Reviews: The New Mexican | Santa Fe Reporter

By Audrey Van Buskirk

Noted food critic Dave Barry once wrote, “It is a known fact that beer drinkers will eat pretty much anything: Exhibit A is ‘Slim Jims.’ You could put a dish of salted mothballs in front of beer drinkers and they would snort them up.”

That may be true if you’re drinking Bud Lite and watching pre-season football, but it’s certainly anything but the case if you’re lucky enough to be sipping a pint of Embudo Station’s Summer Cloud Wheat while overlooking the placid Rio Grande, though this beer is so tasty you may be tempted to forgo the food entirely.

Embudo Station, now in its 17th year, holds the first microbrewer’s license in New Mexico, and the experience shows in a variety of beers that are simply delicious. Under the supervision of brewmaster Brandy Santos, the tap turns out a rotating selection of six hand-crafted brews. The wheat beer is refreshing and perfect for a hot summer’s day. The two “chili” brews, Rio Grande Green Chili Golden Ale and Rio Grande Ristra, may have both been designed for turistas, but both have a true New Mexican taste and kick. The brown Ristra is especially nice, with the rich, dark beer standing up well to the chili. There’s also a fine and not-too-sweet IPA, as well as a dark, English-style Railroaders Stout.

But even if you dislike beer (you can be the designated driver for the sensible people who do), it’s well worth making the 40-mile drive to Embudo for the food. It can stand up to the best cooking in Santa Fe, and the riverside setting, underneath shady trees, is unsurpassed.

In addition to the microbrews, Embudo Station produces a variety of smoked meats and fish. These are used throughout on the menu, and for separate purchase in the Country Store, or through a holiday catalog. The smoked trout appetizer with roasted corn salsa may make you place an order immediately.

Other standout appetizers include the Southwest quesadilla, made with wonderful, housemade turkey chipotle’ sausage, roasted red peppers and arugula pesto. The calamari is a cut above the typical chewy fried tentacles, served with a crisp cucumber salad and intoxicating basil aioli.

The main dish menu changes frequently, but there are always New Mexican entrées, such as the sublimely rich wild mushroom enchiladas with three cheeses or a dense and meaty brisket of beef burrito.

To try more of the house-cured meat, choose the smokehouse combination plate with tender-but not fatty- baby back ribs, a salad-plate sized pink slab of ham and incredibly good sausage, all served with crunchy coleslaw. Another meat-eater should try the smokehouse prime rib. This giant, nearly creamy comes with rosemary and garlic herbed potatoes.

There are also some terrific fish dishes. A lime-marinated and grilled mahi mahi was gently cooked, the sweet fish neatly marked with grill marks and sparkling with citrus flavor. It lay atop a light, shaved fennel salad and a bed of wilted greens. Another fine choice is the rainbow trout roasted on a cedar plank.

Starving vegetarians should enjoy the enormous vegetarian plate, with grilled portabella mushrooms, eggplant and tomatoes, served with blocks of feta cheese, a mound of olives and slabs of rustic bread.

On Sundays, Embudo Station hosts live jazz from noon to 4 pm., and it’s common for groups to linger long after their meals have been cleared to watch the river and listen to the music. It’s a good time to take a look at the dessert list, which includes lemon tart with raspberry coulis, tart cherry and vanilla bean creme brulee and white chocolate bread pudding with white chocolate sauce.

Or try one more pint. Embudo Station inspires you to slow down, and remember some of the words of wisdom from America’s finest philosophers: Life’s too short to drink cheap beer.

Embudo Station - 41 miles North of Santa Fe on Highway 68.
Open noon – 9pm Tuesdays-Saturdays 505-852-4707.
Embudo station rents a 1930s log cabin with one bedroom, living room and kitchen for $100 - $125 a night
Float trips and white water rafting along the Rio Grande are available. Call for reservations.