Santa Fe has long been known as the place to visit for art lovers who wish to browse the 250 galleries situated throughout the small, accessible city, located on Canyon Road near the Plaza and the historic Railroad District.

But for lovers of the culinary arts, Santa Fe promises a similar bounty of restaurants to explore and enjoy.

Calling itself “The City Different,” Santa Fe is accurately named. For decades, it’s been a mecca for artists, writers, wealthy retirees and high-level scientists (Los Alamos National Laboratory is nearby), creating the type of intelligent, cosmopolitan and chic atmosphere of a much bigger city. And nothing compliments that type of lifestyle than great dining.

I made my first trip to Santa Fe this past September. One of my best friends and frequent travel companions, Evelyn, is a major foodie and outstanding chef herself, so I try to attend getaways where she is planning the dining portion of the itinerary. Our visit was timed so we would be in town the week of the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta and its Grand Tasting event, which is the culmination of the celebration.

The 2011 event marked the 21st annual Fiesta, and everyone says it somehow gets better each fall. The Fiesta hosts a number of culinary and wine events designed to showcase the Santa Fe restaurants’ amazing array of fine cuisine, coupled with the very finest wines from vineyards across the country.

Seventy restaurants in Santa Fe participated in the festival’s weekday events like wine dinners and seminars. It’s the perfect week to sample Santa Fe dining at its best and mix and mingle with hundreds of wine and food professionals in town who are hosting events and working the Grand Tasting on Saturday. 

Plus, the weather during the festival was more ideal than I could have dreamed— cool, light-jacket mornings quickly became warm, shorts-and-sandals afternoons with a brilliant blue sky so cloudless that the sun provided just the right heat without humidity.   

One of the first Santa Fe restaurants we sampled from was The Shed, a long-time favorite of the locals and visitors alike. The restaurant is known for truly authentic Hispanic and Pueblo favorites like tacos, enchiladas and green chile stew. 

The owners of The Shed, a fourth-generation, family-owned restaurant, are proud of their James Beard Foundation Award (one of the highest honors for food and beverage professionals) and more “Best of Santa Fe” awards than they can count.

In the fun spirit of Fiesta week, we made a new friend at The Shed— Chris Burroughs, who was in town representing Alma Rosa Winery of Santa Barbara and who turned out to be a great pal to hang out with at the Grand Tasting that weekend. Chris had a small role in one of my favorite movies, Sideways, and gave us the insider’s guide to not-to-be-missed wines to sample.

For our most formal “get dressed up dinner,” we had an unforgettable experience at Anasazi Restaurant, a top pick for dining in Santa Fe by the New York Times.  The menu was amazing, original and creative. Some highlights were a chorizo octopus salad, a blue corn-dusted crab cake appetizer and a grilled elk tenderloin entrée that showcased the talents of executive chef Oliver Ridgeway.

We got up early Saturday to be at the front of the line for breakfast at Café Pasquals, another decades-long favorite. It’s small and packed and filled with eclectic art on every inch of the walls and ceiling. 

We sat around the community table and feasted on a delicious breakfast, chatting it up with everyone seated there in Santa Fe-casual style.  Again, we were lucky enough to meet one of the winery representatives who, at the Grand Tasting, provided us with an ample pour.

Attendance at Saturday’s Grand Tasting is now limited to 4,000 people and sells out at $140 per person! But despite that size of crowd, the event is well-planned and spread out in several big, white tents atop a hill at the Santa Fe Opera, which overlooks the rugged landscape of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There is the usual jockeying for position among wine and food enthusiasts to get a taste of their favorites, but the overall spirit is classy, congenial and a lot of fun.

To sample the best of the 70 restaurants and 90 wineries at the Fiesta in one afternoon means remembering to just “sample” a little, even when tasting something as awesome as grilled lobster tail or guacamole that’s freshly prepared. You have to pace yourself, because there will be something else just as delicious at the next table.

While in Santa Fe, we stayed at historic La Posada, a Four Diamond resort and spa. La Posada was built from and around the original home of the Staab Family, influential Santa Fe landowners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

After a comfortable day of dining, touring and tasting, we indulged at the state-of-the-art spa and enjoyed a fascinating historic tour of the original Staab home, with a curator-led discussion of the many original art pieces on display there. 

La Posada’s renowned restaurant Fuego puts on a free, fun wine and food tasting each Friday afternoon right in the kitchen! Get there early for a spot to nosh, sip and chat with the chef in Santa Fe’s own casual yet so-very-chic style.

The 2012 Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta Grand Tasting will be held the fourth Saturday in September; the details are posted in June and tickets go on sale July 5.