03 May Getting to know Palm Springs Restaurants at Palm Desert Food and Wine

Palm Desert in the heart of the Coachella Valley was the host of the 5th annual Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival. While the event gathered chefs, wine and spirits from around the country, it also showcased more than 30 local restaurants. This was a great way to get a taste (literally and figuratively) of the current restaurant scene in the valley. Here are the standout dishes of the weekend: Breakfast Spots Wilma & Frieda’s Cafe house-made English muffin with strawberry or triple berry jam Broken Yolk Cafe waffles Mexican Cuisine Hacienda Cantina & Beach Club shrimp chorizo tostada Rio Azul Mexican Bar and Grill sweet corn tamale with slow roasted pork Hotel Restaurants Rockwood Grill at the JW Marriott cold smoked salmon tartare with avocado and pea mousse and smoked pork belly pastrami on caraway seed sauerkraut, Cabernet mustard and pumpernickel bread Citron at the Viceroy Palm Springs hamachi ceviche with lime, coconut whipped cream, purple potato with dates and jalapeño Purple Palm at Colony Palms Hotel spanish octopus salad, ajo blanco, piquillo pepper, chorizo, celery, braised spice Free-Standing Restaurants Catalan Mediterranean Cuisine melon gazpacho with Spanish octopus Copley’s on Palm Canyon chocolate peanut butter bar with balsamic berries and smoked black sea salt Workshop Kitchen & Bar pork belly with barrel aged bourbon maple and Anson mills grits Kaiser Grille Palm Springs duck salad and cappuccino chocolate mousse Three Sixty North Bar & Grill seafood ceviche Trio Palm Springs homemade chips and ranch dip Clementine Gourmet Marketplace & Café smoked lentil, braised pork and apple slaw Based on the samples tasted at the event, I have a long list of restaurants to visit next time I head to Palm Springs.