Hello loves! Happy New Year! We are back from a two week break and feeling super energized for this busy year ahead. We hosted dinner on NYE for the first time since before the pandemic and it was a smashing success. We did three seatings between 5:00 and 9:00p, and fed a four-course tasting menu to 130 people. It was madness and felt like an episode of Top Chef’s Restaurant Wars–opening a brand new restaurant for one night! Each person was given a selection of 2-3 dishes per course and we started it off with a glass of champagne and a truffled deviled egg with caviar. On top of learning all new dishes for the night we had a brand new wine list with pairings for each course, and crammed in a bunch of extra tables in the dining room, since we lost access to our patios from all the rain. That night, a smoky and seductive fog-like layer moved in and stayed the entire week. It made for a magical-mystical evening.
On New Year’s Day, we tailgated with friends out at Giant Rock and watched the fog come in and out, up and down over the boulders and mountains surrounding Landers and Johnson Valley. Then we found out that we would be attending the Palm Springs Film Festival Gala as Leonardo DiCaprio’s guests, who was being honored for his work. He, however, could not attend due to the fact that the presidumpt had just declared war on Venezuela and all the airspace near Brazil was shut down where Leo was located. We thought, “Is no one going to talk about Venezuela?” at the awards ceremony, and it seems like this thought has been echoed through the whole awards circuit. We still felt so honored to sit at Leo’s table and it was such a great excuse to get dressed up and stay in Palm Springs for the weekend. So, we made our way from the dirt to the red carpet!
Also, Claire’s mom, Eileen’s partner, Bill Disselhorst showed his first film in the Palm Springs Film festival, Italian Wannabe. Be sure to keep an eye out for it! It’s very compelling with themes of life-after-grief, connecting through food, owning and operating a restaurant, and of course, wanting to be Italian.
It’s the beginning of a new decade in the desert for us, so we wanted to kick off the year with a really fun and surprising menu! First up, is our classic Beignets, but now they are with lemon glaze… Hope you can make it in to try some of our new dishes! Keep an ear out for cookbook events to be announced in the coming weeks and months!! So many exciting things in the works. If you haven’t pre-ordered our cookbook yet, please do so… on Amazon-here, or Barnes & Noble-here, OR Bookshop-here… Retailer agnostic link-HERE. SOO many options, LOL!
Love you all, Claire and Nikki
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LA COPINE WINTER 2026 MENU
Beignets w/ lemon glaze
NcMuffin: english muffin, breakfast sausage, fried egg, sharp cheddar, arugula, date jam, calabrian chili hot sauce
Black-Tie Latke: potato & sunchoke latke, flaked scottish salmon, crème fraîche, chives, poached egg, frisée …add 5g royal sturgeon caviar
Whipped Ricotta and Figs: black pepper honey, thyme, grilled bread
White Bean Escarole Soup: fennel, celery, olive oil, parmesan, mint
Waldorf v.3: endive, butter lettuce, pears, pickled celery, currants, pecans, gorgonzola dolce, tarragon vinaigrette …add chicken
Citrus and Beets: marinated beets, shaved fennel, radishes, oranges, avocado, tahini dressing, mint, sunflower seeds
L’ Flatbread: pistachio pistou, artichokes, melted brie, vincotto, sicilian oregano, mint, grilled flatbread …add sopressata
Shrimp Roll: oregon pink shrimp, pickled carrots & daikon, jalapeño, thai basil, copine mayo, butter toasted brioche bun
Steak Sando: crispy sliced ribeye, salted cabbage, tonkatsu sauce, horseradish, pain de mie …veg sub mushroom
Mussels Dijonnaise: p.e.i. mussels, garlic, shallots, fennel, white wine, dijon, pernod butter, basil, with grilled bread
Ricotta Gnocchi alla Vodka: sun-dried tomato vodka sauce, fried mushrooms, garlic confit, basil, pine nuts, ricotta salata
Chicken Piccata: springer mountain chicken cutlet, creamy parmesan grits, lemon-caper-butter sauce, parsley
Steak Lolita: black hawk wagyu blade steak, ají-plantain crema, yuca frita, avocado chimichurri
Pork and Beans: beeler’s pork tenderloin, cannellini beans, bacon braised kale, sour cherry mustard jus
Duck Confit: celery root-cauliflower puree, red wine-prune duck jus, cress
Halibut à la Bouillabaisse: saffron-shellfish broth, sorrel, marble potatoes, rouille
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Butter Lettuce Salad: lemon vinaigrette, toasted hazelnuts, parmesan
Papas: smashed & fried fingerling potatoes, lemon mayo, rosemary, chives
Chickpea Panisse: saffron, roasted garlic aioli, pimentón
Fried Eggplant: japanese eggplant, tomato chutney
Parmesan Grits: mascarpone, butter, black pepper
Breakfast Sausage: beeler’s pork or vegan mushroom
Grilled Bread: garlic, olive oil, sea salt
English Muffin: butter, date jam
Caviar Bites: truffle potato chips, crème fraîche, 10g royal sturgeon caviar
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Coconut Rice Pudding: raspberry compote, cara cara oranges, fennel spiced pepitas
Orange Creamsicle Panna Cotta: whipped mascarpone, burnt honey, hazelnut crumble
Chocolate Polenta Cake: espresso chocolate sauce, almond praline, crème fraîche, espelette
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