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Sheri’s Palm Springs Area Blog

Whether it be real estate updates, restaurant reviews, events, or highlights of unique homes in Palm Springs, follow Sheri as she covers all that Palm Springs and the surrounding area has to offer.

Dining Around the Desert: Kitchen 86 El Paseo, Palm Desert

Kitchen 86 El Paseo

The Sheri Dettman & Associates team got together for a night out at Kitchen 86 El Paseo last week. Although they are open for inside dining now, it was a nice night and we sat outside.

Sheri Dettman & Associates team

I’ve reviewed Kitchen 86 in the past, but it’s now under new ownership so we wanted to check it out. Locally owned & Locally Grown - Kitchen 86 is a fantastic, welcoming spot to gather and enjoy an eclectic menu of modern, curated small plate continental cuisine. Using local, organic ingredients, offerings include a tableside cheese wheel pasta, house-made curry, ramens, wood-fired pizzas, plenty of entree selections and shareable small plates. None of that has changed, and I doubt anyone would notice that there was any kind of a change in ownership.

We started out with cocktails and wine to accompany our Boom-boom Shrimp which are lightly breaded in a Thai chili glaze with organic greens.

Boom-boom Shrimp

We then moved on to Penne Pomodoro in an organic tomato basil sauce for Kayla, East Indian Curry with Basmati rice, and a mango chutney for Lisa, Salmon Buon Gusto, with asparagus, tomatoes, portobellos, spinach, and Basmati Rice, for Betsy, the Cognac Rib Eye with a wild mushroom cognac cream sauce, potatoes, and grilled asparagus for Michael, and I had the Penne Alla Vodka with sautéed shrimp in an organic tomato vodka cream sauce.

Salmon Buon Gusto Cognac Rib Eye

Everything was very good, the service was attentive, and the only disappointment for me was that due to COVID restrictions they are not currently using the huge cheese wheel to make the special pasta. But once they are allowed to do that, that will be my next order.

They have live music quite often and it had just started by the time we were done, but we’ll be back to enjoy it in the future.

 

Kitchen 86 El Paseo

73-130 El Paseo, Suite 1

Palm, Desert, CA 92269

760-890-1586

PGA WEST’S new ownership is busy restoring ‘The Western Home of Golf in America’

Photo by Evan Schiller

Martin Kaufmann November 8, 2021 10:55 am ET 

From the moment we first glimpsed PGA WEST at the “Skins Game” 35 years ago, we all knew that we had witnessed something transformative. Viewers couldn’t help but marvel at how land so rugged and unforgiving could be transformed into something so beautiful and seductive, ultimately luring an untold number of golfers from around the world to California’s Coachella Valley over the past 35 years.

PGA WEST quickly earned a moniker – “The Western Home of Golf in America” – that reflected the fact that all of the major professional tours and the NCAA regularly visited, allowing the game’s best players to test themselves against some of the stiffest designs of Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskopf, and Greg Norman. It also became a bucket-list destination for avid golfers and an attractive landing spot for couples looking to enjoy the good life in the desert.

Last year Century Golf Partners, an established operator of high-end clubs and resorts, teamed with Hankuk Industry, which owns courses in the U.S. and Japan, to acquire PGA WEST and The Citrus Club, including the Mountain and Dunes golf courses. That set off a whirlwind of activity, with the new ownership pouring resources into course improvements on all nine PGA WEST courses. The goal of this long-term project is three-fold: provide tournament conditions daily; bring more big tournaments to the property; re-establish PGA WEST as a must-visit destination with courses that are fixtures on top-100 lists.

“We want to secure our position in the top five of U.S. club resorts in the U.S.,” said Ben Dobbs, PGA WEST’s Executive Director. “We have the architects, the properties and the location to achieve this. Having iconic golf courses and great architects were just the beginning. Now we must be innovative, relevant and provide exceptional experiences.”

