Tormé's Restaurant, Palm Springs

As we have guests for the weekend, we have a series of meals planned and, with PS Gay Pride this weekend, the bookings to go with them. There was never going to be a problem then getting a seat at Tormé's, 360 N Palm Canyon Drive. I should have been more alert when Greg pointed out that the customer nearest the entrance on the outside patio was smoking and eating at the same time. She was eating meatloaf (which I do not dislike in a proper setting) and perhaps needed a cigarette to heighten her gourmet experience. I suspect that the meatloaf and chicken pot pie might have been on the menu for the people who could not afford the other items. The greeter was superficially decorative (if you like women teetering on heels entirely inappropriate for a night's work or at least work which involves walking around as opposed to, say, lying down) but essentially irrelevant as her primary role seemed to be to walk one inside to greeter #2 who had the table plan. She evidently could not visualise the four letter surname in which we had booked (mine) so led us mutely to her colleague.

I should have been considerably more alert when the waitress asked me if I wanted my pork chop medum or well cooked. I explained with only a modicum of sharpness that anything other than well cooked pork would probably see me hospitalised. Having already trodden on a cactus I could see no reason to add to my adventures for the sake of two extra minutes in the kitchen. It is perhaps hard to believe then that, when it arrived, my chop was indeed underdone, visibly pink even in the low restaurant light. I was provided with another by an apologetic chef. Neither plate had the roast potatoes I had ordered but then this was a waitress who thought I had said 'ice cream' when I ordered lemon and white chocolate cake - the one dessert item they did not have. Although the food including that of my three companions was good there was too much distraction and irritation throughout the evening. We (all four) had enquired to no real satisfactory answer as to the size of the salads, intending them as starters. We were told 'large' and that they could not be split but could be shared. We ordered two and they arrived plated as four as though splitting were in fact the easiest thing in the world. My companions' Cioppino and Rosemary Garlic Roast Chicken were fine. Mac & Cheese was tasty but the pasta was not macaroni, more like conchigliette - a detail, but you expect what you see on the menu unless told otherwise.

The recently opened restaurant appears inviting and subtly decorated but any ambience is undermined by the visible lack of cohesion amongst the staff. The venue is billed as a jazz restaurant; the music when it started was loud as much as it was live and this is not always a comfortable experience when eating. With a promising menu in place and a prime downtown location Tormé's should thrive but there is a lot of work to be done yet to ensure repeat custom.

http://www.tormespalmsprings.com/