About the Episode:
This episode is all about FOOD! Santa Fe food to be specific. Bunny talks to Greg Zoch of Santa Fe Foods. Whether you’re taste is for five star restaurants or home-style diners, Greg and Bunny will cover it all on this episode. If you want to find out more about amazing places to eat in Santa Fe, check out the links below!
Links
Santa Fe Foods
Windmill Winds Entertainment
Watch the Santa Fe Foods Season One Pilot Episode
Watch the Trailer
Follow Santa Fe Foods on Instagram
I Love New Mexico blog page
Bunny’s website
I Love New Mexico Instagram
I Love New Mexico Facebook
Original Music by: Kene Terry
Featuring:
Greg Zoch
Greg is the executive producer of Santa Fe Foods. “Santa Fe Foods takes you behind the scenes from the back-of-the-house to the beautiful dining rooms, courtyards and beyond.
You’ll get to know the Chefs personally as well as professionally; where they grew up, what influenced them in their culinary evolution, and who they are as people and successful Chefs.
Santa Fe Foods explores these compelling stories and celebrate their culinary achievements and contribution to the Santa Fe community.”
Episode Transcript
Bunny : (00:00)
Hi there. I’m Bunny Terry, and you’re listening to the I Love New Mexico podcast. Whether you’re a native new Mexican, who’s lived here for your entire life, or you’re just considering a visit, this episode is for you. Join us as we share a lot of New Mexico stories, talk about all things New Mexico, and include topics like what’s magical here, where you ought to visit, what’s happening, and the things you absolutely cannot miss in the land of Enchantment. We’re excited that you’re here and we can’t wait to show you what an amazing place New Mexico is, because let’s face it, I love New Mexico. We have a special guest on today’s episode of the I Love New Mexico podcast, Greg Zuck. Greg Zuck is, um, a guy who has a job that all of us would like to have. He’s, um, I, I, you know what, Greg, tell people who you are. It’s, I always, I wanna be sure we always get the details right.
Greg : (01:11)
Well, it depends on who you ask, right. But I will that for our purposes. Uh, uh, I’m a producer and director for Windmill Wins Entertainment. Uh, our most dear to our heart, uh, project to date, I think, uh, that we’re gonna talk about a little today is Santa Fe Foods, which is an episodic docu-series where we are highlighting some of the best restaurants in Santa Fe. I know there’s a lot, but we had to select a few. So,
Bunny : (01:44)
And, um, I, I’m really curious about the research that goes into this. Do you just have to go around town and eat everywhere, over and over?
Greg : (01:52)
Yeah, it’s grueling and it’s just somebody’s gotta do it, Bunny. So, right. And we were just lucky enough to have that, uh, arduous chore, right? Yeah. It research is key.
Bunny : (02:05)
It it is, it is. And food is my favorite kind of research. But I wanna know first, Greg, well, I want, as a teaser, I want everybody to know that they’re going to, we’re going to link to, um, what Greg has produced on film, but I wanna know your story. How did you end up in this place doing this incredibly cool thing, Greg?
Greg : (02:28)
Yeah, that’s a, that’s a long story, but the short version is, um, my parents took us to Northern New Mexico since I was about six years old. Um, and we actually camped up in what is now the parking lot of Ski Santa Fe, that little creek that runs right through the parking lot, right? Yeah. We were, we camped right on there before there was any, it was the end of the road. I mean, it was the gravel road all the way up. And we just, you know, we fell in love with Santa Fe over the course of many, many summers and many, many visits. And as an adult, you know, take, took our own children and, you know, it was just this lifelong love affair that we had. My mom and my dad for that matter, you know, they’ve been going there since before we were born, so it’s a kind of a family thing. My wife’s family is actually from Northeastern, uh, New Mexico. Yates is her. Oh, yeah. Mom’s maiden name, right? And, uh, so, uh, she has roots that run deep in New Mexico as well. Teresa and I kind of did some math and we figured we were probably walking around the plaza, uh, as kids at the same time. So, uh, you know, so fast forward, we, uh, we’ve been coming to Santa Fe since gosh, you know, forever. And we, uh, were lucky enough, uh, to find a nice little, uh, kind of town home kind of condo thing in South Capital almost 10 years ago. And, uh, we have just, just, it, it just, it never stops, right? I mean, it just keeps getting better and better and better. And Santa Fe’s just one of those special places, you know, I think Hampton’s Sides was one of the commentators on, uh, the pilot episode. He’s a local guy who a lot of people know, and he one
Bunny : (04:22)
Of my favorite humans.
