Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
In and out in Fort Lauderdale
Terrace Grill opening March 11; Growlers and Howlers, Subs and Suds close
The restaurateur’s credo: You win some, you lose some and if you’re doing things right, you’ve always got something big in the works.
That sums up Fort Lauderdale-based restaurateur Memphis Garrett’s world these days. After shuttering two underperforming eateries, Garrett is about to open his most ambitious project yet, the fine-dining Terrace Grill at the chic new Dalmar hotel in Fort Lauderdale.
The restaurant has announced a March 11 opening.
“We’re just about ready,” Garrett says.
Terrace Grill is the hotel’s showcase restaurant, with a 200-seat dining room, big bar and “an even bigger personality,” as the hotel’s website puts it. Executive chef Craig McNeil, a Scotland native who has cooked at Scarpetta at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach and Fisher Island’s Porto Cervo restaurant, heads the kitchen.
The modern American menu is still being finalized (and when available I’ll post on the Let’s Eat, South Florida Facebook group). Some dishes spotlighted on the restaurant’s Instagram account include housemade ricotta cavatelli with oxtail sugo and crispy shallots, and a hummus platter with vegetables and pita.
Garrett’s hospitality group oversees food and beverage operations at the Dalmar, a 25-story Marriott-affiliated hotel at 299 N. Federal Highway. Already open: Sip’n Dip (by the pool) and the Lobby Bar on the sixth floor (the Dalmar’s lobby is actually on the sixth floor) and Rose’s Coffee Bar, a cafe serving pastries. Coming in late April: rooftop bar Sparrow.
Garrett told me Tuesday the hotel has rescinded its automatic 21-percent gratuity policy for the Lobby Bar and Sip ‘Dip after customer complaints. Tipping will now be at the discretion of patrons at all restaurants on the property.
The Dalmar opening has kept Garrett busy in recent months, salving the wounds of two rapid-fire closings in Fort Lauderdale earlier this year. In January, Garrett closed Subs and Suds, an outdoor sandwich stand in the hidden Riverside Park neighborhood after just eight months. A few weeks later came the shuttering of Growlers and Howlers, a craft beer bar that featured hot dogs, after one year. He said the space, in the Victoria Park Shoppes, may soon be sold to another group that wants to open a different restaurant concept.
Garrett says things are better at Point Break Poke House, his other restaurant in the same shopping center, which opened in 2016. The restaurant, featuring marinated fish and seafood bowls, may soon expand to other locations. JB&C, a health-minded juice bar and coffee shop that opened in Flagler Village last year, also is doing well. Garrett says he is looking at opening a second location, possibly in the Cypress Creek area of Fort Lauderdale.