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

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

Max’s opened in late 2007 and has been building a solid reputation in Santa Fe and beyond ever since. The owner, Max (Maxine), and chef, Brian Rood have created a menu that specializes in sustainable and locally farmed meats and produce. The atmosphere is cozy, sophisticated, yet casual, and certainly has an intimate feel.

A sample of menu items include:

Starters:

• Caramelized Onion and Red Potato Soup with Crouton 
• Hong Kong Style Shrimp with Saifun Noodles in Spicy Chile-Leek Ragout with Fried
• Shallot and Broccoli Florets
• Certified Organic, Grass Fed River Canyon Ranch Beef
• Grilled Sirloin Salad with Crouton and Charred Red Onion and Lime Vinaigrette
•  Homemade Duck Confit and Field Green Salad with Herbed Crouton, Roasted Shallot and Red Wine Vinaigrette
• Field Green Salad with Homemade Applewood Smoked Bacon, Local Farm Eggand Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette

Mains:

• “Cassoulet”; Homemade Duck Confit, Slow Braised Pork Shoulder, Homemade Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, White Beans, Roasted Mirepoix and Parmesan Bread Crumbs
• Certified Organic, Grass Fed River Canyon Ranch Beef; Dry Aged Sirloin Coulotte with Heirloom Baby Carrots, Marinated Grilled Rapini, Fried Shallot and Veal Pan Sauce
• Pan-Seared Red Grouper with Red Potatoes, Braised Kale, Pickled Red Onion, Carrot Leafand Toasted Coriander-Lime Vinaigrette
• Certified Organic, Grass Fed Shepherd’s Lamb; Grilled Lamb Chop and Leg with Grilled Rapini, Roasted Oyster Mushroom Sweet Onion-Potato Confit, Fresh Herbs and Cider Gastrique
• Roasted Green Chile Shrimp and Grits with Homemade Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Roasted Garlic and Mirepoix
• Vegetarian Homemade Semolina Pappardelle Pasta with Seasonal Vegetables in White Wine Cream Sauce 

When dining there last night I had the spectacular lamb dish, and my dining partner, Jerry, had the sea scallops (not listed on the menu above). The lamb was perfectly prepared, and the accompaniments were a perfect compliment to this rich dish.  The scallops, a somewhat lighter dish, were very fresh, and melted in your mouth. We both started with the field green salad, and, of course, had a nice bottle of Pinot Noir.

From the atmosphere to the food, everything at Max’s was fantastic.  I would highly recommend this restaurant to locals and visitors alike. They are open 7 nights a week from 5:30 to 9:00, and reservations are recommended, especially on weekends.  For more information on Max’s, click on the link below.

Max’s Restaurant

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

Santa Fe New Mexican Article:

Culinary crescendo: Restaurant Week to debut in Santa FeEvent featuring lower-priced meals, cooking demonstrations and workshops puts spotlight on food industry

Arin McKenna | For The New Mexican

It’s no secret that Santa Fe’s restaurants have been looking for ways to boost business in the late winter months.

In fact, last September they agreed to work toward holding a winter fiesta in 2011. But that was before Michele Ostrove, president of Wings Media Network, a public-relations and marketing firm, and her husband, Lucien Bonnafoux, stepped in and advanced the timetable.

A month after the meeting, the couple pitched the idea of New Mexico Restaurant Week to local restaurateurs, hoteliers and representatives from key tourism agencies.

“We had been talking about a winter/spring event that would feature the restaurants of Santa Fe and promote them at a time when typically it’s not very busy,” said Jeff Jinnett, president of the Santa Fe Restaurant Association.

The idea took off. Next week, about 40 restaurants in Santa Fe — and the week after, some 20 in the Albuquerque area — will be offering lower-priced meals to diners, as well as cooking demonstrations, workshops and wine and beer tastings.

In Santa Fe, the event lasts from Sunday through March 6 locally and from March 7-13 in Albuquerque.

Ostrove and Bonnafoux, co-founders of Wine Adventure, a wine magazine for women, moved to Santa Fe in 2008 from San Diego, where they said Restaurant Week was so successful that it’s now a twice-a-year event. “They started with 60 restaurants and they’re now up to 180 to 220, depending on the season,” Ostrove said. “It just seemed like it was a natural to bring to New Mexico.”

The key players agreed. “I thought it was a hot idea,” said Restaurant Association Secretary Michael O’Reilly. Officials at the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, whose goal is to promote Santa Fe as a culinary destination, also signed on.

The boards of both organizations promoted the event to members and agreed to subsidize them. Participating restaurants pay $500 to cover the cost of organizing and marketing the event. The fiesta offered to pay $250 of that cost for all its 2009 participants. And the Restaurant Association contributed $50 toward the entrance fees of its members.

