The Gastronome Restaurant in Idyllwild California

In the seven years I have been coming to and living in Idyllwild, yesterday was the first time I visited the Gastronome Restaurant.  Its crazy really, but as you all know, I’m a bit of a creature of habit, and loving the other place the way I do, I just haven’t gotten around to coming here.

Jon and I met friends here for lunch and I have to say the atmosphere is quite lovely.  You can sit outside by a fire pit, or inside, surrounded by gorgeous wood fixtures, a fireplace and cozy lighting.  The service was spectacular and the food was quite good.

For lunch the price ranges between $9 ~ $15 a plate, and there was a good variety of vegetarian options, although if you go gluten free, things get significantly slim.  I opted for a salad, so I didn’t really get a chance to ask for modifications to see how well they could accommodate.

So now for the food porn!

I ordered a cream of corn with pasilla pepper soup in a cup and it was divine!  Silky, creamy and with a lovely sweet spicy punch provided by the pasilla peppers.

I then had the Turkey Salad, which has cranberries, pepitas, spring lettuce and  a lovely citrus dressing.

Jon and our friend Pete had a Breaded Eggplant Parmesan sandwich with fries.  Definitely not gluten free, but both said it was delicious.

Betty had the Asparagus Portabella Mushroom Pasta, which she also loved.

I must say it was a lovely lunch and worth going back.  A few weeks ago, some friends of mine made the drive up the mountain to see my art opening, and they stopped by here in the afternoon for some mid day cocktails before setting out to explore the town.  They also had good things to say.  I’m thinking the next time I come by the Gastronome, it will be for a little cocktail hour to check out their Martini!