The Colony is a jewel-box of a hotel that boasts a glittering roster of past guests – the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Presidents Bush and Clinton and almost as many Hollywood stars as line the sidewalks outside of Mann’s Chinese Theater.  Reigning over it all is Ruth Young, the Colony's Director of Sales and Marketing, who knows Palm Beach the way only an insider can. Check out her Little Black Book on the Colony's website for an irreverant view of the town and tips on shopping and dining.

 

For an intimate, boutique hotel, the Colony contains an incredible two mainstays of Palm Beach society – The Royal Room Cabaret and the Polo Steakhouse.

 

On Friday evening, I booked in to see Mary Wilson, formerly of the Supremes, at the Royal Room Cabaret and was greeted by the Colony’s entertainment director, Rob Russell, who himself looks like a Hollywood star. A tall, debonair mix of Errol Flynn and Lyle Waggoner, Rob commands the Cabaret with aplomb and tongue-in-cheek good humor.

The room itself is a study in white, while recessed blue lighting hidden in the ceiling’s crown molding bathes the room in an other-worldly light that serves to make the array of stunning jewels worn by the diners glow a tad brighter. After being escorted to our table, my fiancé and I ordered our scallop appetizers and filet mignon dinners from a prix-fixe menu.

 

The food was wonderful, but the main attraction of the Room is its famous Cabaret, which the Palm Beach Post dubbed as being “probably the best place for cabaret on the planet.” The Cabaret is famous for booking its headliners straight from Broadway and Manhattan’s most sophisticated cabarets.

 

After dinner, Mary Wilson took the stage and entranced her audience with soulful tunes and intimate patter. Wilson freely admits to being 64-years-old, but you’d never know it if her appearance and voice are anything to go by – ambient blue lights can only do so much, after all.

Rather than singing a string of Supremes hits, Wilson belted out songs she felt best define her life, including Joni Mitchell’s "Both Sides Now," a song Wilson describes as being “all about illusions, about the way you thought things – clouds, love, life – were, when you really don’t know what the hell it’s all about.” Having been through many of life’s ups and downs herself, Wilson sang each song with both her knock-out voice and her heart. The only illusion she dispelled for the audience was that the play and movie, Dreamgirls, was not the `true’ story of the Supremes at all, but rather a story loosely based on the collective experiences of many of the female singing groups of the era. 

 

After the show, we popped in to the Polo Steakhouse, where the prime steaks are aged in-house for a minimum of 28 days and where the Sunday Brunch Buffet with a Bloody Mary Bar draws large crowds. Late night, Polo’s cozy bar transitions into an intimate social club for Palm Beachers, including local resident Rod Stewart, who come for good conversation, perfect martinis and great music.

Friday is Motown night when the dancing spills onto the Pool Deck until the wee hours, due in large part to Memory Lane, the foursome that plays the Colony every Friday. With a live band and smooth vocals, Memory Lane brings back the Motown hits and gets the entire room in a party mood. Check out their website at www.memorylaneband.com. Saturday there is always live entertainment playing and, during the winter, the music and dancing goes on Tuesday through Saturday.

 

On Saturday, I shopped Worth Avenue and South County Drive. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, you’ll have to wait for my Palm Beach video to see the array of couture shops I visited, but I can tell you about my fabulous lunch at the legendary Taboo Restaurant, a Worth Avenue bistro where ladies go to lunch and where I and my fiancé were seated at the coveted window table, enabling us to watch the parade of shoppers strolling past our table as we ate.

I began my lunch with a Bloody Mary that was right up near the top of my Top Ten Bloody Mary’s list and perused the menu. Taboo’s chef is always coming up with tempting items and I was torn between the Brie and Pear Pizza, topped with brie, pears, grapes, candied pecans and red onion with a balsamic reduction, or the Smoked Salmon pizza, baked with extra virgin olive oil, red onion, capers, sour cream, fresh dill and smoked salmon. I finally chose the salmon pizza, which was terrific. Next time, though, I’m going back to try the Brie and Pear pizza. My fiancé had the turkey club, which was served on a thick roll and absolutely delicious. (I’m telling you, a girl can really pack on the pounds in Palm Beach.) 