That attitude is reflected in the recently completed work on the Greg Norman Course, which opened in 1999. Greens were restored to their original sizes, and the TifDwarf Bermuda grass was replaced with TifEagle, which eventually will be installed at each course, creating optimal year-round conditions. In addition, more than 100 bunkers were rebuilt, the expansive native areas were restored, and turf was added to enhance playability on the brutal target-golf layout.

PGA WEST has also made a major commitment to deep-tine aerification equipment, ensuring healthier turf conditions. Each course is being aerified twice annually.

“Ultimately, we’ll have firmer greens and the ability to mow them lower,” said Chris May, Director of Agronomy, who will guide the eventual restoration of all nine courses. “We want tournament conditions on all of these courses before and after overseeding. The benefit of doing all of this work is they get in really good shape in the summer as well.”

The work on the Norman Course follows the restoration last year to the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course – which pairs with PGA WEST Pete Dye Stadium when the PGA TOUR visits each January to play The American Express – and work this year on the Arnold Palmer Private Course.

The latter, with its finishing holes sculpted along the rugged Santa Rosa Mountains, produced some of the most memorable moments of the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing, including David Duval’s closing eagle in 1999 to shoot 59 and win the tournament. The course has never been in better shape. May’s team installed TifEagle putting surfaces over new greens irrigation, restored all greenside bunkers to original specifications, and replaced all of the bunker sand.

Brandon Johnson, the long-time senior architect for Arnold Palmer Design, returned to La Quinta to revitalize the picturesque finishing holes along the All-American Canal. Johnson put in new bunkering on Nos. 14 and 16 to create more differentiation between those approaches and added a knob on the back of the par-5 14th that presents a new risk-reward scenario for players trying to reach in two. “It definitely has a par-5 green now,” May said.

Johnson restored the other greens to their original contours, recapturing Palmer’s original vision.

“He tied together the whole course with one type of look,” May said.

PGA WEST’s executive team will face interesting choices on the Pete Dye Stadium Course, unquestionably one of Dye’s masterpieces. May guarantees “a restoration, not a renovation,” including recapturing the original green shapes and sizes.

“Every idea that Pete had is on this golf course,” May said. “It’s remarkably untouched – partly because it’s always been so busy that they weren’t able to do the work. We want to bring it back to what it once was.”

While May’s team is busy on the course upgrades, Dobbs also is overseeing enhancements to the five clubhouses and amenities. Those amenities include a recently opened $10 million Sports Club.

“Our owners have committed to owning us for generations, so that helps our team make long-term decisions,” Dobbs said. “I’m super-excited to be able to share everything that we are doing with golfers from around the world.”


The AMERICAN EXPRESS – January 19 – 23, 2022

The AMERICAN EXPRESS

Where the stars come to play at PGA WEST - La Quinta Country Club, La Quinta, CA

A Piece of the Pie

A world on edge presents a paradise from which to work, connect, stay healthy, and live a whole lotta life.

Game On!

The desert’s high season coincides with the hockey season.
MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY BY LANCE GERBER

One year from now, if the schedule holds, the new Coachella Valley Arena will propel the local concert and event calendar closer to big-city heights — and lay the ice for the desert’s first-ever pro sports franchise.

Set across more than 43 acres of unincorporated land adjacent to the Arnold Palmer-designed golf course at the Classic Club in Palm Desert, the privately funded, $250 million arena will be home to a yet-to-be-named American Hockey League franchise, which will play about 40 home games a year beginning in November 2022. The team will be the minor league affiliate of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

The arena, designed by Kansas City-based Populous, architect of sporting venues ranging from Yankee Stadium in New York to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, has an A-list of backers, including Los Angeles-based sports and entertainment titan Oak View Group and global music, concert, and event promoter Live Nation.

It’s a welcome development for Visit Greater Palm Springs, which promotes the region for business and leisure tourism. In destination marketing, says Scott White, the agency’s president and CEO, “you have to be either constantly improving the attractions you have or adding to the menu of what people can do while they’re here.”

populousarchitects

Promising to host roughly 160 events a year — concerts, hockey games, boxing matches, and possibly preseason NBA and NHL games — the arena appears primed to impact a desert economy on the rebound from the pandemic. In late May, a Visit Greater Palm Springs-commissioned economic impact study projected that the arena would generate $141 million annually, while creating about 1,600 full- and part-time local jobs on and off the site.