“My hope is that events like this will get the restaurant community more united,” Jinnett said. “There are 200-plus restaurants in Santa Fe, and together we have a very powerful voice, but it’s been difficult to organize. I think the more of these types of events that we can do to get the restaurateurs to unite for a common cause is good for any type of organization.”

Simon Brackley, president and CEO of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, which is distributing information about the event to members and visitors, called Restaurant Week “a good example of a collaborative effort to create something new in challenging economic times.”

Although there are fewer participating restaurants in Albuquerque, that city is also trying to build culinary tourism, according to Tania Armenta, vice president of marketing for the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We hosted our first culinary press trip in November and had journalists come out specifically to cover the area from the culinary aspect, and we talked about Restaurant Week,” she said.

Gov. Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Tourism Department also are backing the event. “Offering something new and fresh and bringing people during a time when they typically aren’t coming in droves” is important to the state’s economy, said Jennifer Hobson, deputy secretary for the New Mexico Tourism Department. Tourism, she pointed out, is a $5.5 billion business in the state, second to oil and gas.

The Tourism Department is supporting Restaurant Week through a link on its Web site, www.newmexico.org, which gets about 150,000 hits per month. (Hobson is blogging about the event there as well.)

Launching a new event when the economy is depressed might seem risky, but Michel Darmon, director of food and beverage for Terra at Encantado, said, “I think that when we look back at it in the next few years we’ll go, ‘Wow, this is one of the great decisions of Santa Fe.’ ”

Although many anticipate limited success the first year, they expect to see the event’s popularity grow rapidly. “If it works as well as we believe it will, I think everybody will want to be in on the next one,” Ostrove said. “And I’m really grateful for the people who did take the leap of faith this time and come aboard.”

“I’m hoping that when the dust settles at the end of the week, the overall feedback from the restaurants is, ‘I’m really glad that I participated. It was fun, the staff enjoyed it, we had a lot of people who had not been to our restaurant before that are now exposed to it and we can’t wait for next year,’ ” Jinnett said. “And my hope is that the restaurants that didn’t participate because they were skeptical go, ‘Wow, we really missed out, and we’re not going to miss out next time.’ ”

Bonnafoux said the next Restaurant Week could be as early as November. “I like to let the train get going down the tracks before we pull the switch,” he said. “We want to get the statistics first, but we believe this one will be so successful that it will warrant another in early November.”

Link To Original Article Here

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

The business is owned by partners Dennis Dampf and Don Scharhag, who have owned the restaurant for the last 27 years. “This has lasted longer than any of my marriages,” Dampf said Wednesday evening. “Don and I like to say we’ve only raised our voices to each other twice in 27 years.

“When asked about the reasons for the closure, Dampf declined to disclose them, other than to say it was partly due to difficult times in the restaurant business, which have seen fewer people eating out and more eating at home. “Business has been slow,” Dampf said. “That’s one reason for it.” Scharhag couldn’t be reached for comment.

A statement Dampf e-mailed to The New Mexican said in part, “owners Don Scharhag and Dennis Dampf are announcing the end of an era … many thanks to our loyal customers and wonderful staff. Don and Dennis hope to see as many folks as we can until the Jan. 24 closing. “Again a sincere thanks goes out to everyone for supporting us these past 27 years.”

El Nido restaurant and bar has enjoyed a long and colorful history, starting out in the 1920s as a roadhouse and dance hall known for its jukebox and lively tunes. “We heard it was a house of ill repute,” Dampf said.

The restaurant changed ownership many times over the years. It was owned from 1962 to 1976 by the politically prominent Arias family. Steve Arias couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

The murals famed artist Will Schuster painted at El Nido eventually ended up at the state Capitol building, Dampf said.

Santa Fe author Pen La Farge mentions El Nido several times in his book about Santa Fe, Turn Left at the Sleeping Dog, focusing on the restaurant’s colorful history in the 1930s and 1940s. “There weren’t many places in Santa Fe to go for entertainment, either bars or restaurants or dance halls,” La Farge said in a 2002 interview. “The two main ones were La Fonda and, going out of town, El Nido.” El Nido, La Farge continued, “as I understand it, based on implications from the way people speak about it, started off as a dance hall and went through various incarnations, including as a restaurant and as a brothel.”

El Nido became a popular spot for celebrities, including Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Randy Travis. Locals gathered there for birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations. Scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory tended to gather there, a tradition that started during World War II, when, rumor had it, more secrets were whispered on the dance floor at El Nido than spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg could have imagined.

El Nido was also popular with opera-goers because of the restaurant’s proximity to the Santa Fe Opera. “We’re well-known for getting people to the opera on time,” Scharhag said in a 2002 interview.

