About Santa Fe

Chef Patrick Gharrity's menus read like an edible biography.

Chef Patrick is a dedicated culinarian who believes in, "building community through the vehicle of food." This is demonstrated in his commitment to supporting local farms, dairies and ranches. New Mexican products, flavors and configurations are proudly featured throughout his menus. His desire is to stimulate the imaginations of the guests as well as their palates and ultimately leave them completely satisfied not completely stuffed.

"I don't like to roll home and slip into a ‘food-coma' after dinner. I'd much rather enjoy a delicious and healthy meal (including dessert!) with friends and loved ones, take our time, relax and leave feeling nourished and refreshed!"

Our Approach to Wine
No Pretense: At its root, all wine is fermented grape juice. We don't worship wine, we feel it is part of "La Dolce Vita," and is to be enjoyed daily, if possible. Wine is groceries, so to speak, and belongs on the table as another food item.

Focus: We focus our selection on people who grow grapes and make wine, not industrial produced wines. We feel that this results in wines of greater distinction that are better partners at the table. The only bad wine is a boring wine. We prefer to deal with winemakers and individuals who spend their time in the vineyards working the vines. That way we get straight correct answers to our questions.

What's In Your Wine?: We quiz winemakers and suppliers about their farming, vineyard and winemaking practices. If you think wine is made from just grapes, remember that the EU allows 59 additives to wine and there are approximately 80 permitted in the US.

We buy what we want and we don't do scores: We buy the wines that fit our approach and values. We have no corporate requirements that we buy one wine or another. In addition, we have the buying power of our retail shop and two restaurants to help us get hard-to-find wines and keep our prices reasonable. You will see no "92 Point" shelf talkers in our store or on our wine list. Any comments about the wine are written by our staff -- someone that you can talk to who has tasted the wine. A wine that gets a high score when tasted alongside 200 other wines of its type is not necessarily the best one for dinner tonight.

Remember, none of these reviewers have ever met you (for the most part) and they have no idea what you are eating or what your tastes are. Please, ask us questions about our wines.

Selection: We have wines of almost every type and for every budget. Our inventory totals over 15, 000 bottles from around the world.

We Sell Cool Wine: All - not just the most expensive bottles - of our inventory of 15,000 bottles, is stored under temperature control. We are the only place in New Mexico that makes this commitment to assure you quality wine. The air conditioning runs 7 days a week 24 hours a day. It makes a difference.

Built in 1868, Sena Plaza is one of the oldest surviving houses in Santa Fe. It is located just one block from the city's plaza, and just across the street from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. La Casa Sena, which means "the Sena House", occupies an old hacienda style adobe. The Sena family was one of the oldest and most notable in Santa Fe. Even then the House of Sena served the finest cuisine of the region, featuring venison, rabbit, buffalo, and the many chilies native to this area. Spanish hospitality included day long feasts with sports, games, and dancing. The courtyard, now green and beautiful, was then bare earth, all vegetation eaten by the goats that inhabited it. The main dining room of La Casa Sena now stands where the stables once were. In the early 1980's , art dealer Gerald Peters bought the historic building and renovated it to its former grandeur, all the while protecting its architectural integrity. In 1983, La Casa Sena opened, and food and song once again filled the old Sena house.