Live from Santa Fe

THE COYOTE CAFE has new ownership, with the chef from Geronimo moving over to the Coyote Cafe to be one of the owners. I used to go to their Cantina, which has a nice open roof spot one floor up from Santa Fe's Water Street. But that's closed for the winter, and we ended up at the bar. Little did we know that the bar seats are now the "chef's seats," where you sit and watch the cooks at work.

We went in for Margaritas. We had the Coyote Cafe's "Senoritas," which have a foam with lime, salt and egg white instead of a salt on the rim. Then we stayed for dinner and the show.

The "short stack" of corn cakes and shrimp and the butter lettuce salad with a warm dressing were wonderful. The Niman Ranch filet mignon with a tomato hollandaise was excellent. Shown above is the well-aged 24 oz (!) "Cowboy Cut" ribeye.

Twice during the meal the chef brought amuse bouches to his fans in the chef seats. Here he's putting black truffles and a cream sauce on buffalo meat. Hold on to your liver.