Reviews: The New Mexican | Santa Fe Reporter

Nestled beneath the rustling cottonwoods along the banks of the Rio Grande, halfway between Santa Fe and Taos, you'll find an oasis that features some of the best smoked meats and fish north of the border.

Embudo Station is the pride and joy of Preston and Sandy Cox, a couple who ran a tax accounting business for 15 years before retiring to the country in 1983. After two years of major renovations on the property, the couple opened a veritable village, complete with a restaurant, brewery, rafting company, a smoked goods mail-order catalogue company, an arts and crafts store, and an overnight cabin. ``The minute we saw this spot, we knew we had to have a restaurant here,'' said Sandy, standing on the restaurant's patio that overlooks the rushing Rio Grande.

``I never imagined I'd be doing this,'' said Preston, a certified executive chef who learned his trade by reading cookbooks and taking courses at the Santa Fe Community College. ``I was an accountant in Santa Fe.''

But when a friend told him about the perfect fishing spots on the land for sale along the Rio Grande River, Preston's life did a complete turnaround.

``I came home one day and told Sandy I'd bought it,'' he said, smiling. ``It's still a work in progress.''

The property was in ruins when the couple purchased it. The land was the last remaining intact 1880s narrow gauge railroad station, and many of the existing buildings date back to that period. The Coxes renovated the old, dilapidated buildings and built the main restaurant, which can seat 150 people. The couple also turned the old station house into a brewery, where brew master Brandon Santos makes 24 different kinds of ales, including a green chile ale and a red chile ale.

The Coxes added a smokehouse, where Preston smokes pheasant, Cornish game hens, turkey, ham, ribs and buffalo.

Last year, Preston founded the Small Brewers Association and the couple have begun expanding into the winery business. Preston shares the cooking with Ernest Quintana, the chef de cuisine. Sandy, meanwhile, manages the business side of things.

The Coxes live on the property with their famed mascot, Boogie, a German Shepherd, bloodhound and Labrador who wandered onto their property eight years ago and found himself a home. Today, he greets all the guests as they arrive.

The Coxes have many gardens filled with fresh herbs and edible flowers-- basil, mint, nasturtiums -- and they purchase most of their produce from local growers.

In Santa Fe, the Coxes often entertained and that tradition continues at Embudo Station. Last year, they opened a smaller restaurant, the Bistro, that's open only on the weekends. The Bistro serves a selection of homemade breads, soups and sandwiches and a Sunday brunch.

When the Bistro is closed, the Coxes often use it to entertain guests. The airy room has a spacious kitchen that's equipped with a convection oven, a grill and griddle.

The couple enjoys traveling to see what other restaurants are offering, and often they'll come back with new dishes, inspired by the foods they taste in San Francisco and New Orleans.

The Commander's Palace bread pudding, one of Preston's favorite desserts on the restaurant's menu, was based on the recipe provided graciously upon request, via fax, by the Commander's Palace restaurant in New Orleans, rated the top restaurant in the U.S. by the James Beard Institute in 1996. The pudding is made out of white chocolate with a white chocolate sauce sprinkled with Belgian chocolate shavings.

The Coxes work in the restaurant during its operating hours, six days a week. On Mondays, their day off, they like to relax, work in the garden and enjoy a picnic dinner at sunset in their own private spot along the banks of the Rio Grande.

On one such recent evening, they started their meal with minted Chardonnay granitas, a refreshing frozen drink, to cleanse the palate, at a luxurious table by the riverside.

For appetizers, they shared their favorite appetizer on the restaurant's menu -- Margaret and Ermita's Tomatoes with the restaurant's smoked trout, which is on the restaurant's regular menu. (Margaret and Ermita run Campos, a local produce farm.)

For the entree, they dined on roasted chicken breasts stuffed with New Mexico goat cheese and rosemary sprigs, paired with red pepper boats with saffron chili rice, portabella mushrooms and buffalo mozzarella cheese.

The dessert, strawberry tacos with fruit salsa, was stuffed with raspberry and strawberry and topped with whipped cream and nasturtiums. ``We love fresh ingredients,'' Sandy said. ``We use the finest fresh ingredients we can find.''

Lynn Cline is a Freelance Writer in Santa Fe and
the Editor of The New Mexican Taste Page.