Magical experience: Alkemē brings Asian heritage cuisine to life with aplomb

While alchemy is defined as “a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation or combination,” Alkeme in Santa Fe’s historic downtown district brings the concept of a magical Asian culinary experience to life. It is here where chef-owner Hue-Chan Karels and executive chef and general manager Erica Tai work their magic through inventive dishes that represent an amalgamation of their combined cultures.

According to their website, Alkeme “celebrates the amazing food heritage of Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Korean and Hawaiian Pacific Rim cuisines in a modern context to create exciting layers of flavors and diverse textures.” And how. What Karels and Tai are doing is highly unique to Santa Fe, and they are doing it with aplomb. Having worked together at Open Kitchen since the pandemic, where they created to-go meals for customers, these two have established a rhythm using both visual and tasteful components that make for a magical evening.

Alkeme sits on the corner of Don Gaspar Avenue and East Alameda Street, close to the iconic Del Charro. What had formerly served since 2019 as a private event space and catering kitchen, known as Open Kitchen, has transformed into a multiroom restaurant that opened in June.

“We have purposefully designed each room to have its own personality,” Karels said, “The front room is what Alkeme is all about. Heritage cuisine reimagined. We are taking heirloom recipes that Erica and I have grown up on and reimagining the culture and heritage, as well as adding our own creativity and innovation.”

Upon entering the elongated front dining room, the electric blue color feels like you are swimming underwater, while the stunning art on the ceiling was created by Karels’ father and the art on the walls is a dynamic and limited print series featuring Chin women that comes direct from Vietnam. Hanging from the ceiling are beautiful, handcrafted silk lanterns commissioned from Hoi An, Vietnam, that bring light to the room.

Though the lanterns are beautiful, I found the lighting entirely too bright for my evening dining tastes and gently requested a table in the red room, which is in the back, where a cozy and warm vibe envelops you and the lights are perfectly dimmed. Known as the Indochine Room, this is Karels’ favorite and represents “the French colonization of Vietnam with a 1920s ambiance aka the Opium Den, vintage Hong Kong. Very cozy and sensual,” she added. The artwork is comprised of various pieces Karels has collected in her travels.

Magical experience: Alkemē brings Asian heritage cuisine to life with aplomb

As you walk through the main dining room, you pass a small bar area that provides more intimate seating as well as a convivial place to meet up with friends for happy hour or dinner.

“The menu is a collection of recipes from Vietnam, where I am from, combined with all that Erica brings — her mother is Taiwanese and her father is Korean. She lived her formative years in Hawaii and graduated from the Santa Fe Community College culinary school,” said Karels.

With four categories — Amuse, Playful Bites, Big Impressions and Sweets, the menu further accentuates the “culture-to-table” concept by listing dishes in both English and the origin language, as well as clearly identifying dishes that are gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and dairy-free. Alternatively, you can double down with one of the thoughtful and creative Tasting Menus featuring a five-course curated menu for carnivores, pescatarians and vegetarians/vegans filled with Alkeme’s top dishes.

Having heard rave reviews about the tasting menus as a powerful introduction to Alkeme, my dining companion and I decided this was the way to go. With so many appealing dishes to choose from, this gave us a few bites of a few things, and that felt just right.

Karels and Tai are as serious about beverages as they are about the food, and they brought in Matt Mathai, an illustrious drink master and cocktail aficionado to lead the charge. The result is a creative drink menu with a bevy of signature cocktails that incorporate complementary flavors and elements which further heighten the Alkeme experience. “We wanted cocktails that combined well with our food, and he was very studious and methodical in his approach to cocktail making,” Karels said.

Tasting Menu 1 ($85) is for carnivores and features an Indochine Onion Soup Shooter and a French-Inspired Vietnamese Rice Crepe with braised pork belly and vegetables with a Vietnamese pesto. Third course is Steamed Bao Bun with braised pork belly, followed by Braised Beef Short Rib with vegetables and sweet potato noodles and, for dessert, a Miso Brown Butter Sesame Brownie.

Tasting Menu 2 ($75) is for pescatarians, and this menu definitely caught my attention. To whet your appetite, a small bowl of delicately fried shrimp chips is served with three dipping sauces — peanut, dill aioli and gochujang for a spicy kick. These crispy chips melt in your mouth while the sauces prepare you for what’s yet to come. The two Hawaiian Off-the-Hook Tuna Poke in Pani Puri are decadent but almost too pretty to eat. Fried pani puri shells are teased open and piped with tuna tartare for a two-bite oral sensation.

One of Alkeme’s already almost famous dishes is the Crispy Turmeric Cod with Dill Aioli and, at first bite, you know why. Tender fish is coated with a turmeric tempura batter and lightly fried until golden. The dill aioli sauce that we first sampled with the shrimp chips is the bed on which the tender cod is placed, along with a crisp and tangy fennel-apple slaw that brings the perfect balance of acid to the dish. The headlining act is Chilean Sea bass a la Nage with Coconut Milk and Lemongrass. The sauce is so yummy my dining companion threatened to lick the plate, but then decided it might be a bad look for her. To cleanse the palate, dessert is a plum crostata made with a crust so thin and tender, it’s barely there to let the plums shine. A side of limoncello gelato brings a punch of acid to this stellar sweet treat.

Tasting Menu 3 ($65) is for vegetarians and vegans, but there is nothing missing from these dishes. My dining companion opted for this tasting menu because she was curious to see their interpretation, and we were both blown away.

“We take vegetarian and vegan food seriously, so it’s well-designed and produced and delicious. Our plant-forward dishes are super flavorful,” Karels said.

Lightly pickled carrots, jicama and cucumber slices tickled our palate with this refreshing starter. Rice wine vinegar, sugar and lime juice are the base of these quick pickles and they disappeared quickly.

The Hawaiian Mock Tuna Poke in Pani Puri replaces tuna with beets and, again, we were deliciously impressed with this version that may have been better. If not better, certainly more unexpected, and incredibly interesting. Skewered tempura fried beech cluster mushrooms with hoisin-bourbon glaze served in a lettuce cup with a side of hoisin-peanut sauce for dipping was pure magic as well. But the coup de grâce is roasted cauliflower, mushrooms and boy choy with coconut sauce. Hearty without being heavy, this dish lit us up and was all we needed to be perfectly satisfied.

The updated fall and winter menu launched last week, so look for a few new and exciting dishes that reflect the changing of the seasons and heartier dishes to warm us from the inside. But the top-selling dishes remain in place — Crispy Turmeric Cod ($24), Six-Hour Braised Beef Short Ribs ($44), Chilean Sea Bass a La Nage with Coconut Milk and Lemongrass ($42), Steamed Bao Buns ($23) filled with braised pork belly.

“Alkeme is about telling a story through food and our senses,” said Karels. Whether you are seeking an intimate and romantic dinner for two, a lively group get together or a quick happy hour at the bar with a friend, Alkeme is brewing plenty of tasty options that will make you believe in magic.