Flamenco dancer María Benítez began performing at El Nido in 1970.

Scharhag and Dampf moved to Santa Fe from New York in the 1970s, and both ended up working at The Steaksmith when it was at the former DeVargas Hotel, now the Hotel St. Francis. “At that time, The Steaksmith was the busiest restaurant in all of Northern New Mexico,” Dampf said. “The opportunity came along to take over El Nido, and we went for it.” Starting in December 1981, they spent several months remodeling the 7,000-square-foot building but not making too many changes to the adobe structure, which was apparently built in the ’20s or ’30s with additions over the years. “We wanted to keep the character of the building,” Scharhag said. “We did add some partition walls and retiled some of the floor and added the back bar.”

El Nido had been serving Northern New Mexican food, but the partners changed that, switching to steak and seafood. To this day, other than appetizers, they have only one New Mexican dish on their menu, a green-chile enchilada. “We were the first restaurant in Santa Fe to dabble with expensive fish, like sole, halibut and salmon,” Scharhag said. “We realized we were dealing with a diet-conscious community, and fish was a big part of that.”

The menu has remained pretty much the same over the years. “It’s a good, solid menu with quality food,” Scharhag said. “We’ve never tried to be trendy. Compared to a lot of other restaurants, I think we really give good value.”

Another big part of El Nido is its service, which Dampf and Scharhag oversaw themselves — at least one of them was on hand the six days per week the restaurant is open. And they weren’t just sitting at the bar schmoozing with customers — they took orders, cleared tables and even washed dishes.

Bob Quick | The New Mexican

ARTICLE: 

“Snowboarding,” one veteran skier told me on our ride up the lift, “is like riding a bicycle on the highway; I can see why it’s fun, but I’d rather you didn’t.”

Seventeen years after throwing aside my skis for what many considered a fad, the traditionalists who wish I’d go back are fewer and farther between, but, apparently, still exist and aren’t afraid to be vocal.

Fortunately, the slopes at Ski Santa Fe are friendly to downhill skiers, telemarkers and snowboarders alike. And though these sports spawn a sense of individuality, they also result in a strong sense of community.

Nowhere on the mountain are the inhabitants of these varied subcultures able to mix so well as Totemoff’s Bar and Grill, a 50-something-year-old cabin located just above the bunny hill.

Named for Pete Totemoff — an Alaska native who came to New Mexico in the 1940s to fight tuberculosis and who spent the next 50 years helping to develop ski areas and fight forest fires throughout the Southwest — Totemoff’s is a cozy little spot that offers the perfect respite from a morning of eating snow and allows skiers and snowboarders to bond while they warm up with nachos, tamales or a piping hot beverage. From Friday through Sunday the grill expands its weekday menu of appetizers to include burgers (of the meat and veggie variety), fajitas and chicken sandwiches.

It’s the drinks though, that make Totemoff’s the place to kick a bit of snow off the old boots, loosen those bindings and take in the scenery. The “Totemoff’s Special,” a concoction of hot chocolate, Copa de Oro coffee liqueur and Wild Turkey, not only takes the edge off but, consumed at nearly 11,000 feet, makes it a bit easier to catch an edge on the way back down the mountain, unless, of course, you’re Wild Turkey’s most famous advocate Hunter S Thompson, who probably could have downed a dozen and glided down the hill with ease.

As I lack even a BA in Gonzo, my Wild Turkey adventure seemed like a good excuse to pair the drink with a deliciously spicy bowl of green-chile stew (personally, I prefer pork, but the chicken Totemoff’s uses is tender and flavorful) to ensure a safe run — for myself and my fellow outdoor athletes — down the rest of the mountain.

Since getting grub from the supermarket to the house on a snowy Santa Fe day can be an adventure in driving, getting it halfway up a mountain seems like an impossible task. Totemoff’s manager Christian Fallard, who began as a bar-back at the grill more than 30 years ago, says getting food up the mountain is “a big challenge because we must move everything very quickly.”

To get the food to Totemoff’s, where everything is prepared in the on-site kitchen, snow cats and trailers are employed and “when we don’t have too much snow, we use trucks,” Fallard said.

OK, that sounds doable, but what about beasts, I had to wonder. It seems like a restaurant on the middle of a mountain, surrounded by woods would be a prime target for a few greedy, fuzzy creatures looking for a snack and a bit of warmth. “Animals don’t come around when there are people,” Fallard assured me, which makes sense. Not only are Totemoff’s patrons a boisterous bunch, they’re also armed with pointy sticks and clompy boots, just the kind of thing to scare off the most devilish woodland critter.

