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530 S. Guadalupe
Santa Fe NM 87501
Phone (505) 982-9836
Fax (505) 986-0097

Ladies who Lunch
by Rozie Kennedy
I have for years wanted to have high tea at The Ritz in Picadilly, but the closest I ever got was a warm cuppa with scones and clotted cream at the Avon Gorge Hotel in Bristol. With such predilictions,, it's no surprise I scampered over to the new restaurant Ladies Lunch Two as soon as I could.

Located in the old Fabio's Pizzeria location on Guadalupe and West San Francisco streets, the restaurant's official name is Dinner for Two and Ladies Lunch Too (Note to owners: This long name confuses Directory Assistance Operators everywhere!) Despite the cumbersome name, my dining experience was a real kick. Ladies, it would seem, lunch on small portions, but that's besides the point. As you preside over silver platters of little yummy delicacies, you'll end up feeling as fancy as Holly Golightly. Just bring a sweater to wear over your sun dress, because the A/C runs at full blast. Perhaps as the restaurant fills up more, all those lunching ladies will generate enough body heat to warm the place a bit.

There are daily specials and a few selections of ongoing fare, such as green chile hamburgers and Caesar salad, but the "lunch" is the reason to go. For $12, a lady (are gentlemen even allowed, one wonders) can pick at soup or salad, followed by a platter of quite taste finger foods and, for your finale, madame: the ever-tantalizing dessert platter. In deference to ladies' propensity for chatter and gossip, the menu actually suggests the timeframe you should allot for your meal: an hour or so. If, however, you are a working lady who lunches, your server can expedite things a bit faster.

My selection, a hot carrot/ginger/coconut milk soup, was rich and thick, not too sweet, spicy, or heavy. The next platter contained (one per person) beef wrapped in wontons, pan-seared tuna medallions on a tortilla-shaped fried wonton, heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella drizzled with Balsamic vinegar, salmon and asparagus aperitifs, and other fun and somewhat fancy amuse-geueles of this sort. I scarfed my half down in short order, and our fast waiter was serving the desserts sooner than I imagined (or maybe that's what a leisure lunch does to one's perception of time. This restaurant is, unequivocally, the anti-Power Lunch joint.)

Dessert was a square of rich chocolate cake with a hint of cherry, a mini-crepe with fresh strawberries and cream (hello, Ritz!) a swan-shaped puff pastry filled with cream, almost too artful to cut into, and a cocktail glass with a scoop of Breyers (vanilla ice cream) and Meyers (rum). Breyers and Meyers go together very nicely. Pots of tea can be ordered as well. The service was efficient and friendly, and the room, sophisticated, and prettily decorated.

Across the room from us was a table of several absolute ladies, all dressed up in fine linen and having a jolly good time. All in all, Ladies Lunch Too might not become my favorite restaurant in town (the purple glass plates will see to that), but the concept is catchy and the food is - delish, dahling. As we left, we were approached by a passerby who asked us what it was like to lunch there. I told the lady, Great. We all need to engage in a grown-up tea party everyone once in a while. Grab a girlfriend and your cutest summer purse and - bon apetit.

For reservations, call 820-2075.

THE PLANS

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