Santa Fe Restaurant Week returns this month with more options

Feb. 12—Santa Fe Restaurant Week returns this year from President's Day to Leap Day.

So far, 36 restaurants have signed up for the three-course prix fixe dinners — the standard for restaurant weeks nationwide — along with lunches and brunches that will be served Feb. 19 to Feb. 29.

That is already more than the 35 that took part last year, the first Santa Fe Restaurant Week after a two-year hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic. Larry West, co-organizer of Santa Fe Restaurant Week, said the organizers were "pleasantly surprised" with both the number of restaurants and diners that took part.

"Restaurants really struggled during and after the pandemic with staffing and that still remains a problem," said Michele Ostrove, the other co-organizer who founded Santa Fe Restaurant Week in 2010.

Santa Fe this year is doing Restaurant Week a bit differently than anywhere else, where there are set dollar amounts for brunch, lunch and dinner. Santa Fe has an open range of charging anywhere from $30 to $70 for dinner with no price range for lunch.

"I was going to do $10 increments, and restaurants in general wanted $5 increments," Ostrove said. "Lunch has no set price. Years of talking to restaurants, the range was all over the table. It must represent a discount of what the normal price would be. The ball is in their court."

The New Mexican checked 10 other cities with restaurant weeks and most were at about $55 to $60 for their top dinner tier, with Las Vegas, Nev., having $80, $100 and $120 options at the high end.

"It should represent a discount," West said about the meal prices. "If you go to five or six [of the higher-priced places], you are not going to get out for less than $100 at normal prices. With Restaurant Week, you get three courses for the price of an entrée."

The restaurants participating so far are 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar, Allkemē, Andiamo!, Apothecary Kitchen, Arroyo Vino Restaurant and Wine Shop, Blue Heron at Ojo Santa Fe Resort, Boxcar, Cafecito, Chocolate Maven Bakery & Cafe, Coyote Cafe, Dinner for Two, El Farol Restaurant, El Nido, Estevan Restaurante, Hervé Wine Bar, High Desert at The Mystic, Izanami Restaurant, Joe's Tequila Bar, Joseph's Culinary Pub, Lino's Trattoria and Pizzeria, Midtown Bistro, Ortiz, Oshia's, Osteria D'Assisi, Palace Prime, Restaurant Martín, Rustica Fresh Italian Kitchen, Santacafé, Sazón, SkyFire, Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen, TerraCotta Wine Bistro, The Pink Adobe, The Ranch House, The Tea House and Zacatlán Restaurant.

Only two participating restaurants so far have chosen the lowest price — $30 — for dinner, Rustica Fresh Italian Kitchen and The Ranch House, both owned by Josh Baum and Ann Gordon.

"We're doing it the old way to give them a good deal," Baum said. "We are giving back the old way. To me, the spirit of Restaurant Week is to get people to come in and try your restaurant and try three different courses."

They have participated in Restaurant Week with The Ranch House since about five years before the coronavirus pandemic, and this will be the second year with Rustica, which opened during the pandemic.

Restaurant Martín is one of six participating restaurants so far at the $70 top-end dinner.

"Prices increased dramatically for everything," said Jennifer Rios, co-owner with her husband, Martín Rios. "Food prices have gone up, there are fuel surcharges, wine prices have gone up, staff wages have gone from $17 to $25 an hour, insurance is up. Everything."

But compared to regular prices for the three courses, $70 is still a bargain, Rios said.

"It's like buying two courses and getting a third course free," Rios said.

Ostrove and West said Restaurant Week attracts a mix of locals and visitors, but Rios said Restaurant Martín is a year-round locals' haunt, with even more locals turning out during Restaurant Week.

"It's nice to see people come out at a time of year when they might hunker down and stay home," Rios said.

Restaurant Week this year will have one James Beard Award winner, Fernando Olea and his Sazón, and current James Beard Award semifinalist Eduardo Rodriguez and his Zacatlán Restaurant.

Zacatlán was closed for three weeks in January as the Beard Award announcement was made because Rodriguez had knee surgery.

"I'm still working like Day One," said Rodriguez, who opened Zacatlán at the very depths of the pandemic in July 2020. "I like to cook."

The Beard announcement in January and the upcoming Restaurant Week are filling Zacatlán's tables.

"I'm always happy to have new business," Rodriguez said. "[Restaurant Week] brings new customers from out of town, people from Colorado."

Restaurant Week reservations are strongly recommended and may already be hard to come by.

"Reserve now; restaurants are getting hit hard with reservations," Ostrove said. "We didn't have the website up until mid-January. I know when I walk around and talk to restaurants, they already have 100 reservations booked for each night."

Many of the restaurant weeks across the country were established in the early 2000s with the common theme to stage them at the slowest time of the year — mid-January in Chicago, August in Houston and Dallas. Ostrove followed in 2010 and instead chose a shoulder season: late February.

"People are kind of ready to go out," Ostrove said. "We wanted to get people to go out who are already coming to Santa Fe. Locals see it as a time they can go out and afford restaurants. I've had nothing but positive reinforcement from diners. There is definitely an exciting among locals."