The Art Of The Ride

Canyon Road Contemporary Art has teamed with Mellow Velo of Santa Fe to bring you the Art Of The Ride Contest. 1 Lucky person will win a self-guided bicycle tour along Santa Fe’s famed Canyon Road and surrounding areas. The prize package is valued at $100 and includes:

• Two Free Bike rentals by Mellow Velo
• Two Water Bottles
• Taos Brand Vegan Energy Bars
• A map with a self-guided tour through Canyon Road and surroundings

To Enter ‘Like’ Canyon Road Contemporary Art on Facebook, then enter here: http://j.mp/14Q7RVW

WIN YOUR Passport To The Arts In Santa Fe

The Canyon Road Merchants Association has teamed with several local businesses to present the WIN YOUR Passport To The Arts Contest. 3 lucky winners will be chosen for some fantastic prizes.

PRIZE 1 ($500 value):

-2 free nights’ stay at Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort and Spa.
-1 year subscription to the Santa Fean Magazine.

PRIZE 2 ($250 value):

-2 free nights’ stay at Santa Fe Sage Inn.
-1 year subscription to the Santa Fean Magazine.

PRIZE 3 ($190 value):

- A Round Of Golf For Two At The Buffalo Thunder Resort
- Lunch at the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino ($30 Food and Bar Credit, excludes alcohol)
-1 year subscription to the Santa Fean Magazine.

Entry Period Closes May 7th!

To Enter ‘Like’ the Canyon Road Merchant Association on Facebook and Enter here: http://j.mp/10AmGus

Passport To The Arts

The 2nd Annual Passport To The Arts will be held Mother’s Day Weekend, May 10th through 12th, and galleries and businesses along Canyon Road are excited. Organized by the Canyon Road Merchant’s Association, this artistic experience features auctions, special events, openings, musical performances from Santa Fe’s youth and an artist quick-draw.

The weekend is more than just fun for the galleries, artists and visitors. Proceeds from the auctions and other special events benefit the students of the Santa Fe Public Schools Music Education Program.

Friday

More than 50 galleries and boutiques open their doors with artist receptions, silent auctions, openings, food music and more.

Saturday

Excited crowds provide the backdrop for the first major event of Saturday when the artists race the clock to complete an original work of art in only 90 minutes for the Artist Quick Draw. As eager collectors wait for the paint to dry an assortment of student performances, silent auctions and special events will keep visitors busy until the Cocktail Reception in the afternoon. As the day comes to a close the masterpieces created during the morning will be auctioned for a good cause.

Sunday

Shop and stroll along Canyon Road with your mother on her special day. Many galleries and boutiques are planning to open at 11 so that you can enjoy the distinctively unique offerings. After spoiling Mom with shopping treat her to a special Mother’s Day brunch at The Compound.

Enter to Win, Travel Packages and More

This year the Canyon Road Merchant’s Association has teamed with local businesses to offer a Facebook Contest featuring lodging prizes, a golf package and more. In addition many Santa Fe hotels are offering special room rates for visitors coming to Passport To The Arts. For more details visit the Canyon Road Merchant Association Blog at: http://experiencecanyonroad.com/your-passport-to-fun/

With so many options to choose from it is almost impossible to taste them all in just a week’s time. However, several Destination Santa Fe favorites are on the list of participants. If you have yet to try any of these, or are just looking for a reason to return, then now is the time.

Plaza Café Southside

Plaza Café Southside is offering a special menu featuring popular items from their Greek Night events. Since most of these dishes are not on the regular menu, now is the time to fill up on your favorite Greek cuisines. While you’re in don’t forget to make a donation to Project Hope for Greece, which distributes funds to charities helping the people of the troubled nation. Plaza Café Southside’s owner, Leonardo Razatos, is an Ambassador Of Hope for the project and aims to raise $1000 for charity during Restaurant Week.

Cowgirl BBQ

The Cowgirl is bringing in Cajun flavors for restaurant week. Gumbo, okra, etouffee and Cajun spices are kicked up with an infusion of southwest flavor that will take your palate on a journey of flavor.

Pranzo Italian Grill

Treat yourself to Italian classics from the menu, and bring a friend as the price feeds two. Fettuccini Alfredo, Spaghetti Bolognese and Linguini Carbonara are just a few of 9 entrée choices.

