We love July in Santa Fe. For one thing, temperatures compared to other places in the lower 48 are usually comfortable and it almost always cools down at night. It’s a combination of our monsoon season rains, the relative lack of humidity when it’s not raining, and our 7,000 foot elevation. The other reason we love July in Santa Fe is that it’s packed with things to do. The Santa Fe Opera opens on July 3rd; we have the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival as well as the New Mexico Jazz Festival and other ticketed musical events. In addition there’s free music, most notably the Santa Fe Bandstand concerts and Music on the Hill. There are also major art markets including the International Folk Art Market, Spanish Market (both traditional and contemporary) and Art Santa Fe. It’s a great time to visit.
Santa Fe food news
Produce from Santa Fe Farmers Market photo/Steve Collins
Congrats to Don Bustos of Santa Cruz Farm, Santa Cruz, NM. He is one of five recipients of the 2015 James Beard Foundation Leadership Award, honoring those “who influence how, why and what we eat.” Bustos, whose family had owned the farm north of Santa Fe since the 1600s was cited for “his work in support of farmers’ rights and education, and efforts to include farmers of color in the national food movement.” Bustos runs programs that teach others to farm. He’s also is the head of the American Friends Service Committee’s New Mexico branch. You can find Bustos selling his organic produce at the Santa Fe Farmers Market.
The annual Pancakes on the Plaza will take place on Saturday, July 4th. The event, in its 40th year, takes place from 7am to noon. Tickets are $7 in advance and $8 day of. Tickets are available at local banks and credit unions.
Santa Fe dining news
Two Santa Fe hotels have updated their restaurants. The Anasazi Restaurant at the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi had been reconceptualized. Fuego, La Posada de Santa Fe’s restaurant is no more. In its place: Julia, a Spirited Restaurant.
The newly redine dining room at the Anasazi Restaurant, photo/Steve Collins
At the Anasazi Restaurant, the former 90-seat dining room now seats 40. Décor is more contemporary in keeping with the boutique hotel’s new look, but retains elements of the old, including the Native American-inspired mural on the wall. And most importantly, Argentine-born chef, Juan Bochenski, is still at the helm turning out picture-perfect, delicious dishes including Argentine-style barbecue at Sunday brunch. The expanded lounge area features sofa seating, low tables and a community tequila table. Stop by for dinner or a casual drink while nibbling from the interesting bar menu or take advantage of their sidewalk patio now open for the season.
La Posada de Santa Fe has had the wisdom to hire talented Chef Todd Hall to run Julia, their new eatery. His food is original, beautifully presented and most importantly, mouth-watering. Starters such as foie gras with grilled apricots, crab meat parfait on tart yellow tomato gazpacho precede entrees that include brick chicken and roast Colorado rack of lamb. For dessert, chocolate lovers will love the chocolate pueblo.
The dining room at Julia at La Posada, photo/Steve Collins
Chef Hall is a master of flavors and sauces. If you prefer more casual dining, you can dine al fresco on the patio or at Viga Bar & Grill. Both offer share the same casual menu; serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Santa Fe has three bars that boast amazing sunset views: the seasonal Bell Tower bar at La Fonda, the Terra Bar a bit out of town at Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado and the newest arrival, Bar Alto on the roof of the Drury Plaza Hotel. Bar Alto, which will be open year-round, offers 180 degree views from its terrace. Look west and you see the Jemez Mountains and at the appointed hour a glorious sunset. Look east and you can see the Sangre de Christos. From inside the intimate, 14- seat bar, you can see west as well as north to the Cross of the Martyrs. Craft cocktails designed by mixologist Joseph Haggard, the Principal Bartender at both Bar Alto and ELOISA, the downstairs restaurant, are creative and witty.
Mixologist Joseph Haggard of Bar Alto serving La Palabra Ultima at Bar Alto, photo/Steve Collins
Two new restaurants opened over the last few weeks: Radish and Rye in Ristra’s old digs on Agua Fria and Estevan at the Hotel Chimayó. R & R’s website says they feature “farm-inspired cuisine.” The rye comes from their featured beverage: bourbon. They have an extensive list from Kentucky, Tennessee and other parts of the USA as well the craft burbons there is also a bourbon-centric specialty cocktail list. Estevan Garcia, whose Café Estevan was a local favorite for years, opened Estevan,. his eatery, at the Hotet Chimayó, one of five Heritage Hotels in Santa Fe.
