FOOD + WINE FESTIVAL PALM DESERT
Celebrity
book signings, live cooking demonstrations,
and wine
and craft beer seminars round out the weekend-long foodie celebration
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Showing posts with label Palm Desert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palm Desert. Show all posts
Friday
Thursday
Park Avenue
11200 Beach Blvd.
Stanton, CA 90680
(714) 901-4400
Where on earth is Stanton?
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Saturday
Park Avenue
11200 Beach Blvd.
Stanton, CA 90680
(714) 901-4400
Where on earth is Stanton?
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Dear Dining Duo Readers,
We wish you a very happy, healthy and lucky 2013! Thank you for reading our restaurant and hotel reviews over the years, and please don't forget to "like" us on Facebook...we're over 20,000 strong and growing!
We recently hosted our very first "The Dining Duo" mixer evening at SFIXIO in Beverly Hills, and all 65 seats were quickly filled with people enjoying, socializing and trading business cards. Dinner was wonderful and offered at less than half the normal price. Parisian artist Jon One (offered by FABIEN CASTANIER GALLERY in Studio City) created a unique original tableau during dinner that was sold at a fraction of the value to a lucky collector. We will be doing this again soon, so keep your eyes open for our next event.
Following is a potpourri of reviews for your enjoyment, be it dining in Maui, or a hot-spot in L.A., or a not-spot in Palm Springs.
If you have any suggestions of restaurants for us to review, please don't hesitate to email us at: FabDiningDuo@aol.com. We will be doing a "guest review" soon, so if you're out of Los Angeles and would like to be published, please send us a picture of the restaurant and a review of 50 words or less.
Appetizingly yours,
Michael and Scott
The Dining Duo
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Our desert playground is a wonderful vacation spot in the summer. The mornings are glorious, the nights like a balmy Caribbean island; but the best part is that the hotels are heavily discounted, and most of the fine restaurants offer prix fixe dinners that are worth the 2-hour drive from L.A.
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Email to The Dining Duo and we'll post it once we taste it and agree. FabDiningDuo@aol.com
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Monday
Our desert playground is all grown up. This October’s Money magazine names it one of the top places to retire. Gone are the days of mediocre restaurants with few alternatives. Eateries have sprung up like Spring wild flowers, but there are a few that are superb and a must-visit on anyone’s list whether living or vacationing in the desert area.
Writer's #1 Choice for Italian in the Coachella Valley, and beyond:
La Spiga Ristorante Italiano:
72-557 Hwy 111
Palm Desert, CA 9260
(760) 340-9318
www.LaSpigaPalmDesert.com
Nothing is more authentic and deliciously Italian than this gemstone. It’s perhaps the best Italian cuisine we’ve tasted in Southern California. The charming owners, Vince and Connie Cultraro, are Sicilian, home of the best Italian cooking. While Connie greets you like an old friend, Vince delivers beyond-excellent dishes to you like you’re family. The restaurant itself resembles an old Tuscan home complete with stone walls, wood beams and fabulous Mascalzone granites throughout. The gardens are not only a delightful place to feast amongst the myriad roses, but you also taste many of the veggies and herbs that are growing around you. The service is immaculate and without flaw, especially if you ask for Raymond, who delivers good looks and big smiles to your table at the same level of excellence as world class venues. Everything on the menu is a winner, but don’t miss their unique spin on Calamari Fritti, ($15), served on a bed of julienne cucumbers with a tomatillo reduction--the best we’ve ever savored. The pastas are extraordinary, our favorite being the Pappardelle Al Bosco ($29), with a light cheese and cream sauce and it delivers rich, unparalleled flavor. Ask the knowledgeable sommelier to pair one of the myriad fine wines they have to offer by the glass or bottle with your repast. 
Finish with the tastiest and most incomparable tiramasu you’ve ever had and you’ll never want to go home.
Rating: Food: 5/5 Spoons -- Atmosphere 4.5/5 Spoons -- Service 5/5 Spoons
Tropicale
330 E Amado Road
Palm Springs, Ca.
760 866 1952
When it comes to Palm Springs, this restaurant stands out from the pack. Built from the ground up, its style and décor are mid-century, but with fresh and trendy appeal. The scene is alive with energy, be it in the outside bar area that is buzzing with lookers, or the restaurant, which is sophisticated and inviting. Comfortably ensconced in a booth, you can watch the show of people as well as enjoy an array of terrific food including their most remarkable dish, crispy boneless Southern Fried Chicken marinated in buttermilk & paprika ($21.95). Don’t forget the pizzas; the Crumbled Italian Sausage is superb at $14.95. This is a place to eat well, have fun with friends and leave feeling you’ve got your money’s worth. We look forward to the next visit.
Rating: Food: 4/5 Spoons -- Atmosphere 4/5 Spoons -- Service 3/5 Spoons
GEORGE’S
68885 Ramon Road
Cathedral City, Ca. 92234
760 328 9991
Who thinks of Cathedral City as the place for good eats? Well think again. Hidden next to a strip mall surrounded by auto shops is one of the best places to get burgers and insults in the desert, since 1969. Ask for ketchup; be prepared to shield yourself from the otherwise amiable owner, Ed Marinko (George’s son took the reins when George died in 1999) who will bark at you that his burgers don’t need it. We agree. Succulent pieces of meat (and who doesn’t like that?) are added to tasty fresh baked buns (same comment) and liberally spiced with a secret concoction that oozes between your fingers, making the location, service, décor and tattooed Motorcycle-types an irrelevant incidental to satisfying burgers and homemade chili. Make sure to try the Burger fries and you’ll get lunch for under $20. Nothing has changed since its inception. We’ve noticed of late that one of the best ways to judge a truly great burger is how you feel after you leave and we craved another. This and Tyler’s (which we given rave reviews before) are the best burgers in the desert.
