Jan NorrisTucked behind Carmine’s on PGA Boulevard, the restaurant promises full-service Asian with a twist.
Kenneth Yeung is banking on Palm Beach Gardens’ locals for the success of his new Asian fusion restaurant, Red Phoenix.
The waterfront restaurant opened in March in the Harbour Financial Center at 2401 PGA Blvd. — the space formerly held by FireFin Grill. Situated behind Carmine’s Gourmet Market, it overlooks the marina from the inside-outside bar.
Yeung is bringing back a full-service Asian restaurant to the area, he said. For 25 years, he ran the China Wok eatery in the former Loehmann’s Plaza near I-95 off PGA Boulevard.
He chose the area because he lives nearby, and because, he said: “I haven’t seen any good Asian restaurants here for the longest time. The opportunity came up for this location. I decided to try to put something nice and upscale here.”
The restaurant has been redecorated with deep reds and blacks. A sushi bar where guests can watch their rolls being created sits on one side of the long bar running along the back of the restaurant. A live fish tank, Chinese robes and colorful faux cherry trees in the modern dining room break up the banquettes and booths.
Along with the main dining room, there’s a private room, as well as outside seating on the dock front. All together, there are about 250 seats, Yeung said.
Prices for a meal with drinks range from $20 to $50.
‘A healthier track’
Dishes are traditional and fusion, coming from a Cantonese Chinese kitchen run by a New York City restaurant chef.
“It is wok stir-fry. Not the same as Chinese takeout. Lighter sauces, not heavy. We’re going on a healthier track with foods that still taste good,” he said.
Peking duck is available, along with duck-fried rice. Fusion comes with dishes such as a black truffle-shrimp fried rice.
“We have General Tso’s chicken, very popular.”
He’s also adding traditional dishes to the menu, instead of having a second, “secret” Asian menu found in some Chinese restaurants. Included will be the dishes that attract Vietnamese, Chinese and other non-American Asian diners.
He lists examples: “We have Szechuan fish soup, and mapo tofu — some people like it a little spicy. We want to take care of the Asian community,” he said, and satisfy the memory palate of diners who have lived in China and Hong Kong who remember the traditional foods.
Starting with dim sum appetizers
Yeung said the kitchen isn’t ready for a full-on dim sum menu just yet, but it’s possible once the restaurant is established. He’s still in the planning phase and listening to his guests, working out kinks.
The prep work entailed for the regular Chinese dishes is intense, he said, from choosing the fresh ingredients to chopping and having all ingredients and sauces ready to cook to order. Adding the fussiness of individual servings of a multitude of dim sum dishes requires more time and labor than he can accommodate just starting out, he said.
He’s compromised slightly. “We have dim sum appetizers — the shrimp dumpling, shumai (pork dumplings) and soup dumplings.”
At the sushi bar, diners can choose from a list of common rolls and those created each night. Cucumber rolls for vegetarians, and the spider and lobster rolls are popular, he said. Diners with dietary restrictions can be accommodated.
A place to meet people
He wants the restaurant to be a destination, however, not just for food, but also for lively social meet-ups.
An extended happy hour starts at 2 pm and runs till 6 weekdays, with special drinks and appetizers offered. It makes up for the lunch he’s forgoing; it’s dinner only just now. “Starting at 2, we’ll all be happy,” he said, laughing.
A Sunday brunch with dim sum may be in the future, as it’s the traditional day for families to eat out together and share plates, but with the small plates, “we are not going to try to go crazy,” he said.
With the brunch, he’ll add live music outside, maybe a DJ.
“We’ll have a ladies’ night Thursdays, from 8 to 10. House wines will be free, champagne free. Live music.
“Friday night we’ll have live music and then Saturday night will be Red Phoenix After Dark, 8:30 to whenever.” A lively younger audience is the target.
“I want to bring this area alive. I think, ‘How do I give people who don’t want to go downtown a place to gather and hang out?’ A good place to meet other people.
“Who are you going to meet on Clematis at the bars? Here, you get better quality people in Palm Beach Gardens,” he said.
He notes the older Palm Beach Gardens crowd who come to dine, but they come in early, he said, and then the 30-40-year-olds show up. “They are the people who meet and mingle, and just hang out to socialize. After 8:30.”
Attracting the locals
His strategy is in the marketing, he said.
“I’m looking at how restaurants market themselves. It’s totally different today. It’s all social media.”
That’s especially true as summer arrives. “There’s a 30 percent drop in tourists,” he said. “My plan: We want to make it more of a destination location.”
He’s up against a reputation of failure in the location. The spot has been host to a number of restaurants in recent years, but Yeung said he believes he can succeed where others have failed.
Being a local owner who knows the area makes a difference, he said.
The big corporate restaurants focus on tourists and don’t listen to the locals, Yeung said, who are vocal about dining out. “This is not Miami. These are locals, and they know what to eat and what they want.
“We know the challenge. You gotta be good. If you put your heart and soul into something, it will be a success. If you do it right, you’ll get the local support, once the word travels.
“I know that many people have told me a lot of places have failed in this spot,” he said. “We want to give it a shot. Give us time. We all take a chance.”
Holly Baltz is an editor and a reporter at Stet News. Her 40-year career of award-winning journalism included 34 at The Palm Beach Post. Holly lives with her husband in Lake Worth Beach.
