A Foodie’s Guide to Opal’s Best Eats
At Opal Collection hotels and resorts across the Sunshine State, the restaurant concepts each tell a story — a deliciously good one. This round-up, which appeared in Opal magazine, gives guests an idea of where to dine and what to order.
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Vacation, Night One: You’ve arrived in paradise. You’re enjoying an almost-too-pretty-to-eat plate of yuzu-glazed yellowtail snapper with your toes in the sand, a crisp glass of Russian River chardonnay in your hand as you gaze at the sun dipping lazily below an Atlantic horizon.
Vacation, Night Two: You’re bellied up to a raw bar, watching as the chefs rhythmically shuck fresh fresh-from-the-sea oysters. An overflowing seafood tower is placed in front of the guest to your left. You quickly motion to your waiter — you’ll have what they’re having.
Vacation, Night Three: You’re not sure how she does it, but the mixologist in front of you seems to be doing three things at once: muddling fresh herbs, juicing limes and stirring it all together like the veritable alchemist she is. She sets your cocktail in front of you, and you take a sip: magic.
Three nights in, and you’ve had three different dining experiences, each better than the next. But here’s the twist: They’ve all been at the same place. You’ve never left the resort. You’ve never had to ask yourself, Where should we go tonight? And that, says Opal Collection’s food and beverage director Scott Luper, is precisely the point. Each and every concept he and his team create — like the Latitudes, Drift and Beach Market Cafe concepts at Opal hotels and resorts in Florida — are meant to be the type of place you can come back to night after night and never have the same experience twice.
“I’m not a designer, nor do I pretend to be,” says Luper with a laugh. “But I’ve worked in this business my whole life, since I was a kid. In the restaurants I do, I’m giving you an experience. I’m telling you a story from the minute you enter.”
If he’s telling you a story, think of the various parts of his restaurants as “chapters.” At the Latitudes and Drift concepts, the first chapter — the beginning of the story — begins in the bar/lounge, where mixologists are the main characters. The next chapter would be the galley, where guests can sit and watch as chefs prep ingredients, tend to the stone oven’s fire, assemble charcuterie boards, steam seafood. Subsequent chapters might include an outdoor terrace with panoramic ocean views, a refined main dining area or an intimate private dining room. Together, they create the narrative arc of a meticulously curated culinary experience.
And as any good author would do, Scott is showing, not telling, with the help of his team. “We’re bringing that culinary piece from the front to the back,” he says. “Most restaurants store all their spirits in the back — we’ve got them out on display. Our chefs are prepping and cooking right there in front of you. When you walk into Latitudes, you smell the seafood. You see the seafood. And at Drift, you’re greeted with a waft of smoke from the stone ovens, which are right there in the middle of it all. At Beach Market Cafe, everything is being made to order, right there in front of you. You see the action. You see our culinary crew in motion.”
Ready to experience it for yourself? Here, Luper and Andy Gayler, Opal’s regional executive chef, walk us through three of the dinging concepts you’ll find at Opal Collection hotels and resorts in the Sunshine State.
“When you’re here, you’ll understand the story we’re telling right away,” says Luper. “You’ll feel it.”
LATITUDES
The story: Latitudes got its sea legs in Sunset Key, so it’s no surprise that its name feels plucked out of a Jimmy Buffett song. And while Latitudes restaurants are indeed “beachy,” says Luper, and while, in some cases, you can get your toes in the sand (like in Sunset Key!), they provide an elevated, elegant experience, transporting you to a nautical oasis where briny seashore breezes mingle with aromas of freshly steamed seafood and experterly seared Florida snapper, grouper, mahi and the like — whatever is freshest off the local docks.
In designing the menu, though, Scott and his team of chefs didn’t forget about the land-lovers. It may be seafood towers, Caribbean lobster and fresh-shucked oysters that you first spot in the chef’s galley, but Wagyu skirt steaks, center-cut tenderloins, braised short ribs and perfectly pan-roasted chicken await on the menu. If you’re lingering to catch the sunset — or just lingering because it’s vacation, thank you very much — be sure to order a dessert or three, or maybe a handcrafted cocktail. At Latitudes, as is the case at all of Opal Collection’s restaurants, the bar menu is just as meticulously thought out as the others. (Jimmy Buffett must be so proud.)
