Two Days in the Carmel Area

[syrah girl]

This past weekend we spent the night in Carmel at La Playa, a lovely historic hotel in the heart of Carmel. For our first lunch we dined at Demetra's Cafe in downtown Carmel, right on Ocean Ave. Our lunch was very good, I had the Lamb Wrap that was full of perfectly seasoned Lamb and served with a really great salad with a Pesto dressing. Our service was a little slugish, but other than that it was a great little find, we will return again to try some new things.

For dinner we went to Christopher's on Lincoln, a fine dinin venue with very good food. Fried Green Tomatoes, Salmon from Scotland was served with white wine, brown sugar, meyer lemon, capers and some little Red Creamer potatoes. After dinner we went over to the Grill on Ocean for some choclate cake for dessert, really good!

Breakfast was at the Terrace Grill at our hotel, a fantastic restaurant where we had beautiful views of gardens and a peek of the ocean. White linen tablecloths and yellow roses were a nice touch on all of the tables. We shared the American breakfast which was scrambled eggs, English muffins with jam, sausage and Oven Roasted potatoes. Perfect!

That evening we went to the "C" at the new Clement in Monterey. We had the Clam Chowder, the Caesar Salad was beautiful on presentation and served with White Anchovies. I had the Abalone with Angel Hair Pasta for my dinner, very good! Dessert was complimentary for my birthday, the Chocolate Fondue which was fun and the Chocolate was rich and decadant. Marshmallows, strawberries, apricots and Madaleine cookies were served for dipping. We will return again here, the oceanviews were gorgeous and the ambiance is formal and contemporary.

We always enjoy our time in this area and still have so many great places we want to try in this area. French Poodle, Cantinetta Luca and L'Escargot at the top of our return list. Still want to get to Fresh Cream in Monterey some day and Aubergine at L' Auberge in Carmel.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I never hit Carmel without going to Casanova... Highly recommended.

[syrah girl]

Yes, Casanova is wonderful, we have enjoyed lunches there out on the back patio.

[Dave Hatfield]

Glad to hear that Casanova seems to still be going strong.

It was a great place when we lived up in Carmel Valley, but that was nearly 15 years ago. It's nice when quality places last.

Wonder if the 'Running Iron' in Carmel Valley Village still serves some of the best baby back ribs in the world. (IOHO)

[syrah girl]

The new hot spot in Carmel Valley is Citronelle at Carmel Valley Ranch, we dined there this past Dec., it's amazing! For our rib fix, we love Bigfoot Pub & Grub in Seaside, Oregon where we spend several weeks a year at our beach cottage.