The Love Apple

The setting at The Love Apple is picturesque for a date. It’s housed in what was previously the Placitas Chapel, a small Catholic church built in the 1800s. Our spot in the corner is at a little white table with a single beautiful red rose. We’re immediately entranced by the space, and can’t wait to dig into the elevated New Mexican fare. 

A flavorful start

To begin, there’s house-made blue and yellow corn bread and New Mexican queso and Navajo flat bread. Our waitress urges us to go with grilled asparagus. A fried farm egg sits on top of the asparagus, sprinkled with Parmesan and a touch of truffle oil. It’s all nestled beside a few crisp pieces of bacon. You can taste the quality of each ingredient individually, but they truly complement each other.

Next up is the Raw Beet, Avocado and Ruby Grapefruit Salad tossed with a citrus vinaigrette and fresh mint. The raw beets are tender as well as crunchy, and so delicious with the tangy citrus and creamy avocado.

Rained out? Not a chance.

Right before our main course, it starts to rain. Even though most of the metal roof covers the patio, there’s a section right above us where it’s getting through. Luckily, we can sneak onto a more central table for the finale: the New Mexican Lamb Burger. This is so unique to us. The lamb is cooked medium rare, and has a rich, slightly gamey taste, but not as much as elk or bison. On top: Beeler’s bacon, spicy-sweet candied jalapeños, and a medium-thick slice of smoked Gouda. It’s all layered in a homemade potato bun and next to crispy wedge fries. Balsamic-sweetened ketchup balances the spicy potatoes.

A lovely parting gift

All of the incredible-sounding desserts (warm rhubarb pie!) have nuts and my husband is allergic. But they surprise us and send us home with two scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream and sugar-dusted, heart-shaped shortbread cookies. They’re on the house and so, so creamy.

Seasonally delightful

The ethos here is all about local and organic home cooking, so the menu changes often. The thoughtful kitchen prioritizes peak-season ingredients, grass-fed and finished meats and locally-milled flour. The cheese is made exclusively in New Mexico and Colorado. They have a purposefully small pantry and fridge section to ensure they rotate ingredients often and don’t throw away food. This pretty much means that anyone who dines here will come back time and again to see what they dream up next. Including us.