Arizona, New Mexico & the Grand Canyon Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Aaron Anderson [20]
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FOOD FESTIVALS
Feast on green chile, piñon and tortillas at these annual celebrations of New Mexico food.
Hatch Chile Festival The sleepy town of Hatch celebrates its most famous export.
Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta Santa Fe chefs pair Southwest dishes with wines from New Mexico and beyond.
Whole Enchilada Festival The state’s biggest enchilada and plenty of chile.
Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium Cowboy food New Mexico–style.
New Mexico Food & Dance Festival Historic adobe buildings and chile fields at Rancho de la Golondrinas.
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From Santa Fe, it’s an easy hour and a half drive along the Rio Grande River to Taos. Stop at Embudo Station for a green-chile stew with a kick – you could spend hours under the shade of a cottonwood not doing much of anything at all. Continuing north, the road passes Pilar. Detour a mile or two west on State Rd 570, past several campgrounds, to digest your meal at the bridge over the river. This popular raft launch for white-water trips down the Rio Grande makes a pleasant spot to splash around before returning to Hwy 68 for the final 20-minute stretch to Taos.
Pedestrian-friendly downtown Taos boasts excellent art galleries and fantastic hiking trails wind through the aspen and ponderosa of the surrounding mountains. End the day with a pint of green-chile beer and a green-chile smothered burrito at Eske’s Brew Pub & Eatery. The vegetarian chile, with huge chunks of carrots, zucchini and other goodies, is unusual even in this vegetarian-friendly town, and just the smell of the beer is ecstasy to a green-chile addict. It’s an acquired taste, so ask for a sample before ordering a pint. On weekends, it features live music from country to folk to rock.
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ASK A LOCAL
“Once you’ve had green chile, you become an addict. And anytime you’re anywhere away from it, you’re a fiend to get it. I go to Hatch for my chile. I have my favorite vendor I go to. I bring my big ol’ cooler and they roast ‘em and I bring ‘em home. The road that cuts southwest from Hatch to Demming goes through chile fields and ranch country. It’s beautiful. ”
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From Eske’s, drive a few miles out of town to Old Taos Guesthouse, historic bed and breakfast, with Southwestern furnishing and viga (wood beamed) ceilings, set on 8 acres of grass and orchards. Views from the courtyard stretch across the volcano-dotted Taos Plateau into the flatness of the horizon.
In the morning, owner Tim will share his favorite hiking trails over a homemadebreakfast of fruit, muffins and, you guessed it, green-chile casserole.
Jennifer Denniston
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TRIP INFORMATION
GETTING THERE
Albuquerque lies 63 miles south of Santa Fe on I-25.
DO
Santa Fe School of Cooking
Regular classes on New Mexican cuisine and an excellent selection of cookbooks and green-chile condiments. 505-983-4511; www.santafeschoolofcooking.com; 116 W San Francisco St, Santa Fe, NM; varied
Wagner Farm
Locally grown chile in farming village outside Albuquerque. 505-898-3903; 5000 Corrales Rd, Corrales, NM; Jul-Nov;
EAT
El Patio
University of New Mexico hang-out with the city’s best green-chile enchiladas. 505-268-4245; 142 Harvard Dr SE, Albuquerque, NM; mains $5-10; 11am-9:30pm Mon-Sat;
Embudo Station
Old narrow-gauge railroad station along the Rio Grande River, with cottonwoods, outdoor seating and chile with a kick. 505-852-4707; Hwy 67, Embudo, NM; mains $8-15; Mar-Oct, hours vary;
Eske’s Brew Pub & Eatery
Drink the chile with a pint of aromatic Taos Green Chile Beer. 575-758-1517; 106 Des Georges Lane, Taos, NM; mains $5-12; 12:30pm-9pm Sun-Thu & to 10pm Fri-Sat,