Working at Totemoff’s seems like a pretty sweet gig and Fallard — who came to the United States from France in the ’80s — is about the friendliest bartender in Santa Fe. He welcomes old faces to the bar with an enthusiastic “hello” and is joyously greeted right back.

“I love when people remember me over the years,” he said.

And how could anyone not remember the man who makes every customer feel like an old friend with his gregarious smile and stiff drinks. In fact, were it not for the cover charge (lift tickets range from $30 for the beginner lift to $60 for a day pass) Totemoff’s would be one of the most reasonably priced, most homey bars in the area. The drinks are inexpensive ($6-$7), beers are local favorites from the Santa Fe Brewing Company and the food is satisfying and fresh.

Maybe part of Fallard’s joyful disposition is his need to live vicariously through his customers, as he doesn’t get much of a chance to ski himself these days.

“I’m pretty busy working,” he said. “I like to go when there is a lot of powder, but it’s hard when there’s that much snow because it’s harder to get everything up here and to open on time.”

Come powder or not, Christmas Day at Totemoff’s will be busy but, according to Fallard, “pretty low-key because it’s a family holiday, and we can only serve beer and wine on Christmas.”

Things will start to heat up again after New Year’s with the Beats on the Basin concert. Every other Saturday (beginning Jan. 9 with Albuquerque Americana band The Porter Draw) in January and February, a different live act fills the patio at Totemoff’s with live music, giving skiers and snowboarders another excuse to escape town and hit the slopes. I remember a DJ set at Totemoff’s a few years ago that was so hoppin’ people peeled off layers of snow gear as they danced and the runs were virtually empty!

While the bottom of the mountain features La Casa Café Grill, a restaurant with a slightly fuller menu, Fallard is dead on when he says, Totemoff’s is “more like a little family because all the locals love to come to the bar. There’s great food down below, but people won’t hang out down there.”

That doesn’t mean nonlocals aren’t welcome though. In fact, that’s what makes locals so fond of Totemoff’s, everyone — skier, snowboarder, native Santa Fean, import or tourist — mixes and mingles over their love of winter and the need for a little warmth.

By: Patricia Sauthoff

The New Mexican

“The big news is that, undaunted by tough times, our readers are still out there, discovering the coolest experiences and reaffirming an enduring passion for travel,” said Conde Nast Traveler Editor in Chief Klara Glowczewska. “It’s clear that our readers are as devoted to the worldwide diversity of travel as ever.”

The full list of winners is on cntraveler.com at: cntraveler.com/readerschoice

The results of the 2009 Readers Choice Awards reveal some surprising news:
–  The friendliest U.S. cities are Charleston, Savannah, and Honolulu, while the least friendly, by an uncomfortable margin is New York (54/100–ouch)
–  Ubud, Bali, is the friendliest town of all
–  Santa Fe, New Mexico, bumped New York City out of the #3 spot for best
U.S. city to visit. San Francisco remained #1 and New York City slid to #4.
–  San Francisco takes the Best U.S. Cities category for a whopping 17th year in a row, a feat never before accomplished by any destination or property.  One reason: its worldwide high restaurant score.
–  Ubud dethrones Bangkok as the Best Asian City. Bangkok held the top spot since the category debuted in 2004.
–  Newcomer Virgin America was once again named the Best Domestic Airline, for the second year in a row, with JetBlue Airways at #2.
–  Singapore Airlines is again the #1 International Route Airline, and has led this category for 21 of the past 22 years. (Only Swissair, in 1994, has taken the top spot from Singapore Airlines.)
–  The growing number of mega-ship cruise lines merit their own category for the first time, led by Celebrity.
–  With so many superb hotels with fewer than 50 rooms, this year’s survey has three new categories: Small Hotels in Europe, Small Hotels in the United States, and Small Resorts in the United States with the Kenwood Inn and Spa taking first place.
–  Fully one-third of the hotels and resorts on our Top 100 list began their journey on our Hot List of the world’s best new properties, published each May, confirming that Conde Nast Traveler readers are ahead of the curve and connoisseurs of the cutting edge.

Below are results for the top three winners in each category.

