At the temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece, a round stone covers a deep hole that plunges into the earth. According to myth, this well stone is a sacred spot that marks the center of the earth — the bellybutton from which all creation sprang. If you like breakfast as much as we do, Tia Sophia’s (210 West San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM; 505-983-9880, tiasophias.com) is the omphalos of the breakfast burrito.
A breakfast and lunch stalwart just off the plaza in downtown Santa Fe since 1975, Tia Sophia’s specializes in New Mexican comidas nativas, or local cooking. Founders Ann and Jim Maryol aspired to create a casual diner serving good food at good prices and catering to local tastes. This was back when Santa Fe was a slightly sleepy venerable Hispanic city favored by visual artists and folks seeking mountain air for their health.
The Maryols nailed it. And with son Nick (at top of post) at the helm for the last three decades, Tia Sophia’s remains a place to get great food at great prices. Its fame in culinary circles comes back to the breakfast burrito. Jim Maryol didn’t invent it. As Nick says, “It was my father who put that name on the menu, but he always said New Mexican people have been putting breakfast food on tortillas forever and wrapping them up. He was just the first to call it a breakfast burrito.” (below)
A New Mexican gastronomic staple is born
Nick said he never thought much about the breakfast burrito, since he couldn’t remember a time when Tia Sophia’s didn’t serve it. His father was modest about his role in teh history of the dish. “Back in the ’90s, when Taco Bell put a breakfast burrito on its menu, the fanily joked that Dad should have trademarked the name. But he was a humble man and didn’t want to take credit for tradition.”
Sitting down with the Santa Feans
One of our tests of a great casual restaurant is that it’s full of local people. We attended the procession of La Conquistadora during Santa Fe Fiesta. The parade from the Palace of Governors to the Basilica de San Francisco commemorated the 1692 return of Spanish colonists to Santa Fe after they had fled in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. La Conquistadora was the statue of the Virgin Mary that the colonists whisked off to Mexico, so the statue holds great significance in local Hispanic culture. Marchers were largely in traditional garb and moved along to the beat of a mariachi band. Sure enough, right after Mass many of them flooded into Tia Sophia’s for breakfast.
We were glad we got in before the crowd, scoring one of the last small tables at the front. Regulars seem to prefer the booths that line both sides of the restaurant. Tia Sophia’s is known for more than its warm and welcoming ambience, and for more than the breakfast burrito. The diner’s homemade red and green chile sauces are celebrated, and the menu warns “Not responsible for too hot chile.”
We ordered a cheese omelet smothered in green chile with a side of posole — and the famous breakfast burrito, also with green chile. Adhering to tradition, we chose bacon for the meat in the filling (as opposed to sausage or bologna). Red or green? It’s September and the smell of roasting green chiles fills the air everywhere. Green, of course.
The burrito was filled with a generous mass of scrambled eggs, nicely crisped fresh hash browns, and delicious strips of sweet and smoky bacon. On top was a fiery helping of green chile sauce and the de rigeur orange melted cheese. Breakfast was born.