The Spirit of Giving Network’s inaugural Back to School Bash drew supporters from Boca Raton to Palm Beach to outfit children with backpacks and school supplies. TOP: (l-r) Karen Sweetapple, Sue Diener, the nonprofit’s executive director, Sheila Aucamp, Cindy Krebsbach and Rita Gatta, Sugarboo & Co. store manager. ABOVE: (l-r) Holly Pappas, J.McLaughlin’s store manager, with Ellen Elam and Debbie Anderson.
Photos provided

The City of Boca Raton invited the public to welcome the USA National Miss Scholarship Pageant contestants during a Parade of States at Mizner Park on July 12. More than 200 delegates competed for more than $300,000 in scholarships. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

    To earn spending money in junior high, Bruce Feingold found an ideal job in a New Jersey bakery — $4 an hour and time off to wrestle. His experience around the ovens and on the mat still inspires him as executive chef at Dada in Delray Beach.
    After 16 years at Dada, Feingold believes the teamwork he experienced years ago and still nourishes in his kitchen will help make the inaugural Dine Out Delray a success. A week (Aug. 1-7) of lunch and dinner deals and special events at many of the city’s top restaurants will benefit Healthy Bellies — a community program Feingold and his wife, Amanda, created with the Delray Beach Achievement Center to promote education and nutrition for underprivileged children and families.
    The boy in the bakery has learned a lot.
    “I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” he confessed. “I liked the bakery, but I also liked music, took art classes, economics, marketing. I even thought about being an electrical engineer because my uncle was.”
    But even though he showed scholarship potential on the mat, he decided to be the best chef possible… and to study at the best school. With two years left in high school, Feingold told his parents he wanted to apply to the Culinary Institute of America.
    What if you’re turned down? I’ll apply again.
    And if you’re turned down again? Then I won’t go to school.
    “They went through the roof … but they came around.”  
    Their support and the discipline he developed as a champion wrestler helped him cope with the culinary institute’s military academy-style regimen — 12 hours a day in classes, not only in culinary arts but also management, people skills and economics, coupled with the constant pressure to be creative.
    Invigorated, Feingold completed his first extern-ship at a Miami restaurant. The area was warmer than New Jersey and New York and bubbling with restaurant opportunities.
    After graduation he returned, eventually landing at the Jupiter Island Club, winter home to Fords and duPonts, Roosevelts and Bushes.
    It was a plum job but hardly challenging. Dada’s concept was, and Feingold jumped at the opportunity.  
    Despite working 12 hours, often seven days a week, he loves the job thanks to the camaraderie among his veteran staff and within the restaurant community.
    “We’re all in it together,” he said. “We like to compete, but a lot of us have been around for quite a while and we like each other. A good restaurant benefits every other restaurant because it draws more customers to the area.
    “Like I learned when I was wrestling, you only lose by beating yourself.”
    For Restaurant Week details, go to www.downtowndelraybeach.com/restaurantweek.

***
                                
    The agony of defeat. The Olympic trials in track and field are over; sisters Stephanie Schappert and Nicole Tully, the pride of Delray Beach, will not be going to Rio.
Stephanie’s 4:14.48 in the 1,500-meter semifinal was less than 5 seconds behind the winner but good for only 19th place.
Just past halfway in the 5,000-meter final, a trailing runner’s spikes caught Nicole’s heel. The 2015 national champion tumbled, striking her head on the track and bruising a knee. She couldn’t continue.
    Both girls live and train in New Jersey. Stephanie, 23, is running in Europe while Nicole, 29 and married just two years, contemplates balancing top-level competition with family life.
    “She’s having a tough time with it, but she’ll take it one year at a time,” said her dad, Ken Schappert, who competed in the trials in ’72 and ’76. “So many great runners I knew never made an Olympic team. You just keep working at it.”
                                ***
    Another winner on the track is back in the news …
    On Dec. 29, 1993, Pat C Rendezvous broke from the gate at Palm Beach Kennel Club and changed greyhound racing. Her 3 ½-length victory was the first of a world-record 36 in a row that made “Rhonda,” to her legions of fans, a celebrity. She eventually lost 18 months later but still won 52 races in 1994.
    Pat C was retired in 1996 and spent her remaining days on the Colorado farm of her owner, Pat Collins. She bore one litter and died in 2000, but her legacy continued. In 2002, her male pup, Pat C Lookahere, won the James W. Paul Derby, and in October in Abilene, Kansas, she’ll be inducted into the Greyhound Hall of Fame.
    “All of us who were part of this superstar we called Rhonda will never forget the excitement while she raced,” the Kennel Club’s Theresa Hume said. “Our track had record crowds and mutuel handles.  She is beloved by many.”

***
                                
    Nat King Cole’s voice was “unforgettable.” Fortunately for the contestants and the audience in the second annual Nat King Cole Generation Hope Lip Sync battle, voice quality won’t matter… style and attitude will.
    Generation Hope was founded by Nat’s daughters, Casey and Timolin, to support music programs in underfunded schools. The syncing (6:30 p.m. Aug. 24 at Blue Martini in Boca Raton’s Town Center) will feature Junior Leaguer Karli Vazquez-Mendez, real estate broker Peg Anderson, Hollywood (Fla.) lawyer Brion Ross, Boca Chamber of Commerce VP Beth Johnston, Casey’s husband and former NFL player Julian Hooker, Boca City Councilman Bob Weinroth and Palm Beach Post entertainment writer Leslie Gray Streeter.
    Tickets are $35 ($25 online in advance) and include a drink ticket, extended happy hour, prize drawings and some wild moves. Details at www.nkcgenhope.org.

***
                                
    Lots happening at The Wick. With a $5 million mortgage inked in April, Marilyn Wick’s theater company enters its third season as owner of the former Caldwell Theatre Company building on North Federal in Boca. The Wick’s Costume Museum, stocked with $20 million in Broadway finery, reopens in September with a new display, “Where Runway Meets Broadway.”
    On stage, five musicals are set: They’re Playing Our Song, beginning Oct. 13 with Andrea McArdle,  followed by Sister Act Nov. 25, West Side Story Jan. 12, Guys and Dolls March 9 and Beehive April 20.

