On any given night this season, securing a table at Tutto Mare has felt like winning the ultimate insider lottery. Since opening in January at The Royal Poinciana Plaza on Palm Beach, Gabby Karan de Felice’s stylish restaurant has quickly become the destination where waterfront views, Italian cuisine, and a quiet luxury aesthetic converge.
Set beside Glazer Hall (the new performing arts venue that also debuted in January) and overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon and Palm Harbor Marina, the restaurant is more than a place to dine. Created with her husband of 23 years, Gianpaolo de Felice, it is an extension of their world—a blend of food, fashion, and vibes that reflects how the couple lives.
“We open restaurants based on where we want to be,” Karan de Felice says. “It’s always about community first.”
That philosophy dates to 2008, when the couple opened their first restaurant, Sag Harbor’s Tutto il Giorno, laying the foundation for a brand rooted in place, family, and a distinctly personal approach to hospitality.
While the original Tutto has expanded across several Hamptons locations, launching in Palm Beach presented a new challenge. The waterfront property was the site of The Royal Poinciana Playhouse, the iconic theater designed by architect John Volk that opened in 1958 and closed in 2004. In recent years, as the playhouse was gradually reimagined into the state-of-the-art Glazer Hall, the location drew intense interest from competing restaurant groups. But the scenery sealed the deal for Karan de Felice.
“This is such a special space,” she says. “I saw the sunset from the terrace and I was blown away.”
“Finding the right partner for Glazer Hall was never about filling a space,” says Lori Berg, general manager of The Royal Poinciana Plaza. “It was about finding a concept worthy of it, something that could honor the rich history of the playhouse and [its] Celebrity Room, long a gathering place for Palm Beach’s most storied social and cultural moments. We wanted a partner that could extend the Glazer Hall experience beyond the theater itself and encourage guests to linger before or after a film, performance, or event. We were thoughtful and deliberate in our process, and when we met Gabby and Gianpaolo, we knew immediately that Tutto Mare was the answer. Their commitment to genuine hospitality and exceptional food mirrors everything The Royal stands for.”
Step inside Tutto Mare, and it becomes immediately clear that this is no ordinary restaurant. What was once a sprawling, singular dining hall has been reimagined into multiple environments, each with its own personality. “Every room has its own soul,” Karan de Felice says. “You can come back again and again and have a completely different experience.”
The two-year renovation was a labor of love. The 15,000-square-foot space was designed by Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture with lighting by L’Observatoire International. Travertine sourced from the south of Italy anchors the interiors, while Italian millworkers were brought in from Costa Group to execute custom finishes. Banquettes are upholstered in Dedar fabrics from Italy, and every detail reflects a highly curated personal point of view—one that mirrors the couple’s own waterfront penthouse on Ibis Isle.
Among the restaurant’s most captivating spaces is the former Celebrity Room, a preserved nod to the building’s glamorous mid-century past. Originally created in 1958, the room features Robert Bushnell’s Venetian Festival, a trompe l’oeil ceiling mural that depicts more than 100 Hollywood icons of the era, including Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, and Fred Astaire.
With this historic backdrop, the Celebrity Room now offers a more elevated dining experience, with a menu focused on fine dining—caviar service, seafood towers, and truffle-accented dishes—while maintaining the warmth and intimacy that define the overall space. Rather than competing with the artwork, the design revolves around it. “We made it all about the ceiling,” Karan de Felice says. “Everything else supports that moment.”
Before the doors officially opened, Tutto Mare quietly hosted a friends-and-family preview that felt quintessentially Palm Beach: chic yet entirely unbothered by its own star power. Among those dining were Beth Stern, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Jon Bon Jovi, though the scene remained notably low-key.
“Tutto Mare is meant to feel like an extension of our home,” Karan de Felice explains. “Not just a place to dine, but a place to live in, experience, and even shop.”
Indeed, shopping is on the menu. The Urban Zen by Donna Karan boutique, located inside Tutto Mare, carries Kelly Klein ceramics, Robert Lee Morris jewelry, and cashmere sweaters by Donna Karan, Karan de Felice’s mother. Home goods and decorative objects are seamlessly integrated into the space, blurring the line between retail and restaurant.
This hybrid approach has been central to the Tutto philosophy since its inception. Long before experiential retail became ubiquitous, Karan de Felice was building environments that engaged all the senses, an evolution of her early career as a stylist and her lifelong exposure to design.
Growing up as the daughter of an influential fashion designer, Karan de Felice was surrounded by creativity but determined to forge her own path. “I wanted to march to my own beat,” she says. “I wanted to create a hospitality brand where I could design beautiful spaces, and since I married an Italian, he could create the culture. Of course, I grew up with my mom’s talent and creative eye, but I’ve done this in my own form.”
If the design reflects Karan de Felice’s aesthetic, the menu celebrates family, tradition, and her mother-in-law’s Neapolitan cooking, with Nonna Carolina’s recipes a guiding force across every Tutto kitchen. “The food is very clean and very honest,” she says. “It’s how my husband grew up eating.”
Dishes like fritto misto, paccheri with seafood, and whole salt-roasted fish highlight the restaurant’s Mediterranean sensibility, while a simple spaghetti pomodoro—Karan de Felice’s personal favorite—is a reminder that the most meaningful dishes are often the most understated. “I’m a carb girl,” she says with a laugh. “That dish is exactly how my mother-in-law makes it. I had it yesterday.”
Open for lunch and dinner, Tutto Mare delivers what Karan de Felice describes as “Mediterranean hospitality,” a philosophy that extends beyond the plate to encompass the entire sensory experience.
“Six months in, the response has been everything we hoped for and more,” notes Berg. “Guests have embraced it wholeheartedly, returning again and again, and the energy it brings to The Royal is undeniable. The waterfront setting offers something Palm Beach has never had before, and that sense of discovery has resonated deeply. Tutto Mare has become exactly what we envisioned: the kind of place where Palm Beach gathers.”
For Karan de Felice, Palm Beach is the latest chapter in a broader narrative that connects the Hamptons and South Florida. With East Hampton serving as the family’s primary home, the team moves fluidly between Palm Beach and the Hamptons, creating a sense of continuity across geographies. “I think there’s a real synergy,” she says. “Even if Palm Beach doesn’t always like to admit it.”
For the past seven years, the couple has spent time in nearby Wellington, where their daughter, Stefania, rides competitively. A recent graduate of the University of Miami, Stefania remains closely tied to South Florida. Their son, Sebastian, is a student at the United States Naval Academy, training to become a pilot—a path inspired, in part, by his father’s experience in the Italian Air Force. “We’re a family of service in many different ways,” Karan de Felice says. “And we’re very proud.”
As empty nesters, the couple now divides their time between the Hamptons and Palm Beach. This summer, they’ve been back in East Hampton overseeing their three East End outposts, but Palm Beach—with its promise of long lunches that stretch into sunset on the terrace—has already claimed its place in the rotation.
“We go where we live,” Karan de Felice says. “And now, Palm Beach is one of those places.”
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