An Insider’s Guide to Palm Beach
Rendezvous for high tea or brunch at The Breakers? Choices abound in this stylish town
Palm Beach has long been known for its tropical take on the good life, a place at once refined and laidback, upscale and approachable. It’s a haven for shoppers, art and design lovers, and those simply in need of a good beach vacation.
But while the Florida destination can trace back more than 100 years of glittering history, ongoing updates and developments prove that Palm Beach has no intention of leaving its popularity in the past.
In fact, between the oppression of ongoing lockdowns, restrictions, and the frigid temperatures of winter faced by most of the country, more people than ever are taking another look at the Sunshine State, and its southeast region in particular. With the verve of Miami just an hour south and Palm Beach’s own beach-town vibe coupled with its elegance and ambition, there’s perhaps never been a better place to be nor a better t
Ori Harpaz
Someone orders the Cajun chicken, owner Philippe Delgrange greets a patron warmly, a table debates animatedly when the Lincoln Center might reopen. The sounds and smells are pure Madison Avenue, but this is Palm Beach, where Upper East Side French bistro Le Bilboquet has opened its new outpost down the street from La Goulue Sant Ambroeus is a short drive away. Just as the pandemic has sent a flock of New Yorkers down south, restaurants have followed suit.
The Art Deco-inspired interior of Le Bilboquet in Palm Beach. Ori Harpaz
The new Le Bilboquet in Palm Beach is situated in a spot off Worth Avenue, owned by Jane Holzer. Holzer was one of Andy Warhol s muses and a fixture in the New York scene in the 1960s, but now she is staunchly Floridian. A native of Palm Beach, she moved back to her hometown years ago, investing in its cultural and arts scene. It seems as though she is close to a big payoff with this latest flurry of openings.
Nicholas Mele
Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, Jeffrey Tousey, the thirtysomething founder of social media agency Beekman Social, and his partner, developer Billy Gilbane III, looked out the windows of their country home among the Finger Lakes in upstate New York and saw snow coming down. It was May.
The couple knew they didn’t want to spend another winter or even a spring up north. Having both taken their work fully remote, they sought a warmer clime, but somewhere in the same time zone and with direct flights to New York. They decided to house-hunt in Palm Beach.
“We’d scroll through Zillow every night, and there wasn’t a lot of inventory,” Tousey recalls. They settled on a 1950s bungalow in Palm Beach that they’re now renovating while they rent from a family friend nearby. “We basically beat the rush by a week.”
The Chateau on the Lake owner Buddy Foy Jr. gives an update on his business after getting fed up with New York restrictions and opening a new restaurant in Florida.
Two weeks ago, when the thermometer plunged below 20 and indoor dining was still off-limits in the city, intrepid New Yorkers continued to cling to vestiges of their social lives.
On East 60th street, patrons at the once buzzy Le Bilboquet were huddled in outdoor cubbies, wearing hats and scarves while nibbling on Cajun chicken and sipping Bordeaux. One block up, 10 tables at clubby La Goulue struggled to share four heaters while diners gripped bowls of onion soup for extra warmth.