3 Day Hard Target to West Palm Beach

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Landed. The West Palm Beach Airport had the look of a bigger city. Well done. The shopping reflected the local culture, clothes and accoutrement for golf and tennis, multiple newstands, Brooks Brothers and the Sam Snead Tavern.

 

Taxi to the Hilton Canopy. This will be the only taxi we will see for the 3 days and this, what is apparently the new norm, will become important later. 

 

The city and, again, I realize I was in the Green Zone, was spotless. There was nothing in the street that did not belong there. Sure, there is A LOT of money in West Palm Beach and the landed gentry demand a clean and safe environment. But there is money in Asheville, maybe not front loaded like West Palm Beach, but enough to demand changes and improvements that will impress tourists and encourage locals to go downtown.

 

The Treehouse Restaurant and Bar on top was breezy, clean and sophisticated in an unpretentious way with a clear view of The Breakers. We had Terlato Pinot Grigio which paired quite well with Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Calabrian Chili, Gremolata, Manchego and Lemon partnered with Truffle Fries with Truffle Aoli. Hey, it's vacation!

 

 

The Hard Target was, as aforementioned, "Art and Life in Rembrandt's Time: Master Pieces from The Leiden Collection" including "Young Woman Seated at a Virginal" by Johannes Vermeer that has never been shown to the public. (https://www.norton.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions). This painting is the only piece from this later period of work by Vermeer still remaining in private hands. The Exhibition was magnificent. See for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5id04cDu_y4. The difference between Rembrandt and The School of Rembrandt is remarkable. There is a reason, nay, lots of reasons why his name, Rembrant, became synonymous with perfection.

 

From a Wine Perspective, West Palm Beach was a pleasant surprise. We had lunch at the SRO "Restaurant at The Norton." We must have been looking gleeful perusing their wine list because our server asked, even though you could tell he already knew the answer, if we thought it was a good list. I had a glass of Garzon Albariño. How impressive to find such a highly rated bottle in a museum restaurant! 

 

Anyway, we got to talking to two women from Coral Gables sitting next to us at the bar. After the women had ordered a quality Chardonnay, they asked me what I was drinking. They had never heard of Albariño! Overhearing the conversation, the server offered the pair a taste. Needless to say, two more converts! 

 

My only complaint about West Palm Beach is one that could be said of many American cities. The Taxi is a thing of the past. You can engage a taxi from the airport and, if you work through your hotel, back there. Car services were running rampant all over town. But for those of us who want a standard operating yellow cab, good luck. Waiting for the taxi that never showed, we missed our reservations at Echo, one of the collection of restaurants at The Breakers. Having checked the wine list online, we were looking forward to their Wayfarer Rosé. https://www.thebreakers.com/dining/echo/. 

 

So, standing on principle! we walked in a light rain back to the hotel. The streets were flat and safe and we happened upon the Restoration Hardware Rooftop Restaurant. https://rh.com/us/en/westpalm/restaurant. Lovely. Absolutely lovely inside and outside. And the Wine List was, again, remarkable. We settled on a bottle of Far Niente Chardonnay 2023 which we shelve @MetroWines. https://metro-wines.shoplightspeed.com/far-niente-chardonnay-2023.html

And then that was it. Another magical hard target hit! The taxi driver to the airport totally topped off the West Palm Beach Experience for us. He had photos of himself with his celebrity clients. Perfect. All facts considered, John said he thought the wine lists we saw skewed a bit American but were well curated.