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

In about a year, the iconic Ta-boo will be back — this time in the hands of globally renowned chef-restaurateur Thomas Keller — after the Palm Beach Town Council unanimously voted to approve the site plan and two special exception uses tied to the restaurant’s operation and indoor expansion.

Ta-boo, which project representatives expect to open in spring of 2025, will join Keller's fleet of award-winning restaurants including Napa Valley's The French Laundry and New York's Per Se, both three-Michelin star awardees.

During Wednesday's Development Review meeting, Thomas Keller Restaurant Group's Director of East Coast Operations Jennifer Ottmann also revealed the concept for the menu of the restaurant that will reopen at 221 Worth Ave. following its forced closure in May 2023.

“The concept is a classic approach to a la carte continental cuisine, which is really a nod to the bygone era Ta-boo represents,” said Ottmann. “We’re not really looking to change the legacy that the iconic Ta-boo restaurant represents, we’re just looking to bring it back to life.”

Menu items for the upcoming restaurant include New York strip steak, Avocado Louie, and lobster thermidor, Ottmann said. For dessert, she said residents can expect a chocolate-layered cake made with chocolate from the K+M collections, a collaborative project between Keller and premium Olive Oil maker Armando Manni.

Ottmann also said the restaurant would prioritize buying ingredients from local purveyors.

"So, this is an easy one," council President Margaret Zeidman. "Unless we want to see the floor plan."

Nearly all council members said they were fine skipping the floorplan and moving to vote, until council member Julie Araskog stepped in.

She questioned the project's valet plan and its hours of operations for Friday and Saturday, but said she was in favor of reviewing these issues as part of Ta-boo's future declaration-of-use presentation.

Araskog asked to see the floor plan to understand the internal renovations planned for the project.

These renovations include an expansion of the restaurant’s first floor from 5,130 square feet to 6,253 square feet by incorporating part of the first floor from the neighboring 219 Worth Ave. property. They also include changes to the second floor of 219 Worth Ave., and the accompanying storage building in the lot just north of Ta-boo at 220 Peruvian Ave.

It also includes the installation of a grand piano, a staple in Ta-boo's history.

Araskog asked if the expansions would increase the amount of seating at the restaurant. Maura Ziska, the attorney representing the restaurant group, replied that the renovation were solely to expand the restaurant's kitchen, office and staff area.

Council member Ted Cooney said he supported the expansion, noting that Ta-boo's back-of-house had been "busting at the seams" during operating hours prior to its closure.

Araskog also asked Planning, Zoning, and Building Assistant Director James Murphy if the council could place any requirements on parking. Murphy said that since the restaurant has no means of offering off-street parking, the council can only require a valet plan.

Ziska noted that Ta-boo already has a valet parking plan, which includes an agreement with the Apollo lot, just northwest of the restaurant.

With that, the council voted unanimously to accept the floor plan and the two special exceptions, with Cooney commending the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group for reviving the much loved local eatery.

"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," said Cooney, noting that there is sadness "when we lose a legacy business, and I think it's rather exciting that Thomas Keller, who went to Lake Worth High School, is returning to town."

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.   

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach council OKs Thomas Keller's Ta-boo; menu items revealed