Desert Rose

Description:

• Some dates require an intimate setting, while others require a certain unconfined breeziness -- but if you had your girl locked down enough to know which, you wouldn't be buying dinner. Clearly, you need the flexibility of Desert Rose. The first LA resto from a Lebanese ex-pat, DR's a Mediterranean breakfast/lunch/dinner complex divided into a mahogany-decked, wine-racked bistro, and a 3000 sq ft exterior patio reminiscent of a Palm Springs resort: wicker-chaired tables, mini-waterfalls, and 100+ species of flowers, presided over by a 19-foot-high stained glass rose (The Name of the Rose is "Freakin' Big"). The inside-outside menu's aptly diverse, with breakfast boasting the likes of bacon'd Blue Crab Eggs Benedict and a blintz w/peach compote, ricotta-mascarpone cream, and cocoa powder; lunch includes shish tawuk w/chicken & homemade hummus and a grilled cheese w/aged cheddar, gorgonzola, caramelized pears and, to counteract the pears, more bacon. Dinner means everything from veal osso bucco, to Colorado lamb w/ couscous, to the butter, beurre blanc, and citrus walnut aioli lathered "Trio of Salmon" -- a delicious meal, or the worst band in the world. DR's also got house-made desserts, and for booze, a full wine list, six tap beers, and specialty cocktails like a vanilla mango mojito, a nectar margarita, and the Chocolate Narcissus -- with Stoli Vanilla, Baileys, Kahlua, and Chambord, ordering it will convey a certain unconfined breeziness better known as "best friends".
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