I was introduced to the Chesterfield Hotel’s delightfully over-the-top Leopard Lounge as THE place to people watch on Palm Beach. My friends and I would settle at the bar and watch the very jeweled, mostly elderly ladies who lunch, happy hour and early dinner nurse a giant cocktail while listening to live singers and making short work of whatever appetizer buffet was available. The scene was a pleasant throwback to some other time, albeit a time outfitted in bright reds and leopard print. The feeling was elegant kitsch and decidedly older. Which was nice, but which didn’t, if we’re being honest, attract a younger crowd for anything but people-watching purposes.

The folks at the Chesterfield took note, and yesterday revealed the new Leopard Lounge. Gone is the overwhelming red and leopard print, replaced by tasteful black, on the walls and on the shiny new leather banquettes. They’ve kept some of the leopard and animal-related paintings, including an awesome one depicting some sort of bizarre garden party featuring a gentleman in a top hat and a giraffe. Maybe it was an early rave. I don’t know. But the place looks great, still with a lot of character but less kitschy.

Management is hoping that the new decor, as well as a younger entertainment lineup, will attract a younger, hipper crowd, and once they get a look at the place, I bet it will. You gotta see it. And the giraffe painting will blow your mind.

Phipps Ocean Park in Palm Beach. (File photo)

Being a born-and-raised Florida girl, you would think at some point in 22 years I would have made it to South Florida for work, a vacation or some sort of extended amount of time.

Wrong. My first time in South Florida, besides swinging by on the way down to the Florida Keys, is this summer. I’ve traveled all over the state–from my hometown of Sarasota, up and down the Gulf Coast, to Central Florida and the East Coast, even a little bit of North Florida. But somehow I’m just now seeing South Florida for the first time.

So Palm Beach County, here I am.  Now, where’s the beach?

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Rachel Uchitel, a.k.a. golfer Tiger Woods‘ No. 1 mistress, must have really liked Palm Beach.

Uchitel, the first woman outed in the scandal of Woods’ busy busy extra-marital sex life shortly after Thanksgiving, finally packed her bags and left town after three months of sucking in The Island’s calm lifestyle.

“We had her going away party on Saturday and she’s gone,” said one of her good friends here, club owner Gus Renny. “She’s headed for Las Vegas. She said she landed a great job as correspondent on (tabloid tv’s) Extra.”

Uchitel, in January in Palm Beach (Click on the photo for more)

In her time among us, the former club hostess who allegedly was flown by Woods’ corporation to Australia to be with him: stopped traffic outside Publix; was photographed in a skimpy bikini on the beach (above) ; chain-smoked while chatting up the boys at 251 PB Lounge; allegedly dated Hooters heir Chris Harding; celebrated her 35th birthday, and refused to go on satellite radio king Howard Stern‘s pageant of Woods girlfriends.

“She really liked it here,” Renny said. “But I don’t think she’ll be coming back for a long time.”

Recipe (PDF) | Visit Ta-boó: Hours, directions, more

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The Four Seasons' Restaurant's newest menu selections are courtesy of chef Daryl Moiles. (Brandon Kruse / The Post)

Change is coming to Palm Beach’s Big Three.

I’m referring to the restaurants on the island’s three major resorts: The Breakers, The Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons Palm Beach. In keeping with the trend toward lower prices (yes, even Palm Beachers are feeling the pinch) or the trend toward more eclectic or casual dining, each hotel has tweaked its culinary formula in recent months.

‘Uncomplicated good food’

The Four Seasons (2800 S. Ocean Blvd., 561-582-2800, fourseasons.com) is perhaps making the most dramatic changes. At one time, the resort’s main eatery — simply called The Restaurant — was Palm Beach County’s premier destination for high-end dining, famous for a tropical-gone-gourmet approach in a very formal setting.

Now, the resort has redesigned the dining room, letting in more natural light and opening an adjoining outdoor lounge. It also has lightened up the menu — taste and price-wise. Think more Atlantic seafood and more entrées in the $20-30 range (a dish of sea scallops goes for $21); a four-course tasting menu runs $60.

Among the menu’s newest sensations, courtesy of chef Daryl Moiles, is a dish of prosciutto-wrapped halibut with roasted beets. (By the way, Moiles continues the restaurant’s tradition of having an in-house organic herb garden.)

