Chasing Santa Fe: ELOISA - ACCLAIMED CHEF JOHN RIVERA SEDLAR COMES HOME

E L O I S A

AN ODE TO A CRAB CAKE

THIS IS SIGNATURE JOHN SEDLAR - discs of perfect Dungeness crab cakes (CROQUETAS) take center stage on a charcoal dinner plate surrounded by dabs and ribbons of Chipotle aioli with paper thin moons of radish.

And if you eat with your eyes as well as your palate, then this is a sublime way to begin your evening at ELOISA, Chef John Rivera Sedlar's restaurant at the Drury Plaza Hotel.

Sedlar is a world-renowned Executive Chef who recently closed his sleek L.A. restaurant - RIVERA - to return to his roots in Northern New Mexico to celebrate everything he learned from his grandmother ELOISA and to fuse her legacy with his own experiences as a contemporary Latin chef. He invited me to dinner and it was a treat...

Delicious Whimsy

Two amazing things are happening here - The glass dinner plate has a rendering of a family gathering, and the diminutive tacos are filled with - are you ready? - pastrami, sauerkraut, pickled serranos, and a slug of ballpark mustard!

I ordered the Squash Tamale with Red Chile, Pulled Pork and Goat Cheese. When it arrived it looked like this! Another of Chef Sedlar's whimsical and delicious interpretations.

A slice of 'tamale'

These very fresh and tender scallops - wrapped in shoestring potatoes - were delicious and the textural contrast between the creamy scallops and crunch of potato slivers was lovely.