 

Speaking of which, that night we went to The Breakers to dine. As most everyone knows, the Breakers is the jewel in Palm Beaches’ crown, a magnificent hotel built by Standard Oil Company magnate, Henry Flagler, in 1904. You must visit the website for a virtual tour of this property, which can really only be described as magnificent.

 

We began our evening in the Seafood Bar, where a wall of windows offers view to the ocean and where bar patrons are given the unique opportunity to set their drinks down on one of two L-shaped aquarium bar counters and watch small fish and other marine life explore the coral stones while they sip their cocktails – tip: order the chocolate raspberry martini.

The Seafood Bar is known for their seafood, natch, but this night we were dining at the fabulously French and decadent L’Escalier, so we reluctantly took our leave and made our way down the Breakers’ sumptuous hallways to that venue.

The proud recipient of the coveted AAA Five Diamond Award, L’Escalier has also received Wine Spectator’s highest honor, its Grand Award, every year since its inception. L'Escalier was named one of the Top Ten French Restaurants in the U.S by Forbestraveler.com in March of this year. And no wonder! L’Escalier translates to `the staircase’ and the name is apt, as the L’Escalier experience literally lifts diners from the average and takes them on a gastronomic tour de force with dishes from the three- or five-course prix fixe menus that are presented as works of art. In addition, L’Escalier provides diners with their personal cuisine concierge to assist with selections from the menu, as well as from the champagne carts that are wheeled from table to table. Just in case your tipple of choice doesn’t happen to be bubbly, Master Sommelier Virginia Philip has created a 1,600 bottle wine list for your indulgence.

 

After being seating at a mahogany-framed banquette table lit by candlelight, we were greeted by a host of red jacketed staff, who served us with freshly baked baguettes, Brie and green grapes. The service here is as synchronized as any well-executed water ballet – servers fill the water glasses in tandem, serve and remove the food presented on Versace china in tandem and even present your napkins in tandem. To say that the service at L’Escalier is polished would be an understatement.

 

On to the food – my fiancé began the meal with the corn and Maine lobster bisque with sweet shallot flan and celery noodles, which was a masterpiece. I began, as I usually do, with the escargot. Again, L’Escalier used its namesake staircase to carry this dish right up to the stars. The wild burgundy escargot was done in a sweet garlic puree with braised onions, buttered brioche, Maldon sea salt and a ramekin of soft, sweet butter. Savoring each and every morsel, I used the brioche to soak up every last bit of this dish, which should join garlic butter sauce as one of only two ways to serve escargot. Ever.

 

Greg ordered the Kobe beef as a main course, while I chose the Colorado lamb trio – rack of lamb, loin of lamb and lamb sausage. Done to perfection, the dish was accompanied by Quince risotto, butternut squash fondant and finished with a Calvados and sage au jus. I then tasted Greg’s Kobe beef. Have you ever had Kobe beef? It’s from a Japanese breed of cattle called Wagyu, which are fed a diet of grain and beer and massaged daily. Yes, massaged. I don’t know if they also receive facials, but anything that tastes this good is certainly entitled to one, as far as I’m concerned. Well marbled and tender beyond belief, there is only one way to eat this beef: cut a piece off the steak; place in mouth; hold steak between tongue and palette and savor the taste; chew twice and swallow. (Really.)

 

I ordered the cheese plate for dessert. I vaguely remember Greg ordering something with ice cream, I think, but I truly don’t remember a thing about it. I only had eyes for the cheese. I knew that my favorite dessert would be done perfectly at L’Escalier, especially when I saw that they had a dedicated cheese menu, and I was correct. The four cheeses I selected were Compo de Montalban, an aged, semi-hard goat and sheep’s milk cheese; Epoisses, an uncooked, unpressed, cow’s milk cheese wshed in Marc de Bourgogne; a Coach Farms triple-cream goat cheese and the Roquefort. Accompanying these selections was a baguette and baklava in place of honey as the sweet. Once again, I savored each bite of this dish between sips of a Warre’s Quinta a Cavadinha port, a fabulous end to an extraordinary meal.

Book a table soon and take L’Escalier’s stairway to gastronomic heaven. And before you leave L’Escalier, don’t forget to ask your server for a souvenier menu. It will be delivered promptly – and tied with a burgundy ribbon.

 

When I return to Palm Beach in May, I’ll be staying at the Breakers and will be checking out their spa and dining at the Seafood Bar , so check back soon for a separate piece on those experiences.