How a former ‘Top Chef’ villain is changing the Palm Beach County dining scene

Stephen Asprinio opened AquaGrille in Juno Beach in March. It’s been a hit since.

Once upon a time on reality TV, Stephen Asprinio was everyone’s favorite “Top Chef” villain. TV critics called him “infuriating” and “fun to hate” and “the pretentious Vegas sommelier with the SoHo hairdo.”

That was during Season 1 of the Bravo TV series in 2006, when the then 24-year-old Caesar’s Palace sommelier made it all the way to Episode 8 before packing his knives as third runner-up.

The Wellington-raised Asprinio may have earned his TV fame during those days, but he’s building another kind of reality today — one that’s redefining the dining landscape in north county.

This is evident in the modern-coastal lines of AquaGrille, the upscale Juno Beach restaurant Asprinio, now 40, opened in March to a swell of local buzz. With a dinner menu of elevated classics and cocktails that riff on the ‘90s, the restaurant is big on the dining-experience factor.

Restaurateur and hospitality consultant Stephen Asprinio chats with guests at his new AquaGrille restaurant, which debuted in Juno Beach in March.

Asprinio says his mission is to “execute the extraordinary.” That means jazzed up appletinis, tuna ceviche tostaditos served with shots of kicky leche de pantera, grilled salmon with a guava-soy glaze, slow-roasted prime rib French dip topped with melted Gruyère and horseradish-Granny Smith crema and key lime baked Alaska.

It also means luxe touches such as hot towels and tableside sauce service.

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Past successes for Asprinio

Bringing the stylish restaurant to life in the space of a former pretzels-and-beer franchise pub called The Malted Barley is the latest episode in a series of fine-dining projects for Asprinio.

He was a creative, culinary force behind Jupiter’s 1000 North, the Inlet-area restaurant partly owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan.

“Stephen was an important member of the team that helped create the original food and beverage offerings for 1000 North,” says Ira Fenton, managing partner of 1000 North.

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Later, Asprinio brought his vision to another Inlet waterfront development, the Charlie and Joe’s at Love Street dining complex, which is co-owned by football icon Joe Namath. There, Asprinio helped shape the complex’s three unique restaurants and onsite retail shop.

“He collaborated with our chefs and mixologists to make sure all of our menu offerings are superior and that our guests have an exceptional dining experience at each of our four venues,” says Mark Lessing, executive vice president of Lessing’s Hospitality Group, which manages the Love Street complex.

Asprinio left his most visible creative mark on one of the walls at the complex’s fine-dining restaurant, notes Lessing.

“His creativity is celebrated on the chalk wall he designed at Beacon,” Lessing says of the large, black-and-white chalk mural Asprinio designed. It reads like a mad-genius chef’s scribble pad.

‘Record-breaking feat’

At AquaGrille, tuna ceviche tostaditos served with seasoned avocado and tropical shots of optionally boozy “leche de pantera.”

At AquaGrille, Asprinio has gone well beyond a consultant’s role. Not only did he dream up the concept, design the space and hire the culinary talent — led by the creative, up-and-coming executive chef Peter Bartalini — Asprinio’s S.A. Hospitality Ventures owns and operates the place.

The restaurant has been jamming since opening night.

“I never expected such a huge splash. People are pouring in from all over,” says Asprinio, who lives in Jupiter. “They think they’re coming to a casual, little local restaurant. But when you walk in, it transports you. Like, boom, ‘What is this?’ You’d never expect this restaurant to be here.”

Indeed, AquaGrille has added significant curb appeal to a formerly nondescript corner of U.S. 1 in Juno Beach. It may not be perched on a waterway, as are 1000 North and the Love Street restaurants, but Asprinio believes its highway location works in AquaGrille’s favor in terms of visibility.

“It is in fact an amazing location,” he says.

Peter Bartalini is the executive chef at the new AquaGrille restaurant in Juno Beach.

Asprinio speaks in quick-fire sentences when he talks about AquaGrille. Maybe that’s because he barely has had time to catch his breath. The project came together in a flash, he says.

“It fell into our lap in the fall; and four months later we opened this stunning restaurant,” says Asprinio, who signed the lease for the AquaGrille space on Oct. 15. “Giving birth to this project was that much more special to me personally because of what we accomplished in so little time. A record-breaking feat for me personally.”

By comparison, 1000 North and Love Street took multiple years to complete, he notes.

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‘A savvy market’

Connect the dots that lead from the Jupiter Lighthouse waters to Juno Beach and you’ve got a new, more refined layer to the area’s more traditional restaurant scene.

“I’m looking to transform this market,” says Asprinio, who was drawn to north county’s local flavor. “There’s this homegrown sense here, a feeling of authenticity.”

He recalls a visit some years ago to Food Shack, chef Mike Moir’s iconic seafood-focused restaurant that brought creative, fresh-catch cooking to an area dominated by fried fillets and frozen veggies 20 years ago.

