Mediterranean restaurant Blue Door opens in West Palm Beach’s SoSo neighborhood
If you’re looking for the feeling of relaxing along the Mediterranean coast, while enjoying the comfort of your favorite neighborhood restaurant, there’s a bustling new option in West Palm Beach.
La Porte Bleue, located in the “SoSo” district (south of Boulevard Sud), was designed to meet these criteria.
Well, these accompany Mediterranean-inspired dishes, wines selected from small vineyards in the region and wonderful cocktails.
The creation of five co-owners, including executive director Tamara Magalhães, executive chef Nano Crespo, interior designer Sara Ricci, Max Ricci and Michael Katzenberg, The Blue Door opened on January 24.
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Designed by architecture firm Spina O’Rourke, the structure is entirely white except for, you guessed it, a blue door.
Somewhat deriving the name from a Los Angeles hot spot called The Little Door that Max Ricci and Crespo both frequented, Max said he loved going there.
“It was just a door and you showed up and it opened into this outdoor dining area,” he said.
With an exterior and interior (designed by Sara Ricci’s Studio Ett Hem) inspired by the Mediterranean coast, the kitchen follows suit. Executive director Magalhães describes it as “the good food you would eat on the Mediterranean coast, from France to Italy to Greece.”
Designed by Chef Crespo, the menu is heavily influenced by this region and features a number of seafood dishes. With a strong emphasis on grilling and a rustic ambiance, the emphasis for all of their dishes is to use the best ingredients and let them speak for themselves. That, and doing virtually everything in-house. From their bread to pasta and even ice cream.
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The Blue Door’s whole branzino, served butterflied, grilled and accompanied by Chef Crespo’s salmoriglio sauce (his includes olives, capers and anchovies), as well as the lamb chops, imported from New Zealand, are already massive successes. Max joked that they “practically have to hold people back” from the lamb chops they are so good.
While working on the concept for The Blue Door, Max and Katzenberg, who both reside in the SoSo district, recognized that with all the new families and people moving into the area, “there needed to be a place like this in the neighborhood.” “
Their idea definitely proved true with evenings so busy that Max said sometimes “it feels like the whole neighborhood just walked through the door.”
While the structure itself, the interior and the food all contribute to transporting customers, the cocktails also play their part.
One of the most popular to date, the Sunset Spritzer, made with tequila, prosecco and blood orange, can “take you back to sitting on the coast of the Mediterranean on a beautiful windy day,” according to the Magalhães .
The blue door
Or: 5700 S. Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach
Hours: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday
Information and reservations: thebluedoorwpb.com
Eddie Ritz is a reporter for the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida network. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
