A Foodie's Coachella

If there was ever a defining moment in Palm Springs to show the demand for great food done well, it was Saturday's Palm Springs Food Truck Festival.  An estimated 10,000 people swarmed the downtown Spa Casino parking lot to taste the creations from 65 food trucks.

These aren't the "roach coaches" of construction site fame.  These food trucks are award-winning and media darlings.  Some have cult-like followings, noted by long lines for their sandwiches, ice creme bars and world cuisine.

Here's Not to be Missed's four-course lunch:

Chomp Chomp Nation

Chomp Chomp Nation's Singaporean crab sandwich with potato and taro chips

Bacon Nation

Bacon Nation's Bacon Balls:  filet & bleu cheese wrapped in bacon

Rolling Sushi

Rolling Sushi's California handroll

Coolhaus

Coolhaus' Marker's Mark manhattan ice creme with brandied cherries

 Let's hope that this becomes an annual event and I'll starting dieting for it beginning tomorrow!

CANNON BALLS!

 

Rudy de la Mor and his legion of fans at Pura Vida

Party-goers at David Reid's Pura Vida

Palm Springs' fabulous fitness trainer and HER devotees!

Oh my!  Cannon Balls!

Pura Vida's towel holding hotelier (l) with Mr. Hottie, aka Cannon Balls

David Reid kicked off the new year by holding a grand opening party for his newly-completed Pura Vida Spa resort with a Sunday afternoon party for locals, out-of-town visitors and to almost everyone’s delight, one stark naked hottie.  Mr. Hottie was apparently a clothing optional activist, protesting against Pura Vida's conservative, NO Clothing Optional Policy.

Pura Vida is the latest mens hideaway to open in the Warm Sands neighborhood of central Palm Springs.  Its eight rooms are large, ranging in size from 325 to 525 square feet, and all include flatscreen TV's, iPod docking stations, fireplaces, large walk-in showers, desert-tone travertine floors and bathrooms and private outdoor spaces.  Two suites also have large spa tubs and the largest suite even has a patio with a spa pool.  Let’s just say David’s added 5-stars and 5-diamonds to overnight accommodations in our dear small town.

Naked Cannon Balls became the star attraction and eclipsed the gentle chatter of Palm Springs' who's who that drank and chatted poolside- mostly re-telling stories about battling the devastating winds, flying palm fronds and blowing sand from Saturday’s freak weather event.  Not looking any worse for the wear were city councilwoman Ginny Foat, Girl Bar's impresario Sandy Sachs, insurance executive Ernie Santora, Palm Springs Art Museum’s Bob Bogard, fundraiser extraordinaire Kenny Cassady, and gaggles of gays and straights from the Warm Sands neighborhood and beyond.

While guests were enjoying a gorgeous desert sunset, the melodies of pianist and funnyman Rudy de la Mor and tasty nibbles from caterer Lynn Hammond, one striking, tall and oh-so-handsome hottie dashed out of a guestroom and into the swimming pool butt- naked.  Even the full-frontal view would not have been such a surprise -especially in this ‘hood- except for the fact that Pura Vida is not skivvies-optional.  Mr. Hottie was greeted poolside with a towel- make that a two towel-holding hotelier David Reid- and covered up and rushed back into a room.

Now dear readers, Mr. Hottie had not gone unnoticed by yours truly.  We chatted just moments prior to the naked dive and he asked me if I had tried the “red hot olive” from the crudite platter.  I had not, but I looked and couldn’t find any.  Could a “red hot olive” have turned Mr. Hottie into one red hot firecracker in need of a naked dip?  Who knows?  Who cares?   He was a visual feast amongst a platter of cocktail tidbits.

WORKSHOP KITCHEN + BAR

Interior rendering of WORKSHOP KITCHEN + BAR

With the temperature in Palm Springs just now cooling down, the restaurant scene is about to heat up.  Enter WORKSHOP KITCHEN + BAR, a new collaboration between chef Michael Beckman and international impresario Joseph Mourani.

Slated to open early next year in the former Design Within Reach space in the El Paseo building at Tamarisk Road and Palm Canyon Drive in the uptown design district, this could be Palm Springs’ showcase restaurant featuring fine dining AND beautiful design.  

