“PHDS ARE A DIME a dozen in Los Alamos,” chef Laura Crucet says, “but what I do is pretty unique.” Despite being a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and an award-winning pastry chef, Crucet says she was a small fish in the big culinary pond of her native Houston. However, since moving to New Mexico and opening Pig + Fig Cafe in White Rock in 2016, followed by Los Alamos dessert destination Sugar & Cream Cafe in 2023, Crucet’s cooking has become the toast of the Pajarito Plateau.
“It’s been incredibly flattering and lovely,” she says of her success in the town known for its national laboratory. Her latest endeavor is Beef and Leaf, a lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch spot offering elevated—and eclectic—takes on comfort fare.
The small-town restaurant has a big-city feel, with its chic white dining room, colorful paintings by local artists, and warm wooden details. Its menu draws inspiration from Crucet’s multicultural roots: a Gulf Coast upbringing, a Spanish mother, and time spent living and studying in France. Her beef bourguignon pot pie, for example, is a hearty Southern staple with a touch of French sophistication, featuring tender red wine braised beef tips, wild mushrooms, bacon, and pearl onions topped with a flaky puff pastry.
“I couldn’t find my style of continental cooking when I came to New Mexico,” Crucet says. “So many people use green chile and all these cool local ingredients, but I wanted to showcase dishes from my background, like shrimp and grits, real buttermilk fried chicken, and Spanish mussels with chorizo.”