Sweet Summertime: Where to Get Your Watermelon Fix

With its green-rind grins and summer sweetness dripping down your chin, watermelon often reminds us of our playful youth. Modern chefs lose the messiness, keep the sweetness and grins in refreshing summer starters. Baleen restaurant at LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort combines two season’s traditions with its Grilled Summer Watermelon, starting with a wedge of local melon, charred to draw out sweetness. Gobs of creamy goat cheese feta, pickled red onions, and red grapes accessorize on a bed of baby arugula with vanilla lime dressing. Paradise Wine compresses watermelon into a concentrated slab bursting with flavor. Champagne vinaigrette dresses pickled shallots, cucumber, radish, and micro-mint with a dollop of soft burrata cheese. At Sea Salt, the ubiquitous watermelon salad liquefies into Watermelon Gazpacho with Arugula Sorbet, garnished with guanciale and feta. Red beets give it a rich ruby color; jalapenos, citrus juice, cucumbers, and celery add zing and texture.