New food, beverage vendor lease proposed at Marty Sanchez Links

A proposed new lease for food and beverage service at the clubhouse of the city owned Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe golf course nearly sliced out of play Monday at the Finance Committee, with councilors advancing the agreement only after expressing discomfort with the evaluation process narrowly won by a local chef and food truck vendor.

The existing restaurant at the course, The Links Bar & Grill, was rated lower than El Sabor by a five-member evaluation committee, though why the committee members scored the way they did was not disclosed to councilors; only the criteria — prior experience, company experience, pricing and “point-of-sale system knowledge” — were given, along with the results.

Councilor Peter Ives said it was “somewhat curious” a new company could outscore the established restaurant based on these criteria; Councilor Signe Lindell noted one of the five evaluators scored The Links Bar & Grill significantly lower than the others and said she was “very uncomfortable” with such an outlier.

Jennifer Romero, manager of the city’s Municipal Recreation Complex, vouched for the evaluation committee’s impartiality. Romero was one of the five evaluators; she scored The Links Bar & Grill and El Sabor equally.

The Finance Committee voted to advance the proposed lease to the City Council, with Ives abstaining and requesting specifics on the evaluation process.

El Sabor is operated by Ever Paz, formerly head chef at El Farol, who currently stations his food truck most days in a parking lot at the corner of Paseo de Peralta and Old Santa Fe Trail. Paz said the food truck operations would continue even if his business is granted the lease at the city course, which would take effect next year.

Contact Tripp Stelnicki at 505-428-7626 or tstelnicki@ sfnewmexican.com.