Any interest in a delicious $26 lunch for two—including sopaipillas—at a sit-down restaurant? What about a vintage Gunne Sax dress in perfect condition for $98? Or perhaps a mixed-media collage by the San Francisco artist Brian Singer for the cost of a banya massage at an Aman hotel?
This is not New York City in the 1990s but the Santa Fe of today—specifically, devouring tortilla soup and chiles rellenos at Tomasita’s, shopping at Desert Moss Vintage, and admiring the artwork at GF Contemporary, in the town’s gallery district on Canyon Road.
With a population of just 90,000, Santa Fe features low-slung, adobe-style buildings that contain more art, culture, shopping, and deliciousness than can be found in a city 10 times its size.
The buzziest hotel in the Southwest at the moment is Bishop’s Lodge, which was completely overhauled and expanded in 2021 and is now managed by Auberge Resorts Collection. Nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and bordering 1.7 million acres of forest, it’s a 10-minute drive (or free ride in one of the hotel’s Mercedes-Benzes) from the center of Santa Fe.
Its provenance dates back to the 1860s, when Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the first archbishop of Santa Fe, built a chapel and home here. (Lamy’s life and times partly inspired Willa Cather’s 1927 novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop.) By 1915, it had been purchased by the Pulitzer family, who used it as a summer home and built a large lodge on the grounds.
The original chapel still exists on the property, and today Bishop’s Lodge is a constellation of more than 20 adobe buildings, both old and new. Spacious and decorated in Southwestern style, its 120 rooms have black-and-white-tiled bathrooms, stone, beehive-shaped kiva fireplaces, and handwoven Navajo rugs. The 12-bedroom Bunkhouse is ideal for large family gatherings.
Given the hotel’s proximity to nature, all sorts of adventures can be arranged—a sunset horseback ride, a rough-riding tour of the desert in a four-by-four Jeep, fly-fishing, and white-water rafting. But it’s also very pleasant to simply camp out at the pool or on the terrace of SkyFire, Bishop’s Lodge’s restaurant (now run by the talented executive chef Manuel Fernández), for a hedonistic meal of margaritas and bison-and-bone-marrow tacos.
A short drive away, Tesuque Village Market is a kitschy roadhouse that serves delicious green-chili stew, tomatillo-and-shrimp enchiladas, and Frito pie (guilty!) on a covered patio. In the summer, the weather is generally roasting, but Santa Fe’s heat is dry, so it’s nothing a few craft beers can’t handle.
In town, construction on the new Georgia O’Keeffe Museum continues apace—it’s expected to open in 2028—but the original site, at 217 Johnson Street, is still a stunner. Seeing so much beauty may encourage shopping, and here Santa Fe goes from strength to strength. Who knew there was so much Japanese men’s wear in this town? Standard & Strange is an edgy boutique that imports well-priced selvage denim and faintly Western workwear basics from the other side of the world.
Shiprock, a spectacular gallery on the historic Santa Fe Plaza, sells pottery, Navajo rugs, furniture, and jewelry from collectible designers of today and yesteryear. Don’t miss the turquoise collar necklace by Frank Patania Sr., whose pieces were owned by O’Keeffe and society figure Mabel Dodge Luhan, or the silver belt buckle with inlay stones by Charles Loloma, a Hopi Native American artist known for his work with gemstones and gold.
But these are not impulse buys. For that, finish the day at Tumbleroot Pottery Pub, an amalgamation of the passions of its owners, the potter Angela Smith Kirkman and her husband, the distiller Jason Kirkman. A strawberry-rhubarb margarita is served in a handmade ceramic martini glass, which keeps the cocktail surprisingly cold—and will certainly be a conversation piece. Take home one of Angela’s tumblers for just $30, although collectors will gravitate toward the Zelda Rain Pot, made in collaboration with the native artist Zelda Garcia, of Acoma Pueblo.
One of the most disarming things about Santa Fe is how friendly everyone is. (When I couldn’t find a Jungmaven T-shirt in my size at La Boheme, the smiling shopkeeper directed me to her competitor.) Like everything else in this town, it rings authentic—and inspires you to linger.
The writer was a guest of Bishop’s Lodge, where room rates begin at $1,099 per night
Ashley Baker is a Deputy Editor at AIR MAIL and a co-host of the Morning Meeting podcast
