This week’s New Mexican has a good profile on Slurp. Check out the full article below:

By Nico Roesler in The New Mexican

With Christmas carols long gone and the cheers of New Year’s Eve surviving as hazy moments in some people’s memories, a new sound is taking over the streets of downtown Santa Fe. Long slurps of homemade soup deliver a wholesome aural experience for those who can trace this noise back to its source.

Just west of the state Capitol on Galisteo Street shines an American symbol of freedom — a refurbished 1967 Airstream trailer. In this case, it is Slurp, a symbol of culinary freedom and soup sovereignty, the first one of its kind (licensed kind, anyway) in Santa Fe. “You can’t get more nutrition than in a homemade soup,” head Chef Jean-Luc Salles said about his soups, which have been ladled out at Slurp since November.

Salles and partners Frances Salles, Carlos Briceno and Rebecca Chastenet bring diverse backgrounds and experiences to their Slurp venture, which originated when Briceno resurrected the Airstream after purchasing it from a seller in Cañoncito. Briceno and his enterprising friends knew they wanted to open an eatery, and the Airstream provided a blank canvas. “It wasn’t going to be a restaurant, it was going to be something fun that we could play with,” Briceno said of the concept.

Chef Salles hails from Bordeaux, France, and brings classical culinary training as well as 30 years in the restaurant business to this comfy camper. Briceno, from Caracas, Venezuela, made his way into the culinary business after stints in graphic design, home building and reconstruction. Chastenet got involved after writing as a food critic and co-author of four cookbooks.

Their mission: simple, fast and wholesome food at an affordable price.

Under a huge, rusted-looking spoon bolted to the top of the trailer like an antenna, their mission begins each morning when Briceno arrives at 5:30 a.m. and starts baking fresh focaccia bread in a small convection oven.

Slurp offers simple breakfasts such as warm croissants with ham and a Tortilla Española — a rib-sticking combination of potatoes, onions and locally sourced eggs. The trio have been working with the Santa Fe Alliance to create a menu that is as locally sourced as possible.

Chef Salles then arrives at 7:30 a.m. to prepare the soups of the day. Slurp offers three soups a day, averaging about 15 different soups per week. Each weekday, Salles prepares 12 gallons of soup in the small trailer heated by bubbling broths. Soup aficionados can look for a daily trio of soups: a vegetarian option, such as their lentil/spinach soup, a hormone- and antibiotic-free meat offering, such as their wild-boar posole, and a cream soup, such as their celery/bleu cheese soup. Each slurp-able item comes in an Earth-friendly bowl ranging from 12 to 32 ounces. One component they are working on is finding an organic spoon that won’t disintegrate in the steamy soups.

“When they have their first cup of our soup, they become attached,” Chef Salles said of his customers.

Although Salles says some of his soups aren’t at the level he would like them to be (chefs tend to be perfectionists), Slurp’s business is meeting and surpassing his expectations. Success came without any advertising besides Facebook and Twitter pages, which update the soups that will be offered each day. The reputation of their soups has spread by word — or slurp — of mouth alone.

“A lot of the same people actually come every day,” Briceno said. “Others that come may be tourists, or just a friend of a friend who heard about us.” Recently, two of the daily soups have run out before closing time. Salles says Slurp will stock up more in the coming weeks because of the legislative session, which begins Jan. 18.

After being denied a parking space at various locations, Slurp finally found its niche and has been anchored at the same location for a few months. If things continue to go well for the cooks as they squeeze by each other in their 8-foot-by-27-foot kitchen, they plan to open a second mobile kitchen with a different concept.

As for Slurp, it’s now venturing into other dishes besides soup. It offers a pulled-pork sandwich and will soon have a mac-and-cheese dish. As Salles describes it, Slurp is a chameleon-type of eatery. He says he and his partners in chrome will have to adapt when summer comes around and offer more seasonal dishes.

This Airstream eatery isn’t a new concept to cities like Austin, Texas; Los Angeles; New York; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, where these shiny silver bullets can be spotted everywhere filling stomachs with healthier, more affordable, oftentimes quicker meal options. But “for the people of Santa Fe to have something different,” Briceno said, “it gives more ambience, a more out-of-the-box mentality, and that is needed.” He hopes more unique food dispensaries start popping up around town.

 Click Here for the Original Article

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The New Mexican had a nice article today about the community:

ARTICLE:

ElderGrace housing community: An ‘oasis’ of green living

Residents share effort to live with less impact

By: Dennis J. Carroll

They’re not quite there yet, but the 26 residents of the ElderGrace housing community see a day when they share vegetables from the community gardens, all get money back from the power company and carpool around town in communally owned electric vehicles.

“This kind of feels like an oasis” from the nearby congested and highly paved cacophony of central Cerrillos Road, said Adele Strasser, who spoke about the community’s environmentally friendly water-diversion and landscaping systems.

Strasser happened to be the self-taught water expert; Garland Bellamy figured out how to construct solar water-heating and photovoltaic systems for his home; Rose Driscoll is organizing a communal compost pile composed of residents’ kitchen scraps and lawn trimmings, Starbucks coffee grinds and the occasional bear scat she brings back from hiking trips. Pauline Sargent, meanwhile, is working on car-sharing plans.

“I am really looking forward everyone eating lots of healthy vegetables that will come out of our garden, which will feed us well,” Driscoll said.