As for the resort’s more casual restaurant, the Ocean Bistro, the focus is on “uncomplicated good food,” says Four Seasons General Manager Kathleen Horrigan. That translates to such dishes as meat loaf and fried chicken.

And the resort’s Bar and Lounge is putting an emphasis on serious mixology, as in cocktails crafted with native nectars and herbs. We’re tempted to stop by for the signature Herb Garden Mojito.

Ritz-Carlton stressing value

Similarly, at The Ritz-Carlton (100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, 561-533-6000, ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/palmbeach), there’s a move to put a higher value on, well, value.

The resort is no longer making use of its formal dining room (called Angle), but is instead repositioning its indoor/outdoor casual restaurant, Temple Orange, as a destination for Italian comfort food.

That translates into house-made pastas and risottos and thin-crust flat breads, all courtesy of chef Ryan Artim. Prices are kept relatively in check — pastas start at $16, entrées at $21. And if you step outdoors, you’ll even find telescopes to help you with your star-gazing.

The resort is also rebranding its even more casual Breeze oceanfront eatery — it’s now billed as a “burger bistro,” serving gourmet burgers (plus sandwiches and salads). Plus, The Ritz is still going strong with its Stir bar, which emphasizes specialty cocktails.

French fare, contemporary approach

Finally, The Breakers (1 S. County Road, 561-655-6611, thebreakers.com), with the largest number of restaurants of any Palm Beach resort (including ones outside the main property), is making some big changes, too. Topping them all is a new concept for the resort’s signature restaurant, L’Escalier. The Breakers is no longer splitting the restaurant into two entities — formal and brasserie-style; instead, it’s one eatery — and a very creative one at that.

Chef Greg Vassos, who trained under culinary giant Eric Ripert (of Le Bernadin), has put an emphasis on French fare done with a striking, contemporary approach. That can mean a foie gras “brûlée” or a duck l’orange “roulade.” Tasting menus start at $90 (with a $50 wine pairing) — in other words, serious food at serious prices.

At the same time, The Breakers is offering savings at some of its other restaurants: The Flagler Steakhouse has a three-course dinner for $49 and a new three-course Sunday brunch for $35. The family-friendly Italian Restaurant has a three-course dinner for $35. And the deservedly beloved Seafood Bar has a new late-night happy hour (11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.) with half-off specials on well drinks, house wine and beer.

CHOWDER ON SALE

Cold times call for hot soup. So it’s no surprise that January is National Soup Month. In recognition of that fact, Legal Sea Foods, situated at Boca Raton’s Town Center mall (6000 Glades Road, 561-447-2112, legalseafoods.com), is offering its famous New England clam chowder for 60 cents a cup (with purchase of an entrée) on Jan. 20. Why 60 cents? The date also happens to be the Legal chain’s 60th birthday.

THE WEEKLY NOSH: Carved meats at The Carving Station

You have to know a restaurant that calls itself the Carving Station would serve a nice roast or two. And that’s very much the case at this Lake Park favorite (720 U.S. 1, 561-842-7791, carvingstation buffet.com).

It’s been at least a year since my last visit to the buffet-style restaurant, which I named Best Dining Value in my 2007 Hungries awards. And I forgot what a true value it is — just $9.59 at dinner for the all-you-can-eat spread (drinks and dessert not included).

But key to the spread are those carved meats — we’re talking roast turkey straight off the bird, roast beef in all its juicy glory and more. When I came for dinner, they were carving the most perfect roasted pork loin — a Sunday special. And all this comes with terrific sides (love the stuffing and the spaghetti and meatballs) and a decent salad bar.

Needless to say, I won’t wait another year for my next visit.

Woods

Contrary to what Entertainment Tonight and others put out over the past few days, embattled golfer Tiger Woods is not in Palm Beach. Nor is he partying, or living, with galpal Rachel Uchitel.

And he definitely did not break bread at the stuffy Everglades Club Saturday night.

Believe it or not, reports claiming that Uchitel, the granddaughter of deceased Everglades Club member Warner Bishop, brought Woods to the club over the weekend sprung up all over the web.

Obviously, whoever wrote them has never been into the Worth Avenue hangout. Not only is the members’ average age well above 60, it historically has had a problem with minorities. The club boasts no non-white members, but it has the likes of former U.S. Secretary of State Al Haig and radio talker Rush Limbaugh.

