Desert Sun, Number 152, 28 January 1983 — Eating Out Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief [ARTICLE]

Eating Out Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief

By LEE STANLEY Social to the Desert S«n

What is the best restaurant in the valley? Ask that question of a group of our leading business and professional people and you are likely to start a big argument, if not a war. Everyone has his or her own favorites, and loyalties are fierce. But when tempers cool down, you will find that a favorite restaurant is one with good food, value, quality, excellent service, where you are personally known and made to feel special. Searching for an answer to the “best restaurant” question (aside from the fact that Gaston’s was selected “best” by the restaurant critics, I found that each person I asked to participate responded differently, not really wanting to say that one was the best or better than another. However, the same common thread kept surfacing: one of the main reasons for choosing a favorite place was that of being treated as a VIP. So as not to put anyone on the spot, I changed the question to which are your five favorite eating places? Even here I ran into trouble because it was almost impossible to get them to stop at five. (Morrie Geyer came up with 12). For what it is worth, here are the responses I got from these well-known epicureans. All of their choices have been listed alphabetically so as not to show preference. Dr. Charles Block, dentist and bon vivant, stated that “these are the places that not only do I frequent but the places to which I take my friends who come from out of town. I want to show the best that Palm Springs has to offer and in my opinion these do the best job: “Delmonico’s, Gaston’s, Las Casuelas Terraza, Ingleside Inn, Riccio’s and The Tapestry Room.” Samuel Pfaff, epicurean, had no problem in selecting his five favorite eating establishments. He pronounced his verdict that Alberto’s, Cattails, Le Paon, Perry’s in the Canyon Hotel, and Theresa’s in Indio were without equivocation the places he and his wife Karen frequent the most. He lays claim that Theresa’s is an authentic as Mexican food can get. While it is not where the gringo’s would want to go for ambience, it is really a good, down-to-earth, tasty Mexican place to eat and drink cervesa. Jim McLaughlin of Hiroko’s ladies store in Palm Desert and member of the International Wine and Food Society, named eight as his and Hiroko’s favorites. They are Alberto’s, Cattails, Etienne’s, Gaston’s, Shogun, Tai-Ping, The Tapesty Room and Wally’s. Morrie Geyer, he of scalloped shirt fame, and wife Jo, are two of the most eating-out people in the desert and are definite about their favorite places. While it was impossible to stop at the five asked for, they came up with their perfect 10, so I compromised and allowed for six. They are: Delmonico’s, Gaston’s, Ingleside Inn, Lyon s, Plaza IV and Riccio’s. Chairwoman Barbara Gonzalez of the Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians is the only representative of the opposite sex to independently select her favorite I promised to mention that her most favorite eatingout place is at home, where her mom f'xes the best spaghetti in the world, the best tacos, enchiladas and meat loaf. In fact, she invited me over to give it a try. In any event, when not eating that good old home cooking, her favorites are: Gaston’s, Kobes, Lyon’s, Marinello’s and The Tapestry Room. It is most interesting to review the choices of doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief and find that there is virtually no agreement or consensus of the “best” restaurant in the valley. To recap the findings let’s see how the choices ran, and not to show any favoritism, the box score is listed alphabetically.

Albertos: Italian, Rancho Mirage 2 Cattail’s: Continental, Cathedral City 2 Delmonico’s: Italian, Palm Springs 2 Etienne’s: French, Palm Desert 1 Gaston’s: French, Palm Springs 4 Ingleside Inn: Continental, Palm Springs 2 Kobe’s: Ethnic, Rancho Mirage 1 Las Casuelas Terraza: Mexican, Palm Springs .. 1 Le Paon: Continental, Palm Desert 1 Lyon’s: American, Palm Springs 2 Marinello’s: Italian, Palm Desert 1 Perry’s: American, Palm Springs 1 Plaza IV: American, Palm Springs 1 Riccio’s: Italian, Palm Springs 2 Shogun: Ethnic, Rancho Mirage 1 Theresa's: Mexican, Indio 1 Tai-Ping: Ethnic, Palm Desert 1 The Tapestry Room: Continental, Palm Springs 3 Wally’s: Continental, Rancho Mirage 1

It is surprising to see how the scores match up with the Palm Springs Life Critics Awards results in December, These unbiased results lend even more credibility to those selected by the Southern California Restaurant Writers-credentialed critics. Lee Stanley is a member of the Southern California Restaurant Writers, the Southern California Wine Writers and the Chefs de Cuisine of Palm Springs.