By Nila Do Simon
Photography by Felipe Cuevas
Certain worlds and communities are hard to break into, and Palm Beach is undoubtedly one of them. The close-knit, multigenerational cliques are unyielding, with little room for the uninitiated. The term “new business” could be considered an oxymoron on the island. Even Starbucks had a hard time opening on ritzy Worth Avenue in 2007.
So when Meat Market Palm Beach, a sexy, high-energy steakhouse with origins in Miami Beach, opened in September, the owners weren’t sure how Palm Beachers would react. The conclusion? Diners can’t get enough of it.
On this Tuesday night, the house is packed. The 3,000-square-foot restaurant and lounge is a melding of South Beach panache and Palm Beach sophistication, decorated with dark and reflective subway tiles, exposed light bulbs, vaulted ceilings and a hip, young staff roaming the floor. For those new to Meat Market, let it be known: this isn’t your typical steakhouse.
When restaurateur David Tornek and chef/owner Sean Brasel created Meat Market, they wanted to shift the idea of what a traditional steakhouse is and how it looks. Dismissing the idea that steakhouses needed to look masculine and stately, they designed the restaurant with women in mind.
“We felt that by catering to women, having stylish and modern design details with a high-end yet sexy menu of food and drinks, that we’d not only attract women, but also their boyfriends and husbands. So far, it’s seemed to work,” Brasel says, gesturing to the mixed crowd in the dining room and bar.
The Palm Beach location is the third in a line of what they hope to be a Meat Market empire (the second is in San Juan, Puerto Rico). The newest edition features similar characteristics as the other locations—a diverse menu of artfully composed plates, prime meats, seafood and a raw bar. The differences, subtle as they are, include a wide bar to accommodate the contemporary trend of barside dining. High above the bar, an herb wall dots the top shelf and eight different limoncello flavors soak in oversized glass jars.
The crudo bar offers classic raw bar items, from East and West Coast oysters with accompanying yuzu truffle mignonette, atomic horseradish and habañero cocktail sauce. Ceviches are prepared fresh daily. Steaks, perhaps the coup de grâce of the menu, can be paired with lush items such as seared foie gras Rossini and roasted prime bone marrow. Signature to Meat Market are the array of house-made “butters” and “sauces,” including roasted pepper chimichurri, Jack Daniels Pasilla garlic sauce and au poivre peppercorn.
The restaurant is modern in more ways than its décor. Every morning, each of Brasel’s chefs de cuisine in the three locations create daily specials, from soups to pastas. To get Brasel’s approval, they text him photos of those daily specials. For Brasel, seeing these images on his smartphone screen is enough to get him excited for dinner service.
“I want to empower these talented people in my kitchen, with a bit of guidance, to create,” Brasel says. “It’s fun seeing what creations they come up with.” In its short existence, Meat Market Palm Beach has already developed a following. Customers include New England Patriots owner Robert Craft and NFL hall of famer Cris Carter. When asked how it feels to serve such high-profile diners, Brasel smiles. “It makes you feel like you’re doing something right.”
191 Bradley Place, Palm Beach, meatmarket.net
Originally appeared in the Spring 2015 issue.
