THE SLEEK, MODERN BISTRO-STYLE dining room is buzzing with customers at Arroyo Vino Restaurant and Wine Shop. Colorful contemporary paintings of sunflowers, bright geometric textiles, and other art rival the sunset’s deepening orange sky outside the restaurant windows. With warm wood floors and a welcoming bar at the dining room entry, it’s easy to imagine that the setting outside is a vibrant metropolis—not the rolling desert of junipers and piñons in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Las Campanas.
Impeccably professional yet friendly servers deliver salads of Little Gem lettuce with luscious green goddess dressing, mushroom or shrimp tempura, and what some call the best fried chicken in the Southwest. A glass of effervescent Larmandier-Bernier “Longitude” Champagne complements the crispy main dish, balancing its salt and texture with vibrant notes of grapefruit and lemon.
Arroyo Vino’s impressive wine list is inspired by the meticulously curated selection of more than 1,000 bottles from around the globe available in the adjacent wine shop, a premier destination for wine lovers in northern New Mexico. The Arroyo Vino Wine Shop, opened by Brian Bargsten and Mike Mabry in 2011, paved the way for the restaurant. “When we first started the restaurant in 2013, it was an extension of the wine shop, a way for people to enjoy wine with food,” Bargsten says. “Now it is its own autonomous restaurant.”
Chef Allison Jenkins at Arroyo Vino.
The philosophy of both stems from the same ingredients. “Arroyo Vino is about continuous exploration of food and wine,” Bargsten says. “Food and wine are such an incredibly vast set of topics, and we’re always learning more things.”
Bargsten and his team travel the world to find new wines for Arroyo Vino. “We visit with producers in other locations so that we have a better understanding of what they do and how they do it,” he says. On the day we talk, Bargsten estimates that he sampled two dozen eclectic wines brought in by wine representatives. “All of us here at Arroyo Vino have a desire to constantly change, evolve, find new things, and not be stationary,” he says.
The focus on staying fresh epitomizes Arroyo Vino’s cuisine, from the ever-changing seasonal menus to innovative wine dinners and the restaurant’s longstanding offerings of what they call family meals. Available from November through May, the popular family-style, prix fixe dinners allow executive chef Allison Jenkins to roam the world with her cuisine, transporting diners to Japan for izakaya and Spain for tapas, as well as to Florence, Burgundy, Provence, and Greece.
“The family meal evolved out of trying to create something fun and interesting in the slow months,” Bargsten says. “It’s fun for the staff and the kitchen to do some research and come up with a meal that’s totally different from the menu.” When I attended Jenkins’s New Orleans–style family meal in early May, the oysters with Cajun mignonette; shrimp remoulade with Creole mustard sauce; red fish almondine with Trinity rice; and bananas Foster elicited oohs and aahs from the crowd.
Arroyo Vino’s busy dining room.
In general, Jenkins’s regular menus have a Mediterranean flair, with dishes that shine a light on locally grown seasonal food. “The ingredient is what inspires me,” she says.
She uses fresh cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums to make jams, ice creams, and sorbets. “We find ways to get them onto the menu, whether it’s a savory pickle or a sweet jam,” she says. “One of my favorite desserts is an almond financier with whole cherries and almond brittle ice cream.”
Regional corn is another treasured ingredient used throughout the menu. “I make a chilled yellow-squash-and-corn soup and I top that with crabmeat,” she says. “That’s been a favorite of mine.” The season’s tomatoes star in cold sides, salads, and on their own. “We make tomato jam, tomato chutney, and gazpacho,” she says. “I don’t even buy tomatoes until they start coming out in early summer. They go with everything.”
In the Arroyo Vino kitchen with Allison Jenkins.
At Arroyo Vino, the farm-to-table approach has deep roots. “We work with six different farms in the summertime,” says Bargsten, whose grandparents were farmers in southern Minnesota. “We get several deliveries a week from farmers, and Allison goes to the farmers’ market at least once a week.”
The tomatoes, corn, stone fruits, and other locally grown items make their way into the eight to 12 wine dinners hosted by Arroyo Vino throughout the year. The shop offers year-round wine tastings on Saturdays, when guests can meet visiting winemakers and wine importers.
The constant addition of new dishes with seasonal ingredients and newly discovered wines keeps customers coming back. Whether it’s upscale New York strip steak frites or finger-licking fried chicken spiced with Old Bay, Jenkins’s passion infuses every bite. “It’s the personal touch,” she says. “I really believe that intentionality comes across when you’re eating food. You really can tell when somebody’s put personal care into the plate.”
Read more: Wine is the reward for riding the rapids on the RÍo Grande.
Arroyo Vino executive chef Allison Jenkins calls this classic Italian-American dish “You Can’t Wait to Eat It Chicken.” It’s one of her family meal favorites. Serve it with bread, as this recipe calls for, or polenta. She suggests roasted broccoli or potatoes as vegetable accompaniments.
This dish can work with both red and white wines. Arroyo Vino co-founder Brian Bargsten suggests an unoaked fruity white wine like pinot grigio, chenin blanc, or riesling. “For red, select a light-body wine with minimal oak aging,” he says. “A pinot noir from New Zealand is a great selection, or my choice would be Etna Rosso from Sicily. Specifically, Benanti Etna Rosso 2022.”
