Tuesday, September 2, 2008

An Evening at The Falls Prime Steakhouse

Over the holiday weekend we went to dinner at The Falls Prime Steakhouse in downtown Palm Springs. Perched above the Mercado Plaza, The Falls is known for a fabulous selection of martinis as well as having private balconies for intimate dining, overlooking Palm Canyon Drive. The Falls attracts its share of the rich and famous. A few months back, actress and singer Queen Latifah was spotted dining here. Regular readers know that I enjoy fine dining and often write about my experiences here, but I do this for fun and never as a paid post. Over the past few years I have garnered a bit of a reputation in town as a society writer and informal restaurant critic, and have been spotted while out on the town a few times. My visit to this establishment was a bit different- I had purchased a "dinner for four" certificate at a charity silent auction earlier in the year. Once seated at our table, I presented our server with the certificate. Moments later, the manager arrived and offered us a variety of options with wine pairings, and also sent over a special appetizer plate. I was quite impressed with the service, quality of food and the attention to detail, particularly since technically this was a free meal for us, since we had the free certificate. Amazingly, they even comped our round of martinis that we had before dinner!

above: Just past the entry to The Falls is the martini bar. The walls have large plates of glass with water cascading down (hence the name). My Cosmopolitan martini was delicious! They serve their martinis with dry ice so they "smoke" which is great fun.

above left: a starter plate with Ahi Tuna, Skewered Beef and Shrimp Tempura. I forgot all the fancy sauces and such, but it was delicious. I also liked this salad with the fresh avocado and bacon bits.

above: I love having a true Cesar Salad prepared table side from scratch. It's theatre in the making!

above left: We had several bottles of exquisite wines. above right: I selected the NY Strip steak, which is very unusual for me, as I typically prefer a Fillet cut. I chose the strip because it was natural, free of growth hormones and was grass fed happy cows. It was a close to organic meat as I was going to get, and I'm glad I did. It was a delicious cut.

above: we had several of the usual "steakhouse sides" Macaroni and Cheese, Asparagus, and creamed Spinach (not shown here).



above: then for dessert, I chose Bananas Foster, prepared table side with lots of flames and liquor. However when it arrived at the table I was so excited I forgot to take a photo of it, and just dug right in! So you'll have to take my word, it was beautifully served in a martini glass over a scoop or vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmm.
I was very impressed with the evening and appreciated how well the staff treated us, when the $400 bill was completely comped as part of the certificate. It sent a message to me that the owner of the restaurant who donated the certificate to the charity did so with the intention of truly supporting charity and without regard for profit. They earned a new customer in The Palm Springs Savant.
-Rick Rockhill

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

How was the cabernet? I just love a good cab...

Anonymous said...

Doncha just love a Caesar salad prepared at the table?

Anonymous said...

Is that a stock photo of you sipping a martini? I swear I have seen that pose before. ;-)

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

perfectly lovely! was there cake?

smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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

perfectly lovely! was there cake?

smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Cheryl said...

I love your society writing, and restaurant reviews. I love your blog. This was, as per usual, a great post.

Matt said...

That meal looks incredible!! I'm really hungry right now, and wish I had such a dinner to look forward to ...

And I have to say - I LOVE the shirt. You look quite dashing.

Amazing Gracie said...

Good gravy, but I love Bananas Foster! And I had Taco Bell for dinner. Oh, the shame!
I really enjoyed your review, and your observations about the owner were spot on. If more restaurant owners had a clue...
~~~~
I was so sorry to see Tillman get booted from "America's Greatest Dog!" He is something else.
~~~Blessings~~~

Rick Rockhill said...

Ben Wu- That was most definitely a NEW martini photo, freshly taken this past weekend! I'm just rather predictable I suppose!

Anonymous said...

oh my that looks lucious!

Anonymous said...

Well, you know where I work and I'm often answering the question "where can we get a good steak?" with LG's, Spencers and sometimes The Falls. I'll give them a little more now, based on what you've said here.

Jeni said...

I know I don't always stop and comment on your posts -though I read them via my reader daily -but I gotta tell you how much I do enjoy your descriptions of the restaurants and foods served. Eating vicariously, ya know! Lord knows I'd never be able to afford to even think about wining and dining any place that was even an 1/8 of the cost of the meals you describe but it's great fun to read about them, see your photos of the food and all. Great job!

Anonymous said...

SUMPTUOUS, and the drinks and inner looked pretty good too...

Anonymous said...

My 12 year old loves your site, Rick. She loves reading about your food and seeing how it's prepared. She said that if she went to Palm Springs that she'd not sure if she would actually eat it or if she'd just frame it!

Desert Songbird said...

Wow. Just...wow.

Rick Rockhill said...

Tea- Thanks for your nice message, and hello to your 12 year old!

Olivia said...

There you are again with your face in a martini glass!

I bags the Caesar Salad, macaroni, and Bananas Foster, thankyouverymuch.

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favorite places in Palm Springs too... It was great fun to bring one of our guests from Boston there last January during the Film Festival and eat out on one of the balconies overlooking Palm Canyon. We also went there with family one year the day after Thanksgiving and had those "smoking" martinis.

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