Restaurant Martin

Santa Fe is always a fun place to eat and Restaurant Martin is a great addition to the scene. Martin Rios was born in Mexico and raised in Santa Fe, where he has pursued his cooking career at the Eldorado Hotel and the Inn at Anasazi. His dishes are not particularly Southwestern, except for the occasional chile accent, but they are very good and dinner on the large outdoor terrace, sheltered from the wind and the sun, was a very pleasant experience.

The Snake River pork belly I had as a starter was exquisite -- a word you would never think to combine with pork belly. This was melt-in-your-mouth tender, no doubt from a good brine, and full of real pork flavor. It was served, interestingly, with chile-glazed tiger prawns -- a real variation on surf and turf -- and a creamy cauliflower mousseline. The grilled Berkshire pork chop that I had as a main course was almost anticlimactic, though it also was tasty and moist (brine again?), though whiter than I might have expected from a heritage breed. The chop had a nice guajillo chile glaze and was served with a delightful combination of sweet potato pave, broccolini and lemon garlic shoots, reflecting the limited seasonal choices from the local farmers' market.

What I sampled from companions' dishes was equally delicious -- a signature ahi tuna tartar and a superb wild mushroom and truffle risotto with bay scallops. We had a very nice Willamette Valley pinot noir with the meal.

This trip to Santa Fe had a greater focus on art than food. We did get to our standbys of Coyote Cafe and Tesuque Village Market; had some other nice outdoor dining experiences at The Shed (carnitas) and Harry's Roadhouse (green chile cheeseburger -- good but no match to Bobcat Bite); and a nice farewell dinner at Plaza Cafe, where the food was so-so but the view is great.

Our other recent trip was to Rehoboth Beach, where we re-visited the Back Porch Cafe and had a very pleasant dinner on the back porch. I had a very tender half-rack of lamb, perfectly grilled to medium rare, combined with an unusual beetroot and poppyseed whole wheat linguini smothered in a lamb ragu that was simply delicious. The other main course similarly combined two versions of the same meat -- a meaty leg of rabbit confit with a rabbit ragu lasagna. Very satisfying.