While the Coachella Valley has established itself as a concert destination by virtue of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a pro hockey team adds an exciting new entrée for visitors and locals.

“From a tourism perspective, our story now broadens,” White says. “The hockey season aligns greatly with our winter visitors coming from the Midwest, [Pacific] Northwest, and Canada.”

From the team’s purview, a fresh franchise in a new arena is ripe with potential.

“It is an opportunity to be able to build something from the ground up,” says Troy Bodie, director of hockey and business operations for Palm Springs AHL. “For people to rally around the club as a first-to-market sports team, something to call their own. It’s a chance to be the big event in town, to really engage the whole Coachella Valley.”

Bodie, a veteran winger who played in 159 NHL games and almost 400 AHL games, with stints in San Antonio, Texas, and Stockton, California, has an informed perspective on sports in small cities.

“What I’ve learned from playing in these non-traditional markets is that there is a demographic of fans out there that maybe doesn’t know hockey that well, and getting them educated on the game, yeah, it might take a little time,” Bodie says. “In the Coachella Valley, I think we’ll have a unique fan base with a lot of snowbirds, along with a lot of people who may have never been to a hockey game. I don’t see it as a challenge; I see it as an opportunity.”

vipclubscoachellavalleyarena

The arena amenities include VIP clubs.
Becoming a familiar, visible presence across the community appears paramount, especially connecting with the Coachella Valley’s 70 percent Latino population.
coachellavalleyarenapalmdesert
It’s hardly an insurmountable feat. Since the Los Angeles Kings’ 1988 trade for Wayne Gretzky, the Southland, if not the entire Southwest, has shown continued interest the game, even in cities and regions that were once considered non-traditional skating locales.

In the decades since acquiring The Great One, the Kings have refined a model for farming new hockey fans and reaching out to the Latino community. In addition to Spanish-language broadcasts of games, the team’s broad outreach — which includes sponsoring street hockey leagues in L.A. and coordinating ball hockey programs in dozens of YMCAs in the city — has resulted in nearly a quarter of its ticket buyers coming from a Latino background, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In addition to the main ice for the hockey team, the Coachella Valley Arena sports a second, all-purpose rink for community use.

“With the Desert Ice Castle shutting down during the pandemic, that fueled the passions for bringing in this community ice aspect,” Bodie says, referring to what was the Coachella Valley’s only ice rink. “I feel like there’s a duty to the community to not just bring in events and concerts, but to bring something that provides opportunity for everybody. The community rink can do this in several ways, including youth hockey programs, public skating, and figure skating. Outside of building this [hockey] club, the part of this I’m most excited about is seeing what we can do with this community ice.”

For the desert’s hockey venture to score big, the team may take a page from its soon-to-be nearest rival, the Ontario Reign, the AHL affiliate of the Kings since 2015. Preceded by a squad of the same name in the East Coast Hockey League (one level lower than the AHL), Ontario welcomed pro hockey in 2008 to the Toyota Arena.

CoachellaValleyArenaconcerts

Music lovers land a year-round concert venue.

“From the get-go, the team did a great job of getting people excited about pro hockey,” says Sue Oxarart, director of marketing and communications for the Greater Ontario Convention and Visitors Bureau, which also manages Toyota Arena. “They immediately ingrained the team in the community.”

For Oxarart, who worked for the arena while it was being constructed, the team’s biggest score came before the first puck dropped. “The team partnered with local nonprofits, began their own nonprofit, and started going out to youth sporting events and letting people know about the debut,” she says.

