The Compound Restaurant earns AAA Four Diamond rating

Teya Vitu, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·1 min read

Mar. 4—The Compound Restaurant has, for the first time ever, achieved the AAA Four Diamond rating.

Owner and chef Mark Kiffin may have the 2005 James Beard Best Chef in the Southwest award, but his restaurant waited 25 years for those Four Diamonds.

"We look at it like we had it all along," Kiffin said in an interview.

The Compound joins Santa Fe restaurants Geronimo (Four Diamonds since 2004), Sassella (2022), Sazón (2022) and Terra (2009) as the only New Mexico restaurants with the Four Diamond rating. But The Compound has been mentioned for years in the same sentence with those restaurants among the top dining options in Santa Fe.

"I walk in the door every day whether on a slow day in February or during Indian Market, and we care for our customers the same way," Kiffin said. "We are recognized nationally and around the world. This is my life's work."

AAA states Four Diamond properties offer upscale amenities and distinctive fine dining revolving around the "4 Cs" of cleanliness, comfort, cuisine and consistency.

There are no Five Diamond hotels or restaurants in New Mexico.

Santa Fe has the most Four Diamond hotels in New Mexico. The number hasn't changed since 2017 and includes Eldorado Hotel & Spa (1997); Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe (2012); Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder (2011); Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza (2017); La Fonda on the Plaza (2013); La Posada de Santa Fe, a Tribute Portfolio Resort & Spa (2007); Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi (1997); Inn & Spa at Loretto (2010); and Inn of the Five Graces (2012).