In article >,
Ed Rasimus > wrote:

> 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.
>
>

Glad you had a good expereince at Geronimo. I have had terrrible service
with wonderful food and wines. They will have a food and wine tasting
menu this fall if anyone is in the area. I also highly recommend the
Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta in September where these 2 restaurants
are represented along with some wonderful wine tasting dinners from some
of the best distributors.