On my first trip to Seasons 52, I invited friends to join me at a healthy restaurant and received skeptical looks.
Those views were quickly dispelled even before entering the restaurant near Town Center in Boca Raton. No one has seen a health-food restaurant draw this kind of crowd, the first lesson in Seasons 52’s clear image as a destination for healthy dining.
There are more than half a dozen Seasons 52 restaurants now, most in trendy locations (three in South Florida). They have the cool organization of a successful chain, and the spacious, open feel of high ceilings, greenery and exposed wood.
Seasons 52 has been around long enough that the regulars talk only about the quality of food, not its healthful properties, and the staff is wise enough not even to attempt the argument that healthy doesn’t mean lack of taste. They let the food speak for itself, and it is eloquent.
One of the prime tenets of corporate Executive Chef Clifford Pleau’s innovative concept is that no dish should exceed 475 calories. This can be managed by portion size, ingredients or preparation. Another key element is, as the restaurant’s name implies, it emphasizes the seasonal bounty.
On my most recent dinner, yellow and purple carrots ($2.50) were a featured vegetable side dish, as were roasted candy stripe baby beets ($4.50). The carrots were overdone and didn’t need the quantity of broth.
Flatbreads are a popular starter and deservedly so. The crust is thin, which helps keeps the dish healthy but also gives it a delicious crunch.
I particularly liked a version with spicy and smoky chipotle pepper and shrimp plus tiny bits of pineapple and feta ($7.95). The simplest version ($2.95) is decorated with rosemary and parmesan cheese.
Among nearly a dozen appetizers, some of the best bets are a simply seared tuna steak, sliced thin and served with cucumbers ($10.75) and an excellent poblano pepper filled with goat cheese and surrounded by a vibrantly fresh salsa. The cold salsa made a poor temperature match with the warm pepper, but the flavors were terrific.
Baked crab meat-stuffed mushrooms ($8.75) were less than promised. In a ceramic escargot plate, the depressions were filled with a small shrimp, a smaller bit of crimini mushroom and enough crabmeat to obscure the other flavors. It was soggy.
For main courses, grilled trout with roasted new potatoes and grilled tuna with ratatouille are straightforward and delicious dishes. A main-course offering of shrimp with crab meat ($21.95) was as disappointing as the stuffed mushrooms. The shrimp were overcooked (all the shrimp dishes I’ve had at Seasons 52 suffer this fate) and the crab meat was uninspiring, but a small portion of pasta included with the dish was cooked with precision.
A filet mignon ($26.75) kept beneath the calorie ceiling by coming in a six-ounce portion. Medallions of pork tenderloin ($15.75) were overcooked and a bit dry, their flavor further obscured by a generous hand with a generic brown sauce and a ladle of bland polenta. Rack of lamb ($26.75) with roasted asparagus is more inspiring.
Just because there is a calorie ceiling at Seasons 52 is no reason to skip dessert. The kitchen cleverly offers a rack of large shot glasses, each with a mini-portion of one of nine desserts ($1.95). The Key lime pie, carrot cake and strawberry mango cheesecake are among the most appealing — and remember, it’s all healthy!
Service at Seasons 52 is friendly and informative. The wine list is a special treat with more than 120 selections and an amazing 70 available by the glass at very fair prices. Between an active bar and this dazzling wine selection, no one goes thirsty, or hungry, any season of the year.
Please phone in advance to confirm information on hours, prices, menu items and facilities. For review consideration, please fax a current menu that includes name and address of restaurant to 954-356-4386 or send to Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293.
Contact dining correspondent Lyn Farmer at or write to him in care of the Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293.
*** (out of four stars)
Cuisine: international
2300 NW Executive Center Drive, Boca Raton
561-998-9952
Cost: moderate-expensive
Credit cards: all major
Hours: lunch, dinner daily
Reservations: accepted
Bar: full service
Sound level: moderate
Smoking: prohibited
Children’s facilities: yes
Wheelchair accessible: yes
