Charlie Palmer's

Old fashioned Chocolate 7-Layer Cake from SusieCakes

caramelized banana tarte tatin

cheesecake with apricot sorbet

smoky cinnamon zeppoles with espresso hot chocolate

blue cheese crusted filet mignon

Aged New York Strip Steak

Pork Chop with Apricots and Red Onions

Scallops with Daikon

Steamed Halibut with Shrimp Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Watermelon and Watercress Salad with Marinated Feta

Avocado Gazpacho with Crab 

Caponata Amuse Bouche

Starting off with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon

For Doc's 48th birthday we went to Charlie Palmer's in Costa Mesa.  It's the kind of place that has a sommelier on hand, which is simultaneously intimidating and impressive.  Maybe it's because I'm on the low end of the economic scale, but I just don't know that food should be this expensive.  It isn't that I'm not willing to spend money on good food.  It is actually one of things I don't have a problem splurging on.  If the food is good, it is shocking how much I am willing to stretch my wallet.  It's just that at $35 per entree, I need things to be amazing.  

Was Charlie Palmer's amazing? Hm.  Well, to be fair, some items were amazing.  Some were not.  

Like the watermelon watercress salad: very good.  The marinated feta in the salad was tart and wonderful.  Oh, and the golden watermelon!

My steamed halibut in bouillabaisse sauce: decidedly not very good.  My fish arrived cold.  Like sitting out for an hour cold.  And the bouillabaisse was run of the mill.  However, I did like the zucchini blossom that was on top of the fish.

Saeyoung's diver scallops: fair.  Excellent sauce.  Topped with what I think was rice crackers.  The scallops could have afforded to be a little less salty but overall a very nice dish.

Farro risotto: good

Truffled Mac & Cheese: also good

Fries: rather limp

Pork Chop: okay, the sauce was more memorable than the meat

Steak: I'm not a steak person so maybe I'm the wrong person to gauge this

Lyonnaise Potatoes: Quite good

Smoky Cinnamon Zeppoles with Espresso Hot Chocolate: Amazing! House made marshmellows on top of cinnamon whipping cream with really thick hot chocolate.  The zeppoles were delicious.  Very reminiscent of churros con chocolate.  

other brownie points: A parade of free things.  A great amuse bouche of eggplant caponata that had, I think dates or maybe raisins or maybe both.  Also blueberry cookies.  Also  dark chocolate truffles, cherry shortcake, and other confections.  

The wine was good as well.  A memorable Amarone and pleasant Cabernet Sauvignon.  

Note* they offer a prix-fixe menu that is a much more affordable option.  $39 for a first course, an entree, and a dessert. not bad.  

Note ** terrible for vegetarians/vegans.  Kristina ended up having to order a few sides but no meatless entrees.  Unfortunate.