On the road this week in Santa Fe NM. Dinner on night one at
SantaCafe, on the patio. Nice atmosphere, excellent service, slightly
below excellent food. I had an great shrimp tempura with adobo chile
glaze for the first course. SWMBO did ahi tartare which was good but
not great. She went with rack of Colorado lambs second (gotta go to NM
for CO lamb? Had better at home last week.) I did pork tenderloin.
While both dishes were excellent cuts of meat, properly cooked, they
lacked pizzazz and the expected New Mexico flair.

Wine was a Russian Hill RRV Pinot Noir '01. Nice dark PN style with
loads of vanilla and coffee on the nose and a mouthful of dark cherry
and cassis. Nice bottle from a producer I had not previously
encountered.

Second night was to an old (and still) favorite, Geronimo on Canyon
Road. An incredible level of service. I told the maitre'd that if
Michelin awarded stars in the colonies, they would most assuredly earn
at least one. I started with an incredible seared Hudson R. Valley
fois gras with tomato/mango salsa--just a half teaspoon. Death by
cholesterol looked very attractive. Wife did tuna tartare (again!) but
this time a more impressive flavor excursion with chipotle, mangos,
and a hint of cilantro. Main course was a fiery shrimp in adobo,
chipotle, etc, glaze. I went with elk tenderloin, very nicely rare
with black cherries, Yukon Gold potatoes, and a hint of the requisite
NM chiles.

Wine was a poor match for the heat of the shrimp, but an excellent
bottle regardless. Shafer "Relentless" '01. A syrah with about 5%
petite syrah blend. Looked almost like the blueberry syrup container
at IHOP in the glass. Viscous, bluish purple clinging to the glass.
Beautiful nose of blueberries and butterscotch. Great explosion of
blueberries on the palate. Long, flavorful, finish. By the end of the
meal, without a mouthful of food, the tannins showed a lot of pucker
and indicated a long future for this. Will search this one out for
future extravagances.