A dark and stormy night

Newhall, California, December 23, 2016—

WE DROVE FROM Phoenix today, stopping in Indio for the customary date milk shake at a kitsch-commercial tourist trap of unique proportions — at the cost of the quality of the shakes, which taste of cardboard and powdered milk. Ah well.

And then by the time we got tot tonight's motel, booked expressly so that we might dine in a familiar restaurant we've liked on previous visits, it was raining cats and dogs, and we were in no mood to drive another seven miles and back. So we stopped in at the nearest restaurant that was in fact a restaurant. It turned out to be an Italianish joint with a reasonable menu and a decent though not really rewarding Martini.

We ordered in unison, the Contessa and I: Martini; Caesar salad; broccolini and sausage ravioli, in tomato sauce, with a soft young Grana, I would say, grated atop.

Dessert: a strange crème brulée, long on cornstarch and short on burnt sugar, but interesting to see…

•The Social, 23329 Lyons Avenue, Valencia, California; +1 (661) 799-9157

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating: 2016
(2015 restaurants)