Here's the local restaurants that shined brightest at Taste of Tennis

World-class food has been a staple of the BNP Paribas Open for years, and part of that tradition involves Taste of Tennis, which returned to Indian Wells this year. The annual event features a variety of local chefs and restaurants, and includes some of the top tennis players in the world mingling with — and sampling small plates with — a crowd of about 400.

The event, held at the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas, included 17 restaurants, featuring some of the best food in the California desert.

Among the professional women's tennis players in attendance this year were fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula, an American, and 10th-ranked Vicky Mboko, of Canada. Some of the professional male players in attendance were Arthur Fils, Valentin Vacherot, Hugo Nys, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Jan Zielinski, Christian Harrison, Corentin Moutet, Arthur Cazaux, Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Former player Genie Bouchard was also among those who attended.

I sampled about 75% of the small plates before I stopped myself from overdoing it. While everything I tried was delicious, there were a few plates that were particularly memorable.

With that, here are some of my favorite bites from the evening:

Best bite goes to Workshop Kitchen & Bar Palm Springs

The best bite, for my taste buds, came from Chef Michael Beckman’s Workshop Kitchen & Bar in Palm Springs. It was a duck merguez-stuffed date, smoked over wood. Duck merguez is a smoked sausage made from ground duck meat and Middle Eastern spices. The smoke on this bite was heavenly, and the touch of spice was perfectly balanced into a note of what tasted like garlic, harissa and paprika.

This bite, truly, left me fumbling for words. “Wait…wha.. WHAT?!” It was mind-blowing.

Chef Beckman said that he harvests about 1,000 pounds of dates from three date palms at his home and he often incorporates them into his dishes. The duck-stuffed date is not on his regular menu at Workshop.

His second plate, a house-cured salmon with celery root, miso apple, herbs and nori, was also among one of my top 10 overall plates from the night.

Honorable mention: My second-favorite bite, a bacon-wrapped Medjool date stuffed with blue cheese and painted with harissa sauce, came from Trio restaurant in Palm Springs. The dates came from Aziz Farms in Thermal.

I’m no stranger to bacon-wrapped dates, but the balance of flavors in this one was nothing short of exceptional.

Most surprising bite goes to Alice B

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the maitake mushroom toast from celebrity chef Susan Feniger at Palm Springs restaurant Alice B. It mixed wild mushrooms with herb aioli on a crusty sourdough. The savory flavors really popped. For a vegetarian bite, this one was rather simple but definitely memorable.

Feniger’s Peruvian ceviche with crispy thin plantain chips was also incredibly tasty.

Honorable mention: The poached radish carpaccio from Michael Klicos and Jeffrey Howe at Mikado (the restaurant inside the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert) was also quite surprising. Mikado is a steakhouse and sushi bar, so I didn’t expect a poached radish with toasted nori aioli brown butter and soy greens to capture my attention so easily.

Best lived-up-to-the-hype bite

I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed with an oak smoked tomahawk ribeye, and I wasn’t. This one was from Chef Joaquin Estolano at the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas, and was prepared with espresso chili rub, charred scallion chimichurri and micro greens. It was that prefect, juicy, succulent bite that you expect from a tomahawk steak.

Honorable mention: The bourbon-braised short rib tacos from Palm Springs restaurant Jake’s were also a can’t-miss item. Served on blue corn tortillas, with jalapeno picked slaw, micro cilantro and chipotle aioli was worth a chef’s kiss.

Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.

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