As my homies grapple with “Nemo,” the potent blizzard that is just now really cranking up on the northeast coast, I am sitting in my Tucson hotel room, pecking this note out to you, reflecting upon my nice southwest vacation that is now winding down.

Notwithstanding the many excellent meals we’ve had over the past week+ in Santa Fe, Taos, Sedona, and Tucson, my favorite “work-related” stop was of a little different variety.

On Monday, on the way to an amazing hiking spot called “Plaza Blanca,” near Abiquiu, New Mexico – best known as Georgia O’Keefe’s while visiting my sister in Santa Fe, we took a side trip to Chimayo, a tiny village northeast of the state capital.

Chimayo is known for two things: Its lovely “El Santuario,” a chapel managed by the Catholic Archdiocese that has become known as the “Lourdes of America” for the healing powers of the dirt from its back room – and for chili!

And it was chili that drew me to our real destination: El Potrero Trading Post, immediately adjacent to El Santuario.

Our Executive Chef, Nadsa de Monteiro stepped into the top job of one of our kitchens when we opened The Elephant Walk in Boston in November 1994. And her very first original French dish – which has become our signature French dish – was her pan-seared sushi-grade tuna loin served with red and green chili cream sauces. It is still surprising, and yes, still sublime!

You guessed it: We have been ordering our delicious red and green New Mexico chili powders from El Potrero Trading Post for more than 18 years now. Finally being so close, I just had to set foot in the place to see what it is all about, and to thank them for their nearly two decades of superb product and service.

As it turns out, before being renamed “El Potrero Trading Post” in 1975, the store began its life as “Vigil Store” in 1921, serving visitors to the adjacent shrine. Today it sells mostly products made by local artists, including the gentleman serving us, Nicolas Madrid, himself a gifted, award-winning artist, working mostly as a tinsmith. In fact, as he mentioned with well-deserved pride, a piece of his is currently on display at the Smithsonian!

So, yes, we bought us some fresh chili powder – including a local heirloom variety which we can’t wait to cook with when we get home – whenever that happens to be [our airline just canceled our flight!]. Another fun food item we picked up were some freshly-roasted pignons, or pine nuts, still in their shells. Nicolas advised that one should eat them just as one would sunflower seeds, cracking them open with teeth and discarding the shells. I did as he suggested, and found myself in for a delicious, delicate, faintly smokey surprise.

One more thing: the outdoor sanctuary, pictured here, is just behind El Santuario, and looks like a beautiful spot for a ceremony of any kind – Catholic or otherwise!

In closing I want to point out that, as in these pictures, I have been proudly wearing my Pine Street Inn baseball cap for much of this trip in honor of the fact that our February beneficiary is Pine Street Inn: We will be giving 3% of our February sales to Pine Street in – for the 4th consecutive year!

Oh, and if you’re ever hiking in the Northern New Mexico, anywhere near the road from Santa Fe to Abiquiu, do NOT miss Plaza Blanca. It’s spectacular!