A wonderful balmy night....

 After a nice meal in a Thai restaurant in downtown PS...being misted the whole time....necessary!  We came back to our patio and had a glass of wine,  listened to the crickets and our fountain,  then off for a swim looking at the full moon and  the big dipper amongst the palm trees.  We love the lighting around the pool at night.  They have these soft amber lights that remind us of the lights in the port of Carqueiranne.    I absolutely love the desert but also love being always reminded of the south of France with the citrus trees,  olive trees, adobe roofs....on and on.

And along with the Mediterranean theme we go to a newish restaurant called Catalan in Rancho Mirage tomorrow with Erna and Marvin.  Jim and I will definitely be getting the paella...check out this review in Yelp:

Will someone please explain what happened here...we went to a restaurant in Rancho Mirage and were transported to Barcelona?  I guess it's a mirage thing!  All kidding aside.  This was a dinning knock-out!

The place is beautiful and the Spanish guitarist rounded out the Mediterranean  ambiance.  We had no reservation, but the cheerful staff found us a cozy table for three, in no time.

We decided to start with a pitcher of Sangria and a Spanish Cured Meat Plate.  The Sangria was perfect, not too sweet and with the right amount of fruit bobbing around in the juice.  The meat plate was a winner! The Serrano Ham, Queso Cabrelas, Orange-Cilantro Honey and Mostarda, just sang together.  The olives that they brought to the table made those first bites, even that much better...so we order several more rounds of them as well.

We decided to share our main course between the three of us, which made for a nice light meal.  We loved the crispy Romaine Salad with it's garlicy croutons, Grana Padano shavings and tasty dressing.  We also ordered the roasted brussel sprouts, with cippolini onions & pancetta.  I hate to say it but we sort of fought over every crispy morsel on this plate.

But the real star of the show was Catalan Paella for two (in our case three).  I have been to Spain and have had wonderful Paella, and this was the real deal.  The Valencian rice was creamy and perfectly done.  Each piece of chicken, chorizo,fish & shellfish was expertly cooked, nothing was overdone.  The seasoning was spot-on!

My table mates finished the meal with a passion fruit sorbet and I opted for a glass of Sherry.  Ahhh, perfecto!

I can't wait to go back to Catalan again and try some of their other, no doubt delicious offerings!