Chef Michael returns to the desert after having served as the chef at one of the Coachella Valley’s best known private residences and golf courses from 2005 to 2008, and most recently as the private chef for families in Las Vegas and Beverly Hills.  Chef’s training includes a two year apprenticeship at the world-renowned, Michelin Guide three-starred Burgundy restaurant, Lameloise, in a classic French brigade kitchen of 35 chefs for a 70 seat restaurant.  He also completed a stage at Patina in Los Angeles in late 2002 under chef Eric Greenspan before joining Ritz-Carlton hotels as a restaurant and banquet chef at their Berlin property.

WORKSHOP KITCHEN + BAR's menu is being described as “a modern, seasonal American concept which draws on local artisanal ingredients and farmer’s markets as inspiration to the menu; and on the classic cocktail bar, crafted around seasonal ingredients and contemporary techniques.”   

Design for the new restaurant is being conducted by SOMA of New York.

You can follow the progress of WORKSHOP KITCHEN + BAR on FaceBook.

Bon Appetit!

Divine Sands

Pura Vida- outdoor dining

Swimming pool

All suites feature king beds

Room detail- king spa room

Spa tub detail- king spa room

Travertine countertops...Molton Brown amenities!

Walk-in shower

While Palm Springs and the entire Coachella Valley are still missing a five-star, five-diamond resort like Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons, the latest addition to the hotel scene here in the gay men's resort category is worthy of both top accolades.

Pura Vida is an eight room hideaway located in the Warm Sands neighborhood of central Palm Springs.  The rooms are large, ranging in size from 325 to 525 square feet, and all include flatscreen TV's, iPod docking stations, fireplaces, large walk-in showers, desert-tone travertine floors and bathrooms and private outdoor spaces.  Two suites also have large spa tubs and the largest suite even has a patio with a spa pool.

The communal pool and spa area includes an outdoor dining area and fire pit.  Room rates are inclusive of daily breakfast, evening cocktail hour and beverages from a 24-hour self service kitchen.

What's strikingly different about Pura Vida is the attention to detail in design and amenities- each being worthy of those found in the best of hotels and the finest private rental homes in Las Palmas or south Palm Springs.  It's also not a clothing optional resort, so everyone can feel comfortable around the pool - a novel idea, especially for a resort in this neighborhood.

Who will Pura Vida appeal to?  This resort should do very well with single gay professionals and couples who  like the quality and privacy of a home rental, but don't wish to pay for an entire house.  It should also do well with visitors who have rented private homes here but appreciate the services offered by a hotel, like daily housekeeping, cooking, and poolside cocktail service.  Think buy outs for birthday parties, special occasions, and corporate retreats.

Pura Vida is a breath of fresh air for Palm Springs and sets a high standard for small luxury hotel rooms in the area.  It's a resort that's not to be missed.

Pura Vida
Reservations & rates:  (877) 786 0519

Cable Car Crazy

Just one of the reasons I love San Francisco so.

Frances

Frances-  17th St in The Castro

House rose-  Served and paid for "as you drink"

Beet and arugula salad with buttermilk blue

White corn chowder with lime scented sea salt

California king salmon

Peach friand

I could wax on with superlatives about my dinner last Saturday at Frances, but let me just write a few words and leave the rest of it to the photos and chef Melissa Perello's accolades.

This is the best bistro meal I've eaten all year.  The sublime and simple tastes in each of the dishes I had were remarkable:  shaved buttermilk blue cheese over beets, the crunchy lime scented sea salt in the white corn soup, and the meyer lemon gremolata with the fresh California king salmon.

Frances is worthy of all the awards and attention it's received and I deem it:  not to be missed!

Bon Appetit.

Frances
3870 17th St.
San Francisco
California 94114

Sign Me Up

Welcome sign.  Highway 111

From the iconic Albert Frey-design

A motel classic

Chic, exclusive and rich with history

Entrance to Smoke Tree Stables

Signs- sometimes as much as architecture- can tell a lot about a place especially in the West where, say, tall buildings or outrageous neon signs don't dominate skylines with the exception of Las Vegas.  So in places like Palm Springs signs begin to tell a story about style and design.

Some of my favorites are shown here in all their glory.  I was only disappointed to find out this morning that one of my very favorites “Canyon Country Club” (made famous in the circa 1999 Vanity Fair story that’s largely credited for starting a renewed interest in the city) has been replaced by “Indian Canyons Neighborhood”.  I couldn’t even bear to photograph it.  Another one lost to the history books.