This leg of the scenic byway ends here in White Rock, just in time for a meal at this local cafe. The owner-chef-baker specializes in gourmet comfort food and French-style desserts. Soups, salads and sandwiches top the lunch menu, but the pumpkin mascarpone ravioli and the sweet piggy pasta are other-worldly. Treat yourself to a slice of flourless lava cake or a really big chocolate chip cookie before heading for home. If that’s back to Santa Fe, squeeze in a stop at Bandelier National Monument and a walk through the ancestral Pueblo dwellings there.
- Susan Brown, Best Things New Mexico