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It was so good they did it again.That would be the summertime Boulud Sud pop-up restaurant at Café Boulud(301 Australian Ave., 561/655-6060), Daniel Boulud’s Palm Beach outpost of sophisticated, casual elegance in the tony Brazilian Court hotel.
From Wednesday, July 3, to Monday, Sept. 2, in the café’s charming (and air-conditioned) terrace, chef Jim Leiken and team will dish up refined yet hearty fare that reflects his boss’s love of the bright, sunny, flavorful cuisine of the Mediterranean. Along with wines and cocktails chosen/created by sommelier extraordinaire Mariya Kovacheva, the “Sud” menu is something of a locals treat, a reward for sticking around when so many Palm Beachers flee the summer’s heat, humidity and hurricanes for less, ah. . . challenging climes.
To show off what they’ve wrought, Daniel Boulud himself hosted a multicourse lunch the other day, a chance to sample much of the Sud menu, not to mention while away a gorgeous spring afternoon. Among the don’t miss dishes we devoured were a sizeable sea-sweet prawn, head still on, served with finely diced ratatouille and verdant basil pesto; a pillowy, delicately flavorful filet of lubina (aka, branzino, loup de mer, etc.) with silken romesco sauce and peppery wild arugula; and pastry chef Arnaud Chavigny’s stunning grapefruit givré, plush grapefruit sorbet studded with rose loukoum (gel-like candies flavored with rosewater) in a hollowed-out grapefruit, topped with whipped cream and sesame halva.
The Boulud Sud menu will be served a la carte at dinner daily, also as a three-course $35 prix fixe menu on Saturdays and Sundays. Don’t fret, though. The regular lunch, brunch and dinner menus will continue to be served throughout, but you really owe it to yourself to take advantage of Boulud Sud while you can.
