Alchemists change something ordinary into something extraordinary. That can be said of Alkemē Restaurant’s chef-owner Hue-Chan Karels and executive chef and general manager Erica Tai. They have created a menu of healthy, nurturing Vietnamese-centric food in Santa Fe, New Mexico that combines Michelin quality and taste with peasant history and tradition. So, if you’re expecting and wanting normal inexpensive American/Vietnamese fare, you’ll be disappointed.
Santa Fe has become a foodie paradise, having probably more restaurants with award recognition per capita than any other American city. Although some Santa Fe restaurants are over 100 years old, there are many and diverse newcomers including Alkemē, James Beard-nominated Best New Restaurant in 2024. Edible Magazine named Alkemē Local Hero Best Restaurant as it celebrated its third anniversary in June, 2026.
The restaurant combines fine dining with family hospitality. Hostess and servers are friendly and knowledgeable about the food history and recipe ingredients. Wall leaf paintings adorned in colors of green, gold and black, along with Asian lanterns dominate the décor. Along with the accompaniment of soft jazzy/bluesy music, a very calming ambience results.
A choice of a tasting menus, land or sea ($85) and a vegetarian option ($75), has suggestions for accompanying delectable craft cocktails, wines, and beers, or diners can choose a la carte. A la carte allows individual entrée choices ranging from $16 to $39. All the food is inventive and complex.
Ingredients often sound simple but the flavors harmonize and honor the Vietnamese tradition, spirit, and journey. Every dish is handmade each day. Many of the ingredients are brought from Vietnam. For example, I enjoyed a sweet/tart “Violet Crown” cocktail comprised of Vietnamese butterfly pea flower infused vodka, fresh lime juice, fresh ginger, house made ginger syrup and egg white. So the cocktails as well as the food have healing nourishing ingredients.
One of the wonderful starters is a Carrot soup designed and developed during Covid for delivery by owner Hue-Chan to nurture, heal, and boost the immune system. The handmade, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free vegetable broth laced with ginger, turmeric, coconut milk, and spiced carrot crisps sounds quite simple yet possesses a rich, complex palate that was perhaps my favorite of the many delicious dishes. It was named as a favorite by a number of diners I interviewed.
Other mouthwatering appetizers include Turmeric crispy cod with dill aioli, Vietnamese herb oil, fennel-jicama-green apple slaw, and pickled red onions; Citrus-cured yellowfin tuna with tamarind-fish sauce, pickled Asian pear, red chili essence, rau ram, and crisp rice paper; and Rice turmeric crepe with pork belly, vegetables, and herbs. All of these and more choices can be ordered vegan and gluten-free.
Like the appetizers, main course influences come from throughout Vietnam, and many are vegetarian or pescatarian. Notable meat choices include Hanoi-style grilled pork noodles. The fine cut rice noodles are complemented with picked green papaya and carrot, in a warm lime/fish broth sweetened with palm sugar and an abundance of tender grilled pork patties and slices. Another favorite is the Broken rice with duck fat confit umami chicken leg (yes – that’s one name!) with Red Boat fish sauce and salt-cured, pork-egg terrine. It is worth noting that many dishes include broken rice. This is the rice that the Vietnamese peasants kept for their own nourishment after collecting the whole rice for sale.
Portions are sumptuous, generous, filling, and enough to take home for at least one more meal. If diners can manage more food, they might be tempted to try one of several dessert options ($14) such as Vietnamese Coffee flan with almond meringue or Warm coconut-pandan pudding with bananas, tapioca pearls, sweet potato mochi, and toasted coconut.
Take-away can be ordered, but the experience of becoming one of Alkemē’s family by dining in should not be missed. Enjoy as a general night out or on a celebratory special occasion with staff singing and perhaps offering some surprise extras. So if Vietnam is too far for a birthday night out, how about Santa Fe, New Mexico?
Alkemē Restaurant – 227 Don Gaspar (at the corner of W. Alameda), Santa Fe, NM. Dinner service Tuesday through Saturday 5pm to 8:45pm. Welcomes children over 5years. Dress: business casual.
