Taos – High tech is still pretty much an abstract concept in this neck of the woods, and that’s OK with Karen Todd.
Todd is the frequently harried chef-owner of the 6-year-old DRAGONFLY CAFE AND BAKERYat the northern end of Paseo del Pueblo Norte, the main drag.
She doesn’t own a cellphone, doesn’t have one of those fancy machines that prints receipts that itemize your order, and her nicely landscaped eatery is in one of many mysterious “no service” zones that leave cellphone users thoroughly befuddled.
“It’s kinda funny watching people, ’cause one minute you’re on one side of the street chattering away, then you cross the street and poof, transmission vanishes,” she says, catching her breath as the lunch rush tapers off.
Todd, a graduate of the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, doesn’t have much time for chitchat, what with catering weddings and special events, and feeding a steady breakfast and lunch clientele.
Dragonfly, billed as a “European-style” cafe, also welcomes Saturday- and Sunday-morning paper-readers. Service is never hurried, so if you want things speeded up, you’d best say so upfront. Otherwise the proverbial laid-back, go-slow northern New Mexico spirit prevails.
The cafe is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It consists of a little something for every taste, Korean bibimbop, a brave combo of egg, rice and kimchee; Moroccan gateau, layers of spinach, brie and pear confit layers in Moroccan crepes with carrot purée; banana bread French toast with fresh strawberries and crème anglaise; house-smoked trout salad; eggs any style; and of course house-made granola, fruit and yogurt.
Meals here are affordable, and you can linger over your latte, chai or espresso or iced tea until guilt moves you to relinquish your table.
Down the road, on the plaza and tucked inside La Fonda de Taos hotel, is JOSEPH’S TABLE, a slightly pricey, white-linen restaurant serving some of the Southwest’s best food. Forget everything you’ve ever heard about mediocre hotel food. Forget you’re even in a hotel.
Just know that you’re in Joseph Wrede’s restaurant.
At Joseph’s, also known as just plain “Joe’s,” it’s easy to feel transported to Barcelona, in keeping with the hotel’s Spanish Colonial tone.
Concentrate on such delectables as the wild mushroom and duck egg flan with pumpkin seed pesto and portobello syrup; or a risotto cake with Parma prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
If your luck’s running right, you might even score Wrede’s lobster and masa bread pudding on Mexican creamed corn or the achiote citrus-marinated grilled quail on pecan quinoa.
Wrede, an Arizona native, studied sociology and English literature at Regis College before transferring and graduating from Peter Kump’s Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. He later worked with Denver chef Sean Kelly at Kelly’s Aubergine Cafe, and with Pat Perry at Highland’s Garden Cafe before moving to Taos.
In 2000, Food & Wine magazine named him one of “America’s Ten Best New Chefs.” At the time, Joseph’s Table occupied a 100-year-
old adobe building at Ranchos de Taos, about 3 miles outside of town. Wrede bought the business – a former Chinese restaurant – for $10,000.
“I had planned to close the restaurant and move into this eco-friendly resort, but construction was still underway, so I started traveling,” he says. “I was able to explore Japan and Mexico, which has enabled me to expand my way of thinking about food and the integrative process.”
Instead of being in one place, he ended up in another where he could return to capitalizing on what he had learned from various experiences.
“I learned so much from Sean (Kelly) that I even patterned one of my menu items on one of his,” Wrede says. “We change the menu daily, but people won’t let me take this one dish off. I’ve been making it so long I feel like I’m on a Ronald McDonald line.”
A 35-minute drive away, north from Española on U.S. 285
is RANCHO DE SAN JUAN.
If you like being in the middle of nowhere, you’ll love this elegantly appointed culinary oasis a few miles shy of Ojo Caliente. Zagat called it the No. 1 restaurant in New Mexico, and for five of the 10 years it’s been open Wine Spectator has conferred its award of excellence on the exquisitely remote rancho.
Owners John Johnson (originally from Oklahoma) and David Heath (originally from Texas) met in Los Angeles. When they simultaneously stressed out on La La Land, they decided to find the perfect place to establish their own little B&B.
“We had been coming to New Mexico for ages, and looked and looked, starting at Cerillos and working north,” Johnson says. “One day we looked up and said, ‘Hey there’s a road we haven’t been on; let’s try that one.”‘
They chose an almost-desolate spot in the Ojo Caliente River Valley, or maybe the locale chose them. They were looking for 25 acres and ended up with 250. They were the first to open a B&B in the valley.
In the early years Johnson tended the kitchen while Heath managed the property.
“David worked as a waiter for one week before agreeing to hire a waitress,” Johnson says. “My mother and father offered to help by washing dishes. They quit the next day. People don’t realize how tough this business is.”
In Chris Rocha they found an innovative self-taught chef who is in love with cooking. Hailing from Kentucky, he worked catering gigs in Cherry Creek and the Denver Tech Center, and he credits a range of chefs for nurturing his talents.
He’s been at Rancho de San Juan two years. The B&B is now a Relais & Chateaux property serving $55 prix fixe four-course dinners on a reservations-only basis.
