Joseph's Culinary Pub

Review Highlights

Guy Fieri returns to Joseph's Culinary Pub in Santa Fe — the only restaurant where he's ever kissed the chef on the mouth because the meal was that good. He first visited in 2019 and found chef-owner Joseph Wrede causing a stir with New Mexican food that always comes with a twist: a high-end chef who, as Guy puts it, 'chooses not to play classical music and he plays Funk Jam.' Guy is here to see if the magic is still alive — whether the confit lamb neck, banana lamb curry, and duck fat fried tamales that earned his most enthusiastic reaction are still turning first-timers into regulars.

• ·Confit Lamb Neck — lamb neck cooked in duck fat for 3 hours, served over a sunchoke purée (sunchokes simmered in house-made veal stock, then blended), with blackberries, yogurt, sautéed Brussels sprouts with garlic and ginger, and crispy fried shallots. Guy: 'I mean it is gorgeous. You have this refined beauty of the neck — rich, enjoyable, textural. The sunchoke veal stock, I mean that just gets you weak-kneed.' The dish was so popular after its Triple D appearance that diners came specifically looking for it — and Joseph admits taking it off the menu was 'a mistake'
• ·Banana Lamb Curry with Dried Cherry Chutney — lamb shoulder sautéed with clarified butter, onions, garlic, ginger, and yellow curry powder, then simmered with chicken stock, coconut milk, and sliced bananas for 35 minutes until the lamb is tender and the banana melts into the sauce. Served over lemon turmeric rice with a house-made dried cherry chutney (apple cider vinegar, sugar, dried cherries, mustard seed, shallots, leeks, ginger). Guy: 'This is the most un-banana thing I've ever had in my life. That said, it was a banana — it's silky, it's rich, it's not heavy, and you're getting total juxtaposed flavors that are contrasting and supporting. It's outstanding. I would eat this every time I came in.' He adds: 'The lamb is incredible, it's delicious, it's unctuous. The real subtle sweetness contrasts so nicely with the lamb, like it melds together into something that just feels exactly right'
• ·Duck Fat Fried Tamale — a New Mexican classic reimagined: chicken rubbed with salt and pepper, roasted 45 minutes at 350°F, then shredded and folded into a salsa verde built from onions, poblano, jalapeños, garlic, cumin, and coriander. The filling is wrapped in masa and corn husks, steamed for 25 minutes, cooled, then fried in duck fat until crisp. Served with red chili and cotija cheese. Guy: 'A lot of tamale — never one fried. It's a really nice and light tamale, the chicken and the green chili of course work so well together. I want to drink the sauce. And it makes me actually question why I haven't had more duck fat fried tamales'
• ·Christmas Beef Stew — beef tenderloin browned in ghee with onions, garlic, cumin, and coriander, then simmered with roasted green chiles, beef stock, potatoes, and a jalapeño-tomato slurry (the 'secret ingredient') for 25 to 30 minutes. Served with cotija cheese and red chili on the side — making it 'Christmas' in New Mexican parlance: red chili poured into a stew that's already got green chiles. Guy: 'It's warm and it's comforting, it's not particularly hot but it's very flavorful, it's fantastic. A beautiful stock, lots of richness. So you do feel like you're having something that your mother might have made you'

Guy is as taken with Joseph Wrede's cooking as he was on the first visit. The banana lamb curry — a dish that sounds improbable on paper — turns out to be 'outstanding,' silky and rich with the banana adding subtle sweetness that 'melds together into something that just feels exactly right.' The confit lamb neck is the dish people still come looking for years after it aired on Triple D, and the duck fat fried tamale makes Guy 'question why I haven't had more.' The Triple D effect hit exactly as predicted — the restaurant now draws visitors from 'all over the country' — and Guy's closing assessment captures what makes the place special: 'You're on the precipice of everything that they know and understand and love, and just be willing to drop off the other side and you're going to get a ride of a lifetime. You're the real deal, brother.'

About

Joseph's Culinary Pub is an innovative New Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe, helmed by chef-owner Joseph Wrede, who was named Food & Wine's Best New Chef in 2000. The restaurant is the third incarnation of Wrede's original Joseph's Table, which he opened in Taos in 1995 and built into one of the most acclaimed dining rooms in the region, earning multiple AAA Four Diamond and DiRoNA awards along with Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast distinctions. At Joseph's Culinary Pub, Wrede applies fine-dining technique to the flavors of Northern New Mexico — the menu changes seasonally but always operates with what Guy Fieri calls a 'Funk Jam' sensibility: traditional ingredients approached with creativity, balance, and a willingness to surprise.