Step through the doors of  Kakawa Chocolate House and the smell of chocolate is thick, voluptuous, almost musky.  The downtown shop is tiny--just one room with an alcove--but with a charm both potent and engaging.  A tiny kiva, Tibetan prayer flags and exhibits by local artists add color and warmth to the cosy rooms. The register is flanked by two cases of handmade chocolate creations, mostly hand-rolled truffles--all made in house.  But what has us returning time and again is the elixirs. These liquid creations are complex, intoxicating, more like wine than desert.  Staff will cheerfully dispense small samples to try. Find a favorite, but use these tasting opportunities to expand your knowledge.  Kakawa offers a changing repetoire of historic brews drawn from traditional Pre-Colombian, Mesoamerican Mayan Aztec, Colonial American, 1600′s European and Colonial Mexican sources--all ancient, authentic recipes from 1000 BC to the mid-1900′s AD.

Theobroma cacao, the botanical source of the chocolate bean, is indigenous to Mexico and Central America, where it has been consumed for millennia.  The name Theobroma, ‘food of the gods’ reflects the Aztecs’ view that chocolate was a hallowed substance, although there is no evidence that Linneaus, who named Theobroma, had any knowledge of the Aztecs’ perspective. To Linneaus, chocolate was simply a heavenly treat.  For the Mesoamericans, it was a sacred drink: a portal to health and wisdom, an extraordinary restorative, an aphrodisiac.

Kakawa offers two categories of drinking chocolates. Those from Mesoamerican are water based and sweetened lightly with honey and agave syrup.  Their rich flavors derive from herbs, flowers, nuts, and spices. The European brews are a bit sweeter and often creamier, making light use of ingredients such as evaporated cane sugar, and almond milk.  Recipes may be mildly spiced with cinnamon, vanilla, almonds and orange water, or exotically perfumed with jasmine, lavender, citrus and rose. They have none of the candy-sweetness of  Swiss Miss, but play over your tongue with the nuance-cluster of fine wine.

Elixirs are available to go, in round wafers or packaged with the shop’s signature blue pottery: an affordable, sense-satisfying gift.  Wafers are also sold, sans cup and saucer, in packages of three, each of which makes a 6 oz. demitasse drink. Kakawa also offers a brilliantly imaginative selection of truffles, with flavors like Ginger Limoncello, Mescal, Chile and Wine, and the unforgettably-named “Aphrodite’s Nipples” as well as flour-free and gluten free brownies and chocolate cake.

Kakawa’s atmosphere and savory products have the intimacy and integrity of hand-honed crafts, and owner Peter Woods is committed to keeping it that way. Yet, with its proximity to Canyon Road, the Plaza, and the South Capitol Roundhouse and a new website in the works, Kakawa is poised for prime time. Go now. Kakawa is unique, welcoming, laid-back, rich in tradition, and sensually alluring--just like Santa Fe itself.

Kakawa Chocolate House • 1050 E. Paseo de Peralta • Santa Fe, NM 87501
Tel: 505-982-0388 • Email: purchases@kakawachocolates.com • Hours: Mon-Thu 10-6, Fri-Sat 10-8, Sun 12-6.

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Real estate agents Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes, AKA Changing Gallery, use their listings, where appropriate, to showcase the art, photography, sculpture and other creations of emerging and independent talents. Artists receive 100% of the proceeds from any sale. For up-to-date market info and full access to the MLS, visit: Santa Fe Real Estate Downtown.

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3. Santa Fe Art Scene: Substance over Style

Like many immigrants arriving in New York from India in 1974, Kewal Dhindsa found his first job in the United States in a restaurant.  Unlike his comrades, however, he refused to start as a waiter, determined to be a cook. He was so determined, in fact, that he cut a deal with the renowned Punjabi restaurant’s Master Chef to work six months without pay, on call like a medical intern. To sweeten his teacher’s temperament, he often brought him a fifth of spirits.

Those six months paid off, when Kewal got his first job as a cook, earning three times a waiter’s wage, and garnering the skills that enabled him to open his own restaurant in Santa Fe in 1992.

The early nineties were tough times to start a business.  The threat of Hantavirus nearly killed tourism, and Dhindsa took on a lot of debt to survive.  But eventually, tourism turned a corner, the business thrived and in 2005, the family opened a second restaurant, India Palace, in Albuquerque.

