Purple Palm and Riccio's in Palm Springs

Purple Palm
572 N. Indian Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
800.557.2187
http://www.colonypalmshotel.com/dining.php

After staying near the Colony Palms Hotel several times and dining each time at the Purple Palm on their premises, I finally got to stay at the Colony Palms Hotel myself. Then, ironically, we decided to eat elsewhere. Foolishly, in my opinion. Above is the gorgeous indoor/outdoor bar at the Purple Palm.


Being Palm Springs, the weather is warm enough in early November to eat right outside with no heat lamps. We met a couple of friendly software guys in town on business, one of them who insisted the only way to successfully implement an underground transportation system in a major metropolis was to do so from the ground up, or in other words, build the infrastructure before the city is populated. Which of course must be true, because the underground networks in London, Tokyo, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Washington D.C., Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Osaka, and Vienna have all been so unsuccessful. Based on that logic, Hemet better start digging now. People are weird.


The outdoor seating at the bar and on the patio are right poolside. This is so beautiful, night and day.


I can barely remember what was in D's crab salad. I remember it was delicious. I so rarely write anything down. Shame on me. I see olive oil...and some lettuces...

I strayed from my foie gras ban, for shame again, to order the grilled foie atop artichoke heart (I find artichokes so seductive). This dish was delicious yet weird. The yellow stuff up in the left corner is sweet and lemony. Like a lemon custard or sabayon. It tasted completely out of place in this dish. There were also a couple large chunks of grilled and skinned tomato which were delicious.

Another shot at the dish. There was a lot of artichoke in this dish. I didn't really experience all the elements until the foie was pushed to the side and I deconstructed it a bit. It was pretty damn good despite the lemon curd.

For some reason, I know not why, we left the Purple Palm so we could get out of the hotel and go somewhere in town. Dumb. We ended at Riccio's, where last spring we had a beautiful lunch with friends.

Riccio's
2155 N Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92262
(760) 325-2369
http://www.riccios-palmsprings.com/

D started with the Boston Clam Chowder.

It was pretty tasty, not too thick. Had lots of clams and red bell pepper chunks. The red bell pepper chunks, as usual, too the dominant flavor role. It still tasted good, clearly not out of a can but not to my high clam chowder standards.


For an entree, I tried the petite filet mignon in a truffle demi glace with rosemary potatoes. This was a very nice quality beef, and the sauce was nice tasting. Not steakhouse level, but not diner level either. The potatoes did not taste oven roasted. They tasted deep fried.

The disappointment if the evening was the scallop and shrimp marinara. Riccio's is supposed to be an Italian restaurant, and this was a sad little marinara. Just no spice, no bite. Not a lot of flavor. I have had better marinara out of a can.

I love Palm Springs, and sadly my favorite restaurants there are not in the town of Palm Springs. Blend is in La Quinta and Roy's is in Palm Desert. But the search for good food in Palm Springs itself will continue as long as I continue to have clients there.

Rio Brazil Cafe on the Westside: Feijoada, and Risolis and Caipirinhas, o my!

Rio Brazil Cafe

Suite 103

3300 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 558-3338

I recently had the pleasure of being exposed to Rio Brazil Cafe and their wonderful authentic Brazilian food and drink at the expense of my friend and fellow food blogger, Bill from StreetGourmetLA.  Bill has written about Rio Brazil here, and here and here.  Back in September, Miles Clement of the LATimes deliciously described Rio Brazil Cafe's feijoada.  Monday night (and weeknights in general) food outings are challenging for me due to early morning hours and needy clients. However in this case I am glad I made an exception.  Also joyously in attendance were Fiona from Gourmet Pigs, and Cathy author of Gastronomy and co-originator of Eat My Blog Charity Bake Sale on 12/05 at Zeke's in Culver City to benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Rio Brazil Cafe is a postage stamp size room brightly colored and lovingly decorated.  Above see the sandwich board that stands outside on the sidewalk during the day advertising their lunch special. $7 for three courses, the Ipanema Plate.

