Want to Dine Out for the Holidays? Plan Ahead!
In this resort community, it’s not uncommon for people to go out to restaurants for their holiday meals. Although I love to cook, instead of making turkey this year, I made reservations for Thanksgiving. (Thank you, Johannes!)
If you’re planning to go out for Christmas or New Year’s Eve, make reservations early—because things fill up! We have many great options here in the valley, with restaurants offering special multicourse meals or elaborate buffets and even live entertainment. A few of my favorites, in no particular order, are The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, the Purple Room (Palm Springs), LG’s Prime Steak House (Palm Springs and La Quinta), Copley’s (Palm Springs), the aforementioned Johannes (Palm Springs), Vicky’s of Santa Fe (Indian Wells) and, of course, any of the casinos.
One more thing: Make sure you tip your servers well, as these people are working on the holidays to help make yours a bit merrier!
It’s Time to Get Your Tamale On
One of the year’s most delicious events is almost here: The 30th Annual Indio Tamale Festival is back and has expanded to four days—Thursday, Dec. 1, through Sunday, Dec. 4.
In addition to delicious tamales, this year’s festival features musical acts, a holiday night market, rides, roller-skating and the world’s biggest bounce house. Admission is free for all ages, although attendees pay for food and certain attractions. The festival does offer a $49 VIP pass, which includes expedited entry, an exclusive VIP area with premium viewing of the main stage, three tamales and non-alcoholic beverages, and more.
Full disclosure: I have never been to the Tamale Festival, mostly because I despise standing in line for food (even more than I love tamales). However, Matt King, our music scribe, knows the festival well, and he talked to the new culinary director about this year’s food offerings; click here to read all about it.
For more information on the festival, visit indiotamalefestival.com.
In Brief
Yucca Valley’s historic airport, located at 57360 Aviation Drive, has a new restaurant, The Copper Room, named after the original restaurant in the building. The small menu has a mix of bar food classics as well as an interesting-looking cocktail menu. Learn more at thecopperroom1957.com. … Basil Thai has opened in old town La Quinta—specifically at 50855 Washington St.—offering a combination of Thai and Vietnamese food. It’s the sister restaurant to Le Basil in Palm Desert, which has long been an Independent staff favorite. Get more information at basilthailq.com. … Speaking of Thai food: One of Cathedral City’s newest restaurants is Desert Thai Authentic Thai Cuisine, which recently opened near the Mary Pickford Theatre, at 68718 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Unit 103. The only direct internet or social media presence for the restaurant we could find was an Instagram page with one photo (Instagram.com/desert_thai), but you can find the restaurant on ToastTab. … Rancho Mirage has a new place to get bubble tea—Chakaa Tea Shoppe, at The River, which means its address is 71800 Highway 111. Although this location does not have a website that we could find as of this writing, its sister location in San Diego does, and it’s chakaausa.com. … The Habit Burger Grill chain is opening a new location in Cathedral City, next to the Baskin Robbins at 31375 Date Palm Drive. The company says it will open sometime next year, but was not willing to narrow that time frame down, given the potential for construction delays and the possibility of further disruptions to the supply chain. The corporate website is www.habitburger.com. … An update on the Mexican restaurant opening in the former Smoke Tree BBQ location, at 1775 E. Palm Canyon Drive, No. 405, in Palm Springs: The owner tells me it will be called Low Desert; the under-construction website is lowdesert.net. Keep your fingers crossed for an opening in early December.
Got a hot tip? Let me know: foodnews@cvindependent.com.