Coming soon: Chef Enrique Guerrero will open Market 500 at the Railyard spot formerly home to Flying Star. He hopes to open sometime in July. According to the talented chef, who also runs the Bang Bite food truck, the menu will lean towards southern favorites. He will also be running the upscale bowling alley upstairs which will feature a bar menu. Stay tuned for more info.
Santa Fe art
Annual art markets
The Santa Fe’s Art Trifecta unites three world-class art organizations to market their separate events under one umbrella. The International Folk Art Festival, Art Santa Fe and SITE Santa Fe have created the Santa Fe Art Trifecta, a 10-day event conceived to draw art aficionados and collectors to The City Different.
The International Folk Art Market, now in its 12th year, began as a small event in 2004. Thousands attend this colorful event that brings over 150 artists from 57 countries to Santa Fe. The 2015 market will be held on Museum Hill on Saturday July 11th and Sunday July 12th from 9am to 5pm (Early bird shopping is available on Saturday from 7:30 to 9am.) The benefit Opening Night Party: A Global Gathering Under the Stars, will be held on Friday, July 10th from 6:30 to 9pm.
Santa Fe Internatiuonal Folk Art Market, photo/Steve Collins
Tickets sales for the party are limited. The evening featuring is a more leisurely and less crowded way to enjoy the show. It’s a fun occasion offering attendees a chance to nibble on hors d’œuvres, have a glass of wine or cocktail, listen to international music, dance, and best of all to shop early. There’s also a lot of people-watching to indulge in, including the occasional famous face in the crowd. There’s no parking at the site. Shuttles run from the PERA parking lot on Old Santa Fe Trail as well at the South Capital Rail Runner station. You’ll find ticket and shuttle and other pertinent information on their website.
ART Santa Fe, a prestigious international art fair now in its 15th year, will be held from Thursday, July 9th (opening preview evening) through Sunday, July 12th at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. The event showcases work from contemporary and modern artists from North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. It also attracts buyers and collectors from around the US and the world. The keynote speaker for the annual ART Santa Fe Presents evening lecture will be James Meyer, Associate Curator of Modern Art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. and professor of Art History at Johns Hopkins University. Full ticketing and event information is on their website.
Leonardo Drew, Number 163, 2012, courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. New York
SITE Santa Fe, located in the Santa Fe Railyard, introduces two new exhibitions both opening on Saturday, July 18th. The first show, the summer installment of SITE 20 Years/20 Shows, a year-long celebration of the museum’s two decades is titled, Summer. It will feature installations by Janine Antoni working with choreographer Stephen Petronio, Amy Cutler collaborating with musician Emily Wells; Ann Hamilton and Harmony Hammond with artist Francis Cape and Dario Robleto with historian Patrick Feaster and Lance Ledbetter of Dust-to-Digital Records. The second show, Unexpected Possibilities, features collaborative installations by Leonardo Drew, Sarah Oppenheimer, and Marie Watt. These three artists (who will also partner with local artists) “will create new installations that are not only specific to SITE’s space but also responsive to each other.” The show also “provides an opportunity for them to push the boundaries of their practices by working together to create an exhibition that is conceived from the start as a phenomenological unit.” Summer runs through Sunday, October 4, 2015 and Unexpected Possibilities runs January 3, 2016. Some ticketed preview events are scheduled starting on July 15th. Check SITE’s website for details.
From the 2010 Spanish Market, photo Steve Collins
The 64th annual Traditional Spanish Market will take place on the historic Santa Fe Plaza on Saturday, July 25th and Sunday the 26th from 8am to 5pm both days. There is also a benefit preview at the Santa Fe Convention on Friday evening. Details are on their webite. Started by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society in 1926, the market is a venue for artist practicing traditional Spanish Colonial Arts to show their work. What is Spanish Colonial Art? It’s the arts that arose out of necessity in New Mexico under Spanish rule over 400 years ago. The isolated colonists had to make everything including furniture, religious artifacts, textiles and adornments for both body and home with the materials at hand. To be eligible, artists and artisans must be of Hispanic descent, live in New Mexico or Southern Colorado and use the same techniques and materials that were used historically. As a concession to modern times, a new category, Innovations within Tradition, was introduced in 2011. This encompasses “contemporary interpretations of the traditional arts.” Contemporary Spanish Market, a showcase for Hispanic artists working in a broad range of mediums, takes place on the same weekend. Booths are set up along Lincoln Avenue, adjacent to the Plaza Admission to both markets is free.
