Santa Fe, 52 Broadway, Tivoli 757.4100; Authentic Mexican Cuisine;
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 5–10 p.m.; Reservations recommended; Visa Mastercard, Discover Cards; separate smoking room; limited handicapped
access (six steps), assistance available
Entree price range – $7.95 - $15.95;
specials on Friday and Saturday include grilled mahi mahi, seared salmon with lime leaves, 14-ounce Black Angus steak with chipotle sauce; live music on some Saturdays, call for details; upstairs room fro private parties.
Directions – From Poughkeepsie, take Route 9 north, to Route 9G junction. Turn left on Route 9G to County Route 78, make a left and go 1/2 mile into Tivoli. Restaurant is on your left at 4-way stop.
By Brenda Buchbinder Sachs
When owner David Weiss sent me his new menu with an invitation to revisit Santa Fe in Tivoli last year, two pages listed the food and one page had maps and quotes of what guidebooks thought about the restaurant.
I was pleased to see that today, there is so much going on at Santa Fe. The new menu is filled with descriptions of the innovative cuisine that makes this restaurant such an outstanding destination for exciting Mexican and Southwestern fare.
My recent visit confirmed my past experience (4 years ago) of innovative food and fun dining. In fact, as soon as you pass through the curtain that separates Santa Fe from the “real world” you feel as though you’ve entered a party.
The first room is filled with a dramatically lit bar, metal sculptures and a huge mirror listing the endless specialty drinks and beers. You can stay with the standard – Dos Equis, Tecate, or Carta Blanca – or venture into the Voodoo, Evil Eye or Gritty McDuff’s for $3.50 a glass.
By the pitcher or by the glass
Frozen margaritas are served in old-style fountain glasses. Peach ($4.25) is the most popular, but i prefer the Montezuma Gold ($3.50). Plenty of fellow diners were enjoying theirs by the pitcher ($16.95-$17.95), but unless you have a designated driver, these drinks are potent! Gene sampled a Cuervo Gold margarita (not frozen, $4.50). A small wine list offers some rarely found choices like La Playa Chardonnay and Torres Coronas Tempranillo ($17.95).
One of the cheerful staff escorts you to a comfortable warmly lit with votive candles and adorned with fresh flowers. A server soon appears to deliver a basket of freshly fried, tri-color tortilla chips with a choice of mild, chunky salsa or a slightly more homogenous spicy salsa. This is your first hint that the kitchen, under Emily Clark, is quite capable of delivering spicy without being incendiary.
The appetizers are large enough to be light meals in themselves. Gene enjoyed a sun-dried tomato and goat cheese quesadilla ($6.95) cut into quarters and served with a vegetable garnish and sour cream. The Sopa Teresca ($6.50) is a brightly seasoned vegetarian stew with black beans, chopped tomato, melted cheese, served in a large bowl with the same vegetable garnish. We later learned the trio of red cabbage, sprouts and carrots appeared on every dish we ordered, except dessert.
Santa Fe gives many vegetarian selections. Enchiladas San Miguel, with mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomato and feta cheese on red corn tortillas and grilled Portabello Burrito with vegetables, cheddar and chipotle sauce, are two such entrees. Sweet, fried marinated plantains make a tasty garnish to entrees and are also served as an appetizer. Guacamole, quesadillas and field salad are also meat free.
I chose Shrimp Satay for my entree and was served a platter heaping with eight sautéed shrimp, fresh baby spinach, plaintains rice and black beans. There was a good balance between the chili, ginger and peanut sauce on the shrimp and the cooling salad ($12.95).
Gene’s dish, Oaxacan tacos (pronounced “wahaken”) was excellent. Two grilled tacos were filled with chicken, cheddar and smoky mole sauce. Santa Fe mole is a complex blend of so many flavors, of which prunes, pasillo peppers, almonds, sesame seeds and garlic are just a few. The platter, with rice beans and vegetable garnish, was a generous serving ($10.95)
Mexican desserts are often limited to flan, fried dough and fried ice cream. At Santa Fe, the dessert menu is given as much attention as the rest of the meal. They serve an outstanding tart, creamy key lime pie in a graham cracker crust. Chocolate Espresso Torte is described by the manager as “like a moist slice of the best chocolate candy.”
I could rave about the Tivoli Mud dessert of a warm homemade brownie atop strawberry sauce, coffee Kahlua ice cream, but this is one case of where the proof of the pudding is in the pudding. Desserts, including sorbets and a creme bruleé with fresh ginger, are all good values at $3.95.
Santa Fe serves wonderful fresh roast coffee and has a full array of ports, cognac, and aged tequila to end the meal.
We enjoyed our meal, thoroughly, from the friendly service, to the creative cuisine, right through the memorable desserts.
Dinner for two, with tax and tip, was $74.20.
The Poughkeepsie Journal pays for the meals that are the subjects of restaurant reviews, and reviewers do not identify themselves prior to the end of the meal. Brenda Buchbinder Sachs is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and a member of the Sommelier Society, a wine association.