Greg : (04:23)
Yes. Yeah. He’s got, he what a great ri researcher writer. I mean, he just has a knack of making it three dimensional, right? So if you haven’t read some of Hampton side stuff, you must read Hampton Side Blood and Thunder’s Good. And they’re all good. Um, but he said it best, he said, Santa Fe has a really special vibe, and that is probably the best way to describe it cuz there’s so much to love. And, you know, you can run a long list of that, but it’s really, you know, that vibe, that’s the combination of the people, the sky, the land, the climate, the culture, art, and of course food, great food, one of the best destinations for food in the country, if not the world.
Bunny : (05:15)
So I have to confess, uh, people who, um, are listeners may not know this, but in my real life, in my other life, when I’m not entertaining myself with stories about New Mexico, I sell real estate in Santa Fe. And, um, I send your video to, you know, I have this perfect client avatar, and all of my clients seem to be, if they’re buyers, seem to be looking in Sedona and Boise and Lake Tahoe and Santa Fe, and I don’t know, and sometimes you know, they, they talk about how those spaces are somewhat similar. And, um, I always, I send them your video, the, the the season one video, because I’m like, can you, does this exist in those other cities? You did a really good job, Greg of creating not just a story about one specific chef, but talking about the entire food community. And, I’m curious to know where that inspiration came from other than getting to eat in great places. Well, that’s certainly part of it, right? Yeah. So the, uh, uh, we had a great team. You know, we had a great, my wife is my co-producer, Teresa. And, you know, again, we’ve just had this lifelong love, love affair for Santa Fe. And the genesis of this project was that we had been following Fernando Olay for many years at his other restaurants, and we, uh, also had met this other couple in the course of, you know, different gatherings and, Lawrence and Susana Erra. And so Lawrence tells us that we, oh, we’ve opened this new restaurant. And I’m like, oh, fantastic. What is it? It’s Sazon. Well, who’s a chef? Fernando Ole. And we’re like, we’re in, right? So over dinner one night with them at Sazon and Fernando, if anybody’s dined there, or if you haven’t, you must, because it’s an experience.
Greg : (07:24)
Fernando always comes out and greets the guests and talks a little bit and, you know, really makes you feel like you’re at home and you’re special. And, uh, uh, we, so I turned to Lawrence and I said, Lawrence, have you seen the Chef’s table on Netflix? And he said, yes. I said, somebody needs to do Chef’s Table on Saan or on Santa Fe. And he says, well, if you have a hookup, do it right. Let bring it to us. Right? And so about a year later there and I were talking and we said, you know, we’ve got, you know, why aren’t we doing it right? So we started doing the, doing all the, you know, the pre-production, and we, we put it all together, budgeted it out, and it was, you know, it’s, it’s obviously a lot more, it’s like we’re whipping up a nice meal, as you know, there’s always a lot involved, right? So once we got it all on paper, we realized, you know, we need to do a full series on this. And so we just picked six. We could have picked 60 restaurants, right? I mean, but we, we picked six to start off with. And, um, so we picked Saan, obviously, and that’s the pilot. And then there’s Ella, uh, great team over there you know, and then restaurant Martine, uh, we’ve got Market Steer Steakhouse, of course the compound legendary compound. Geronimo is also there. Uh, Celine Cruz, a wonderful, wonderful group of chefs and, you know, know we’re, we were really excited to do that. And hopefully we’ll be able to do episodes two through six as well. And maybe a couple more thrown in there.
