Sunday, February 2, 2014

Pot of Gold Inside the Rainbow

Two years ago my husband and I embarked on our own version of Iron Chef America during a two day stay in New York City.  During that visit we ate at restaurants (or Italian mega marts) of as many Iron Chefs as we could including Geoffrey Zakarian, Alexandra Guarnaschelli, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, and Mario Batali.  And during our recent Cleveland trip we got our Michael Symon card.  And I've also been to the restaurants of honorary Iron Chef's Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse, so it was a matter of time before we would get our Jose Garces card since he has a restaurant only two hours away, and I'm glad we finally did.

Chef Garces has two restaurants located within the Saguaro Hotel in Palm Springs and for this trip we chose the fine dining spot, Tinto.  If you're not familiar with Palm Springs let me tell you that this hotel is one that you can't miss.  The architecture is from the 1950's, but its bee updated with all of the colors of the rainbow - literally.  In front of the hotel is the hotel van which may as well be a Volkswagen van from the 1960's with its rainbow color scheme.  Lets just say that the decor fits the area.  The interior of the hotel is just a kitschy with a display of Barbie-type dolls in multiple dioramas showcasing all that the hotel has to offer.  Makes me wonder what about this hotel made Chef Garces say "There!  My restaurants must be there!"

You'll be relieved to know that the hotel's decor did not rub off on Chef Garces as he built a classic looking restaurant.  We were given the opportunity to sit outside, and since it was a warm day in January, we took advantage of it.  Space heaters are placed in the rafters above the seating, and they also have fire pits set up in more casual seating areas.

Exterior patio seating

Once seated outside we were handed our menus and our server explained that the food is from the Basque region: Southern France, Northern Spain.  She then recommended that we try the Chef's Tasting Menu of four courses including 11 dishes if we really wanted to get a variety of the menu. She also mentioned that the wine list is mostly from Spain as well as the beer, but since I was eating Spanish food, I was drinking Sangria.  One thing to note, with as many Iron Chef restaurants as I have been to, this was the first restaurant where they made a point of referring the chef proprietor as "Iron Chef Garces."  Kinda like how now he's not Paul McCartney, but Sir Paul McCartney.
Back of the menu explaining the name/inspiration


First up was the Pan de Majorca bread (yes, redundant, but that's what they said when they put it on the table) with smoked tomato goat cheese.  This is their house bread and I found it heavenly.  It was buttery like a croissant. Cheesy. Decadent.  Mmmm was my first reaction. The spread to me was just Eh, but my husband preferred it over the bread. Thankfully the bread was tasty enough to not need an accompaniment.

Pan de Majorca with smoked tomato goat cheese


Next up was the Marcona almonds and mixed olives.  Getting these two dishes alone proved what a deal the Tasting Menu was as individually they are $5 each.  The almonds are smoked on site and served with olive oil and salt resulting in a subtle flavor.

Marcona almonds and mixed olives

The next cold tapas, or pintxo, was the Jamon Iberico de Bellota which is cured acorn fed Spanish ham.  Texture-wise it reminded me of prosciutto, but it tasted sweet, yet salty.  The fatty ends were creamy in my mouth, but still a little too fatty for my taste.  The ham is aged for two years and is served with bread that my husband preferred.  

Jamon Iberico de Bellota


Next up was the cheese plate which included three cheese including manchego.  Admittedly I didn't catch the names of the other two cheeses.  Also served on the plate was sliced apples and something that I originally noted to be "jellied goo," but later learned was dulce de membrillo or quince paste which is commonly served with manchego.  I was actually quite fond of the dulce de membrillo and was pleased when it appeared again later in our meal.  Considering that it was part of a rather large tasting menu the platter was a bit much for just two people.  I actually left most of it for my husband to enjoy.