 

 

Something to like love about Rio Brazil? A BYOB establishment, they take BYOB to a punchy level by offering to make authentic Brazilian beverages for you if you bring in your own bottle of Cachaça. Wiki tells me that while we think of rum as being made with sugarcane, usually rum is made with molasses. Cachaça is always made from the distillation of fermented sugarcane with some amount of sugar added in the process.  Bill treated us to three kinds of Cachaça Monday, I tasted them all with uncharacteristic reserve, it being Monday and all.  To the left, we sipped Isaura first, made in Minas Gerais the largest Cachaça producing state in Brazil, a clean and lightly sweet tasting liquor. And to the right, Weber Haus made in Rio Grande do Sul and available at Beverage Warehouse. Weber Haus is very smokey, characterized by undertones of wood and licorice.  Weber Haus is definitely a sipping Cachaça that would please the palate of anyone loving aged bourbon, and the deepest dark tequilas. It wowed my tastbuds.  Bill also brought a bottle of Cachaça 51, the most popular Cachaça in Brazil, making up 30% of the market share for Cachaça in the Brazil. Cachaça was used to make all the mixed drinks we enjoyed Monday.

 

 Batidas.

 

We drank two batidas that night, both made with the Cachaça 51 Bill brought with us.  To the left, the first one, coconut scrumptiousness.  Cachaça 51, coconut cream, coconut milk and condensed milk, frozen and blended. Despite the fact some people think coconut blended beverages are best served at a Jimmy Buffet concert, there is never a wrong time for coconut anything. To the right is a passionfruit batida.  Cachaça 1, passionfruit and condensed milk. This is worthy of recreating at home, it was that wonderful. Sweet but with an authentic fruity brightness.  At Rio Brazil, if you bring in your own Cachaça, they will make you batidas for $3 a glass using your booze and their supplies. A great cocktail deal, IMO. They are even starting a Cachaça club where you can bring your own bottle, and leave the remains there for your next visit.

 

Bill arranged to have our first course delivered by a local woman who caters out of her home, her company is called Sabor de Bahia.  Her specialty are street foods from Bahia, in particular, acaraje a black eyed pea fritter fried in dende oil (African Palm oil drawn from the palm fronds). Wiki tells us than dende oil is red due to the high amount of beta carotene it contains, however it is higher in saturated fats than other vegetable oils.  Also served on the plate, to the upper left a shrimp paste, on the upper right a simple salsa with tomatoes and onions, and the little cup in the middle contains a malagueta pepper sauce. Malagueta is spicy, maing. It made me lips burn. It was exactly the right amount of spicy for me, any hotter would have been too hot and any milder would have been not really impressive.  D wouldn't be able to even look at malagueta.

Constructing the acaraje.  Somewhat reminiscent of falafel ( but really, only barely), you split open the acaraje and stuff it with shrimp paste, salsa, drizzle malagueta over, eat with your hands. On the street of Bahia these are sold as large as baseballs. The catering version Sabor de Bahia sells is made for easy eating by hand.  Very crunchy on the outside, with soft yielding dried and ground black eyes peas (eyes removed) on the inside with the spice of malagueta and the tang of shrimp paste...this definitely goes into the file for something to attain for the next gathering of humans chez foodshethought.

Sabor de Bahia's business card.


Sabor da Bahia
Catering and Festivals 
310-841-2729
orders are for pick up only
cash only

 

  

First course served via the Rio Brazil kitchen were tantalizing little puffy savories. On the sides of the plate are coxinha de galhina, or chicken puffed savories shaped like little drumsticks.  In the middle, in the same batter, risolis.  Again, savory little puffs. We had one shrimp, one beef, one chicken and one cheese. Hoping no one had swine flu, we all had a nibble at each of the four flavors, all were yummy.  To the right there is a little bowl of the fiery malagueta.

The inside of a coxinha galhina, lovingly stuffed full of chicken and vegetables.

Ubiquitous rice.  Bill explained Brazilian food to us Northern Hemispherians can seem either too salty or too spicy. However most dishes are made to be eaten with rice which will cut the potency of the salt and spice. Fiona mentioned the the world wide serving of dishes with lots of rice is how poorer people make their food stretch...Fiona has an impressively stamped passport, I wish have traveled to half the places she has visited.

 

Not a great shot, but a delicious dish. Bobo de camarao.  Shrimp in yucca cream with manioc meal, coconut cream and dende oil.  The consistency was interestingly thick but also maybe a hair gelatinous. The flavors were comforting, thick, subtle, savory. I was surprised the coconut flavor did not stand out clearly against the other flavors. The shrimp were cooked perfectly, not even slightly chewy, just the right amount of firmness.