Bunny : (09:04)
So you have episodes that exist for every one of those restaurants Right now
Greg : (09:09)
We have commitments and we have ’em all on paper. We have not done the, uh, the film work on that. We have not shot those episodes. Okay.
Bunny : (09:19)
I just wanted to be sure I didn’t miss something. Yeah, no, . Okay. Okay. So you have the pilot and the pilot, um, tell, tell people a little bit about Fernando first. I know that a lot of folks who have been coming to Santa Fe for a long time might be surprised to know where he began.
Greg : (09:39)
Yeah. Fernando Ole is a, is a very interesting guy, just a real charismatic person, but he, he came from Mexico, Mexico City, and he has a, a very interesting backstory, but once he arrived in Santa Fe, he went into like the furniture business or something, right? And then he decided, oh, I’m gonna get into the food business. Right? He actually owned Bert’s Burger Bowl, which you may, uh, know of. Yes, yes. That long time we, everybody’s been to Bert’s Burger Bowl, it’s been, you know, going to Santa Fe for any length of time. And, uh, he ran that for, I don’t know, 20 years or something like that, that
Bunny : (10:19)
I think Uhhuh
Greg : (10:20)
. And then he opened up a, another restaurant called Ismi, not, I’m sorry, that’s not, is Ismi, you can cut that out. So then Fernando opened up, uh, another, uh, restaurant, uh mm-hmm. where the old Latu, now I’m dating myself, right? Well, so people remember Latu. Yeah.
Bunny : (10:40)
And that’s where my office is now. The Keller Williams offices are where AOTA used to be up above on Lincoln Street, one 30 Lincoln. So one of my offices is, has a balcony that looks out where Whereso they used to be.
Greg : (10:55)
Yeah. And, and so Fernando, uh, has always had this love of moles, and the moles sauce is a very complex sauce that a lot of people, you know, really don’t understand or really don’t appreciate, like they should. And if they go to Sazon, they’re gonna learn to appreciate it. But it’s a very complex, uh, and he’s, and he’s got multiple different variations of this, and he’s just been working on it over the course of his life. And he brought that to Sazon. And as luck would have it, uh, after we shot this, uh, we shot this in the fall of 21 in the, in the first quarter of 22 for some pickup shots. Um, Fernando was nominated for a James Beard Award, and if anybody doesn’t know what the James Beard Award is, that’s like the Academy Awards for chefs and restaurants in the hospitality, uh, you know, in the restaurant industry. And he was nominated for Best Chef, and he won for Best Chef in the Southwest. So
Bunny : (12:02)
Cool. Yes.
Greg : (12:03)
For 2022. So we couldn’t have picked a better, uh, guy, a better chef, uh, to, to do as our pilot. And we were just really, really excited about it. But he’s really one of the, the sweetest guys too. He’s very, um, kind. Uh, he’s a good listener. He’s very loyal, and, and he’s just one of those good eggs, is what we call him.
