Recently, the Fork seized an opportunity to take a 3-hour tour. No, not the kind that includes the Professor and Marianne and a deserted island. There were no coconut bikinis and my Minnow was not lost, thanks in large part to my trusty tour guide, local musician and hungry man about town Nicholas "Nick" Peña.

The guitarist and vocalist for the local "Southwest-funk-hop" outfit La Junta (lajunta505.com) invited a group of human guinea pigs, myself included, to sample his newest creative endeavor: Food Tour New Mexico. Based on the premise that Santa Fe is a town filled with hidden culinary treasures and rich (and sometimes odd) history that sometimes go unnoticed or ignored by locals and tourists alike, Peña's culinary tour offers diners a guided excursion that frequently veers off the well-beaten and oft-eaten burrito-enchilada path.

After gathering on the northwest corner of the Plaza at 10:45 a.m. on a Friday, tour participants headed to the nearby San Francisco Street Bar & Grill (50 E. San Francisco St., Suite 3, 982-2044, www.sanfranbargrill.com) with Peña. Once there, we dined on a generous salad of tender soy- and sesame-marinated chicken breast served with soba noodles, spinach, cucumbers, red onion and red bell peppers, the lot of it tossed in a mild, pleasant soy-honey-ginger dressing.

Then it was off to The Ore House on the Plaza (50 Lincoln Ave., 983-8687, www.orehouseontheplaza.com) for a small taste (about four big bites) of some of the best red chile-pork posole I've ever had. Florinda's Posole, crafted from a 65-year-old family recipe, harbors a slowly building spiciness in its broth, spoon-tender pork cubes, a little cabbage garnish for crunch and a bright cilantro finish. I'm in love with this dish. However, it remains to be seen how long The Ore House will remain a stop along the tour.

The landlord of the building that houses the restaurant has filed a complaint in state District Court demanding the restaurant's swift closure and departure from the property. Peña is aware of the issue, and if changes need to be made along his route, there are plenty of other dishes within walking distance of the Plaza that he'd love to expose you to.

At Santa Fe Olive Oil Company (116 Don Gaspar Ave., 992-1601) we tasted an array of olive oils and vinegars, many of which hail from California. I fell so tongue-over-heels for the slow, intense burn of the habanero olive oil that I purchased a bottle during the tour and have been pouring it on everything from carnitas to kettle corn ever since. The shop offers a $2 discount coupon for tour participants, and the shop cannot be held liable if one of its delicious products also may have the heat potential to send a few of your taste buds to a temporary, flavor-based torture chamber. In other words, use sparingly, and proceed with caution. For a milder experience that's just as interesting, try the bacon-flavored olive oil. Yes, you read that right. Bacon.

A short walk along the Santa Fe River and up Guadalupe Street finds the tour at Kohnami Japanese Restaurant (313 S. Guadalupe St., 984-2002) for a taste of the special Santa Fe Roll, a maki-sushi roll that includes shrimp tempura, green chile and masago (flying fish) roe.

Sharing the delicious sushi at the same table and using chopsticks seemed to unify and relax the group. As we walked to Upper Crust Pizza (329 Old Santa Fe Trail, 982-0000, www.uppercrustpizza.com) for a pesto-chicken pizza with sun-dried tomatoes on crisp-chewy whole-wheat crust, Peña was working the history angle of the tour like a seasoned pro, thanks in part to the involvement of a local historian who consulted during the tour's development.

To cap off the afternoon, we stopped at Señor Murphy Candymaker (La Fonda on the Plaza Hotel, 100 E. San Francisco St., 982-0461, www.senormurphy.com) for a trio of chocolate goodies. While I raid this shop's extensive black-licorice inventory on a regular basis, the locally produced dark-chocolate bar with pistachios and New Mexico chile is slowly taking its hold on me.

As time goes by, Peña hopes to add more tours to the business and focus on other areas of the state as well, such as Taos and Albuquerque's Old Town. For now, though, he's concentrating on the location history and food history that are built into this city's uncommon cultural DNA. The Santa Fe journey is meant to be a casual affair, and Peña currently steers clear of super-high-end dining establishments to give folks a chance to see "the other Santa Fe" — you know, the one most residents actually live in.

Many of Peña's and La Junta's songs are heartfelt love letters to the state of New Mexico. With Food Tour New Mexico, Peña continues to build on that sense of nostalgia and esteem, utilizing the same passion and fearlessness with which he crafts his music. His love of Santa Fe is enough to make a grown Fork cry. If that doesn't do it, however, I know where to find some decent habanero olive oil.