At the Town Council's February 11 development review meeting, the restaurant itself wasn't the subject for long. Council Member Ted Cooney, speaking as someone who lives nearby, described Royal Poinciana Way after dark. Since paid parking arrived, he said, daytime spaces are generally easy to find. On Friday and Saturday evenings the street is often full until after midnight, and some businesses run valet from the curb when underground spaces are open.
The restaurant on the agenda was Élephante. By the end of the discussion, the Council had decided when its delivery trucks may arrive, where its valet drivers may park and when the town gets to review the whole arrangement again. That document is called a declaration of use. Each of the island's three most talked-about new restaurants for the 2026-27 season either has one or is working on one. On Palm Beach, much of what makes a new dining room work is decided in Council chambers, in public, before the kitchen opens.
Élephante's Contract Runs Longer Than Its Menu Description
Élephante is the upscale Mediterranean concept from Wish You Were Here Group, Nick Mathers's California-based hospitality company. It is going into 207 Royal Poinciana Way, the landmarked building where Almond closed in May 2024. The address goes back a long way: Testa's ran there from 1929 to 1946, and later came Chuck & Harold's and a nine-year stretch as Nick & Johnnie's. The building belongs to Flagler System Management Inc., the Breakers-affiliated company that bought it in a 2024 deal with The Frisbie Group, according to the Palm Beach Daily News report syndicated on Yahoo.
"I'm so excited to actually be able to work in this town," Mathers said in that same Daily News story. "And I also think for us, we like to come to places and actually be part of the community."
The Council approved two special exceptions and a variance unanimously on January 14. Those cleared the way for the restaurant, its streetside seating and a grab-and-go market next door at 208 and 210 Sunset Avenue serving coffee, pastries and premade items. The variance lets the restaurant put its name on the awning, which attorney James Crowley described as a nod to Testa's. Because the front facade is landmarked, the awning design still goes before the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Four weeks later the declaration of use passed 5-0. The February 11 meeting minutes lay out the operating terms:
- Seats: 284, grandfathered from the building's earlier restaurant use, with up to 40 outdoors under the agreement, as the Daily News reported
- Valet: 6 p.m. to closing, with overflow going underground or to other Breakers-owned lots, and employees parking off-island
- Deliveries: before 10 a.m.
- Oversight: the restaurant comes back for a compliance review after six months of operation, and the Council can change valet operations during that review, if problems come up, or after a verified complaint
- Trash: collection timed with Public Works to finish as late as possible before pickup
Even the hours went through debate. Council Member Julie Araskog wanted a midnight close on Fridays and Saturdays. Cooney and Council Member Bridget Moran argued Thursday should count too, since for visitors it is part of the weekend. Araskog also proposed in-season delivery windows of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or after 5 p.m.
Parking ownership is what moved this project. Moran pointed out that The Breakers controls enough nearby parking to offer what she said no other applicant could, and Council President Lindsay said The Breakers should use it. The Council put Élephante's draft agreement back on its April 15 agenda for a separate parking review.
On South County Road, the Council Bargained Over Square Feet
The second project shows the same process from the opposite direction. Here the town traded more floor space for fewer seats.
George x Avenue 31 is planned for 380 S. County Road, the two-story building that was Le Bar à Vin. The partnership pairs owner George Norcross III with restaurateur Stefano Frittella. It brings Avenue 31, a dining brand from Avenue Princesse Grace in Monaco known for Italian-Mediterranean dishes such as tagliolini with langoustines and miso black cod, to the island for the first time. The plan adds an evening lounge and nightclub component across both floors, according to Haute Living.
On September 9 the Council voted 4-1 to let 236 square feet of second-floor office space become seating. The Palm Beach Daily News reported the conditions. At least 24 seats have to stay on the second floor, and total seating is capped at 87, down from the 108 the building was allowed before. Araskog cast the only no vote. Her concern was that a bigger upper floor could turn into standing room, or that seats could be moved upstairs to create private-event space.
So the building got larger and lost 21 seats. That 24-seat floor is how the town keeps an upstairs room working as a dining room. The draft declaration of use that governs operating hours and traffic mitigation went on the Council's October 14 agenda.
Worth Avenue's Biggest Vacancy Gets a Long Runway
The third project is the slowest, and it may matter most to the island's main shopping street. Stephen Starr's STARR Restaurants plans a standalone restaurant, tentatively called Room Service, at 151 Worth Avenue. That is the former Neiman Marcus building, empty since the store closed in 2020. Town staff confirmed the concept was created for Palm Beach and is not a chain location. Starr calls it a neighborhood restaurant with a steakhouse influence.
The seating plan has 165 seats: 126 indoors, seven at the bar and 32 on an outdoor balcony over Worth Avenue. On September 9 the Council approved special exceptions for the restaurant, including its outdoor café seating. "I think you have nailed it for Palm Beach," Moran said, as quoted by the Palm Beach Daily News. On September 23 the Architectural Commission approved a 1,350-square-foot third-floor back-of-house addition that the paper described as not visible from Worth Avenue.
The draft declaration of use for 151 Worth was also on the October 14 agenda. The owner's plan targets December 2027, about 15 months after the Council's September vote.
| Project | Address | Key Council action | Seating set by the town |
|---|---|---|---|
| Élephante | 207 Royal Poinciana Way | Approved 5-0, Feb. 11, 2026 | 284 grandfathered, up to 40 outdoors |
| George x Avenue 31 | 380 S. County Road | Approved 4-1, Sept. 9, 2026 | 87 total, at least 24 upstairs |
| Room Service | 151 Worth Avenue | Approved Sept. 9, 2026 | 165, including 32 on the balcony |
What Reaches the Island Sooner
The places that fit this season are the ones that skipped the special-exception process altogether: existing rooms coming back and retailers returning to familiar addresses.
Flagler Steakhouse at The Breakers' Golf & Racquet Clubhouse is scheduled to reopen in November after a monthslong refresh that included a full back-of-house kitchen renovation, the Palm Beach Daily News reported. The Breakers' own page lists the clubhouse as temporarily closed through November 2026.
Vineyard Vines is returning to Worth Avenue at 330 Worth Ave., the former Silver Fund space, with a reopening the brand expected in the first week of November, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Bottega Veneta moved in the opposite direction this summer. It left Worth Avenue and opened at 70 Royal Poinciana Way on July 13, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Dates for the Island Calendar
The season's fixed events are already on the books:
- Thursdays at Sant Ambroeus: the Royal Poinciana Plaza calendar lists live jazz from 6 to 9 p.m., including Thursday, November 5.
- Holidays On Worth, Tuesday, December 1: the Worth Avenue Association's tree lighting starts with Santa's parade on the 100 block at 6:10 p.m., and the tree is lit at 6:25 p.m.
- Carols on the Lawn, Sunday, December 13, 4 p.m.: the Palm Beach Atlantic University Concert Choir performs in the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden at The Society of the Four Arts, 100 Four Arts Plaza. Admission is free and no reservation is needed.
Once Élephante opens, its six-month review starts counting, and that review is when the Council looks again at its valet plan on Royal Poinciana Way.
If you own on the island or are weighing a property near Royal Poinciana Way, South County Road or Worth Avenue, Sergey Shulga can explain how these agreements affect the blocks you care about. Schedule a Consultation.
