Bar Cecil arrived in Palm Springs and immediately took the title of its most coveted reservation — a position it has held without apparent effort ever since. Named for Sir Cecil Beaton, the late British photographer, designer, and cultural icon whose portrait presides over the room from its position above the bar, the restaurant embodies Beaton's particular genius: taste deployed with complete confidence, maximalism that never becomes chaos, and an atmosphere that makes every person in the room feel as though they are somewhere important.
The 75-seat dining room occupies a plaza space on South Palm Canyon Drive that gives no hint from the outside of what lies within. Inside, English wallpapers compete with warm wood panelling, brass fixtures catch candlelight, and the intimate scale of the room means that every table feels private despite being surrounded by others. An additional 75 seats spill onto a chic outdoor patio. The sound level is perfectly calibrated — animated but never deafening, which is rarer than it should be in a room with this much personality.
The menu is European brasserie with a California sensibility: smoked pork chops that critics have called among the best in the state, cacio e pepe with handmade pasta, steak frites with béarnaise, roasted king crab legs, and oysters on the half shell. The signatures are the tableside preparations — most famously the $50 martini made with JCB Vodka, pinot noir grapes, and Beluga caviar, assembled at the table with the theatrics the price demands. It is not the cheapest martini in Palm Springs. It is the only one worth discussing at all.
Bar Cecil earned its Michelin Guide recommendation and OpenTable's Top 100 in America distinction within its first two years of operation. Time Out Los Angeles called it "nothing like anything in LA" — a significant compliment from a publication based in a city with far more competition. The reservation situation has not improved since then. Book 14 days in advance to the minute on OpenTable. Join the waitlist regardless. Arrive knowing that this room, this food, and this cocktail program exist in a category by themselves in the California desert.