Once you push back from the conference table and pull up to a restaurant table, Southeast Florida becomes one of the country’s most diverse dining destinations, a culinary crossroads where different cultures, cooking styles and seasonings all converge on local menus. In a place where seafood is fresh from the ocean every morning, celebrity chefs reach new heights of culinary creativity, and the flavors of the world are served up on a silver platter, dining is never an afterthought—it’s the main event.
Following is a sampling of some terrific tastes.
Set within Palm Beach’s Brazilian Court Hotel, Café Boulud–Palm Beach (561.655.6060; www.danielnyc.com) is the southern counterpart to Chef Daniel Boulud’s famed NYC eatery and boasts a similar menu of classic French and world cuisine paired with seasonal market specialties like hand-picked berries and line-caught halibut, and vegetarian fare including curried cream of cauliflower and apple soup. Private rooms are available for group events.
In downtown Fort Lauderdale, Himmarshee Bar and Grille (954.524.1818; www.himmarshee.com) has a surf and turf menu adored by locals, who patiently wait to score reservations. Highlights include chestnut honey-glazed duckling, Szechuan peppercorn-crusted tuna, “candy-wrapped” mushroom pasta, and, for dessert, lava cake. Groups of 12 to 100 can be hosted in a variety of settings, including the upstairs loft.
Come to Miami and not eat Cuban food? ¡Qué lástima! Try a twist on Miami’s dominant cuisine at Yuca (305.532.9822; www.yuca.com) on South Beach, where a gourmet Cuban menu includes barbecued ribs spiced with guava, plantain-coated dolphin, sugar cane-skewered shrimp, and rich desserts like traditional vanilla flan paired with chocolate Gran Marnier flan. Yuca can handle groups of up to 400; a private upstairs room seating 170 overlooks Lincoln Road.
Owned by actress Kelly McGillis of Top Gun fame, Kelly’s Caribbean Bar, Grill and Brewery (305.293.8484; www.kellyskeywest.com) in historic Old Town Key West occupies the site of the original Pan American Airways. Private parties are hosted in the downstairs garden or rooftop area, with fresh fish, jerk chicken and tropical drinks on the menu.