Gallery shows
For more information on gallery shows and art openings, head for the calendar on the Santa Fe Gallery Association’s website.
An embroidery from Healing Stitch”, photo/courtesy Turner Carroll Gallery
Turner Carroll Gallery’s new show The Healing Stitch, featuring handmade embroideries from India, opens on Thursday, July 9th from 5 to 7pm. The artists are all women in India who are survivors of domestic abuse, abandonment, homelessness, and illness. Through creating these embroideries, the artists found healing, peace, and meaning. The founder of the women’s collective these women belong to will give a short talk at 6pm.
“Cicada”, Kate Breakey, photo/courtesy photo-eye Gallery
photo-eye Gallery will open Ghostland and Shadow & Light, two concurrent exhibitions by Keith Carter and Kate Breakey, on Friday, July 10th . There will be an artist’s reception the following day from 3 to 5pm. The exhibitions will feature new work by the two renowned photographers, as well as selections from other projects. The exhibitions, part of the Santa Fe Summer of Color, run through Saturday, August 22nd.
Santa Fe music and dance
The Santa Fe music scene really heats up in summer with four important annual music events: Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Bandstand, and the NM Jazz Festival.
The Santa Fe Opera, photo/Robert Godwin courtesy Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera opens its 2015 season on Friday, July 3rd. The opening production is Gaetano Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, opening on Friday, July 1st which will be followed by Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, opening on the 4th of July; Richard Strauss’ Salome (on Saturday, Jul7 18th) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera also known as the The Pretend Gardener on Saturday, July 26th. The last production of the season, opening on Friday, July 31st is the world premier of Cold Mountain, by Jenifer Higdon. It’s based on Charles Frazier’s best-selling Civil War novel of the same name. Itt was also made into a movie. The work was commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera along with Opera Philadelphia and Minnesota Opera. Tickets to Cold Mountain, which only has five performances, are selling well. Two of the performances are already sold out. If you want to make sure you see this, buy your tickets now. Serious opera buffs can see the entire cycle in August. The full schedule and ticketing information are on their website. Tickets are available at the Santa Fe Opera box office or on their website.
Santa Fe Bandstand, photo/courtesy Santa Fe Bandstand
Santa Fe Bandstand, a joint effort of The City of Santa Fe and Outside In Productions opens its 2015 season on Tuesday, July 7th with SON COMO SON, a New Mexican group playing Cuban salsa. Get ready to dance! The season, which runs through Thursday, August 27th, presents both local and nationally-known artists in a variety of genres including blues, Latin, Native, northern New Mexican, county, rock, reggae, R & B, jazz, bluegrass and folk. There’s a full schedule on their website. Most concerts run from 6 to 9pm. Bring a lawn chair and a picnic or buy food from the vendors on the Plaza. This year for the first time, Santa Fe is allowing food trucks to operate from three spaces adjacent to the Plaza. Want to get above it all? Grab a seat on one of the restaurant balconies overlooking the Plaza and enjoy food and drink while you listen.
The 10th Annual New Mexico Jazz Festival runs from Friday, July 10th through Thursday, August 6th. The collaborative effort of Outpost Performance Space, the Lensic Performing Arts Center, and the Santa Fe Jazz Foundation features concerts and events by a range of jazz musicians during the expanded, almost three-week period. Concerts take place in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The first Santa Fe concert, on Sunday, July 19th, will feature the Christian McBride Trio. Other Santa Fe concerts include the Count Basie Orchestra directed by Scotty Barnhart with guest vocalist Carmen Bradford on Friday, July 24th and NEA Jazz Master, pianist, Kenny Barron Trio with special guest, virtuoso vibraphonist, Stefon Harris on Saturday, July 25th.
Kenny Barron to play at this year’s New Mexico Jazz Festival photo/courtesy NM Jazz Festival
The season finale on August 6th will bring Grammy award winning bassist/vocalist, Esperanza Spalding with her new project Emily’s D + Evolution, presented in partnership with AMP Concerts. Tickets for all the Santa Fe concerts, which take place at the Lensic Performing Arts Center are available at both the Outpost Performance Space box office in Albuquerque, the Lensic box office in Santa Fe as well as online at the NM Jazz Festivals’ website and Tickets Santa Fe.
