Email this page  Print this page

Wadlund’s work is definitely structured — or, as in the case of his Spicy Tuna Roll, deconstructed. Its ingredients arrive sepa-rated in a trio dish: spicy tuna atop sticky rice, slivers of carrot and radish, and triangular seaweed leaves leaning on a mound of
marinated ginger.

Décor at Beefsteak has construction-zone finesse: punched, rusted-iron grids separate dining booths zigzagging through the center of the room. Similar grids with protruding pipes hang on hand-plastered walls backlit by spotlights. Beefsteak’s elegance is not only in the chocolate brown settees, tweed carpet, soft lighting, beige linens, and sparkling crystal; the true elegance is in Wadlund’s esoteric cuisine.   
Grand China Wok in the revamped Chili’s restaurant building in the Rancho Las Palmas Shopping Center melds Chinese cuisine with the broad stroke of Szechuan, Cantonese, and Mongolian regions.

Lunch and dinner choices include Kung Pao shrimp, orange chicken, Mongolian beef, and Gold Bags (crisp pastry filled with minced chicken, water chestnuts, and mint). Shrimp, lobster, and vegetarian dishes round out the extensive menu. An oval bar with padded, high-back chairs provides a great perch for sipping cocktails and trying bites of a delectable bar menu.

Many diners prefer to share a variety of appetizers, such as tempura vegetables, spicy chicken wings, pot stickers, and the Grand Wok Burrito.

Bing Crosby, beloved crooner, actor, and longtime desert resident, is the subject of a new restaurant created by brothers Jeff and Rick Dudum of Dudum Sports & Entertainment. Kathryn Crosby, Bing’s widow, blessed the venture since Bing spent every weekend in Palm Desert and, in between movies, would spend three or four months at a time there.

Located across from The River at Rancho Mirage and Wally’s Desert Turtle, Bing Crosby’s Restaurant & Piano Lounge brings back the subdued elegance of the 1930s era with oysters Rockefeller, Waldorf salad, and seared steaks and chops, as well as a blend of contemporary tastes.

Golf course casual by day and Hollywood glam by night, Crosby’s features hand-selected meat cut from aged Midwestern Angus beef served with classic Béarnaise, Dianne sauce, or Gorgonzola butter. The signature dish is filet mignon with black truffle semi-glaze. The Crosby Clambake includes clams, lobster, mussels, potatoes, Andouille sausage, and corn in a savory broth. Roasted herb chicken, scallops, braised short ribs, and vegetarian choices comprise other menu selections under the auspices of Culinary Director Frank Palmer and Executive Chef Scott Kendig.

Sicilian cuisine is at the heart of Villa Abbate, in the former Massimo’s. The menu is translated from family recipes brought from Palermo, Italy, to America by family matriarchs in 1912. Less dependent on pasta than many Italian restaurants, Abbate bring tastes of lemon, garlic, parsley, and olive oil to dishes such as Chicken Limone, and Vittello Piccata. Other choices include rib-eye steak marinated in olive oil and crusted with breadcrumbs and Pignoli Crusted Rack of Lamb.