Sparrows Lodge in Palm Springs, California, is the kind of homestyle retreat that keeps a box of memorabilia behind the check-in counter. The hotel, a handsome One MICHELIN Key property crowded with palms and fruit trees by the center of town, has a great story to tell.
The former getaway of Hollywood Golden Age actor Don Castle, it was in its earliest days a working crimson red barn, with two long rows of stables since rehabbed into guest rooms. Postcards and snapshots from the memory box capture its later turns as hotels very much of their eras, with closely cropped AstroTurf layered over the pool deck.
Today, owners Richard Crisman and Jeff Brock have opted for earthy stone pavers and desert shrubs by the pool, where guests with intelligent reads take to rustic wood lounge chairs even on the hottest of days. The barn has been painted a more sophisticated taupe.
In the common spaces and rooms, cozy design and a selection of art from the pair’s personal collection – a Damien Hirst butterfly by the barn’s sitting area, a radiant Sol LeWitt above the bed in my room – evoke a lived-in feel, like an elegant guest house, that has won loyal customers – the same L.A. actor set from its first incarnation still included.
“Our hope is that guests can leave their busy lives behind and chill with the scent of sage in the air, birds chirping, delicious food, and firepit chats with our complimentary s’mores,” share Crisman and Brock.
When the sun sets, and this desert escape begins to cool, the focal point shifts from the pool to the garden, the domain of Chef Jon Butler.
Nearly all of the dining at The Barn Kitchen at Sparrows Lodge is al fresco, with tables set beneath an arbor strung with golden-glow bulbs. It’s a romantic setting with dishes to match, hearty plates that reflect cared for, carefully chosen ingredients.
Butler grew up in a Southern California farming community and his relationships with Coachella Valley producers today dictate his menu.
“I don't like to settle into a seasonal menu where we're going to have something for three months, because here we have micro seasons, like how they look at it in Japan. We’re using produce when it’s right to use produce,” Butler said.
A mélange of purple and yellow carrots are roasted until soft and buried in a buttery pistachio-rose crumble like topsoil. Generous hunks of crisped pork chop arrive atop white beans and Brussels sprouts cooked in the meat’s fat.
In a lamb dish, Butler’s expert technique – he trained at Arzak (Three MICHELIN Stars) and noma (Three MICHELIN Stars) in Europe before returning to California – shines through.
The meat comes beneath a sheet of handkerchief pasta beautifully laminated with watercress like pressed leaves. A peppercorn sauce pings a pleasure center in the back of my brain tied to a childhood memory: rich gravy, the most cockle-warming color brown.
It’s the calling card of Sparrows Lodge and its lovely restaurant on full display: familiar comfort.
“If people can connect a dish with something that they grew up with, you’ve got a customer for life,” Butler said.
