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My Pink Adobe fantasy meal starts with the escargot or the cold artichoke, followed by the lobster salad, rounded out by the famous Steak Dunigan and completed with a slice of apple pie. All washed down with a bottle of wine from the excellent wine list.

An idea may be forming in your head. The idea that I LIKE to eat. Not only do I like to eat, I LOVE the Pink Adobe. Time and again, summer visitor after visitor, be they mother-in-law or old college friend, The Pink Adobe has served up the same 12 dishes perfectly, never varying, never altering. The quality is always excellent and consistent throughout the entire meal.

I think my Pink Adobe fantasy meal takes root in an old Pancho Epstein review, where he waxed poetic on the essentials of gourmet comfort food. Is there such a thing as a gourmet restaurant that specializes in comfort food? I mean really how many restaurants could get away with a $16 bowl of spaghetti. The Pink opened in the 40's. They have trees growing through the ceiling of their bar 'The Dragon Room' to prove it. It had always seemed to me somehow a bit audacious that a truly top end gourmet restaurant would put a simple dish like spaghetti on the menu. After trying it last week in the true spirit of adventure, I understand its longevity.

The Spaghetti Pink Adobe is served in a Bolognese sauce from an old family recipe with Parmesan cheese and a Creole salad. Yes, this entrée works wonderfully. This is the bowl of spaghetti one yearns for when remembering such dinners in the past. For me it was reminiscent of the spaghetti dinners my brother and I would wolf down before running out to trick or treat on Halloween Night. The nervous excitement and anticipation of that evening always made that traditional meal memorable in my house. The Pink helped me recreate that mood with their offering. With all due respect Mom, the sauce they make at The Pink is better.
(ed- The writer's mother was not available for comment)

I feel commpelled to at least review the Steak Dunigan for you as well. The first layer is always a perfect charred New York strip. The second is a smothering of sautéed mushrooms and green chilé. Smothering. Served with the special Pink Adobe brown potato and a Creole salad, my mother-in-law cannot leave Santa Fe without ordering this. For the carnivorous among us this is absolutely the entrée to choose when making your first visit to the Pink. The topping of green chile is more flavorful than hot and The Pink Adobe's brown potato is a real winner as well. (How do they make them sooo good?!)

Now, I must sing the praises of the Lobster salad. Even though all entrees come with a salad, it would be worth your while to try this. Ask your server and they will be happy to split this in two making a really nice starter.

What's that? You don't like to get seafood in land locked states? Let this amazing Lobster Salad be the exception that proves that rule. I grew up in northern New England and have experienced freshly caught crustaceans tossed immediately in the pot. This salad delivers, believe me, lots of big chunks of fresh tender lobster on a crackling crisp fresh bed of greens. I have not even hesitated to suggest this to our friends from Maine. With gestures of derision, they nevertheless tuck in heartily.

All in all I have never found an item on The Pink Adobe menu that I did not fall in love with. See the menu for yourself and enjoy your food dreams. With over sixty years at the forefront of Santa Fe dining it is a certainty that the Pink is one of the reasons Santa Fe became such a sought after destination. Go see what I mean. I think you'll agree that The Pink Adobe is a gateway to the 'ideal Santa Fe.' That means it feels creative, artistic, warm and comfortable all at the same time.

The Pink Adobe
406 Old Santa Fe Trail o Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
For Reservations, call: (505) 983-7712

I did not even get a chance to espouse the virtues of their unbelievably good apple pie. Try to save room, but if you can't here is the recipe!

Rosalea's Legendary French Apple Pie
Yield: 6 servings
This is the favorite dessert at the Pink Adobe. I have no idea how many French Apple Pies I've made-thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions. At any rate, they've all been eaten with gusto.
Crust
3 cups flour
¾ cup lard
1 teaspoon salt
6 - 7 tablespoons cold water
Filling
1 pound fresh or
1 16-ounce can apples
peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup seedless raisins 1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup shelled pecans
¼ cup milk
Hard Sauce
½ cup butter
1½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon boiling water
1 teaspoon rum
Preheat oven to 450 F. Prepare the crust; work the flour, lard, and salt together with your fingers until crumbly. Add water until dough holds together. Divide into 2 equal balls. On a floured pastry cloth, roll out one ball thin enough to line a 9-inch pie tin. Roll out second ball in same manner for the top of crust.
Prepare filling: Put the apples in the lined pie tin and sprinkle with lemon juice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Spread white sugar raisins evenly over apples. Mix the brown sugar, flour, and butter in a bowl; when well blended, spread over the contents of the pie tin and sprinkle with pecans. Add most of the milk and cover with top crust. Prick top with a fork and brush the rest of the milk on the pastry. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 F and bake another 30 minutes. Crust should be golden brown when done.
Hard sauce: Cream the butter until light. Beat in the sugar and add water. Beat in liquor and serve on each slice of pie.