There is some pretty rad food being served up in Thousand Palms every weekend, if you know where to find it.
If you like craft beer, you have probably made a stop into Coachella Valley Brewing Company…
…well now, you can stop in for more that just a brew or two because there is a pop-up restaurant inside the brewery that is dishing out some incredible food every Thursday through Saturday.
KUMA is the brainchild of Jeshua Garza, an Indio High School grad, who, after graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in 2004, made stops in Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. He then returned to the Coachella Valley a couple years back, only to find working for the man to be creatively stifling. So, he decided to do his own thing.
Garza not only offers up a menu consisting of fresh, organic, local ingredients – but also completely changes up the menu each week, debuting the new items on Thursday. I happened in during a week when KUMA had several burgers on the menu.
The first thing that caught me eye was the the peach burger because, well, I have never heard of anyone putting peaches on a freakin’ burger. But, KUMA – which is Japanese for “bear,” does and it’s really good.
“The Peach” is 7 ounces of ground ribeye (yeah, we are not talking ground chuck here), grilled peaches, whipped goat cheese, bacon (!), and lemon aioli on a brioche bun.
This is a bomb-ass burger. Everything just goes together so well and it is more than enough to fill you up – though I might recommend bringing a friend, because if you split your first item, you will have room for a second, like the “Ramen Burger”:
This bad boy was also 7 ounces of ground ribeye with a miso aioli, pickled shiitake mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, a fried egg, and a ramen vinaigrette. The flavor combos, like the peach burger, are rad in this burger.
You may have noticed, there is no ketchup or mustard on either of these – and that is because you don’t need or want them. These are really well thought out, creative, tasty hamburgers. I kind of feel bad raving about them so, as they will be replaced on the menu next week. But, more than likely it will be with something equally amazing and there’s always a chance of the burgers coming back to KUMA for an encore at some point.
I got to chat with Garza a bit when he had a few minutes of downtime from cooking, serving, bussing, and doing everything else it takes to be a one-man-band restaurant, and he insisted I try the “Beets and Burrata” – which is a thing I would have never ordered on my own because, for one, I had no idea what burrata even was.
As it turns out, it’s a cheese – a really good, soft, creamy cheese made from mozzarella and cream. KUMA pairs the burrata with beets that have been marinated in chile citrus along with some basil, a balsamic reduction, and garlic bread croutons.
And, you guess it, this was damn good. I know it might feel weird ordering a beet salad at a brewery, but if you see it on the KUMA menu, do it. It’s delicious.
Garza posts the new menu for KUMA weekly on Instagram.
Kuma, inside Coachella Valley Brewing Company, 30640 Gunther St., Thousand Palms. Open Thursday from 3-8pm, Friday 2-9pm, Saturday 1-9pm
Have you been, let me know what you thought of Kuma in the comments.