Jinja Bar and Bistro

Rediscover you favorite Asian flavors when you visit Jinja. Featuring choices including Mongolian Beef, Teriyaki Chicken and a Macadamia Coconut Tart, you’re sure to awaken your tastebuds.

La Boca

If the festive atmosphere of tapas is to your liking, then La Boca should be among your destinations. Bight flavors are used to create both modern and traditional dishes. Take some friends and share your choices to take a whirlwind tour of Spain right from your table.

For full menus, prices and more information please visit http://newmexicorestaurantweek.com.

A Sweet CollaBARation

“It’s a real honor to have been selected,” says Katherine Kagel, founder and chef of Café Pasqual’s, of a new chocolate bar bearing the restaurant’s name.

Café Pasquals is known for rich and complex dishes, and the bar, which was a collaborative effort of two years, is an achievement of sensation that truly pays homage to its namesake. The bold essence of the chocolate mingles with a hint of spice and the flavor profile deepens and becomes more intense as the zing of the salt and the crunch of pistachios come into play. The finish is a lingering warmth on the tongue as the chile takes you back to the origin of the bar. It is truly a “fiesta in the mouth, mind and heart.”

Featuring 62% dark goat’s milk chocolate, pistachios, Maldon salt flakes, and a spicy kick of ancho chile, the decadent delight is the newest in the line of CollaBARation chocolates from Missouri chocolate maker Askinosie Chocolate. Bars can be purchased at Café Pasquals, through their website at http://pasquals.com, or through the Askinosie website at http://askinosie.com.

A Dazzling Display

Sugar Dome is a brand new series debuting on the Food Network, and Executive Pastry Chef Andrea Clover, of The Inn and Spa at Loretto, was on the team that won the $15,000 grand prize on the show’s premier episode.

Sugar Dome teams artists of different disciplines with a challenge to create one stunning example of food art. Clover’s team included Casey War, a welder, and Gonzuela Bastarache, a cake artist. The team’s winning dessert was a red chile crème with an orange tequila raspberry couli and red chile cashew brittle. The display was a circus scene made out of sugary sweetness, included an actual ring of fire.

Touted as the “next big star” when she was introduced to producers of the show, Clover has won several awards throughout her culinary career; including two first-place wins in the annual Chocolate Fantasy Chocolatier Competition, she won the Annual Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner benefit, and she took first place in the 2007 Girl Scout Cookie Caper. Clover was trained at Le Cordon Bleu, and joined The Inn and Spa at Loretto as Executive Pastry Chef in the spring of 2009.

Among The World’s Finest

Although it was technically late 2012, no mention of the recent honors bestowed on Santa Fe eateries would be complete without a mention of Kakawa Chocolate House, who in December was named one of the Top 10 Places In The World To Sip Hot Chocolate. Ranked among restaurants and cafes from Vienna to Chicago, the full list would truly take any connoisseur on a world tour of decadent flavors. Read more here.

Founded in 2005, Kakawa creates their own chocolate elixirs and recreates historical styles as well. Rich flavors mingle with unique ingredients, including floral notes, for a sensation like no other. If you need more chocolate then an assortment of house made confections will satiate your need.

With over seven unique events, Artfeast promises something for everyone. One of the most popular events is the “Edible Art Tour”, in which over 35 galleries collaborate with local restaurants to serve up imaginative art and delicious menus. For only $35, ticket holders can hop from gallery to gallery while enjoying the culinary aptitude of some of Santa Fe’s premier chefs. The “Art of Home Tour” offers an ideal event for real estate junkies, providing rare access to some of Santa Fe’s most beautiful homes where galleries will be showcasing recent artwork.

More than just wining and dining among Santa Fe’s artistic elite, Artfeast participants will be making a difference. Proceeds from the events go towards supporting the visual arts in Santa Fe public schools. Supporting local businesses while raising money for a good cause—is there any reason not to join in?

Good Luck!

Destination Santa Fe

This month Destination Santa Fe has teamed up with Davids of Santa Fe to give you the chance to win a Photo Session and a 16×20″ Photo, just in time to preserve the memories of this year for generations to come. Simply go to our Facebook Page, ‘Like’ us if you haven’t already, then enter your details for a chance to win. Entries Close December 14th.

Essential Guide

The Essential Guide has been serving the Santa Fe area for more than 25 years with photos, reviews, articles and more to many ‘essential’ visits in the Santa Fe area. This month they have teamed up with The Golden Eye of Santa Fe to bring you a pair of stunning Honeybee Drops earrings in sterling silver. Enter on the Essential Guide Facebook Page for your chance to win these lovely creations.  Entries Close December 17 th.

