Hmmm. Mixed feelings from me, Ekscrunchy. Personally I don't think there is a thing in the world wrong with an "outdated" Italian menu. Does spaghetti puttanesca, linguine vongole, grilled veal chop, ossobucco, etc., etc. ever become "outdated". Sure it may be nice to go somewhere with a new take on traditional Italian, but in most cases I'm actually likely to prefer a well prepared classic in a nice setting. I'm actually more tired of the trendy idea that every dish requires thirteen ingredients, an artistic arrangement done with tweezers, and perhaps two kind of foam as opposed to a perfectly prepared classic dish. (Maybe because I'm one of the old-ish people you mention?)

I do know what you mean about the knowledge, even worse than your salmon story, we were told our halibut was from the Gulf of Mexico.

But as to those "Asian shrimp" that are marinated and grilled, I take that as Asian spices in the marinade, not that the shrimp are from Asia. No???

I don't know about the shrimp for sure. But I do know that even at our favorite restaurant down here (not in Boca), where they serve u-8 shrimp, they told me they come from South America, so I imagine frozen. I know that's neither here nor there. Maybe the Florida shrimp don't grow that big (??) Just have a good time and report back!

Shrimp very well could be flown north packed in ice. Let;s face it: flowers get to Miami from Ecuador in a few hours. But there's always "artisanal" salt and God knows nobody wants to eat salt that isn't "picked by hand."

OK, you've all talked me into it. West Palm Beach Hyatt wasn't available before but it opened up, so just booked Friday and Saturday nights -- President's Day Weekend. So let's start over. A wonderful, elegant, special place for an anniversary dinner? A second place for another dinner? Perhaps Buccan -- which sounds very casual, but if it's really special. . . Activities? I see the Norton is opening the week before, so I'm guessing that would be a total zoo and I don't see anyway to prebook -- or am I missing something? Would we be crazy to try to do that on Friday or Saturday (which is also free, I believe)? Since there is "so much more and better" in West Palm than Boca -- I'm now ready to hear about them. One more thing. On Sunday we'll be driving down to Ft. Lauderdale on our way home for dinner with friends there. So a really nice relaxing place hopefully on the water for lunch between Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale? Not looking for a big Sunday brunch buffet -- a couple places I know of just do that.

Beach House Pompano Beach for brunch. Beach House Pompano ? Steaks, seafood & small plates plus a tightly edited wine list in a comfy shopping-center bistro.

If you are a Downton Abbey fan: www.downtonexhibition.com

Or, a designer showhouse: https://www.google.com/search?q=palm...es_tkn=0wLu6Mw

Make sure to book Buccan as far ahead as possible. It is casual but the decor is great and the place is always buzzing. Wednesday night is Champagne night..glasses for $10 and it is "real" Champagne. What nights is this visit?

Maybe Cafe Boulud for the more formal meal? The garden is beautiful. Or one of the places in the Breakers? I've never eaten at those but they are popular. Also, a new restaurant is open in the Four Seasons in PB. Chef garnered 2 stars at Mirazur in Menton.


https://www.palmbeachpost.com/entert...jENrUd94Cgx6I/

Does "always buzzing" mean "it's really loud and lively filled with 30 somethings yelling"? Just curious. I know that's the "in" thing, just something we tend to hate. We're part of that older generation (shudder) who were taught to use our "restaurant voices" -- but I know that's considered archaic today. The pictures do make it look like that's the scene.

Actually I was looking at The Breakers. The cocktail lounge looks spectacular but the restaurants don't seem to do much for me. Of course the beautiful room is that domed room, but that's only for breakfast. The steak house seems kind of hotel pedestrian, and the others don't seem "special" at all.

No, not at all. They (Buccan) get a good amount of all ages and the crowd does not skew at all toward the types you are talking about. I abhor those kinds of places with all the drunk bros shouting. Look at Four Seasons.

Hi Neo,
I know you live on the west coast of FL but don't know how much of the east coast you have visited.
If you enjoy lovely gardens look into Morikami Gardens..https://morikami.org/
I don't know if you have visited Palm Beach, but if you haven't, walk down Worth Avenue with all the high end shops and visit the hidden vias. https://www.palmbeachillustrated.com/worth-avenue-vias/

The last time I was in Palm Beach itself was 1995, the day I picked up my Range Rover there. We killed time waiting to pick up the car by having lunch at Ta-Boo, something we'll probably repeat this time.

OK, Buccan is out. 5:30 is too early for us for dinner -- the only thing available either night.

Four Seasons appears not to have any "fine dining". Am I missing something? We'd still love to have cocktails at HMF at the Breakers, but just not getting excited about their restaurants. Maybe we should just do small plates there along with cocktails in HMF listening to music. I'm really guessing it's the atmosphere we'd love and appreciate.


Friends have recommended Pistache (walking distance from our hotel) for a more casual dinner on Friday night. I've booked just because I could -- have to think about that, nothing would make Peter happier than a nice Coq au Vin or Beef Bourguignon I realize it's season and a holiday weekend at that so reservations are hard to come by at popular places with only a three week notice.

I haven't read most of the posts on this thread, but did see the mention of Delray. If you go there, I'd go to Dada. It may not be the type of restaurant you are interested in, but it would be my first choice.
https://sub-culture.org/dada/
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...h_Florida.html

Sorry. Just read #24 and you've booked your hotel.
Disregard.

