The Yellow Cap

Note: When written, this was one of a series of posts describing the pictures that appear in the blog header. However, I’ve since changed the design of the blog, and hence, the pictures are different. Nothin’ stoppin’ you from reading the posts, though; previous posts are here and here and here;.

Admit it. You really, really want to push that cap out of the way and run your fingers through that thick, luxurious hair that you just know is hiding underneath.

But, your fantasies aside, what I really want to talk about today is the cap itself. You probably can’t read it—white type on yellow fabric in a small picture may not be the ideal for legibility—but if you could, you’d see that it came from Cafe Pasqual’s, and, in smaller type, Santa Fe, N.M.

Pasqual’s is a restaurant like no other. It’s a tiny place, just a block or so from The Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. There are a few pictures here (the good interior shot was stolen from their Web site), but pictures, and even the menu, can only go so far to describing the place. I find it hard enough to describe Santa Fe, let alone Pasqual’s.

Maybe the easiest way to think of it is as a 21st century hippie hangout. It has that free-wheeling, easy going feel to it; a great place  to go and be organic for a while.

In the middle of the restaurant is a “community table,” where you can sit if you feel like taking a chance on a dining partner. There, you’ll be placed next to whoever else happens to be sitting at the table that day. An interesting idea, but we haven’t tried it yet.

The one drawback to Pasqual’s is that it’s a bit pricey. But the food is innovative and amazing. We’ve been there twice now, both times for breakfast. The first time, I ordered the Durango Omelet, and it ranks up there with the best breakfasts I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant. Ham, Jack cheese, scallions, guacamole and more under that delicious red sauce. Incredible.

The second time there I was feeling adventurous, so got the craziest thing I could find on the menu; the

Huevos Motuleños. It turned out to be a little too adventurous for me, with those peas and sauteed bananas … but still, it was interesting. And with the Mexican hot chocolate on the side, it was still a great meal. It’s hard not to enjoy a breakfast in that fun and festive restaurant.

It’s the kind of place that moves you to purchase a yellow cap on your way out the door. Which brings me back to the picture at the top. I had Jean snap it while we were at a rest stop on the High Road to Taos, just hours after that first meal at Pasqual’s. That setting, with the evergreen behind me and the hills in the distance; it’s just about my favorite picture of myself. Now, the High Road to Taos; that’s another story…