Anyone in Santa Fe looking to pair fine dining with a side of rock music can find just that at Los Angeles restaurateurs Cameron Markham and Elizabeth Blankstein’s new restaurant Liu Liu Liu.
Serving dishes inspired by the culinary colors of Taiwan, New Mexico, France and California, Markham and Blankstein drew on their combined heritages and experiences in Los Angeles Michelin star kitchens.
Markham said they wanted to give Santa Fe diners something unexpected so they ditched the customary white linens and opted for a modern, fresh vibe, which includes the occasional punk rock song.
Cameron Markham and Elizabeth Blankstein came up with the idea for their new restaurant after the pandemic began and opened it in February of this year.
| Provided
“We have a $140 caviar service nightly, but at the same time we’re blasting the Ramones,” Markham told the New Mexico Sun. “That’s very new to the dining landscape, especially in Santa Fe, which some of the time leans a little bit older and is very used to the fine dining that has existed for the last 40, 50 years which is the white tablecloths, contemporary plating, stuff like that.”
Markham and Blankstein, who are not just business partners but also romantic partners, originally conceived the idea of Liu Liu Liu at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the public health crisis dropped a bomb on their wedding plans. Markham said they decided to use their wedding money to start a project.
“We were really optimistic,” he said. “We knew the challenges of the pandemic—we’d been dealing with them already with our other projects, but for us it was really kind of an optimistic time and we hoped it would give us time to slowly ease into things. In some ways it did.”
Liu Liu Liu opened in February. Markham said the community was quick to receive them.
“We went into construction about eight months before, and we had hoped we would open as the vaccine was rolling out and restrictions were lifting,” he said. “Lucky enough, we ended up opening the week that indoor dining returned to Santa Fe.”
Operating during the pandemic has still had its trials, according to Markham. Right now, finding staff is the biggest problem.
“We’re paying $20 an hour for a dishwasher with a $400 signing bonus and we’re not getting anybody applying, and I’m talking not a single person—and it’s been that way for months,” he said.
If visitors had to try one item off Liu Liu Liu’s menu, Markham said it has to be their popcorn chicken. He described it as a twist on a classic Taiwanese street food dish. Usually eaten out of a paper bag, popcorn chicken at Liu Liu Liu has had the heat removed and been elevated with truffles regularly imported from Burgundy.
Besides their new culinary venture, Markham and Blankstein also own a consulting business to help others make their dreams take shape.
