PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

On a recent stormy afternoon in East Liberty, I felt like I was in sunny Palm Springs, California — in the 1950s. That was one strong cocktail!

Palm Palm will open July 6 with a menu of fun, affordably priced coastal cuisine and beverages in a playfully opulent oasis that’ll make you feel like a jet-set, yet thrifty, celebrity. Assemble your own budget-minded Rat Pack and book a staycation!

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

“It’s hard to be in a bad mood in Palm Springs or in Palm Beach, Florida,” says Herky Pollock, who co-owns Palm Palm with his wife, Lisa, and their Ritual House business partners Edwin and Amanda Smith. “We call this Ritual House’s light and airy little sister.”

Like other spots in the East End, including Margaux, venerable Kelly’s Bar & Lounge (home of the ooey-gooiest mac-and-cheese!) and the new Hey Babe at the Maverick by Kasa Hotel, this girl’s got style!

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

The large space at the corner of Highland and Centre avenues has been vacant since Plum Pan Asian eatery closed in 2018. Inspired by the work of Slim Aarons, a World War II combat photographer who went on to capture elite life in Coachella Valley’s resort city, the space features Mid-Century Modern furniture, warm woods, gold and brass accents, patio seating for 65 and two private, glass-walled dining rooms inside of the kitchen.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

The floor-to-cathedral-ceiling windows and gold-leafed accents make the main dining room glow. The bar stools, some of the comfiest in town, look like giant, golden baseball gloves. Sitting at Palm Palm’s bar might be the closest thing yinzers are going to get to a Pirates World Series win.

There’s also a large, lenticular Slim Aarons photo in the lounge that makes me yearn for Magic Eye posters from that other great era of laidback cool — the ‘90s.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Palm Palm’s menu, including the weekend brunch, will rotate with guests’ core favorites always available. Chef Edwin Smith has crafted a menu of 30 small and 10 large playful dishes that are meant to be passed. Dictate your own dining experience with everything from Sushi Tots, Street Corn Taquitos and Truffle Spaghettios that are nothing like the Campbell’s SpaghettiOs my grandma used to microwave — these Os are are bathed in parmesan cream with black garlic and shaved black truffle.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

In our table’s seemingly endless game of Pass the Plate, my friends and I shared fried goat cheese, oysters, shishito peppers (admittedly, I ate all of those), beets, mini lobster rolls, deviled crab fritters, bone marrow tartare served with pretzel crostini and an adorable, orange-shaped orange cake with orange mousse, mandarin cremeux and mandarin jelly. Pair it with a No Bad Bananas – rye, cognac, falernum on the rocks and a hint of that famous yellow fruit I wrote extensively about in July’s issue of Pittsburgh Magazine!

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

There are plenty of craft, classic and non-alcoholic cocktails, wine and housemade sodas on the menu that change with the seasons along with the food. The eye-catching Palm Margarita with tequila, cold-pressed green juice, orange, and lime with a hibiscus salt rim, will have you snappin’ pics like Slim Aarons.

Palm Palm is at 5996 Centre Ave. in East Liberty.