ElderGrace celebrated its first anniversary Sunday, showing off its many minimalist carbon-footprint features.

The community sits on 3 1/2 acres about three blocks south of the 3400 block of Cerrillos Road. It was built, organized and designed by its association members in partnership with the Housing Trust a year ago.

Its residents, who are at least 55 years old, live in one- and two-bedroom homes that are priced between $198,000 and $228,000 and range from 960 square feet to 1,250 square feet.

Residents say the community tries to balance personal privacy and group participation in a semblance of communal living.

Strasser and others noted the short walking distances to shopping and recreational sites, and the quick access to hiking trails.

The homes were designed and constructed with a variety of green and sustainability features, including water-saving devices, passive-solar orientation, in-floor radiant heat, cellulose insulation and a host of other such amenities.

Del Wilkerson, 63, bought an ElderGrace home in late August. “I didn’t want to grow old and be alone,” he said. “I wanted a place that could be a community and not just a place to live.”

Sunday’s event organizer, Pamela Gilchrist, said four out of the total of 28 residences remain to be sold.

For information regarding Eldergrace or any other real estate in Santa Fe, don’t hesitate to contact Matt and Ryan.

Link to Original Article Here.

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The article features many of Santa Fe’s cultural events and spaces, restaurants, and going ons about town.

ARTICLE

36 Hours in Santa Fe
By Fred Bernstein

The Plaza, the heart of old Santa Fe, hasn’t changed much since the Spanish settled here 400 years ago. But surrounding the Plaza is an increasingly cosmopolitan city. Sure, it’s possible to focus entirely just on the historic center, where Native American handicrafts are for sale on every corner.

A Weekend in Santa Fe But the rest of Santa Fe now offers groovy contemporary art spaces, hot Asian restaurants and a park by a pair of trailblazing architects. Accept that Santa Fe isn’t just tacos and turquoise anymore, and you’ll find yourself loving the New Mexico capital not for what it was, but what it is.

Friday

5 p.m.
1) PUBLIC SPACE

For a beautifully curated introduction to Santa Fe, visit the New Mexico History Museum (113 Lincoln Avenue; 505-476-5200; nmhistorymuseum.org), which opened in 2009 and includes a gripping display about Los Alamos, where the Manhattan Project was conducted in secret during World War II. A large courtyard with ancient walls and shady trees separates the museum from the Palace of the Governors (palaceofthegovernors.org), the Spanish seat of government in the early 1600s and now a small museum of Colonial and Native American history. The two-museum complex is free on Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m.

7 p.m.
2) WHITE WALLS AND WINE

You’d have to be crazy to pay for a glass of white wine on Fridays. Canyon Road, which angles up from the center of town, has more than 100 galleries, and there are openings every Friday night. According to canyonroadarts.com, the largest category is contemporary representational (think brightly colored paintings of the desert). Check out Eight Modern (231 Delgado Street; 505-995-0231; eightmodern.net), where you’ll find the geometric scrap-metal constructions of the Santa Fe artist Ted Larsen. The backyard sculpture garden is a great place to marvel at New Mexico’s amazingly clear sky and savor its piñon-infused air before heading to dinner.

9 p.m.
3) AHI MOMENT

Martín Rios is a hometown boy made good: Born in Mexico and raised in Santa Fe, he apprenticed at the Eldorado Hotel and the Inn of the Anasazi — two local stalwarts — and made a brief appearance on “Iron Chef” before opening his own place, Restaurant Martín (526 Galisteo Street; 505-820-0919; restaurantmartinsantafe.com), in 2009. The main draw is the food — dishes like ahi tuna tartare ($14) and duck breast with smoked bacon polenta and Marcona almonds ($25) offer hints of the Southwest, with a dash of global aspiration. But the homey décor makes you want to stick around even after finishing the bittersweet chocolate truffle cake ($8).

Saturday

10 a.m.
4) SPICE MARKET

The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market (1607 Paseo de Peralta; 505-983-4098; santafefarmersmarket.com) dates back a half-century, but it stepped up a notch when it moved to a permanent building in 2008. Everything sold here, including dried chilies, yogurt and grass-fed meats, is produced in northern New Mexico. The market is part of a bustling district that includes the new Railyard Park by the architect Frederic Schwartz and the landscape architect Ken Smith, both Manhattanites whose taste is anything but quaint. As you wander around, be on the lookout for the Rail Runner, a gleaming new passenger train scheduled to pull in from Albuquerque at 11:08 a.m.

Noon
5) SUSTAINABLE SALADS

Santa Fe residents — as you learned roaming the Farmers’ Market — care where their food comes from. No wonder Vinaigrette (709 Don Cubero Alley; 505-820-9205; vinaigretteonline .com) was an immediate hit when it opened in 2008. The brightly colored cafe has a menu based on organic greens grown in the nearby town of Nambé. Choose a base — Caesar, Cobb and Greek are possibilities (around $10) — then add diver scallops or hibiscus-cured duck confit ($7) for a satisfying meal. Wines by the glass start at a very friendly $6.

