Pickles are everywhere at 401 in Santa Fe – and they are just one of many delights

By Karen Peterson / For the Journal

Named for its address on S. Guadalupe, 401 is the latest addition to Santa Fe’s company of fine dining establishments. Welcome it is, too: we enjoyed a recent dinner laden with house-made goodies of all descriptions, at prices on the lower side of its fine-dining competition.

Somebody in 401’s kitchen must love pickles, because a mad assortment of them, all house-made, sparkles across the menu. We like pickles, too, and were quite dazzled by the array of vinegar-treated fruits and vegetables that appeared in 401’s pâté-and-pickle appetizer ($15).

Not that the pâté was any less intriguing: 401 delivers two varieties on the plate. One, the standard chicken-liver mousse, was very good, but the other, a pâté de campagne en croute, was so interesting we dispatched the waiter to the kitchen to find out about the ingredients.

Duck liver and calamata olives, he reported. The result was a darker and earthier version of this chunky cousin of the mousse, with the olives giving the whole an unexpected taste twist. The pastry case was appropriately flaky, too.

Pickled cherries were a dazzling foil to this meaty starter, as was the sweeter, but still tart, orange peel. Pickled raisins? Yes! Pickled beets, peppers, pickled onions, pickled Persian cucumber slices and pickled asparagus spears rounded out the selections. All were excellent, with the single exception of the asparagus, which we found too sour and un-nuanced for our taste.

We were quite taken with the “mustard caviar” atop the mousse, though – we took it to be straight-ahead brined mustard seed, an imaginative take on the obligatory complement to any respectable pâté.

In a similar vein, my companion chose the toast du jour ($9). Crostini appear to be a specialty here and vary daily. The Friday we dined, a chunky and very excellent smoked salmon was felicitously paired with whipped feta.

We might also have chosen pan-roasted peaches with pepitas and balsamic vinegar, an heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese and mint or a melon salad featuring smoked lemon oil, gorgonzola and basil from the lengthy and intriguing list of starters. Steak tartare was on the list, too, as was a Caesar salad featuring duck-fat croutons.

In fact, it might be more fun to assemble supper from 401’s lengthy list of starters, since it is longer by 50 percent than the list of main courses. The latter range from three kinds of pasta to lamb chops, steak frites and a daily fish preparation, which on the night we dined was soft-shelled crab.

Having just returned from a lengthy stay on the Pacific Northwest seaboard, I opted for one of the menu standards, fresh pasta with wild mushrooms in cream laced with Marsala ($18). My companion, in an unadventurous and carnivorous mood, opted for the steak frites ($28).

The pasta was billed as linguine, but more resembled fresh pappardelle. I like the latter better and was quite pleased. The cream sauce with its hint of nuts and slightly fruity undertone, courtesy of a judicious dollop of Marsala, was similarly delicious, and there was a generous and variegated handful of meaty mushrooms laced throughout. Lovely.

My guest pronounced her steak excellent and, judging from my sample bite, it was indeed. It was absolutely perfectly cooked to her medium-rare choice, well spiced with a crust of black pepper and very tender. The frites were perfect, too, and proper American “French fries,” not the skinny shoestring variety often served up.

The accompanying red cabbage slaw, spiced with more of those pickled raisins, showed the kitchen pickle-meister at work again. It was freshly crunchy and a nice foil to the meat, I thought. My guest was less intrigued.

We were ready for dessert, and dessert there was. As recited by the waiter, the evening’s list included a chocolate mousse, lemon-ricotta cheesecake, apple galette with whipped cream and tiramisu (each $10). We opted for the latter two and were pleased, although getting ahold of that slice of tiramisu was the only wait-staff glitch of the evening. Perhaps he misunderstood, but the chocolate mousse arrived in its stead and it took some more confusion to get that, tempting as it looked, replaced.

The tiramisu was worth fighting for, however. The lightest of cake and cream layers were balanced by a coffee-soaked bottom layer and a bitter-chocolate dusted top coat of cream. It was scrumptious.

My guest was equally pleased with her galette. The free-form crust was appropriately melt-in-the-mouth, and the single layer of apples both tender and tart.

The corner space formerly occupied by the Palace Swiss Bakery is now home to 401. It isn’t fancy, whimsically decorated as it is with a herd of dancing zebras across one wall and an eclectic mix of photographs. The service is attentive and knowledgeable, the kitchen prompt.

401’s dining room was pleasantly packed the night we dined, but we were pleased to note that the tables are well-spaced and conversation at normal volume was very pleasantly possible throughout. A soon-to-come patio promises more space.

Chef Laura Licona, a New Mexico native lately returned from Seattle, has started small; as we noted, the menu has nine appetizers and just six entrees, three of them pasta variations. We’d like to see the entrees expanded a little, delicious though they all sound, and trust that, as 401 matures (it opened in June), the choices will grow.