Summer Specials at Cafe Boulud

Another sort of tart on Palm Beach.

​Just two months ago, New Times called Cafe Boulud the best restaurant in Palm Beach County, a place where local and season ingredients are transformed into perspective-changing meals by Executive Chef Zach Bell. We mentioned then that you don't have to be an Everglades Club member to afford a meal there, and at no other time has this statement been more true. Cafe Boulud is running a host of summer specials that are priced well enough to beat down any recession-related food blues.

All summer long, diners can enjoy a three-course menu for just $35. It's not skimpy either. Start with the house-made charcuterie with artisenal mustard, soup inspired by the freshest ingredients at market that day, or a mesclun salad with shaved fennel and black olives. For your main, tuck into Florida red snapper bouillabaisse-style (bouludabaisse?), mushroom bolognese with fresh pappardelle, or sinful-sounding grilled skirt steak with fried yucca and chimichurri. After a dessert of flourless chocolate cake, chocolate and pistachio profiteroles, vanilla-mango vacherin, or a seasonal fruit strudel, you'll require personal transport to come back down to Earth.

The three-course dinner menu is offered daily, but Boulud doesn't stop there. On Tuesdays, Bell and company are doing $10 tapas plates with $6 glasses of red or white sangria ($18 by the carafe). On Wendesdays, pastry chef Matthew Petersen stops tableside to prepare old-school flaming desserts for $10 a pop -- think Rainbow Room in the tropics. On Friday nights, Boulud ups the ante on bar food in the lounge with a specialty beer selection. And Sundays aren't just that other weekend day anymore, not when a three-course brunch clocks in at $25 and you can pony up to $12 bottomless bloody marys or mimosas. Bottomless? Sounds a little dangerous, Daniel.

Cafe Boulud
301 Australian Ave., Palm Beach
561-655-6060
www.danielnyc.com