2 p.m.
6) RIDING THE SPUR

Thanks to Santa Fe’s sometimes depressing sprawl, it’s getting harder and harder to find wide-open spaces. But drive (or bike) to the corner of Galisteo Street and West Rodeo Road, where there’s a small parking lot — then begin pedaling due south, in the direction of Lamy (about 12 miles away). What starts as an asphalt path morphs into a dirt bike trail that swerves around a 19th-century rail spur. There are some pretty steep hills, but they’re short, and the momentum from a downhill is usually enough to handle the next uphill. (If only life were like that!) The scenery is always gorgeous, especially in late afternoon, when the sun is low in the sky. Mellow Velo (638 Old Santa Fe Trail; 505-995-8356; mellowvelo.com) rents mountain bikes starting at $35 a day.

7 p.m.
7) TAPAS WITH STRANGERS

La Boca (72 West Marcy Street; 505-982-3433; labocasf.com) is one of downtown Santa Fe’s most popular new restaurants — thanks to its contemporary tapas, plus larger dishes like cannelloni filled with crab, scallop and Manchego ($11). You’ll find yourself sharing tips on what to order — and even forkfuls of delicious eats — with strangers.

10 p.m.
8 ) REGGAE FOR ALL AGES

Santa Fe isn’t a night-life town, but Milagro 139 (139 West San Francisco Street; 505-995-0139; milagro139.com) is helping to change that. A building that had housed a coffee shop was recently converted to a restaurant that becomes a club on Friday and Saturday nights. There’s no cover, and the drinks, including a house margarita called Beginner’s Luck ($5), are delicious. A recent visit coincided with performances by Rubixzu, a local band that performed a blend of reggae and Latin hip-hop to a diverse crowd, aged 9 to 90. For a trendier vibe, head to Meow Wolf (1800 Second Street; 505-204-4651; meowwolf.com), an alternative art space, or check its Web site for other parties hosted by Meow Wolf artists.

Sunday

10 a.m.
9) FREE-RANGE PEACOCKS

For a big breakfast and an early start, drive south on Cerrillos Road about 10 miles past the Interstate, until you see a handwritten cardboard sign that reads, “Pine wood stove pellets sold here.” You’ve arrived at the San Marcos Café (3877 State Road 14; 505-471-9298). Dozens of peacocks, turkeys and hens roam the property (which also houses a feed store), providing an Old McDonald-like backdrop for crowd-pleasers like eggs San Marcos, a cheese omelet in a bath of guacamole, beans and salsa ($12).

Noon
10) KITSCH TO CONTEMPORARY

If you ever thought that item you found at a roadside stand was one of a kind, Jackalope (2820 Cerrillos Road; 505-471-8539; jackalope.com), a sprawling, indoor-outdoor flea market, will disabuse you of that notion. There are hundreds of everything, including punched-copper switch plates and tote bags that depict Michelle Obama smiling on a swing. If you need to shake off the kitsch, head to SITE Santa Fe (1606 Paseo De Peralta; 505-989-1199; sitesantafe.org), a contemporary art space where the 2010 biennale, focused on moving image technologies in contemporary art, will run from June 20 to Jan. 2, 2011.

1 p.m.
11) YOUR OWN ADOBE

It’s difficult to spend time in Santa Fe without thinking about buying a home (or second home) here. So check out Zocalo (Avenida Rincon; 505-986-0667; zocalosantafe.com), a striking development by the Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta. He is known for crisp geometry and super-bright colors — a welcome sight in this city of browns and terra cottas. Consider it real estate voyeurism, combined with a crash course in contemporary architecture.

IF YOU GO

Santa Fe has a tiny airport, which offers nonstop service to and from Dallas and Los Angeles on American Eagle. Most visitors fly into the larger Albuquerque airport, about an hour south. A recent Web search found round-trip fares from Kennedy Airport on Delta, from about $260 for travel in June. Sadly, the Rail Runner doesn’t run to the Albuquerque airport.

The Hotel St. Francis (210 Don Gaspar Avenue; 505-983-5700; hotelstfrancis.com), billed as the oldest hotel in Santa Fe, completed a top-to-bottom renovation in 2009, and it looks spectacular. Doubles from $120.

The El Rey Inn (1862 Cerrillos Road, 505-982-1931; elreyinnsantafe.com) is a retro-chic 1930s-style motel, with nicely furnished rooms and beautifully landscaped grounds to go along with the kitschy Native American-themed architecture. Doubles from $99.

Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort & Spa (30 Buffalo Thunder Trail; 505-455-5555, buffalothunderresort.com) is part of a new casino complex, about 15 minutes north of town. Doubles from $159. Hilton also built a less-expensive Homewood Suites nearby (10 Buffalo Thunder Trail; 505-455-9100, with doubles from $109.

Link to Original Article In The New York Times Here

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Festivities are abundant in Santa Fe as well. Throughout today and the rest of the week there are many activities for the environmentally conscious.  Check out the list below for a schedule of eco-cool activities in the City Different.

Today!

9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.: Tree planting at Agua Fria Elementary with The Santa Fe Watershed Association and Earth Care International.

3:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.: La Montanita Co-op is hosting an Expo of local nonprofits and businesses.

6:00 p.m.-8:00p.m.: Join the Green Drinks  group at the Rio Chama Steakhouse for a presentation and book signing by San Francisco eco-entrepreneur Scott Cooney.

6:30 p.m.: The Native Plant Society of New Mexico presents a free talk by Robert Sivinski, New Mexico state botanist on “Southwestern Cienegas — Rare Habitats for Endangered Wetland Plants” at REI in the Railyard.

