Preparing to open Lola Rose, executive chef Quentin Garcia trekked to Istanbul to source inspiration and spices for his menu.
PHOTO COURTESY QUENTIN GARCIA
Quentin Garcia is very proud of his oven. During a tour of the new Mediterranean-inspired restaurant Lola Rose, the executive chef makes a beeline to show off the giant cylindrical apparatus in the kitchen. “It’s a piece of equipment that no one else has in the desert,” boasts Garcia, who was born and raised in Indio.
Garcia and the culinary team at Lola Rose, one of two restaurants poised to open at the forthcoming Thompson Palm Springs hotel, will utilize the tandoor oven to bake fluffy flatbreads paired with a well-curated menu of mezze, kebabs, and other Levantine-inspired dishes composed with fresh California ingredients. He recently embarked on a journey to Istanbul to seek culinary inspiration and source spices for his menu.
Scenes from his culinary adventure in Istanbul.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY QUENTIN GARCIA
“One of my biggest lessons was labneh,” Garcia says of the creamy dip. “It can either be really awesome or just taste like yogurt.” He discovered a spice blend from a Turkish vendor that added a totally new dimension to the dish. “I took that home and started putting it in my labneh. It’s insane how one little scoop of spice can change everything.”
Garcia’s dazzling array of mezze offerings includes a smoked thyme beef tartare; muhammara, a spicy dip made with pomegranate molasses; and a classic tahdig, also known as crispy Persian rice. For a heavier option, his rack of lamb will be accented with chermoula, black garlic toum (a traditional Lebanese sauce), and fava beans.
Executive chef Quentin Garcia.
PHOTO BY ALEX CLARK, COURTESY THOMPSON PALM SPRINGS
Before joining Lola Rose, Garcia served as executive chef at Rainbird in the El Capitan Hotel in California’s Central Valley. Prior to that, he spent two decades cooking around the world. When offered the chance to return to the Coachella Valley, he didn’t hesitate.
“The desert is in this pivotal moment where it’s going to swell,” he says. “There are already great people here and chefs doing amazing stuff, so to add to that at one of Palm Springs’ newest properties is a huge opportunity.”
With a view of Mount San Jacinto from the hotel’s second-floor pool deck, Lola Rose will serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and lounge fare. The restaurant’s name is a nod to the grandchildren of Kathryn and Craig Hall, owners of the Dallas-based Hall Group, which stepped in to finally complete the long-delayed, much-anticipated hotel development on Palm Canyon Drive.
In addition to Lola Rose, Thompson Palm Springs will feature a 3,400-square-foot wine tasting room pouring Hall Wines and a ground-level casual eatery from Los Angeles–based Boujis Group, which operates West Hollywood’s Olivetta and The Draycott in Pacific Palisades.
Additional shots from the Istanbul scrapbook.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY QUENTIN GARCIA
The Inside Scoop
Chris Talluto
Director of Bars, Restaurants, and Events
Thompson Palm Springs
Chris Talluto.
PHOTO BY ALEX CLARK, COURTESY THOMPSON PALM SPRINGS
How will you differentiate food offerings across the property?
The pool fare is going to be classic and a little less Mediterranean [than Lola Rose]. You’ll be able to order a cheeseburger, for example. In-room dining will be a cross between our concepts with composed dishes — more of a nouveau Americana cuisine.
Will the Hall Group affiliation impact the menus?
We want to celebrate it. We will serve Hall Wines, but they won’t be the only wines on our menus. There are a lot of other great vineyards here in California that we want to spotlight as well as great spirit makers.
What has it been like to build these restaurants from the ground up?
It’s been fun to watch it being built before my eyes — things changing, pieces coming into play, watching the community’s reaction. I’ve heard a lot of excitement from locals who’ve seen the changes we’re making. We’re excited to see it come to fruition and go full force.