Bunny : (12:27)
Well, in talking about being a good egg, I, my other great love, and I do believe most people know this, is that I am the board chair of the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico because I’m a stage four cancer survivor. And the bes and Fernando and Chef Christian over at Cella are, are so, so incredibly generous. This last year for our sweetheart auction, they donated, and this was a hot, hot item. They donated two separate dinners for I believe six people, a chef’s dinner at each restaurant. And so these are folks who are not o only incredibly successful in the Santa Fe restaurant industry, but really, really generous and really involved in the community. So, um, so if you’re in town, whether you live here or you, you know, you live in Hobbs or you live in Dubai, when you come to town, um, you’ve, you need to eat at both of those restaurants and the others you’ve talked about. But I want people to know that this, this fir this pilot episode is not, it’s really a love letter to Santa Fe in general. I I was so excited. You know, you have, we had Cheryl Jameson on the podcast before. Well, is, she’s like, she’s like the encyclopedia of New Mexico food, isn’t
Greg : (13:52)
She? Yeah, she really is. Yeah, she is fantastic. She actually was also is one of the commentators in, in the pilot episode, uh, and just lends a, you know, a, a very warm gravitas to the, you know, entire episode to kind of set it up. She is one of the most vivacious and just knowledgeable people, and she’s so well connected. If I ever needed anything, she said, oh, I’ll introduce you to that person, and that person and that person . Right. And she was just the ever Eddie Bunny, you know, and she, she does these wonderful trips to, to France that she curates with a small group of people. I think she’s getting ready to do another one here soon. Uh, so hopefully we’ll be able to do that one day. And, uh, so she’s, yeah, she’s marvelous. And yes, the bas and Fernando and Chef Christian, they’re wonderfully generous with their time and their resources. And uh, that’s one of the reasons we actually got involved with Lawrence and Susanna was they had the Las Compadres, which helps the developmentally, uh, delayed individuals in the Santa Fe community. And they’ve done a wonderful job with that equestrian. I think before Covid stopped, people from you mingling as, as, uh, closely as as they need to for some of those programs. They had a wonderful equestrian program that really just made a huge difference in people’s lives. So they’re, they have wonderful hearts. They all do.
Bunny : (15:24)
Well, that’s what I’m, I mean, that’s really what most new Mexicans are all about anyway, is that they’re involved in their community and they have this great love re you know, whether you’re new here or you’ve been here, your family’s been here for 400 years or, or, or forever. Um, I loved that you did a piece on, um, wine and chili mm-hmm. . Um, because as, as Cheryl says, I believe that was her, she was in the middle of commenting on that. Um, that’s where a lot of chefs who who are new to town end up spending some time and getting some recognition, right?
Greg : (16:03)
Yep. Yep. That’s a wonderful event. Wine in Chile is, uh, probably one of the premier, I mean, there’s so many great festivals and events in Santa Fe, but if you haven’t done why until you gotta do that, it’s just a wonder. And that a lot of chefs got their start. Fernando Aleah talks about it. He Right. That was one of the first places he got exposure to people. And a lot of chefs will come out and they’ll bring, you know, kind of like use that, like an experimental kitchen. So you’ll get to taste things that maybe you wouldn’t get to taste any other place than at the Wine and Chili Fiesta.
Bunny : (16:36)
And let’s talk about, I’m determined now. I’ve made a bunch of, a lot of list, um, just while I’m sitting here of people that I’ve got to have on the podcast. But, um, our friend Kat Crook, Kat and Christina, who have Mark Steer, um, you know, Kat is a, is from Artesia. I mean, you know, she grew up on a ranch in Artesia and has one of the funniest stories about how she became a chef. I’m gonna save that for the podcast, but I know folks in southeastern New Mexico are real, really feel a loyalty to her. But so do people who, um, have eaten at Market steer for the first time, what, tell me how you, did you meet them through production of this video, or, or did you know?
Greg : (17:20)
No, actually, yeah, no, we’ve actually been guests at, at Market Steer and, and we were just so taken with the, the warmth and the way they treat their guests. I mean, Christina always remembers everybody. I mean, I don’t know how she does it, but she is just a, she is a wonderful, uh, uh, steward of, of all things market steer. And, and, and Kat Kat is . She’s, she’s amazing. She’s funny. She’s got this dry sense of humor, and she is just a, a big heart. And so we just kind of fell in love with both of them. And when we had this idea to start adding restaurants, you know, it just happened to be that one of the best steakhouses in the country is theirs. Right. And they ran a very successful operation over in Aspen, and it’s so wonderful to see them come home to New Mexico and, and, uh, they think they bought a house last year or the year before. Right. And it’s just like, they’re, I’m
Bunny : (18:19)
Their realtor
Greg : (18:20)
, there you go. So they’re just super happy that they were able to, to, uh, to, to give back to Santa Fe. And it’s just a wonderful, it’s a classy kind of, uh, casually elegant place to eat. The food is First Ray. I mean, you, what’s not to like about, you know, cat Christina and the Market Steer Steakhouse. It’s just a wonderful place.