Friday (23rd)

10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.: Garden celebration and work at the new Hopewell Garden.

6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.: Earth Care International’s Youth Allies present an Art and Social Change Show at Warehouse 21

Saturday (24th)

10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.: Tree planting and service day at The Community Farm and San Isidro Park

10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.: Santa Fe Garden Fair with garden exhibits and discounted plants at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds.

10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.: Water and Energy Expo at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza

Sunday (25th)

10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.: The Water and Energy Expo continues at the Hilton Santa Fe.

Contact Matt Desmond and Ryan Bolton

Sited on over a half acre, this 2168 square foot home built in 1954 has all of the classic features expected in a quality Stamm home. Modern touches can be seen throughout as well, providing contemporary luxuries without sacrificing the original feel of the home.

As you enter through the beautiful stained wood front door you are greated by an entry foyer that leads to either the bedroom wing, the living room, or a laundry room/breezeway that leads to the kitchen. The living area is graced with a large fireplace with a natural wood mantle and a spacious dining space.  This room is perfect for entertaining and enjoying magnificient sunset views over the Jemez Mountains.    

The kitchen has been upgraded with modern amenities and expanded to fit today’s chef’s needs. Off the kitchen is a large family room with vigas, a powder room, and a storage area that accesses the one car garage and studio space.  The studio space would function perfectly for woodworking, an art studio, or a project space.  It could also easily be converted into a seperate bedroom with a private entry.

The bedroom wing offers a master bedroom with a 3/4 bath, and two other bedrooms and a full bath.  This wing is nicely separated from the living spaces of the home, and could be easily expanded if needed.

There are three distinct outdoor patio spaces that are fenced for privacy. One is located on the front side of the house and catches great morning sun. Another is located off the family room and has views of Sun and Moon Mountain. The third off the dining room is surrounded by fruit trees and  has amazing sunset and Jemez Mountain views.

This nicely located home would be a great fit for families seeking the Santa Fe lifestyle, or artists wanting a classic home with studio space.  Price at $575,000, this home is a great buy in Santa Fe.

See below for a video tour of the home.

Link To Full Listing Details Here

If you have questions or comments about this or any other home in Santa Fe, please contact us!

Contact Matt Desmond and Ryan Bolton

Made of all adobe, quality construction is evident throughout this home. As you enter through the front door you are greeted by a kiva fireplace and warm plaster walls.  To the right is a very well equipped kitchen with a large pantry and nice finishes. To the left is the spacious bedroom wing with a full bathroom and ample closet space. Off the bedroom is a private courtyard area, perfect for morning tea/coffee, or an afternoon drink.

What really makes this place special is the location.  Located on classic Alto street, the Plaza is a 5 minute stroll away, the Railyard is just around the corner, and the DeVargas Mall is only a hop, skip and jump away.  This is truly a centrally located condo where many of Santa Fe’s amenities are at your fingertips.

548 Alto Street: Unit B, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Listing Description:

Located in the Guadalupe Historic District, this beautifully remodeled condo is only a couple blocks from the Plaza, Railyard District and Sanbusco Center. An upgraded kitchen, large master bedroom, and private patio area add to the charm of this warm and inviting home. The unit will make a great Santa Fe escape and can also be rented short term. A furniture package is available.

The warm and inviting living room with Kiva fireplace:

Click Here for More Information on 548 Alto Street

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The church, with its twin bell towers, enclosed garden, and colorful interior sits on what many consider to be holy dirt. Many stories of the land’s healing powers have been told over the centuries, staring from the inception of the church’s construction in 1813.  The holy dirt can be bought on-site and can be ordered online and shipped.

Also known as the “Lourdes of America”, the Santuario has served as a place of pilgrimage for many years. At different times thoughout the year, especially during the later part of this week (Good Friday through Easter Sunday), people can be seen all around nothern New Mexico walking on the sides of roads making their way towards the Santuario. The church promotes other pilgrimages thoughout the year, some attracting thousands of visitors.

Until 1929 the Santuario was privately owned when citizens of Santa Fe bought it and turned it over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Now, the church is open to the public and mass is held daily at 11:00 a.m., and on Sundays at 10:30 and 12:00. Father Casimiro Roca, who has been in Northern New Mexico and at the church from many, many years, leads the services.

The church will be holding mass this Easter Sunday at 10:30 and 12:00. However, come early as services are expected to be very busy.

Link the the Santuario de Chimayo website

Contact Matt Desmond and Ryan Bolton

One of the greatest attributes of this home is its location. The South Capital district is a cozy nieghborhood located within walking distance of nearly everything Santa Fe has to offer.  A two minute walk will get you to Kaune’s market, Ohori’s coffee, the State Capital, and the Guadalupe Cafe.  Walk another two minutes and you will be in the historic Santa Fe Plaza and all of the restaurants, galleries, museums, and shops in the vicinity.  The attractions of Canyon road are only a five minute walk from the house, and the Railyard district is only about seven minutes away. If you’re looking for a centrally located house, this is it.

This property also has income potential.  You could live in either house and rent out the other. Or, as an investment property, you could rent both. At a list price of $525,000, this house is a great buy.

For a full video tour of the property, check out the video below.

