Georgia O'Keeffe Museum | Anasazi Restaurant

Saturday - 8 June 2002: Santa Fe, New Mexico - We really do need a day of rest and one day we will get it, but there is just so much to see and do here in Santa Fe. Never in my life have I seen so much art concentrated in one place. Every other shop is a gallery. There are statues on every corner. Murals on walls. Though there is a great variety of art, the vast majority is western or southwestern art. Not really my cup of tea, but I still like to look. We especially like the bronze statues of animals... you know, 2 foot-tall elk, etc.? If that is too small, you can also purchase life-size elk, bear and, I am not kidding, elephants. Most of the artists live in, or near, Santa Fe and many are selling their own work in their own shops. Every piece of Navajo jewelry we purchased in Santa Fe was made by the salesperson. (Nearly every artist shook our hands and thanked us too.) We learned that the Navajo are usually the only tribe who "sign" their work. They place a mark somewhere on the jewelry... like a certain colored bead near the clasp. If there is a large enough piece of silver, they will stamp their initials.  Along the portal of the Palace of the Governors, natives from the local pueblos sell their crafts. There is a lottery system, so the vendors change daily. The colors, variety, artistry and ingenuity are indescribable.

We started our morning at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. It is a lovely facility, and houses 120 pieces of Georgia O'Keeffe's works - the largest collection in the world. Largest collection, or not - it seems only a blip in the world of O'Keeffe, and they have few of her more famous works. The museum was having a fabulous exhibit of photography by Todd Webb. From 1955 to 1981, Webb took many photos of O'Keeffe and her two homes - Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch. There are several dozen photos of her porch and doorway alone. The black and white photos are haunting and Webb's use of shadow is fascinating.  The museum also has about ten water colors by Georgia O'Keeffe - beautiful colors!

After touring through the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, we made our way back to the Plaza area. We poked around in a few shops then went to visit the oldest church in America - Mission of San Miguel, built in 1610.

Mission of San Miguel

Regular services are still held in this church. Inside are buffalo hides with paintings depicting the story of Jesus that the Spanish Missionaries used to convert Native Americans. (They had to use pictures, because they could not speak the native language.)

 Local color


The Plaza

After strolling around in the heat, we needed refueling and went to The Shed for lunch. The Shed opened two years before I was born and is a local lunch-time institution. It occupies several rooms and the patio of an old hacienda one block off the Plaza. DT started with a local brew, Santa Fe Pale Ale and I was really thirsty, so I tried their silver margarita. Yummy and icy cold. We had chips, salsa and very, very good guacamole. For lunch I had their blue corn chicken tacos and DT had blue corn enchiladas. DT is not crazy about blue corn tortillas - he feels they are too earthy for his taste, but I love 'em! My tacos were great, plain and simple. DT tried the tacos and decided my tacos were better than his enchiladas. Again, the chili sauce in his enchiladas was KILLER! The Shed is a great place for a meal, cool drink or snack while near the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe.

After lunch we visited The Palace of the Governors. Built in 1610 as the original capitol of New Mexico, the Palace has been in continuous public use since, longer than any other government building in America. The Palace of the Governors is now a museum of New Mexican history. The collection is fantastic - and they also have a world-class collection of pre-Columbian artifacts, including a 3000 year old gold burial mask from Peru. Stage coaches used on the Santa Fe trail are on exhibit and original printing presses from the first New Mexican newspapers are here. We saw the Segesser Hide Paintings - mural-sized, 18th-century color paintings on animal hides telling the story of the Spanish Colonial past. The museum was also displaying "Jewish Pioneers of New Mexico". This five-year-long exhibit (NOTE: this exhibit has ended) shows evidence of Jews from Spain in the early 1800s, and also stories of several German/Prussian Jewish families who settled in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and became merchants. The first large Temple was built in Albuquerque in 1899. (The largest Christian church in Old Santa Fe - St. Francis - was built with money donated largely from the local Jewish community and the donors are honored with Hebrew inscriptions over the front entrance of the church.)

Two hundred year-old Torah

We walked back around the Plaza and visited a few more shops. We had a coffee and looked in a few more galleries (we found the cutest soap shop!) and called it day. We took the "long way" back to the motor home in order to see the gallery area along Canyon Road. We decided this city must have some of the strictest building codes in the country! Every home is pueblo style and every house is the same color.

