A downtown West Palm Beach location that’s been reborn more often than Pat Robertson has been reborn once again, this time as an eclectic modern comfort food-slash-Mediterranean eatery.
The Alchemist (223 Clematis St., 561/355-0691), from the Daiza Restaurant Group of Parkland, FL, is the latest occupant of the spot that over the past several years as seen the coming and going of Clematis Social, Reef Road Rum Bar, Bobbi Sue Bar-B-Que and J. Flynn’s Irish Gastropub.
The space itself has a clubby, vintage feel, with a pressed tin ceiling, dark wood floors and wainscoting, ornate wallpaper and a long wood-topped bar.
The extensive menu, from top toque Tim Farley, is loaded with inventive but easy-eating gastropubby dishes, from starters like spicy lobster poppers and roasted bone marrow stuffed with braised short rib to carnitas tacos and whole grilled branzino with piri-piri sauce. There’s a good selection of sliders, burgers, sammies and pizzas too.
On the liquid side, look for a limited number of craft beers on tap and a larger number by the bottle, plus a raft of artisan cocktails and a small but intriguing roster of not-the-usual-suspect wines. There’s a daily happy hour and live music coming next month.
Oh, and one more thing. Blogging will be scarce next week as I take some time off to take care of a little personal business. If anything major breaks I’ll be posting but otherwise I’ll see you (figuratively speaking) in November.