With 300 event dates a year, Toyota Arena — also home of the Ontario Fury pro indoor soccer team and the Agua Caliente Clippers, minor league affiliate of the NBA’s L.A. Clippers — draws from the 4.3 million residents of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The Reign’s fan base is considered provincial, with most ticket buyers driving between 25 to 50 miles to attend games.

coachellavalleyarenamodel

The arena could create 1,600 jobs and pump $141 million a year into the economy, a study suggests.

From 2019 to pre-pandemic ’20, the AHL’s 31 teams’ average attendance per game was a little more than 5,500. The Reign draws about 8,200 fans per home game.

“I tell other teams that call our arena home to do exactly what the Reign has done,” says Michael Krouse, president and CEO of the Greater Ontario CVB.

“They are a well-oiled machine. I haven’t seen a team in the league that has done it as well as they have, and we’ve benefited greatly from the relationship. They’re part of our community, part of our family.”

Debuting in the AHL a year after the Reign, the Tucson Roadrunners, based in another non-traditional hockey market, has also seen a local vibe created by way of ice.

“Hockey brings an energy to our downtown on game nights,” says Dan Gibson, senior director of communications for Visit Tucson. “There are people all around in hockey jerseys, and it was visible from the start. On a surface level, there are more hockey fans than I think anybody realized.”

The Roadrunners, a minor league affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes, akin to the Reign, have gained interest and support through boots-on-the-ground relationship building. “The team has connected to the entire community,” Gibson says. “Before games, the mascot is around town. They’ve held lots of events to drum up season ticket sales, and for the first few years, they were giving away tickets left and right. As we’re not a place with ice skating rinks all over, they’ve connected with the youth market by building street hockey rinks.”

The Roadrunners have further scored via demographic diversity, as half of Tucson’s population is Latino. “[The team has] done a very good job of reaching out to the Hispanic community,” Gibson says. “They created an alternate jersey, which is directly intended to market to our Hispanic community; they’ll have a Tejano band in front of the arena before games, and they’ll play Hispanic music during the games. They’ve done a lot of outreach to schools that are predominantly Hispanic.”

Likewise, the Henderson Silver Knights, located 20 miles from its parent team, the Vegas Golden Knights, made its debut in the 2020-21 season. Henderson quickly embraced the new hockey culture following the instant success of Vegas, which reached the Stanley Cup Finals in its inaugural season in 2017-18.

The Golden Knights’ two-rink facility in nearby Summerlin created immediate demand for all levels of skating and ice hockey across Southern Nevada. In short time, the city of Henderson and Vegas ownership partnered to revamp an existing downtown Henderson structure into Lifeguard Arena, a two-rink Silver Knights/community locale that opened in November 2020.

“When the Summerlin rinks reached a critical mass,” says Robert Herr, assistant city manager and chief infrastructure officer for city of Henderson, “we entered discussions with them about our interest in seeing rinks on our east side of town.”

The Vegas success trickles down on Henderson. “The team wanted to have an impact on the coaching and training aspects, so through their programs, it’s been everything from Learn to Skate to open skating all the way up to our Henderson Junior Knights team,” Herr says.

Creating a new sporting tapestry in the Coachella Valley may skate with surprising alacrity. “I recall one of our council members recently diving home and telling me that he saw the neighborhood kids all out in parks with sticks and a net and their street hockey gear,” Herr says. “It’s something you never would have guessed to see out here.”

DESIGNING THE NEW ARENA

Eighteen months of construction will yield the state-of-the-art Coachella Valley Arena with two rinks — one for the AHL franchise and the other for community use.

With almost 10,000 seats for hockey and 11,500 seats for concerts, the arena will also include 20 suites, two VIP clubs, and a private club that can accommodates 150 people.

Design firm Populous did its homework in creating a design aesthetic for the desert arena. “We spent a lot of time studying the area in the early stages of the project, looking at local architecture and understanding the colors, the materials, the forms, the vernacular,” says Scott McCracken, architect and associate at Populous. “When you look at this building, you think of Palm Springs, of desert architecture.”

An inside-outside homage to desert living will be immediately evident on entry.

