Every once in a while,  something comes as a wonderful surprise. Diane's has mixed reviews between Yelp, Google,  and Trip Advisor.  We figured what the heck,  we're road-weary and starving and every establishment in Silver City has mixed reviews.  At worst we would have an amusing anecdote to share around the proverbial water cooler. 

What we least expected was the completely amazing experience we had.  We showed up 5 minutes after opening on a Saturday night with no reservation.  Not that we ever expect reservation to be required in a small-to-mid-sized New Mexico town.  The host checked his reservation book and offered us the choice of bar or dining room.  I chose to be not in the bar,  and almost had palpitations when I saw that the group at the only occupied table in the dining room were in full formal attire.  Tux and ball gown formal,  mind you,  not new black denim and a button-up.  I felt gauche and underdressed for all of 5 minutes until an older couple wearing road clothes similar to our own took the table next to ours.  Not that our server,  Corina,  batted an eye about our hiking boots. Every member of the staff we interacted with,  in fact,  was warmly professional on a level I tend to associate only with posh resorts. 

The dining room itself was simultaneously adorably quaint and understatedly elegant.  We're talking white tablecloths,  multiple forks, and an on-staff sommelier under indoor cloth awnings strung with Christmas lights. It's difficult to pull off a European sidewalk cafe feel in an indoor establishment in the middle of a North American desert,  yet Diane's managed to pull it off without irony or kitsch. 

Then the food came.  Oh my!  We ordered The Devil's Seashell,  because seafood with New Mexican flare is always interesting.  We're grateful we did because it was beyond amazing. Who knew that clam chowder was in desperate need of a heavy dose of knock-your-socks-off New Mexico red chile to make the dish sing?  That's a super simplified description,  and it's not a dish for the chile naive, there were some serious scovilles there... 

R. was contemplating forgoing the steaks we ordered for another seashell, until the steaks came, that is.  Perfect medium & medium rare are difficult enough,  to manage both arriving at the same time with neither requiring any addition of sauces for flavor...  I don't think we've seen it managed before.  The accompanying skin-included mashed red potatoes and steamed broccoli were just the right level of rustic presentation and refined technique to take expectation and exceed it beyond wild imagining. 

We didn't think that could be topped,  but then there was the spice cake we shared for dessert. Imagine,  if you will,  the best cream cheese frosting covered pumpkin bread you have ever had, then make a glaze of a reduction of pure love and holiday spices and coat liberally... Just wow!  

Yes,  it's pricey for small-town New Mexico,  but well worth every penny.  Moreover,  it would be worth the 200+ mile drive just to come back.