Recently awarded “Best Main Street in Florida,” Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue is now considered one of the up-and-coming South Florida locales to see-and-be-scene.* Capitalizing on the trend is Atlantic Management Group (AMG), a restaurant and nightlife company that will inaugurate their business savvy with back-to-back launches of two restaurant concepts, the Atlantic Ocean Club and Buddha Sky Bar, both slated to open within a few months of each other.
Anchored on the Avenue’s corner, Atlantic Ocean Club will offer Delray locals a two-part experience for diners with progressive gastronomy that transforms afterhours into a lounge concept. The ground level restaurant boasts 5,000-square-feet of nautical elegance, a stylish crudo bar, an intimate 1,500-square-foot mezzanine level, and a sound and lighting system that can be rivaled as South Florida’s best.
Celebrating the farm-to-table trend, Executive Chef, Jamie DeRosa, will foster sustainable practices with locally-sourced ingredients. Complementing his farmer’s market approach will be his “best-of-the-best” school of thought, which includes outsourcing for quality when needed from different areas around the country. Food will reign as the restaurants defining factor with ingredients including Peekytoe crab meat, Bouchot mussels and Dear Isle scallops from Maine; Sonoma County lamb; Creekstone farm-raised beef; Murray farm-raised chicken; domestic Mishima farm Wagyu Kobe beef; Quinalt River King salmon and Oysters from Humboldt Bay and Monterey Bay, California.
Chef DeRosa’s unique culinary approach will pay homage to his tutelage at the world’s number one restaurant (2008), The Fat Duck in the United Kingdom; Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles and Domus restaurant in China. Items from the sea will be prepared a la carte, with a special wood-fired preparation and a choice of sides like Green Tomatoes cured and grilled with preserved Meyer lemons and Fingerling “Baked Potatoes” with bacon, Quebec cheddar and chive. Crudo items and appetizers are meant for sharing while entrees offer selections like Chilled Octopus with watermelon, avocado, poppy seed and Meyer Lemon; Sautéed Grouper & Cheeks, ragoût of braised rabbit, butternut squash gnocchi and pickled root vegetables; and Salt-Crusted Yellowtail Snapper “En Croute,” mussels, cauliflower and confit pear onions.
Interior and exterior for 210 foodies is accommodated by plush seating, Lowenstein chairs and accented with Swarovski chandeliers, teak walls and Silestone Quartz chef tables. A private second floor is anchored by a solid marble dining table, a bar, exclusive wait staff, a separate entrance and panoramic views of downtown Delray Beach courtesy of floor to ceiling windows and two balconies.
Slated to open in the early months of 2011 is Buddha Sky Bar, a rooftop Pan-Asian fusion concept with design and cuisine influences rooted in Chinese and Japanese Interpretations. The 78 seat-restaurant will be available for private bookings and is helmed by Chef DeRosa.