***
                                
    The renovation goes on and up at the Norton Museum of Art. Donors already have committed $60 million to the project, but costs are now expected to reach $100 million. As the massive project proceeds, admission is free and the museum has added a new program marked by the return of an old friend.
    Three decades ago, Lou Tyrrell arrived from New York, with innovative and provocative drama. Before establishing Theatre Club of the Palm Beaches, Florida Stage and Arts Garage’s theater, he mounted his first three productions at the Norton. 
    Now running Florida Atlantic University’s new Theatre Lab as “Visiting Eminent Scholar in the Arts,” Tyrrell is bringing three of its productions, in reading format followed by audience discussions with cast and crew, to the Norton’s long-standing Art After Dark program.
    The first, 13 Things About Ed Carpolotti, was performed July 21. Next up is By and By, a drama about human cloning by Lanford Wilson Award winner Lauren Gunderson, Aug. 18. Love Is, a musical set for Sept. 15, features South Florida veterans Angie Radosh and Caryl Fantel. Shows at 7:30 p.m., and again — no charge.
                                ***
 Will any venture ever succeed at 116 NE Sixth Ave. in Delray Beach? It just can’t seem to catch on as a restaurant. Originally a residence, built in 1925, it was bought by the Falcon family in 1941 to use in part as a pharmacy.
    In 1992 Andrew Bennardo took the leap, with an Italian ristorante for nearly a decade. Karl Alterman opened Falcon House, a tapas bar, in 2006, then renamed it Triple Eight at Falcon House, with a tie to Triple Eight Vodka in Nantucket and small plates for $8.88. Next came Ceviche, a venture from Gulf Coast entrepreneurs, and then Dennis Max stepped in to blend high-tech libations with old-style architecture at Max’s SoHo, short for Social House.
    It was social, but not enough to pay the bills. SoHo is no mo.
                                ***
     More change in downtown Delray.  ... Tryst is for sale? Even though the bistro just east of Swinton remains one of the most popular spots in Delray, its owners believe it is time to move on ...  to a different concept at a larger, but as yet undisclosed, location farther east on Atlantic.
Tryst is a concept of The Sub Culture Group, whose principals include Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich, who have steadily developed a multifaceted restaurant-nightclub empire from West Palm Beach to South Beach, including Dada in Delray and Dubliner in Boca.  
Nevertheless, restaurant broker Christian Prakas said the partners wanted to pursue a different course. Asking price for the name is $350,000.
                                ***
    A couple of blocks away, Max’s Harvest is jumping with a revamped menu for summer and its popular Chef Versus Chef competition every Wednesday. … 50 Ocean has introduced prix fixe offerings at lunch ($21 for two courses) and early-bird dinner ($35 for three courses) and a new chef. Joseph Bonavita Jr., a veteran of New York and South Beach who’s big on raw bars, replaces Blake Malatesta, who opened the kitchen in 2012. Malatesta has gone “MIA.” Not missing in action; he’ll chef at MIA — Modern Inventive Authentic — opening in November on West Atlantic just east of the turnpike.
                                ***
    A nice feather in her toque. Manlee Siu, Chef de Cuisine at Angle at Eau Palm Beach, will pay a visit to the James Beard House in New York.
    On Aug. 8, the Hong Kong native, in her second year at Angle, with assistance from pastry chef Robert Bellini, will prepare a Palm Beach dinner that will include Key West shrimp and Loxahatchee alligator.
    Watch her work her magic on Beard House’s “chef cam,” at 6:15 p.m. (www.jamesbeard.org/kitchen-cam).     
                                ***

Lynn Laurenti holds her framed proclamation at her retirement party. Photo provided

    Lynn Laurenti really had no idea where she was headed.
    “They just told me to take 441 to Glades Road and go east until I saw the airport,” Laurenti recalled of that day in 1964 when she made her first trip from Miami to Florida Atlantic University. “I knew that if I hit Federal Highway I had gone too far.”
    Fortunately for Laurenti and for FAU, she found it, launching a longtime relationship that culminated June 17 with her retirement as special assistant to President John Kelly.
    Laurenti was a model student for the first state university in South Florida: It began, for lack of a better term, as a “senior college” — a place for junior college and grad students to “finish up.”
    After her freshman year at the University of Florida, Laurenti returned to Miami when her father died. Local options University of Miami and Barry University were expensive. She began working her way through what was then Dade County Junior College.
    Prospects were bleak until a faculty adviser mentioned the new school opening in Boca Raton.
    “I bought a map at a gas station to find it,” she said. (Population in 1960 was 6,961.)
    FAU’s ambitious plans included a high-tech library where research documents would be stored on film, and TV cameras in classrooms so students could access lectures at any time, even from dorm rooms. The concept was so uncharacteristically progressive for a Florida university that the opening address was given by President Lyndon Johnson. FAU, he drawled on Oct. 25, 1964, symbolized  “a new revolution in education” that could “vastly enrich life over the next 50 years.”
    Laurenti, then Lynn Klein, applied, was accepted and received some financial aid, but she had to wait a week for her first class because Hurricane Cleo left $100,000 in damage and a bent flagpole.
    Her arrival was hardly breathtaking. After driving two hours from Miami — no I-95 then — she found the airport, the long-abandoned Boca Raton Army Air Field, and a skeleton of a campus — two classroom buildings, a library and a TV center. “I made that trip three times a week. Gas was cheap.”
    She graduated cum laude in English in 1966, wrote for newspapers, including the Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald, then tried her hand at public relations.
    In 1990 she returned to campus as media relations director and university spokesperson, becoming, as then-FAU President Frank Brogan described in 2003, “a walking encyclopedia of information about the university.”
    Today the two-lane roads are memories. Campuses dot the landscape from Broward County to Fort Pierce. As FAU and Boca grew in size and prominence, presidents — from Tony Catanese in 1990 to Kelly today — relied on Laurenti’s knowledge and her way with words to craft their speeches.
    Summing up Laurenti’s life as student, alumna and employee, Kelly called her an “indispensable asset to her colleagues, community associates, industry peers, and to the institution as a whole,” noted her “excelsior levels of achievement, dedication and professionalism at FAU,” and her “steady hand and abiding force of calm and humor during mercurial administrations” in proclaiming her an “FAU Owl forever.”
Kelly spoke at Laurenti’s retirement party in June.
    Don’t be surprised if Laurenti answers the next time Kelly’s office calls or if someone needs an anecdote from half a century ago.
                                ***
    Pokémon seemed harmless enough as a video game, but devotees of the new Pokémon GO extension are stressing more responsible behavior by players. In mid-July, three Baltimore police officers barely escaped serious injury when a young driver sideswiped a patrol car.
    “That’s what I get for playing this dumb ­game,” the kid said as he showed the cops his phone. 
    A man and woman were arrested for trespassing after they broke into the tiger cage at the Toledo Zoo. “It was all fun and games until the cops showed up,” the clueless said.
    Because Pokémon is a Japanese creation, the Morikami Museum and Gardens is attracting players who might never visit otherwise. Museum staff is, or was, thrilled until some players left white graffiti on trees and benches: “Team Instinct Rocks,” “Valor Is Trash” and “Mewtwo wuz here.”
    The Pokémon GO Fan Club of Fort Lauderdale, 222 members strong, has announced a social event at the Morikami for 11 a.m. Aug. 21, and has already urged its members to “be extra courteous to (employees) and all the other people in the park.”
    
Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Reach him at thomsmith@ymail.com.

The Plate: “Mile High” turkey sandwich
The Place: Flakowitz Bagel Inn, 1999 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton; 368-0666.
The Price: $10.95
The Skinny: I’ve been going to the place that is Flakowitz Bagel Inn since it was the Bagel Queen back in the ’80s. That was good, but my experiences have been consistently better over the couple of decades that Flakowitz has ruled that corner, at Federal Highway and 20th Street in Boca Raton.
Great breakfast and lunches, too.
Check out this turkey sandwich. At first glance, it’s ordinary enough.
But it’s not.
The menu says it’s made with meat fresh off the frame, and it tastes that way, too. Not too salty, wonderful texture — nothing soggy or spongy. Beautiful fresh rye bread, with crisp lettuce and a slice of tomato that tastes like an honest-to-goodness vine-ripened fruit.
The slaw was crisp and cold, with a tangy dressing that was not too sweet, and the jumbo-cut steak fries were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
 — Scott Simmons

Make a short drive up A1A next month to cash in on specials offered at 14 Palm Beach restaurants during September’s Flavor Palm Beach. The restaurants will serve three-course lunch menus starting at $20 and/or three-course dinner menus from $30.
Participating restaurants:
Al Fresco, 2345 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, 273-3130, www.alfrescopb.com
Brandon’s by the Beach at Tideline Ocean Resort, 2842 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, 540-6440, www.brandonspalmbeach.com
Café Boulud, 301 Australian Ave., Palm Beach, 655-6060, www.cafeboulud.com
Charley’s Crab, 456 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, 659-1500, www.muer.com
Echo, 230 Sunrise Ave., Palm Beach, 802-4222, www.echopalmbeach.com
Graze at the Four Seasons, 2800 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, 582-2800, www.fourseasons.com
Imoto, 350 S. County Road, Palm Beach, 833-5522, www.imotopalmbeach.com
Jové Kitchen & Bar at the Four Seasons, 2800 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, 582-2800, www.fourseasons.com
The Leopard Lounge at The Chesterfield, 363 Cocoanut Row, Palm Beach, 659-5800, www.chesterfieldpb.com
Meat Market, 191 Bradley Place, Palm Beach, 354-9800, www.meatmarket.net
Mizu at Tideline Ocean Resort, 2842 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, 540-6440, www.tidelineresort.com
PB Catch, 251 Sunrise Ave., Palm Beach, 655-5558, www.pbcatch.com
Renato’s, 87 Via Mizner, Palm Beach, 655-9752, www.renatospalmbeach.com
The Italian Restaurant at The Breakers, 1 S. County Road, Palm Beach, 655-6611, www.thebreakers.com

Flavor Palm Beach debuted eight years ago as a monthlong, off-season discount dining promotion. Restaurants from Boca to Jupiter participate. For a list of restaurants, visit www.flavorpb.com.
— Mary Thurwachter

Workers from Office Depot enjoy lunch at Deck 84, Delray Beach, which offers $10 lunch deals. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

With winter
residents away
and crowds thinned,
reservations are a piece of cake at some of our
favorite restaurants. To sweeten the eating-out allure, promotional rates are offered, too.

Related story: September dining deals in Palm Beach

By Janis Fontaine

    Summer is the perfect time to go out to eat, to try new restaurants, to savor new flavors.
    Many restaurants offer summer savings ranging from half-price wine and three-course prix fixe meals to lobster dinners, pizza specials and, in one case, 20 percent off the entire menu.

        Here are some of the area’s dining deals:

    32 East — 32 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 276-7868; www.32east.com
Sunday Funday: 50 percent off any bottle of wine under $100 or $50 off any wine over $100. Until Thanksgiving.

The view at 50 Ocean.
                                    
50 Ocean — 50 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. 278-3364; www.50ocean.com
    Lunch special: Get an appetizer and an entrée for $21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
    Dinner special: Prix fixe three-course meal for $35.
                                     
    Angle at Eau Palm Beach, 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. 540-4924; www.eaupalmbeach.com
    Angle Uncorked: 6-7 p.m. Thursdays through Oct. 27. A wine tasting and class with sommelier Tim White, by reservation. Stay for dinner at Angle and receive 50 percent off select bottles of wine.
    
     Temple Orange Mediterranean Bistro at Eau Palm Beach, 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan.
540-4924; www.eaupalmbeach.com
    Prix fixe summer dining: Three-course prix fixe lunch for $28; three-course prix fixe dinner for $55, except in September during Flavor Palm Beach, when it’s less.
    Veuve Rich brunch: Noon-2:30 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 30. $42; $16 for ages 4-12; free for younger than 4. Add “endless” visits to the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Garden, where you create your own cocktails, or a “bottomless” glass of Veuve Rich is $18.

Breeze Ocean Kitchen at Eau Palm Beach. Capehart Photo

    Breeze Ocean Kitchen at Eau Palm Beach, 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. 540-4924; www.eaupalmbeach.com
    Lunch special: Three-course menu available for $28 per person (a la carte menu also available). Daily from noon to 2:30 p.m. Available through Oct. 31.
                                     
    Bogart’s Bar & Grille at the Cinemark 20 Theatre, 3200 Airport Road, Boca Raton. 544-3044; www.BogartsofBoca.com
    Ten for $10 lunches: Your choice of 10 items priced at $10 each, including coffee, tea or soda, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday.
    Prix fixe summer special: Three-course prix fixe menu for $28. Through Oct. 31.
    Samuel Adams beer dinner: Sept. 14. A four-course prix fixe menu featuring brew pairings from the Samuel Adams family of beers, chosen with the assistance of a cicerone. Reservations are required.
                                     
    Café Frankie’s, 640 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach. 732-3834; www.cafefrankies.com
    Daily appetizer specials, $5, 4:30-3:30 p.m.
     Fifty percent of bottle sof wine, daily,  8-10 p.m.
    Take-out pizza special: Get an 18-inch cheese pizza for $8.99. An 18-inch margherita pizza is $9.99.  
                                     
    Caffe Luna Rosa — 34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. 274-9404; www.caffelunarosa.com
    Late evening special: Half-priced select wines by the glass or bottle, all beer and liquor drinks with dinner after 9 p.m. Ask about special pours like Johnnie Walker Blue, $18 for a 1.5-ounce pour. Through summer.
                                     
    Deck 84 ­— 840 E. Atlantic Ave. Delray Beach. 665-8484; www.Deck84.com
    Three-course prix fixe menu: $22 from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday.
    Wednesday: Half-priced bottles of wine with the purchase of an entrée.
    Ten for $10 lunches: Choice of 10 lunches priced at $10 each, including coffee, tea or soda, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday.
                                     
    Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen in Royal Palm Plaza— 399 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton, 826-2625; www.farmhousekitchenboca.com  
    Wine Down Mondays: Get 50 percent off bottles of wine and champagne, 25 percent off reserve wine list.
                                     
    Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen  — 204 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 266-3643; www.farmhousekitchendelray.com
    Wine Down Wednesdays: Fifty percent off all bottles of wine and champagne on the regular beverage menu and 25 percent off bottles on the reserve wine list.
                                     
    Josie’s Ristorante — 1602 S. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. 364-9601; www.josiesristorante.com
    Summer deal: Take 20 percent off the entire menu, dine-in only. Through September.
                                     
    Max’s Grille in Mizner Park, 404 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 368-0080; www.maxsgrille.com
    The Q & Brew menu: Every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to closing, get the new “Smalls & Sandwiches” ($8-$15) including N’awlins BBQ shrimp, pulled pork sandwich, Texas smokehouse burger, and a Q salad. On the main course ($18-$29): baby back ribs, wood grilled chicken, brisket, and the Q Combo comes with a choice of two. Endless craft beer is available for $15 with the purchase of dinner. Until Labor Day.
                                     
    Max’s Harvest, 169 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach, 381-9970; www.maxsharvest.com
    Specials: $29 family-style Southern fried chicken and $5 Southern Spiked Teas & Lemonades on Sundays; half-off bottles of wine on Mondays; $12 burgers and $5 bourbon/Beaujolais on Tuesdays; $35 for 1½-pound lobster with salad and dessert and $5 wines on Thursdays; and half-off bottles of wine on Friday and Saturday, 5-7 p.m.
    Chef competition: Chef vs. Chef is held every Wednesday starting at 9 p.m. at Max’s Harvest.  Food and drinks are available for purchase during each match. The cover charge is $5, and proceeds to benefit the Milagro Center.

Lobster at Prime Catch.
                                     
Prime Catch, 700 E. Woolbright Road, Boynton Beach. 737-8822; www.primecatchboynton.com
Lobster Bake: From 4:30 to 6 p.m., get lobster, clams, mussels, potatoes and corn. Cost: $18.95.
Monday lobster dinner: Get a 1¼-pound lobster for $18.95.     

The scene at Tryst.                     

Tryst — 4 E Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 921-0201; www.trystdelray.com
    Sunday: Fried chicken and a glass of bubbly for $18.
    Tuesday: Wine Not nights, with 40 percent off bottled wine and $10 charcuterie and cheese boards.
    Wednesday: Burger and hot dog specials.
    Friday and Saturday: Late-night food specials from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

Downtown Delray
There’s still time to cash in on the inaugural Dine Out Downtown Delray Beach, which began Aug. 1 and continues through Aug. 7. It’s part of Restaurant Week 2016, when local culinary hotspots join to celebrate food with special savings, wine tastings and even cooking classes.
    Modeled after successful promotions like Miami Spice and Dine Out Fort Lauderdale, local eateries offer special prix fixe, three-course meals in the $20-$40 range. Restaurant owners know you’ve been waiting for the chance to try out a new place or to revisit an old favorite, and they’re making it budget-friendly.
    Some restaurants will serve three-course lunches for less than $20.
    Laura Simon, executive director of Delray Beach’s Downtown Development Authority, says the promotion focuses on restaurants in the Atlantic Avenue corridor, but may expand if this is successful.
    It looks like it already is. Participating restaurants include 32 East, 50 Ocean, Atlantic Grille at The Seagate Hotel, Big Al’s Steaks, Brule, Caffe Luna Rosa, Caffe Martier, CENA, Dada, Deck 84, Eat Market, Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen, Honey, Juice Buzz, Juice Papi, Luigi’s Coal Oven Pizza, Max’s Harvest, Mellow Mushroom, Pizza Rustica, Prime, Rack’s Fish House & Oyster Bar, Salt7, Smoke BBQ, Solita & Mastino, The Office, The Old Arcade, Tryst and Windy City Pizza.
    For details, visit www.downtowndelraybeach.com.

Romance, anyone?
At the Four Seasons Palm Beach, you can have a romantic dinner date for two in a private candlelit cabana overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Add fresh flowers and live music. You can dine on a three-course dinner for $150 per person or a four-course dinner for $180, plus the cost of wine, champagne and cocktails, and tax and tip.
    For folks who loathe leaving the kids at home, the resort also offers cabana dinners for the entire family.
    The Four Seasons is at 2800 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach. For reservations, call 582-2800.

Lantana has a public beach, one of the requirements for under-the-radar beach towns in a nationwide survey by realtor.com. Above, the Ellis family of Lake Worth cools off in the water at the beach. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter

Near the end of a Town Council meeting in May, when public comments were given, a longtime Lantana resident marched to the podium to offer her congratulations because Lantana had been named America’s fourth-best under-the-radar (and affordable) beach town by realtor.com.
“I had no idea,” Mayor Dave Stewart says when asked about the designation. He guesses the title followed some sort of polling done during the last year. But he has since learned the criteria, discovering that the honor came both for what Lantana is not as well as what the town offers residents.
For example, Lantana is not a famous beach town. It has a low Google search volume compared with hot spots like Miami Beach and Santa Monica, Calif. And it is small. Only 10,000 people live within its three square miles. Yet there are plenty of good restaurants and residents are offered beach access and oodles of amenities.
Homes are affordable, too. “You could get a condo for $50,000 or a mega-mansion for millions,” Stewart says.
All of those things were considered by realtor.com’s survey, in which Lantana came in after first-place Ocean Park, Wash., second-place Cape Canaveral and third-place Crescent City, Calif.
“We’re a little slice of Old Florida in the middle of the Gold Coast, with the kind of small-town atmosphere that has disappeared from much of this area,” says Chamber of Commerce president Dave Arm. “We have great restaurants, world-class fishing and diving, a new kayak and paddleboard park and fishing pier.” 

Anglers unload the Lady K drift boat at Lantana’s Sportsman’s Park, near the Old Key Lime House. The boat goes out daily.

And then there’s the annual fishing fest, a three-day event attended by hundreds of residents and visitors with free family-friendly parties open to all.
“We host 50 underprivileged children at our Kids’ Derby every year, assisted by the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office and the Lantana Police Department,” Arm says. “We give them each their own rod and reel and tackle box to keep. We take them fishing at the Lantana fishing pier at Bicentennial Park and teach them to bait their hooks, cast and fish.”
The little angler with the biggest fish wins a bicycle. Second- and third-place prizes are given, as well.
Seems the fish weren’t biting much at this year’s derby in May.
“Third-place fish was a crab,” Arm says.
“Most of these children have never been fishing, and we hope we’re kicking off a lifelong appreciation for the sea and our sport,” he says.
Arm and his wife, Renee, own Lantana Fitness.
“We enjoy seeing people of all ages and backgrounds exercising together at a true neighborhood club,” he says. “It’s that kind of community, and why we love Lantana.”

