The driving force behind Lola Rose Grand Mezze is Executive Chef Quentin Garcia. An Indio Native, Garcia is a budding culinary talent whose worked in some of the most celebrated kitchens across the globe. Bringing nearly two decades of industry experience to the culinary team at Thompson Palm Springs, Garcia ignited his passion from a young-age, cooking his way through French kitchens before training in the world-famous Michelin-starred Dragsholm Slot and continuing his culinary journey through Denmark. Most recently, Garcia made a name for himself in his recent role as executive chef of Rainbird where he created an award-winning, exploratory tasting menu through the bounty of California’s Central Valley, which earned him numerous nods. Chef Quentin also recently appeared on the latest season of Chopped: Spin it to Win It! In his new role, Garcia will build out his vision for Lola Rose and the culinary program of Thompson Palm Springs, lead all front and back of house kitchen staff, and curate new and innovative programming for the budding culinary scene of the city.
What makes Lola Rose a unique dining experience in Palm Springs?
As of now there’s limited options into this type of cuisine within the desert which is what makes it exciting. We’re not just one centralized part of the world, we encapsulate the influence of eastern Mediterranean Cuisine. This does heavily stem from Dubai, Istanbul, and Armenian influences. What we’ve captured is something special as we’ve had many guests with roots from these parts of the world that have continued to come back because of the captured flavors and energy from their home. The energy that this food creates is effectively magic.
Can you share more about the inspiration behind the menu?
I went to Dubai and Istanbul and worked in some top kitchen there to fully understand what makes the food there so special, clean, and flavorful compared to what the American Idea of these dishes are. What I found was something very simple rooted in spices, flavorful marinades pastes and nuts that relied heavily on top quality produce and meats. The family style mezze approach to food is an exciting challenge that I’ve been loving putting my energy into.
Check out the menu here!
What are your main goals for Lola Rose in 2025 and beyond?
I want Lola Rose to be able to dive deeper into the energy that it should be able to be. We’ve already opened with big success, so now that we’ve opened the door to this food, I want to be able to show more of the dishes that may be considered unknown to this market and educate our guests as a whole with beautiful and delicious food.
What does success look like for Lola Rose in your view?
Success is consistently being a spot that locals and tourists both feel comfortable intermingling with to create a natural energy that defines the restaurant. We as the creators can have a general idea of what we want the energy to be and mold the foundation, but it’s really how the community reacts and supports us that defines the energy here. With the help of them, we’ve exploded into something we didn’t anticipate would happen almost immediately, and it’s been an exciting rush each day to tackle new barriers into deeper levels of success.