I saw Sandra Pinckney's review of the Sante Fe restaurant recently on her FOOD FINDS program. The restaurant was so adorable that I immediately went online to amazon.com to see if they had a cookbook. They did. I ordered it. When it arrived at my office I started reading it and couldn't put it down. From the front cover to the last page, the artwork is exceptional. Hand-tinted photographs along with photos and murals really make this a cookbook to keep and cherish and pass down to family. I can't wait to visit Cafe Pasqual in person and hopefully get the book autographed by Ms Kagel and Ms Simpson who was the photographer. The receipes are lovely, but the book is exquisite.

Pasqual's is kitty-corner across Water Street from the St. Francis Hotel in Santa Fe; we time our trips to get into town late at night, but before the St. Francis' bar closes, so we can check in, grab a quick drink, and then roll out of bed the next morning and hit Pasqual's for breakfast. Tamal dolce, big mug of coffee, newspaper, see if the rocking horse is still in the second floor window of the store across the street (hasn't moved in four years, so far, and counting.) We love Pasqual's, its food, its Ann-Arbor-in-the-Southwest feeling ... and the cookbook is a nice souvenir thereof. The recipes? Well, plan on mail-ordering a lot of different kinds of chile powder unless you live in New Mexico. Great stuff, though, if you have the ingredients and the patience.

I make a point of visiting Cafe Pasqual's each time I am come to Santa Fe. This cookbook is excellent . The recipes are concise and delicious and the artwork in the book is beautiful. I only wish they had a second cookbook focusing strictly on the killer breakfast menu at the Cafe. Hmm...

I just happened to walk into Pasqual's Restaurant in Santa Fe and experienced one of the best authentic Mexican meals in town.
The cookbook reflects the author's philosophy of fresh ingredients, pure flavor and originality.