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1) A new heating system was installed throughout the house. The old in-ceiling radiant heat was ill-conceived and fairly nonfunctional. Therefore, we installed 7 new Myson radiant heaters throughout the home.  This entailed ripping up some flooring, troweling into some of the adobe, and adding a brand new boiler and hot water heater. With three new digital thermostats, the house is now warm and cozy.

2) Additional electrical outlets and cable lines were trowled into the adobe walls and then plastered over.  This brought the house up to date and created a great media room.

3) The bedroom was completely renovated.  A Murphy bed was taken out, and a cove for a real bed was created. The washer and dryer and an armoire were also moved out to create more space.

4) New cabinets were built in the kitchen, and a space was created for the washer and dryer. A concrete countertop was custom made to accommodate the cabinets.

5) The entire interior of the house was painted. The paint certainly needed updating as some of the previous colors really detracted from the homes character.

6) All of the floors were refinished and stained. The same stain was used throughout the house to create continuity between rooms.

7) Little clean up projects happened in nearly every room.  Ceilings and Vigas were oiled, dampers were put on all three fireplaces, and touch ups were performed all over the place.

Check out the video below.

To watch the progress of the entire project, click on any of the links below.  It’s amazing how much has changed in such a short amount of time!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Worried that you will now go through withdrawal from a lack of updates on the house?  Don’t despair, we are planning on continuing posts that follow the furnishing and decorating of the house.  Currently, drapes are being made, a bed is being fabricated, chairs and a sofa are on order, and all of our eyes and ears around Santa Fe are looking for some great vintage pieces to fill the space. Updates may be a bit less frequent, but we’ll keep you in the loop.  Until then, Cheers!

Contact Matt Desmond and Ryan Bolton

The Art of Being Santa Fe
By Henry Shukman

I can’t remember how or why it came to be dawn when I first saw Santa Fe from a bus window. It was my first time in New Mexico, the fulfillment of a long-held dream: to visit the land that had inflamed my imagination when as a teenager I’d read D. H. Lawrence’s paeans to the state.  The desert slowly emerged out of a velvet blackness, became a watery blue, almost the blue of a swimming pool. Then just as we got to the top of the long climb of La Bajada Hill and the Sangre de Cristo mountains sprang into view, the wing of darkness over the earth withdrew, and the true daytime colors began to show, rusty-brown as a cougar’s hide. Ahead, the gaunt lump of the mountains, receiving the first red blush on their faces. At their feet, the mingling of the lights of town with stars of sunlight winking from distant windows.

It’s still one of those approaches, those arrivals, that seems mythical, impossibly grand. The highway reaches away, straight at the mountains, like a long drawbridge into a castle.

Countless people have followed that archetypal ramp into a new life. Santa Fe still holds out a promise of renewal, of exactly what Lawrence was looking for when he came to this area: a place that could change not only one’s external life but also one’s inner, spiritual life. “Touch the country,” he said of New Mexico, “and you will never be the same again.”

What is Santa Fe? A place of healing, since the tuberculosis sufferers started coming over a century ago. A spiritual mini-mecca for a semi-godless age. A sumptuous adobe haven for a few super-rich. A land of hope for thousands of illegal immigrants. A hothouse of talent and IQ, with an extraordinary concentration of Ph.D.’s, and more artists than any American city its size. (According to one report, 39 percent of the city’s economy is generated by the arts and culture.) On and on the list goes. It’s a city of trade and exchange, of markets, built at the crossroads of the old Camino Real and the Santa Fe Trail. Wealthy people fly here from New York to buy their Asian rugs, and opera lovers flock here in summer for the justifiably world-famous open-air productions at the Santa Fe Opera.

But perhaps the greatest draw is still the promise of a spiritual homeland. There are no fewer than four Zen centers, several Tibetan shrines, any number of New Age “institutes,” innumerable churches of all denominations, yoga centers, gurus, teachers, seers, prophets, Sufis, Sikhs, literally thousands of therapists — body, mind, spirit and everything-in-between therapists. This is a city where the wounded come for healing, and seekers come to find.

I’ve been coming to Santa Fe since 1991, and have lived there for the last five years. I’ve developed some predictable preconceptions — there’s the famous tricultural diversity, the celebrated adobe look, and so on. But I still don’t really know it, even though it’s not a big place. A city, like everything on this earth, is constantly changing. Gov. Bill Richardson recently said in an interview that today there’s a new Santa Fe. Many would agree. But how do you measure such a thing? How do you find it?

As Santa Fe celebrates its 400th year of existence, a milestone that will be marked by a year’s worth of events, I decided to let myself be led along a chain of links, and see where it ended up: a kind of treasure hunt, one clue leading to the next. Perhaps as I followed it, I’d even figure out how a British poet like myself ever wound up here.

I FIRST saw the tree a few weeks ago. If I hadn’t been tipped off, I would have driven right past it. It’s no more than 10 feet tall, and you could easily miss the fact that its leaves are made of green plastic bottles cut up to resemble bushy, brilliant foliage, and that its trunk is old tire treads laid out in long, somehow elegant strips. Not only that, it’s in the form of a slender woman, fine and aquiline of feature, standing with her arms outstretched, like a cross between Mother Mary, a supermodel and the crucifix high above Rio.

Three guys happened to be climbing into an old pickup nearby. Did they know anything about what the beautiful recycled tree was doing here, outside a community center in semi-central Santa Fe?

