enough earthy mushroom flavor for Her. Of course, She's become quite the mushroom soup snob.
Since I hadn't expected a course, I had ordered an Old Fashioned, which was quite delish.
Next up for me….why I ordered appetizers part 2, the Foie Gras ($30).
Perfectly seared , this wiggly slice of heaven was delici-yoso, with the duck demiglace adding another layer of rich-savory flavor. The "French Toast" teetered on the sweeter side, but the foie gras nicely brought it back to earth.
I also got a side of Broccolini ($10) which was nicely cooked, because….well, I needed something that actually looked healthy, you know what I mean?
The Missus's next dish was the Risotto.
Nice basil tones and that Parmesan infusion went so well with the peppery-citrusy flavored arborio rice. The artichokes and asparagus were delicious. But, as is often the case with risotto, some of the rice was still on the hard and chewy side. Still, great flavors overall.
The Missus enjoyed Her dessert, the Meyer Lemon Crepe.
This was a nice meal, with classy, yet warm and unstuffy service, and worth the price in our mind. The Missus enjoyed the wine pairing. It was a great way to end our time in Santa Fe.
Geronimo
724 Canyon Rd.
Santa Fe, NM 87501
We headed back down Canyon Road and ran into one of the two couples (the one without the pooch) we saw during our hike. They recognized us first and said hello. We all cracked up! They were headed to Geronimo and we told them that they'd enjoy there meal there. We hope they did.
Ambling back to the hotel, in the light of the "golden hour" (the sun doesn't set until after 7pm in September), admiring all the art, gave us time to reflect on how lucky we were to be able to dine at places like Geronimo and enjoy cities like Santa Fe.
And "Peace Offering" will always bring a smile to my face!
I actually wanted to check out the cathedral. Apparently, the oldest existing 
Which seemed to be a combination of charred and dried. The flavors were quite intense and the crunchy texture quite interesting. The ricotta gnudi was a nice mildly acidic-cheesy addition which added a textural contrast to the dish along with a good milkiness. It was the Missus's favorite item of the evening.
We found this to be on the bland side in spite of the Sherry Beurre Blanc, the Cardamom Phyllo was soggy when it hit the table and this was just a bunch of root vegetables in a bland sauce. Not quite worth the $32 for the dish.
There it was, Cliff Palace, I was actually here! Our Ranger was just like all the rest, so knowledgeable, first going over the safety protocols, we'd be using ladders to ascend….five in total. There were a couple of folks that struggled a bit, but for us it was pretty easy.
Petroglyph Point was the more interesting of the two and also the more strenuous. There were several tight squeezes, a couple of drops and some variations in terrain as well. The Missus was loving it.
And truth be told, I was actually enjoying this trail. All the changes in terrain and views kept me visually stimulated.
I thought this trail was easier than Petroglyph Point, but also less interesting. It was quite peaceful as we did not see another soul during our hike.
While the SYSCO crinkle cut fries weren't fried very well and quite soggy, the sandwich was not bad. The bread could have been toasted a bit more, but I liked the fact that they used Parmesan Texas Toast, which had a nice salty-buttery-milkiness. The short ribs were tender and beefy, loved the caramelized onions, and the cheese, which was a Boursin was herbaceous and nice and gooey. This was nice to share.
And then we took the long and winding drive down to Wetherill Mesa and easily found parking in the lot.
You can pretty much linger as long as you want. 
I initially thought the beef was cut a bit too large, but it was very tender. The "garlic cloud" added some decent savoriness, but would have loved a bit more briney-citrusy tones to cut thru the richness. Still, this was a pretty good version.
Those yellow dots were an egg yolk emulsion…I would have preferred a drippy egg yolk as the emulsion really didn't add much to the dish, the horseradish was also strangely mild in flavor. The celery leaves did add a nice boost of palate restoring flavor. Perhaps if they chopped it a bit smaller you could get more than three bites.
I'd gladly return here.
Man, this was pretty big. Crust was nicely charred. Though the first two bites gave things away. The slices weren't cut all the way thru and the resulting dough was tough and saturated and not in a good, Neopolitan Pizza way. Nice truffle fragrance, but no truffle flavor. There was a ton of tasteless mozzarella. The crust, while nicely charred wasn't very yeasty, but was too salty. I liked the bacon, that almost had a flavor of jamon, which gave the pizza almost all it's flavor, but there just wasn't enough of that to overcome all that cheese. Too little radicchio or carmelized onion to make much of a difference.
A sort of 'Gastropub' atmosphere with about 20 beers on tap, various seating sections (including covered outdoors), we were given a bottle of chilled water along with chilled glasses with our menu.
A simple menu-and there is a Monday-Friday Happy Hour, too (from 4-6:30)
We decided to try the Cheese Curds ($12). Wisconsin cheese, breaded and fried. If you bite into a hot one, it does indeed 'squeak'..but otherwise it's just a good bunch of piece of breaded fried cheese, served with a very nice homemade Ranch.
The Stuffed Jumbo Portobello mushroom ($15) can be a meal. Cream cheese, mozzarella and parmesan topped with a panko crust and placed in balsamic syrup…Oh my!
Cross section shows how many flavors you can get in a bite. 
We also ordered a Cobb Salad ($14). This tasted really good, very fresh ingredients (egg, bacon, avocado, tomato, gorgonzola and a nice Blue Cheese dressing. The presentation…eh. 
Walk in, order, pay, find a seat inside or outside.
There are menus above and on the wall as well as physical laminated menus. 
The Mister ordered a Soup and 1/2 sandwich plate ($10.75)
He chose a hot half sandwich-grilled Pastrami and Swiss on toasted sourdough (instead of grilled rye). Russian dressing, lettuce and tomato were offered and since this order wasn't traditional, he got it all. This was very good.
There are four homemade soups offered here: Chicken Noodle, Chicken Tortilla, Broccoli Cheddar and Clam Chowder. The chicken ones are priced at $5.50 and $6.40; the vegetarian is $5.25 and $6.15 and the chowder is $6.50 and $7.75 if purchased as an individual cup or bowl. No extra charges for the combo plate. Clam Chowder it is, and it is wonderful. Creamy, rich with clam juice and a lot of clam meat. Tiny diced potatoes and celery. Perfectly seasoned (no need to add salt or pepper), this was really the best we've had out here. 
I ordered a grilled chicken salad ($13.75) with the house made ranch dressing (as you can see, three containers of ranch are given). The fresh vegetables and nicely grilled chicken made for a really great meal. 