Patrons at the Dune Deck enjoy the view and breeze at the beach.

Mary Smith loves Lantana, too. A regular at Town Council meetings (she is the one who spoke about the realtor.com designation after she saw it on Facebook), Smith has lived in the town for 47 years.
“From the moment I moved here from a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., I have loved the fact that Lantana was a small town where I could — and do — walk everywhere.
“Lantana has the best beach around, as far as I’m concerned. It is a family-friendly place and I went to it every day when I moved here. When I started a family, I took them every afternoon, as well. I still go often. Because the warm waters of the Gulf Stream come close to the beach, the water is always warm.”
The beach, with 745 feet of ocean frontage, isn’t anywhere near as wide as it was in the ’70s and ’80s and British journalists, in town for tryouts at The National Enquirer (based in Lantana then), played cricket on the shoreline. But the beach still has its charm with picnic areas, an oceanfront pavilion, lifeguard station, playground and the Dune Deck, a seaside restaurant known to locals and travelers from around the globe.

A path winds inside the Lantana Nature Preserve. The coastal hammock, often used for ecological education, was previously a garbage dump.

But Lantana’s allure extends well beyond the beach and its newly paved parking lot. One of the town’s proudest assets is the Lantana Nature Preserve, a coastal hammock between the Carlisle senior living facility on East Ocean Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway — and simply a lovely place to take a short hike.
Other town amenities include a sports complex with baseball and soccer fields, a recreation center with tennis courts, shuffleboard courts and a barbecue pavilion and a two-acre boat launching facility.

The house that is home to the Old Key Lime House restaurant, built in 1889, is one of the oldest existing structures in Palm Beach County.

Shops and restaurants along Ocean Avenue, including the iconic Old Key Lime House (one of state’s oldest waterside eateries), are thriving again since the Ocean Avenue bridge was rebuilt three years ago.

Shops and restaurants along East Ocean Avenue are thriving since the rebuilt Ocean Avenue bridge opened three years ago.

“I love the relaxed atmosphere of all our functions,” says Stewart, who exemplifies the laid-back beach town/fishing village vibe by wearing Hawaiian shirts (and often shorts) as he presides over Town Council meetings.
The town’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration is among the best around and always draws a big crowd to Bicentennial Park.
“We have movies at the beach, a dog park, a Halloween party for kids at the Nature Preserve, an all-volunteer library (except for the director), and all kinds of free events for families,” Stewart says.
“At Christmastime, our Kiwanis Club gives away 50 to 90 bikes to kids and on Thanksgiving they deliver 600 to 700 meals to people who otherwise wouldn’t have a turkey dinner,” the mayor says.
“We have our problems like any municiaplity, but it’s all those little things that make a difference,” Stewart says.
Until a few years ago, retired town Councilman Lou Canter emerged from the sea on Groundhog Day as Lantana Lou, the town’s answer to Punxsutawney Phil. With trident and stuffed fish in hand, Lou would proclaim “12 months of beautiful weather and eight more weeks of our good friends the snowbirds.”
In 2009, Lantana residents mailed hundreds of coconuts to Postmaster General John E. Potter in an effort to save their post office. And it worked, raising awareness in a nutty beach town way.
Lantana is a friendly small town, for sure.
“If you go to the Ace Hardware store, people will know you and you will know them,” Stewart says. “It’s that kind of town.”
The mayor remembers when he and his wife were house hunting in 1989, the year his son was born. They scoped out houses between Port St. Lucie and Boca Raton, looking for a place on the water.
“We wanted a place we could dock our boat and be able to get on a bicycle and ride to the beach,” he says. The search landed the Stewarts in Lantana, on Hypoluxo Island.
“The only place that came close was Sewall’s Point,” he says. “The house we liked there was on the market for $1.4 million and ours was $350,000 at the time.”
They have no plans to leave. 

The Delray Beach Initiative raised more than $13,000 for Family Promise of South Palm Beach County, an organization that supports homeless families. ‘We want to thank all those who came out to support us in our goal to raise money to fight family homelessness in Delray and south Palm Beach County,᾿ said Allison Turner, chairwoman of the Delray Beach Initiative. ‘The Delray Beach Initiative is passionate about helping and enhancing the lives of children in the Delray Beach area.᾿ABOVE: (l-r) Carol Eaton, a Delray Beach Initiative member, Kokie Dinnan, executive director of Family Promise of South Palm Beach County, and Turner. Photo provided

Saint John Paul II Academy graduated 125 high-school students as their families and other guests of honor watched. Valedictorian Eric Heinlein will be attending Purdue University, and Salutatorian Amparo Pareja will be attending Columbia University. The class as a whole received $7.6 million in scholarships and will be attending schools all over the country. ABOVE: (l-r) Graduates Julia Hartmann, Peter Harrigan, Frankie Tomas, Cullen Gray and Anthony Serena. Photo provided

The Kravis Center board of directors, trustees and committee members were honored at an event to celebrate the season’s highlights. Board Chairwoman Jane Mitchell summed it up: ‘In the area of fundraising and development, I am thrilled to report that we have met and exceeded our annual fundraising goal of $5.5 million, two-and-a-half months ahead of schedule.᾿ABOVE: (l-r) George Michel, Sherry Barrat and George Elmore. Photo provided by Corby Kaye’s Studio Palm Beach

Executive Women of the Palm Beaches honored four of its own for making a difference in the community. Wendy Sartory-Link received the Private Sector Award, Laurie George received the Non-Profit Sector Award, Verdenia Baker received the Public Sector Award, and Yvonne Boice received the Volunteer Sector Award. More than $75,000 was raised. ABOVE: (l-r) Awards Chairwoman Natalie Alvarez, Executive Women of the Palm Beaches Foundation President Regina Bedoya, guest speaker Susan Packard, Executive Women of the Palm Beaches President Sandra Close Turnquest and Honorary Chairwoman Barbara Schmidt. Photo provided by Gina Fontana

The university’s music department, which is housed in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, received a $50,000 donation from the Georgina Dieter Dennis Foundation to continue funding the Georgina Dieter Dennis Vocal Scholarship. It marks the fourth year the college has received the funding. ABOVE: (l-r) Patricia Fleitas, director of vocal studies; Rebecca Lautar, chairwoman of the music department; and Ronald Schagrin, of the Georgina Dieter Dennis Foundation. Photo provided

