Author Archives: Kokopelli

The Raven: Fine Consignments & Antiques

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The Raven (formerly known as Recollections Fine Consignment Furniture and Antiques) provides a great venue in Santa Fe for your fine furniture, antique and garden consignments — whether you’re looking to sell or buy!

The Raven Fine Consignments in Santa Fe, NM.

The Raven Fine Consignments in Santa Fe, NM.

Since 2002 The Raven has been Santa Fe’s best store for upscale furniture consignments. We carry everything from fine interiors and upholstery to lighting, dining and bedroom furniture, to high-end candles, gazebos, fountains and garden accessories. In addition to our fine antique and consignment selections we also carry a wide variety of new merchandise including everything from seating to rugs, to curtains, chandeliers and everything in between. We have been repeatedly voted the best store in Santa Fe for furniture and interiors.

 

Recollections logo

Former Recollections Logo

The Raven’s owner, Kateryna VanHeisch, manages to stuff about 20,000 square feet of merchandise into an 11,000 square foot building located on Cerrillos Rd, just a couple minutes from downtown.

 

Come in to browse, to find that one of kind gift or to furnish your house for a fraction of what you’d spend anywhere else. (The Raven)

The Raven is open Monday-Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Visit the image gallery on The Raven’s website to get a sneak peek at the types of offerings available.

Visit and Learn More

The Raven Fine Consignments in Santa Fe, NM.

The Raven Fine Consignments in Santa Fe, NM.

Learn more at their website theravensantafe.com.

Contact by phone at (505) 988-4775. You can also follow The Raven on Facebook & Instagram.

The Raven Fine Consignments is located at 1225 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Find it on the map below:

Jambo Café

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Jambo Cafe logo

Jambo Café, an award winning, mostly East African cuisine hipster hangout, is one of Santa Fe’s most unique (and unlikely) restaurants.

The exotic locale of Lamu Island, off the coast of Kenya, with its Swahili fusion of European, Arabic and Indian influences, is at the heart of owner-chef Ahmed Obo’s spirited cuisine. It was there, in his mother’s aromatic kitchen, that Ahmed mastered his homeland’s unique gastronomic delights, beginning a culinary adventure that would ultimately lead him to Santa Fe, New Mexico where, in August, 2009, he fulfilled his life’s dream by opening Jambo Café.

 

Winner of numerous awards including “Best Soup” at the Souper Bowl for four years in a row and the Santa Fe Reporter’s, “Best International Cuisine” for 6 years running and “Best Chef” in 2015 and 2016. Jambo Café was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” in 2013. (About Jambo Café)

Stop by Jambo Café to enjoy African & Caribbean Cuisine — take a sneak peak at their menu online. By the way, Jambo means “hello” in Swahili.

Visit Jambo Café

Hours: 11:00 am–9:00 pm, Monday–Saturday.
Phone: (505) 473-1269
Email: JamboCafe23@gmail.com
Website: www.JamboCafe.net

Jambo Café is located at 2010 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM. Find it on the map below.

Fort Marcy Recreation Complex

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Santa Fe Parks and Recreation Department Logo

Fort Marcy Recreation Complex is a beautiful facility located in the heart of downtown Santa Fe. The complex boasts a 25-yard pool, fully equipped weight room, unique selection of cardio-equipment, racquetball courts and a full court gymnasium. Ft. Marcy offers a comprehensive range of fitness classes and sports leagues. The community room is available for parties and event rentals. The adjacent parks have multiple fields, playgrounds, a walking path, a putting green and stationary outdoor fitness equipment. (City of Santa Fe)

Learn all about the complex’s membership fees here. You can find the fitness class schedule here. To learn more about the facility and all of its specific features visit the Fort Marcy Recreation Complex webpage on the City of Santa Fe website and explore!

Learn More & Visit the Fort Marcy Recreation Complex

Hours:

  • Monday to Friday | 6:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. (pool closes at 8:00 p.m.)
  • Saturday | 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Sunday | Closed

Website: www.santafenm.gov/ft_marcy_recreation_complex

Address: 490 Bishops Lodge Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Phone: (505) 955-2500 or 2501

 

Tecolote Cafe

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Tecolote Cafe LogoThe Tecolote Cafe is a family run restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch. They’re known for their great “bread baskets” — stop by and give them a try! You can see the menu on their website.

How the Tecolote Cafe Got Started

When Alice and Bill Jennison first opened Tecolote Cafe on June 2, 1980, their mission was to serve excellent food at a reasonable price, while making one feel at home. Over three decades later the family still strives for these qualities.

