Dining Review: Lilian’s

The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe’s January appointment of Patrick Ponsaty as its new executive chef inspired a great deal of buzz among local foodies. And rightfully so. An accomplished fifth-generation chef and the region’s lone Maître Cuisiner de France (French master chef), Ponsaty brings Michelin stars and extensive hotel/resort experience to The Inn, not to mention intangibles like excitement, energy, and an ear-to-ear grin.

After over a decade spent almost completely consumed by the administrative and managerial trappings of his trade, he is elated to be back in the kitchen and working with equally enthused chefs to develop the resort’s new culinary program. Those teammates include Executive Sous Chef Tony Torres (Serẽa, Herringbone) and Chef de Cuisine Alan Nguyen (L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Roy’s). Together the trio has revamped The Inn’s private-event offerings, and now they’re shifting their attention to the property’s signature restaurant, Lilian’s.

Named for Lilian Jeannette Rice, the local legend responsible for site planning and the architectural design of Rancho Santa Fe, the all-day eatery is a popular and reliable haunt for the tucked-away community’s residents. The menu leans into the traditional with salads of the Caesar, wedge, and tuna Niçoise variety, plus standards like crab cakes, roast chicken, and veal Milanese. It has a lot to offer already, which makes the prospect of adding to and improving it fun and enlivening.

Ponsaty says seasonality of ingredients will be more important than ever moving forward. His team has spent the past few months scouring local farms for inspiration while strengthening relationships with purveyors. A short winter and recent heat waves have proven challenging, but they have a clear vision on the produce that will grace the spring menu when it launches later this month. The biggest challenge, they say, will be practicing restraint, applying technique without interfering with the natural flavors and textures of those plucked-from-the-soil gems.

That MO is alive and well in starters like a warm crab and avocado salad served over butter lettuce with a sweet-tart dressing of Temecula olive oil, calamansi, lemon, lime, and local honey. And it’s largely mirrored in the cocktail menu. Drinks like “The Velvet Voice,” with its mix of vodka, limoncello, elderflower liqueur, sparkling wine, and butterfly pea flower, taste green (even if the cocktail is purple) and garden-fresh, while bourbon-based, vanilla-forward tipple “The Red Fox” comes across like a boozy Creamsicle.

Another example of local produce done right are heirloom carrots which are lightly roasted to preserve their crunch before being dressed in labneh and sprinkled with an earthy blend of Greek spices. Bright and toothsome, they are the perfect counterpoint accompaniment to a tender, juicy wagyu New York strip from Australia’s Mayura Station, featuring incredible marbling largely imparted by cattle feed laced with chocolate. Ponsaty has gilded that already decadent lily with a rich, viscous green peppercorn sauce, a family recipe dating back several centuries.

Similarly bold is a sweet house hoisin served along beautifully lacquered Peking duck-breast medallions and crêpes so thin you can read the menu through them. But that’s probably not the best way to scan the “beginnings” section, as one could miss a unique appetizer dubbed Big-Eye Tuna Pizza. This light, shareable starter sees a crisped flour tortilla topped with heavily truffled aioli, a paper-thin layer of sushi-grade bluefin tuna, micro shiso, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. It’s a perfect means for igniting one’s taste buds. 

Not surprisingly, the pizza that’s not really a pizza will remain on the new menu. So, too, will a bowl of spaghetti that’s sauced with dashi cognac cream, then topped with a lobster tail and a dusting of Nueske’s bacon. Exotically sweet with potent elements of salt and smoke, it’s a luxe spin on classic comfort food. So, too, is a fan-favorite spicy rigatoni with vodka cream sauce, which can be ordered “dirty” with the off-menu addition of a crumbled wagyu burger patty. 

Another useful menu note: From Wednesday to Sunday, sushi is also on the menu, with a quartet of handrolls (spicy tuna, baked crab, lobster, veggie) and specialty selections like a wagyu and lobster “Surf & Turf” option or the “Geisha” with tuna, avocado, serrano chile, yamagobo (pickled burdock root), and crunchy garlic. 

Available every day is a dessert menu highlighted by a most unique item called Lilian’s Wonderland. That visual sweets-scape is made up of “mushroom” meringues and pistachio “moss” sprouting from chocolate crumb “soil” and cherry chocolate mousse “earth,” with chocolate truffle “stones” and dark chocolate “twigs.” This feast for the eyes will soon be joined by a deeply browned Basque cake that’s filled with cherry-studded pastry cream and served alongside a scoop of ice cream flavored with vanilla shipped from a farmer friend of Ponsaty’s in Hawaii.

It’s early, but the initial tweaks and additions The Inn’s culinary squad has made, coupled with an intelligent approach fueled by authentic enthusiasm, provide plenty of reason to believe in the future of Lilian’s and The Ranch’s premier lodging establishment as a whole. liliansrsf.com

Service 4
Timeliness 3.5
Ambience 4
Culinary Innovation 4
Food Quality 4.5
Wine List 4
Cocktail Program 4
Beer List 3.5
Value 3.5