Club members welcomed a new executive board during a ceremony in their historic landmark building. The seven-member slate of officers, five of whom were re-elected for a second term, was approved unanimously. The board consists of Michele Walter, president; Mary Fallon, first vice president; Rosemarie Patrone, second vice president; JoAnne Kriesant-Weld, treasurer; Pat Waldron, assistant treasurer; Maurcy Selko, recording secretary; and Lillian Ostiguy, corresponding secretary. ABOVE: (l-r) Parliamentarian Evelyn Weicker with Walter, Kriesant-Weld and Ostiguy. Photo provided

Muhammad Ali jokingly held up a fist while holding the little Joe Lewis in 1991. Photo by Thom Smith

By Thom Smith

We all have our moments. Those fleeting ticks of time that stay with us to the grave, through good days and bad, despite the noisy kids in the cramped back seat on interminable summer trips, along with hurricanes and house fires, the first kiss. The memory may not be in 3-D, but the picture is sufficient.
    After 25 years, Aug. 30, 1991, seems as vivid as a bolt of lightning. A decade earlier the world had faced a medical dilemma that many feared would wipe out humanity. It didn’t, but in 1991 the world and Palm Beach County were still coming to grips with HIV/AIDS.  
    To provide a refuge for children who had AIDS or were HIV-positive, the Children’s Place (now Children’s Place at HomeSafe), itself only a few years old, cobbled together Connor’s Nursery. It was the first such residential center in Florida, but money doesn’t fall from the sky or flow in from government agencies, so fundraisers were organized — bazaars, flea markets, a Walk for Life.
    Terry Scott and other community activists organized Positive Link, an AIDS information and fundraising organization. Scott, a decorator who had worked on homes for George Hamilton, Johnny Cash and Gianni Versace, called on lots of friends.
    On Aug. 30, a Connor’s Nursery staffer loaded a 6-month-old infant into a car seat in the back of Scott’s Jaguar. Then Scott, with this writer (then at The Palm Beach Post) riding shotgun, drove to Miami Beach to hook up with another former client.
    We arrived at the Alexander Hotel about 10:30 a.m. and Scott, holding the baby, knocked on the door of the suite. As it opened, Scott held out the child and said: “Joe Lewis, meet Muhammad Ali!”
    Ali’s huge hands trembled. Parkinson’s had robbed him of his athleticism but it couldn’t defeat the legendary twinkle. He immediately wrapped his big arms around Joe … and the trembling stopped.
The baby’s name had a different spelling from that of boxing legend Joe Louis.
    “Is he an orphan?” Ali whispered to Scott, who explained the mother had AIDS and was fighting a crack cocaine addiction.
    “How long will he live?”
    Told that newborns had a 70 percent chance of survival if their antibodies took over from the mothers’, he added, “That’s good,” then surprised the group by announcing that he had a 4-month-old that he’d recently adopted.
    For 45 minutes, Ali held Joe, played with him, cuddled him as he sat in a big easy chair, and even performed his legendary “levitation” magic trick. His words often were so soft that only Howard Bingham understood. Bingham is the professional photographer who became Ali’s biographer, friend, confidant and mouthpiece.
    But it remained the Ali and Joe show, as the champ posed for photos with the kid, knurling his lip and clenching a fist at the baby’s chin while Joe kept looking away, as if ducking the punch or wondering, “Who is this big guy and why am I here?”
    Scott produced photographs and a pair of boxing gloves that Ali gleefully but laboriously autographed. The hands no longer stung like a bee.
    Ali first made headlines as Cassius Clay, light-heavyweight champion at the 1960 Tokyo Olympics, and he became the world heavyweight champ four years later when he beat Sonny Liston at the Miami Beach Convention Center. He was back in town in 1991 because the city had dedicated an area in the center as the Muhammad Ali Hall of Champions.
    But now it was time to hit the road. As Bingham and Muhammad Ali Jr. hurriedly packed for flights leaving in an hour, Ali continued to entertain and be entertained by Joe.
    “Children are exiles from heaven,” Ali said as he whispered goodbye to his old friend Scott and to his new friend for the last time.
    The ride back to Palm Beach was marked by its silence as each occupant absorbed the experience.
    Scott died from AIDS in 1993. Connor’s Nursery closed years ago, its mission assumed by other health agencies. Attempts to find Joe and his mother hit dead ends. But 25 years later, on the day of Ali’s memorial service in Louisville, those 1991 memories regained clarity when, by luck, I discovered my photos from that visit.
    I felt blessed.
    I watched the memorial celebration, which Ali planned in advance of his death: priests, imams, rabbis, a Native American chief, ministers. Who would’ve imagined Orrin Hatch, a conservative leader, a Mormon, but he was Ali’s friend. Or Natasha Mundkur, a 19-year-old student who never met Ali, but his example changed her life. Former President Bill Clinton spoke.
    “Half a century and a lifetime of experience later, I am still awestruck and I am still convinced he is the greatest,” Jupiter resident Bryant Gumbel marveled at the memorial.
    To Billy Crystal, Ali “was a tremendous bolt of lightning, created by Mother Nature out of thin air.”
    “He was still a kid from Louisville who ran with the gods and laughed with the crippled and smiled at the foolishness of it all. He is gone, but he will never die.”
    Curiously, no boxers were invited to speak. Not even an athlete. The common thread: All were storytellers who helped us realize that everyone who ever met Ali must feel blessed.
                                    ***
    Muhammad Ali wasn’t the only celebrated Louisville native to leave us last month. Marjorie Fisher died June 12 at her Palm Beach home. She was 92. Her death will not have the visceral impact of Ali’s, but it will be felt far beyond the bluegrass or the shores of Lake Worth.
She was blessed with charm, knockout beauty, a flair for fashion and a love of the arts. She also knew how to get things done. When her first marriage didn’t work out, she took her two children to Detroit. There she met Max Fisher, who ran one of the largest gas station operations in the Midwest.
    The marriage worked: Max adopted her son and daughter; he became a major force in real estate and business, in Jewish and nonsectarian causes and in Republican politics. He became confidant and adviser to presidents and prime ministers.  
    Marjorie raised the kids and worked to improve the lives of others. The philanthropy of the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation has had worldwide effect. Founded in 1955 and permanently endowed by Dorothy after Max died in 2005, it is pledged “to enrich humanity by strengthening and empowering children and families in need.”
    In the past eight years, its involvement has topped $100 million.  
    The Detroit Symphony performs at the Max M. Fisher Music Center, affectionately known as “The Max.” Ohio State University, which Max attended on a football scholarship, has the Fisher College of Business. In addition to many Jewish service agencies, the foundation supports the American Research Center in Egypt, the Library of Congress, and the AIDS study program at the University of Alabama.