 

We lost Bill in May of 2010 and Alice in December of 2012. Their daughter Katie and her husband Matt took the reins, knowing they had some big shoes to fill. Between them and a crew of amazing people, they do so with pride.

 

“Tecolote” is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word for “owl.” Actually, Bill named the cafe after the town and not the bird. When Bill first moved to Northern New Mexico, he was enchanted by that all but deserted village along the railroad tracks about ten miles south of Las Vegas, NM.

 

The owl has represented different things to different people over the millennia. Every owl you see here has been gifted to us by customers and employees over the years. Our owl reminds us of the work Bill and Alice did to connect with their customers and their community. We look forward to continuing that connection. So, from the next generation of Tecolote, we look forward to serving you and yours. ~Matt, Katie, and the Tecolote Family (About Tecolote Cafe)

Visit Tecolote Cafe

Hours: Open Tuesday-Sunday, 7:00 am – 2:00 pm

Location: St. Michael’s Village West Shopping Center, 1616 St. Michael’s Drove, Santa Fe, NM 87505

Phone: 505.988.1362

Website: www.tecolotecafe.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tecolote-Cafe-200103576677201/

Twitter: @tecolotesantafe

Santa Fe Culture: Past Meets Future

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Past Meets Future (Travel + Leisure)

Becoming Human, a 30-foot-tall sculpture by Christian Ristow, greets visitors to the House of Eternal Return. Brian Finke (Source: “Past Meets Future”, Travel + Leisure)

The city’s carefully constructed image as a mecca of Southwestern-themed art, turquoise jewelry, and folksy spiritualism has lately begun to evolve, thanks to a group of oddball artists and entrepreneurs who insist on seeing their hometown differently. (Source: Amanda Fortini, “In Santa Fe, the Past Meets the Future”, Travel + Leisure)

In this Travel + Leisure article, Fortini explains how the cultural identity of Santa Fe was deliberately crafted to portray its Southwestern aesthetic to encourage tourism — “the idea was to give the city a historic regional identity and the patina of an exotic travel destination.” It has worked well and the city does attract many travelers and it has even become one of the best known art destinations in the United States. However, some felt that the the art styles being promoted and encouraged were only those that fit with the theme already embraced as the Santa Fe style and limited the possibilities of new art styles. That has recently begun to change.

Using a new installation created by the company Meow Wolf as an ultimate example of the new artistic movement, Fortini describes The House of Eternal Return “as a haunted house without the monsters, an amusement park without the rides, an acid trip without the drugs,” it is both an abstract visual experience and has a mysterious narrative waiting to be explored. The complex that contains this feature also has studios, offices, and a youth-education center. Although not like the “traditional” art of Santa Fe this destination is drawing in the crowds and is showcasing the fact that Santa Fe can be this blend of old and new styles and doesn’t need to be stuck with a singular identity.

Fortini also explores some other traditions that are being played with, updated, or ignored including what is seen as art by Native Americans that doesn’t need to “look like” Native American art and in the category of culinary “art” the popular chiles of Santa Fe.

The article also discusses the issue of an aging population of Santa Fe residents, and what some are doing to try to develop policies and activities to help attract and keep a youth population, like encouraging more night life (as there is a lack) that would be available for and of interest to a younger crowd.

The article also ends with a list of recommendations of both places embracing the traditional and others the new, so check it out: “In Santa Fe, the Past Meets the Future.”

Mike Lopez Roofing

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Sandias and Hummingbird Roof (March 2016)

Sandias and Hummingbird Roof (March 2016)

I’ve spent the last four days meeting with a parade of inspectors, contractors, and a landscaper and an engineer in order the perform due diligence for on an amazing Eastside property that just might become the new home of Adobe Oasis. That’s right, we’re upsizing!

Mike Lopez Roofing was on the short list of highly recommended roofers, so I wasn’t surprised at all with Sean Lopez’s smart observations during our site visit, nor was I surprised to receive his estimates well ahead of all of the other roofers with whom I met. We had dealt with Sean Lopez previously since he was the one who had installed the roof on Adobe Oasis’s first property, and the company’s professionalism (and great roofs!) are well known.

Mike Lopez Roofing logo

A Family Roofing Business

“Since 1975 Mike Lopez Roofing has been a family owned and operated roofing and insulation company serving the Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, and surrounding areas of Northern New Mexico. We provide quality roofing and insulation services for both residential, and commercial clients.” (Mike Lopez Roofing, www.mikelopezroofing.com)

Take a look at all the roofing services Mike Lopez Roofing offers to see if they’re the right fit for you. Also consider the green options that this company makes available!