“I had a job lined up in Colorado Springs at a country club,” Rocha says. “I was passing through Española and saw a sign advertising for a cook. I figured I’d work there for a while and move on when the time came. John and David were regulars there, and they asked me to come to Rancho San Juan.”
Shortly after the chef’s arrival, Rancho San Juan was invited to cook at New York’s James Beard House. “We did sturgeon on bellini, serrano ham with jalapeño marmalade, frenched lamb with calabacita custard and chocolate truffles. It was amazing.”
And the food he presents on a menu that changes nightly is no less so. Rocha’s combination of textures, flavors and colors are complemented by tables laid with fresh flowers, starched table linens, sterling silver, custom-designed French porcelain, Riedel crystal, soft music and an unhurried atmosphere that makes for an idyllic dining experience.
As Joseph Wrede put it, New Mexico is the place to digest one’s life.
“In many ways it’s a kind of lonely place, and that’s why it’s considered a spiritual place,” he says. “People here are open. When Peter Kump was alive, he said you must try every food source at least once. So we’re frying grasshoppers and puddling them in orange sauce with chile and offering them as an appetizer. It’s a traditional Mexican hors d’ouevre.
“Hey, I know I’m a husband and a father, but I’m really married to food.”
Staff writer Ellen Sweets can be reached at 303-820-1284 or esweets@denverpost.com.
Peppercorn-Crusted Elk Tenderloin on Smashed Potatoes with Madeira Mushroom Sauce
Chef Joseph Wrede calls this “American Steak au Poivre” on his menu at Joseph’s Table in Taos. Serves 2.
Ingredients
Mushroom Madeira Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 diced small red onion
2 thinly sliced cloves garlic
4 (2 ounces) crimini mushrooms
1 tablespoon fresh herbs (equal parts thyme, sage, rosemary, and
Italian parsley)
1 cored, seeded, diced roma tomato
2 tablespoon fine medium dry Madeira
4 ounces beef stock
Smashed potatoes
1 1/2 potatoes per person
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
Elk Tenderloin
2 10-ounce elk (or beef) tenderloins
Salt
Whole black peppercorns, cracked in halves or thirds
1 tablespoon pure olive oil
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
Directions
Make sauce: Into a warm 9-inch sauté pan over medium heat add olive oil and onions. When onions begin to sweat (about 3 minutes), add garlic, stir, and sweat 1 minute. Add mushrooms and herbs, turn burner up to high heat, and stir. Cook until mushrooms are wilted (2 or 3 minutes). Add tomato and stir, cooking 2 minutes. Pour in Madeira and stir 10 seconds. Add beef stock and remove from heat.
Make potatoes: Peel the potatoes, cutting out all brown spots, and cut them into pieces of equal sizes.
Put potato pieces into saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil, cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes, and drain.
Place potatoes in a bowl. Add butter and salt. Warm, but don’t boil, milk in saucepan. Pour milk into bowl with potatoes, and using a potato masher or a fork, smash potatoes to desired consistency.
Make steak: Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Clean tenderloins of all silver skin and excess fat, and salt both sides of steak.
Put cracked peppercorns in a small plate or bowl, and place one end of each steak into peppercorns. Don’t press the meat into the peppercorns; they will stick to the steaks.
Warm 12-inch sauté pan over high heat, add olive oil and drop steak, peppercorn-side down, into pan and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Turn over and cook 1 1/2 minutes.
Put into oven for 14 minutes.
(As prepared above, steak will be rare. For medium rare, leave in oven 16 minutes, 20 minutes for medium.)
To serve: Return mushroom madeira sauce to high heat and bring back to a boil. Add butter. Remove from heat.
Put smashed potatoes on a plate, place steak on top of potatoes with a pinch of salt on top of the steak. Pour sauce over steak.
Apricot and Blueberry Galette
Karen Todd makes this rustic tart at her Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery in Taos. She says the cake flour makes a tender crust. If you plan to make one tart, halve all filling ingredients. Makes 2 12-inch tarts.
Ingredients
Dough
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water, with an ice cube added after measuring
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 egg, lightly beaten
Filling
2 cups blueberries
3 cups fresh apricots, pitted and sliced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup brandy
1 egg, beaten
Directions
In a large bowl, blend butter, flours and salt with a pastry blender until it resembles corn meal. Add water, vinegar and egg to dry ingredients and mix with a light touch until dough holds together. If it looks too dry, add more water, a few drops at a time.
Form dough into two flattened discs and roll out to form 14-inch circles. Make edges of dough slightly thinner than center. (If you plan to make only one tart, wrap one dough disc in plastic, then foil, and keep up to 3 days in the refrigerator, or freeze.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gently toss all filling ingredients in a large bowl.
Place each rolled out dough circle onto a lightly buttered baking sheet. Fill each with fruit, leaving about 2 inches of dough around the edge. Fold edges over top of fruit.
Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake about 40 minutes, until filling bubbles.