Ok, call Buccan and tell them the occasion if you only tried on OpenTable.. Do you mind sharing the dates with me; I certainly can ask when I go there again in a few days. Pistache gets very good reports from people I consider pretty food savvy. But pretty casual, I think.

This is the place I meant in the FS--Florie's-- but I agree that it does not look very enticing for a special date.
https://www.fourseasons.com/palmbeac...rants/flories/

Do you fancy either of these? I visited the first, but not dined there, and the second is near Buccan and seems like it might fit.

https://www.cafeboulud.com/palmbeach...edium=referral

Chez l'Épicier N°288

Now I am getting frustrated! I would keep trying Buccan for one dinner.

There is Table 26 in WPB, popular with some New Yorkers I know but I am not familiar with it.

The dates are 15th and 16th of February. Yes, Pistache seems rather casual and that is fine for Friday. We were trying to do something more "classy, formal, or romantic" for Sat night. We're really now thinking more about making Sat more about cocktails at the Breakers and then perhaps lighter dinner at somewhere like Ta-Boo or Leopard Lounge -- or tapas at Buccan if they will give us a reservation on Saturday for something like 8PM. But I'm not holding my breath. After a couple cocktails do we really need a formal full dinner? Probably not. I realize that seems to be NOT what I've described, but even Cafe Boulud (which I think is fine for lunch in NYC) just seems like minimal atmosphere and overpriced not exciting dinner. Yea, I'm sure the food is good -- but $41 for roast chicken or $43 for ricotta cavatelli or over $40 for sautéed Mahi? I also saw a listing that calls Cafe L'Europe "Palm Beach's most romantic" restaurant. But I think it's very much the same as the one in Sarasota, and it always just seems a little pretentious and overpriced for what it is.

Hmmm. I just made a reservation at Chez l'Épicier for Saturday after The Breakers cocktails. Really like the menu. I'm thinking it's a quieter and more reserved place (not sure why -- maybe just hopeful thinking, but it doesn't seem like the sort of trendy place with a loud buzz). Thanks for that recommendation. I was mainly searching via Open Table and they're not there.

Oh, good. I did not realize this was over a weekend and I think this is the start of a semi-holiday period, no? Buccan will be packed then; that's why we very rarely go on the weekend and I am the type that books restaurants 3 weeks in advance. I think you did well in your reservation; that place looks very nice. I will try to peek in when I am up there this week.

I agree in full about Cafe Boulud; that's why I've never eaten there. The same true of most of the high-end (price-wise) places in this area.

Should I see if I get you a table at Buccan for that Friday night? What would be the earliest you would want to go? They now have 5:45 and 9:45 on OTable.

No, and to be honest, I'm still not THAT excited about Buccan, and I still have this feeling that it is wildly noisy -- maybe not drunk jocks, but more like young professionals who sit and talk and laugh at the top of their voices. We have way too many of those places in Naples. Trendy, packed, buzzy, and popular translates to me as "loud" no matter how I slice it. I never expect those to be places where people sit and talk quietly and intimately so others around them can do likewise. I could be wrong and just showing my age. We're content with Chez L'Epicier.

It CAN get loud at Buccan. That's one reason why we are ok to go at 5:30, but we have trouble getting anyone to join us at that time. I like it as quiet as possible and even my 84-year-old relative thinks we go way too early!!

Just for the future, Buccan is not skewed young, at least not in the early dining hours. Mostly old-line PB people, family groups, some tourist couples, no one under 40 at the times we go, or at least very few. But I have never been there past 8pm so who knows..I imagine it gets a lot worse, as you imagine, after that time. We go so often that they know us by now and we just feel very at home, and I do love their food and I cannot say that about many other places within an easy drive of where I am in winter. You'll maybe try next time, and I will see if I can stop into l'Epicier tomorrow night on the way to my 6pm Buccan table!!

We had a wonderful weekend. Stopped at Warby Parker at Boca Town Center on the way and both ordered new glasses. Lunch at True Foods there. Checked into our room at Hyatt Place downtown West Palm about 1 PM and decided to take advantage of their shuttle rather than driving to the new Norton Museum, which was really wonderful. A much larger and diverse collection than I had expected.

We walked next door later to Mortons for cocktails at the bar (it was Happy Hour). Then we took the shuttle to Pistache for dinner. The ambiance and the food were really great. The service not so -- mainly because the server kept apologizing that they had a huge group and that was holding up our dinner (waited probably close to an hour for our entrees). In other words "we really aren't equipped to handle large groups so we let the regular paying customers sit and suffer while we try to make more money off a large group that is beyond our abilities".

On Saturday we walked the length of Worth Avenue and had a delightful lunch at Ta-Boo. The most professional service of our stay. And our dinner at Chez L'epicier was really wonderful. Again, sadly the service left a lot to be desired. You know you're in trouble when the waiter's first words are "sorry you had to wait so long" and then repeats that mantra every time he came to the table. We were not in any hurry, but his constant reminder that "I'm sorry my service is so bad" only makes for a less pleasant evening. The food was exceptional, and happily despite being packed, the sound level was well below the usual roar.

Sadly returning home on Sunday, we didn't do the planned stop at Morikami Gardens. With my leg issues and all the walking I did on Friday and Saturday, we felt I'd never be able to handle the gardens.

But we had a wonderful weekend. Thanks for talking me into West Palm.