Have you ever gone to a new restaurant for dinner and left with a belly full of interesting dishes and a mind full of intrigue? Alice B was just that. Who is Alice B? Why were they important enough to name the restaurant after them, and what was the influence? This is the new brainchild of our featured chef this month, Susan Feniger, along with her longtime business partner, Mary Sue Milliken.
Susan invited me to come check out Alice B while I was in Palm Springs for the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA)’s Global Convention. Her team was kind enough to fit my reservation in between my breaks. Located in a very unique development called Living Out, an LGBTQ+ senior housing luxury building, Alice B invites the public to dine and socialize with the local residents.
Trying not to do research in advance, my partner and I arrived at Living Out and entered the building, where the lobby is queer and art-centric, welcoming you directly into the restaurant’s bar and lounge. We were allowed to pick whichever table we wanted, so we sat where we had a full view of the dining room.
After taking in the décor and the interesting paintings hung in a prominent location that symbolized some importance, so we shifted our focus to the menus presented to us. The menu was tantalizing yet straightforward, with dishes that seemed unrelated to each other. Each dish on the menu seemed to celebrate its own unique quality and ingredients. We chose to share three small plates and one entree.
Our server was amazing and knew that we were on a semi-limited time frame, so as the dishes were ready, they delivered them to our table. First to arrive was the Pimento Cheese served with fresh potato chips. Immediately, it was a retro hit for both of us. Next to arrive were the Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits with whipped butter and cardamom-seeded honey. These fresh biscuits were tender and flavorful on their own, but with the cardamom-infused honey, they reached another level of complexity. The last small plate to arrive for us was the Mushroom Toast. This was my personal favorite dish, granted, I am a sucker for great mushroom dishes. The mixture of wild sautéed mushrooms, grilled baguette, and an herb aioli that reminded me of a clean, crisp pesto cream foam blended together to highlight each ingredient’s purpose for being a part of the dish.
As our small plates were being cleared from the table, our main large plate arrived. For our entrée, we chose the Braised Pork Shoulder served with grilled cabbage, cranberry beans, tahini, and lemon. This was an incredibly balanced dish, meaning that when you ate each component together, they balanced each other to bring out the flavors even more. The lemon helped temper the fattiness of the pork shoulder, and the tahini gave the beans and cabbage a nutty richness, deepening the flavors and complementing the acidity of the lemon sauce. By the end, nothing was left on the plate between the two of us.
As a chef and writer, I sat back admiring the restaurant that stars of the Too Hot Tamales created in this desert oasis. Something, though, was raising more questions in my mind than it answered. Like I said, the menu was simple yet direct; the dishes had their own stories; the restaurant’s design and décor were high-end yet paid tribute to Alice B. Who was this Alice B? Why was she important, and how did she relate to the restaurant? While my dining experience was amazing, I left wanting more —not just to try more of the food; I wanted to understand the concept and dream of this gem of a restaurant.
I could have emailed Feniger again to ask more questions, but that would have taken away the fun of learning for myself who Alice B was. For once, this mystery actually made eating at a restaurant more intriguing than most I have experienced. Now I know who Alice B was and will never forget her name. Just like Susan Feniger, Alice B. Toklas was revolutionary as an out lesbian in the culinary world. Her cookbook is one of the best-selling of all time. So, the next time you are in the Palm Springs area, swing by Alice B for an incredible cocktail in the lounge or relax and share some plates with the people who make your life more enriched.
Find out more about Alice B Toklas here:
Hash fudge and a fish for Picasso: inside the legendary cookbook of Alice B. Toklas