One of the men, with a Stetson and bushy gray mustache, eyed me a second, then said: “Some Brazilian guys from the Institute made it.” He glanced up with a smile. “Sure is pretty what they can do with a tire.”

“The Institute?”

“The Art Institute.”

The day I visited the Santa Fe Art Institute to learn more about the tire tree, a troupe of Native American dancers from around the country, Dancing Earth, had gathered for three weeks of rehearsal. Dressed in elegant evening wear, looking like classical ballerinas at a cocktail party, they were mingling with well-wishers. They use dance to provide a bridge, Rulan Tangen, their leader explained, from the sacred native world of dance to the wider world.

Diane Karp, the Institute’s director, clearly loves the flow of all kinds of creativity that passes through her doors, such doors as there are. The main studios — enormous, beautiful white chambers — flow into one another, creating maximum opportunities for creative exchange. It was she who found two Brazilian street artists and managed to get them here. One of their projects was the tire tree. “Isn’t it great?” Ms. Karp said. “We brought these guys in from São Paulo. They’ve done murals there in the favelas telling the history of the shanties. They were keen to come, so they’re busy working around town, creating graffiti art and recycled art.”

Guerrilla artists? “Pretty much. We don’t want to turn our kids off art, by trying to bring our ideas to them. It works better the other way round.”

A few streets away, there was another art gathering going on this evening. Swing a tortilla in Santa Fe and you’ll hit an artist. (One reason for this is a living-wage ordinance Mayor David Coss introduced when he was on the city council, which helps artists to support themselves with day jobs.)

Meow Wolf is a young art collective — a pack, as they call themselves. At their last show they wheeled an old Volkswagen into their warehouse space and fell on it. In three hours straight they tore the vehicle to pieces, and made a stop-motion video of the process.

Tonight was “Throwdown” night. One of the artists put out boards and art supplies and piles of “recycled art materials” — a k a junk — and invited members of the pack to assemble pieces on the boards any way they liked. The resulting contained chaoses were surprisingly beautiful. A doll sprouts wings made of shards of wood from a broken palette, looking like a winged cherub. A shoe gets wrapped in rope. Lots of paint is used. And insulating foam. And glue. And wire. And all kinds of everything.

A number of people were drifting through, congregating around the one big old cylindrical gas heater in the middle of the main room. “Yeah,” said one of the crew. “We were bombed. We used to have an old wood-burning stove but someone stole it.”

Is Santa Fe a congenial place to do the art they do?

“Totally,” said Quinn Tincher, alpha voice of the pack. “We’re the only place doing this, so people are very supportive. They donate stuff all the time. Just leave it for us in the parking lot. They know we’ll use it.”

Matt King, another member, added: “And if anyone is into our kind of aesthetic, they tend to join us. People are always coming through town. They find us.”

This summer, to coincide with the latest Biennial at SITE Santa Fe (which promises to be a stunning assembly of animated artwork), Meow Wolf has been invited by the Linda Durham Gallery, a pillar of the art scene for 30 years, to recreate their 16-foot Dome, a geodesic frame completely jammed with old household goods — armchairs, tables, TVs, ovens, everything — suspended in a congealed mass.

SOONER or later, everything new becomes old. But wait long enough, and the old becomes new again. Nearly a century ago, the elders of Santa Fe devised a way to attract tourists: their building code, based on the ancient pueblo adobe style. America’s only ancient mud city began to spread into the 20th century.

What has set Santa Fe apart from all other American cities is not that it is old but the foresight of the decision to make it look old. Santa Fe is a kind of hoax, one that has been so successful, economically, architecturally and culturally, that the reality of its success has overwhelmed the pretense of its origins. It doesn’t matter how it came about; it is the adobe gem we see today.

The same foresight that put Santa Fe on the map for “cultural tourism” in the 1920s continues to keep Santa Fe ahead of the game. Rather than letting the city become a worn-out one-trick pony, initiatives of the past few years to transform it have come to fruition.

One architect of these is Governor Richardson. Thanks to statewide tax breaks, Santa Fe now has a thriving movie industry, with a studio being built just outside town and an in-state crew base of thousands. A new $400 million railway, the Rail Runner, connects Santa Fe with Albuquerque. The city has a whole new downtown section, both the new Railyard and the Triangle District, designed with a neo-industrial look a far cry from the traditional adobe. There’s the magnificent New Mexico History Museum, opened last May, a light-filled multilevel edifice that also incorporates the nation’s oldest continually occupied municipal building, the Palace of the Governors.

Santa Fe still has an extraordinary concentration of artists and scientists, many of the latter based at the Santa Fe Institute; what is different today is that the scientists and artists are actually beginning to collaborate, in complexity experiments that are among the most progressive happening anywhere on the planet. And it is quietly fostering its own green revolution.

“Yes, there’s a new Santa Fe,” the governor said when I visited him in his splendid, hushed third-floor office in the round Senate Building (high, for low-rise Santa Fe). “But it’s one founded on our past. Thanks to the Historic Preservation Board, we’ve done a tremendous job of conserving our history. And now we’re moving into new territory. Above all, we’re becoming connected.”

AlfonzViszolay operates from an adobe complex on a frontage road south of Santa Fe. In his gravel yard between two large adobe buildings, a few old trucks stand on blocks amid high-tech-looking machines for pollution control, with elaborate tangles of pipes, shining cylinders, lights, dials and switches. There are sculptures made of scrap iron, and newly planted trees. The impression is like a grand Hispanic ranch crossed with a Mad Max pit stop.

