Sunday, July 1, 2007

A Visit to The Viceroy.....

Friday night I met some friends for cocktails at the Viceroy Hotel in downtown Palm Springs. A magazine once said that the Viceroy is "...like stepping out on a classic Hollywood studio lot", and it couldn't be more true. As a local, I like going to The Viceroy for cocktails, Sunday brunch, or dinner. From the front gate entrance, to the courtyard fountain and koi pond, you have a sense of arrival before you even enter the hotel itself.

Below: The dramatic swooping black and white striped awnings frame the tall yellow doors and add a sense of mystery. Inside, the lobby transports you to another era of glamour...

Below: The Viceroy has several private pools and cabanas, which appeal to the Hollywood elite who come here to get away

Below: The pool area has perfectly placed vats of iced water with fresh lemons grown on the hotel grounds, as well as flavorings if you simply just can't take regular water.

Below: left: Me sipping a martini in the Citron bar. It's a retro-swank place with all sorts of fantastic photos of mega Hollywood stars who've visited in years past. Behind me is a photo of Marilyn Monroe...

Below: left is the Marilyn Monroe photo, and right is the stunning Grace Kelly, who used to vacation in Palm Springs in her early career.

Below: After cocktails, we settled into the restaurant for dinner. The tables were set with oil-lamp candles which glowed invitingly at the table. below right: one of my friends had Fois Gras, with maple scented ruby yam puree, apple frites, walnut brown butter as an appetizer (personally, I think Fois Gras is gross)

Below: Baby Greens with candy spiced pecans, goat cheese fromage blanc, raspberries, pomegranate molasses. right: Kalmata crusted Ahi Tuna sashimi with french lentil salad, haricot vert, shoestring potatoes

Below: Pan seared new Zealand King Salmon, with crab ragout, asparagus, pine nuts, sweet pea puree. right: Roasted Shallot and Chevre stuffed Chicken Breast, with white bean cassoulet, sauteed chanterelle mushrooms, peach demi.

Below: Although its just regular spinach, I just loved the deep green color of the side dish of wilted spinach we ordered.

Below: After dinner and a nice evening, I left the Viceroy feeling satisfied and content...

note: just for the record, this is not a paid post. I just like to write about places I eat!
-Rick Rockhill

12 comments:

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Oh, fine. Go on and make me sad. I've been scared to eat tuna since a case of scromboid poisoning a few years ago. And in the course of allergy testing afterwards, the allergist found I had a salmon allergy. I had never reacted to salmon in my life! But there's no arguing with one of the best allergists in the Houston Medical Center. :-(

So enjoy your tuna and salmon. I'll just have to enjoy vicariously. :-(

Anonymous said...

that place looks so cool rick. you always go to the most interesting places. what did you have for dessert? you didn't show any!

GayProf said...

Shouldn't there have been scantly clad young men roaming about looking to serve and please? It's what Grace Kelly would have wanted...

Rising Rainbow said...

Looks like a great place for old movie buffs.

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Glad you like my horses.

Anonymous said...

I've been to this place before. the bar gets very busy on Friday nights and is a hot spot with the out of towners from LA. Great post, it reminded me of my vacation in PS.

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

sounds wonderful! and i love your shoes...

smiles, bee

Countess Bedelia said...

This place reminds me a little of The Victor on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach...very retro.

Thanks for stopping by my blog; thought I would return the visit.

Anonymous said...

The icy lemons look awesome. Cool shoes by the way.... :)

Jodi said...

Wow, great post. I would love to see that place in person.

By the way, in answer to your question: to do a strikeout, it's the "less than" sign (above the comma), then "s", then the "greater than" sign (above the period before the words you want to strike out, then "less than", / (below the question mark), "s", then "greater than". I would just show you, but Blogger comments won't let me use the real symbols.

Hope this helps,
J.

A Lewis said...

No fois gras for me either....just give me the veggies and salad and fruits (of course, the fruits!). Excellent shoes and nice looking guy (you????). The place looks amazing. Thanks for sharing.

Laura said...

How can there be cabanas without cabana boys?

The meal sounds obscenely wonderful...But I'm with you on the fois gras. It brings to mind an old Avengers episode, if I remember correctly, where a glutton was stuffed like a goose being prepared to be fois gras......just ruined it for me.

Canadian flake said...

Nice place...pools and cabanas look so relaxing

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