As you’ve noticed, opening a hotel with a decent restaurant in South Florida means the hotel needs an excellent chef—one preferably with a local celeb name, if not national. While I think diners are still getting used to going to a local hotel to eat, the idea is finally catching on, and with the quality of hotel restaurants we have here, that’s a good thing.
Upscale hotels, such as The Breakers, Brazilian Court, Boca Raton Resort & Club, Eau Palm Beach, Miami’s Fontainebleau and others, have always had top chefs and top restaurants. The national chains are now in the competition, and the latest to join that list is the Hilton West Palm Beach, which opened in January.
There are several Hiltons in the city; this is the one connected to the Palm Beach Convention Center (600 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach, 561/231-6000). The design is contemporary and edgy, and that carries through to the bar and restaurant spaces (Manor interior pictured). A parking garage is being built, so for now, parking is by valet only.
Before a show at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (across the street), we had dinner with friends at Manor, the Hilton’s restaurant. The signature chef is Matthew Byrne, best known both for his previous role as Tiger Woods’ personal chef and for Kitchen, his current, popular West Palm Beach restaurant. He’s overseeing the menu with Executive Chef Miguel Santiago. Santiago has worked for Hilton since 2013 and for various hotels and resorts all over the U.S., which included cooking for several presidents when he was in Washington D.C. He’s passionate about the farm-to-table concept, and his menu reflects that inspiration.
We went at 6 p.m., with an 8 p.m. opening curtain, and parked at the Kravis’ parking lot, then walked to the Hilton. Our service was excellent, and the food was, too. We tried the heirloom tomatoes and burrata for a starter ($13); then dinner entrees included the seared scallops ($29) and the wild salmon mignon ($26), among others. The restaurant wasn’t crowded because, while the hotel was full of convention-goers, we saw them streaming to a company banquet elsewhere in the hotel.
The cocktails were very good, and I want to return to sample the Galley bar area, which has one of the largest and most inviting fire pits I’ve ever seen. It has a nice view of the pool and garden area, too—very Zen.
After dinner, we took one of the free-ride cart services available in the area and got back to the Kravis in plenty of time for the performance. We’re sure to repeat our Manor experience again!
