Roadtrip (During Covid-19) - Sensorio, Dinner at BL Brasserie, and Cocktails at The Alchemist Garden

When planning for our trip to Paso Robles I read about an art installation by Bruce Munro named Sensorio, a "field of light" exhibition made up of 58,000 solar powered fiber optic lights. I went ahead and decided to get VIP tickets which allowed us priority entrance at anytime, along with a private seating area, and a free drink each. I arrived right at opening time, which is before sunset....we went to the front of the line, got our temperatures checked, tickets checked, and then headed to the VIP section. I'm not really going to add much more....this is very visual, so I'll let the photos tell the story.

As the sun started to set, we headed out and strolled the trails along the 15 acres of lights.....

It was quite the experience watching all the lights "come alive" as the sun set.

We headed back to the VIP area; the Missus and I had a glass of white wine and then headed off to dinner.

This was a fun experience; if you're interested in checking it out, Sensorio had been closed for a while during the pandemic shutdown, but has now reopened and I believe the field of light will continue to at least September.

Sensorio
4380 CA-46
Paso Robles, CA 93446

For dinner we chose a highly recommended and beloved Paso Robles institution, Bistro Laurent. However, a while back, the restaurant changed concept and became BL Brasserie. I was told however, that the chef and management were still the same; so I made reservations. We arrived and walked into the restaurant, which freaked us out; even though Paso Robles was at an Orange Tier while San Diego was in Red, the dining room just looked packed. Luckily, I had reservations for outdoor dining, which was in sort of a tent, which kind of defeats the purpose in my mind; but this being November, it seems that no one wanted to eat outside.

The Missus started with a glass of white, I had a glass of champagne and we placed our orders. Our Server wasn't the most friendly woman....I think she was a bit irritated that we were the only folks eating outdoors and she had to come outside to serve us, but whatever.

We started off with the Crispy Shrimp ($15.50).

The shrimp was over-cooked and what I assumed were strips of phyllo dough where really almost burnt. 

Speaking of burnt; check out the "odd man out" Crispy Crab Croquettes ($17).

 The one croquette was just about incinerated, really burnt and bitter....why would they serve something like that? I was thinking of calling our Server to complain and return this; but the Missus asked me to taste the other croquettes which had hardly any crab in it. Our Server was already not in a great mood serving us, so I figured let's just leave that croquette alone and see what happens......which was nothing......as it just sat there the whole meal.

Speaking of "interesting" service, a few minutes after receiving our croquettes our bread arrived.

Sadly the butter was ice cold......

Next up would be the "best" (it's all relative) of the night, the Crab and Avocado Salad ($15.50) 

A bit heavy handed on the mayo and the balsamic reduction was way too strong and it just strong-armed what crab there was.

Our last dish was the Belgian Endive, Apples and Smoked Duck ($15.50).

Three small strands of smoked duck........I'll leave it there.

Dinner did take a while.......you know social distancing is great for separating tables and groups of people....it ain't so great when your Server seems to want to permanently social distance themselves from you. I'm wondering, was this an off night? Was the "B" team on.....that's bit of a stretch on a weekend night. The inside of the restaurant was packed; perhaps the kitchen and staff was overwhelmed? I had heard and read so many good things about Bistro Laurent, perhaps the change to a brasserie concept really changed things....... Quite sad overall.

BL Brasserie
1202 Pine St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

We were kind of bummed.....we had really enjoyed Paso Robles so far. 

Yet, we still had one more stop for the evening. And the Alchemist Garden would totally turn our opinion of Paso Robles right back around!

The place was basically across the street from BL Brasserie and was fairly busy, but the bar area was empty and asked for seats there, which turned out to be an excellent move. The Mixologist was amazing, friendly, professional, efficient...... At this time, there was a requirement that food had to be ordered along with drinks. He quickly told us, "if you've had dinner already, just o for the popcorn", which is what we did.

He then asked us what we wanted to drink. I explained that I enjoyed a good Mezcal Old Fashioned, I love the smokiness, along with the bitter, etc. He told me, "no problem, leave it to me" and proceeded to make me a custom Mezcal Old Fashioned.....not just a plain Mezcal Old Fashion, but with a twist.

He brought out the "heavy equipment" and started work........

It was quite a show to say the least.

I was worried that the drink would be too smoky for my taste; but it was nicely balanced, smoky but smooth, rich, nice acidity, just a hint of sweetness. Perhaps the best Old Fashion I'd ever had.

   The Missus loved Her cocktail as well. We loved watching the mixologist work, such perfect coordination, minimal wasted motion....he entertained us....chatting while making a zillion cocktails for his other customers.

Funny how these experiences really mold your visit. And Paso Robles was back on our "revisit" list.

The Alchemists' Garden
1144 Pine St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

After our cocktails we headed back to our room. Other than dinner, we'd had a great time in Paso Robles.

The next morning, it was time to head back home. We made one last stop at Spearhead Coffee, which did a pretty good job impressing the (coffee nerd) Missus. She said the pour over was not bad at all.

Spearhead Coffee
619 12th St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

So I guess we would be heading back to Paso Robles..........sooner than we thought actually!

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[kat]

bummer dinner/server but beautiful lights & cocktails

[caninecologne]

:( for the dinner but yay for everything else. We tried Spearhead coffee a few years ago during a road trip and really enjoyed it

[Kirk]

Sensorio was worth seeing Kat!

Spearhead was the Missus's favorite coffee stop on this roadtrip CC.

[Soo]

Awesome light show!

[Kirk]

Totally awesome Soo!

[Jason]

Too bad about the dinner, glad the drinks and the excellent bartender made up for it.

[Janfrederick]

Too bad when a server forgets why they are there. A good one would have sent that back too. So strange to take out your issues on the guests who butter YOUR bread. I spent plenty of time in hospitality (minimum wage, no tips, but great service), so that kind of thing really irks me.

[Kirk]

We really like the Alchemist Garden and the vibe in Paso Robles Jason!

It was a strange and not very pleasant dinner Jan.....

[Dereck]

I was in PG a few weeks ago and we drove up since one of our group was still not vaccinated. I wish I would have known about the Sensorio installation and we would have gone there! I guess another trip is in order before they pull that out.

[Kirk]

Hi Dereck - We enjoyed Sensorio. I hope you get a chance to check it out!

[Lynnea Fleming]

Beautiful art installation! And that cocktail looks like it was epic! :D

[Kirk]

Sensorio was even better than we thoguht it was going to be Lynnea.