We spoke with Amrik Dhindsa, one of Kewal’s two sons, who credits the restaurant’s success to time, attention and quality of ingredients–like real saffron for the rice. “Good Punjabi cuisine is labor intensive.  To give the rice pudding deep flavor, you have to cook it for a long time and keep scraping it down.  If it sticks, it runs the whole batch. “

Does India House have a specialty?  “Chicken Tikka Masala.”  Amrik’s favorite dish?  “Mint Lamb Curry, not a regular entree, but soon to be introduced. “We are very accommodating of our vegetarian and vegan customers.  We use different utensils and pans.”

Perhaps the most powerful secret to the rich satisfaction of the restaurant’s food is something found on grandma’s shelf: love and a desire to serve.  “Ours is a very hospitable culture.  We feel bad if we are not able to provide,” says Amrik. Familial warmth is pervasive throughout the restaurant’s culture.  Diners are greeted like honored guests.  And staff members work cooperatively, not competitively.

“Waiters are not assigned tables or given a section, ” says Amrik.  “They work together.  One clears a table, one wipes and another is standing ready to set.” As a result, staff turnover is minimal.  Gurmit Saroya, whose son Surjit is the cook, has worked at India House for 17 years.  (A vegetarian, Gurmit’s favorite dishes are the paneer and makhni.)  Gurmit, too, praises the community spirit.

“We work like a family.  The feeling is good.  There’s lots of respect.”

He praises the owners for their generosity towards their staff.  “They make us whatever we want to eat, never tell us we can’t have something. They take care of us.”

Communal support is evidenced by the staff and owner’s approach to waiter John’s upcoming trip to India.  Although John will be gone for several months, the owners have decided not to hire a replacement.  Instead, everyone–including the owners–will step in to cover John’s shifts.  John, whose first job was as one of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of the Poor, wouldn’t work anywhere else.

India House is located at 2501 Cerrillos, near the Casa Alegre neighborhood.  Hours: 11:30-2:30 daily for the buffet, and from 5:00-10:00 nightly for dinner. Tel: 471.2651.

Related posts:

1. Dining Santa Fe
2. Dining Santa Fe: Best New Mexican
3. Neighborhood Market Watch: Casa Alegre

Last week, The Santa Fe Reporter released its much anticipated Best of Santa Fe issue, the results of an annual reader poll ( SFReporter.com.) While we share a number of favorites, our short list for best New Mexican does not include this year’s multiple-category winner, Tomasita’s (although they do make fine sopapillas and fabulous honey butter.)  Check them all out and  send us your vote.

The Shed: Dependable excellence and charming atmosphere make this downtown spot just a block off The Plaza a mainstay for locals and tourists alike.  Good selection of non New Mexican fare if your party includes both the chile seeking and the chile adverse. We like the #10–one, blue corn, cheese enchilada and one, blue corn taco with chicken or beef.  The Chicken Enchilada Verde, with roasted chicken, is also quite good.  Carne Adovada with its deep red chile flavor is a popular item. The chile–especially, the red, is hot. If your palate or stomach favors milder fare, try the excellent Grilled Chicken, Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad, or the mushroom soup– light, creamy and nicely textured with bits of fresh mushroom.  Garlic bread is a surprisingly but pleasant side. Posole is regretably bland.  Expect a wait of at least 40 minutes for dinner, a little less for lunch, but don’t let that deter you from trying what is arguably Santa Fe’s best New Mexican restaurant. * Lunch: 11:00-2:30; Dinner: 5:30-9:00 RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED * 113 1/2 E. Palace Ave. * 982.9030

