Description
They've hired Harmony D'Elia as GM which means that they couldn't get anyone else. She practically destroyed Big City Tavern by elevating her incompetent friends Elisa and Felicia to manager.
S3 Interior
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We have the menu. This restaurant is 100% smoke free, including the outdoor patio.
The Restaurant People, operators of Tarpon Bend, YOLO and VIBE, have opened a 7000 square foot restaurant on the ground floor of the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach. The name of the new venue, S3, an acronym for Sun, Surf and Sand.
The build-out cost approximately $4 Million; as suspected, this restaurant is truly YOLO on the Beach. It's like they've said 'hey, YOLO is doing well, so lets build one at the beach too!".
Featuring an outdoor patio and bar, a funky lounge and a menu heavily weighted towards appetizers and "small plates"; this restaurant illustrates the financial status change of the Restaurant People since the opening of YOLO. The YOLO bar has cheap materials; it looks like an IKEA project; while S3 has granites, stone and higher end components.
I'm not sure if Karen Hanlon did the design here, but the lounge reeks of her influence.
S3 Lounge
Loud fabrics, weird table tops and miniature TVs; who else could it be?
A large open air patio creates a casual atmosphere for eating sticky wings.
S3 Covered Patio
The outdoor space is similar in construction to YOLO, with cement "benches" and removable cushions. More form over function here, the tiny round tables don't provide much utility for eating.
S3 Patio Area
There seems to be a clearance problem as the bench is about 8" from the post; I wonder how that got past the inspectors?
They've tapped Chris Miracolo as executive chef. Miracolo manned the kitchen in the now defunct Himmarshee Bar and Grill and most recently has been running the kitchen at Max's Harvest. Miracolo, who has been pumped up over the years by the kiddie bloggers at New Times, brings the now yawn-inspiring concept of "farm to fork" to S3, which usually means higher prices for questionably "fresher" food. Miracolo cites owner/chef Peter Boulukos as his mentor, which is sort of like having Mark Sanchez as your mentor at quarterback. So we'll see how this goes.
S3 claims the menu is "mid priced", but it's really just a bunch of restaurant tricks to make it seem more affordable. For example, 6 pieces of tuna sashimi will cost you $21; you get more than that at YOLO for a not so cheap $18. They have the marinated olives that nobody likes for $4, and 2 deviled eggs (4 halves) for $5. Pita with hummus and Tzatziki (which you'd think that the Greek Boulukos would know how to spell) is $11 (free with your meal at most decent Greek restaurants). A $29 short rib and $19 Rotisserie chicken hardly qualifies as budget-friendly, pasta without meat is $16.
Some early interviews with owner Tim Petrillo indicated that S3 might also stand for Steaks, Seafood and Sushi; but the dinner menu only includes a non-prime Filet Mignon and 2 seafood offerings; the ubiquitous Salmon and Grouper. So there's nothing here that you can't get everywhere else.
The menu here fits the Fort Lauderdale mold of Culinary Institude graduate overreach; virtually every dish has some unnecessary ingredient that makes me not consider even trying it. Coconut Rice with the chicken, Grouper with Rum Pepper Glaze and Mango Brown Butter, a BLT made with pickles, arugula and a fried egg. Jerk Chicken Skewers with pineapple and almond. Octopus with olives and salsa verde. The "vietnamese" wings come with "green papaya slaw"; a clever variation of the green apple slaw they have at YOLO. Skirt steak comes with Yucca and "Mango Chimichurri". Are you kidding me with some of this junk? Why would you ruin chimichurri with mango? Another place where you can't just get some decent food.
They continue not committing to portion sizes. They sell a "Creekstone Farm Filet" for $34. 6oz? 8oz? Creekstone farms sells "grain fed premium black angus beef", which means that it's pretty much the same stuff you can buy at Winn Dixie.
Full disclosure, I've never tried to hide my opinion that Boulukos is a hack so you can judge my comments accordingly.
Hotel parking is $5 with validation.
Hmmm...Carrie is the name of the Yolo Event coordinator
Steak 954 is expensive, but at least you're getting prime beef. Here you get WinnDixie beef at Prime prices.
I love the guy with 5 stars talking about wings and deviled eggs at a supposed high end restaurant.
To be clear, I'm not sure that Hanlon did this restaurant. So she may not be the culprit.
Be careful, or Petrillo may hunt you down and ban you from his restaurants.
There are no smiling faces at their other restaurants, so what deludes you into thinking that this will be different? Nobody working for Petrillo and Boulukos has a real smile on their face.
A problem I have with the YOLO people is that they depict their places as these sophisticated venues and then end up marketing them to anyone who has a wallet and a pulse, luring in the low end crowd with sticky calamari and meatball sliders. There are no sophisticated people at the beach from May to November; the beach is still more Elbo room and Beach Place than it is Ritz Carlton; if you chose to delude yourself into thinking otherwise that's certainly your prerogative. But don't accuse me of being overly negative because I point out what's obvious to anyone who's been to the beach who doesn't have their head shoved deep into the sand. The beach is seedy and is still dominated with venues that bring in a low end clientele.
The Hilton has rooms in Mid March for $269. Not exactly "high end".
The idea that the guys who own all of the crap places from the Oasis to Beach Place are just hard working immigrants is where the Delusion is. Until we get rid of those rip-off tourist traps, the beach will remain a place for the party crowd.