Dining scene, including new restaurants in Palm Beach, burst with flavors, packed rooms

A confluence of favorable factors resulted in a bustling season for island restaurants.

Locals embracing a relative pandemic lull, a flurry of home-buying newcomers and a strong tourist season fed demand for good times at dining-out tables.

Even as the omicron variant threatened the holiday season, restaurants in town reported they were booked, or nearly so, for New Year’s Eve after making all of their seats available for the late-night holiday.

“Ninety percent of our New Year’s Eve tickets were sold out by Christmas, and the momentum hasn’t stopped,” Sebastien Tribout, director of operations at Meat Market, said at the time.

But for one would-be restaurateur, the new year brought a piece of bad news: his proposed island restaurant wasn’t going to open.

For months, Joseph Hernandez sought to get his Ernest Hemingway-inspired Cojimar — slated for The Esplanade’s second level — off the ground.

READ MORE: Cojimar principal pulls plug on Hemingway-themed restaurant at The Esplanade in Palm Beach

But he said it hinged on getting approvals for both ground-floor and second-floor al fresco dining for the proposed 151-seat eatery, named after a Cuban fishing village that Hemingway frequented.

The town’s Architectural Commission deferred the outdoor-dining matter twice in as many months.

When the Town Council was set to take up the issue on Feb. 9, Hernandez asked for a deferral himself; then, “with great sadness,” he pulled the plug on the project, citing town “opposition” to his plans.

Renowned New York restaurateur Charles Masson initially was involved as a consultant with Cojimar. Hernandez, a biotech entrepreneur and first-time restaurateur, later partnered with well-known Miami chef Luis Pous.

Here are other noteworthy restaurant happenings during the just-concluded season:

Renovations begin on new Toojay's site

Its reopening schedule has shifted a couple of times, but TooJay’s should reopen in early summer in its new Royal Poinciana Plaza berth, the deli’s officials said.

Renovations began in mid-March on its new plaza location in suite 335, formerly home to Coyo Taco for three years until it closed in May of 2021.

TooJay’s closed its former plaza location, suite 313, in August after 40 years. The deli chain, known for its piled-high pastrami sandwiches, was founded in 1981 in Royal Poinciana Plaza.

Anniversaries

Ta-boo celebrated its 80th anniversary in December.

In a town where other restaurants have come and gone, Ta-boo endures with its longtime staff members, a popular happy hour, a crowd-pleasing menu — from burgers to Dover sole — and a prime Worth Avenue spot.

“It’s nothing but sweet, sweet, sweet,” 31-year Taboo owner Franklyn deMarco said of the 80th anniversary.

Ta-boo debuted on Dec. 18, 1941 as Americans were reeling from the Dec. 7 Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. But founder Ted Stone, a former New York nightclub proprietor, pushed forward with what was then quickly dubbed “the newest of Palm Beach smart spots.”

Other restaurants in town notched anniversaries, too.

In February, Asian hotspot Imoto, conceived by Palm Beach chef Clay Conley and his Ember Group partners, reached its 10th birthday. It opened its doors in February 2012.

Café Flora, the Italian restaurant in flower-and fountain-accented Via Amore off Worth Avenue, marked its 10th anniversary in March.

Husband-and-wife restaurateur-owners Heinrich Lowenberg and Pamela Lomba-Lowenberg have led Café Flora since its transition to a full-service restaurant in 2012 from a counter-order takeout spot.

New eateries

The second location of an Italian restaurant hailing from Greenwich, Connecticut, opened Feb. 1 in an oceanfront dining space at Eau Palm Beach Resort.

Polpo, a 140-seat indoor-outdoor restaurant, is part of a phased multimillion-dollar renovation begun last summer to enhance social spaces at the seven-acre Manalapan resort.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served amid arched ocean-view windows and neutral tones accented by blue and teal hues.

Polpo founder Ron Rosa and his wife, Dominique, who helps run the business, have been coming to the Palm Beach area for 30 years.

“It’s like a second home for us here,” Ron Rosa said.

Polpo’s culinary team is led by Eau’s executive chef Neall Bailey.

Also new at Eau: an outpost of Tequesta-based specialty coffee roaster Oceana Coffee.

The six-seat café opened March 1 and is a partnership with the resort. It offers pastries and a coffee blend made specifically for Eau.

Meanwhile, Palm Beach resident and interior designer Sara McCann expanded her West Palm Beach design and retail businesses by opening Hive Bakery & Café in March.

READ MORE: Longtime Palm Beach resident opens buzzy bakery and café on Dixie Highway

The indoor-outdoor eatery features dine-in and grab-and-go service for breakfast, lunch, quick bites and baked goods.

With more than 6,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor space, it’s McCann’s fifth business along South Dixie Highway just south of the Norton Museum of Art.

A husband-and-wife chef duo — executive chef Jay Felton and executive pastry chef Amber Felton — helm the culinary team.

“We have such high hopes for success,” McCann said.

Expansions

While new eateries opened, others expanded their offerings.

Le Bilboquet in Worth Avenue’s Via Encantada added breakfast service in February after approval from the Town Council.

Being open for breakfast brings “something new and exciting to Worth Avenue,” managing partner Dobi Trendafilova said.

Le Bilboquet debuted in January 2020 with dinner, and soon added lunch and weekend brunch.

It started breakfast service in November, but the town ordered that stopped until approvals were given for 8 to 11 a.m. service. The town approved the additional hours in January and the breakfast service returned in February.

Meanwhile, a lunch spot at the Four Seasons expanded into dinner service.

In January, the hotel’s Seaway added dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, with the hotel’s executive chef Jose Gamez leading the culinary charge with chilled seafood, salads, tacos, grilled fare and side dishes.

New chef in town

French bistro La Goulue came under the leadership of a new executive chef who hails from acclaimed New York restaurants.

Fernando Marulanda, who previously worked for five years with renowned chef-restaurateur Charlie Palmer, has led La Goulue’s kitchen since Feb. 18.

With his earlier career including posts at French eateries and work with French-cooking masters such as Thomas Keller, “I feel like I’ve come full circle,” Marulanda said.

La Goulue, the Palm Beach sister of longtime La Goulue in New York, debuted in Palm Beach in October 2020 at 288 S. County Road.

Marulanda succeeds La Goulue’s previous formally announced chef, Michelin-starred Pascal Sanchez.

Loss of a fine-dining leader

Lidia Goldner, a restaurateur and wine aficionado who was credited for elevating the fine-dining scene in Palm Beach, died Feb. 10 after an extended illness. She was 78.

READ MORE: Lidia Goldner, co-owner of iconic Palm Beach restaurant Café L’Europe, dies

She and her chef-restaurateur husband Norbert Goldner, who died in 2018, opened Café L’Europe in 1980, setting a new fine-fining benchmark.

For 35-plus years, they both worked the front and back of the house. Lidia was known for her flower arrangements, design expertise and knowledge of wine. “She made everyone feel special,” longtime patron Sheila Hammond said.

Under the Goldners, Café L’Europe expanded in 1995, moving from its original spot in The Esplanade to 331 S. County Road, where it remains today. It currently is owned by the Marcello family.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Dining scene happenings and new restaurants in Palm Beach