When we look back to 2021 and all that particular year was about\u2014y\u2019know, pandemic nonsense and the continuation of some of the weirdest times of our lives\u2014it\u2019s almost hard to believe restaurateur James Anthony Moore managed to open a Midtown eatery like Anthony\u2019s Grill and make it last. Yet he did just that.<\/p>\n
At the time, Moore told SFR he was all about \u201cserving something good, hot and fresh during such a time,\u201d and his gamble on a takeout-forward eatery that served stir fry, tempura, spring rolls and other Asian delights with an American bent paid off big-time. This is purely anecdotal, but I\u2019ve got a whole gaggle of friends who swear by the place for takeout or dine-in (though, admittedly, Anthony\u2019s Grill itself remains a pretty small affair with scant few seating options).<\/p>\n
Enter Anthony\u2019s Soul Caf\u00e9 (1620 St. Michael\u2019s Drive, (505) 365-2932), the newest project from Moore and company and one that bets big on comfort foods you both know and don\u2019t quite know from the space recently vacated by Annapurna World Vegetarian Caf\u00e9. Enter also that gnawing sensation that while we\u2019ve technically had dishes like those at Anthony\u2019s Soul Caf\u00e9 on other local menus around town as specials, one-offs or even lesser versions, one struggles to recall a time when so many of these specific items all landed in one place at one time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A companion and I visited one recent night for dinner, specifically for the fried chicken. Once there, however, the experience became a rather protracted game of how-do-we-pick-a-second-dish. For what it\u2019s worth, just about everything at Anthony\u2019s Soul Caf\u00e9 sounded good, and I\u2019m including the pianist who tore through instrumental renditions of songs by Tina Turner and, if I\u2019m not mistaken, Madonna, among others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, Santa Fe\u2019s restaurants had some fried chicken options that were pretty OK. Even so, outside of the late Shontez Morris, who was known to offer fried chicken pop-ups now and again, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d ever sampled fried chicken and thought \u201cno notes!\u201d 2 Floyds Southern Kitchen comes mighty close to the crown, though as of this writing, they only offer thighs, and sometimes you want a breast or a drumstick or a firmer cut. Still, I do love that place, but I almost need to get back to Anthony\u2019s. Because this is the one when it comes to fried chicken: no notes other than the dish almost seemed too fair price-wise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a mere $15.95, we snagged the two-piece combo plate, which comes with your choice of sides, including mashed potatoes, fries, collard greens, red beans and rice and a couple others; you also get to choose a bread option, which somehow, gloriously, includes waffles. I chose the mashed potatoes with a white gravy and waffles as our accompanying items, and I\u2019d do it again, too. For the second dish, I selected a classic BBQ brisket plate with a side of fries (it\u2019s important to know who has good fries in town) and cornbread, and even that big old helping of tender, juicy beef ran a more-than-reasonable $16.95.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I say, I\u2019ve no notes for the fried chicken outside of a terrifying moment during which the cashier believed the restaurant had possibly sold out. We managed to get the very last order at roughly 7 pm, so plan accordingly just in case, even if I imagine they\u2019ll get ahold of how much chicken they need in the future. The chicken itself was a clearly brined and tender pair of pieces (leg and drumstick) that made use of what must be some kind of Moore family secret for the breading. When we talk about frying to a golden-brown perfection, this is the image folks have in their heads. This was a crunchy and crispy sensation with just the right amount of resistance before you get to the chicken within, and said chicken sidestepped the dryness and overcookery that seems to plague my home attempts at similar dishes with ease. Think seasoned, but not over-seasoned, and know this is some of the most tender chicken you can find in the city just now. Oh, and the mashed potatoes and waffles? Excellent. Those buttery, rich potatoes tasted more like a home-cooked version than the clearly-from-a-box offerings of lesser eateries, and the gravy was not over-thick or too-watery. It was just\u2026satisfying. Even so, my waffles were certainly delicious and a nice carby balance with the chicken, though I think a good waffle should have a little more crisp and solidity.<\/p>\n
The brisket plate was also a fine dish, though if I\u2019d known it came slathered in BBQ sauce, I might have ordered it on the side. Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014I love the stuff, but I love it when I make the call about volume and when I can taste the meat un-sauced. All the same, said sauce lent a sweet accent to the thinly sliced and smoky brisket that I rather liked, even if I\u2019d have gone a tad lighter. As for the fries? An easy recommendation for some of the crispiest and more flavorful ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cY\u2019know what?\u201d I said to my companion. \u201cI am comforted. I was having an incredibly stressful day, and this actually helps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keep in mind that Anthony\u2019s Soul Caf\u00e9 is still in its opening window. If I hadn\u2019t wanted fried chicken so badly, I might have even waited a few more months before dining there. Moore is clearly a man with vision, however, and someone who has dialed in that vision. I\u2019m interested to see more live music over time (the mural out front credited to a young artist who goes by @acylic_possum on Instagram leads me to believe there will be blues shredders at some point), but I\u2019m also interested to see how the dishes are evolved and refined. Whatever happens next, I\u2019m thrilled to be able to have an easy answer to the question about where to get good fried chicken in Santa Fe. It\u2019s at Anthony\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When we look back to 2021 and all that particular year was about\u2014y\u2019know, pandemic nonsense and the continuation of some of the weirdest times of our lives\u2014it\u2019s almost hard to believe restaurateur James Anthony Moore managed to open a Midtown eatery like Anthony\u2019s Grill and make it last. Yet he did just that. At the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[29568,17917,12,7,8,604,605,606,607],"class_list":["post-36278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soul-food-kitchens","tag-08-26-26","tag-alex-de-vore","tag-food","tag-restaurant","tag-restaurants","tag-soul-food-kitchen","tag-soul-food-kitchens","tag-soul-food-restaurant","tag-soul-food-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117390138661539713","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}