Top Cities United States
1. San Francisco
2. Charleston, SC
3. Santa Fe

Top Cities Europe
1. Florence
2. Rome
3. Venice

Top Cities Asia
1. Ubud, Bali
2. Bangkok
3. Hong Kong

Top Cities Africa/Middle East
1. Cape Town
2. Jerusalem
3. Beirut

Top Cities The Americas
1. Vancouver
2. Buenos Aires
3. Quebec City

Top Cities Australia/Pacific
1. Sydney
2. Melbourne
3. Queenstown

Top Islands Caribbean/Atlantic
1. Bermuda
2. St. John
3. St. Barts

Top Islands Pacific

1. Maui
2. Kauai
3. Bora Bora

Top Islands Asia/Indian Ocean
1. Maldives
2. Bali
3. Phuket

Top Islands North America
1. Kiawah, SC
2. Vancouver Island
3. Nantucket, MA

Top Islands Europe
1. Mykonos and the Cyclades
2. Bozcaada and the Turkish Aegean Islands
3. Capri

Top Resorts Asia
1. Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Chiang Rai
2. Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan
3. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan

Top Resorts Mexico
1. One & Only Palmilla, Los Cabos
2. The Tides, Riviera Maya
3. The Tides, Zihuatanejo

Top Resorts Africa
1. Mombo and Little Mombo Camps, Botswana
2. Sandibe Safari Lodge, Botswana
3. Safari Lodges at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Top Resorts Europe
1. Hotel du Palais, Biarritz
2. Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo
3. Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co. Limerick

Top Resorts Hawaii
1. Four Season Resort Maui at Wailea
2. Four Season Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu, Big Island
3. Four Seasons Resort Lana’i, The Lodge at Koele

Top Resorts Atlantic Ocean
1. The Reefs, Bermuda
2. One & Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas
3. Grace Bay Club, Turks and Caicos

Top Resorts Middle East
1. Burj Al Arab, Dubai
2. Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
3. One & Only Royal Mirage, Dubai

Top Resorts Oceana
1. Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa
2. Huka Lodge, Taupo, New Zealand
3. La Taha’a Island Resort & Spa, French Polynesia

Top Resorts Mainland U.S.
1. Sanctuary at Kiawah Island
2. Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach
3. Montage Laguna Beach

Top Small Resorts Mainland U.S.
1. Kenwood Inn and Spa, Sonoma
2. Casa Palermo, Pebble Beach
3. Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin

Top Resorts Canada
1. King Pacific Lodge, Princess Royal Island
2. Emerald Lake Lodge, Alberta
3. Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, Vancouver Island

Top Resorts Caribbean
1. Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
2. Curtain Bluff, Antigua
3. Nisbet Plantation Beach Club, Nevis

Top Resorts Central/South America
1. Four Seasons Resort Carmelo, Uruguay
2. Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo
3. Hotel Salto Chico, Explora en Patagonia, Chile

Top Cruise Lines Mega-Ship
1. Celebrity
2. Disney
3. Cunard

Top Cruise Lines Large Ships
1. Crystal
2. Regent Seven Seas
3. Cunard

Top Cruise Lines Small Ships
1. Sea Cloud
2. Yachts of Seabourn
3. Regent Seven Seas

Top Airlines Global
1. Singapore Airlines
2. Emirates
3. Tie: Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific

Top Airlines North America
1. Virgin America
2. JetBlue Airways
3. Midwest Airlines

Top Car Rental Agencies
1. Hertz
2. Enterprise
3. Avis

Top Hotels Southern Europe
1. Il San Pietro di Positano, Positano, Italy
2. Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole, Tuscany
3. Four Season George V, Paris

Top Hotels Northern Europe
1. Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Dresden
2. Four Seasons Gresham Palace, Budapest
3. Ritz-Carlton, Berlin

Top Small Hotels Europe
1. La Scalinatella, Capri
2. La Colombe d’Or, St-Paul de Vence
3. Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli, Lake Garda

Top Hotels Central America
1. Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Osa Peninsuala, Costa Rica
2. Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua
3. Villas Caletas, Costa Rica

Top Hotels Oceana
1. Blankey Bay, South Island, New Zealand
2. Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart
3. Park Hyatt, Sydney

Top Hotels British Isles
1. Chewton Glen, Hampshire
2. Milestone Hotel, London
3. The Goring, London

Top Hotels Caribbean/Atlantic
1. Peninsula House, Samana, Dominican Republic
2. The Caves, Jamaica
3. Hotel Le Toiny, St. Barts

Top Hotels Asia
1. Oberoi Udaivilas, Rajasthan
2. Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo
3. The Peninsula, Hong Kong

Top Hotels Africa
1. The Saxon, Johannesburg
2. Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town
3. Cape Grace, Cape Town

Top Hotels Canada
1. Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City
2. Fairmont Vancouver Airport
3. Hotel Le Germain-Dominion, Quebec City

Top Hotels Mexico
1. Casa Natalia, San Jose del Cabo
2. Las Mananitas, Cuernavaca
3. JW Marriott Hotel, Mexico City

Top Hotels United States
1. 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville
2. The Peninsula, Chicago
3. Mandarin Oriental, Boston

Top Small Hotels United States
1. Blantyre, Lenox, Mass.
2. The Swag, Great Smoky, Mountains, N.C.
3. Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge, Gold Beach, Oregon

Top Hotels South America
1. Hotel Monasterio, Cuzco
2. Four Seasons Hotel, Buenos Aires
3. Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires

Top Hotels Middle East
1. Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai
2. David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem
3. Park Hyatt Dubai

The Readers Choice Awards gala was held on Thursday, October 15th in New York City at the IAC Building and was hosted by Stanley Tucci and Mary Louise Parker. Select photos and video from the event are available upon request.