Bunny : (18:44)
And, and, um, also another person who’s really, really generous to the foundation and, um, who has, and and I think that he would say, of course I do, has a reputation for being, um, a sometimes a challenging guy in the market, but amazing. And consistently the food is consistently perfect every time I go there is Mark Kiffin at the Compound. I, he was on the video for a while. Tell me, tell me about Mark.
Greg : (19:15)
Yeah, mark is, he’s, you know, just a, a legend, quite frankly. And, and James Beard Award winner himself, uh, the compound is legendary. I think he’s been there, there for 20 some odd years. Over
Bunny : (19:29)
Over 20 years.
Greg : (19:30)
Yes, over 20 years. Yeah. It’s a, it’s a wonderful place. It’s got this great vibe, all of its own, uh, from the, you know, from the little sunken bar area that I think it’s sunken, isn’t it?
Bunny : (19:42)
It is. And, and, and I have to tell you, the first time I went to the Compound bar, I was like, I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s tiny, there’s room enough for 12 people. , why does, everybody thinks this is a big deal. And, and what people need to know is if you’re coming to town and you wanna go to the Compound bar, you better make a reservation about eight weeks in advance, because it’s the hottest place to hang out in town.
Greg : (20:08)
Yeah. Mark is one of those. He is a perfectionist. He wants everything to be perfect. So as far as he can control that, and if you’ve ever been in a commercial kitchen before, it’s controlled chaos in the first place. But he has consistently put out one of the best products from service to food, to environment. The, the courtyards are beautiful, the staff are all so gracious and well trained, and they, everybody just, there’s not a bad, I’ve never had a bad time. I’ve never had a, an okay time. No, it’s all been, you know, great. And Mark is, uh, you know, I I really, really like him. He is a promoter. Uh, he is, uh, you know, he’s front of the house, back of the house, all around the house, and he is, uh, he’s, he’s a first rate human being and just a and he is a very generous person. Je and,
Bunny : (21:12)
And I can already tell Greg, we’re gonna have to, we’re gonna have to do a second episode because there’s way, way, way too much to cover here, but I wanna circle back. Sure. I mean, you did a, you did a really good job of, of covering, you know, for, for somebody. Um, I’m, I mean, even for somebody who’s never ever been to Santa Fe, you did a really good job of covering a lot of the high spots. But talk about, um, you, you talk, you, you go with Fernando to the farmer’s market. I mean, give give folks a, a little bit of a glimpse into the farmer’s market.
Greg : (21:50)
Yeah. So we, we wanted to have, uh, chef in his, in his natural environment, right? Which is shopping for food, getting creative ideas. Uh, there’s something, uh, about that Santa Fe Farmer’s Market that is just very, um, special. It just, it’s so, the, the senses just come alive, the sights, the sounds, the smells, everything. And it’s one of the best, I think it’s like the number three top rated farmer’s market in the country. And
Bunny : (22:24)
Yeah, I think so. Yes.
Greg : (22:25)
It’s, it’s wonderful. I mean, you can get just about anything. And then they’ve got the, you know, the artisan market as well. So you’ve got people selling, you know, handcrafted everything from jewelry to, uh, textiles. And that farmer’s market is so well run, it flows well. It’s, it was super exciting to bring, uh, Fernando and his daughter, uh, Roberta out, uh, to shop for some, uh, food to prepare for, uh, the dinner that, that we shot as well, and the, just the interaction, you know, talking about, remember when we used to come here, you were a little girl and it was smaller and, you know, it’s just, it’s a wonderful way to introduce their relationship. And I think that food is one of those things that binds people together and, and causes people to become closer. Um, and it, it’s, it was, it was a great venue to take people through the, that farmer’s market. It’s just vibrant.
