The Chop House Palm Springs and Palm Desert
Best Steaks In The Desert

Palm Canyon Drive at dusk and Chop House diners can enjoy people-watching along with their fine food from the front dining room.

Kaiser and Lee Morcus, founders of the Kaiser Family of Restaurants, launched their signature fine dining concepts with The Chop House. Two locations in Palm Springs and Palm Desert will soon be joined by a third at Miles Crossing in Indian Wells.

The Chop Houses are among the elite America’s Finest Prime Time Top 10 Steakhouses and DiRoNA. The Chop Houses in Palm Springs and Palm Desert are sanctuaries for serious steak aficionados who know “The meat is sweeter on the bone.” The Morcus family boasts three generations of cattle farmers and certified butchers.

The array of USDA Prime aged steaks and chops include Kansas City bone-in New York, bone-in filet mignon, cowboy rib and Porterhouse steaks, as well as double pork chops and rack of lamb. In season, The Chop House also features authentic Japanese bred and raised Wagyu beef, the highest quality beef in the world.

All meats, aged and butchered in-house, are grilled at lower temperatures longer, allowing juices, tenderness, and flavors to fully develop. The Morcus standards for preparing fresh seafood are just as stringent.

Start with assorted appetizers and salads including Seared Jumbo Sea Scallops, Carpaccio, or Tartare of Tuna or Beef, French Onion Soup Gratinée or The Wedge — chilled iceberg lettuce with Citrus Roquefort Dressing. Vegetable and side accompaniments are designed to share. Top-shelf martinis are poured tableside from frosted shakers. Decadent desserts are prepared in-house while a selection of dessert wines, ports, cognacs, and Armagnac bring the dining experience to an elegant close.

The Chop House restaurants are beautifully designed and elegantly crafted. Rich wood paneling, rock walls and rolling columns of hand-fired bricks set the atmosphere in Palm Springs where culturally significant artifacts are displayed throughout intimate rooms, dramatic two-story atrium and open-air patio on Palm Canyon. A spectacular exhibition wine cellar inventories more than 3,500 wines. Design features at Palm Desert combine cherry wood paneling, warm, curved booth seating and tasteful modern art throughout.

SHOWN ABOVE: A few of the outstanding menu items served at The Chop House, clockwise from the bottom — Fillet of Fresh Hawaiian Mahi Mahi with Macadamia Nut Crust, roasted and presented over Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Lobster Meat, with Sautéed Spinach, Thai Yellow Curry and Mango-Red Ginger Vinaigrette; 24-Ounce USDA Prime Aged Porterhouse — The Signature Dish — combines the rich flavor of the New York Strip, the tenderness of the Filet Mignon and the sweetness from the bone; Rack of Colorado Lamb, herb crusted and roasted. All desserts are made from scratch in-house. Shown is Cheesecake with berries; a side dish of a Twice-Baked Potato topped with sharp Wisconsin Cheddar; The Wedge, finished with Citrus Roquefort Dressing. Featured wines are a three-liter bottle of Cakebread Cellars, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, 1998; a double magnum etched bottle of St. Francis, “Old Vines” Zinfandel, 1999; and Château Petrus, France, Pomerol, 1988. Photographed before an Ancient Mesopotamian Wheat Thresher, one of the many interesting artifacts that complement the stunning décor.

“A prime cut above in culinary excellence, personalized service, and relaxed sophistication with the best steaks in the desert.”

MENU HIGHLIGHTS

APPETIZERS
Assorted Chef’s Daily Features:
Shrimp Cocktail Martini.
Kumamoto Oysters in season.
Ahi Tuna Tartare, Sake-Soy-Citrus Reduction, Green Papaya.
Escargots Bourguignon.
French Onion Soup Gratinée.
Oysters Rockefeller with Tobiko.
Tomato and Buratta Mozzarella, Aged Balsamic Drizzle Roasted Beets, Belgian Endive, Mixed Greens, Pomegranate Vinaigrette.

ENTRÉES
In addition to the regular menu, the chef places his personal signature on a variety of daily specials featuring Prime meats and strictly fresh pristine seasonal seafood:
Bone-in Filet Mignon.
KC Bone-in.
New York Steak or Boneless New York Strip Steak.
Cowboy Bone-in Rib Steak.
Filet Mignon with Foie Gras, Truffle Port Wine Reduction.
Filet Medallions Oscar, Alaskan King Crab Meat, Grilled Asparagus, Béarnaise Sauce.
Rack of Lamb, Pomegranate Marinade Double Pork Chops, Sun-Dried Cherry, Apricot Gastrique.
Big Eye Tuna, Peppercorn Sesame Crust, Sake-Soy-Citrus, Ginger Reduction.
Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi, Lemon Grass, Ginger, Thai Yellow Curry Sauce.

DESSERTS
All Made In-House:
Hot Belgian Chocolate Cake with Molten Center
New York Cheesecake
Belgian Chocolate
Cappuccino Mousse Cake

BEST OF THE CELLAR

The Chop House Wine List has received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. The exhibition wine cellars showcase more than 400 different labels in their 3,500- bottle libraries. Benchmark names are featured along with limited-release, low-production wineries. A stellar array of vintages in Cabernet Sauvignon, Meritage and Pinot Noir categories is of particular strength.

THE CHOP HOUSE

• 262 SOUTH PALM CANYON DRIVE
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA 92262
(760) 320-4500
More Information - Websites, Maps and Directions

• 74-040 HIGHWAY 111 AT PORTOLA
PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 92260
(760) 779-9888
More Information - Websites, Maps and Directions

BY PAMELA BIERI
PHOTOGRAPHY: ARTHUR COLEMAN / ASSISTANT: TIM CARTER
FOOD STYLIST: ROLAND BIERI