Listening to literary greats during the Santa Fe International Literary Festival may work up an appetite for more than reading the latest bestseller. Festivalgoers have plenty of dining options available at and near the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Two such options are available just outside the festival’s doors: Ramblin’ Café and Jambo Café both run food trucks at the convention center during the event. Ramblin’ Café serves breakfast (check out the breakfast burritos) and lunch, and Jambo opens from lunchtime to just before the evening session begins with African-Caribbean homestyle cuisine. Jambo’s chef, Ahmed Obo, has twice been featured on the Food Network hit Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and received a James Beard Foundation nomination for Best Chef in the Southwest region. Even more restaurants lie within a short walk. Chef Obo is not alone among Santa Fe chefs in turning the heads of James Beard Award judges. In 2022 chef Fernando Olea took home Best Chef Southwest honors for his elevated Latin American cuisine at Sazón (221 Shelby St., 505-983-8604, sazonsantafe.com), where the daily ninecourse tasting menu showcases the flavors of his country of origin. David Sellers, the chef and co-owner behind newcomer Horno (95 W. Marcy St., 505-303-3469, hornorestaurant.com) earned a James Beard nod this year as a semifinalist. Eight-time James Beard nominee chef James Campbell Caruso dishes out a menu of Spanish small plates at La Boca ( 72 W. Marcy St., 505-982-3433, labocasantafe.com).

Family-owned and -operated since 1953, The Shed (113½ E. Palace Ave., 505-982-9030, sfshed.com) ladles New Mexico’s signature chile-laden cuisine — try the blue corn, red chile enchiladas. La Plazuela at La Fonda (100 E. San Francisco St., 505-995-2334, lafondasantafe.com/la-plazuela) serves New Mexican classics with a side of history; it’s housed in a century-old inn that sits at the end of what was once the Santa Fe Trail. For more famously hot green and red chile (and standout breakfast burritos), hit up family-run Tia Sophia’s (210 W. San Francisco St., 505-983-9880, on Facebook).