The Palette

Last evening, in celebration of Valentine's Day, my daughter took the grandchildren and me to The Palette, which is a true fine dining experience, located within The International Cooking School at The Art Institute of California at San Diego.   It is totally run by students in the last phase of their culinary education.

We started the meal with The Little Gem Lettuce Salad made of poached pear, blue cheese, candied pine nuts, with White Balsamic.  This was a culinary treat and was very enjoyable.  The blue cheese was excellent.  My daughter and I ordered the Apple Sausage Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with roasted Brussel Sprouts and mashed potatoes.  My granddaughter chose the Porcini Braised Beef Short Ribs with Polenta and winter vegetables.  My six-year old grandson wanted the Parpadelle Pasta with Pistachio Mint Pesto.  The offering for this dish was presented on the menu as Spicy Lamb Bolognese.  However, he only wanted the pasta with sauce on the side.  He ate the pasta without the sauce and was happy with it.

Our meals were very delicious. The servings were very generous.  My granddaughter offered tastes of her Short Ribs and we decided that was the best.  Following dinner, my grandson asked, "Are we going to have dessert?"  When a server brought the Dessert Menu, we had to choose.  We didn't feel we had room, but who passes up such delicious sounding desserts?  We settled on sharing two desserts....a dark chocolate cake with a raspberry and candied fruit (served with a small mound of vanilla sorbet) and a trio of sorbets (melon, passion fruit and lemon).   My grandson chose the melon and my granddaughter, the lemon.  I literally had one teaspoon of each dessert.  The chocolate cake was literally "to die for."  It seems anti-climatic to say that the coffee was great, but it was.

The evening was very enjoyable even though Daddy could not be with us.  He was busy instructing future chefs.  The atmosphere with low level music in the background was perfect.  I would definitely encourage going to this restaurant.

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La Gran Terraza Restaurant

Wednesday evening my daughter took me to La Gran Terraza, a fine dining restaurant at the University of San Diego, where my son-in-law is the evening chef. We entered the building and proceeded down the hall, past O’Tooles Tavern and entered a large dining room with large floor to ceiling windows. Our view included Tecolote Canyon and Mission Bay. The Front Manager, Amanda, told us that usually the view includes a beautiful sunset. That evening, we had a complete cloud cover.

The Prime Rib buffet was certainly tempting. Since I had a late lunch, I had no intention of eating very much. However, I had a little of this and a little of that. Before I knew it I had filled my plate. Beside the Prime Rib (delicious!!) with onions and mushrooms for topping with au jus gravy, there were roasted vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. As I rounded the buffet table in the center of the room, I found a fresh fruit compote with black beans, a plate with fresh fruit and cheese, and salmon in pastry.

Then, our waiter reminded us of the soup table and the various breads offered. I had to pass up the soup, but not the cranberry bread. It tasted so good. I barely managed to try the desserts which are created in-house. The whole meal was excellent, as was the service.

Now, having enjoyed this wonderful meal, desserts and all, coupled with my late lunch at Red Lobster, I am definitely returning to my diet.

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