RESTAURANT REVIEW
Rob DeWalt I The New Mexican
Max’s
403½ S. Guadalupe St.
(behind Corazón nightclub), 984-9104
Dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays;
closed Sundays
Beer & wine
Patio dining in season
Vegetarian options
Handicapped-accessible
Noise level: moderate
Nearby street-side parking
Restrooms: clean
Credit cards, no checks
The Short Order
Opened during the thick of the Railyard
redevelopment a little more than two years ago,
Max’s Late Night Café quickly gained a devoted
local following. Now, with a new chef, a shorter
name — Max’s — and a revamped menu that
focuses on contemporary American cuisine with
a few playful but restrained science-lab twists, this
unassuming fine-dining restaurant tucked behind
a Santa Fe-nightlife beacon is poised to attract
even more diners looking for something beyond
the ordinary. More clarity is needed at the
table regarding the use of local and sustainable
ingredients, but the service is friendly, and the
staff is genuinely eager to answer questions.
Recommended: sturgeon sous vide, corn soup
with pork-belly “croutons,” day-boat scallops
with foie gras ravioli, and white chocolate globe
with basil ice cream and warm coconut syrup.
Ratings range from 0 to 4 chiles.
This reflects the reviewer’s experience with regard
to food and drink, atmosphere, service, and value.
68 September 3 - 9, 2010
Good to the max
In the June 27, 2008, Pasatiempo, I hummed a few praises for Max’s
Late Night Café, a small, unassuming restaurant tucked behind a blues
club on Guadalupe Street that, despite redevelopment and snarled
traffic in the Railyard area, managed to create a strong buzz and foster a
devoted following among local fine-dining enthusiasts. More than two
years later, the nearby blues club is now Corazón — a hoppin’ nightspot
with live music and dancing — and the food at the restaurant (now
simply called Max’s) has blossomed beyond my wildest imagination.
That hum is now a song in five courses.
The décor hasn’t changed much; warmly painted stucco walls are
offset by a shiny, modern countertop that separates diners from the
closed kitchen and a servers’ station. The patio outside the entrance is
Check,
hidden from street view.
An early Friday-evening meal for three in late August was my
please
introduction to the seasonal contemporary American cuisine of Max’s
new chef/partner Mark Connell — a Massachusetts transplant who
brings with him experience cooking the French-influenced American
cuisine of Salts Restaurant in Cambridge; a tempered appreciation for
molecular gastronomy; and a passion for the simple-yet-elegant nuances
of authentic Mediterranean cooking.
Dinner for three at Max’s:
Three of us sat indoors, started with bottled still water, and chose
Bottle, 2008 Provenance Rutherford
a lemony, slightly dry 2008 Provenance Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc,
Sauvignon Blanc .................$ 42.00
which, despite a hard-edged finish, proved a marvelous pairing for the
Three bottles still water ........$ 12.00
seafood selections to come.
Field greens salad .................$ 9.00
The feast began with a light and satisfying amuse bouche of thin
Scallops .................................$ 28.00
summer melon planks loosely bound with a flavorless gelatinous
substance (agar-agar?) alongside a tiny wisp of sweet, peppery oil. Chef’s tasting menu ..............$ 67.00
Chef’s tasting menu ..............$ 67.00
Next, on to a single oyster, harvested from Quilcene Bay in Washington
White-chocolate globe ..........$ 11.00
state. Delicate, sweet, and slightly briny, it took me back to my blister-
TOTAL ..................................$ 236.00
fingered shucking years along the Little Snookum inlet.
(before tax and tip)
Two of us opted for the five-course tasting menu (a chef’s choice of
smaller portions from the first and second courses plus dessert), and the
Dinner for two, another visit:
entire table picked off the plates. An heirloom tomato salad with arugula
Glass, Vouvray ......................$ 11.00
and goat-cheese sorbet was a meditation on the bounty of area farmers
Glass, 2008 La Crema Monterey
markets. A stone-fruit salad of peaches, apricots, shaved fennel, arugula,
Pinot Noir ..........................$ 10.00
and balsamic reduction also satisfied, hinting at the changing weather
Stone fruit salad ....................$ 10.00
and harvest but not quite letting go of summer.
Organic greens salad .............$ 9.00
“Heavenly” describes the corn soup with pork-belly “croutons” and
Beef sous vide .......................$ 39.00
leek emulsion — the soup’s slight sweetness, vegetal whispers, and
Scallops .................................$ 28.00
semi-smoothness taming the salty crunch of the crisp-chewy pork.
White-chocolate globe ..........$ 11.00
A perfectly cooked carnaroli risotto with porcini and oyster mushrooms
TOTAL ..................................$ 118.00
came with delicately flavored mushroom foam, an addition I didn’t
(before tax and tip)
mind here, because it added something positive to the dish instead of
distracting from it — which culinary foams often do.
