Ra Pour: Elevating Rancho Cucamonga

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I wouldn't normally consider going to Rancho Cucamonga to dine, but the promise of a free hotel stay sounded like a nice getaway and convinced me to go check out this new restaurant headed by Executive Chef Greg Stillman, a French Laundry and Patina alum. On the drive to the restaurant, we saw what other places were in Rancho Cucamonga and it was pretty much restaurant chain capital.
Ra Pour is located inside the Victoria Gardens outdoor mall. The restaurant is large and a divider separates a large table facing the kitchen - a semi-private "chef's table"
The other side of the restaurant was the lounge area - even the lighting was different. Apparently after regular dinner hours the place turns into a club with DJs - not really my kind of scene.
The table started with a glass of sparkling wine, a 2007 Brut Taittinger Domaine Carneros, and shared some appetizers including tempura mushrooms and my favorite: lobster pops with lemongrass coconut sauce
The pops had actual chunks of lobster inside, not shredded and mixed. I tried the tempura mushrooms but didn't realize it had a dipping sauce which didn't make it to my side of the table at the same time, so it was incomplete.

The cocktail list contains five "signature cocktails" at $14 each and five "vintage cocktails" at $12 each. I went with one from the vintage list, the Highlander with Famous Grouse blended scotch whiskey, fresh grapefruit juice, house made grenadine, clover honey, orange bitters. I tried my friends' "signature cocktails" which lean towards the sweeter side.

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