At heart, Palm Beach is as much a state of mind as a physical destination. The island itself is little more than a narrow strip of land with lots of expensive homes. But the ideal the island represents — big-city sophistication and tropical splendor joined hand in hand — is something unique. Think New York’s East Side with palm trees.

Or think Café L’Europe.

This 29-year-old culinary stalwart is a perfect representation of what Palm Beach should be, but rarely is. Too many restaurateurs come to the island — or to the extended Palm Beach market — thinking it’s all about the money, so they play up the high prices and white-glove formality. Some also assume money means Old Money, so they stick with a menu lost in a fuddy-duddy continental haze. Others go the opposite route and think money means New Money, so they push innovation for innovation’s sake.

Café L’Europe, run by the husband-and-wife team of Norbert (he’s the chef) and Lidia (she’s front of the house) Goldner, toes a smart middle line. With its French doors, mirrored surfaces and piano bar area, it oozes a well-heeled vibe, but not in an off-putting, aristocratic way. Similarly, service is exceptionally polished, but never the least bit stiff.

And the food? Intelligent and delicious all at once (and relatively price-conscious if you take advantage of summer specials, including a nearly 30 percent discount on most nights of the week). German-born chef Norbert, who cut his teeth working in a famed New York East Side restaurant (Sign of the Dove) long ago, knows how to pay homage to the moneyed Old World: His menu includes a whole array of caviars (Iranian osetra goes for $230 an ounce), plus a “Classics” section with such familiar items as a Wiener schnitzel ($40.25) and spaghetti Bolognese ($36.25).

But the menu has an edge, too: Seasonal ingredients come into play, as in a salad with grilled California nectarines ($15.75). So do dishes built around striking flavor combinations or exotic ingredients — say, a Senegalese-inspired chilled soup (part of a $14.75 quartet of chilled soups) or a crème brulée with a hint of orange and ginger (part of an $11.75 trio of crème brulées). The result is that for a nearly three-decade-old restaurant, Café L’Europe feels surprisingly young.

That same balance of tradition and innovation is reflected in the voluminous wine list, which marries New and Old World wines with a fair degree of aplomb. If you feel intimidated by the book-length list, just talk to an always knowledgeable staffer: When I expressed a desire for a light red in the $50-$70 range, I was given a choice between an Oregon pinot noir or a Burgundy. I went with the latter, a $60 bottle (from Domaine Ramonet) that was just what I wanted — mildly dry, food-friendly and easy on the palate.

With appetizers, the aforementioned nectarine salad and quartet of chilled soups, both currently in rotation as summer specials, are certainly good ways to go. The salad is just what a contemporary warm-weather salad should be — a light and lively hodgepodge of tastes and textures, with a hint of bitterness from the red endive, some creaminess and saltiness from the feta cheese and some summery sweetness from those grilled nectarines (my only nit is that the fruit was a bit soft to the bite). As for the soups, they were like variations on the theme of refreshment, with offerings that included a red pepper and fennel combination and cantaloupe honeydew.

But starters needn’t be light: Perhaps the biggest winner of one visit was a special of pork belly confit ($14.75), a dish that took a suddenly trendy old-school meat offering and gave it accents both old-fashioned (a pairing of pickled red cabbage) and strikingly modern (a sauce of honey and raspberry vinegar).

Entrees hew somewhat more in a traditional direction, but this is still tradition done right: A special of Dover sole meuniere may be an extravagance at $48.75, but it’s everything you want in the dish, with the fish cooked to moist, relatively firm perfection and the brown butter sauce bringing out the fish’s mild flavor rather than overwhelming it. But it’s hard to pick that over the Wiener schnitzel, especially when it’s prepared Holstein-style with a fried egg on top. Like the fish, the veal is prepared with finesse — not overly breaded, not overly greasy. And when it’s served with spatzle, that Old World delight of a noodle-like dumpling, you’ve got Europe on a plate.

And what about dessert? Again, Café L’Europe likes to have fun with samplers, so your best bet may be that crème brulée trio or a truly decadent quartet of mini desserts ($14) that include a pint-size baked Alaska that’s irresistibly cute. But if there’s one dessert that speaks to what Café L’Europe represents, it’s something much, much simpler — an $11.75 offering of slices of pink grapefruit that have been caramelized and displayed in a colorful circle. The dish is your morning fruit turned into a tart-sweet ending to your meal.

Well, it’s not quite the true ending. At Café L’Europe, there’s always a surprise or two in store. One of my meals ended with a gratis offering of mini cookies dramatically presented in a small ice sculpture. Another concluded with my overhearing a conversation between a well-known Palm Beacher and the excellent in-house pianist (David Crohan) talking jazz, swing and the good old days.

But those days never seem so far away at Café L’Europe, which remains a testament to a certain style that refuses to go out of fashion, a sun-splashed blending of new and old, New York and Europe. Call it Palm Beach, now and forever.

R E V I E W
Café L’Europe

FOOD: A

SERVICE: A+

ADDRESS: 331 S. County Road, Palm Beach

TELEPHONE: (561) 655-4020

WEB SITE: cafeleurope.com

PRICE RANGE: Expensive

HOURS: Lunch: Noon to 3 p.m., Tuesday to Friday. Dinner: 6 to 10 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday

CREDIT CARDS: MC, V,
AmEx

RESERVATIONS: yes

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS:
yes

WHAT THE GRADES
MEAN:
A — Excellent
B — Good
C — Average
D — Poor
F — Don’t bother