Restaurant bites, Oct. 3, 2023
Oct. 2—Sean Sinclair, former co-owner and chef of Legal Tender in Lamy, is the new corporate executive chef at Heritage Hotels & Resorts, which in Santa Fe owns the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, Inn and Spa at Loretto, Hotel Chimayó de Santa Fe, Hotel St. Francis and the Lodge at Santa Fe. Sinclair is also stepping away from Bar Castañeda in Las Vegas, N.M. At Heritage, Sinclair is also overseeing the restaurants at Heritage's Albuquerque properties: Hotel Chaco, Hotel Albuquerque and Sawmill Market.
----Crepas-Oh! opened its second location Sept. 12 at Market Station in The Railyard, 500 Market St., Suite 111. Owner Cynthia Cordova opened the original Crepas-Oh! in March 2019 at 1382 Vegas Verdes Drive; that location will remain open.
----Opuntia, 1607 Alcadesa St., closed for business Sept. 24 after six years at various locations, including Shoofly Street in the Baca District, El Rey Court and for nearly two years, the Railyard. Owners Todd Spitzer and Jeanna Gienke said on Facebook that "skyrocketing food and labor costs, coupled with the financial burdens of the pandemic, have taken a toll."
----Brothers Diego and Jorge Melara opened Santa Fe Bees, 235 N. Guadalupe St., on Aug. 31 in the former location of Taco Fundación and Burt's Burger Bowl.
----Fire & Hops, 222 N. Guadalupe St., closed Sept. 10 after owner Josh Johns posted a farewell message citing rising food and labor costs and labor shortages. Johns and Joel Coleman opened Fire & Hops in 2014; Coleman moved on in 2022 to focus more on his La Lecheria craft ice cream company.
----Dr. Field Goods Butcher Shop expects to reopen later this month in a new location in the DeVargas Center next door to Dr. Field Goods Bar & Grill, both owned by Josh Gerwin.
----The Restaurant List 2023, The New York Times' list of "50 places in the United States that we're most excited about right now," included no New Mexico restaurants among the 28 states represented on the list that was published Sept. 18.
----Sazón, Geronimo and Sassella made the Tripadvisor 2023 Travelers' Choice "Best of the Best" list of 25 restaurants across America in the fine dining category. The honor was based on reader reviews, with Sazón ranked No. 6, Geronimo at No. 11 and Sassella at No. 13. Sazón received 1,153 excellent ratings out of 1,356 diner reviews, Geronimo 1,995 excellent ratings from 2,524 reviews and Sassella 295 excellent ratings out of 346 reviews.
----Fusion Tacos Downtown at Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta is now open on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