Cheese plate


So I think I accidentally ordered the bean salad. When our server was explaining the Tasting Menu she wasn't clear as to which dishes were to be included, so I simply asked if the bean salad was on the menu as it included quail eggs and I don't eat quail.  Her answering wasn't clear as to whether it was or whether it would be as a result of my question, but either way, we were served it.  And I'm glad we were as I think it may have been our only vegetables of the night.  The beans were perfectly al dente and the tuna didn't have strong canned-tuna flavor to overpower the dish.  Overall it was a very flavorful salad.

Chilled Bean Salad (ventresca tuna, toasted hazelnuts, buttermilk lemon vinaigrette, sans quail egg)


Bacon Wrapped Dates.  Mmmm.

Coachella Dates (bacon, almonds, pearl onions, valdeon fondue)


The menu says Lamb Brochette.  And yes, it mentions bacon. What it really was was bacon wrapped lamb brochette.  It's served in a shot glass with an eggplant puree and sherry jus.  Just dip and stir. Eat the lamb and when done with the brochette, drink the remainder as a soup. Ah-mazing. It wasn't gamey, but it was still lamby nonetheless.  My husband told me he would leave me for it.

Lamb Brochette (lamb loin, eggplant, bacon, sherry jus)


The one dish I most excited for was the Spanish Tortilla. I've seen Chef Garces prepare it on TV before, so I had high expectations.  I can say that it was light and fluffy, but I'm honestly not sure if I liked it. It was the most subdued dish yet.  Our server noticed that we barely ate it and assumed it was because we were saving it to eat with the steak as is customary, but seeing as how we had no idea what we were being served, I'm not sure where she came to that conclusion.  Some foreshadowing here: I tried it with the steak and it still wasn't good.

Spanish Tortilla (Weiser Farms potatoes, saffron aioli, red watercress)


After five cold tapas and three hot tapas, we finally were served large plates or raciones.  First up was the halibut. I actually like fishy fish, so the salsa verde was a much needed burst of flavor for the bland fish. I definitely preferred the cockles and the sauce on them was extremely tasty. 

Halibut (cockles, roasted spring onion, salsa verde)


Our second entree was the Wagyu Culotte Steak. Culotte is the cap of the top sirloin.  Caps seem to be the in thing lately, though usually its the cap of the rib eye.  The steak was perfectly chewy and full of flavor, but the accompanying potatoes only had subtle flavor. And as I mentioned earlier, the steak did not improve the taste of the tortilla.  My one complaint about the steak was that the sauce was a little too sweet. 

Wagyu Culotte Steak (roasted fingerlings, Idiazabal cream, membrillo)


We were allowed to choose our own dessert to finish our meal.  My husband surprisingly selected the donuts.  The donuts were a perfect blend of dense and airy, if that's at all possible, but that side of date ice cream is what made the dish.  It was amazing and not too sweet. The honey was a great compliment to the donuts. 

Buñuelos (doughnuts, date jam, spiced honey, date & olive oil ice cream)


As we were enjoying our coffee and rubbing our extremely full bellies, suddenly a second dessert appears.  Without any explanation, our server presents us with a second dessert.  She says something about how it was unexpected and she understands if we need to take it to go, but that we need to eat the sorbet before it melts. So suddenly now we have the tarta. It was the perfect texture, airy and yet dense just like the donuts. I was wary of the blood orange sorbet after my experience at Hatfields, but thankfully it was not too tart and very enjoyable.  And somehow, we mostly finished the second dessert.  I just wish I knew why we were served it. 

Tarta (cheese tart, blood orange, meyer lemon sorbet)


The saddest part of our meal was that with as full as our tummies were after 12, yes 12, courses, we had to sit in our car for the long two hour ride home instead of going on a nice walk to aid in the digestion.  My husband asked if we could come back again, and I said we could as long as we didn't order the Tasting Menu.  No one needs to eat that much food.  But perhaps next time we can try Chef Garces's other restaurant at the Saguaro.  There were a couple of misses, but overall this was a great dining experience.

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