Dirty Martini to Debut in Palm Beach Gardens

By Bill Citara Thu., May 12 2011 at 6:00 AM

Martinis from clean to very dirty, as well as 'tinis channeling everything from watermelon to chocolate cake, plus bar bites like you've never seen before from Kubo chef Roy Villacrusis, are all on the menu of Cleve Mash's Dirty Martini (11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Ave.; 561-799-1115) bar 'n' lounge, coming to Palm Beach Gardens later this month.

Mash, the guy behind Feelgoods, Lost Weekend, and Monarchy, took over the old Strip House restaurant in the resurgent Downtown at the Gardens mall and set about remaking the 8,600-square-foot space into a midcentury-modern martini bar/lounge/dance club.

Giant oak doors, green crystal chandeliers, and lighted bar tops will grace the tripartite space, which features an air-conditioned outdoor terrace with 14 TVs for chillin', a "high-energy main room to dance the night away," and a more intimate area for watching all the action.

To handle the food side of things, Mash called on Villacrusis, who came up with a "bar bites from Mars" kind of menu, taking dishes familiar to anyone who's ever hoisted a cold one in the local watering hole and giving them a serious tweaking.

You want an example? How about the chef's version of potato skins: a whole potato cut into long strings with a Japanese spiral cutter, then threaded on skewers and deep-fried, with all the usual potato-skin fixins -- bacon, cheese, sour cream -- turned into powders and sprinkled on top. You'll need some kind of wacky martini to compete with that.

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Tags:

bar, Cleve Mash, Dirty Martini, lounge, Palm Beach Gardens

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Bocce Nation

We can't wait for Dirty Martini's Grand Opening - great food, great drinks and great times at DTAG, what more could you ask for?

Diane

there really cute! did u see the article in palm beach illustrated? that kevin is a dreamboat.

Sweetandspicy

Too had my reservations about the bermans.. They looked really young and inexperiened but they have done a phenomenal job energizing this place. I live in wellington, and up until a year ago I wanted nothing to do with downtown. With all the new restaurants and shops I'm here almost twice a week!! Great job to the berman's, and cute ones too (go check out palm beach illustrated!).

Broadstrokes

I LOVE this place! When it got sold I was sure it was just another buy and flip company. Kudos to the Berman's for sticking it out and creating the destination spot palm beach gardens needed! Can you please get a shoe store!??

Jklein

I completely agree, downtown has been a great place to visit recently. And I am really excited about this martini bar... I think it was a whole family from maryland. The berman's I think. Either way they are really improving this place!