Methodology
Every year since 1988, a select sample of Conde Nast Traveler readers have taken the Readers’ Choice Survey.  In 2009, the questionnaire was available to all readers through a secure Web site.  The final tabulations of 25,008 responses were done by Mediamark Research, Inc., of New York City.  Poll categories (Cities, Hotels, etc.), and the criteria for each appear at the bottom of the first page in every category.  Questionnaires contained lists of candidates (individual cities, hotels, etc.), and write-ins were allowed. Only candidates that
received a required minimum number of responses were deemed eligible for an award.  Each candidate was rated, by various criterion, on a five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair, poor.  Criterion scores, which represent the percentage of respondents rating a candidate excellent or very good, were averaged to determine the final score – e.g., in the category of Islands, Maui’s 90.1 is the average of its scores for Activities, Atmosphere/Ambience, Beaches, Friendliness, Lodging, Restaurants, and Scenery.

SOURCE  Conde Nast Traveler

Sarina Sanandaji, +1-212-286-6898, sarina_sanandaji@condenast.com, or Megan
Montenaro, +1-212-286-4935, megan_montenaro@condenast.com

Second Street Brewery, a fixture on the southwest side of Santa Fe since 1996, is planning an off-site expansion in the Farmers Market Building in the Santa Fe Railyard that will open before the end of the year.

“Once we’re set up, it will give us another place to sell our beer,” said Rod Tweet, president and brewmaster of the brewery since the business started. “Things are well under way down there — we started in September. It was great to be able to get into Farmers Market.”

Tweet said he started thinking about a new location four years ago. “It took a while — I was looking at different locations in the Railyard.”

Tweet said he’s pleased the new site is near railroad tracks, which also run right behind the original operation on Second Street.

The new restaurant, to be called Second Street Brewery at the Railyard, will include a restaurant that will serve food much like that of the original, Tweet said. “We will feature a lot of salads using ingredients from Farmers Market as much as possible.”

Second Street chef Tim Lopez
will be going to the new site to supervise the restaurant. About 20 new employees will be hired to work full and part time.

The restaurant will sell beer, all of it brewed at the brewery on Second Street, Tweet said. Second Street has brewed 30 to 40 kinds of beer over the years, but typically has about eight kinds available at any one time.

India Pale Ale is the best seller and has been for years, but “everything sells well,” Tweet said..

The new restaurant will seat 90 inside and another 50 or 60 on the patio. “It’s not quite as big as the original brewery, but it’s not tiny, either,” Tweet said.

Tweet declined to say how much the new addition cost, but he did say funding came from a small-business loan from Los Alamos National Bank and from a loan made by one of the brewery’s shareholders.
Second Street has been slow — and careful — in its expansions over the years. After the original brew pub opened in late 1996, the first addition to the bar was a patio, which opened in 1998. Then came a brewery and tap room, which opened in 2003.

“The new brewery increases the brewery’s capacity from 900 barrels of beer per year on a five-barrel system to 1,200 barrels on a ten-barrel system,” said a newsrelease from Tweet’s publicist, Jennifer Padilla.

The most recent addition was in 2006 and included an expanded bar and new tables with 20 additional seats.

Tweet said the brew-pub business is a strong one in the U.S., with more than 1,600 brew pubs in operation. “Our market share keeps growing,” he said.

One factor affecting the cost of beer has been the rise in the price of hops, which are added to beer to give it a bitter taste. Most hops are grown in the states of Washington and Oregon as well as in Germany and England, Tweet said, and recent crop failures in all those places caused supply shortages.

To deal with the problem, Tweet turned to the spot market, where hops were available but only at a high price and in cash.

That shortage drove up the price of beer some, Tweet said, but not enough to hurt the brewery.

“Our business is holding well,” he said. “We’re not busier that we were last year, but we’re about the same. And last year was a very good year.”

 By: Bob Quick | The New Mexican
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009

For a long time, smart, talented individuals who could live anywhere have chosen to live in and around a town that appears to have been made in some ancient clay pottery class. The uniqueness of the area, which drew Georgia O’Keeffe and other visionaries in the 1920s, is as evident today as it was then. What can you find there that you can’t find anywhere else? Plenty.

