Palm Beach chefs share their summer-travel inspirations for new or updated dishes

Whether they visited a neighboring town or a place across the globe, summer travel fired up culinary inspiration for Palm Beach chefs.

But don’t take their word or it: You can taste their summer travel inspiration in new or revamped dishes they’ve created as a result.

Here, five island chefs dish about how their summer travels have sparked culinary ideas that translate to something delicious.

Gwen Le Pape, executive chef, La Goulue

288 S. County Road

As part of a summer week he enjoyed with his two home-from-college sons, La Goulue executive chef Gwen Le Pape explored the Everglades.

After having fun locally — from Jet Ski rides to backyard barbecuing — their time in the Everglades included a day devoted to a frog-hunting outing.

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“We had such a fun time learning about the history of the Everglades and catching frogs that it was during this trip that I caught my inspiration for a La Goulue special: cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs),” Le Pape told the Daily News.

La Goulue now features, on Fridays eves, sauteed frog legs ($26) — a French classic — prepared with lemon, garlic, parsley and butter.

Andrew Schor, executive chef, Palm Beach Grill/Honor Bar

Royal Poinciana Plaza

During summer travels to Paris, Barcelona and Rome, one thing in particular awed Palm Beach Grill and Honor Bar executive chef Andrew Schor: the “precision” and “attention to detail” of Paris pastry chefs.

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Their delicious creations “looked like pieces of art,” Schor said, reminding him that “the pursuit for perfection produces a great product.” He strives to “make every plate … better than the one I served before,” he added.

Inspired by his European tour, Schor — along with his culinary team — has been introducing new specials and reexamining longtime favorites.

Among the dishes he loves using the “best” products — from “eggs with deeper and richer yolks” to tomatoes with “great sweet flavor” — is one that reminds him of the summer season of his travels: salmon salad.

With grilled salmon, the dish ($34) at Palm Beach Grill features hearts of palm, avocado, Star Ruby grapefruit and creamy vinaigrette.

Kevin Sawyer, chef de cuisine, PB Catch

251 Sunrise Ave.

While visiting family this past summer in seafood-mecca Baltimore, PB Catch chef de cuisine Kevin Sawyer explored notable seafood restaurants.

At the Thames Street Oyster House by the Inner Harbor, seafood stews and braised seafood dishes reflected how “they were experimenting outside the normal white wine, butter and garlic preparations you see at most classic American seafood houses,” Sawyer told the Daily News.

“They were focused on more Mediterranean-style preparations where the flavors were light and refreshing. … That’s one of the areas I will focus on this season.”

Sawyer is now perfecting his new ideas for Mediterranean-style stews and braised dishes with seafood, but for now, try a seafood stew he already features at PB Catch: cioppino ($43).

Clams, mussels, Key West shrimp and fish of the day populate a rich tomato-fennel broth and the stew is served with crostini.

Sean Brasel, executive chef, Meat Market

191 Bradley Place

Proving you don’t have to go far from home to find culinary inspiration, Meat Market executive chef Sean Brasel spent part of the past summer working more closely with area farmers to develop special lettuce blends for his restaurant dishes.

Think such greens as purslane, shiso and baby mizuna.

To the delight of Meat Market guests, “we’ve been incorporating these micro lettuces into daily specials by way of micro salads,” Brasel said. “For example, we (recently) did an elk tartare with wasabi Dijon aioli with a micro salad of purslane and celery with preserved lemon dressing. Instead of using micros just as a garnish, we’re trying to showcase the flavor (through) making small delicious salads.”

One periodically recurring Meat Market special highlighting this approach has been particularly popular: a salsify-and-king crab tart ($22) topped with salsify, parsley, chives, micro basil and purslane.

Dieter Samijn, executive chef, Café Boulud

301 Australian Ave.

What most inspired Café Boulud executive chef Dieter Samijn during summer visits to Japan’s Tokyo and Kyoto was this: the way Japanese chefs handle and prepare seafood.

Like Samijn’s own standards, “fish is always fresh and the cleaning process is more precise,” he said. “And to maximize the flavor and taste, fish is prepared with very little work and only with high-quality natural ingredients.”

Motivated by that, Samijn now features fresh tuna specials at Café Boulud.

One of them is currently featured in three-course prix-fixe menus for $49 (lunch) and $69 (dinner): bluefin tuna crudo with aji amarillo, lime, oregano and avocado crema.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Inspired by their travel, Palm Beach chefs serve up new or updated dishes