An Old Cuban cocktail is served at the bar at the new AquaGrille restaurant in Juno Beach. Bartender Peabo Powell makes the drink by mixing aged rum, lime, falernum syrup, mint, bitters and sparkling wine.

“That sweet potato-crusted fish they do, the quality of the ingredients — I just remember thinking, ‘OK, this is the pinnacle of what is happening in Jupiter right now,’” Asprinio says. “Now with 1000 North, Love Street, AquaGrille — I feel this is the next generation of hospitality here.”

He describes his hospitality vision for north county as world-class dining that embraces the local culture and connects to its community in an organic way. And he believes local diners are ready for it.

“We have a savvy market here. The palates here are very educated and they are exploratory. They’re all about what’s interesting. They want what is new,” says Asprinio.

Indeed, the north county map is lighting up with novel and exciting dining concepts. In Palm Beach Gardens, Stage Kitchen, the Indian-leaning small plates restaurant by chef Pushkar Marathe, is a year-round sensation. At the PGA National Resort, celebrity chefs Lindsay Autry and Jeremy Ford opened new restaurants, Honeybelle and The Butcher’s Club.

Just to the north, local star chef Tim Lipman has expanded his buzzy Coolinary restaurant concept. On the Lake Park waterfront, the iconic New York chef/restaurateur David Burke plans to open a modern American brasserie in summer 2024.

Rising new dining hub

Widen the lens and it’s clear that what’s happening on the north county dining scene — and what’s coming up — is part of a larger phenomenon in the county. In part, this is what has kept him here, Asprinio says.

“Palm Beach County in general is becoming the hub for hospitality,” he says. “Who would have thought 10 years ago that this county would be at the forefront for restaurants and hospitality?”

Part of the dining scene’s expansion includes Asprinio’s own plans to grow the AquaGrille brand. The search has started for possible spinoff locations, he says.

“We’re scanning the Palm Beach County market, looking at south county and possibly Wellington, my hometown,” Asprinio says. “More and more, we’re educating ourselves on the market and growth potential. I’m seeing these gaps in the restaurant market.”

Server Alex Woodward talks to patrons at the new AquaGrille restaurant in Juno Beach on June 2.

He says it’s not just about opening an AquaGrille outpost, but also expanding the focus on the dining experience itself.

“We want you to be transported at the dining table. At AquaGrille, you sit down and there’s an amuse bouche and hot towels. There’s tableside sauce and petit fours,” says Asprinio. “This is nice for our local community.”

This is not Asprinio’s first restaurant in the county. In early 2008, he and his partners opened a chic Italian restaurant on Clematis Street called Forte di Asprinio, where he was a managing partner. The restaurant earned raves from diners and critics alike. But Forte, as it came to be called, closed the following year.

Asprinio, who had launched a consulting firm then known as S.A. Hospitality Innovations, went on to take other projects and collaborations in the industry out of New York.

Stephen Asprinio at his Forte di Asprinio restaurant on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach in March 2008.

In 2019, he partnered with French restaurateur Jean C. Denoyer and later Palm Beach financier C. Edward Carter to open an outpost of Denoyer’s famous New York bistro La Goulue in Palm Beach in October 2020. Asprinio was to serve as co-manager. But a partnership dispute between Carter and Denoyer sparked a lawsuit, then a counter-lawsuit. By then, Asprinio, who is not a party in the lawsuit, had left the project.

“I resigned voluntarily because of business and creative differences. [Denoyer] and I didn’t see eye to eye,” says Asprinio, who still hopes to recover his investment in the venture. “I still own a substantial portion of the restaurant equity.”

He supports Carter in the ongoing legal case and credits him for “turning around” what he believes was a doomed restaurant project.

“I’m extremely supportive of La Goulue and Ed,” Asprinio says.

AquaGrille restaurant, which opened in March, transformed a Juno Beach space where a pretzels-and-beer franchise once operated.

Asprinio may have come a long way from his “Top Chef” days, but he confesses he’s still that stickler at heart.

“Attention to detail is the definition of who I am. My eye picks up every single little thing. It drives a lot of people crazy,” he says. “I remember one time at 1000 North, one of the partners said, ‘Stephen, your standards are simply not achievable.’ I took it as a compliment.”

His obsession with details extends to every part of his life, Asprinio says.

“But it’s always worth it and it always has been. I know I’m definitely one who makes my life hard by my choices,” he says. “I could be living a whole lot easier life.”

On the menu at AquaGrille, dramatically stacked fish tacos.

AquaGrille

Located at 14121 U.S. Highway 1, Juno Beach; 561-355-0438; AquaGrilleJuno.com

Hours: 4 to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday; 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Social hour: Happy Hour is offered at the bar and lounge area from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ‘Top Chef’ villain Stephen Aspirinio opens AquaGrille in Juno Beach