Go Green with Mike Lopez Roofing

Mike Lopez Roofing offers a polyurethane spray foam that is a long-lasting green insulation alternative to fiberglass and other insulation materials. See all the applications and advantages.

“There is no better insulating material that can fully seal your home, save on costly utility bills and protect your family’s health than spray foam insulation which provides clean, green, and long-lasting insulation with exceptional value.” (Mike Lopez Roofing, www.mikelopezroofing.com)

To learn more visit their website www.mikelopezroofing.com. Contact them at (505) 982-8262. You can follow them on Facebook.

Mike Lopez Roofing is located at 3000 Agua Fria Street, Santa Fe, NM 87507. Find it on the map below:

La Casa Sena

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La Casa Sena logo

Built in 1868, Sena Plaza is one of the oldest surviving houses in Santa Fe. It is located just one block from the city’s plaza, and just across the street from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. La Casa Sena, which means “the Sena House”, occupies an old hacienda style adobe. The Sena family was one of the oldest and most notable in Santa Fe. Even then the House of Sena served the finest cuisine of the region, featuring venison, rabbit, buffalo, and the many chilies native to this area. […] In 1983, La Casa Sena opened, and food and song once again filled the old Sena house. (About La Casa Sena)

La Casa Sena Restaurant

Chef Patrick [Gharrity] is a dedicated culinarian who believes in, “building community through the vehicle of food.” This is demonstrated in his commitment to supporting local farms, dairies and ranches. New Mexican products, flavors and configurations are proudly featured throughout his menus. (La Casa Sena Restaurant)

Peruse the restaurant’s menus to see what is on offer and prepare to get hungry.

La Casa Sena La Cantina

Come dine with us in our historic adobe, while our singing wait staff entertain you with the best of Broadway, Jazz and much more.

Enjoy Chef Patrick Gharritys New American West cuisine while listening to some of the area’s most incredible talent in a warm and intimate environment.

Music nightly from 6:00 pm until closing—featuring music from all genres and accompanied by some of Santa Fe’s most accomplishes pianists. (About La Casa Sena La Cantina)

Take a look at La Cantina’s menus for food to enjoy with your entertainment.

La Casa Sena Wine Shop

The only shop in downtown Santa Fe that sells fine wines, premium spirits and select beers. Just a 100 yard walk from the plaza you’ll find over 2,000 wines from around the world. La Casa Sena Wine Shop specializes in personal attention with a knowledgeable staff, offering selections of approachable and fine wines. (About La Casa Sena Wine Shop)

Here is their full wine list.

Visit La Casa Sena

Location: 125 E. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe,  NM 87501
Phone: (505) 988-9232
Website: www.lacasasena.com
Hours: Open Daily 10:00 am until 11:00 pm

Find La Casa Sena on the map below:

L’Olivier

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One of our favorite restaurants in Santa Fe (okay, so it’s not exactly a short list…) has got to be L’Olivier. Always tasty, always and friendly service. We consider it the perfect spot for a calm evening for two or a guaranteed-to-please dinner with friends.

L'Olivier logoThe restaurant occupies a beautifully redone space that has had many incarnations, from sandwich shop to experimental gourmet. Under Grenet’s steady hand and with help from his wife, Nathalie, as manager, L’Olivier already seems like a solid part of Santa Fe’s fine dining scene. And it only opened in December.

I enjoyed dinner here with friends who had already sampled the menu twice at lunch. They made a reservation and encouraged me to drop my tradition of giving a new restaurant three months (or more) to settle in before visiting for a review. They were right. And they were wise to make a reservation. Every table was filled the night of our visit. (Albuquerque Journal)

Visit the full article at “A fine addition: A new downtown SF restaurant makes its mark on the dining scene” to read the food critique’s complete analysis of the service and food served at L’Olivier.

L’Olivier serves Fine Southwestern-French Cuisine. Take a look at L’Olivier’s lunch, dinner and dessert menu.

Visit L’Olivier

Location: 229 Galisteo St., Santa Fe, NM
Phone: 505-989-1919
Website: loliviersantafe.com
Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 5-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

Find L’Olivier on the map below.