Bunny : (23:26)
It is. And, um, and I think that’s a must see, you know, we always wanna give folks a taste of, you know, if you, if you’re coming to town for three days, you gotta go to the farmer’s market. But, but, and, and, and I know that you are, um, that you are producing, um, pieces that are about a number of chefs, but if, if, if you knew somebody was coming to town for, for three or four days, ooh, what would be your, oh my gosh. You can’t miss, besides the farmer’s market ,
Greg : (23:59)
Other than, other than the restaurants
Bunny : (24:02)
Other than Suzanne Market steer Cella chef or, right. Um, restaurant Martine. Um,
Greg : (24:09)
Are you talking about other restaurants or just Santa Fe? Just, you gotta, you gotta,
Bunny : (24:13)
You, you tell me, you know, if you, if your, if your brother-in-law was coming from California and you weren’t gonna be here to show him around, what would you tell him he needed to do?
Greg : (24:21)
Well during the day, and there’s just so much to do. And see, I, you know, I, I think the drive up to the, uh, ski basin is just one of the, the best, if it’s a hot day, you know what most people consider, you know, hot, it’s not really hot. Right? Right. If it’s, if it’s 90 degrees in Santa Fe, everybody’s like, you know, running for the, she, right. But it, but it’s, you know, if it’s, if it’s warm, just get in the car, take a, you know, 20 minute drive up to, uh, ski Santa Fe. That, that Santa Fe basin is so beautiful. Uh, the Aspen trees, I mean, it’s just, it’s one of the, it’s very alpine. So while Santa Fe’s kind of high desert, uh, the ski basin’s, very much a, uh, you know, an, an alpine setting, um, I think, you know, there’s a lot of great day trips that you can, that you can go out.
Greg : (25:10)
Uh, but even in town, you got Museum Hill, right. There’s a lot of things to do and see mm-hmm. , I always tell people, start at the plaza, uh, you know, and, and just follow your nose. Just wander, right? Because there’s so many unique shops. Uh, if you want jewelry, if you want handcrafted, if you want just one of a kind items, you don’t see a lot of chain stores. It’s, it’s a truly unique kind of retail experience and historical experience with the Loretto Chapel. And, uh, you know, just there, there’s around every corner, there’s something that is 400, 500 or more years old, right? Including the Palace of the Governors, another great museum to go through. Um, I think the Laf Fonda Hotel is just that classic, you gotta go in, sit down, have a margarita in the bar. Uh, the, the PLAs restaurant is actually very good. It is people, it’s people realize for you think, well, it’s just a hotel rest. No, it’s very good.
Bunny : (26:17)
And I would say they have the best, and this is hard for me because I love queso, and there’s lots of good queso, but I think that Lazu has the best in town. So that’s always my Yeah.
Greg : (26:30)
A really good tamali too, if you haven’t had that. Oh, I haven’t had that. Yeah. They’ve got this big tamali. It’s like, it’s really good. Uh, uh, hopefully it’s still on the menu. It’s been, it’s been a while since I’ve ordered it owed, but you know, the, if you get a chance to, to, if it’s an opera season, you know that Santa Fe Opera is wonderful, wonderful, uh, venue. Uh, it’s not just opera. You know, we’re not huge opera fans. We’ve been to a few, but, uh, just primarily because they, they’re late and we’re, we kind of fold up early, but the venue is a wonderful venue. We saw Casey Musgraves there, and there’s a lot of other, uh, you know, groups that play there. That’s a wonderful, and then day trips go to Chama go, you know, if the train is running, you know, go, go to the MRE and Totec steam engine and take a mm-hmm. , take a half a day train, ride up through the mountains. It’s beautiful. Uh, the hemis, uh, wilderness, and that’s what the via calera, okay. If people have not been to the Via Calera, it’s like going to Yellowstone National Park. It’s like this massive caldera or old volcano that’s kind of collapsed on itself, and you’ve been there, I’m sure. Right, right. And it’s just, it’s idyllic.
