When discussing menu highlights with chefs, something simple like “bread for the table” usually doesn’t make it into the conversation. But at the newly opened Florie’s Palm Beach, chef Mauro Colagreco makes a case for his loafs, noting, “the signature sharing bread with lemon-ginger olive oil is very personal to me since it was inspired by my grandmother’s recipe and uses beautiful Florida citrus.”
Just as Colagreco broke bread among close friends and family growing up, he recreates the tradition for diners with a new rendition—a delicate, fluffy loaf that resembles six flower petals, can be broken off for each person. It’s is presented with a printed poem about bread by Pablo Neruda.
The Argentine-Italian chef behind France’s three-Michelin starred Mirazur—that’s also No. 3 on the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” list—opened his first U.S. outpost earlier this year in partnership with the Five-Star, Five-Diamond Four Seasons Resort & Spa Palm Beach following a recent multimillion-dollar renovation.
Doing so, he says, was an instinctive decision. “I felt a sense of comfort when I visited Palm Beach for the first time,” he says. “The climate here with the abundance of sun, produce and coastal qualities reminded me of my home in the south of France, so it felt like a natural place to open my first restaurant in the U.S.”
The name Florie’s is an ode to Florida and Colagreco’s love for gardening, something the restaurant plays upon by growing its own herbs and edible flowers. They’re then incorporated into dishes like the hamachi or used as delicate garnishes for cocktails such as the Field of Flowers made with vodka, rosato, lemon, mint, lavender and prosecco.
Menu items center around fire-cooking techniques Colagreco picked up from his travels and while opening numerous restaurants around the world. He uses a hearth oven, yakitori grill and a tandoor oven. The à la broche—a rotisserie-style method of roasting—is used to make the Roasted Maine Lobster that’s accompanied by Mediterranean tomato and black olives with a cucumber honeydew salad.
Make a point to order the Salt-Crusted Market Fish that is carved out from beneath the layer of salt it’s baked in. The Australian Wagyu Beef is grilled on the yakitori and comes with red pepper and house-made shallot vinegar, while the exclusive Four Story Hill Truffled Chicken features Albufera sauce, summer truffles and crushed potatoes.
The wow factor continues with Florie’s certified in-house wine and water sommelier Jessica Altieri, who helped design a water menu for the restaurant and a sustainable wine-by-the-glass program. She’s hosting Sips of Summer classes from now until October, teaching guests how to pair wines with food.
There’s also Matthew Dress, the lead mixologist who takes cues from classic libations to make Florie’s originals. The Positano—made with Teeling Irish whiskey, Campari and Carpano Antica with pineapple and topped with a citrus shrub—is one cocktail with delightful looks to match its taste.
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