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Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

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Like so many before me, my love affair with New Mexico was kindled by Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and art. For three decades the pull has endured. Today O’Keeffe remains central to my appreciation, and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (okeeffemuseum.org) which was completed a year and a half after I first moved to Santa Fe from Washington, DC continues to provide insightful, well curated exhibitions into the world of this transformative artist and those influencing (and influenced by) her.

Georgia O'Keefe Museum

Georgia O’Keefe Museum (Photo credit: Jeff Youngstrom)

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened to the public in July 1997, eleven years after the death of the artist from whom it takes its name. Welcoming more than 2,225,000 visitors from all over the world and being the most visited art museum in the state of New Mexico, it is the only museum in the world dedicated to an internationally known American woman artist. (okeeffemuseum.org)

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is the largest collection of O’Keeffe’s work numbering over 3,000 works, including her paintings, drawings, and sculptures. The exhibition of this collection varies throughout the year, so that visitor’s may always encounter something different. The museum also offers exhibits from other artists—her contemporaries and also living artists of distinction.

Another component was added to the museum in 2001 when The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center opened.

As the only museum-related research facility in the world dedicated to the study of American Modernism (late nineteenth century – present), it sponsors research in the fields of art history, architectural history and design, literature, music and photography. (okeeffemuseum.org)

About Georgia O’Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe during her time at the Univer...

Georgia O’Keeffe in 1915 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the most significant artists of the 20th century, Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was devoted to creating imagery that expressed what she called “the wideness and wonder of the world as I live in it.” (okeeffemuseum.org)

Learn about O’Keefe’s history and how her artistic talent developed.

Visit Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Location: 217 Johnson Street, Santa Fe, NM
Phone: 505.946.1000
Website: www.okeeffemuseum.org
Hours: 10 am – 5 pm every day; Friday evenings until 7 pm

Find Georgia O’Keeffe Museum on the map below:

Bjorling-Grant Walnut Desk

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Bjorling-Grant Walnut Desk

Bjorling-Grant Walnut Desk

Adobe Oasis is an escape from work and schedules and clients and deadlines. Adobe Oasis is — in a seductive, albeit addictive sense — the quintessential anti-office!

And yet, you may find yourself inspired to pen a postcard to a friend. Or compose a poem. Maybe even fine-tune a sonata…

For your flights of creative genius, Adobe Oasis offers you the minimalist luxury of a handcrafted walnut desk.

Birth of a Masterpiece

This handsome bureau was custom designed and built for you by Bjorling-Grant (www.bjorlinggrant.com), the brainchild of a Minneapolis-based traveler, collector, designer and “relic hunter” named Ian Grant.

The furniture we make in our Minneapolis workshop is all done piece by piece, from selecting the raw slabs of lumber – all either FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certified or reclaimed wood – for each project to hand milling, hand sanding, assembling and shipping. It’s all custom work done to the buyer’s sepcifications based on our loose design ethics of a sort of modern-organic-mid-century appeal. (The Bjorling-Grant Story)

We turned to Grant for a unique bureau that will transport you away from your humdrum workaday associations and into a refreshingly creative mindset. The minimalist walnut desk in the Adobe Oasis guest bedroom is not about work. It’s about calm. Communication. Creativity. Reflection. This desk will inspire you!

Green Design: From Slab to Oasis

Adobe Oasis is a green (ecologically responsible, non-toxic) home. We take that pledge seriously! Recycling, repurposing and fabrication with eco-friendly, chemical free materials was top priority. In the case of this one-of-a-kind walnut desk, we found the perfect design+build partner in Ian Grant.

The middle slab (in the image of three slabs) is what we used for the drawer fronts – it looks spectacular in person… The walnut we will use for this project is all locally sourced here in Minnesota. All dead fall or taken down urban trees that we get from various tree service companies around the Twin Cities. As I’m sure you… [understand] renewable forestry and sourcing is a big deal to us. ~ Ian Grant

Instead of synthetically derived sealers that would outgas for years to come, we asked Grant to finish the desk with natural linseed oil. We find that 12-15 coats of wiped-on-wiped-off linseed oil applied with plenty of time to dry in between offers one of the most handsome (and least noxious) finishes available. In addition a linseed oil finish is easy to maintain.

The following photographs chronicle the evolution of the walnut desk from salvaged lumber to museum-worthy, masterpiece composition ready desk. (Note: Click on any image for larger lightbox view.)

Who is Ian Grant?

Ian Grant is a travel aficionado with a passion and gift for ferreting out remarkable artifacts. You may know him better as the relic hunter. If not, the following video offers a brief introduction. Enjoy!