Bunny : (27:47)
Well, and I would say to people, if you are a fan of the television series, Longmire, where Long Myer’s Cabin is, is at the bias Caldera, most people might think that it’s filmed in Wyoming or where, wherever it’s supposed to be set. It’s filmed right here. Yeah.
Greg : (28:04)
You said In my own. Yeah. Yeah.
Bunny : (28:06)
So, so I wanna circle back one more time to, to, to the video series because, um, you, you, the, the video does this amazing job, especially talking about what people may not know is that Cezanne, um, suffer had a fire. Yep. That was devastating that I It
Greg : (28:31)
Closed
Bunny : (28:31)
It. Yeah. It could have closed it.
Greg : (28:33)
Mm-hmm. , I mean, forever. It did close it for a long time,
Bunny : (28:37)
Right. Seven months, I believe. But you did an amazing job of, of capturing sort of that inital spirit of, of Fernando and the Bes and Roberta. Mm-hmm. Um, I, I talk about that for just a minute because I thought it was such an important part Yeah. Of how San Fe food
Greg : (28:59)
Works. That was, that was such an interesting, uh, experience, uh, getting to know that story. And we’d heard about it. But in talking with the people, you can, it, the, their emotion is palpable. You know, when you go through something like that, where your entire waking life for the most of the day, that you are somewhere you are at this place, and then it’s ripped away from you because there was a fire. And luckily they caught the fire early enough that they were able to save the building. They went through a tremendous amount of turmoil to get the, uh, all, all the renovations done, the cleaning and the, the renovations and the art off the walls. I mean, the, if you’ve been to Saan, and if you go look around, you can see there’s a lot of really beautiful things. And those were all there at this fire.
Greg : (29:53)
Luckily, they were able to save it all, and they got it all cleaned up, but it took ’em like three times longer than they thought it would be. Mm-hmm. because of one thing in another. And, and I’ll let them tell the story themselves, but the, the, the, the, the kind of, the one Twoo punch there was, they had this fire, and then they opened up in December of 2019, and we know what happened in March of 2020. Right. So they had another two or three months, and then bang, they were hit again. Covid, they got shut down again. And, and we, you know, everybody knows what happened after that, but they’ve come back stronger.
Bunny : (30:33)
They have, they have. Yeah. And, and, but
Greg : (30:36)
It is an indomitable spirit that just, they just would not quit.
Bunny : (30:43)
Right, right. Um, there is this, uh, at the end where you do the chef’s prayer, I’m probably gonna make myself cry, but you, but, but Fernando praise, and he, one of the things he says is that, um, you know, let me prepare, let me create a space of joy. And, and, um, I that’s so moving. That entire prayer is so moving. And I, I watched it again this morning to remind myself of what he says, but, but I wanna con congratulate you and Theresa, because I feel like that’s what you’ve created with, um, this series is that, um, you know, I’m a, I’m a, a food, I’m an amateur foodie, um, because I love to eat, not to cook, but, um, I’m a big fan of people who are willing to show up every single day. And, and it looks like they’re doing the same thing over and over and over.