The Galleries

The city is the second biggest art market in the United States, after New York, says Craig Liebelt, director of the Santa Fe gallery Anderson Contemporary Art. Some credit for that goes to art patrons Anne and John Marion, who were major forces in founding the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and the celebrated Site Santa Fe exhibition. Since Site’s inception, ten years ago, the West’s sole art biennial has attracted important artists, devotees and dealers from around the world and has expanded the city’s cultural horizons beyond Southwestern painting and Native American textiles.

Today Santa Fe boasts more than 200 galleries, “more per capita than anywhere else in the country,” as New Mexico governor Bill Richardson points out. Whether you’re after contemporary art, a Remington or a Navajo rug, don’t miss these galleries.

James Kelly Contemporary specializes in provocative, chiefly nonrepresentational works by established European and American artists, such as paintings and prints by Ed Ruscha and minimalist works by the late Agnes Martin, of nearby Galisteo. 616 1/2 Canyon Rd., in Canyon Alley; 505-989-1601.

Linda Durham Contemporary Art, nearby, is another top spot for living artists, including New York painter (and Santa Fe native) Robert Kelly. Locals consider Durham a treasure for her enthusiasm — the kind one associates more with a collector than with a dealer. 1101 Paseo de Paralta; 505-466-6600.

Nedra Matteucci Galleries has jewelry by Spratling and Buccellati, bronzes by Frederic Remington, works by O’Keeffe and John Marin, and a sculpture garden. 1075 Paseo de Paralta; 505-982-4631. Matteucci’s Morning Star Gallery displays museum-quality Native American textiles and artifacts. 513 Canyon Rd.; 505-982-8187.

Gerald Peters, with outposts in Dallas and New York, is a significant source for works by Carol Anthony and other local contemporary artists, as well as for past and present masters of the American West and Southwest, including O’Keeffe. 1011 Paseo de Paralta; 505-954-5700.

One floor above the kitsch on Santa Fe Plaza, the city’s center of gravity, is Owings-Dewey Fine Art. Here I found woodcuts by Gustave Baumann and a Diego Rivera lithograph of a nude Frida Kahlo. Owners Nat Owings and Ray Dewey are low-key but highly reputable dealers in American art, particularly that of the Santa Fe Art Colony and the Taos Founders. 76 E. San Francisco St.; 505-982-6244.

Price-Dewey Galleries, devoted mainly to Native American textiles, artifacts and jewelry and Spanish colonial art, is across the plaza. In the two years since she bought the business from Ray Dewey, who had owned it for twenty-eight years, Victoria Price has brought new attention to the beauty and relevance of Native American work. “It’s not ethnographic material. It’s art, and it’s 20th-century modern art,” she says. Her interest began during childhood visits to New Mexican reservations with her father, the actor (and serious art collector) Vincent Price, whom President Eisenhower had appointed to the Department of the Interior’s Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Victoria grew up in a house where a chief’s blanket coexisted comfortably with a Diebenkorn. My favorites among the pieces in her gallery: a sweet-looking kachina doll and a black leather belt by Jan Loco, a Warm Springs Apache whose work has been purchased by Bruce Springsteen and Jane Fonda. 53 Old Santa Fe Trail; 505-982-8632.

Collectors will want to visit the Monroe Gallery of Photography (112 Don Gaspar; 505-992-0800) for prints by such masters as Margaret Bourke-White and Alfred Eisenstaedt. The Andrew Smith Gallery, Inc. (203 W. San Francisco St.; 505-984-1234) sells haunting landscapes by Ansel Adams.

Wearable Art

Ortega’s on the Plaza is tops for turquoise. What caught my attention: Oaxaca native Federico Jimenez’s huge dangling earrings shaped like flowers, massive silver cuffs studded with rows of tiny turquoise squares and a traffic-stopping sterling silver belt of antique turquoise flowers the size of hockey pucks. 101 W. San Francisco St.; 505-988-1866; 800-874-9297.

For the ultimate in cowgirl chic, head east to Nathalie, where former French Vogue editor Nathalie Kent’s romance with the West is interpreted in coral cowboy hats, hand-fringed deerskin miniskirts, chocolate suede gaucho pants that fit like a glove and cowboy boots with silver stars. 503 Canyon Rd.; 505-982-1021.

