Your Villa - Desert Cities - December - January 2022

This sleek restaurant and bar is the spot of your wildest dreams if you’re seeking a dining experience that strikes a balance between healthy and haute. Self-described “chef groupies,” owners Charissa Farley-Hay and Bill Hay have traveled the world seeking innovative cuisine and set out to create a destination restaurant. Helmed by one of Southern California’s hottest female chefs Gladis Lizarraga , this innovative El Paseo spot oers health- conscious casual fine dining in a sleek and sexy surrounding. It’s no wonder Palm Springs Life and Open Table have awarded it as Best New Restaurant . Dedicated to food that nourishes the body as much as it delights the senses, Wildest’s menu celebrates grass-fed meats, wild-caught seafood, and creative plant-based dishes made in house. Guests can pair plates like Wagyu beef or turmeric-glazed cauliflower with selections from Wildest’s Wine Spectator Award - winning wine list and enjoy it all sitting under the stars and listening to live entertainment. The restaurant’s moniker functions on multiple levels, referring to the hip, social environment as well as the commitment to close-to-the-earth cuisine. “We wanted to make good-for-you fabulous and fun,” Farley explains. Wildest’s health-conscious casual fine dining concept places the restaurant at the forefront of a growing trend in the culinary world. Executive Chef Gladis Lizarraga has over fifteen years of experience in the restaurant industry working in various functions, as well as formally studying chemistry. Prior to becoming an Executive Chef, Gladis held positions at several marquee restaurants in San Diego including working for Celebrity Chef Brian Malarkey at The Farmer & The Seahorse in Torrey Pines and several of the Cohn Restaurant Group’s twenty-five restaurants, including ocean front Island Prime, C Level, Vintana, and Coasterra. Gladis grew up on the fertile and abundant Pacific Coast of Mazatlán Mexico in an energetic and vibrant city reminiscent of classical towns of coastal Europe. It is decorated with beautiful architecture utilizing local stone, clay and wood and artisan tile, metal and art and is perfumed with ocean breezes mixed with a complexity of color, texture and aromas among the multiple downtown city blocks of open-air markets. The markets are crowded with hundreds of vendors selling an incredible diversity of daily freshly caught coastal seafood displaying sea creatures most of us might not even recognize. There are tables of free range locally raised and recently butchered meats including full sides of cattle, pigs and sheep, whole birds, and all of their edible parts. There is a plethora of locally made cheeses, and an indescribable array of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices and flowers unlike anything seen in this country. In this environment, Gladis discovered a love for food and cooking at a young age with her mother, learning the complexity of true Mexican cuisine with an endless array of fresh ingredients and flavors to create with. Her mastery of this cuisine prompted her to continue to develop her skills in San Diego, where she discovered another world of cooking and new techniques under the unflinching eyes of master chefs. She is always eager to create innovative menus using local ingredients as well as new cooking techniques. “Enjoying good food and drinking good wine goes hand in hand with living a pleasant life. A great Chef doesn’t take a recipe from a book – it’s the individual expression of art that makes it contemporary and special”. Wildest oers a full calendar of wine dinners, wine tastings, farm to table dinners, flight oerings and happy hours, late night supper clubs as well as hosting private events. 72990 El Paseo #3, Palm Desert, CA 92260 (760) 636-0441 www.wildestrestaurant.com Farm to Table Meets Viby Fun on El Paseo by Charissa Farley-Hay for always treating everyone with kindness and respect. It was Patricia that helped Jay and June open Jillian’s so many years ago. Another female pioneer in the Desert restaurant scene is Connie Cultaro, co-owner of LaSpiga. Akin to the other Grand Dames of Coachella Valley Culinary, Connie joins her chef husband Vince in operating the long standing renowned Italian restaurant. Getting their start in Canada, the Cultaro’s, along with their Canadian customer’s moved their concept to the Desert over two decades ago. Connie shares that it is the excitement of the restaurant business that still energizes her and propels her to continue improving. She attributes her self-confidence to the unending support of her very strong and generous mother who taught her and her sister that they could achieve anything. In concert with the other Grand Dames, Connie asserts that she “hands down” has the best clientele in the Valley and realizes it is a giving spirit that overcomes adversity every time. Wildest’s Wine Spectator Award-winning Wine List and Healthy, Casual Fine Dining yourvilladesertcities.com | 9