Mojave Gold Is a Swanky New Restaurant and Music Venue in Yucca Valley | Eater LA
"Opened on May 31 in Yucca Valley just north of Palm Springs, this 7,000-square-foot music venue, restaurant and bar was founded by locals and a regional boutique-hotel group to give the Morongo Basin an elevated yet affordable dining-and-music destination. The space seats 125 in a formal dining room and accommodates up to 500 for concerts; reclaimed wood from the Hollywood Bowl (including chairs with original seat numbers) is integrated throughout, and the design blends 1970s glam—disco balls and gold-plated vinyl ceilings—with desert tones, snake wallpaper, velvet curtains and an outdoor lounge with a fireplace. Former Workshop Kitchen and Bar chef de cuisine Beren Ekine-Huett leads a sustainable, locally sourced, zero-waste–oriented kitchen offering starters such as pub cheese and pretzels, lamb meatballs with chimichurri, grilled cabbage with smoked Gouda fondue, bacon-wrapped dates and a cactus citrus ceviche; mains include pan-seared salmon with lemon-butter sauce, steak frites, a grass-fed burger, eggplant lasagna and Jidori chicken chermoula, with desserts like a smoked date sticky toffee pudding, seasonal sorbets and citrus olive-oil cake. A full bar pours inventive cocktails (the Wildflower Sour and a mezcal-based namesake drink with lemon, chile-honey, gold flecks and Velvet Falernum are highlighted) and a crafted nonalcoholic menu (including the Prickly Pop) rounds out the beverage program. The venue plans to add brunch and lunch, serves late-night bites after shows, and has booking already in motion." - Mona Holmes
