Southern Hospitality: Palm Beach County Is a Traveling Foodie's Paradise

For traveling foodies, there are some hotels with restaurants so good, you might never want to venture from the property during your stay.

Acqualina Resort in Sunny Isles Beach, which has Fendi Casa furnishings and elegant rooms you will want to move in to permanently, houses outposts of two of New York’s top restaurants — Avra and Il Mulino. Enjoying your favorite meal while looking at the ocean makes it all the more enjoyable.

The Boca Raton has joined forces with Major Food Group, of Carbone fame, in four of their restaurants. Don’t miss the ethereal garden egg white omelet at Sadelle’s, the best crunchy chopped salad to go along with your steak at Flamingo Grill, the branzino at Principessa Ristorante, or the sublime sushi at the Japanese Bocce Club. The resort also has a new private restaurant, Flybridge, only for guests staying at the chic Boca Raton Yacht Club, which has beautifully appointed suites and a view of the marina. The prix-fixe menu has vegetarian and coastal versions with three-course and five-course options and artistically presented dishes such as celery root tagliatelle and venison loin with cherries, berries and organic kale.

The new Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel, which has just completed a full renovation, now has a location of hotspot Meat Market attached to its lobby, so you can start your morning with first-class omelets and avocado toast, and spruce up in the evening for an action-packed steak dinner.

It takes confidence to open a steakhouse in Boca Raton, where Prime 112, Chops Lobster Bar and Abe & Louie’s rival any top New York steer palace, but in addition to the packed Meat Market, famous steakhouse Gallaghers has unveiled a new location where service and quality live up to its legend, and grouper is as expertly seared as the porterhouse.

The only thing as beloved as steak in Boca is Italian food, so the new Mia Rosebud has been welcomed with open arms.

Also in Boca, the Waterstone Resort — which is situated on a perfect Intracoastal perch and has one of the only restaurants, SeaSpray Inlet Grill, to not only offer a water view but the ability to dock and dine ­— is about to premiere a new dining spot. A collaboration between Chef Jonathan Fox and James Beard Foundation winner Chef Takashi Yagihashi, Kasumi will open as another waterfront spot in September. Among the menu selections will be wagyu beef toban yaki with Tokyo-negi, farm tofu and sukiyaki sauce; kombu-marinated Japanese snapper with citrus-soy; and maitake and hon shimeji mushrooms with mochi cake and shishito peppers.

Pickleball and padel may be trendy, but golf’s popularity has never been greater. Duffers love the glorious greens of The Breakers, The Boca Raton and the five courses of PGA. If you love the sport, it’s worth a drive to Tesoro in Port St. Lucie, which is heaven for players. PGA has also created a unique partnership with Sierra’s Bees in Palm Beach Gardens, harvesting honey on the property and using it in the restaurants and spa. Guests are able to put on bee suits and visit the colonies, right on the golf course.

Over in Delray, in addition to the Seagate Hotel & Spa’s ongoing massive update to the rooms and restaurant, it has renovated its golf club, including the clubhouse, which has indoor and outdoor seating for brunch, lunch and dinner. The 18-hole championship course itself has just reopened after an overhaul by famed golf architect Drew Rogers, and the Racquets Center now offers courts and clinics for pickleball and tennis.

Northern Palm Beach County has some restaurants well worth checking out. Chef/owner Tim Lipman sources local ingredients for Coolinary, where he offers wood-roasted broccoli with olives, almonds and pickled raisins; lamb sausage rigatoni; chargrilled pork chop with maple sweet potato, orange, roasted apple, mustard and cabbage; and hoisin-glazed cobia with roasted celeriac and carrot-ginger puree.

Jupiter Grill has something to please everyone, from a massive cobb salad, chocked with quality ingredients including lobster, avocado and bacon; to grilled local swordfish with sunchokes; to wagyu meatloaf and bone-in Cajun ribeye. An don’t skip the eye-popping seafood towers.

There aren’t many Indian-influenced restaurants in Palm Beach, but Stage Kitchen & Bar takes the aromatic spices and uses them in such creations as duck confit rolls with peanut chutney; lamb kebab with mint cilantro chutney; and woodgrilled chicken peri peri with butternut squash and curry vinaigrette.

At Lewis Steakhouse, a sister to Okeechobee Steakhouse in West Palm Beach, its dinner and a show, as well as its trained waitstaff, take you through a demonstration showcasing every cut on offer. Start your dinner with chargrilled oysters and move on to one of 10 steaks, or if your preference is seafood, order the lobster pot pie or Chilean sea bass.

AKA, the stylish hotel in West Palm that is perfect for a longer stay with rooms that have kitchens and washer/dryers, has opened its restaurant, The Blind Monk — their stone-ground oats with macerated strawberries is truly crave-worthy — and the AKA Pet Spa powered by D Is for Dog. Apart from classic grooming offerings, the store sells high-end, made-in-the-USA food, treats and clothing for dogs, and even includes a wall of gifts for humans, ranging from candles to pajamas. Visit disfordogwpb.com to learn more.

If you are in the market for canine couture, don’t leave without stopping at Waggs to Riches in Boca, where you can pick up everything from mini-golf sweaters to faux Chanel and Burberry outfits. Carrying cases are so fashionable, they can pass for designer bags.

AKA also has a Miami location that offers spectacular views, the Adrift Mare restaurant run by Chef David Myers and Leaf Spa, a jewel box featuring nature-infused treatments.

South Florida has always been known as a haven for spa trekkers, and two places that stand out for top-rate treatments are the Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale — book Phu Nguyen if he is available — and the InterContinental in downtown Miami, where a ginger-lime salt scrub and Champagne mud wrap are on offer.

Dining seaside is one of the great joys of being in Florida. At Oceans 234, you can sit within feet of the waves while beginning with sliced sashimi or Baja fish tacos made with fresh local mahi, and moving on to seared diver scallops with mushroom truffle risotto; local catch that tastes like it was caught hours earlier; or filet mignon for land lovers.

Campi, inside the Ray Hotel, has become one of Delray’s most popular restaurants. Among the highlights are smoked mozzarella sauce; short ribs agnolotti; and squid-ink pasta with scallops. And be sure not to miss the walnut negroni!