It's a Living

The charm, of course, is that you never know exactly what you're in for at Dolce de Palma. There was a veal and butternut squash ragu that looked interesting, but I may never see it again, or the gemelli with turkey meatballs, spinach, and garlic cream sauce. A few of the dishes recur: the house salad with lupini beans, the antipasti platter of cured meats, and the noodles with a Bolognese sauce made from some combination of grass-fed, house-ground beef, farm raised-cinghiale (boar), and San Marzano tomatoes. And from what friends have told me, the short ribs — much improved — are often on the menu, and they're by all accounts divine.

There are always the beautiful gelatos for dessert, but we chose a silky vanilla panna cotta flavored with cardamom and coriander ($6.95), served with a crisp waffle cookie — so delicate it quivered on the spoon — and affogato, gelato "drowned" with cinnamon liqueur, cream, and espresso. And we sat for a long time over our $45 bottle of Barbera d'Alba, savoring the delicious bargain.

Joe Rocco

Location Info

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Dolce De Palma

1000 Okeechobee Road
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Category: Restaurant > Gelato

Region: West Palm Beach

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Details

Dolce de Palma Paninoteca, 1000 Old Okeechobee Rd., West Palm Beach. Open Monday through Friday for breakfast and lunch, 5:30 a.m. till 4 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday for dinner, 5 till 10 p.m. Call 561-833-6460.

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More About

• Anthony de Palma
• West Palm Beach
• Dolce de Palma
• Meat
• Eating Out

De Palma owns another Dolce in North Palm Beach, serving just breakfast and lunch, but he confided that he may close it soon and devote himself full-time to the restaurant in Flamingo Park. He also said he doubts he can continue to work from 5 a.m. till midnight, so he may soon stop serving breakfasts. He'll evidently keep making adjustments to the business until he has a plan that'll support him without breaking his back. Work to be happy in.

If anything positive comes out of this terrible economy, it'll be a correction in long-inflated South Florida menu prices; we're starting to see the check already. I'm hoping more restaurateurs will consider doing just what de Palma has done: dispense with the million-dollar interiors and the $18 martinis and just start serving good food to their good neighbors. The restaurant biz has been in its own bubble — people have been gambling and making fortunes. Maybe it's time they started making an honest living instead.