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<\/a>The ambiance in the main room. (The photos are dark because I didn’t want to disturb the patrons by using a flash. But I’m sure you get the idea.) Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
So, I’m more than happy to be in on the ground floor of The Palm’s move from its iconic West Hollywood spot to the more tony Beverly Hills. It’s been a few weeks, and appears to be really working out for all concerned.<\/p>\n
I really did love the original location, though. A big reason I was attached to it is that it was the inspiration for one of the fun, private sayings that Mr. X and I have. When I was new-ish to LA, a gal pal and I went to The Palm for something. (We were poor, so you know it was not<\/em> dinner!) As we were leaving, the host stopped us and offered to buy us drinks. Mr. X was my friend at the time, and loved my stories. I hadn’t realized that he had gotten such a kick out of it when I triumphantly told him about the experience by saying, \u201cThey bought us drinks!!!\u201d When he later let me in on his reaction to that, it became a thing between the two of us. Ever since then, I love telling him when someone buys drinks for my group of femme fatales.<\/p>\n A couple of The Palm’s iconic charicatures that made the move from the original location, enhanced by beautiful holiday decorations. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n So, it was with great warmth that I attended this opening reception last week. It was an intimate one, to introduce some us foodies to Bruce and company. We were in a private area at the back of the restaurant, but we had the doors open, so we also got to soak-up the evening action.<\/p>\n While we mingled and chatted, we were treated to a number of The Palm’s signature appetizers. I tried only the bruschetta, with big chunks of mozzarella on top, (because their famous treats in that category are basically all foods that I don’t eat, crazy eater that I am,) and really enjoyed it. But Alice, my partner-in-crime, dug into all<\/em> the morsels\u00a0with gusto. She said, \u201cThe carpaccio of beef tenderloin was very tasty and flavorful, with a hint of lemon and black pepper.\u201d She enjoyed the \u201cgenerous\u201d crab cakes, and said the \u201ctartar sauce with chipotle added a great kick,\u201d and the crust on them was \u201cbaked just right.\u201d<\/p>\n The tray of over-flowing crab cakes, shot in too-low light. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Her two favorites were the calamari, which she said was \u201cexcellently cooked\u201d and \u201ccrunchy,\u201d and the two-piece shrimp cocktail, which featured giant shrimp and horseradish cocktail sauce.<\/p>\n We sat at a table with Bruce himself, and when he noticed that I hadn’t had much to eat, he very generously offered me my choice of the menu. (He then made the same gesture to the rest of our table.) And everything outside of those too-classy-for-me appetizers was totally up my alley! I would have been happy with any<\/em> meat, poultry, salad, or side on there!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>