Canyon Road Contemporary

This month Canyon Road Contemporary is inviting you to a tour of the famed road. The gallery, which is located at the entrance to Canyon Road, features a range of stunning artworks. At the other end of The Road is The Teahouse, which is Santa Fe’s destination for artisanal teas. One lucky winner will enjoy sipping fine tea after walking the length of the historic road, courtesy of Canyon Road Contemporary. Enter on the Canyon Road Contemporary Facebook Page to win a $50 gift certificate to The Teahouse.  Entries close Deccember 16th.

Santa Fe has attracted artists looking for clean air, vast open spaces and stunning visual culture for more than 100 years. Numerous galleries dot the city; the biggest concentration of which is on the historic Canyon Road. The art along The Road spans the spectrum. From oils and acrylics, to stone and bronze, gold and gems, and even song and dance almost every kind of visual art is represented.

The history of The Road, and the early painters that saw the promise of the natural beauty, is what brings the current artisans of Canyon Road together for the 5^th Annual Canyon Road Paint Out. In a celebration that pays homage to the history of art in Santa Fe they will come together on October 20th to honor the tradition of plein-air painting that was established early in the artistic history of Santa Fe. In a grand festival of art, visitors will have the chance to watch the artists as they step into the street and paint in the crisp October air of a Santa Fe fall.

Events that visitors can look forward to include a festival parade at noon featuring several marching bands and several performances by Santa Fe Music Public Schools Education Program Students in the early afternoon. Demonstrations from artists will teach aspiring artists how to work with canvas, sculpting, bronze-casting, jewelry making and more. If that wasn’t enough music, food, art shows and refreshments will be provided all day all along the road and several artists have decided to spend the day inspiring children to create masterpieces of their own.

Collectors looking to purchase a favorite piece are encouraged to inquire about the art at the galleries. Some galleries will allow you to purchase straight from the easel, others will hold mini-auctions or hang the pieces.

More than 100 artists from 25 galleries are planning to participate this year. Sculptors, jewelers and of course painters will be working in gardens and on the street to create original works of art for excited onlookers. The event runs from 10 am – 3 pm on Saturday October 20^th, but many festivities will start the night before with special openings and events.

A Flavor for Every Appetite

No matter what you’re craving, Harry’s Roadhouse has something for you. The large menu offers a variety of dishes, from their own take on Italian, New Mexican, American and more. The flavors are bold and sure to leave you satisfied.

One thing that we noticed was that the chefs of Harry’s have a tendency to mix ingredients in unexpected ways. Sweet dances with savory across the palate, delighting the senses even when the partners are everyday items.

Make Your Own Trail

If you’ve never tried the cuisine of Harry’s Roadhouse then it’s probably time. Whether the food is your destination, or merely a stop in a larger journey you won’t regret stopping in.

Classic to Contemporary

Diners are treated to a menu with a wide range of options. From classic New Mexican dishes to contemporary fusion blends of New Mexican and other cuisines there is something for everybody here. The chili has just enough spice to please locals looking for flavor without it being too strong for visitors to enjoy.

One thing diners will find only at the Blue Corn Café are the unique beer battered and braised dishes. Using their own house brewed beer the flavors are unique and definitely lend to the originality of their dishes.

Service at the Blue Corn Café has always been polite and timely, whether I’ve eaten at the downtown or southside location. Favorite dishes include entrees from the fajitas and burgers to Luis’ Green Chili Chicken Mac-and-cheese. Also if they have it on tap their home brewed root-beer is delicious and refreshing.

Whether you’ve lived in Santa Fe for years or are just visiting the Blue Corn Café is a local favorite that should not be missed.

Authentic Egyptian and Mediterranean Cuisine

One look at the menu and you may be reminded of the cuisine of Greece. Hummus, falafel and other familiar names appear repeatedly. However the preparation is slightly different, demonstrating the variations in cuisine along the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

The food is prepared well and moderately priced. I tried the vegetable plate and found that the hummus was smooth and flavorful, while the falafel had a delicious center inside of the crispy coating. I also found that the staff were quite attentive and the whole air of the restaurant seemed to transport you to a neighborhood eatery in the heart of Egypt.

The Nile Cafe is located at 620 Old Santa Fe Trail.