The above picture was the scene yesterday at the ribbon cutting for the brand new amazing restaurant & lounge called, Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge.  You know its a cool and hip place when some of the numbers in the name are actual numbers and others are spelled out.  How Chic...

Sarcasm aside, the restaurant opened yesterday in the Uptown Design District, North of downtown Palm Springs, to a large and enthusiastic crowd.  I got to admit that the enthusiasm is justified.  First, let's talk about the venue. 

After walking up the stairs, you enter into their bar and lounge which is spacious, cool open and very light.  I can actually see this room being filled with people and not feeling like a sardine.  "The white, crisp interior lined with the farmhouse tables and stylish chairs creates a luxurious yet comfortable ambiance--a blank canvas that reflects Chef Chuck Courtney's colorful culinary flair".  That is actually how they describe their interior.  I'm afraid I'm not that good of a writer. They describe their bar as "an all-white backlit onyx bar with white Louis XIV ghost chairs and stools".  Sounds pretty, don't it?  And it is.  Unfortunately for me, it was lunch time, I was still on the clock and I drove there so I couldn't have a cocktail.  Having written that, the ambiance of the bar was so inviting I almost slipped and fell face first into a martini.  It would not have been my fault. 

To the left of the bar and lounge is a huge dining room area (Picture Above).  What you can't see from this picture are the numerous doors on either side of the dining room that each contain private dining rooms.  And big ones too; like have a small wedding reception in one big. 

Even though the restaurant just opened, the service was excellent.  My waitress was very pleasant, always smiling, thoughtful and attentive.  Being the boring person I am, I ordered a rather common lunch menu item, the cobb salad.  It was the prettiest cobb salad I had ever seen.  It was a shame to eat it.  Here it is now:

Pungent blue cheese, applewood bacon, perfectly hard boiled eggs, Petaluma chicken (whatever that is) and crisp fresh greens.  If you like cobb salads like I do, then you have to try the one at Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge.  If you aren't boring like I am, one of the more creative lunch selections might appeal to you.  A few of these creative menu items are:

Lobster Roll (I just came back from Cape Cod (a mecca for lobster rolls) and love em.
Drunken Clams or Mussels
Mesquite-Smoked Carne Asada
Gazpacho Consomme
Ratatouille Tart

The dinner menu features even more unique creations and different takes on traditional dishes. 

Eight4Nine also has a spacious outdoor patio where guests can dine overlooking Mt. San Jacinto and surrounded by sculptures. 

As a person who makes his living of what Palm Springs offers vacationers, I'm proud to have this amazing new restaurant & lounge in the city.  It is another great experience for visitors.

One more thing:  keeping in the tradition of Palm Springs mid century modern architecture, Eight4Nine is located in a 1950's building that once housed the Palm Springs post office.  The address is 849 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs.