When thinking about Palm Beach, one imagines stuffy steakhouses filled with blue Brooks Brothers blazers and bright Lilly Pulitzer prints.
You'd expect the same at the Four Seasons on "the island," as well.
While that used to be the case, that notion recently turned around with the opening of Jové Kitchen & Bar at the Four Seasons Palm Beach.
Italian-born chef is Mauro Zanusso has been working with the hotel's executive chef Darryl Moiles to reinvigorate the restaurant with a menu that is modern and fresh.
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Zanusso, who most recently worked at the Four Seasons in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt worked with Moiles through Skype, email, and numerous phone calls before arriving in the states.
"When we started the interview, we had a solid connection," said Moiles. "We both had the same ideas for the restaurant, same principles, and concepts. We started going back and forth with details via email: creating recipes, sending photos. Everything went seamlessly. We Skyped on a daily basis; we ended up calling him the robot chef because he was always just on the screen."
Together, the two comprised a menu full of new takes on classic dishes.
"I wanted some old school homey dishes, so people would have that comfort feel," said Moiles. "But we wanted modern, as well; something that grabs your attention."
Dishes like the pumpkin raviolo ($12), which sits atop short rib with amaretto, garlic pesto, toasted pistachio, and fried onion, seasonal gnocchi ($15), currently with figs and gorgonzola piccante, and risotto ($15) with royal trumpet mushrooms and curry are ideal examples of unexpected twists.
"We kind of want to throw you for a curveball," said Moiles. "We want you to say, "Wow. I wouldn't picture that.'"
The menu is broken up into five main sections with the intention of allowing guests to order multiple courses.
Bread ($5 to $12), cheese ($18 for four), salami ($16 for four), oysters and stone crabs ($25 per half pound), with a wide array of east and west coast oysters ($3.75 a piece, $40 a dozen), and stone-fired pizzas, such as the fennel sausage ($18) with house-made sausage, ricotta, padron peppers, and fried egg, mushroom ($18) with shitake adn chanterelle, and tonnato ($19), olive oil poached ahi tuna, capers, and dill make up the snack or sharing portion of the menu.
The Chef's Garden includes an array of salads like the miniature vegetable salad ($18) with baby greens, Humbolt Fog goat cheese, and a pool of tomato vinaigrette in the center.
Pastas and grains run between $12 and $26, which includes options such as the previously mentioned raviolo, gnocchi, and risotto.
Entrees are broken up into fish ($30 to $38) and meat ($28 to $38) with selection like the brodetto de pesce ($30) a steaming bowl of clams, shrimp, scallops, bass, calamari, and tomato-fennel broth and the Wagyu teres major steak ($30) seasoned with a porcini dry rub, purple potatoes, root vegetables, sweet tomatoes, and a barolo wine sauce.
With highly trained serving staff, anyone interested in wine would be well advised to ask for pairing recommendations; the restaurant has a wide and usual selection of Italian wines available by the bottle and glass.
A number of aperitifs and digestifs from Italy are offered to start or end your meal.
Jové at the Four Seasons is located at 2800 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. Call 561-540-3238, or visit fourseasons.com/palmbeach.
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