What to order: We’ll be honest: It’ll be hard to pass up a heaping helping of the goods on display in the seafood galley — poached shrimp, seared scallops, oysters, crab legs (in season) and the like — but the seafood-averse won’t mind starting with an artisan cheese plate or a crisp, shareable salad. When it’s time to choose an entree, you’ve got options: double-down with the fresh seafood, or watch the chefs work their magic on tried-and-true steaks and pasta dishes, elevating each with nautically inspired flavors.
Where you’ll find it:
Sunset Key Cottages, Key West
Delray Sands, Highland Beach
The Resort at Longboat Key Club, Longboat Key
Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa, Jupiter*
DRIFT
The story: Imagine a ship, set adrift, eventually reaching far-flung shores and returning with tales of new experiences, new horizons, new tastes. That’s where the culinary team at Drift seeks their inspiration. “It’s that four-quarters-of-the-world idea,” says Gayler. “It’s allowed us to be a little more eclectic, pulling as we can from the ports of the world.” Map-spanning ingredients like preserved lemon, tapenade, truffle, romesco and the like play on the plate with proteins pulled from both sea and land. There’s a focus on conviviality, too: shareable plates, charcuterie boards and stone-fired flatbreads take center stage, both on the menu and on view in the chef’s galley.
What to order: Be sure to start with a curated cheese or charcuterie board. If you’re sitting in the chef’s galley, you’ll be able to watch the chefs prep the ingredients — stone fruit mostardas, housemade pickles, fig-almond bread, imported European meats, small-batch cheeses — in front of you. Order a few vegetable- or seafood-forward plates to share, and then save room for the Drift spin on fresher-than-fresh Florida fish or an unforgettable steak. Feeling more casual? The Drift Burger is not to be missed — think wild mushrooms, red onion marmalade, smoked mozzarella, truffle aioli and crispy shallots.
Where you’ll find it:
Opal Grand Oceanfront Resort & Spa, Delray Beach
Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa, Jensen Beach
Lido Beach Resort, Sarasota
BEACH MARKET CAFE
The story: Think of the Beach Market as your neighborhood cafe, even if it’s only in your “neighborhood” for the length of your vacation. A true one-stop shop, the Beach Market is at your service from morning to night — from your early A.M. coffee fix to your late-night gelato craving. And that’s precisely the point, says Luper.
“The corner of Atlantic and Ocean avenues in Delray Beach is a busy one,” he says. “People on bikes, people making their way to the beach, tourists out for a stroll, runners out for a jog, families pushing strollers. It was standing there on that corner that I came up with this concept: I thought, what could I do entice all these people to come in?”
Turns out, a lot of things. For one, he could serve really, really good coffee. And great smoothies and power bowls. And a knockout of a blueberry muffin, warmed to order. He didn’t stop there, though — he thought through all the scenarios. Those people heading to the beach? Maybe they need picnic fixings or a bottle of wine. The joggers? They might have worked up the appetite for a grab-and-go sandwich. Families? Gelato. The common thread to it all is a fixation on freshness — and on friendliness. “It’s an essential part of the resort experience,” says Andy, “but it’s also an integral part of the neighborhood.”
What to order: Freshly brewed Illy coffee, for starters. If it’s morning and you’re after something light, ask for a smoothie and watch them make it in front of you: juicy mangoes, fresh-squeezed juices, a tangle of spinach. Need something more substantial? There’s plenty on offer for you, too, like a bagel sandwich or avocado toast, piled high with smoked salmon, tangy labneh, cured egg yolk and pickled shallots. Your beach picnic will quickly come together from the grab-and-go section, or you can order a few warm sandwiches to go. Don’t forget the bottle of wine — and be sure to stop back by to cool off with a cup of icy gelato on your way back from the shore.
Where you’ll find it:
Opal Grand Oceanfront Resort & Spa, Delray Beach
Lido Beach Resort, Sarasota
Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa, Jupiter