We're heading to Santa Fe for New Years and are REALLY into food. I understand there are two (Spain) spanish restaurants there that serve Paella: El Meson and El Farrol. Anyone out there kow which one has the best?

Also, I typed "Santa Fe Restaurants" in the search guide and came up with surprisingly few hits for the past year. What are the current hot spots for great food? I've heard that some places such as SantaCafe may have gone downhill. True!? or not?

Appreciate all your suggestions.

Strive

We were in Santa Fe about 18 months ago and thought SantaCafe overrated then--take that for whatever it's worth, I guess! We loved Geronimo (fusion--has gotten some excellent reviews nationally), and Daniel (Italian), and La Casa Sena (although it hasn't done as well by other diners who have expressed their disappointment here, we had a terrific dinner, in the dining room, not the opera-singing-waiters-cafe).
Had a mediocre lunch at El Farol one day, but to be fair, we arrived late in the lunch hours on a Monday--they may be entirely different on a hotter night.
Have fun, and please, post your opinions when you return!

We were in Santa Fe 2 years ago and had a mediocre dinner at El Farrol. We were so excited and hungry with the expectation of Spanish food that we ordered many tapas in addition to our main course but none of it was very good and the paella was very disappointing. The service was also excruciatingly slow.

Strive, do you know about chowhound.com? That site would probably be best for up-to-date restaurant opinions.

This is kinda off the subject of paella, but I think Garduno's is one of the best New Mexican restaurants around. They capture the unique hybrid flavor that permeates northern NM.
I don't think they have paella, but their food is so good, I dream about it! There's one by the plaza in Santa Fe (unless they've moved). If you go, send me some tamales!