Tastebuds Travel the World

By CHARLES PASSY
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 27, 2009

The word about Jade has spread slowly, but it has definitely spread. First, I heard about it from a guy at the gym, who told me it was another culinary jewel in West Palm Beach's Northwood neighborhood. Then, a wine-geek friend clued me in, saying it was a great place for appetizers - and a great place to enjoy a glass of vino (or bring your own bottle for a small corkage fee).

This is exactly the kind of buzz I like to hear when I'm looking for somewhere new to eat. If two folks with no connection to each other can volunteer the same dining suggestion out of the blue, I know there's something going on.

That was definitely borne out when I finally visited Jade on a sleepy weeknight. The forever-trying-to-gentrify-itself strip known as Northwood Road still isn't quite there, but the stylish and intimate Jade sends the message that it's getting ever closer, especially with the similarly smart Café Centro doing solid business down the street.

Jade has less of a "scene," but that's by design: It's the vision of one couple - Wayne and Katherine Devers - with solid culinary credentials (he used to be the private chef to an unnamed billionaire) and a desire to open that perfect little neighborhood spot in a community that would welcome them.

They've been going at it for about four months now, serving an ever-changing menu that is very much built around appetizers in the "tapas" tradition. This is New American food at its best - bistro-style, colorfully presented and full of flavor (and flavors from around the world). And the pricing is right, too: Even with a bottle of wine (the small list has mainly New World selections in the $25-40 range), it's very easy for a couple to have a satisfying meal for $100 or less.

With the appetizers, I was particularly impressed with a special of crispy chickens in a honey-mustard sauce, served with bitter greens ($9). It's rare enough to find a restaurant that puts an oddball item like chicken livers on its menu. It's even rarer to find one that transforms it into a quasi-Asian-style delight - the honey mustard and greens lent notes of unexpected exoticism that got a liver-hater like me reaching for seconds.

Also in an Asian vein: a special of bluefin tuna sashimi, served with a fennel salad ($16). Never mind that Jade isn't a Japanese restaurant: This was some of the tastiest raw tuna I've had in a while.

The global journey continued. Another appetizer was something akin to an all-American turkey dinner in the form of dumplings - namely, turkey dumplings with a cranberry-chili dipping sauce ($8), a dish both clever and satisfying. Then it was off to France with a more old-fashioned (but equally well-rendered) slice of a country-style pãté ($9). And though I'd hardly call Jade a California cuisine kind of place, a salad of slow-roasted beets with goat cheese ($9) was done perfectly in that fresh, earth-loving West Coast manner.

Entrees are bigger than the appetizers, naturally. But I like how the restaurant makes them fairly shareable, too, helping split dishes or providing any other assistance.

I was very high on a special of baby lamb chops with green olives and apricots ($21) - the chops themselves were delectable, but it was this sweet-and-savory Mediterranean preparation that made the dish really click.

Completing the global tour: An entree of Panang chicken curry ($12) - perhaps the only disappointment of the night in that it wasn't any better than what I'd find at a standard Indian restaurant. (Then again, it wasn't any worse.)

Well, there was one more stop: The array of desserts we sampled included a version of churros ($6), the Mexican doughnut-like street-food favorite. Jade toys with tradition by letting you dunk the fried treat into chocolate sauce. Hey, it works for me.

And so does Jade. The restaurant's playfulness is matched by its professionalism, which extends to its knowledgeable, generally on-top-of-their game servers. You can tell they enjoy working here just as much as Jade's regulars enjoy dining here. Let the good word continue to spread.