Marias: Famous for its 100+ margaritas, Maria’s  takes the crown for the best local posole: full flavored, not too spicy, graced with chunks of braised pork and slivers of menudo.  We like the open faced tacos with beef and chicken as well as the enchiladas. The fajitas, served on a sizzling iron platter, have bright, deep flavor, and come with sides of tasty guacamole, fresh pico de gallo, and house made flour tortillas. The Garlic Butter New York (steak) also gets high marks.  Vegetarians have a few options, including cheese enchiladas, bean burritos and guacamole tacos.  Re: margaritas: Maria’s consistently wins polls for best margarita,  even earning the moniker “The Motherlode of Margaritas” from the Seattle Times. The range and variety of offerings bedazzle, like the flashing legs of a chorus line, but it’s the quality of ingredients that really brings home the accolades.  Maria’s only uses “real” tequila (made with at least 51% agave juice, although I’ve never had a Maria’s marg made with less than 100%) distilled and produced in Mexico and shuns mixes and flavorings in preference for freshly squeezed lemon juice and triple sec, etc. To avoid watering down the final product, the margaritas are shaken, not blended.  Denizen’s of lower altitudes, be forewarned, Maria’s margaritas are strong. Drink with restraint and respect.   555 W. Cordova Rd. *983.7929

Related posts:

1. Dining Santa Fe
2. Dining Santa Fe: India House
3. Santa Fe Neighborhood Quick Sketch: South Capitol

We love good food. We spend a lot of time on the run.  Fortunately, this combo results in our eating out at least five times a week in Santa Fe, a city abundant with good restaurants in a range of price points.  Off the top of my cranium are five choices that vary substantially in cuisine, price and atmosphere, presented in alphabetical order. Watch for more to come.

Clafouti: The owners hail from Dijon, so it’s only right that they should make the transcendentally best French bread in town. My taste in pastries runs away from the sugared, so I can’t speak to the quality of the many visually luscious offerings in the case by the cash register but the mildly sweet brioche are meltingly soft.  The Salad Charlotte is my lunch preference; Josh favors the Cubano sandwich  but the Croque Monsieur merits attention as a far grander, more voluptuous version of the classic sandwich than any I ever sampled across the pond.  For breakfast, I like Le Speciale: 2 eggs, any style, plus bacon or ham and a bread basket. My alternate favorite: the omelette provençale.  The waffles and French Toast are well worth a try for their generous amounts of fresh fruit–no stinting on berries. Order the large coffee if you tend to drink your first cup quickly as the refill process can be painfully slow (wait staff must carry your cup up to machine in the front to pour a fresh cup.) Overall, Clafouti is one of our favorite restaurants for food quality, panache and the bright charm of its owners.$-$$ 402 N. Guadalupe * 988.1809

Cowgirl Hall of Fame Restaurant: If you’ve got the hankers for good barbeque in a lively, no fuss atmosphere, Cowgirl’s your ticket. Known for its heaping plates of mesquite smoked ribs, brisket and chicken, the Cowgirl also offers tasty and filing vegetarian fare. The cheesy, butternut squash casserole with its substantial side salad is a standout. Jerk Chicken and bourbon salmon platters are other savory options. As for appetizers, the best value is the nacho plate: a gargantuan nest of color, texture and flavor. The burgers are respectable, but stick with the regular fries as the sweet potato versions are a limp disappointment. For teetotalers, the Texas Sized sodas are two-fisted monsters of abundance. Even Arnold Palmer lovers are generously entitled to refills at no extra charge. For those seeking a stiffer brew, there’s a full bar with a good selection of tasty margaritas and tequilas. Be forewarned that the bar can be slow. Indeed, service can be a weak point, but if you have the time and patience to drop your spurs for a spell, the cowgirl delivers. Kid friendly; nice outdoor patio; live entertainment. $-$$ 319 S. Guadalupe * 982.2565

Pyramid Cafe: The first time we peeked in the windows of this nondescript storefront, we were put off by its emptiness and imagined a meal of stale pita and withering vegetables as the owners attempted to stretch out days of uneaten food.  Nothing could be further from the character of this bastion of fresh flavors.  We have dug deep ruts towards the same 2-3 offerings: Joshua tends to get the Gyro Sandwich and I am wed to the Roasted Leg of Lamb Salad, but any excursion off the path has been equally rewarding.  Meat is nicely seared: juicy with a hint of charing.  Salads are crisp and well-seasoned.  And while daytime ordering takes place at the counter, the man who usually greets us, takes our order and brings it to the table has a warmth and presence amidst the bustle that make us feel like genuinely honored guests.  For good value and reasonable prices, Pyramid is a staple.  North African, Mediterranean and Greek Cuisine. $$ 505 Cordova Rd. * 505.989.1378, Open 7 days a week, 11-9 PM continuously

