Niteclub impresario Cleve Mash (Dr. Feelgood’s, Monarch, Lost Weekend) is bringing a bit of big city glitz and glam to Palm Beach Gardens with his soon-to-debut Dirty Martini (11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Ave., 561-799-1115) in the struggling Downtown at the Gardens mall.
The 8,600-square-foot club, which takes over from the old Strip House eatery, will feature three separate areas: an air-conditioned outdoor terrace with 14 TVs, a main room for dancing and other niteclubby activities, and a lounge for more genteel pursuits. Design elements in the mid-century modern space will include giant oak doors, green crystal chandeliers and lighted bar tops.
Living up to its name, Dirty Martini will offer a roster of ‘tinis, both dirty and mixological, from a James Bond-ish “shaken, not stirred†and Very Dirty to mango and “clear chocolate cake.â€
There will be food too, though unlike anything most club kids have ever tasted before. Mash brought in avant-garde “Asiatic cuisine†chef Roy Villacrusis, whose Kubo restaurant is one of the best and most adventurous in SoFla, to create a menu that re-imagines bar food in the image of Ferran Adria.
You want an example?
Try mozzarella spring rolls: wrapped, skewered and deep-fried cheese anointed with truffle oil and served with caramelized tomatoes. Or Villacrusis’s take on potato skins, a whole potato turned into long, squiggly strands with a Japanese spiral cutter, then stuck on a skewer, fried and presented with all the usual potato skin accompaniments—cheese, bacon, sour cream—sprinkled on as powders.
Haute stuff, no?
