time to dine - View this location on map  'bland chain restaurants are as common as cactuses around palm desert, but relief from them is never far away. one refuge is cuistot (760-340-1000), a refined french-californian restaurant featuring the haute cuisine of the city's best-known chef, bernard dervieux. whet your appetite with wild mushroom soup ($11.50) or house-made lobster ravioli ($14.75) before moving on to short ribs braised in cabernet ($33.50). another option is castelli's ristorante (73-098 highway 111; 760-773-3365), a local hot spot with a venice-meets-vegas atmosphere. rat pack standards serve as background music. murals near the entrance depict the drift of gondoliers. the 'godfather's dinner' ($30), a three-way combo of beef spiedini, shrimp scampi and veal piccata, captures the red sauce ethos of the menu, and the chef, brian altman, embodies the spirit of the place. he emerges periodically to greet regulars with a bear hug and backslap.'' New York Times 72-595 el paseo, Palm Desert, CA Restaurant |