After a nice, long rest in our cooled motor home, we dressed and went to Anasazi Restaurant, one block off the Plaza in the Inn of the Anasizi. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this restaurant! I knew it was going to be good when I phoned for reservations and "Terry" answered the phone. Terry assured that "Terry" would have a great table at 7:45. True to his word, he was quite excited to meet the traveling Oregonians, and we were seated at a very romantic table in the beautiful restaurant. Anasazi has one large dining room - you enter through a lounge area, with a bar - and the restaurant opens up in the rear. The tables are well-spaced, so it is possible to have a romantic table for two, or a fun table for 8 or 10 people. (Truth be told, we had a fun table for two.) The chef came out of the kitchen twice to see how things were going in the dining room. The ceiling is open pine beams - which is rustic - but every table is elegantly dressed with a white cloth and burgundy napkins. White candles twinkle. Speaking of burgundy... the wine list is very Californian, but includes a decent selection of French and Italian varieties. I opted for gin and tonic, with lemon... and, of course, our waiter, Jaoquin, forgot the lemon. My handsome dining companion had a California Cabernet Sauvignon. As we were seated and the water was being discussed - tap, bottled flat or bottled bubbles - we were served a tidbit: blue corn tortilla chips with black bean mango salsa. One per customer; they were very nice.

There is a problem with traveling with two people - you just can't order everything on the menu! We started with an appetizer of Navajo Flat Bread with Fire Roasted Peppers and Black Olive Caponata Relish. The Relish was quite interesting - and simple - it was salsa fresca with quartered kalamata olives. I would have never thought of this combination, but will happily try it soon. The Navajo Flat Bread was a fluffy, grilled tortilla. Since it was Saturday night and DT seems to have a Caesar on Saturday nights - he had the Caesar. The Caesar at Anasazi Restaurant is served with Mexican Cotija cheese and roasted pumpkin (pepitas) seeds. I had a very interesting and beautifully composed salad: "Tomatoes with Grilled Asparagus & Fresh Mozzarella, Marinated Portabello & Parsley-Walnut Vinaigrette". This salad was very delicious. You could taste each component of the salad and the portions were not very large... so we could continue our grazing.

For our main course we had very difficult decisions. I could not pass-up the special fish - "Ginger-Scallion Grilled Pacific Swordfish with Green Chile Risotto, Pineapple-Red Chile Sauce and Watermelon Salsa". Wow. That's a lotta stuff on one plate! As an extra-added-attraction, there was also a nice selection of grilled vegetables on the plate. I didn't even give them a second glance! The risotto was a lovely color and perfectly finished. The watermelon salsa was very simple - watermelon, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro, salt and a bit of lime juice. The watermelon salsa was VERY nice with the fish. And the fish was perfectly grilled - soft,  just cooked all the way through. DT had a very normal-sounding "Old Fashioned Roast Chicken with Natural Jus, Roasted New Potatoes and Green Beans". Of course, the free-range, natural, organic & kosher chicken was as soft as bread. Perfectly seasoned and the veggies were also organic and delicious. We could only look at the dessert menu. Gee, do you think we liked this restaurant? It definitely wins as our best meal of the trip so far, though DT still has fond memories of his seafood pasta at Dahl & DiLuca in Sedona. For your drooling-pleasure I will also give you other things on the menu. (I know this because I brought the menu home.)

Slow Roasted Montana Buffalo Osso Bucco
(with white bean stew & tequila chile-red wine demi.

Cinnamon-Chile Rubbed Beef Medallions
(with Chipotle-White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes & Mango Salsa)

Grilled Atlantic Salmon with Herbed Beurre Blanc
(with Lemon Mashed Potatoes & Cucumber-Basil Salad)

Grilled Colorado Lamb Rack with Minted Demi
(with Roast Garlic Yukon Potatoes & Sun-dried Tomato Salsa)

The special Prix Fixe menu of the day started with Blue Corn Seared Sea Scallops with Local Organic Mixed Greens, Tropical Fruit and Papaya Vinaigrette. The second course was Chilled Poblano Potato-Leek Soup. The main course was the Swordfish I tried, and a dessert of your choice. $45.00.

My spell-checker hated these last paragraphs! Have you gained weight reading this? Gee, I guess, if you are ever in Santa Fe, you should dine at Anasazi Restaurant at the Inn of the Anasazi. Don't forget your wallet.

RV Park: Los Campos RV Resort