Rating: Food: 4/5 Spoons -- Atmosphere 1/5 Spoons -- Service 0/5 Spoons
By Scott E. Schwimer and Michael H. Epstein, The Dining Duo
Photos by Scott E. Schwimer
Sunday
74-155 El Paseo (Highway 111)
Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 776-8242
We know when you go to Palm Springs you have fun in the sun on your mind and only want to wear shorts and flip-flops, but just pull out some nice threads for this romantic, enchanting, and superb dining venue that sets itself as a jewel atop the crown of restaurants in the Coachella Valley area; you won’t be sorry.
Walking through the striking, old wrought-iron gates, you enter another world that bespeaks of somewhere colonial in Latin America, and definitely Old World Palm Springs. A family affair, Jay Trubee and his lovely wife, June, have transformed Palm Desert’s first edifice circa 1948 into a hacienda filled with beautiful art and antiques, exuding the warmth of its era.
Named after the Trubee’s first daughter, Jillian’s accomplishments are constantly touted in magazines such as Gourmet Magazine and The Wine Spectator, winning the latter’s award of excellence since 1994. Each and every opportunity we have to enjoy an evening at Jillian’s never disappoints, and a great deal of this is attributed by the Trubee’s to their exceedingly loyal staff, most of whom have been with them since they opened in 1986.
There are four beautiful rooms surrounding a charming patio, and each and every location creates its own atmosphere worthy of a several-hour feasting experience. A perfect place for outdoor dining amidst the magical lighting, or an evening by the piano bar will immediately put you in an enchanted mood. The Mackenzie Room, named after the Trubee’s other daughter, is filled with old beams, low ceilings, and charisma galore.
The food here matches the warmth and attention to detail of the edifice. Chef Jay has been trained at the Culinary Institute of America and travels Europe and the United States in order to create a broad and wonderful cuisine. He insists that all bread (you’re immediately served piping hot potato bread imbued with molasses and honey), pastas, and desserts be made in house and daily. If this isn’t enough, he is also responsible for the impressive and extensive wine list.
Enjoying superlative service from the amiable captain from Portugal, Mindo, to the handsome busboy, Edward, our dining experience was flawless. Although the crowd is a bit “Vintage” and a little staid, there were certainly a variety of folks from all corners of the desert, including—of course—The Dining Duo.
We suggest starting with the Tower of Fresh Crab, which was comprised of fresh Dungeness crab meat layered between diced avocado, sweet tomato, and served on a toasted brioche ($16). The crab was sweet and delicate, and the mélange of flavors absolutely superb. The spicy corn chowder topped with fiery salsa and crackle bacon and chives also proved to be a nice selection ($9.75) and excelled when compared to corn chowders elsewhere. Don’t miss one of Chef Jay’s pasta creations. We suggest the cannelloni di casa, which was a dish of homemade tubes of pasta filled with a rich mixture of imported cheeses, spinach, and sausage, all served up in an ethereal tomato-tinted cream sauce ($24).
The entrées are equally as enticing, and we have enjoyed the rack of lamb on several occasions, all with the same degree of excellence. The lamb is from Colorado, and it’s rolled in a Dijon herb crust, roasted and presented on a fresh rosemary-scented demi-glace ($42). It was ordered medium-rare, and it arrived with perfection. The lamb was juicy and tender, and the meal rewarding. The salmon in parchment is also a beautiful creation and consists of a filet of organic Scottish salmon wrapped in parchment paper with julienne vegetables, crème fraîche, and aromatic fresh herbs ($29). Although we did not have the prime boneless short ribs on this occasion, Michael has had this in the past and found it equally outstanding. Braised succulent short ribs in a California cabernet smothered with tomatoes, vegetables and fresh herbs are placed on mashed potatoes with horseradish crème fraîche and melted leeks ($30). Quite frankly, you can’t go wrong with any of their entrée selections.
Completely stuffed by the time dessert comes around, we nevertheless managed to devour a sampling of the enormous selection offered here. Our particular favorites were the raspberry crème brulée, which was a nice turn on the normal crème brulée, with fresh raspberries studded in rich custard with a caramelized sugar crust. Of course, dessert is not dessert without something chocolate, and their double chocolate layer cake was divine. It’s a moist dark chocolate cake layered with Belgian semi-sweet chocolate mousse and raspberries (Scott could have done without the fruit in his chocolate; nonetheless, it was outstanding) glazed with a bittersweet chocolate and placed in a pool of fresh raspberry coulis. If you feel like something chocolate and not fruity, try the chocolate brioche pudding for an amazing taste treat of warmed and glazed brioche with a bittersweet chocolate sauce drizzled with grand marnier. All desserts are $10 and so worth it.
And speaking of worth it…it’s worth getting out of the Jacuzzi and dressing up for a night out on the town at Jillian’s. As a bonus, the proprietor June is delightfully Scottish, so what could be better than that…other than a Scottish terrier?!
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