This writing was supposed to be about Taos and the Taos Ski Valley, but pretty much all the food consumed on this trip was from or in Santa Fe. We rented a ski in-ski out condo in Taos Ski Valley and stocked up on food at Trader Joe’s in Santa Fe on the way up. The plan had been to stop at Whole Foods there since I had bought food there before and of course Whole Foods Markets are wonderful oases for the gluten intolerant, but I had also heard great things about Trader Joe’s and we happened upon one on our way towards Whole Foods, and so we stopped there. Trader Joe’s was very crowded with upscale customers. It was shopping cart to shopping cart in every aisle, but very exciting. Everyone was in a holiday mood and there were all kinds of things one cannot buy on a plane trip –Christmas plants and wreaths and orchids – wines of all kinds. We did buy some wines, but only enough to consume over the weekend.
When we got to our condo, we found that one could not get to it without a four wheel drive vehicle, so we were a little panicked, but a sweet fellow named Rob, who worked at another hotel in the Ski Valley, was kind enough to get us up to the condo with all the gear and all the food. Bless you, Rob! After that initial shock, we found that we had a faithful driver in Christian, who ferried skiers and shoppers for the rest of our stay. We went back to Santa Fe on Sunday evening and were in time to see some festivities on the Square. There was a Hanukkah celebration going on early in the evening and then a candlelight procession after dusk. Luminaria lined the square – real candles in paper bags with sand – none of those fancy electric ones.
We stayed at the Inn of the Anasazi and had dinner and breakfast there. Definitely a pricey place, but the one nice thing about fancy restaurants is that they pay attention to special diets. I ate a very nice sea bass fillet. The chayote-poblano “cake” it was served with scared me a bit, but it only meant that that the vegetables were layered. I was the only person in our group who had dessert, but then I was the only person who could not partake of the very nicely prepared appetizers.
The dessert was a panacotta and very nice but the sauce was a little tart for my taste. They also had the ever popular crème brulee and some sherbet. Other choices were out of bounds, except for the liqueurs and late harvest wines.
No time to play in the morning. We had very nice Southwestern style breakfasts. The chef was open to preparing whatever people wanted. I had a spinach and tomato egg white frittata with some hash browns. The dining room was lovely, and I must mention that the restrooms, which were down a staircase and past the wine cellar (which was a private room for groups of up to twelve), were also lovely and featured actual cloth towels for drying one’s hands. Maybe it is not so bad that I can’t eat at Taco Bell...
Cathy
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