Road Trip to Palm Springs

I love last minute road trips, I mean who doesn’t??? It’s a chance to get out and see something you haven’t before or revisit something you have. Andy and I decided to take a road trip, just overnight, to Palm Springs. I’ve never been before and Andy has only been there adjacently, so it was a first time for both of us. we packed up the car and grabbed Cooper and braved the just over 2 hour drive out to basically the desert. After checking into the hotel, and dropping off our stuff, we headed out to find some eats. While driving around we saw Sherman’s Delicatessen and Bakery. There was a huge line out front and all the tables were taken, that’s a good sign right?

Cooper really liked this place for a few reasons, big front patio so there’s space for people to bring their pets and there were a lot of other dogs around for him to sniff.  Their dessert case was just brimming with all kinds of delectable items for consumption but I need to talk about our sandwiches first.  I ordered the corned beef, pastrami, and Swiss. It was a beast — just ridiculous with how much meat they stuff into it.  I just wished I had asked them to make it hot or at least toast the bread for me.  It came with potato salad but it was just meh ( people online were raving about it, but i found it just okay).  I had the key lime tart for dessert.  It was deliciously sour and the meringue was soooooo good.  Andy had the deluxe burger, which was fine but unmemorable, hence no picture.  For dessert, he had the rugelach, which was filled with cinnamon and brown sugar.  He thought it was great, but I thought the ones from Breads in New York City were better.

That night we walked around the street fair/farmer’s market they have every Thursday night.  If you go, make sure to check out the mini donut vendor.  Their regular glaze was goose bump inducing good.  Our inner and outer fat kids were super happy…lol.  We met with our friend, Tom, who suggested a Palm Springs institution for dinner.  So we arrived at Le Vallauris Restaurant after a few drinks at Oscar’s.  Tom and his partner go to this restaurant quite a bit, so it was like going with a celebrity.  Little tidbit, they don’t have menus per se.  The à la carte items are presented on a chalkboard that they bring around for you to peruse.  They also offer a few prix fixe tasting menus.

Andy opted for one of the prix fixe, which changes almost weekly. A trio of amuses came out first. I thought the crab filled cone was the best. Next was a wild mushroom ravioli paired with pork belly. Can you say delicious?! It was so good, the pork belly was delicious and tender and the dough was perfectly made and just al dente with a mushroom and truffle filling. For his main course, he had the veal tenderloin with potatoes and a mushroom sauce. The veal was cooked perfectly and the potatoes were light and fluffy.

For my appetizer, I could not pass up the sauteed foie gras!  It’s now legal to sell in California, which is a happy day!  I particularly enjoyed the figs and nutty bread they paired with it, which really helped to cut through the richness of the foie gras.  I decided on the sweetbreads as my main course — might as well be adventurous, right?  These were amazing!  Perfectly sauteed with just the right amount of crust on the outside.  The capers brought some briny saltiness while the lemon brought some brightness to the dish. The asparagus were cooked nicely and the pommes souffles were very whimsical, with lots of flavor even though they were mostly air.

Its really great to see in this day and age of people trying to convert things into something different, or impart different flavors on things, or even make the plates a spectacle, just a restaurant that is trying to stay true to it’s roots and heritage and serve really great food. If you are planning a trip to Palm Springs, I suggest making a stop at any of our recommendations, I know you won’t be disappointed.

Comments

One response to “Road Trip to Palm Springs”

  1. Andy Quinn Avatar
    Andy Quinn

    One thing to add to Paul’s blog about Le Vallauris is the wine we had with dinner. They served a wonderful Sauternes to complement the foie gras. Then we had an awesome 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon from Celani Family Vineyards (Napa Valley). Mark Herold is the winemaker at Celani, and I have consistently loved his wines. This one did not disappoint!

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