For us, the first flavor that springs to memory when someone mentions New Mexico is green chile. But to be honest, green chile isn’t very picturesque. When it comes to picture-perfect plates from New Mexico, it’s hard to beat the breakfast and brunch dishes served at the Abiquiu Inn (21120 U.S. 84, Abiquiu, N.M.; 505-685-4378; abiquiuinn.com). Conveniently located just down the road from Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch (1708 U.S. 84, Abiquiu; 505-685-1000; ghostranch.org), the inn has a nice mix of rooms, suites, and casitas. Some casitas are arranged to share central courtyards. The inn might be one of the pricier lodging options in the area, but it’s worth every penny. For more details, see our post from 2018.

The Abiquiu Inn’s Café Abiquiu serves meals all day. It’s worth signing up for breakfast when you book a room because a beautiful plate of food gets the day off to a harmonious start. The photo above is a plate the café calls “Sunrise over Chama Valley.” Like a modern painting built with a palette knife, it rises from the plate in layers. At the bottom is a base of two corn cakes made with local corn and topped with avocado. On top of that, the chef gently lays a pair of sunnyside-up eggs and sprinkles the whole composition with pico de gallo. It was almost a shame to break the yolks, but the dish tasted as good as it looked.