Danny Dines: SOMA Coffee House 

PLACITAS — Last month, I had the honor of watching the University of New Mexico Lobos battle against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Rate Bowl, which was played in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Though the Lobos lost, I still had a wonderful time, and the good vibes started right at home in the Land of Enchantment. 

As usual, I got ready for my trip at the very last second. I blame my procrastination on my great-great-grandfather Lionel “Putter” Zuniga. 

For those who don’t know, I have been using the same camera that I bought from Costco when I was 17 years old, a Nikon D3500. Best $500 I’ve ever spent.

However, now that I am covering college football, I have been searching for a bigger lens to capture hard-hitting tackles and patrons eating churro hot dogs in the stands (that is an actual thing that they sell at Chase Field). There was a camera store in Santa Fe that had the lens, but by the time I was ready to drive there, it had closed for the day. So, I resorted to Plan B: find a quiet place to work. 

That’s when I found SOMO Coffee House in Placitas, which has everything that I have been searching for in a coffee shop: fast internet, fresh local coffee, board games, outlets for my dinosaur computer, pastries and savory items. Cherry on top, it's 30 feet away from my favorite pizza shop in town, Placitas Pizza Co. 

Some of their menu items include ham and cheese croissants, quiche, breakfast burritos, cranberry scones, chocolate croissants, tiramisu and limoncello cake. For hot beverages, they offer all the classics including chai lattes, Cortados, London Fog, mochas and so on. 

“I want people to relax when they come over here and lose time in the best way,”

Owner Nick Aquilino said, “The community has been really looking forward to something like this for a long time. We just opened February of (last) year.”

SOMA also displays local art and has live music a few times a month. 

Now that I am 28, I’m trying to take my health seriously, which is why I order pastries first. So, I decided to order a chocolate chip cookie and their signature coffee cake scone. 

“We bake everything fresh, in house. We do a lot of collaborations with different local businesses. For example, we do a chicken salad sandwich where the chicken salad is served from The Merc Grocery Store,” Aquilino said.

SOMA also collaborates with Oval Dog Coffee in Rio Rancho and Crude Lab Coffee in Albuquerque to put the best beans and drip out there. 

The cookie was sweet, melted in your mouth, and the type of cookie that you’d want to give to Santa on Christmas Eve. 

Next, I headed for the cinnamon chip scone: It was crumbly, buttery, had that cinnamon sweetness, and was gone within five minutes … Hey, "gone within five minutes," that sounds like a Hollywood movie that’ll probably flop at the box office. 

I also made sure to order a dark roast coffee with no room for cream or no sweeteners. The coffee was bold, full-bodied and had a wonderful finish.

Legendary head coach Mike Leach said it best about coffee: "Well, coffee tastes terrible anyway. So don't put anything in it to obstruct the harsh bitter taste and just put it down one sip at a time, you know."

After I finished everything, I made sure to pay for a tiramisu and a piece of limoncello cake for my road trip. 

If you are in search of a premier coffee house, visit SOMA in Placitas; you won’t regret it, and you cannot beat the views of the Sandias.