Dreary days dim interest in outdoor dining this winter in Palm Beach

When a cold front over the weekend ushered in chilly weather, the island’s restaurants turned up the heat — outside.

It wasn’t the first time this season that they’ve warmed their outdoor dining areas with commercial-restaurant heating units.

Since December, inclement weather has menaced outdoor dining, which was credited with saving island restaurants during the pandemic.

When it hasn’t been unseasonably nippy, many days have been grayed by clouds, drizzles and sometimes wind hauled in by a succession of cool fronts prompting locals to ask: Where did the Sunshine State go?

“Some who love eating outside, where sunsets can be glorious, have been erring on the side of caution when they see the dark clouds we’ve had and they’re moving inside,” said Emanuela Marcello, co-owner of Café L’Europe, which the town in 2022 approved for a total of 34 outdoor seats.

“Hopefully we’re turning a corner” with a return to Palm Beach’s normally dry and mild winters, the “envy” of other parts of the country, she said.

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The longtime Palm Beach restaurateur Jose Duran, whose island restaurants include Renato’s and Pizza al Fresco ― which combined have more than 150 outdoor seats in Via Mizner — told the Daily News, “Every season, you want to grow a little more businesswise, but what’s held us back this season is weather and its effect on outdoor seating. Now it’s indoor seating that’s always operating at capacity."

That’s a big change, he and others noted.

Outdoor restaurant seating in Palm Beach has been packed as part of a resurgence in al fresco dining unleashed by the rise of the pandemic here in March 2020.

Back then, outdoor seating kept island dining establishments afloat as many diners feared eating indoors as the virus raged.

To help restaurants, the Town Council in May 2020 passed a provision allowing eateries to seek approval to temporarily add new or expanded outdoor seating (without exceeding their overall capacities).

Twenty restaurants wasted no time doing so.

Al fresco seats doubled, with 354 added, according to town officials, who later developed a program so restaurants could make permanent their new outdoor seats.

Other dining establishments didn’t apply for more al fresco seats because they deemed sufficient what they already had.

The town now boasts more outdoor restaurant seats than ever, and this season it has been dogged by dreary weather.

Echoing other restaurants that are taking the weather in stride, LoLa 41 general manager Anthony Budd told the Daily News his team this season has enhanced the restaurant’s dining patio, which includes 75 dining seats and 10 more at an outdoor bar.

Along with adding strategically placed “larger tables” that give the feel of “more space to enjoy the ambiance,” he said “gas and electric heaters were added … to help spread the warmth with these unusually chilly days.”

Outdoor-dining heating units now also are at the ready at other restaurants.

Among them are the French bistro La Goulue, which features 28 outdoor seats along its outdoor sidewalk, as well as Duran’s Renato’s and Pizza al Fresco.

“They actually add to the cozy ambiance,” Duran said. “The reality is climate change changes the extremes. We’re coming off an extremely hot summer, and now we’re seeing unseasonable cold and inclement weather for Palm Beach in winter.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dreary winter days dim interest in outdoor dining in Palm Beach