“Being outdoors is, of course, a big part of the valley’s culture,” says Bridget Schmidt, architect and senior associate at Populous. “So, the main concourse is actually outdoors. We’ve found ways to integrate and engage that atmosphere of the desert.”

Arena interiors will honor the area’s Native American heritage and scene-shaping modern architecture.

“We all know that Palm Springs is known for midcentury design, so that was a fun thing to explore,” McCracken says. “Those elements show up on the interior finishes, where we play with pattern and color. The center-ice bars, east and west, are themed around a pool party.”

• READ NEXT: What is the Future of Downtown Palm Springs. We Ask the Key Players.

Dining Around the Desert: Mankas Grill, Fairfield, CA

This last weekend, Michael and I attended a wedding in Napa, CA, and had a free night before the festivities, so I did some investigating and found a gem of a place, Mankas Grill in Fairfield.

Two brothers, Kyle and Jason Barraza, opened Mankas Grill recently and are doing a bang-up job. Named after one of the original owners, the building was established in 1853 as a major stagecoach stop. Today, they offer new and sensational twists on culinary staples that they are excited to share with the community.

We arrived very early, but they managed to get us seated within about 10 minutes at a great table. The place was packed and everyone was having a great time. There was truly a really nice buzz about the place that no doubt starts with the brothers who are very visible, including at the hostess stand where they are there to greet their guests. I’d say about half of the diners were regulars, and it’s easy to see why.

They have a small menu, but they cover all the bases. From Shrimp Cocktails, Lobster Bisque, Gorgonzola Wedge Salad to Hungarian Rubbed Ribeye, Pasta Bolognese, and a Grilled Portabella Burger.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_5134-1-dragged.tiff

We started out with Pork Belly Nachos, with a beer cheese sauce, pico, and sour cream. These are not your usual nachos! We could have licked the plate.

In keeping with the pork theme, Michael had the special that night, a perfectly cooked Pork Chop. To be honest, I don’t remember what the sauce was, but it was heavenly.

I tried the Cajun Shrimp & Truffle Infused Grits with bacon and cheddar. Unbelievably good.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_5136-1-dragged.tiff

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_5135-1-dragged.tiff

We had a very nice 2018 Prohibition red blend from Vino Godfather Winery in nearby Vallejo.

Next time I’m up in the area, I will absolutely go back. In fact, the whole corner is so quaint that I can’t wait to explore what else is around.

We are open for Lunch & Dinner

Wednesday 4-8

Thursday- Sunday 11:30-8!

Thank you for all the support this last year!

Our dining room is now open with our regular menu.

Please check open table for availability or call us

at (707) 428-1600 during business hours to make your reservation!

See you at Mankas Corner!

After a two-year hiatus, the Indian Wells tennis tournament returns with a different feel

 

The Indian Wells Tennis Garden at sunset during the 2018 BNP Paribas Open.

The sun sets at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden during the 2018 BNP Paribas Open. After a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BNP Paribas Open returns on Monday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

BILL DWYRE

 

The BNP Paribas tennis tournament, like so many things in sports lost to the need for COVID-19-precautions, will have an event for the first time in 19 months, starting this week.

The prestigious event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden canceled its March event in both 2020 and 2021 and successfully and controversially negotiated to move to October so it wouldn’t lose two full years. The October dates partially conflicted with the Shanghai Masters and smaller tournaments in Asia and Europe, but the governing bodies of tennis eventually decided to allow Indian Wells to go ahead Oct. 6-17. Shanghai eventually canceled its Masters 1,000-level event, citing pandemic concerns.

There is a coincidental element at play. In early 2000, when the Indian Wells tournament was struggling financially, Shanghai pushed to purchase it and move it and its dates to China. Tournament founders Charlie Pasarell and Raymond Moore found new investors in the eleventh hour, retained the event for the desert and turned it into one considered the fifth major in the sport.

Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, reacts after defeating Novak Djokovic, of Serbia.

Tournament qualifying will be held Monday and Tuesday, followed by the start of the women’s main draw Wednesday and men’s main draw Thursday.

