Former Ta-Boo owner 'couldn't be happier' chef Thomas Keller is taking over the name, legend

M.M. Cloutier
·3 min read
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Ta-boo was a dining staple on Palm Beach island for nearly 83 years. It closed May 28 after an eviction process.
Ta-boo was a dining staple on Palm Beach island for nearly 83 years. It closed May 28 after an eviction process.
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As excitement buzzes around superstar chef Thomas Keller reviving shuttered Ta-boo on Worth Avenue, the decades-old restaurant’s former owner says he’s “delighted” about the future stewardship of the iconic eatery and bar.

Though Ta-boo’s closure last May was forced, its then-owner Franklyn de Marco told the Daily News last week that he “couldn’t be happier that someone of Thomas Keller’s stature is carrying on the legacy. I’m delighted.”

According to de Marco and investors behind the new Keller restaurant, an agreement was inked in February to purchase the Ta-boo name and other assets from de Marco. The terms were not disclosed to the Daily News.

More: Thomas Keller's Ta-boo gets OK and praise from Palm Beach council; menu items revealed

“The Ta-boo name here (in Pam Beach) and the restaurant’s history is a valuable property and they recognized that,” de Marco told the Daily News.

A Palm Beach investor in the new Ta-boo project concurred.

“We came to an agreement with respect to the Ta-boo name and associated intellectual property,” Edwin “Win” Betteridge, also CEO of Greenleaf & Crosby by Betteridge on Worth Avenue, said in an e-mail on Wednesday.

"Per the asset purchase agreement, we are unable to discuss any payment terms,” he said. “Franklyn believes Chef Keller would be an extraordinary steward of the Ta-boo legacy. … Preserving this landmark Palm Beach social institution was the basis for this agreement.”

A spokesperson for Thomas Keller Restaurant Group declined to comment about the matter.

Since late 2021, Betteridge has held the lease to the building housing the old Ta-boo and what will be the new Ta-boo.

Arlette Gordon says goodbye to Franklyn de Marco during a farewell party at Ta-boo, which is closed in May after more than 80 years on Worth Avenue.
Arlette Gordon says goodbye to Franklyn de Marco during a farewell party at Ta-boo, which is closed in May after more than 80 years on Worth Avenue.

The restaurant space, Betteridge has said, now is leased not by Keller, but “a restaurant ownership group” called Worth Avenue Hospitality LLC, for which Keller has agreed to operate the new restaurant, Betteridge has said.

The group, he said, includes unnamed investors as well as 219 Worth Avenue Holdings.

Plans for Keller’s Ta-boo — burnished by Keller’s beloved roots in Palm Beach County and his portfolio including the French Laundry in Napa Valley, California, and Per Se in New York — were OK'd earlier this month by the town.

During the Town Council’s March 14 development review meeting, the new Ta-boo’s 6,253-square-foot site/floor plan and two special exception uses were unanimously approved.

Thomas Keller Restaurant Group's Director of East Coast Operations Jennifer Ottmann said at the meeting that the new Ta-boo’s concept is “a classic approach to a la carte continental cuisine. … a nod to the bygone era Ta-boo represents.

“We’re not really looking to change the legacy of the iconic Ta-boo,” she said, noting menu items will include New York Strip steak and lobster thermidor. “We’re just looking to bring it back to life.”

At the meeting, Town Council member Ted Cooney told the Keller representatives: “Just a kudos to your team. I think you instantly received a lot of good will in this community by retaining the Ta-boo name.”

Staff writer Diego Diaz Lasa contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Former Ta-Boo owner 'delighted' Thomas Keller will carry on legacy