News

Jul 05, 2023

The Fork: Oh, Right—The Chocolate Maven Has a Killer Brunch

When you get up late on the weekends like we tend to do (because we work hard, dammit!), it’s usually a sad affair involving the realization that breakfast—being the most enjoyable meal out in our

When you get up late on the weekends like we tend to do (because we work hard, dammit!), it’s usually a sad affair involving the realization that breakfast—being the most enjoyable meal out in our opinion—is long since over in the hearts and minds of those you know. Even brunch can be tricky to obtain when you sleep til 1 pm, but also, like, what are you saying? That you’re our mom and or something? That people who get up early somehow have the moral high ground? Get outta here!

But yeah, we were really struggling the other day when it comes to breaking the fast, so we popped in the Forkmobile with Le Forkette and motored out into the world in search of bready, eggy, bacony goodness. And so we drove and whined and cursed ourselves for being late risers, right up until we remembered that the Chocolate Maven has a kickass brunch menu, and we still had, like, at least an hour before it was to close.

Maybe we’re telling you something you already know, but it’s been a minute since we hit the Maven and we’d almost forgotten it exists beyond cakes and cupcakes and other cakes and pies and also cakes and cookies and cakes. Outside, about a million Best of Santa Fe banners stood proudly in the mid-afternoon sun, and inside, a veritable ant farm of workers and diners bustled about. There was no wait, however, and we soon found ourself upstairs with server Dan, a very nice young fellow who was kind and just and true. Stellar service aside, though, we managed to get that one item of which we’ll never tire—the breakfast sandwich on a croissant with all of its spicy aioli/bacon/eggy/croissanty goodness. This wasn’t the best-looking sandwich we’ve ever seen, but it tasted great and came with scads of eggs and bacon!

Now, it’s important to note that two things make the Maven brekkie sammie stand out in a sea of only OK brekkie sammies (with a nod to Sagche’s Coffee House for also having a badass version of its own served on a roll with fruit or fries or both), and that’s fresh arugula and fresh arugula. “THAT IS JUST ONE THING, FORK!” you just shouted at your phone while everyone near you gave you the, “Dude, chill out!” look. We’re counting arugula twice, because it rules. Most similar sandos come, sadly, with egg, cheese and meat, but the Maven’s version offers some much needed roughage and, and this is true, arugula somehow magically goes with everything—and we’re including peanut butter and ice cream on that list.

At $15, it might seem a little pricey, but with the house made croissant and a side of potato smashers (a Maven thing that appears to be literal smashed potatoes—not mashed, though!)...well, baby, you’re the mayor of Brunchtown, USA.

We’re not saying the Chocolate Maven is like this, but we’re not saying it’s not like this.

Shout-out to the Natural Nectar organic petit biscuit au chocolat cookies available at Whole Foods. They’re the ones with the thing of chocolate that has the little castle logo on top! Hot tip? Put these bad boys in the fridge and then they’re gooooooood and snappy when you eat ‘em later.

-We’re sad to report that Teahouse and El Farol owner Rich Freedman died unexpectedly last weekend following a short bout with meningitis. Freedman was also the CEO of the George RR Martin/Bill Banowsky-owned Sky Railway adventure train brand and had made both his restaurants on Canyon Road the type of place where you knew you were going to get a solid meal. We particularly love the oatmeal at The Teahouse. Freedman was 69.

-Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute (which is that institute dedicated to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market) Executive Director Manny Encinas has announced the institute will launch its first-ever Local Harvest Restaurant Celebration in Santa Fe. From Sept. 12-14, local chefs will go absolutely bonkers with curated menus that make use of products sourced from local growers, makers, farmers, ranchers, etc. “The quality connection between local restaurants and local farmers is a vital part of Santa Fe’s culinary culture and is sustained by the vibrant role the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market plays in our community,” says the Greater Santa Fe Restaurant Association’s John Bradbury. “The Greater Santa Fe Restaurant Association is proud to support this synergy.” Local chefs and restaurants have yet to be announced, but there’s a sign-in process going down for people like that who might wanna take part with the thing riiiiiiight here.