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to drizzle on sourdough bread
- 1 stick butter, halved
- 2 hot Italian sausages, cut in 1-inch pieces
- 2 sweet Italian sausages, cut in 1-inch pieces
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 jar pickled cherry peppers, drained, sliced, and vinegar reserved
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 lemon, cut in 6 wedges and seeded
- 1 loaf sourdough bread, about ½ slice per person
- 1 teaspoon red chile flakes (optional)
- ½ cup chopped parsley
Serves 4
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 14-inch braiser, and add half the stick of butter to melt. Brown the chicken skin-side down on medium heat, about 5–6 minutes, then turn and sear the bottoms. Remove to a platter.
- Tip out most of the fat and brown the sausage pieces. Add garlic and stir until lightly browned.
- Add the wine and about ¼ cup pepper vinegar. Reduce liquid slightly, then return the chicken and any juices to the pan.
- Add chicken stock and pepper slices. Squeeze the lemon wedges onto the chicken, and add wedges to the pan.
- Cover and cook on the stovetop on medium heat until chicken is cooked through, approximately 15 minutes. Remove the lemon wedges.
- While the dish cooks, preheat the broiler. Drizzle the slices of sourdough bread with olive oil, and lightly toast under the broiler.
- When the chicken is fully cooked, stir in the chile flakes if using, and add the remaining butter. Swirl the butter into the sauce, and add more pepper vinegar if desired.
- Serve chicken on top of the toasted bread, and top with sauce and parsley.
“This vibrant salad is a crowd-pleaser and is easily adaptable for family-style service,” says Allison Jenkins. “Many of the ingredients are available throughout the summer season at local farmers’ markets. While creamy, it is light and delicious and pairs well with all manner of crunchy vegetables. Don’t be afraid to make the full batch, especially if you are feeding a larger crowd. While not necessary, homemade tarragon vinegar is an excellent pantry staple and easy to make if you have a large patch growing in your garden.”
Brian Bargsten suggests pairing this salad with a light, bright grüner veltliner from Austria, specifically, Ott “Am Berg” Grüner Veltliner Wagram 2022, or an albariño from Spain.
FOR GREEN GODDESS DRESSING
- Makes 1 quart
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup loosely packed parsley leaves
- 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
- ¼ cup minced chives
- ¼ cup tarragon leaves
- 6 salted anchovy filets, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar (if not using, increase the lemon juice)
- 1 clove garlic
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1½ cups mayonnaise
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
FOR TARRAGON VINEGAR
- Fresh tarragon sprigs, enough to pack a quart mason jar
- 3 cups Champagne or white wine vinegar
FOR SALAD
- ¾ to 1 head of Little Gem lettuce per person
- 4 radishes, thinly shaved
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- 1 hard-boiled egg, grated or sliced
- ¼ cup sunflower sprouts
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
Serves 4
FOR GREEN GODDESS DRESSING
- In a blender, combine all ingredients except the mayonnaise and yogurt. Blend until smooth and bright green.
- Combine this puree in a bowl with the mayonnaise and yogurt. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Allow to chill 1 hour before serving. (Keeps for 2 weeks, refrigerated.)
FOR TARRAGON VINEGAR
- Pack a quart mason jar with fresh tarragon sprigs.
- Bring 3 cups of vinegar to a boil. Pour into the jar and allow to cool to room temperature before putting on the lid. The vinegar will be ready to use after 24 hours. Store at room temperature. Strain the vinegar after 1 week.
FOR SALAD
- Trim the base of the lettuce, but don’t fully remove the core. Quarter the heads and rinse in cold water. Drain and chill until serving time.
- Spread some of the dressing on a platter. Arrange the lettuce pieces and top with more dressing. Layer the rest of the toppings over the lettuce wedges and serve.
This almond-flavored cake dates to the late 1800s, when a patisserie near the Paris stock exchange started making small cakes that looked like gold bars to attract bankers. The almond meal gives the financier a nutty flavor, the brown butter ensures that the cake is rich and moist, and the egg whites keep it all fluffy. Seasonal fruit, such as nectarines or pears, makes a wonderful addition, but Allison Jenkins finds cherries to be outstanding.
A Madeira would make a great pairing. “I would recommend Henriques & Henriques Madeira 5-Year Seco Especial,” Brian Bargsten says.
- 2¾ cups butter, plus melted butter for pan
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (for a gluten-free version, use a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour)
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups almond meal
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 cups egg whites
- 3 cups seasonal fruit, such as pitted cherries, nectarine slices, plum slices, or sautéed pears
- Turbinado sugar for topping the cake
- Brush a metal 9-by-13-inch pan with melted butter and line with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a heavy, 6-quart pot, brown the butter over medium heat. You need a large pot since the butter foams and rises as it browns.
- While the butter is browning, sift together flour, sugars, almond meal, and salt.
- Mix together honey and vanilla bean paste.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk egg whites until frothy, but not all the way to soft peaks. Add the dry sifted ingredients and whisk until just combined. Add the honey mixture.
- Meanwhile, keep an eye on the butter. The foam will rise to the top of the pan and fall; this is the sign that it is ready to use. It will be speckled and smell nutty. Use caution, it will be very hot. Do not let the butter turn black.
- Carefully stream the butter into the cake batter and whisk until just combined.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and distribute the fruit by poking the pieces into the batter. Sprinkle a fine layer of turbinado sugar over the cake.
- Bake for about 25–30 minutes, or until a toothpick tests clean. Allow cake to cool to room temperature before serving with additional fresh fruit or vanilla ice cream. The cake will hold at room temperature for up to one week.