Cuisine:

• Italian
• Contemporary

Forté di Asprinio Description:
Fueling the Palm Beach scene is this minimalist entry. Even from the street, the neon fuchsia glow commands interest, the restaurant design fuses the future with elements of the past, apparent in details like saddle seats and arching space-like lamps. You might think you walked into the MoMA; there are original 1950's and early '60s pieces by Eero Saarinen and Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. There is nothing warm or rustic about Forté di Asprinio, rather, welcome to the world of stylistic Italian, prepared with an aesthetic that toys every now and then (more not than often) with Ferran Adrià-like textures (Stephen Asprinio has left the restaurant and chef Mark Liberman oversees the menu). Perhaps a fairer parity: Massimiliano Alajmo's style at Le Calandre in Padova, Italy. Like Alajmo, the kitchen keeps the dishes clean, with only three or four elements starring on the plate. Preparations may be free-form, but the ingredients are in no way lost. On the Menu Degustazione, risotto comes with toasted farro, Oregon porcinis and sweet corn. Elysian Fields lamb works with potato gnocchi, mint and Sicilian pistachios. For dessert, "carmello" becomes butterscotch pudding, vanilla bean cream with salted peanuts. Wine director Joshua Liberman is an export from Las Vegas where he worked at Michael Mina as well as with the sommeliers of the Bellagio. Six hundred selections of wine range in price from $30 to $20,000, there's a wine-by-the-glass Cruvinet system and a flashy mixology program.