In addition, the Jazz Festival offers two free Santa Fe concerts. The first takes place on Tuesday, July 21st at the Bandstand from 6-8:45pm. The concert opens with Cal Haines’ Flora Purim Project. They’ll be followed by Leni Stern and her African Quartet. Stern has been named “Gibson Female Jazz Guitarist of the Year” for five consecutive years. The second free performance, on Wednesday, July 15th at 6pm at St. John College’s Music on the Hill. It features Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers who are, according to the Festival, “one of the top swingin’ Jazz and Blues bands in the world.”
Orion Quartet playing at the Festival’s St. Francis Auditorium/photo/courtesy Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival opens its 43rd season on Sunday, July 19th. New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert will be this summer’s artist-in-residence. The six-week festival, which runs through Monday, August 24th, will have 42 performances which will include classical and contemporary music chamber music. Tickets, from $12 to $78 (with discounts for patrons ages 6-35), can be purchased on their website, at the Festival’s office at 208 Griffin Street or by calling 505-982-1890. During festival performances the ticket office the New Mexico Museum of Art will be open.
Santa Fe dance
Juan Siddi, phoyo/courtesy Juan Siddi
Remember when Juan Siddi and his flamenco troop took over the Maria Benetiz Theater at The Lodge at Santa Fe each summer? Now that spot belongs to Flamenco dancer Antonio Granjero and his company, EntreFlamenco, who will perform there nightly (except Tuesdays) from July 1st through August 30th. Siddi fans can see the flamenco master at the Lensic Performing Arts Center this summer. Presented by the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, he’ll be on-stage on July Sunday, July 12th, Tuesday July, 21st, Sunday, July 26th; Saturday, August 1s , Saturday, August 29th and Friday, September 4th. Tickets are available at the Lensic box office or online at Tickets Santa Fe.
Santa Fe misc
The documentary Pie Lady of Pie Town about Kathy Knapp, seen here7 screens at NMWIF in Santa Fe and her cherry pie, photo/Steve Collins
New Mexico Women in Film, (NMWIF), an organization of filmmakers, both men and women throughout NM, turns 10 this year. To celebrate they’re planning a tri-city Film Fiesta. The three city, three night festival starts in Las Cruces on Friday, July 10th, moves to Albuquerque the following night and ends in Santa Fe on Sunday, July 12th. The City Different venue is the intimate Jean Cocteau Cinema owned by George R. R. Martin, the man behind Game of Thrones. The same 17 films in five genres will be screened in each city. Tickets for each location are $15. If you want to really celebrate they’re holding a per-screening Film Fiesta Fun Party before the Sunday films. The reception, which runs from 2:30 to 4:30pm, is a chance to mingle with NM film industry people while enjoying hors d’ouvres and sip on wine. Thickets to the event, are $25.
Cornisa 20 at ¡VIVA MEXICO! at Rancho de Las Golondrinas, photo/courtesy Rancho de lost Golondrinas
¡VIVA MEXICO!, now in its eighth year will be held at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, a living history village southwest of town, on Saturday and Sunday July 18th and 19th from 10am to 5pm. The event will have Mexican entertainment including dance groups, and the comic troupe. Cornisa 20, vendors selling Mexican handcrafts, and a food pavilion. The popular Curandera area offering traditional healing will be back again this year. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors (62 and over) and teens. Children 12 and under are admitted free of charge.
The Maverick Cookbook, cover photo.courtesy Lynn Cline
Local food writer and author Lynn Cline has a new book coming out. To celebrate the release of The Maverick Cookbook, Cline will be at at Santa Fe’s beloved independent bookseller, Collected Works, on Friday, June 24th at 6pm along with guest MC, Chef Johnny Vee who will be doing a Q & A about the book with Cline. The book is way more than recipes. It chronicles the history of New Mexico’s cuisine through the stories of 12 iconic figures including Fred Harvey, Billy the Kid, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Dennis Hopper. Each chapter includes original recipes with authentic ingredients and traditional techniques of the era. Come meet the author and get a copy of the book for your cookbook collection.
That’s it for this month. Tidbits will be back on the last Tuesday in July. ¡Hasta Luego!
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