Bellatrix Restaurant & Wine Bar, the Tuscan-inspired clubhouse restaurant at Classic Club in Palm Desert, is on a mission to push the culinary envelope beyond typical country club fare.
Leading this flavorful reimagining is executive chef Jose Torres, a Coachella Valley local who has been with the golf club for 14 years.
“I like to start with my eyes,” Torres says. “Everything I do, I really look at the colors, and I don’t repeat the same things.” A gloriously hued burrata salad, for example, stars green, red, and yellow heirloom tomatoes. “I’m also playing with molecular gastronomy,” he says, such as using balsamic vinegar pearls that look like caviar.
Pearls of balsamic and herb “caviar”
top the tomato and burrata salad.
The star of the plate is finished with a creamy béarnaise sauce.
The butterflied branzino limone comes with fingerling potatoes and broccolini.
Whenever possible, Torres works with local farmers to source produce and sustainable meats. He’s shifted his culinary focus recently to seafood, including branzino, one of Bellatrix’s most popular entrées, and dynamite scallops on the shell, served with a spicy Asian sauce. “Finding seafood is a little more difficult in the desert,” he says, “but worth it.”
New for 2025 starting in the fall are themed dinner evenings: a three-course Italian meal the first Monday of the month, Taco and Tequila Tuesdays, and Prime Rib Thursdays.
During popular monthly wine lunches, from November through May, Torres incorporates “unexpected” proteins like rabbit, elk, venison, calamari, and octopus. Twice a year, the restaurant hosts wine expos where wineries bring bottles from around the world, and Torres serves charcuterie board fare, ceviche, sushi, and more.
Executive chef Jose Torres and director of food and beverage Anthony Nespoli.
Bellatrix has started making its own bread: molasses and oat rolls, sesame buns for French dips, rosemary parmesan for chicken parmigiana sandwiches, and jalapeño cheddar buns for hamburgers.
The menu changes seasonally, but one aspect of Bellatrix “never changes,” Torres says: “the beautiful views of the golf course and mountains.”
Bellatrix Restaurant & Wine Bar
75200 Classic Club Blvd., Palm Desert
760-601-3690
dinebellatrix.com
Bellatrix Restaurant & Wine Bar
75200 Classic Club Blvd., Palm Desert
760-601-3690
dinebellatrix.com