With his bushy white mustache and a mischievous twinkle in the eye, Mr. Viszolay, a native of Hungary, has been something of a green pioneer for four decades. “I was getting aware the environment has to be do something,” he said in his charming, accented Hunglish.

Skip tMr. Viszolay’s current baby is algae. With Paul Laur, he uses wastewater to feed algae, pumping carbon dioxide emissions through them to make them grow faster, then harvesting them for biofuel.

“Look at this,” he said, pulling a tarpaulin aside to reveal a gleaming blue race car in a hangarlike wing of his complex. “It runs on bio-ethanol and alcohol. And it’s fast.” He grinned. “We show them what these fuels can do.”

In this new era of sustainability, Mr. Viszolay says he has found Santa Fe to be an ideal place to operate. “There are so many Ph.D.’s here,” he said. “And people don’t worry about Armani suits. You have to be real. There are some of the most brilliant people in the world right here, but you’d never believe it if you saw them. Dirty clothes, old jeans.”

Over the years he has brought in Navajo dancers to bless his projects — a strange but happy conjunction of science and the old ways. “The Indian nation was always clean and responsible,” Mr. Viszolay said. “They don’t make mess like modern America.” Natives and progressives: just what the new Santa Fe is all about.

On a very cold New Year’s morning, I met up with two young artists from Santa Clara Pueblo outside their favorite hangout, the Aztec Café. The place was closed for the holiday, so we went instead to nearby Café Dominic for Earl Grey tea.

Is Santa Fe good for young artists?

“There’s high art here, international art, and rich people to buy it,” said Rose Bean Simpson, who has a scholarship to Rhode Island School of Design. “It could be frustrating if you’re a young artist with a different aesthetic.”

“But that’s changing,” Eliza Naranjo-Morse broke in. “Native art used to be about making iconic gifts for people to take home, and that still exists. But when our parents were younger, people began creating genuine contemporary art, too.”

A major engine behind that evolution has been the Institute for American Indian Arts, a premier national institution for contemporary native art. As the marker of 400 years of European presence arrives, the institute has opened three buildings on its campus south of town, doubling its size and enrollment.

Tremendous changes are happening in the nearby Indian pueblos, too. Most conspicuously, Pojoaque Pueblo a few miles north of town has opened perhaps the biggest resort in the state, Buffalo Thunder. With a spa, golf course, pools, tennis courts and casinos, the development is crammed full of pueblo art. It’s not only a resort but almost a museum.

The inspiration behind it is Pojoaque Governor George Rivera, a talented artist who trained in California and France, as well as at the institute. He took me for a glide around the pueblo’s little empire in his gleaming white BMW. Many of the developments were not only initiated by Mr. Rivera but even designed by him. For example, the new adobe church with a monolithic red stone campanile and six-arch Romanesque portal.

“You’re an architect, too?” I asked him.

“I’m a designer,” he said. “I’m an artist. And we have our own construction company, so if we don’t like something, we can pull it down and do it again.”

A century ago, with American development going into hyperdrive, it might have seemed impossible that Santa Fe, a little city 10 miles from the railroad, could both grow and preserve its character. Yet it happened. Today that city is “at a cusp moment,” said Zane Fischer, cultural columnist of The Santa Fe Reporter, an alternative weekly. “The preservation has happened, and we all have to be eternally grateful to the folks who made it happen. But now we can also pull together all the incredible resources of this city — the centuries of green thinking, the science, the artists, the writers.”

One place attempting to do just that is the new Santa Fe Complex, near the Railyard, an experimental space devoted to collaboration among the arts, science and technology. All the furniture in the large cement-floored main hall is on wheels. “It’s all about fluidity, flow,” said Ed Angel, the complex’s president. “We bring creative people together, but we’re not here to achieve certain results.”

Like an exercise in complexity science?

“Exactly. We don’t want to know the outcome. We’re here to see what happens, that’s all.”

Clearly, much has happened already.

And as for that oddly dislocated British poet who was drawn here, along with thousands of other Europeans? They say Santa Fe has a will of its own. If the town wants you, it will get you and keep you; if not it will eject you. We’re obviously all just unwitting elements in a complexity experiment, one whose outcome is not the point, which we never even knew we were part of. And it’s only just beginning.

IF YOU GO

Santa Fe became the capital of the New Mexico province in 1610, making it the first state capital in the United States to celebrate its quatercentenary. Whether the arrival of armed invaders who “settled” land that had been inhabited for centuries — and put those who objected to the sword — is something to celebrate or mourn is an open question. (Perhaps New Mexico, with its many pueblos, will one day follow South Dakota in changing Columbus Day to Native American Day.) But somehow the Europeans and Indians have muddled through, and the Royal City of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi has become the beloved adobe wonder that it is.

In addition to various events the city is planning, many new developments have recently been completed. The Rail Runner Express (nmrailrunner.com), which runs from Belen, south of Albuquerque, now arrives at the Santa Fe Depot several times a day. After many years of planning, building and renovation, the Railyard (railyardsantafe.com), with its complex of shops and farmers’ market (open Tuesdays and Saturdays during warm-weather months and Saturdays the rest of the year), opened in September 2008. Thousands of new students within the state are now studying for different areas of the burgeoning film industry. Green businesses are growing.

