A mariachi band was playing along the fence and the aroma of roasting green chile wafted through the air at the entrance to Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe. There was no doubt about it: It was Chile Friday as the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta (santafewineandchile.org) reached its climactic weekend of five days of eating, drinking, and talking about food and wine.

The Fiesta began as a single Saturday afternoon event in 1991 with 20 restaurants and 20 wineries. Counting all the specialty wine dinners leading up to the broader public events, it now features more than 60 participating restaurants and 90 winery partners.

Chile Friday joined the lineup just three years ago. The emphasis is on chile-based food. The 2024 showcase featured 26 restaurants, three wineries, and 10 breweries. Attendees scored unlimited tastings of the tapas-like portions and up to 10 samples of wine, beer, or cocktails. It proved to be an afternoon that spanned the imaginative range of contemporary Southwestern cooking.

Above left, master chef Fernando Ruiz of Escondido (escondidosf.com) served a crispy pork belly taco. Center, chef-owner Victoria Bruneni of What the Truck Catering Co. (whatthetrucksantafe.com) offered a red chile honey BBQ pork taco with green chile slaw. At right, chef Israel Castro of Julia (juliarestaurantsf.com) presented an elegant “Three Sisters” vegetarian torchon of corn and beans surrounded by squash.

From left, Julia‘s “Three Sisters” dish, pork and green chile stew from Social Kitchen (socialkitchensf.com), and stunning pumpkin posole from Plaza Cafe (plazacafesantafe.com).

More good eats, left to right: the noodle-based paella-like dish fideu from La Boca (labocasantafe.com), red and green chile enchiladas from Atrisco Cafe & Bar (atriscocafe.com), and finally Frito Pie courtesy of speaker George Gundrey, owner of Atrisco and Tomasita’s (tomasitas.com).