    The clubhouses at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County facility on Drexel Road in West Palm Beach are known as “The Max” and “The Marge.” She served on the board of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, supported the Salvation Army, United Way and the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.
    The Fisher legacy should be in good hands with the children, notably Mary Fisher, who is recognized internationally for her work to promote prevention, education and treatment for HIV/AIDS.    
    For Marjorie, the mission was simple: “You are here for a reason — to help other people. Everything in life is based on love and what you can do to help others. The rest is just cream — sometimes sour cream — but it’s all cream.”
                                       ***
    The bride wore white, but not a toque, as celeb chef Lindsay Autry married super foodie David Sabin June 4. Autry, a North Carolinian who first made a name for herself on Bravo’s Top Chef competition, hit South Florida like a tornado, first at the Omphoy in Palm Beach under the tutelage of Michelle Bernstein, then at Sundy House in Delray and the Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival. Sabin, who happens to be director of the festival, proposed during the event at The Breakers in December 2014. Call it love at first bite.  
    Although The Breakers may be an international nuptial destination, the couple opted for a little Low Country loving, exchanging vows at The Cedar Room in a 140-year-old former cotton mill in romantic  Charleston, S.C.
    On the guest list: Bernstein, Clay Conley (Buccan, Grato) Tim Lipman (Coolinary Cafe in Palm Beach Gardens) and Food Network’s Robert Irvine.
    Now it’s back to work. Autry is teaming with Thierry Beaud and the gang at Titou Hospitality (Pistache, PB Catch, etc.) on The Regional: Kitchen & Public House. It’ll take over the former McCormick & Schmick’s site on the south side of CityPlace. Opening, however, is still months away.
                                    ***
No network wedding for Vinny, the Delray Beach barber. The Bachelorette dismissed him June 20. Of course, had JoJo, the pursued, stuck with Vincent Ventiera for the duration, it would have turned the Cinderella legend on its head. Perry Como may have done OK, but barbers seldom score top ratings.
Although he got royally soused on camera in the first show, Vinny had much to offer — he’s a charmer, has a winning smile and no tattoos. But just how much barbering does he do?
The Facebook page for MoJo’s Barbershop at Mission Bay Plaza way out in West Boca makes a big deal of “Vinny V’s  Chair” and displays photos of him clipping a couple of heads, but the receptionist said the New York City native hasn’t worked there in months.
Actually, Vinny is better known around town as a DJ. He spins records at Salt7 in Delray, although corporate records list his residence as Boynton Beach. Maybe he’ll capitalize on his 15-plus minutes of fame and open a chain of hip salons with DJ stations.
                                    ***
    The National Croquet Club in West Palm Beach is offering free lessons every Saturday morning at 10. The club provides the mallets, balls and courts; you provide flat-soled shoes. Even though proper croquet attire remains all white, the club permits any color for lessons — but no swimsuits, please.
    After the session, enjoy a mojito on the veranda or try lunch in the Croquet Grille. (Reservations required: 478-2300, ext. 3.)
                                    ***
    With the closing June 26 of the Noel Coward comedy Hay Fever, the season at FAU is over. Now it’s time for music as Festival Repertory 2016 continues its 18th annual summer fling with perennial favorite Once Upon a Mattress. It opens a 14-show run July 9 at the Studio One Theatre on the Boca Raton campus.
    A week later, the FWS Jazz Orchestra, a professional ensemble-in-residence at FAU directed by Kyle Prescott and featuring vocals by multitalented Chloe Dolandis, will perform “Big Band Hits from the Golden Age” in the University Theatre at 7 p.m. July 16 and 2 p.m. July 17.
Heather Coltman, who not only serves as dean of the College of Arts and Letters but also plays a mean piano, will be joined by a few friends for Piano Gala Extravaganza, a four-piano tour de force of pop and classical favorites. Shows are at 4 p.m. July 23 and 24 at the University Theatre. For tickets, as low as $12 for students, visit www.fau.edu/festivalrep or call (800) 564-9539.
                                    ***
On the road again . . .
The Schappert sisters, Nicole and Stephanie, planned to be back in Eugene, Ore., for the U.S. Olympic track and field trials that run through July 10. The girls and their parents, Ken and Jane of Delray Beach, hope the girls’ efforts will lead to a longer trip — the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the past year, the St. John Paul II high school and Villanova grads have begun to make their marks in international competition.
Last summer in Eugene, in only her second 5,000 meters ever, Nicole, 29, won the U.S. Nationals with a time of 15:06:44. She cut that to 15:04.08, third best in the nation, then finished 14th at the world championships in Beijing. Nicole is married to Sean Tully, another Villanova runner, and trains with her sister with the  NJ/NY Track Club in New Jersey.
Stephanie, 23, graduated from Villanova last year and was named Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She concentrates on the shorter races and closed out her collegiate career with a fourth place in the 1,500 at the World University Games. She has since cut her personal best by four seconds to 4:09.41, 12th best in the latest rankings.
                                    ***
    After five years, Arts Garage founder Alyona Ushe is gone, not without pressure; but the move appears to be good for everyone involved. The board of Creative City Collaborative decided to proceed with two directors, Dan Schwartz and Keith Garsson. Ushe will run the expanding arts facilities for the city of Pompano Beach.
Schwartz, who has served as finance director for more than two years, will continue in that position. But he now has the title of co-director with Garsson, who has experience in investment banking and in artistic production. Before joining the Collaborative as operations director, he was artistic director for the Boca Raton Theatre Guild. He will handle programming.  
Meanwhile, the shows go on. A late June booking featured rock drummer Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer fame. He performed a musical tribute to his late bandmate Keith Emerson on June 26 and the next night showed off his artwork.
July shows include the campy Cupcake Burlesque (July 8), improvised jams based on Cuban music themes by Spam Allstars (July 9), guitarist Joey Gilmore (July 16), vocalist Chloe Dolandis (July 22), jazz harmonica and vibraphone player Hendrik Meurkens and quartet (July 23) and jazz-funk-fusion sax player Khris Royal & Dark Matter (July 29).  For tickets, go to artsgarage.org.         