 

In the background, abobora com carne seca. Butternut squash with homemade beef jerky.  Autumnally satisfying, I did not find the beef to be too dry at all. Certainly to the tooth and a little chewy. It brought out my inner carnivore.

 

Feijao.  Black beans cooked with pork, bay leaf, onions and garlic. Yum.

 

Mi plata.  Just a taste of everything.

 

Out strolls a fluffy green salad with a light vinaigrette in a small pitcher.  I am reaching maximum capacity here, but everyone else dives in to refreshen their palates.

 

Moqueca de peixe.  Clean tasting fish stew from cod, peppers, onions, tomatoes, dende oil and coconut milk. Again in this dish, the coconut milk is very balanced by the strong stewed veggie flavors. Surprising, because coconut can be such a powerfully distinctive flavor, in the dishes at Rio Brazil it is so well balanced it does not take over the other flavors.

 

Limaos para peixes.

Last, the piéce de resistance. Feijoada completa. I could smell this the entire time it was on the stove. The deep scent of the feijoada wafted from the kitchen through the entire room, my watering mouth ignoring the fullness of my belly.  This is the national dish of Brazil, traditionally served on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Labor intensive, this black bean stew had pe' de porco (pork trotters), rabo (tail), costela (ribs), carne de porco (pork meat), carne seca (beef jerky) also laden with onion, garlic, bay leaf, and rock salt.  Immensely fragrant.

We ladeled it out onto our plates with a giant spoon. My spoon contained a trotter, which was thoroughly enjoyable in the delicious richness of the bean broth.

Also part of the course are garlicky collard greens, rice and a small dish of manioc meal to be sprinkled atop the feijoada completa. Bill called the manioc meal edible sand, but to me it was similar to corn meal in taste and texture.

 

Cathy's plate was prettier than mine, with a runner's appetite this girl stayed the course through every stage of the meal.

 

At this juncture, out strolls a huge pitcher of caipirinha.  I shouldn't, but I had to.  Just.one.small.glass. An ever so slight syrupy-ness from the added sugar cut beautifully by the lime, Cachaça and ice.  Again, they will make this for you if you bring in your own Cachaça.

 

And dessert. Experiencing my Violet Beauregard moment, I refrained from all but one.  Above is a coconut cream with fresh blueberries and raspberries.

Brazilian flan.

And a mousse de manga, mango mousse.

Could not resist. It was smooth,

cool, creamy and delicious.

Spending some time out of town in the near future, as soon as I return I am carting Mr. FST across town on first the #704, then the Santa Monica #12 on a Saturday with a bottle of Cachaça in our backpack to gorge on the feijoada completa, drink caipirinhas and listen to local Brazilian musicians drop in to jam Bossa Nova classics like Corcovado, Agua de Beber, and Desafinado.  Can't wait.

Cooking with Obama & Pierre Gagnaire

On the night of the last 2008 presidential candidate's debate, I decided to cook something wonderful I saw in Gourmet magazine, conceived by Pierre Gagnaire for his cookbook Reinventing French Cuisine and adapted for Gourmet magazine's October 2008 edition.

From my dear friend Wikipedia,

"Pierre Gagnaire (9 April 1950 in Apinac) is a well known French chef, and is the Head Chef and owner of the eponymous Pierre Gagnaire restaurant at 6 rue Balzac in Paris. Gagnaire is an iconoclastic chef who was at the forefront of the fusion movement. Beginning his career in St. Etienne where he won three Michelin Stars, Gagnaire tore at the conventions of classic French cooking by introducing jarring juxtapositions of flavours, tastes, textures, and ingredients. His influence on cooking has been worldwide.

The restaurant is considered one of the finest in France, specialising in 'modern French' cuisine, and has garnered three Michelin stars. Gagnaire is also Head Chef of Sketch in London. In 2005 both restaurants were ranked in the top 20 in the world by industry magazine Restaurant with Pierre Gagnaire ranking third chef in 2006 and 2007.

Gagnaire's new concept restaurant Pierre at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Hong Kong opened in October 2006.