On the culinary front, in spite of the recession, new restaurants have opened, most notably a proliferation of chocolateries, and a farm-to-table initiative is thriving. The city is small enough, the region fertile enough, to revive a kind of neo-medieval connection between city and countryside.

EVENTS

An anniversary-inspired series sponsored by the city will run through the year, including lectures on local history, art and architecture, screenings of classic movies on summer nights in the city’s parks, a grand dinner at Las Golondrinas Ranch in July and a Gala Ball on New Year’s Eve. (More information is available at santafe400th.com.)

Other events this year:

International Folk Art Market (folkartmarketg), July 9 to 11. A colorful event drawing artists from 52 countries, and, last year, over 24,000 visitors. An outstanding market in a city of markets.

SOFA West (sofaexpo.com/santa-fe), July 8 to 11. The International Exposition of Sculpture Objects and Functional Art fair returns to the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Indian Market (swaia.org), Aug. 21 and 22. An unrivaled market of Indian arts and crafts.

Spanish Market (spanishmarket.org), July 24 and 25. The 59th annual market, featuring work by local Hispanic artists.

WHERE TO EAT

Restaurant Martín, 526 Galisteo Street; (505) 820-0919; restaurantmartinsantafe.com. After cooking at the Eldorado Hotel’s Old House, the chef Martín Rios has opened a place of his own — and a popular one, after only a few months in operation. Highlights of his progressive American cooking include wild mushroom and Nantucket Bay scallop risotto, and prime beef tenderloin with potato-onion tart. The décor is understated and elegant.

Tune Up Café, 1115 Hickox Street; (505) 983-7060; tuneupcafe.com. This informal bistro owned by the Salvadoran chef Jesus Rivera and his American wife has become a staple in the two years it’s been open. Fresh flowers, Christmas lights and eclectic old furniture make for an atmosphere that’s restful and vibrant at once. The flank steak pupusas are delicious, as are the buffalo burgers and Yucatán-style fish tacos.

Jambo Cafe, 2010 Cerrillos Road; (505) 473-1269; jambocafe.net. This new African restaurant from the Kenyan-born chef and owner, Ahmed Obo, is a welcome change, especially when the battered coconut shrimp, the goat stew and the lentil and squash curry with coconut sauce are all so good.

Vinaigrette, 709 Don Cubero Alley; (505) 820-9205; vinaigretteonline.com. This self-proclaimed “environmentally aware salad bistro” offers an imaginative range of greens — though you can also get hot and heart-warming soup and stew. Highlights include the apple-Cheddar chop salad with pork tenderloin, and the Caesar salad with seared diver scallops.

Café Café, 500 Sandoval Street; (505) 466-1391; cafecafesantafe.com. Since opening in September 2007, this trattoria has served excellent appetizers (the “calamartachokes” dip), pizzas and entrees (grilled smoked paprika pork tenderloin with fennel, potato gratin and sweet pepper marmalade).

¡A La Mesa! 428 Agua Fria Street; (505) 988-2836. This bistro (not to be confused with exclamation-free La Mesa) lists its entrees under three categories: Air, Land and Sea. The simplicity ends there. Pork tagine with apricots, steak frites, diver scallops with fennel — everything is well prepared and thoroughly international. It is housed in an old adobe opposite Guadalupe Church, and the décor is chic and romantic.

Café Phenix, 1414 Second Street; (505) 988-7303; cafe-phenix.com. This family-owned operation specializing in crepes and galettes not only has the best breakfast dish in town — galettes with eggs, cheese and roast green chili — but the best coffee.

Kakawa Chocolate House, 1050 East Paseo de Peralta; (505) 982-0388; kakawachocolates.com. Chocoholics can explore the roots of their obsession at this fascinating spot, offering chocolate “elixirs” — thick, syrupy hot chocolate — based on ancient recipes: pre-Columbian Mayan and Aztec; 17th-century French and Italian.

Tree House, 1600 Lena Street, (505) 474-5543, treehousepastry.com. Recently moved from a location in a plant nursery, this is a great place with a spacious, modern interior for an imaginative brunch or lunch, and excellent pastries.

MUSEUMS

New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Avenue; (505) 476-5200; nmhistorymuseum.org. The seven-month-old History Museum, which opened last May just off the Plaza, is not only stunning, but even makes local history interesting: overhead displays of hundreds of arrows, period payphones on which you can hear scientists reminisce about Los Alamos, and a section on Billy the Kid, including his fancy spurs. Don’t miss the Great Seal of the State made in 1912 of spoons, keys and forks from a hardware store.

Santa Fe Art Institute, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive; (505) 424-5050; sfai.org. One of the most striking modern buildings in Santa Fe, the Art Institute hosts a busy roster of readings, events and exhibitions year-round, bringing together artists from all over the world.

SITE Santa Fe, 1606 Paseo de Peralta; (505) 989-1199; sitesantafe.org. This contemporary art nonprofit will host “The Dissolve,” its eighth biennial, curated by Sarah Lewis and Daniel Belasco, featuring an unprecedented assemblage of animation by leading artists. Open June 20 to Jan. 2, 2011.

Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, 108 Cathedral Place; (505) 983-8900; iaia.edu.

Link To Original Article In The New York Times Here

Contact Matt Desmond and Ryan Bolton