You’ll need a car or cab to reach the Ann Lawrence Collection; when you leave, you may need a U-Haul. New Yorker Ann Lawrence’s keen eye and exquisite taste reign in the vast loftlike shop, where she sells eye-popping accents for the home and the human figure. These include 1890s Portuguese majolica in the Palissy style; pillows and bedspreads made from mirrored or beaded tribal textiles from India and Afghanistan; and her specialty, handmade skirts, jackets and dresses that she reconfigures out of heirloom lace and embroidered fabrics she has collected for twenty years. Black lace from the ’40s looks young and new when fashioned into a flouncy miniskirt worn low on the hips. What Lawrence doesn’t make, she finds: gold-filigree drop earrings crafted in Mexico in the ’20s; a gold and turquoise Buddhist locket from Nepal; the softest pashmina shawls, made by Anna Trzebinski in Nairobi, with ostrich feathers sewn on by Masai women. 805 Early St.; 505-982-1755.

Someone says you’re “all hat and no cattle”? Well, it’s not a slight if your hat is a superfino from Montecristi Custom Hat Works. The consensus — among everyone from celebrities to working cowboys willing to give up two months’ wages for one — is that while owner Milton Johnson’s beaver-blend custom hats are beauties (and, according to Johnson, the shop’s best value, at $450 to $5,000), his handwoven superfino Panamas, priced at $3,000 to $20,000, live up to their legend. They’re made from paja toquilla, the silky, transparent fibers of Ecuadoran palm shoots; before the final product is manually creased, shaped and ironed to order on-site, it has passed through more than a hundred pairs of hands. One-of-a-kind hatbands range from simple braided leather strips to elaborate gold conchas, or disks, set with precious stones. 322 McKenzie St.; 505-983-9598.

The best belts are at James Reid, Ltd. Straps in variously colored French calf, teju lizard and ostrich can be paired with magnificently crafted buckles of silver and gold. A Reid belt can take you from trail to Tramps in London. 114 E. Palace Ave.; 800-545-2056.

Edible Art

While studying fashion design in Paris, New Orleans native Hayward Simoneaux began collecting antique chocolate molds. His tiny candy store, Todos Santos, is crammed with his signature shop-made dark chocolate milagros, covered in edible silver or twenty-three-karat gold leaf; palets d’ors, disks of dark chocolate flecked with gold; and tiny gingerbread-flavored chocolates and rose-scented marzipan from Vienna. Rumor has it that Tom Ford had a box filled with Simoneaux’s chocolate Kama-sutra figures placed on Stella McCartney’s pillow on her wedding night. 125 E. Palace Ave.; 505-982-3855.

Where to Stay

The Inn of the Five Graces gets my vote as one of the most charming hotels anywhere. Only a short walk from Santa Fe Plaza or Canyon Road, its six buildings, including a stone house and two connecting adobes, contain twenty-two apartmentlike suites, many with wood-burning fireplaces. Though there is no room service, the attentive staff is happy to bring frittatas or fruit to your room for breakfast. Upon your arrival, your refrigerator is stocked with goodies. Awaiting you at night are freshly baked cookies and a dream catcher for promoting unfettered slumber. Suites from $360 to $525. 150 E. DeVargas St.; 505-992-0957; 866-992-0957; fax: 505-955-0549; fivegraces.com.

Where to Eat

Geronimo is everyone’s choice for a grand lunch or dinner. Chef Eric DiStefano is known nationally for his heady cuisine, which is served in a 1756 white-walled adobe house. Governor Richardson raves about the wasabi-crusted rack of lamb. 724 Canyon Rd.; 505-982-1500.

Cafe Pasqual’s is great for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Go early to fortify yourself for a day of shopping with a bowl of cappuccino, accompanied by eggs and griddled stone-ground polenta with homemade chorizo, corn and red-chili sauce. 121 Don Gaspar; 505-983-9340.

For some local flavor, slide into a booth at Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen and order a steaming bowl of posole; a plate of appetizers, including tiny barbecued ribs and taquitos; and the town’s best margarita. 555 W. Cordova Rd.; 505-983-7929.

By Kathi Moshbacher
For Town and Country Magazine

Last night Matt and I had the pleasure of dining at the famous Coyote Cafe with Chef Eric Distefano. Actually, dinner wasn’t initially in the cards as we were originally planning to only have a drink and briefly chat about  our favorite topic, real estate. However, if you’ve ever been to the Coyote before, you would know that having only a drink is a near impossibility. Four hours later we walked out of the restaurant full of scallops, lobster, lamb, green chile mac and cheese (to die for), and too many deserts to mention. Add to that some amazing Pinot Noir, Hatch green chile margaritas, and some 1971 sherry, and our night of decadence was complete.

Since taking over the Coyote Cafe Chef Eric Distefano has raised the bar even higher for fine dining in Santa Fe. With a menu full of innovative southwestern dishes, a wine list to suit any wine connoisseur, and impeccable service, the Coyote delivers on every level. Whether a Santa Fe local or a visitor to our fair city, the Coyote Cafe is a must hit.

Cheers,

Ryan