DINNER IN SANTA FE

DINNER IN SANTA FE

By W H Inmon

Every year I allow myself to write one article just for fun. I usually write about technology so if you are looking for anything technical here, you need to look elsewhere.

Last week we went down to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The motto for New Mexico is the land of enchantment. And New Mexico is that and so much more. If you haven’t visited Santa Fe, you must go.

One night we went out for dinner. We went to my favorite restaurant, Maria’s Kitchen. Maria’s Kitchen is not on the beaten path. You have to want to go there. You will not just stumble onto Maria’s Kitchen by walking around Santa Fe.

Maria’s Kitchen is not one of the famous restaurants where the tourists go. It is not the Pink Adobe, The Shed in Burro Alley, the Anasazi Inn or on Canyon Road. It is the place where the locals go to for dinner.

WARNING: Get directions on how to get there before you set out.

When you walk into Maria’s Kitchen you know you are in New Mexico. Maria’s Kitchen is New Mexico chic. It is not the Plaza Hotel. It is not the Hyatt Regency/ It is authentic New Mexican. There are exposed beam ceiling, a viga in the corner, orange tiled Mexican tiles on the floor, and exposed posts on the wall. There is no mistaking where you are. And in New Mexico you feel right at home.

The first thing that you notice when you sit down to eat is their Margarita menu. They have a WORLD Class offering of margaritas. None of the crummy mix stuff you can get at the liquor store. You get the real thing at Maria’s.

(I am a connoisseur of Margaritas. Maria’s Margaritas match anyone’s, anywhere. In the world.)

Then came the menu. I don’t need the menu because I always order the same thing at Maria’s. I get the blue corn tortillas with red enchilada sauce. They are stacked like pancakes.

Blue corn tortillas don’t really taste any different from regular corn tortillas. But the fact that they come from native American corn makes them special. And they really are blue.

Then comes the enchilada sauce they put on the tortillas. I don’t know what Maria’s does to the enchilada sauce but their enchilada sauce is just – DIVINE. Someone from the heavens must have come down to Maria and told her the secret recipe. It is that good. I have been eating enchilada sauce all my life. But Maria’s is the SUPREME enchilada sauce. Truly fit for a king.

(NOTE: for you unfamiliar with Mexican cooking, enchilada sauce is not the same thing as salsa, that you put on chips. Enchilada sauce and salsa are actually quite different.)

So Maria’s Kitchen is THE BEST MEXICAN food to be found anywhere.

If you find yourself in Santa Fe, you have to go to Maria’s.

If you hear of Bill Inmon dying while eating at Maria’s Kitchen and having a Margarita someday, you will know that Bill Inmon died doing what he wanted to do. He had a smile on his face.

Bill Inmon lives in Denver with his wife and his two Scotty dogs – Jeb and Lena. On the 4th of July the fireworks scared Lena. Lena came and sat between Bill and his wife on the couch and felt safe. The firecrackers didn’t scare her anymore.