Our roving wine, food and travel columnist checks in from the California desert. You’ll soon notice he never checks in from, oh, let’s say, North Dakota. Visit an archive of his work for HinsdaleCellars.com.

Bruce Schoenfeld in La Quinta, Calif.

What: Azur at the La Quinta Resort & Club, near Palm Springs. Formerly under the purview of Le Bernardin’s Eric Ripert, but now on its own.
Where: Eisenhower Dr., La Quinta, CA; 760/564-7600; dining@laquintaresort.com.
Why Go: New chef William Withrow has solved the vexing problem of a high-end restaurant that needs to serve a wide range of customers (serious foodies, long-standing guests, unadventurous locals) with cooking that’s innovative but never intimidating.
The Ambience: Historic, high-beamed structure (above); Southwestern decor; multi-hued resort wear. 
The Cost: Top-of-the-line: $110 for one, including bottled water but not wine. (Entrees average more than $40.)
What I Ate: Modified tasting menu that included Ahi tartar with watermelon; endive salad with Pommery Mustard Viniagrette; medallions of monkfish wrapped in Jamon Serrano; “Duck Three Ways” (seared breast, crispy confit, spice-dusted foir gras); and an “Apples, Apples, and More Apples” dessert.
What I Drank: Vincent Girardin Moray-St.-Denis Les Sorbets 2001. Earthy, dark, pungently Burgundian, and one of the few interesting reds available for under $100.
Next Time I’d … Eschew the underwhelming wine list and bring my own bottle.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Bruce Schoenfeld. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.