LOCAL HEROES
Mark Kiffin,
The Compound Restaurant BEST CHEF, SANTA FE
Photos by Douglas Merriam
Left: Mark Kiffin. Right: Guajillo-Honey Lacquered Pork Belly with pea farro, apricot mostarda di frutta, and smoked ham hock jus.
This May, Chef Mark Kiffin celebrated his nineteenth anniversary as owner of The Compound Restaurant, a cornerstone of the culinary landscape in Santa Fe, located in the Arts District on Canyon Road. The restaurant, renowned for its distinctive style and elegance, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2016. Kiffin’s signature contemporary American menu combines New World influences with the culinary style and flavors of the Mediterranean. The chef also focuses his 18
edible New Mexico | LATE SUMMER 2019
seasonally evolving menu on available regional ingredients and local sourcing, making the restaurant truly farm to table. Beginning in 1990, Chef Kiffin partnered with owner Mark Miller at the famed Santa Fe–based flagship Coyote Café and, later, at the Coyote Café MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where he was the corporate executive chef and owner. Since his tenure with Miller, Kiffin has gone onto work with other notable chefs and has opened twenty restaurants.