This 2021 event, while still one of the biggest stops on the pro tours, will have a different feel on several fronts. The men’s star attractions for years — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, each of whom has won 20 major tournaments — will be absent. Federer and Nadal are injured and Djokovic withdrew last week. The women’s star for years, Serena Williams, is also not entered.

But the recent announcement of two wild card entries may have spiced up the field.

Andy Murray, a three-time major champion and once considered a part of the Big Four with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, has recovered from a long spell of injuries and took a wild card into the tournament. Same for crowd favorite Kim Clijsters, who won four Grand Slam events and won twice in the desert.

Andy Murray reaches to return a shot
Andy Murray returns a shot during his loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the U.S. Open on Aug. 30.
(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

Men’s defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria will not return. He is still recovering from a wrist injury. But women’s 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada will play. Andreescu came out of nowhere to win at Indian Wells in 2019, then six months later stunned Serena Williams to win the U.S. Open.

Even bigger attractions may be the success stories from this year’s U.S. Open. Daniil Medvedev of Russia spoiled Djokovic’s quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam, the first since Rod Laver’s in 1969, with a stirring five-set victory in the final in New York. And newcomers Leylah Fernandez and Anna Raducanu played an inspiring U.S. Open final and charmed the packed house in Arthur Ashe Stadium with both their tennis and their post-match warmth. Raducanu became the first qualifier to win the event and Fernandez was equally unheralded coming into the Open. Both are teenagers, Fernandez from Canada and Raducana from England.

As large and prestigious as this event has become, there will be many differences from past years.

Tournament officials say they are shooting for 60% capacity attendance, which would be about 300,000 people over the 12-day event. There will be no paper tickets. Spectators will receive tickets through an app and show them on their phones at the entrances. It will also be a cashless event. All entrants must be vaccinated. No spectators under age 12 will be allowed.

There will be a chair umpire and ball kids for each match, but no line-callers, as was the case at the U.S. Open. The electronic Hawkeye cameras, long ago installed on each court at Indian Wells, will be the final word on line calls.

As a nod to potential hot October weather in the desert, there will also be an emphasis on night matches. Official night matches will be held, as usual, on Center Court and Court 1, but on seven other courts with lights, day sessions will be scheduled with later matches not starting before 6 p.m., pushing many matches on those courts well into the evening and the cooler weather.

Those who purchased tickets for the 2020 event, which was canceled one week before it was to begin, have been given three options: a full refund, the ability to apply their purchase to this October event, or the ability to do the same for the March tournament, which will return the BNP Open to its normal spot on the tennis calendar.

Dining Around the Desert: Joolz in Bend, OR

This August I returned to Bend, OR for the first time in six years with Michael in tow. Bill and I owned a home at Crosswater years ago, and I had friends that I was eager to see – both from Bend and also recent transplants to the area.
 
Our first stop was at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Joolz on Main St in downtown Bend. Joolz is owned and operated by two of the best people I know, Julie (Joolz), and Ramsey Hamdan. I was so excited to see them and partake of their Middle East Meets The Wild West food. 
 
Suffice it to say that absolutely everything on the menu is fabulous. I’ve never been disappointed, and I’ve eaten there a LOT! We actually visited them several times over the course of our stay so what follows was not all in one sitting.
 
 
We started with DUKKAH WITH HOUSE FOCACCIA BREAD 
Hazelnuts, almonds, pistachio, sesame seeds & cumin roasted & crushed, focaccia, olive oil
 
JOOLZ CAULIFLOWER 
Flash-fried cauliflower tossed in lemon and parsley, tahini dipping sauce
 
FALAFEL SIDE 
Three house-ground falafel, fried crisp with tahini sauce and arugula garnish
 
KIBBE  
Lamb meatballs with bulgur wheat, garlic tomato sauce, pine nuts
 
HUMMUS ON THE RANGE  
Hummus topped with sauteed elk, lemon, parsley, olive oil, sumac & pine nuts

For our main courses, I had the dish I had been dreaming of, FORBIDDEN BLACK RICE CHICKEN BOWL 
Moroccan barbecue braised chicken over rich black rice, garlic toasted nuts, chilled tzatziki
 
Michael had the TROPHY ELK CHILI 
Braised organic elk, chickpeas, secret spices, tabbouleh, feta and Frito chip garnish, which as a chili aficionado, blew him away.
 
