Photo by Sharon Stewart from “Rancho de Chimayó Cookbook” by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison. HOT STUFF “Sofa pillows” at Rancho de Chimayó are bite-sized sopaipillas. I was thrilled to be in the audience that evening to see the outpouring of affection for Mrs. Those are given to restaurants that have stood the test of time and that reflect the food culture and heritage of their area. It received one of the culinary world’s greatest honors in 2016, a James Beard Foundation America’s Classic award. Over the decades, the restaurant became beloved in the community, as well as with visitors from around the world. Business began to pick up gradually, with additional media praise and word-of-mouth enthusiasm. The Jaramillos heard about the article days later, through the governor, who was one of the few New Mexicans of that era who had the New York paper shipped to his door. Today, that kind of attention would cause a stampede through the door. Florence routinely bought much of the food in Santa Fe grocery stores, stuffed her car full, and hauled the bags back to the village.Īn early break came when Craig Claiborne, the legendary New York Times food writer, made his way here and wrote enthusiastically of his experience. Food service companies wouldn’t deliver to the remote location. Banks declined to help with what they judged to be a crazy investment. Back then, people weren’t conditioned to drive miles out of their way for meals, especially the chile specialties thought of purely as home cooking. The plan was to showcase the foods of the area and to help offer economic opportunities to the village. And that was even before the pancakes! AN AMERICA’S CLASSIC Blue corn pancakes at Rancho de Chimayó.įlorence and her husband, Arturo, a Chimayó native, started the restaurant in his ancestral home in 1965. When she asked how I was, I realized I actually was fine, and that my problems would work themselves out. Now well into her eighth decade, she misses nothing and waved when she saw me enter. J has been the guiding light behind the restaurant for its entire 57 years. I perked up right away, because proprietor Florence Jaramillo, ever gracious and smiling, was already sitting at what I think of as her central command center. I was hoping the brief winding drive into the country, and some blue corn pancakes might clear my head of a few personal concerns.
It was early, the light still soft, with only a handful of other patrons busy with their breakfast burritos. A couple of Saturday mornings ago, I strolled into Rancho de Chimayó, the hacienda-style restaurant in the namesake village near Santa Fe, New Mexico.