Geoffery Zakarian Brings Point Royal to Diplomat Hotel
Photos Courtesy of Diplomat Hotel
The vaunted Diplomat Hotel has transformed itself with a gorgeous remodeling and the opening of 7 new restaurants! We checked out world famous Chef Geoffrey Zakarian’s new ode to seafood called Point Royal.
To kick off the summer season, chef/restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian has promoted Jorge Negron to helm the kitchen at Point Royal, the Coastal American restaurant and bar at The Diplomat Beach Resort, and join Zakarian’s esteemed team of executive chefs.
The chef was born in Western New York and raised in Puerto Rico, Negron had the benefit of generational culinary talent in his family. Negron’s father – also a chef – taught him to cook Puerto Rican fare and instilled in him a passion for finding local ingredients and treating them well. Surrounded by a food-focused environment, he was inspired to attend culinary school at the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. Since graduating, he has been an integral part of several notable hotel culinary teams including the St. Regis Bahia Beach Rio Grande, the Ritz-Carlton South Beach and the Viceroy Miami. Just prior to joining Point Royal, Negron worked at 1 Hotel South Beach.
“Jorge has been an integral part of the Point Royal team since before the grand opening, and there is no one more dedicated to the culinary vision we have at the restaurant and The Diplomat,” says Zakarian. “His strong leadership capabilities, skill with flavors and acumen of culinary techniques makes him the perfect chef to lead the kitchen with me here in Hollywood.”
At Point Royal, Negron will collaborate with Zakarian continuing to produce a modern take on Florida dining. The indoor-outdoor venue with a palette of golden yellows, warm whites, and soft blue tones offers several distinct dining spaces including a main dining room, a gorgeous raw bar counter, and lush private dining hideaway room, as well as a large bustling center bar focused on fresh cocktails and an extensive yet fun wine list. The commodious venue is quite beautiful with skyscraper height ceilings and lush greenery to create a comfy yet setting.
We will take you through some of our fave dishes from our dinner experience. Start with the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare Avocado, Chili-Sesame Seed Vinaigrette. This is a marvelous version of tuna tartare. The tuna was fresh and the vinaigrette perfectly complemented it and the crunchy bread chips.
While you may want to go big and get a seafood tower we opted for the Warm Alaskan King Crab Brown Butter, Lemon, Breadcrumbs. The crab was perfectly soft, succulent and doused in the semisweet brown butter. The meat slid right out of the shell and made out mouths ever so happy.
Another must order is the Crispy Oysters Dill Pickles and Alabama White BBQ Sauce. I am not an oyster fan, but if you fry ’em, I’ll try them and these were freaking delightful. The white BBQ sauce was banging and the oysters worked so well with it and the pickles.
Another winner was the Crab Croquettes with “Comeback Sauce.” Miami does croquettes right and I never had a crab version. These were quite good and that secret comeback sauce will have you saving it for the other food you order.
Point Royal delivers a lively environment and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Complimentary parking is offered for guests who dine at Point Royal.
