Jeanne d.'s Profile

We dined at Terra again this week, and had a splendid time. The staff was always there when we needed something, enthusiastic but unobtrusive; the four of us were treated beautifully by the restaurant's seasoned professionals. Terra is unlike any other restaurant in Santa Fe County: it is elegant but not pretentious, with a focus on service and high quality cuisine.
The dining room has the best view in the area, unspoiled by tacky pop-culture elements, and there is a sense that it is built into the landscape. Rocks, picture windows and high ceilings figure largely at this beautiful New Mexico resort owned by the Auberge company. This time, I had pistachio ravioli. I intend to enjoy that delicate and tasty dish again soon. Chef Charles Dale's creations are world-class. The steak was perfect, served with the best frites this side of the Atlantic. The bread basket featured a nice variety of cheese-flavored biscuits, flat bread wafers, and French rolls. Our opener was a surprise: something resembling whipped crême fraîche topped with deep-fried root vegetable shavings and a dusting of Spanish jamon. The flavors in the tiny and tidy presentation constituted a petite conglomeration of flavorful dynamite. All four of us enjoyed the dinner immensely. I had prickly pear sorbet for dessert, and my husband said that the crême caramel was excellent.
What a great experience!

Terra at Encantado Resort is an impressive bar and restaurant. Though the name ought to be "Tierra", Spanish instead of the Italian for "earth", the place is constructed in a way that evokes pure earth, and blends into the hilly New Mexican landscape with its rocks and concrete, complemented by wood. Encantado, or as we like to call it, Rancho Encantado, used to be a popular place among Hollywood elite like Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, on their visits to Santa Fe. It closed about ten years ago, and any vestige of the old is gone, replaced with buildings and casitas that will be available  on a per-night basis soon.

"Betty's Bar", named after old owner Mrs. Egan,  is clean, efficient and has tables set with Himalayan salt candles--a beautiful, natural accent.  The focus is on the landscape of New Mexico, with a lofty view of the mountains and sunset. The portal or porch has a fire-pit, and lots of seating on cushion-topped wrought iron. After dinner, a visit to the well-appointed patio portal is very pleasant. The sun here in summer may be blazing hot, but as soon as the sun goes down, the atmosphere in Santa Fe becomes cool and refreshing. I recommend going to Terra a half hour before sunset, to avoid being blinded by the sunlight from the huge windows facing the mountains. Terra has the best view of any restaurant in Santa Fe County. The interior of the restaurant and the exterior portal have very beautifully finished concrete floors, adding to the elegant simplicity. No tacky wall-to-wall carpeting here. The resort features a gorgeous courtyard with a long fireplace, accessible by a short walk down the hall from Terra.

Service in the restaurant is enthusiastic and not stuffy, with some waiters actually wearing suits. This is much-appreciated, especially after one has had multitudes of meals served in Santa Fe at New York City prices by tee-shirt clad, overly familiar waiters. People visiting Terra are generally well-dressed.

The menu is a bit too creative with its mixtures of elements from around the world, as is the predilection among Santa Fe's expensive restaurants. That is what goes over big with tourists and transplants in Santa Fe these days, although an allusion to rogan josh of India is a bit out of place here. A duck tamale, and  lobster guacamole are also pushing the limits of good taste here in New Mexico. The cheeses on the menu are all sheep or goat's milk: Robiola from Italy, Cabral Blue and Roncal  from Spain. Thank goodness the hamburger comes with real cheddar as a requested  addition.  Here is a PDF file of the Terra menu, though I notice that the steak is 38.00 on it, while on the actual menu it is now $42.00.
http://www.encant...

The bar has a good menu. Terra's hamburger with "truffled" fries is superb. It has a perfectly textured bun, will be grilled to your desired degree by a cooperative kitchen (unlike many of Santa Fe's top restaurants, where the chef insists upon serving you raw meat---a no-no in NM), and comes with the best fries or French "frites" this side of the Atlantic. You can order them a la carte. They are Parisian in their cut and crispness, and come with white paper insert, reminiscent of Paris.. This comes with a trio of brand-new, small bottles of Heinz Ketchup, Mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard.That little touch of one's own, clean condiment bottles makes one feel as though they are eating at a Fairmont, where everything is impeccably served. The excellent hamburger and fries presentation and quality of its components made a huge impression on us.

The Smokin'  Hot Nachos were drizzled with only a little liquefied cheese sauce, dabbed with guacamole, and riddled with a few black beans and whole frijoles. The dish could have been  much better. It was neither "smokin' hot" in taste nor in the way it was cooked, but a waitress brought it covered with a stainless steel lid. Some salsa picante would have been welcome, but I settled for Tabasco instead. Close, but no cigar. Speaking of which, the Encantado Resort is a completely non-smoking facility, which means that there is absolutely no place to go for a smoke on their grounds.

Dessert was a trio of chocolate confections, each one better than the last, though petite.

While I may find some of the dishes offered a bit bizarre, and the lack of salsa picante an insult, what the kitchen prepares is well-executed.
We are looking forward to visiting Terra again, and bringing our friends there, because overall it is a very pleasant experience. See my photos above.

The REAL deal in Santa Fe is Tiny's Dine & Dance. Take Cerillos from Guadalupe Historic District and look for Early Street on your left. Just off Early Street to the right, in a parking lot which, mysteriously is on "Pen Road" (you'll never see a street sign saying Pen Road off Cerillos, or near Tiny's)  is the in-town institution known for authentic New Mexican cuisine. Unusually eager to please, the staff is efficient and friendly. The mayor of Santa Fe often eats lunch at Tiny's. This place is old-fashioned but not stuffy, and has enough rooms, including a romantic, glass-enclosed patio, to vary the experience from visit to visit.  The artwork is humorous--real paintings for a change, not some vapid textile-fields; an old collection of whimsical whiskey jugs lines the liquor lounge, as well as some old models of motor-cars . In Tinys' large lounge, you could imagine being in any decade since and including the nineteen-fifties, especially while the bands play a variety of tunes three nights a week. You could hear a Simon & Garfunkle song from the 1960s one minute, then a Santana original, and a ranchero or polka New Mexican style the next minute. People love to dance at Tiny's, where you'll see little old dudes in cowboy hats reeling some big ol' gals around the floor, and any sort of couples imaginable having a swell time. Back to the victuals: not only is there great steak at reasonable prices, and steak prepared fajita style, but they've just added my favorite one--chicken-fried steak (battered & fried, served with white gravy), a Texan standard. Edit: Chicken-Fried Steak is only available at Tiny's during Thursdays, the bartender/waitress told us last Saturday, Dec. 1st!  I usually get a tailor-made plate of chile relleno (locally grown hot green chile pod, filled with queso, battered and fried) plus tamale (pork-filled & spiced with New Mexican red chile), which, like all the New Mexican plates at Tiny's, comes with posole (whole hominy kernels) and Spanish style (reddened with tomatoes and red bell peppers) rice. If you require a combination of elements on your plate that's not listed on the menu, Tiny's staff is quick to accomodate. The only dessert I've had at Tiny's is the chocolate cake--my husband gave me a bite. It's the only chocolate cake I've ever liked. Need more of Tiny's excellent salsa picante? Noah, El Jefe,  will go get it, right away.  A Santa Fe secret: be nice to staff, and they'll love you back--and that's just where we're going--BACK, again and again, to Tiny's!

Addendum: Look for a free copy of the monthly native newspaper, The Hometown News, in the lobby of Tiny's. It will help to educate you about the original Santa Fe population.

P.S., Tiny's is very quiet on a Saturday for lunch; be prepared to have a bartender wait on you.