Steak, eggs and flamingo views: Buzzy West Palm Beach restaurant kicks off Sunday brunch

On my first visit to the hot, new Pink Steak restaurant, there was no live DJ spinning in the kitchen, no saxophonist dancing on the bar or impromptu dancers springing from their seats. Not a hint of such Friday night action remained when I glanced around the pizzazzy, flamingo-adorned room and settled into my table at the four-month-old West Palm Beach steakhouse.

It was Easter Sunday and I was there for Pink Steak’s first brunch, a prix-fixe occasion that offered a daytime look at the steakhouse inspired by retro-Miami style and nightlife. (Hence, the DJ booth in the kitchen.) It also offered me a taste of the restaurant’s menu days before it rolls out a permanent a la carte Sunday brunch on April 7.

That’s good news for those who want to try Pink Steak by midday light.

The restaurant’s chef/owner, Julien Gremaud, who envisioned the place as a modern, “less manly” steakhouse, told me he finds Pink Steak’s location on South Dixie Highway “perfect for a nice upscale brunch”.

The steakhouse’s Easter brunch offered something beyond that: a chance to see and taste the results of a solid culinary collaboration, that of Gremaud and Pink Steak executive chef Aaron Black. While this is not their first collaboration — they worked together at Pistache and later at PB Catch — it is their finest.

If my Easter Sunday experience at Pink Steak was any indication of what’s to come, the new steakhouse brunch promises to be quite special.

From the adjika butter atop wood-roasted oysters to the perfectly grilled skirt steak to the Moroccan-spiced lamb shank, the flavors of this three-course holiday brunch ($129 per person) danced on the palate, much like that Friday night saxophonist danced on the bar.

The a la carte brunch that starts this weekend offers a lineup of tempting late-breakfast plates that includes that tender, wood-grilled skirt steak served with two sunny eggs, roasted garlic, blistered shishito peppers and chimichurri ($38 for 5-ounce steak, $59 for 10-ounce).

Other brunch menu highlights include:

◾ Jumbo lump blue crab Florentine on buttered brioche toast with hollandaise ($34).

◾ Smoked salmon carpaccio with trout caviar, red onions, capers, egg “confetti”, bibb salad and toasted sourdough ($29).

◾ French country omelet made with whipped eggs, forest mushrooms, ham, Gruyere cheese and herbs, served with your choice of two sides ($26).

◾ Truffle croque madame layered with French ham and caramelized Gruyere cheese, served with a sunny egg, truffle mornay sauce and one side ($26).

Those brunch dishes are part of a larger menu that includes raw bar items and platters (from $22), salads (from $16), a full range of steaks and chops (from $55), wood-grilled fish ($46), Maine lobster and seafood risotto ($58) and Royal Osetra caviar service ($149).

While brunch at Pink Steak can be pricey — mimosas and Bellinis are priced at $22 — the menu is adaptable and the brunch plates hearty.

Hearty but not overloaded with starches.

“We try to stay away as much as possible from carbs and encourage shellfish and fun egg dishes,” Gremaud told me. “We are, of course, offering our top quality wood-fire steaks for the meat lovers.”

As for vibe, Pink Steak’s brunch may not be as amped up as the weekend brunch at Gremaud’s Avocado Grill restaurant in downtown West Palm Beach, where revelers dance in the aisles and bar tops. Not yet, anyway.

“We are starting without live music,” Gremaud told me. “But we are not against it if our guests are encouraging us.”

Pink Steak

Located at 2777 S. Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, 561-557-9083, PinkSteak.com

Sunday brunch: Offered from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Hours: Open daily at 4 p.m. for dinner; weekday happy hour offered 4 to 6 p.m. at the bar.

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Liz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She covers the local food and dining beat. Follow her on Instagram and Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hot, new restaurant Pink Steak starts Sunday brunch in West Palm Beach