Sunday, August 26, 2007

The Colony Palms Hotel: Purple Palm Restaurant

Last night I finally went to The Purple Palm Restaurant at The Colony Palms Hotel. Regular readers may recall I attended the hotel grand opening gala two weeks ago and wrote about it on this blog. The Colony Palms Hotel, originally built in 1934 was beautifully restored and has a casual desert elegance. In some ways the lounge looks like a scene from Casablanca; in fact I kept waiting for Humphrey Bogart to walk into the lounge and order a cocktail. I had high expectations of The Purple Palms restaurant, particularly after my visit at the grand opening. Once seated, I introduced myself to the hostess on site as The Palm Springs Savant, although we already had reservations through the owner of the hotel. I started off the evening with a martini poolside until we were ready to be seated for dinner.

Above left: The poolside lounge at the Purple Palm Restaurant poolside lounge. Above right: Me and my friend Jason having martinis.


Above left: The misters by the pool lounge kept things cool in the 109 degree temperatures. Above right: The svervice was excellent. Our server surprised us with champagne to welcome us, courtesy of the Chef.
Refreshing Appetizers...

Above left: Caprese Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella, Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Peppery Greens, Aceto Balsamic, Virgin Oil, & Lavender. and above right: Crispy Seafood Duo: Parma Prosciutto wrapped Sea Scallop, Potato encased Chilean Sea Bass, & Cantaloupe-Habanero-Tahitian Vanilla Bean Dressing

Above left: "Melange of Baby Lettuces": Roquefort, Chevre, Tropical Fruit, Maui Onions, Ruby Red Grapefruit-White Truffle Vinaigrette, & Citrus-Peanut Emulsion and above right: Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras Passion Fruit, Port Poached Apple Brulee, Forest Mushrooms, Cinnamon-Shiraz-Aged Balsamic Jus, & Kaffir Lime Butter
Delectable Entrees

Above left: Crispy Duck Breast: Grilled Fingerling Potato-Dungeness Crab-Black Truffle Risotto, Watercress, Golden Beets, Passion-Blood Orange Gastrique, & Aged Port Jus and above right: Prime Filet Mignon Roquefort, Wild Boar Bacon, Endive, Chinese Long Beans, Pommes Anna, Sauce Perigourdine, Beet Virgin Oil, & Carrot-Ginger Emulsion

Above: Crispy Potato Scaled Pacific Salmon:Lemon Essence, Wilted Radicchio, Soybeans, Lemon-Lime Linguini, Port Grapes, Saffron-Sauvignon Caviar Sauce, with Lime-Ramp-Pistachio Olive Oil
Scrumptious Desserts

Above Left: Chef's Chocolate Souffle Tahitian Vanilla Bean Chantilly, Crème Anglaise and above right: Zabaglione Fruit Parfait Fresh Seasonal Strawberries,Ripe Hawaiian Mango, Marbled Champagne Parfait, Shaved Belgian Couverture, with Vanilla Syrup & Spiced Almonds

Above: After dinner we strolled out of the hotel...I snapped a photo of the pool which looked so beautiful illuminated in the moonlight. It was a magnificent evening at The Purple Palm Restaurant. The Colony Palms hotel has a great destination on site. If you are from out of town visiting or a local, I highly recommend The Purple Palm restaurant.
-Rick Rockhill

13 comments:

Lola Starr said...

Every time I stop by here I leave hungry! Love the pics of the food. I like seeing how some people can make food art. :)

Anonymous said...

Rick- this place looks fantastic, I'm glad you made it back to check out the food. You really should do this for a living, I'm ready to book a trip there!

Summer said...

Thanks for visiting today.
I like your blog too!
I'm hungry now.

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

it looks perfectly lovely!

smiles, bee

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment.

Anonymous said...

This post is making me crave something a little less low brow than the stuff I consumed today. Looks delicious. Envy!

A Lewis said...

I just have this feeling that I would have fit perfectly and nicely right in between you and Jason....with martini in hand, of course. I'd have skipped the entre and went straight from salad to dessert.

Scott in Iowa said...

YUM!

Amazing Gracie said...

Considering I had chili cheese fries for dinner today (and am seeking absolution!) this presentation of delights leaves me speechless.
Thanks for the comments - I have been thinking that my blog is getting way too colorful and toned it down with the black and white photo. I also noticed that you are an affecionado of Shiba Inus! My daughter has two delightful little Shibas! We love them!
I truly enjoy seeing the sights of Palm Springs. We used to go there a lot when I was a young person...brings back lots of memories.
~~~Blessings~~~

Mone said...

wow, that lookis good for sure!

Naomi said...

Wonderful photos as always Rick! The food looks wonderful and this restaurant wouldn't be out of place on the set of a movie. I loved Casablanca. It was one of my favourites

Canadian flake said...

lol these restaurant posts show me how little I know about food but everything looked delicious. Those desserts made me wanna drool..lmao. Thanks for sharing and glad you had a great time.

Judy said...

This is unfair! I am starving, and you post all this great stuff I'd have to drive over 100 miles to find!

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