The Fork mentioned last week that, because Amavi chef David Sellers is moving to Connecticut with his family for new adventures in life and the culinary arts, the new head chef at Amavi (as of March 20) would be Megan Tucker, former pastry chef at the Inn and Spa at Loretto's Luminaria Restaurant. I spoke to Megan over the weekend, and she's ready and eager to take over the reins. More on that next week, though. This week, let's congratulate new Luminaria pastry chef Andrea Clover, who took first place in the "Best Taste-Most Artistic" category (among restaurants, caterers and artists) earlier this month in Albuquerque at the 18th annual Chocolate Fantasy Chocolatier Competition & Fundraiser for the New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation.

Clover's 30-inch-tall piece, titled "The Deceptive Conqueror," combined 125 pounds of dark chocolate and 200 hours of sweat, tears and a passion for molding chocolate to construct a scene depicting Greek warriors exiting the Trojan Horse before the attack on Troy. All entries were for show and not to eat — which leaves me asking, Where's all that delicious chocolate right now? If you want to find out, go visit chef Clover at Luminaria (211 Old Santa Fe Trail, 988-553, www.innatloretto.com).

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The game of restaurant-staff hopscotch continues in Santa Fe. After the departure from Santacafé of former sous chef and pastry chef Adolfo and Rosa Lemus (they opened El Patio Café in the old Cloud Cliff Bakery spot), owners Judy Ebbinghaus and Bobby Morean bring some new faces to the kitchen and the front-of-house staff. Cindy Sheptow, who hails from a recent pastry-chef position in Arizona for a successful restaurant consortium, takes over as pastry chef, while 21-year-old Sean Sinclair, a recent grad of the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, will serve as sous chef. That familiar face at the host stand belongs to Erich Vollmer, who took on a new role recently as Santacafé's maitre d'. You probably know him better as the former executive director of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Welcome aboard one of Santa Fe's mainstays guys! Santacafé celebrates its 27th anniversary in 2010!

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I became extremely sad when my favorite spot, 8:15 Early, closed on Early Street in July 2009. And I was equally ecstatic to find it recently relocated closer to The New Mexican's offices under a new name — Louie's Corner Café (229 Galisteo St., 820-2253).

Louie's continues to attract a large local lunch and breakfast clientele, and now, it's bracing for some more big changes. Beer and wine are now available at Louie's — a signal the owners told me to look out for when they were about to open for dinner service, as well. And that's exactly what they're doing beginning April 1. To emphasize the spirit of April Fools' Day, the owners have decided to have a little fun. On the evening of April 1, the floor staff will be relegated to the kitchen, and the kitchen staff will take care of customers in the dining room. I know, it sounds like a disaster just waiting to happen, but it's a great opportunity for the restaurant staffers to walk in someone else's shoes, and the owners want them — and you — to lighten up and have fun with the April Fools' idea. The staff is sharp and knows its operations well, no matter where they take place in the building ... or outside: The restaurant's new patio furniture has arrived, just in time for spring. The owners are planning some kind of April Fools' discount, and once they know what it is, so will you.

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Speaking of 8:15 Early, the spot it formerly occupied at 815 Early Street (across from Tiny's Restaurant & Lounge off Cerrillos Road) now has a new tenant. Rasa is a juice and chai bar that "is intended as a source for healing and rejuvenation," and serves as an extension of the well-established Spandarama yoga studio next door. Fresh-squeezed organic juices, herb-and-juice blends, fair-trade coffee roasted in Washington State, espresso and teas are available, and food selections will expand over time. Rasa, which is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays, also carries boutique items and ayurveda treatments. Call 989-1288 for more information.

Send tips on what's happening in the local food and restaurant scenes to Rob DeWalt at rdewalt@sfnewmexican.com. You can also follow Rob and TASTE on Twitter
at twitter.com/sfnmTASTE.