Said Everglades Club prez Bill Pannill: “A member can bring in anyone, but I can tell you that the young lady (Uchitel) isn’t a member. I hope a member would have the good sense not to bring Tiger Woods. We don’t like the attention. I’ve been to most parties at the club during the holiday season and I didn’t see Tiger Woods.”

(Click here to see pictures of Uchitel partying, Woods-less, at 251 Sunrise, also Saturday.)

As for Uchitel and Woods hooking up, wrong yet again.

“I spent most of Saturday afternoon and evening with Rachel and I promise you Tiger was nowhere in sight,” said a nightscape dweller. “As a matter of fact, no one brings up Tiger to her.”

ET‘s spokeswoman didn’t return calls.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Rachel Uchitel emerges from the Atlantic Ocean off Palm Beach (Splash News/Special to Page2Live)

Rachel Uchitel, 34, the New York nightclub hostess with whom golfer Tiger Woods has been cheating on his wife, spent some time on the sand in Palm Beach over the weekend. Uchitel, the granddaughter of a Midwest banker who moved to Palm Beach in the 1980s, also was spotted partying at the town’s only nightclub, 251 Sunrise.

Rachel Uchitel (Splash News/Special to Page2Live)

Uchitel seemed to appreciate the attention overnight at 251 Sunrise

With philandering golfer Tiger Woods in seclusion somewhere, the part-time Palm Beacher first outed as his main squeeze has been quite visible on The Island’s nightscape.

Rachel Uchitel, 34, has been doing what got her into the married-with-children Woods’ crowded bed, I mean, heart: Hanging in nightclubs!

Tiger

The surgically enhanced hottie, a club VIP room hostess by trade, was spotted at 251 Sunrise overnight. She downed Dom Perignon and Veuve Clicquot champagne, chain-smoked, danced and looked pretty for a bevy of dudes who thought they’d died and gone to heaven.

She told fellow partyers that she’ll be in Palm Beach until after New Year’s Day.

Uchitel’s grandfather was banker Warner Bishop, who moved to Palm Beach in the 1980s with a wife younger than his daughters.

Uchitel came in about 11 p.m. with eight friends from New York who ran interference with autograph hounds and paparazzi. Still, Page2Live‘s shutterbug got these shots:

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Uchitel, exiting the Palm Beach Publix Monday afternoon (SplashNews/Special to Page2Live)

Rachel Uchitel, the 34-year-old nightclub hostess first outed as a Tiger Woods playmate, is spending some time with her socialite mom in Palm Beach this week. The New Yorker was spotted shopping while talking on her cell phone at The Island’s Publix Monday afternoon. Uchitel is the granddaughter of deceased Midwest banker Warner Bishop, who caused as stir in local society when he married a woman younger than his own children. Uchitel’s mom, Susan Bishop, owns a pad in a highrise on Bradley Place. The holiday move could place Uchitel geographically closer to Woods. The golfer’s 155-foot yacht, Privacy, is docked at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach and was loaded up with food last week.

Uchitel (SplashNews/Special to Page2Live)

Construction continues on Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren's love nest (SplashNews/Special to Page2Live)

Golfer Tiger Woods started to assemble painstakingly land on Jupiter Island for his and wife Elin Nordegren‘s tropical love nest just months after their 2004 wedding.

By late 2006, Woods had spent $44.5 million on four adjacent properties — in all 12 acres under a natural canopy stretching from the beach to the Intracoastal.

The couple renamed the property Sand Turtle.

Woods then had the existing homes leveled, and former nanny Nordegren dealt with Jupiter architect Roger Janssen for the blueprints. The Woods would have 9,729-square-feet of luxury adjacent to a 6,400-square-foot gym joined by a glass walkway.

By most standards in these parts, the construction (right) looks surprisingly staid and cold, sorta like a government building in Nordegren’s native Sweden.

Now, more than a year before it’s finished, work on what was designed to be Woods and his family’s homestead continues — despite the marital woes that have caused the golfer to quit the game temporarily.

His Thanksgiving accident morphed into days of allegations that Woods stepped out on his wife with a growing number of women, including at least two porn stars. And Nordegren reportedly left the couple’s home near Orlando, and just bought a $2 million-home on an island off Sweden.

So, what’s next for the Jupiter Island crib?

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