Shoko Cafe: For many years, Shoko was the only Asian restaurant in Santa Fe, and my affection for it runs deep. Over time, its food and atmosphere have become more polished with an attendant rise in prices that sometimes seem a step ahead of its value. Solo diners should sit at the sushi bar to experience the deft artistry and hospitality of the chefs in attendance.  The fish is fresh and beautifully presented,  Indeed, most plates are a visual delight.  The Omakase Chef’s Choice sushi/sashimi special, however, lacked the range and sophistication we might have expected for the price. Vegetarians have strong options with excellent salads and vegetable appetizers (seaweed sesame and spinach sesame are two of our favorites), as well as entrees such as vegetable tempura, udon with vegetables and Tofu steak. Bento boxes are bountiful and beautifully balanced.  There’s a good selection of sakes, beer and wine as well as non-alcoholic drinks.  Avoid the overpriced lemonade and Arnold Palmers. Sushi and Japanese. $$-$$$ 321 Johnson St. * 982.9708

Upper Crust Pizza: Voted “Best Pizza” in the Santa Fe Reporter’s reader poll from 1995-2010, Upper Crust has competition from purveyors of wood-fired thin crusts, but those who favor a traditional American pizza will be pleased with the quality and value of this local institution. The whole wheat crust with its softly chewy texture and sweet, nutty flavor gets our vote over the perfectly respectable white. Choose your own toppings, or opt for one of the classics. Our favorite, the veggie combo, is loaded with tasty toppings, including a mild-leaning green chile that is as affectionately entwined in my memories of New Mexican pizza as Madelines were in the remembrances of Marcel Proust. Salads are a bit soggy with dressing but don’t lack for flavor. A good selection of brews and a pleasant outdoor patio make this a nice, affordable summer stop. Opt for pickup over delivery, which can be spotty. $-$$ 329 Old Santa Fe Trail * 982.0000

Related posts:

1. Dining Santa Fe: Best New Mexican
2. Dining Santa Fe: India House

My first encounter with Santa Fe was in the Spring of 1980, when I flew out to visit a friend. On the shuttle from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, I couldn’t take my eyes off the vast, color-saturated sky and the roughly textured land, an interplay of greens and browns. Back then, there was hardly a car on the road between the airport and the Capitol City. I could as much as set my cruise-control, crawl into the back seat for a nap, and wake up an hour later, safely at my destination.

Santa Fe has changed over the past 28 years, but the land is still vast and magnificent and the city still charming in physical appearance and breadth of cultural offerings. For the third year in a row, the readers of American Style voted Santa Fe the #1 arts destination in the top 25 small cities and towns category. In 2007, Sperling’s Best Places and Business Week awarded Santa Fe second place in The Top 10 places for artists.

Yet the factors that make Santa Fe attractive to artists-diverse and fairly youthful population, the number and variety of museums, the amount of dance, theater, film, symphony, chamber and choral music, the quality of photographic and Fine Arts education, and other cultural offerings-make it a terrific place for all of us.

Three weeks ago, SantaFe.com held its first Economic Forum whose purpose was, in the words of moderator, Michael French, to examine and address”…how all this turmoil will specifically affect our economy, and what we can do together to survive and even prosper.” Each member of the Panel was chosen to offer a different take on the proverbial elephant. Though hardly definitive, there was a good effort to provide balance and an opening dialogue.

If I see a silver bullet solution to the question of what we can do to survive and prosper in these economically crazy times, it is this: to see, celebrate and support the tremendous creative resources we have in our little town. As someone who grew up immersed in the arts of two, culturally rich Midwestern cities, Minneapolis and Chicago, I believe in power of the creative sector to give a community dignity, cohesion, vitality and internal wealth.

Santa Fe isn’t perfect. Like any place-or any person-there are things to love and things that frustrate. But what impresses me so deeply, what has brought me back time and again and caused me to adopt this place as my hometown, is its spirit: creative, hungry, at times conflictual, but richly resourceful.

So that’s what this blog is going to be about: things, people, places and events that give Santa Fe its special character. We’ll also talk about real estate because that’s our bread and butter and something we know a lot about. Check out our website at: santaferealestatedowntown.com. Thanks for reading.

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