FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

We brunch in Cathedral City, and have dinner at an unbelievably popular Palm Springs place

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT Biscuits and gravy sliders

WHERE Brunch 101, 68718 E. Palm Canyon Drive, No. 101, Cathedral City

HOW MUCH $15 CONTACT 760-507-8464; brunch101.com

WHY It’s a great twist on a classic. We’ve been doing Indy Endorsements for more than a decade now—but this is the first time we’ve ever endorsed a dish at the third different restaurant to occupy the same space.

In 2019, I endorsed the enchiladas de mole at Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant … then the restaurant closed (though a location lives on in La Quinta). A little more than a year ago, I endorsed the West African peanut stew at Salt Flats … and it closed.

Now comes Brunch 101. This concept seems to have staying power, so I have a feeling we won’t be endorsing dishes from any other places in this restaurant space for quite some time.

Brunch 101 offers exactly what one would expect: breakfast, brunch and lunch fare like omelets, Benedicts, sandwiches, salads and even a couple taco options. However, a lot of the dishes have a unique twist.

You can get buttermilk pancakes … or pancakes made with almond milk. There’s hash and eggs, but that hash is actually pork belly. And if you love biscuits and gravy, you’ll be happy to see them on the menu—but they’re presented as “sliders.” The buttermilk biscuits are the buns, and the sausage gravy is in between, along with eggs and peppered bacon. On the side is some delicious bourbon bacon jam and your choice of a side.

It was, in a word, delicious. The biscuits were fantastic, as was the peppered bacon. I loved the gravy, even if it was on the surprisingly sweet side—and don’t let that bourbon bacon jam go unused, as it’s arguably the tastiest thing on the plate.

Here’s to a long tenure at 68718 E. Palm Canyon Drive for Brunch 101!

WHAT Caramelized onion tart

WHERE Bar Cecil, 1555 S. Palm Canyon Drive, No. H-104, Palm Springs

HOW MUCH $14

CONTACT 442-332-3800; barcecil.com

WHY It’s like French onion soup, but better. Bar Cecil has been open for two years now— but my recent visit there was my first.

Why? Bar Cecil is the most difficult reservation to get in the valley. If you go to Open Table right now and try to get a reservation, you’ll almost certainly find no availability, like, ever—unless you’re looking at Open Table in the wee hours of the morning.

Bar Cecil only offers reservations 30 days in advance, and Open Table releases reservations each day around midnight. By the time most of us wake up, Bar Cecil’s justreleased openings 30 days away are snapped up. I just so happened to be awake around 2 a.m. one morning, and that’s how I got a 6:15 p.m. reservation 30 days away.

So … does Bar Cecil live up to the buzz and the exclusivity? Is executive chef Gabriel Woo’s food all that?

I’ll leave those questions for others to answer and simply say we really enjoyed our dinner. The service was fantastic, and the vibe, much of which pays homage to British artist/fashion designer Cecil Beaton (19041980), was fun.

As for the food, everything we had ranged from decent to the reason why we’ll definitely return to Bar Cecil: the caramelized onion tart. It’s like the best French onion soup you’ve ever had—with the caramelized onions, the pastry and the comté cheese— converted into a sharable, gorgeous appetizer. At $14, in 2023, the price is downright reasonable, too.

If you don’t want to be stalking Open Table at ungodly hours of the morning, and/or you don’t want to wait 30 days to visit Bar Cecil, you can show up (preferably a little before the restaurant opens) and pray for a last-minute cancellation or an open bar seat. Whatever you do, if you get in, be sure to order the caramelized onion tart.