Catch at Casa del Mar

Checked out another venue today, and the difference was night and day.

Casa del Mar is a gorgeous boutique hotel right on the ocean (as gorgeous as a Tattinger rose). Most of the decor is Old World--cozy and warm. I did notice that when you enter the hotel it's quite dark and grand, what with the double staircases and overstuffed armchairs scattered in the dim lounge. As you walk toward the back of the lobby where the floor to ceiling windows overlook the beach, however, the furniture becomes gradually more casual as the room lightens up to let in the California sun, swapping out leather and mahogany for canvas and wicker. It's a subtle transition but one that saves the hotel from being cheesy.

For lunch I had skate wing. I wanted one of the beautiful salads that everyone else was having, but I thought it was more important to see what the kitchen could do with a piece of fish than a leaf of lettuce.

In a word, fantastic. The fish was crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, and the portion was enormous. The chard was wilted until it lost its bitterness but not its color, and the giant white beans were cooked slowly so they would become soft on the inside without popping their delicate skins.

Casa del Mar is expensive, but at least I can see why. The staff is accomodating (I'm always thrilled when someone will sell me a half glass of champagne, which is all I can have at lunch), the food is solid, the price actually was good by LA standards for how much food I got, and the menu has a Californian sensibility befitting the venue and which sets it apart from other LA establishments. This is promising, if a little painful on the wallet.


I mulled over my thoughts about my lunch while starting a baby quilt. Who's baby will get this? Still deciding...

Close up. Not all the squares are perfectly lined up, but who needs perfect when it's oh so cute? The outside is gingham, the white squares have lavendar polka dots on them, and the lavendar squares have fluffy sheep on them. And no, I'm not a lavendar freak, but one of the girls I'm thinking of giving this to really likes lavendar so I thought it'd be safe. Tomorrow: batting and backing.