Palm Beach Gains Hipster Cred With Opening of NYC's 310 Bowery and Wynwood's Coyo Taco

Palm Beach County will gain a bit of hipster cred when restaurants located in New York City's Bowery and Miami's Wynwood open outposts in the towns of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach.

This April, New York City restaurateurs Josh Acheatel and Rick Aurigemma — alongside partners Ned Grace and West Palm Beach-based Nick Coniglio (E.R. Bradley's, Cucina, Nick & Johnnie's) — will bring their Manhattan-based concept 310 Bowery to West Palm Beach.

Located next door to Avocado Grill in the space formerly occupied by the Bee, the 1,800-square-feet eatery — named for its address, 123 Datura St. — will be a great addition to the area just south of Clematis Street, Coniglio says.

"I've always loved the space, and this will offer people something different than the usual late-night spots, clubs, and restaurants in the area," he adds. "We're also looking for places to expand the concept with additional locations."

The new West Palm Beach establishment will also have a unique policy: No one younger than 23 will be allowed to enter past a certain hour, similar to how 310 Bowery operates.

Open for lunch and dinner, 123 Datura will serve New York-inspired pizza and dishes, craft beer, and cocktails. To design the menu, the group visited the best pizza spots in New York for inspiration, says Aurigemma, who has been testing recipes to create the perfect pie. "I'm confident we'll have one of the best pizzas in South Florida."

123 Datura will offer a unique "Grandma-style" pie similar to the one served at 310 Bowery, a 18-month-old restaurant that offers high-end pies created by Nino Coniglio, chef/owner of Williamsburg Pizza and 2016 Pizza Maker of the Year at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

The menu will also serve trending items such as pizza boats (a hollowed-out calzone stuffed with various ingredients); pizza breakfast rolls (pizza dough rolled with prosciutto, scrambled eggs, and cheese); and creative riffs on garlic knots, including varieties topped with ingredients like crushed walnuts.

A 35-seat bar will offer more than a dozen local and national beers on tap, as well as handcrafted cocktails, with a focus on small-batch and imported whiskeys. A collaboration with New York-based Rise Coffee will also mean a few nitro-coffee-infused cocktails.

123 Datura's design elements will be similar to those of its Manhattan counterpart, a contemporary-chic space designed by Aurigemma and his NYC team that features rustic touches such as Edison bulb lighting and reclaimed wood sourced from Brooklyn.

"I don't like to categorize it as anything," Aurigemma says of 123 Datura. "This is a timeless space. We aren't a sports bar. We aren't a pizza restaurant. We aren't a whiskey bar. We'll continually be taking ideas we see in New York City and across the country and brining them down here."
Later this year, West Palm Beach foodies can also expect to find another transplant when Wynwood taqueria Coyo Taco lands in Palm Beach.

Cofounders Sven Vogtland and Alan Drummond say Coyo Taco will bring the first taste of authentic Mexican street food to the island. The restaurant, located at 340 Royal Poinciana Way in the Royal Poinciana Plaza, will be the first Coyo location outside Miami-Dade County.

"We knew we wanted to come to Palm Beach, and the perfect space finally presented itself," says Drummond, who mentions plans to expand the brand even farther, including to the Dominican Republic.

Mexico City’s bohemian arts neighborhood Coyoacán inspired the name of the restaurant. The fast-casual concept offers tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, and small plates such as house-made guacamole, all traditional recipes courtesy of executive chef and partner Scott Linquist.

Open daily for lunch and dinner, the restaurant will offer the same casual, relaxed atmosphere as its other two locations, but with touches that reflect its location in Palm Beach, Vogtland says. Customers order at the counter, and meals are served on Coyo's distinctive metal trays, delivered and cleared via bussed table service.

The menu will offer several new tacos exclusive to the Palm Beach outpost, using locally sourced ingredients and products (a new fish taco might be one of them). Regular menu highlights are the brand's best sellers, each served two per order: al pastor roasted pork with pineapple and onion, and carne asada char-grilled Angus steak with pico de gallo and queso.

Coyo will continue to offer its seared Gulf shrimp taco with mango slaw and chipotle aioli; crisp masa-fried octopus tacos served with avocado, radish, and ají amarillo aioli; al pastor-style chicken tacos served with roasted pineapple, onion, and cotija cheese; and a vegetarian option with quinoa and queso "falafel."

In addition, its founders plan to include a small bar-and-lounge area, as well as a dedicated tortilla-making room at the entrance where customers can watch the restaurant's tortillas being made from scratch daily.

"There's a void right now for this type of food on the Island," Vogtaland says. "Coyo will be the first to offer a genuine Mexican street-food concept."

No word yet on whether Coyo Taco will have a dedicated line for Secret Service agents picking up taco bowls for President Trump while he weekends at the "Southern White House," AKA Mar-a-Lago.