-We mentioned this once before but have received a few questions about it, so please know this: Downtown French bakery and eatery Mille has partnered with nearby restaurant Dinner For Two for a decent-sized parking lot split directly across the street from Mille. In other words, you’re gonna have an easier time parking down there when you need or want to do that. Here’s a review of Mille from SFR from last year. Also, we just wanted to say Mille one last time.

-The annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta is coming up this September 27-October 1, and will be the 32nd year of wine and chile and fiesta-ing. Like most events over the last few years, COVID did a real number on attendance, but according to a nice PR person from the city’s tourism department, sales for the upcoming fiesta are up 22% from what they were around the same time last year. In other words, you’d better get on that shit, homies.

-Speaking of annual things, New Mexico Albertsons and Market Street (being the slightly fancier version of Albertsons) grocery stores announced last week that locations across the state will play a part in the third annual Bacon Fest, which is, like a thing where they do a big bacon-based marketing push. Like bacon? You can buy bacon extra hard now at Albertsons. “From bacon cookies to bacon wrapped items to put on the grill, Bacon Fest allows us an opportunity to remind everyone of the great ways to cook with bacon,” says Scott Nettles, director of meat and seafood for United Family, the company that owns those stores. “Some say you can’t buy happiness,” Nettles continues, “but with our bacon creations we hope that will get you pretty close!”

-Edible-dot-com has a pretty cool story about Indigenous food in Farmington. You should read it. Here’s a link to it. Do it.

-Lastly this week, in local food stuff, we don’t know if you, like us, have never heard of franchise biz Savory Spice, but owner Kate Wheeler, who started out in the OG Denver location, is about to hit 10 years in downtown Santa Fe. Wheeler is also a chef, we hear, and likes giving back to the community through orgs like the Santa Fe Community College’s culinary program, Cooking With Kids, Delancey Street, The Food Depot and Girls Inc. Are we linking to all of those places? Heck, no—you can work it out.

Ohhhhhhh, so that’s how you make a sandwich!

-Meanwhile, in San Francisco, brewery Anchor Steam recently announced it will close after more than 100 years of crafting some of the best brews in all the land. Not to be deterred, longtime workers for the brand have announced plans to attempt to buy the business from parent brand Sapporo and run it as a collective/co-op kind of thing. Neat! We wish them well!

-Mayhap you’ve heard that the Screen Actors Guild recently voted to join their Writers Guild brethren on the frontlines of a strike over better wages and stringent protections from the possibility of cold and human-free AI content. Well, that basically means that a whole lot of people are out of work. You might be thinking that actors make a whole lot of money, and while the big names do, that’s true, many of SAG’s members are not big names. Most of them, actually, aren’t big names. The WGA, meanwhile, is also full of folks who don’t make a whole lot, so being out of work is hard. Luckily, Los Angeles’ World Harvest Food Bank has stepped up to help keep people fed while they’re out of work.

-Hostess has a new product made up of its old products, which is a weird way to say that they’ve Frankenstein’d the Ding Dong and the Twinkie into one super-snack featuring all the bells and whistles of each. To put it another way, they covered Twinkies with chocolate and called it a mashup. The end.

-Lay’s got (deeper?) into the fake flavor game with a joke Instagram post this week wherein it announced it would release an egg salad variety of potato chips. Yeah, that’s gonna be a no for us, dawgs. But don’t worry, because even though Lay’s had dropped some weirdo flavor combos, this one ain’t real.

-Lastly this week in non-local food stuff, we’re pretty tired of people writing us all like, “Hey Fork, are those restaurants they show in The Bear on Hulu real?!” Yes, dammit, many of them are, and the fine folks at Eater’s Chicago branch have compiled a definitive list of what those places are. We actually love when you write us, don’t stop now or ever.

This week in the print edition of SFR, a Fourth of July pity party turns into unexpected Southside culinary magic when a trio of dorks visits Santa Fe Capitol Grill.

Number of Letters Received

29

*We have some new foods to try and we’ll report back when we do.

Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)

“Go away, Fork!”

* No deal!

Actually Helpful Tip(s)

“RE: LFO, it seems they had a total of four members over time, three of whom are already dead. So if there’s a casting call, don’t join!”

*Reader Jeff D. is looking out for all of us, and he’s right—we should never join LFO (see last week’s Fork at sfreporter.com if you’re confused).

Living for arugula and double-negatives,

The Fork