On his website Pierre Gagnaire gives his 'mission statement' as the wish to run a restaurant which is 'facing the future but respectful of the past' ('tourné vers demain mais soucieux d'hier')."

la photographie

I was at drawn into this recipe while getting my nails done at Harmony. The dish is beautiful in the magazine. Upon reading, I was skeptical due to the addition of the red bell pepper. It is my opinion that the red bell pepper inflicts flavoral hegemony upon everything else it is paired with, especially when cooked together. However, here one roasts the pepper, cleans and slices and sets aside. Later the meat (YES, FISH IS A MEAT) is set atop a bed of peppers and the sauce is poured on top. So, they are never cooked together. I predict that this will allow the pepper to accent the flavor of fish and sauce, the flavors standing side by side rather than one overpowering the other within one concoction.

Le Recipe:

Sole and Sweet Pepper with Cardomom-Scented Spinach Juice

Serves 4 1 large red bell pepper 1 c white fish stock 3 TBSP olive oil 2 tsp unsalted butter 1 cardomom pod, crushed 1 garlic clove, halved 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice 4 (6 oz) sole fillets 7 c baby spinach

• Roast red bell peppers on rack of gas burner over high heat (I roasted over medium heat), or broil on a broiler pan about 2" from heat, turning with tongs until all skin is blackened, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let stand 10 minutes. Peel, seed and cut into .5" long strips.

move the pepper in a circle from side to side with the tongues , until...


all sides are evenly blackened


place in bowl and cover with lid, saran wrap or tin foil to make a seal, the pepper will "sweat", which...


makes it easier to remove the blackened skin...I learned to remove the skin under a stream of running water


wait, what?

• Preheat oven to 350 F with rack in middle. Simmer bell pepper, fish stock, oil, butter, cardomom, garlic and lemon juice in a small skillet, uncovered until liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes.

sauteeing roasted pepper avec cardomom pod, garlic, olive oil (no butter) and chicken stock (I don't have time to make fish stock, no)

• Fold fish fillets in half, skinned side in, and arrange in a 1.5" to 2 qt shallow baking dish. Season with .5 tsp salt and .25 tsp pepper.
• Transfer bell peppers to bowl with a slotted spoon. Discard cardomom and garlic. Pour stock around fish. Bake uncovered until fish is cooked through, 5-9 minutes. Keep warm, covered.

beautiful sole filets in the cooking liquid, ultimately 1 cup was nowhere near enough, i used about 1.5

• Puree spinach in blender with .5 c cooking liquid, then strain through a fine mesh sieve into bowl, pressing on and discarding solids.

spinach leaves in my archaic Braun food processor, circa 1992-ish

• Serve fish over peppers and pour spinach juice around it.
  

The finished product above. For some reason in my mind I was visualizing the sauce to be more like a spinach soup, but it really was a spinach juice. Think, the consistency of carrot juice. And upon first tasting, I thought it wasn't flavorful enough. If you make this, be sure to douse each serving of sole generously with the juice. It was really delicious. And healthy! Only 3 tablespoons of oil among 4 humans.

To accompany the sole, I threw together a Caesar salad. For a treat, I fried some capers to throw on top. Just a few in another tablespoon of olive oil.

As a dressing, I love Galeo's. Their dressings are made from miso, they are wonderful and healthy. If my grocery store ever stops carrying them, I will order them online. They can be hard to find. I surrounded the salad with hearts of palm and artichoke hearts (not marinated) to beef up our vegetable intake.

We drank a lot of wine. Quel surprise! We love to decant wine in D's prize Reidel decanter. One can be snargey even when eating frozen pizza!

T & J (freshly groomed!).

And, the beautiful D.

Comparatively, I have to hand it to McCain. I think he did better during this debate than any debate previous. He stayed on point, he stuck it to Obama several times, meanly even. In the media there has been some criticism that he has been letting Palin do all the work in terms of harshly critiquing Obama. Not so last night. Here are a couple memorable McCain quotes.

"Senator Obama, I'm not President Bush. If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."

"The whole premise behind Senator Obama's plans are class warfare."

And so on. He was a comparative pit-bull (sans le lipstique). However, part of the beauty of the modern age is technology. The split screen broadcast was magical in that one gets to view both debaters simultaneously and it communicated a very strong message, to me anyway. Obama remained calm and collected, presidential if you will. And McCain retained the terse demeanor that has characterized him all political season. I will hand it to McCain though, he looked Obama in the eye more than once and he didn't call him "that guy".

The polls say Obama won the debate. I assert that this was by far McCain's best debate, and not Obama's best debate. However, I am not a voter who needs convincing from either side and watching the debates are merely an act of participation in the democratic process. My mind has long been made up.