Nestled in the heart of Palm Beach, inside the historic Brazilian Court Hotel, lies one of the area's most coveted dining destinations: Café Boulud. This charming gem is distinguished as French and American, but with a signature South Florida twist. Curated by the renowned Chef Daniel Boulud and his talented team, the menu offers an elevated take on classic French cuisine while spotlighting the region’s exceptional seafood and produce.
Known for being the prime spot for both locals and visitors to see and be seen, Café Boulud’s ambiance is as sophisticated as it is welcoming. I was enchanted by the beautiful courtyard terrace, and its lush surroundings and the elegant dining rooms, which feature shimmering seashell ceilings and the warm beauty of Pecky Cypress wood.
At the helm of the kitchen is Christopher Zabita, a culinary talent whose journey includes a pivotal role in helping Victoria and Albert’s at the Disney Grand Floridian Resort earn its Michelin star in 2024.
I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing the Café Boulud tasting menu on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon - a seamless blend of timeless French classics with Chef Zabita’s unique touch, making for an extraordinary culinary journey. The final chapter of the journey was a conversation with Chef Zabita:
How do you incorporate South Florida's fresh seafood and produce into your French American menu?
We use some local farms for some stuff here. Swank Farms, Kai-Kai Farms, Holman's Harvest is another one. And I think that's the top three. Bare Roots is another one that we use. But we get all sorts of cool produce from it, different lettuces and different vegetables and fruits. We actually get eggs from one place as well. Holman's gives us eggs.
So we just utilize all that stuff to the best of our ability in all the food across the board. For me, that comes easily because when I was in New York City, I would go to the Union Square Greenmarket four times a week, and I would just find stuff and just utilize it all the time. So it's easy to plug and play.
The Dover Sole Meuniere, seems to be a signature dish. Can you share the story behind its inclusion on the menu?
It's tough for me to really answer that question because it's been here for ages. But the story I can tell you is that I asked if I could remove it from the menu, and I was told that if I did, I would have an uproar, a riot amongst the Palm Beach citizens.
Apparently, they love it so much. I don't know if it's that they love the exact way we do it or they just love the Dover sole itself. Because for a couple of holidays I did Dover sole but with a different preparation, and people seem to really enjoy that. So maybe it's just the Dover sole that they love.
If a first-time customer asks you for a recommendation from the menu, what would that be?
So for me, it's hard to pick any one or two things. I couldn't just say, "This appetizer and this entree." That's always tough. So I like to say "Start with some oysters. The Hamachi or the octopus is great for starters”, I always suggest getting an appetizer portion of pasta as kind of a mid-course. And all of our pastas are fantastic. You guys had the cappelletti today. We also do a Cacio e Pepe and black truffles. That's actually on the lunch and dinner menu.
Currently we're also running a Tomato Lumache with a mushroom Bolognese. But our pastas change constantly, so I would say that I always try to steer people into having a little bit from the appetizer side, have a small pasta in the mid-course, and then on the entree, I love the halibut and I love the duck. Those are my two favorite courses.
The courtyard terrace and elegant dining rooms seem like the perfect backdrop for special events. How does the ambiance of the restaurant play into the dining experience?
It is a very elegant dining room. It's a very elegant dining experience. It's very much like a celebratory restaurant. We have a lot of people who come here for anniversaries and birthdays and so on and so forth. I feel like it's not just a, "Oh, we're just going to have some dinner tonight." I think there's a lot of celebration that goes here. But that being said, how does it all tie in, though?
The food has to be at a certain level to match the dining room, right? I couldn't just be putting out burgers and fried chicken, I guess. Although we do have a fantastic burger, but for dinner we don't serve it in the dining room. So we have certain rules like that. So the food has to be elevated to match the setting.
Like I said earlier about I'm not a good artist, I can't draw, et cetera. But I think that what I could put on a plate looks pretty nice and I think it matches what we see around here. It's what's expected too.
What is your favorite cooking ingredient and which of your menu items reflects this better than any other?
I don't really have any specific one. I use fennel in tons of things. I love fennel. Growing up, after dinner is when you would get fruit and stuff like that out on the table, and there was always fennel. And you eat fennel by itself. It's actually a very good digestive.
But what's funny is when I was a kid, I didn't eat it like that, I just saw everyone around me eat it. And I just really loved the smell. As I grew up, I really loved the taste of fennel. I use it in a lot of things like braised fennel, raw fennel.
Calabrian chili is another one. And that's probably just from the Italian background, I guess. My mom's from Calabria, so maybe that's why. But I think it adds the perfect amount of heat and acid and stuff like that. So I use that a lot.
You saw on the Hamachi, there was charred scallions, a charred scallion vinaigrette. I actually put charred scallions in so many different things. Charred alliums overall, anything like charred onion, charred shallot, I just think it adds a different level or a different layer of flavor to an onion dish, or an onion component, I should say.
How would you describe Palm Beach to someone who's never been here?
It's a beautiful spot. It really is. I think I'm fortunate to live where I live. I live in downtown West Palm. And to cross the bridge and come over here and see the way it is, I love the architecture of Palm Beach. I think it has an old world but a new world aesthetic as well somehow. It all comes together.
Where does the new world aesthetic come from?
Maybe it might come with the cars, the automobiles you see around and stuff like that. So I think the houses I see, I think that they're individual. There's no cookie cutter anything around here. And I notice that every day. I see all new houses when I sometimes drive a different way. And you see some old world looking styles and such, but then you see a Ferrari or a Lamborghini rolling around, and that's where you see this new world side of it. I think it all comes together. It's not fast-paced over here.
The beach is just a few blocks away from Café Boulud. Do you sometimes take a break for a quiet moment at the beach?
Not during work, but I do go to the beach once a week. And a lot of times, like Saturday mornings, I walk to work. I like to go through the GreenMarket in downtown West Palm, on Clematis. I cross the bridge, and a lot of times I just keep walking, and I walk right to the beach and I walk up and down the beach, just listen to music, relax before I know it's going to be a busy service, especially on a Saturday night. And it's relaxing and I just go and look for sea glass and listen to music and just hang out. It's nice to put your feet in the water, even when it's still kind of cool. It grounds you, for sure.
What is your favorite hobby in the water or on the beach? Do you like boating, fishing?
The sea glass thing, is that my favorite hobby? I don't know, but it's one of my favorite things to do just to relax. I don't know if that's really a hobby necessarily. Walking up and down Palm Beach, I've found tons of sea glass. It's pretty awesome. And it's not easy to find. Some of them are pretty cool colors. I get really excited. I always have a little handful when I'm done, and take pictures and send to my friends. Just over time, being worn out in the water and such, it smooths it out and becomes this beautiful little piece of glass that just has a story to tell on its own. I think about that every time I pick up a piece of sea glass.
