Palette restaurant in South Yarmouth crafts new menu each week

SOUTH YARMOUTH – Imagine a pop-up restaurant where your reservation allows you to show up anytime on a busy Friday or Saturday, stay as long as you like, and not have to worry about what to order.

Welcome to Palette, a weekend supper club open to the public at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 307 Old Main St. in South Yarmouth. Reservations, at $60 (before tip) each for a three-course meal on Friday or Saturday night, are required.

“The menu is on the website and changes every week. Almost every week, it’s based on the theme of the concert or exhibit happening at the cultural center,” said Palette’s chef Nicholas Caplice, who also works at Aplaya, a Filipino food restaurant in Chatham.

Palette – a word play on artist’s palette and culinarian’s palate – is planning a wide range of flavors and colors in menus ranging from the opening day West African meal to a whimsical repast later in the summer with a “Wizard of Oz” theme.

“It’s all vegetarian but with different mushrooms for the ‘lions, tigers and bears’ theme and poppy seeds for the field of poppies,” Caplice said.

Where is Palette located in the Cultural Center of Cape Cod?

There are 12 seats at tables in the courtyard, unless it rains in which case the dinner club is moved into the great hall. Music drifts out through the open windows, providing an accompaniment to dinner. The table is yours for the night, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

What is being served this weekend?

“This week’s menu theme is Brazilian, inspired by the Fred Fried/ Marcelle Gauvin Quartet, appearing in the Great Hall on Saturday, June 22, and features three courses: Eggplant Napoleon with cotija cheese and arugula, followed by moqueca (Brazilian fish stew) and finished with Brazilian pavé (dessert).”

All Palette dinners are BYOB or bring your own bottle.

What is in the future for Palette?

Joseph Manning, cultural center consultant, said there are plans to establish a supper club at the HyArts Campus in the future. Caplice said the number of diners in South Yarmouth could be increased, but starting out, a dozen reservations is just about right for one chef and one server.

Caplice said he would like to see guest chefs visiting Palette and also to have special programs, such as a day-long offering where guests forage on the Cape and then come back and cook their haul for a dinner to share at the outside venue.

The Cultural Center of Cape Cod does offer meals and cooking lessons with center regular Chef Joe Cizynski, as well as some guest cooks.

How do organizers describe Palette on the website?

“Embark on a journey where the vibrant strokes of a painter’s palette inform the rich flavors of a culinary palate and reserve your table at our new pop-up restaurant – Palette … nourish your soul with weekly menus inspired by the Center’s diverse programming and gallery exhibits.”

Gwenn Friss is the editor of CapeWeek and covers entertainment, restaurants and the arts. Contact her at gfriss@capecodonline.com. Follow her or X, formerly Twitter: @dailyrecipeCCT

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