The weather in Santa Fe today was much like Washington in the summertime with a mild heat throughout the day and a breeze that kept everything cool. The Sun was out and shining and the birds were chirping and the trees were whistling in the wind.
We started our morning by driving to Canyon Road to peruse some of the art galleries, of which there are nearly a hundred lining either side of the narrow street. I brought my wallet thinking I might be able to buy something if it spoke to my soul - that was before I realized how expensive the taste of inner monologue is which quickly stamped out my exuberant optimism. All of the pieces were at least $2,000 but we saw some that were worth millions. Some galleries featured artists that shared a similar style and aesthetic which made all of the pieces more visceral, while others felt as though the gallery owner couldn’t decide on an aesthetic to sell.
We purchased a chunky turquoise and pearl necklace from a small consignment gallery called On Canyon Road which had a large skylight pouring natural light over the dozens of colorful items in their collection. Your eye was drawn from one place to the next with no real destination. Upon walking in there was a central courtyard that on one side had a fuschia futon, across from it a bright pink Japanese style couch, and on the other two sides a yellow upholstered couch, and a leather loveseat.
At El Callejon taqueria and grill we grabbed tacos for lunch. I tried the Carne Asada, Carne Barbacoa, and Pollo Asado tacos. The first was rich with flavor and makes my mouth water just reminiscing about it. The second was almost wet with how moist the meat was. It had a similar flavor profile to the Carne Asada and I suspect had the same marinating process on the meat. The Pollo Asado tacos were dry and that muted the taste the spices provided.
We wandered the shops near our lunch destination, perusing for art, jewelry, and clothing that we could actually purchase. I bought a cheap filigree gold leaf from a small boutique and my mom purchased an Indian glass table lamp from a store filled with the mesmerizing kaleidoscopic light emanating from hundreds of these lights. It was impossible to walk past the shop without entering, the rainbows from the lights cast luminescence on authentic Persian rugs that covered the back of the room. Everything sparkled.
We drove to Marcy Street for dinner at Il Piatto, an Italian Farmhouse Kitchen, and I ate homemade potato pecorino gnocchi and a mushroom appetizer from their specials for the evening. The gnocchi was a simple dish with a plain cheese sauce. Gnocchi is my absolute favorite kind of pasta because no matter how you make it it tastes like pillows of deliciousness but when it’s handmade, like it was here, it melts in your mouth like butter. Because gnocchi is my favorite kind of pasta it’s difficult for me to be impartial about the rest of the dish, I think that it lacked any flavors that stood out and that there’s so much more that you can do with a pasta as versatile as gnocchi so while I loved it myself I think that had more to do with the pasta than the creativity of the chef. The mushroom appetizer was marinated in a garlic and olive oil mixture before being grilled which I enjoyed but my mother felt that the olive oil was too much.
After dinner we went shopping at WearAbouts which was just down the street. We purchased a blush pink leather jacket that was lightweight due to the design of the sleeves to be something like mesh. I don’t have many articles of clothing in mesh pink but when I tried this jacket on it felt like it was something I didn’t want to walk away without.