Ristorante
Brissago -Miramonte Resort
76-477 Highway 111, Indian Wells, CA. 92210 Ph. 760-341-2200
Arriving in Indian Wells after a 6 hour drive was a pleasure. The weather was perfect. The Miramonte Resort was a pleasant surprise, and the existence of an Italian Restaurant on the premises said to us that it had been a good day...maybe. The maybe came because we have eaten in far too many "Italian" restaurants which were forgetable.
The restaurannt is in the main building of the resort and is quite nicely furnished and laid out. The kitchen is a semi open one. Some dishes are prepared in this area and others in a standard kitchen. The center of the room was inviting as it contained a large round table upon which had been placed a delicious looking assortment of cold antipasti. Included were roasted peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, shrimp, cold meats and olives. It was hard to resist, and turned out to be as good as it looked. The flavors were quite subtle and although served all on one dish it was easy to taste each selection
The chef suggested the encrusted seabass and we had that along with the grilled salmon as secundo. We had already decided upon the Linguine Pescatore for a primi. The linguini dish was quite different. It was prepared with a tomato, onion oregano base as oppossed to the tomato garlic base most often used in this dish. The onion flavor was quite distinctive and for one of us a bit too strong, for the other excellent. The fish, mussels, clams and shrimp, were very fresh and tasty. This was especially interesting to us since Indian Wells is in the dessert, and we who live five minutes from the ocean are unable to obtain similarly fresh fish and fish products.
The salmon as described in the Menu was served with a sauce which sounded a bit heavy. We opted to order it simply grilled. It was good but was left on the grill just a bit too long. The Seabass was arguably the best seabass we had ever eaten. It was lightly breaded, and then the crust seared, leaving the fish moist and tender.
The meal was accomanied by a bottle of Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay, a quite excellent wine.
Throughout the meal the Executive chef, Robert Briskman, chatted with us about his concept for the restuarant. The Italian theme was new having opened in January 1999, and only revamped with its new menu for about a month. He did the same with all the guests, knowing exactly when a table needed something and signalling to the wait staff as necessary. Given his enthusiasm, his education at Jonhson and Wales Culinary Institute, and his experience in Europe, our expectation is that he will be successful.
Rather than dessert, we enjoyed two Sambucas and called it a night. the "maybe" had turned out to be a yes, we would return to Ristorante Brissago at the Miramonte Resort
Dinner for two, including wine and after dinner drinks was $120.36 including tax and tip. The restaurant and resort can be reached at www.miramonte-resort.com
Last updated on: 06/03/99 12:51:16 AM