Pamela Bieri of The Desert Sun writes about the upcoming Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week (June 3rd through June 12th).  The event celebrates the entire Coachella Valley’s dining scene, travel accommodations and area attractions, with some 100 participants joining.

Restaurant Week started in 2007 to help strike up more business at the end of season, May through June. Its new easier-to-navigate website, VisitGreaterPalmSprings.com, provides drop-down tabs to choose the city, type of cuisine and price. It also provides details about each restaurant and menu, make dinner or hotel reservations direct from the site, and get exact locations.

With prix fixe prices at $26 or $38 and $48, for a three-course meal at participating restaurants, this affords the perfect opportunity to explore up-and-coming chefs’ cuisine, dine at romantic bistros or to satisfy the appetite for lusty steaks and classic fare.

There is no shortage of options, as shown below:

New Participants

  • Bonta Restaurant & Bar in Cathedral City, with a delectable choice of its Argentinian, Austrian and Mediterranean cuisine for $28.
  •  If you like poolside Latin jet set circa 1960s and you’ve got Chi Chi’s at The Avalon Hotel and Bungalows. The $48 prix fixe menu features Chilean sea bass with pea puree; Bulgogi braised short ribs with house kimchi; or Jidori chicken with crispy kale and mushroom demi-glace on its entrée choices.
  • The ever-intriguing PS Underground has created the “Velvet” Supper Club just for Restaurant Week in a secret location in downtown Palm Springs. Even its four-course $48 menu is kept secret, revealed as the evening progresses. The experience is part supper club, part sultry cabaret and part culinary theater.
  • Asian and Latin tastes influence Reservoir at Arrive Hotel’s southern California cuisine such as the Tijuana Caesar with crispy capers and Reggiano-parmesan cheese, the Torchio pasta with roasted squash, baby beets, wilted arugula with chevre cream sauce, and the fresh churros for dessert, all choices from its $38 restaurant week menu.
  • SO.PA Restaurant at L’Horizon’s new chef, Chris Anderson, has created an upscale menu for $48 with such tastes as short ribs with pickled ramps; poached and seared asparagus and tomato hearts as a vegetarian option; and duck with a barrel-aged sherry reduction.

Favorites Return

  • Innovative American fare has exploded on the scene as many talented young chefs are honing their skills and testing new menu ideas all across the valley:
  • Creative Cuisine’s Joane Garcia-Colson is offering crab- and mango-stuffed poblano peppers, cauliflower risotto, and a hard root beer float dessert for $38 in her Palm Springs uptown district restaurant.
  • Other creative uptown chef-owned restaurants are Workshop Kitchen + Bar’s whose Michael Beckman offers market veggie enchiladas, mesquite-grilled Iron Horse flat iron steak, and an organic half chicken Diavolo
  • Copley’s on Palm Canyon is featuring Hawaiian ahi tacos, prosciutto-wrapped duck breast, and barbecue glazed pork T-bone.
  • Wally’s Desert Turtle in Rancho Mirage - Talented new chef, Richard Pelz, brings such innovations as Hercules Ranch filet of beef with Coachella corn, braised Berkshire pork belly, and rosemary poached pear tart on its $38 menu.
  • Trio Restaurant in Palm Springs’ uptown specializes in delightful comfort food such as Harris Ranch skirt steak marinated in chili soy on its $28 menu, and a lively bar scene.
  • If Italian is your thing, you might consider classic Italian restaurants such as Trilussa in Cathedral City, Johnny Costa’s or L’Oliv in Palm Springs.  For broader Mediterranean fare, try Balisage Mediterranean Bistro or Alicante Spanish Bistro, both in Palm Springs, or Catalan Mediterranean in Rancho Mirage. 

Steakhouses

Lyons English Grill has been reimagined and reconfigured as Mr. Lyons, a salute to the classic tradition offering various cuts of steak, opulent sides, and table-side service.

A bevvy of modern steak houses participating in Restaurant Week also includes locally owned LG’s Prime Steak House in Palm Springs; Kaiser Grille in Palm Springs; and Fleming’s Prime Steak at The River, Rancho Mirage.

Hawaiian And Polynesian World Fusion

The Tropicale and Coral Seas Lounge is a dining/drinking hot spot on Amado near downtown Palm Springs. Green Goddess lobster salad, Cuban style Kurabuta pork chops, and spiced carrot cake with pineapple marmalade are some of its $38 menu items.

Romantic, Delicious Euro, French And American Bistros

Restaurants in this category range from Europa at the Villa Royale to Jake’s on North Palm Canyon in Palm Springs.

South Of The Border Tastes

Under this category, you’ll find such spots as include Rio Azul’s Mexican Bar & Grill’s colorful dishes such as Pescado al Vapor with tomatoes, onions and zucchini or Relleno con Mole with chicken or pork, located in downtown Palm Springs.

Vegetarian Delights

Here you’ll be looking at the menus at Pho 533, featuring authentic and fusion-Vietnamese food such as the vegetarian yellow curry with lime; and tasty morsels like whole wheat tagliatelle with grilled shiitake mushrooms and asparagus at King’s Highway, part of the trendy Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs.

For a complete listing of restaurants, hotels, events and attractions and to make reservations, go online to www.visitgreaterpalmsprings.com/restaurantweek.

To read Pamela Bieri’s original article and view the accompanying pictures, please visit:, http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2016/05/23/greater-palm-springs-restaurant-week-new-participants-2016/84799764/