Our friendly server, who was genuinely pleased to find the answers
to the few questions he couldn’t answer on his own, next delivered two
dishes cooked sous vide (in which ingredients are heated in a water bath at
a constant, relatively low temperature in vacuum-sealed bags to preserve
their flavor and structural integrity). The first, an oblong mini-fillet of
sturgeon with olives, artichoke, and a smooth, bright red-orange piquillo
pepper sauce, offered a slight pucker and a tender, lean-yet-meaty texture.
It was sided with a remarkable caper-crusted potato confit.
The rare-to-medium-rare Wagyu − beef sous vide with sautéed spinach
and wild mushroom ragout as tender, but the ragout overpowered the
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Giant day-boat scallops were superb: well caramelized, not rubbery, and
paired with warm and oozy foie gras ravioli and a sweet, earthy English-pea • Pre-owned watches including
purée. And finally, the pork dish, which put most pork dishes in Santa Fe to BALL
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shame: the suckling pig prepared three ways — crisped pork confit, braised Engineer Master II
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shoulder tucked into a chard blanket, and tender seared loin with a gently
mustardy Sauce Robert. It was so pretty I didn’t want to eat it. But that 324 McKenzie Street • Santa Fe • 505 992 0200 • wcwtimepieces.com
thought only lasted a few seconds, I assure you.
We finished with a white chocolate globe filled with a quenelle of white
chocolate/basil ice cream and garnished with candied basil. Drizzled with
warm coconut-basil syrup tableside, it’s a feast as much for the eyes as for the
taste buds. The globe opens up on one side, revealing its prize. Small white-
chocolate orbs filled with passion-fruit juice followed, and one ended up in
my dinnermate’s lap. The staff was apologetic, remained professional, and Cottons, Batiks, Orientals, Southwest Fabrics,
even offered to pay for dry cleaning. Look, these things happen. And after a Silks, Classes & Sewing Supplies
meal that good, the staff can throw those delicious orbs at my favorite suit for
all I care, as long as one of them winds up in my gullet. Celebrating our 10th Anniversary!
The following week, I met a friend for dinner on the busy patio. Well, Open 7 Days a Week: 10-5:30 Mon.-Sat., Thurs. 10-7 pm, Sun. 1-5 pm
two friends, actually. Our dinner companion was Beatrice, a black Labrador We Are
retriever/Great Dane mix and a service dog-in-training with the local Here!
nonprofit Assistance Dogs of the West. We were accommodated without 3018-A Cielo Court
question, and water was graciously offered to the dog. We ordered tap water Santa Fe, NM 87507
and two glasses of wine, a nicely chilled Vouvray for my dinner partner and a 505-473-3747
2008 La Crema Monterey Pinot Noir for me. The red arrived a bit too hot. www.santafequilting.com

Once again, the meal started with the melon amuse bouche, this time
decorated with a small sprinkle of herb granita. My partner’s stone-fruit salad
contained cherries, but they had no flavor. My organic-field-greens salad with
pitted cherries (again flavorless), almonds, and Banyuls vinaigrette (Banyuls
is a French grenache-based fortified wine) was elevated by a thin plank of
caña de cabra, a soft-ripened goat’s milk cheese with a blooming rind and
hints of earthy mushroom and citrus. Unfortunately, the salad greens — and
those of my partner — were oversalted.
I went for the beef sous vide again. This time, the sauce was tamer and not
delivered with such a heavy hand, allowing the rich, well-marbled aspects
of American Wagyu − beef to shine through. My partner went for the scallops
with foie gras ravioli on my recommendation. She loved the dish — even
though it arrived lukewarm on a cool plate.
We finished with that magnificent white-chocolate globe, but this time, the
tableside presentation fizzled. The warm coconut syrup was sloshed all over
the top of the globe by our server, melting it in its entirety and turning the
sorbet quenelle inside into a half-melted blob. It was still delicious, but the
ooh-aah factor was lost. Even Beatrice looked underwhelmed.
Many dishes at Max’s subtly display Connell’s playful science experiments,
and there are abundant smile-coaxing surprises that I’ll allow you to discover
without spoilers. Some say foams and nonstandard cooking methods are
outdated. I say they must hate cappuccino, then.
Few fine-dining restaurants in Santa Fe manage to balance good food with
good service, and Max’s is currently doing it better than most. The kitchen’s
creations are innovative and well structured in both flavor and texture, never
fussed over or deconstructed to the point of visual or gustatory ridiculousness.
Service is straightforward, friendly, and never cloying, but product knowledge
and a long lag time between check presentation and transaction completion
could use attention. Wine service is casual but knowledgeable, and a
competent wine list keeps selections limited but interesting — although
storage temperatures for reds may be an issue. If local sustainable ingredients
are a source of kitchen inspiration, I’d love to see a few of them mentioned
on the menu or verbalized at the table. And I’m pretty sure those passion-
fruit-filled white-chocolate orbs should be illegal. ◀

PASATIEMPO 69