Dining with Dale
Good food, good stories — from Santa Fe, New Mexico
From my kitchen at 7,000 feet

A restaurant critic retires his notebook — and picks up a skillet

After decades of reviewing other people's cooking for newspapers in Syracuse, Dallas, and Austin, I'm now doing the cooking myself in Santa Fe — where the air is thin, the chile is serious, and every recipe needs a little altitude adjustment. Pull up a chair.

Eat through Santa Fe with me   Meet Dale

Eating my way through Santa Fe

More dining notes →
📷 Your photo here — farmers market haul
Santa Fe

Saturday Morning at the Santa Fe Farmers' Market

What to grab first, which vendors sell out by nine, and why you should never skip the chile roaster in September.

📷 Your photo here — red and green enchiladas
Santa Fe

Red or Green? A Former Critic Takes a Side

The official state question of New Mexico deserves a serious answer. After a year of field research, I'm ready to rule. (Hint: "Christmas" is not a cop-out.)

📷 Your photo here — Canyon Road stroll
Santa Fe

Where I Take Out-of-Town Guests to Eat

Everyone who visits asks the same question. Here's my honest short list — from old-school institutions to the new places earning their reputations.

New on the menu

Braised meat over piped mashed potatoes with an apple matchstick salad — from Dale's first road-trip meal
New section

Will Drive for Food

Is a restaurant worth more than an hour's drive for lunch or dinner? Road-trip reviews from across New Mexico — the first photos are in, and the drive, the meal, and the honest verdict are coming.

📷 Your photo here — the newest cookbook and its dish
New section

Cooking the Books

Confessions of a cookbook addict: every new book that joins the shelf gets read, cooked from, and reported on — the book and the dish both.

Home cooking, fresh from my kitchen

All home cooking →
📷 Your photo here — green chile stew
Recipe

Green Chile Stew, the Santa Fe Way

Roasted Hatch chiles, pork shoulder, and patience. The one-pot dish that convinced me New Mexico was home — with notes on adjusting the simmer for altitude.

📷 Your photo here — blue corn pancakes
Recipe

Blue Corn Pancakes with Piñon Butter

Nutty, tender, and unmistakably New Mexican. Blue cornmeal behaves differently in dry air — here's how to keep the batter from fighting you.

📷 Your photo here — braised short ribs
Recipe

Red Wine Short Ribs for a Cold Mesa Night

A critic's habit dies hard: I still taste everything twice. These ribs earned the second helping. Braising times run longer up here — plan for it.

Cooking at altitude (and in the desert)

All tips →
Tip

Why Your Water Boils at 198°F Here

At 7,000 feet, water boils cooler and everything simmers slower. What that means for pasta, beans, braises, and your morning egg.

Tip

Baking in Bone-Dry Air

Santa Fe humidity hovers in the teens. Your flour is drier than the recipe assumes — a splash more liquid saves many a loaf.

Tip

Rise Fast, Fall Hard: Yeast at 7,000 Feet

Dough rises noticeably faster up here — and over-proofs before you know it. Cut the yeast, watch the dough, not the clock.