On the night our friends came along, they had the SMASHED FRIED FINGERLINGS WITH WICKED GARLIC SAUCE
 
- OREGON BEEF Kabobs.
Wicked garlic sauce, Yemeni shoog
 
BEEF SHAWARMA PLATE 
Shawarma spice-rubbed Oregon beef, grilled onion, hummus, tabbouleh, Armenian pickles, naan
 
And even though we were stuffed, we ended it all both nights with the STICKY TOFFEE DATE CAKE  
Our sticky toffee Medjool date cake with warm caramel sauce, whipped cream
 
Joolz also has a delightful wine list that has a lot of affordable, surprising wines, as well as wonderful craft cocktails.
 
Joolz is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:00PM to 9PM.
 
If you are in Bend, OR, you owe it to yourself to make a reservation and experience this food. You will not be disappointed.
 
Another fave is 900 Wall just a few doors down from Joolz. I’ll save that review for another time, but I will say that on this trip we had the Powdered Sugar Beignets with bittersweet chocolate sauce, raspberry, and vanilla mousse, twice! They were that good.
 

Dining Around the Desert: Larkspur Grill in Palm Desert

One of the casualties of the pandemic was AC3 at Hotel Paseo in Palm Desert. While we were sorry to see it go, the new Larkspur Grill is in its place, and we are loving it! The room has been slightly redone, and they’ve added a stage for live entertainment.

On Thursday nights, they have a fantastic band called Fun With Dick And Jane Band that plays everything from Woodstock to Coachella. On the weekends, they have a jazz group. Hopefully, once season gets here, they’ll add more nights to the lineup.

The first night we went, it was me, Betsy, and Kayla from my team. We started with a cocktail and were brought Skillet Cornbread with a shallot herb butter and roasted jalapenos. It was so good that I will never not order it!

I started with a County Line Harvest Roasted Beet Salad with oranges, quinoa, avocado, toasted hazelnuts, wild arugula, Humbolt fog goat cheese, and a lavender honey citrus vinaigrette.

Betsy had the Organic Mixed Greens with heirloom tomatoes, English cucumber, red onion, and a toasted torn bread sherry vinaigrette.

For entrees, Kayla and I had the Honey Garlic Glazed Skuna Fjord Salmon with toasted fregula, roasted onion, heirloom tomatoes, and season roasted veggies. Betsy tried the Heirloom Tomato & Artichoke Crusted Alaskan Cod with celery root puree, seasonal roasted veggies, and a citrus beurre blanc.

Michael and I have been twice, and we started with Bacon Wrapped Dates stuffed with goat cheese and rosemary honey. This is a quintessential California appetizer and one that I always make for parties. Fabulous!

We’ve also had the Classic Shrimp Cocktail with tangy cocktail sauce, Mary’s Fred Chicken with applewood smoked bacon, braised collard greens, mascarpone mashed potatoes, and a honey thyme jus. Also, a 14 OZ Grilled Herb Brined Pork Chop with those same decadent mashed potatoes, seasonal roasted veggies, balsamic maple-glazed apples, and a celery parsley salad.

The girls and I shared a Crème Brulee. Michael and I were too full to dare.

Everything was prepared wonderfully, came out quickly, and the service has been excellent every time. The general manager is visible, makes his rounds, and the staff has a great attitude, from the hostesses to the bartenders to the servers. Some of which you will no doubt recognize if you go out at all in the desert.

We’ll all be back and are very happy with the new Larkspur Grill. If you go, tell them we sent you!

See menu, drinks, happy hour, and location here...

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