Meetcha at Lulu

When a restaurant calls itself “hip” it’s not a word that immediately catches my attention as an establishment I would rush to experience.  Despite this unfortunate beginning I have to admit that Lulu California Bistro in Palm Springs, CA is (at this point in time) a really, really good restaurant.  (I always hesitate to call anything “great” because I feel we are comparing something to that wall in China or that book about Gatsby.)

Whatever hip means as applied to this restaurant there are better adjectives.  The food was excellent and presented nicely, with a flourish of personal service from the attentive wait-staff.  The décor is pleasing to the eye overall with some huge vintage photographs of sort-of familiar show-biz faces that catch the eye and test one’s recognition synapses (I failed miserably…sorry about that) although Cher looked a little familiar.  There is a variety of seating areas with levels of “mezzanines,” any one of which gives you a good view of the others and/or the bustling street.  Good location, Good food, good service, good looks…well, hell, what more could one ask for?

You guessed right, there is one more consideration up for discussion; how much is this really really good place going to set you back?  Fear not, fair ones, the prices are well within reach of the average gourmand and, if you make the right bet with a friend on the Super Bowl, it can be a freebie forever remembered!  You can also, if you can stand the thought, eat before 5:00 p.m. and get a break on the bill.  However, the thought of having dinner at that hour, or earlier, makes me a little nauseous but not from the thought of food itself but of the admission that we seniors can take advantage of our advanced age.  Age is not food ingested easily, no matter how well seasoned.  And a measly $4 off isn’t enough for me to change my view of what’s right in culinary civilization.