Eric DiStefano wasn’t just one of the city’s most celebrated chefs — in tune with contemporary trends and dedicated to elevating the dining experience.
Undeniably, said close friend and fellow chef Louis Moskow, “He was a culinary leader.” He could even be considered a culinary artist — “his creativity was boundless.” But DiStefano also was “caring, giving, religiously generous” and an inspiration — to chefs and food lovers, and to the community.
DiStefano, 52, an award-winning executive chef and co-owner of both the Coyote Cafe and Geronimo restaurant in downtown Santa Fe, died Friday in South Carolina, where he had gone to get in shape ahead of a planned knee replacement surgery. His closest companion and onetime business partner, Sara Chapman, said Saturday that his death from a blood clot in his lung was unexpected.
Chapman said she had driven him there, and he had been there just five days before his death.
“He was the most genuine person I’ve ever met in my life,” she said.
Moskow, owner and executive chef at Bistro 315, called DiStefano’s death “an irreplaceable loss.”
Andrew Cooper, another friend and colleague in the local fine-dining industry, said the news Friday of DiStefano’s death “was a big shock to the culinary community here.”
“He’s been nothing but a positive force for the community,” said Cooper, the head chef at Terra, at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado near Tesuque.
DiStefano’s Coyote Cafe was the first restaurant he visited when he moved to Santa Fe three years ago, Cooper said, and he and DiStefano became fast friends. “He pretty much embraced me.”
Cooper called DiStefano a mentor, teacher and coach.
He was among countless chefs whom DiStefano had encouraged and inspired. “I think he brought up a whole generation of chefs,” said Chris Harvey, a co-owner of Geronimo with DiStefano. The two had worked together for over 16 years, he said, describing DiStefano as “such an incredible chef and an even more amazing person.”
Harvey credits his business partner with expanding the restaurant scene in Santa Fe — he mentored many up-and-coming chefs who then started their own ventures — and improving the quality of the food experience here.
“He took this city to a different level with the food that he did,” Harvey said.
DiStefano was born on Jan. 16, 1964, in Hershey, Pa., according to a statement issued by his close friends and colleagues, and he became acquainted with the joys of cooking during his childhood. “His Italian mother inspired him from an early age to cook with the fresh ingredients she’d grow in their backyard,” the statement said.
His career began with an apprenticeship at the Hershey Hotel, and then took him to the Breakers Hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz. He came to Santa Fe to work at a bed-and-breakfast and joined Geronimo in 1997 as its executive chef.
During his time there, he was nominated for the prestigious James Beard award several times and earned numerous other national accolades.
In 2007, he became one of the owners of Coyote Cafe and served as its executive chef.
That restaurant’s court battle with a landlord made headlines last year, when its owners secured a deal with the property owner to put a cap on what had been exorbitant rent costs. “There are restaurants in Manhattan with cheaper rent,” DiStefano had said in an interview with The New Mexican.
Water Street Illinois LLC, which put the Water Street complex up for auction last year, was demanding thousands of dollars in what an attorney called “phantom charges.” Through that attorney, David Berardinelli, the restaurant filed a suit against the building’s owner, accusing it of demanding fraudulent charges.
The building’s owner filed a countersuit, trying to evict Coyote Cafe.
Following the rent-cap deal, Berardinelli told The New Mexican, “Now, they have a chance. You’ve got a Santa Fe treasure preserved, and one of the most vibrant restaurant scenes in a much better position.”
“This business is hard on people,” said Mark Kiffin, chef and owner of The Compound Restaurant, just across Canyon Road from Geronimo. The stress, the long hours, the high overhead — none of it stopped DiStefano from loving the work.
And he did work. “He worked hard to drive himself to do really good restaurants,” said Kiffin, who had known DiStefano for decades.
“Eric is one of those guys who epitomizes what we do,” he added, calling DiStefano a “big guy with a big, bright smile and a big personality — the best of the best.”
Kiffin said the news of DiStefano’s death hit him hard. “We’re all kind of family in this business.”
Chapman’s 14-year-old daughter, Page Fernandez, who was raised by DiStefano, also recalled his lighthearted nature. “He was fun, and he always looked at the bright side,” she said. “… And we ate some of the best food ever.”
Her favorite dishes to share with DiStefano weren’t necessarily the artful dishes displayed in Geronimo, the cookbook he had published with his business partners at the restaurant in 2004. Instead, Page preferred his comfort food: pork chops, mashed potatoes and peas.
Friends and business partners say the rock-solid staff members at DiStefano's restaurants will carry on for him.
But, as Kiffin said, “He is sadly going to be missed in those operations.”
Editor's note: This story has been amended due to a change in plans for a memorial service for Eric DiStefano. An earlier version reported that a memorial was planned for Tuesday, Feb. 16. A memorial actually will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.