Bunny : (31:41)
They’re producing, you know, I always think, how can they stand that m to just create that menu over and over? And yet, I think all of these chefs, um, you know, whether it’s, it’s the guy who’s working in the kitchen at the Plaza Cafe or Mark over at the Compound, or Fernando at, um, Cison, these guys are placed, are creating a space of joy for their customers. And you’re doing the same thing by doing this video series. So I wanna congratulate you on having an amazing idea, having, um, three of my favorite people as commentators, Doug Preston, who’s one of the best guys in the world. What a great guy. And Hampton Sides and Cheryl. But, um, I wanna know what’s next, what’s, what’s go, what’s happening in the next six months for
Greg : (32:32)
San? Yeah. Well, great. Thank you very much by the way, for that, uh, prayer. We, we really too, I mean, when that, when that chef’s prayer comes on screen, it just gets me, I mean, every time. And that’s what we wanted to do, is we wanted to have not just something that was, that’s, that’s nice. You know, it’s kind of inter, we wanted something that really kind of reached into your throat and in your heart and, you know, made you realize this is a really, really hard industry. These people, you, you know, you think it’s hard and it is, but it’s way harder than anybody realizes to consistently get up, work 14, 16 hour days, create new menus with, you know, the compound changes their menu like four times a year for every season. Right. And that’s just, you, people don’t realize just how hard that is.
Greg : (33:24)
And it’s physically hard, it’s mentally hard. It’s, there’s labor. I mean, there’s a thousand things. It’s not a normal business. Right. But the, but it’s, it’s not a normal product, but it’s, it’s something that everybody can get around. And so we, we really enjoy doing it. And we just had, we had a great team. So the next six months, so, so here’s, here’s our plan. I’ll let you, I’ll let you in on this. Um, we’re actually in the process of building a house currently. We’re just north of Santa Fe, uh, just inside this city limits. And we, we bought this lot before Covid. And so we’re going to, uh, move there full-time, uh, sometime this summer. And, uh, then we’ll, uh, we’ll live in our south capital, uh, unit there, our little town home condo, uh, Adobe. And, uh, and then once that’s ready, uh, once the house is finished, we’ll move in there.
Greg : (34:22)
Um, our plan is we haven’t pushed hard on Santa Fe Foods, because quite frankly, you know, our plate is full right now. Right, right. It’s all pun intended. Um, so we will get to that. So bear with us. We will get episode two through six or eight done and then, or 12 roll , eight 12. There’ll be season two and three. Uh, I mean, again, there’s just so many great places to eat and they’re not, it’s not all just all fine dining. You know, there’s some great places that are little holes in the wall, right? I mean, you probably have a few of those that, that you have that are your special places, right? Um, I do. And, and so we’re, so the next six months is get moved, uh, get settled in, continue working on projects, uh, that we’ve got some film projects that we have, uh, that are kind of slowly being developed. Uh, people wanna check those out. You can go to windmill wins.com, uh, and that’s, uh, our website for, for Windmill wins. And then anybody that wants to learn more about the Santa Fe Foods tv uh, show is you can go to Santa Fe foods.tv and that will give you information about that. Or you can just, uh, Google or a search on YouTube, Santa Fe Foods tv. And that will,
Bunny : (35:48)
And we’ll have links. We have, we have links posted.
Greg : (35:51)
Oh, okay.
Bunny : (35:51)
Wonderful. So I don’t want people to have to look very hard, cuz I want ’em to be sure to find you. But Greg, this has been so much fun. This conversation is, is, um, such a treat for me. I’m so glad you agreed to come on the show.
Greg : (36:03)
Well, I look forward to meeting you in person. I feel like I know you and thank you for all of the efforts that you make. I too, and Cancer Survivor, it’s one of those things that touches virtually everybody, everybody, your either first or second degree of separation. And it, it, uh, in our lifetime, I think there’s a really good shot that we’re gonna, we’re gonna create some treatments that’ll take it off the menu.
Bunny : (36:29)
It gets better every year. Gets better every year. So thank you for that. And Greg, I, I, let’s get together and have breakfast some more fun. Okay.
Greg : (36:37)
Plaza Cafe.
Bunny : (36:38)
Got it. Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much for this.
Greg : (36:43)
Thank you. You’re welcome.