The problem with eating in Santa Fe is not whether or not you will get some great food, its whether or not it will cost you a body part. Since we planned our meal for the lunchtime hour, I picked a highly rated, pricey (for dinner) kind of place in the middle of the historic downtown area.Coyote Cafe has a rooftop cantina thing going on, since April in New Mexico can be iffy weather-wise, we were happy to sit next to the heaters. Starting with cocktails, we tried a variation on the same theme with our fresh watermelon mojito/margarita. Fresh watermelon juice, fresh mint- the cocktails were wonderfully fresh and perfect for an outdoors lunch. It would have been perfect had it not been kinda chilly, but since we are now Wisconsinites we pretty much get happy anytime above freezing.
On to the food: slow roasted duck with a papaya bbq sauce quesadilla, and a snooty Navajo taco. A Navajo taco seems to be a coronary inducing regional kitchen-sink recipe; shredded chicken, pork, and bison mixed with some cheese, veg, and other usual taco suspects- all on top of fry bread. It was filling, fatty, not too greasy, and completely sinful. The duck quesadilla was a perfect mix of flavors; the fatty duck and the sweet/tart papaya bbq sauce are not new combinations, but they were executed admirably. From the lunch plates, I only wish that we had come back for dinner- I am pretty sure the insane cost would have been worth it.