Ushe became involved with Pompano Beach in 2014 and already manages the Pompano Beach Amphitheater. She also will run the city’s cultural complex, which includes a new library and performance hall. Construction is expected to wrap early next year.
    Pompano Beach has aspirations to become another Delray Beach and has been working with several local entrepreneurs and restaurateurs to develop similar projects to the south.
                                    ***
Atlantic Avenue can seem deserted during the dog days of summer, so restaurateurs and local businesses hope to generate some action Aug. 1-7 with the first Downtown Delray Restaurant Week. The program includes take-out specials and prix fixe lunch and dinner deals, cooking classes, wine-tastings, and chef demonstrations.
Participating restaurants include 50 Ocean, Atlantic Grille, Big Al’s Steaks, Boston’s, Caffe Luna Rosa, DaDa, Deck 84, Eat Market, Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen, Rack’s Fish House & Oyster Bar, Honey, Juice Papi, Max’s Harvest, Max’s Social House, Mellow Mushroom, Salt7, Solita & Mastino, The Office and Tryst and more are expected. Proceeds will benefit Healthy Bellies, a program for underprivileged children and families founded by Dada chef Bruce Feingold and his wife, Amanda. (downtowndelraybeach.com/restaurantweek or 243-1077).
                                    ***
One new spot, however, won’t open in time for Restaurant Week. The waterfront site restaurant just south of Atlantic Avenue on the east side of the Intracoastal — formerly Hudson — has been leased by a company that owns 15 Argentine steakhouses in Spain called Che!
Uber restaurant broker Tom Prakas, who arranged the deal, says this venture, which hopes to open this fall, will not be known as Che! and will be anything but a steakhouse.
“It’ll be a new concept — fresh seafood, a sushi bar and a raw bar,” Prakas said.
                                    ***
Last month, Josie’s Ristorante & Pizzeria in Boynton’s Riverwalk Plaza announced an enticing summer promotion: It cut all its menu prices by 25 percent. But the bigger story is what comes with that savings.
The Setticasi family — Stephane and Stephanie — has owned Josie’s since 1992. Son Sebastiano serves as chef de cuisine, but in recent weeks someone has been looking over his shoulder.
To the food cognoscenti, Mark Militello is a god. Nearly three decades ago, he was a leader of the “Mango Gang,” a group of chefs credited with  developing “Floribbean,” an amalgam of Italian, Asian and Caribbean styles. He won the James Beard Award as best chef in the Southeast. His restaurant ventures included Mark’s Mizner Park in Boca and Mark’s City Place in West Palm Beach. More recently he created the menus for The Office in Delray Beach, then took a turn at 75 Main. But after it closed three years ago, he headed to the original 75 Main in the Hamptons.
Meanwhile, he’s been consulting, and when the Setticasis called, he answered. Mangia!

Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Reach him at thomsmith@ymail.com.

The Plate: BLT Nanterre

The Place: Bond & Smolders, 1622 S. Federal Highway (at Woolbright Road), Boynton Beach; 425-3551.
The Price: $6.50
The Skinny: A sandwich is a sandwich — at least until you have one from Bond & Smolders.
The BLT Nanterre offered plenty of bacon, lettuce and tomato served atop slices of griddled brioche. It was fresh and tasty, with the right amount of sweet from the tomato and the bread and nicely salty, courtesy of the bacon.
We held out great hope for the doughnuts by Nani’s Dough.
We sampled four — banana cream, glazed, cinnamon sugar and red velvet.
The flavors were good, but these huge doughnuts ($4 each) were almost too doughy, with little of the lighter-than-air quality that makes a doughnut one of life’s little pleasures.
Of the doughnuts we sampled, the cinnamon sugar fared best, with a delicate texture that was rolled in the right mix of spice and sweet.
Darn.
I shouldn’t have written about that because now I’m hungry again.
 — Scott Simmons

By Steve Pike

 There is no better way to see where we are going than to know where we’ve been. In her new book, All Aboard! A History of Florida’s Railroads, author Stephanie Murphy-Lupo superbly details not only the history of Florida’s railroads, but also Florida history before men such as Henry Flagler and Henry Plant built their railroads that forever changed the face of the Sunshine State.
The book comes (not coincidentally) at an opportune time in Florida’s modern railroad history. Florida East Coast Industries, LLC, parent company of the controversial All Aboard Florida initiative, is a descendant of Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railroad that ran from Jacksonville to Key West.
In the last chapter of the book, Murphy-Lupo gives a well-defined history of FEC’s fight for the rail service that beginning next year will link Miami and Orlando.
    Railroad enthusiasts no doubt will enjoy the book’s intricate look into the early railroads in the Southeast. The book also should appeal to history buffs who want a good look into Florida’s development pre- and post-Civil War.
    “I want people to know that (Florida) is a whole lot more than they might understand,” Murphy-Lupo said. “We’re not just Disney World. If the railroad people hadn’t developed the interior of Florida, everything we love would be here, but no one would be here to appreciate it.’’       

In addition to Flagler and Plant, the 316-page book (Globe Pequot) introduces readers to men such as David Levy Yulee, the fiery first U.S. senator from Florida who established the pre-Civil War Florida Railroad Company.
Murphy-Lupo tells each of their stories with the eye for detail of a well-seasoned newspaper reporter, which she was for several years at the Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News. A native Floridian who resides in West Palm Beach, Murphy-Lupo also writes with a voice of one familiar with Florida’s history.
“I had a lot of fun doing the research,’’ said Murphy-Lupo. “I love history, I love the library and I just love to dig and dig and dig.’’
Her digging makes for an outstanding read.

By Steve Plunkett

City officials erred in giving the Chabad of East Boca Raton permission to build a new synagogue and museum on Palmetto Park Road east of the Intracoastal Waterway, a three-judge panel of the county’s Circuit Court ruled.

City Council members should have disallowed the My Israel Center museum outright or followed a city code requirement for 239 parking spaces for the facility, the judges said.

“The City may not pick and choose which sections of the City Code will apply to the ‘My Israel Center,’” their June 6 decision said.

David Roberts, the owner/broker of Royal Palm Properties across the street from the proposed synagogue at 770 E. Palmetto Park Road, asked the court in August to review the City Council’s approval of the site plan, saying its resolution “departed from the essential requirements of the law.”

Rabbi Ruvi New, the Chabad’s spiritual leader, could not be reached for his reaction to the ruling.

Mayor Susan Haynie declined to comment, saying she and the rest of the council will meet June 13 in executive session with the city attorney to decide the next step.

The council approved the Chabad’s plans in May 2015, despite the fact that zoning in the area does not permit a museum, Circuit Judges Meanu Sasser and Lisa Small and County Judge Ted Booras wrote in their opinion. Even granting the property owner’s contention that a museum in this case is a “place of public assembly,” they said, officials should have insisted that the 0.84-acre site have 239 parking spaces, not the 81 approved.

New earlier had told neighbors that a Chabad providing 81 parking spaces would be “unprecedented” in coastal Florida. The downtown space his congregation leases at 120 NE First Ave. has just five parking spaces, he said. An 11,000-square-foot synagogue in Palm Beach has four and a 35,000-square-foot Chabad in Sunny Isles has 22.

The Chabad has been trying to find a larger place to meet for years. This is the second time parking has tripped up its plans. In 2008 the congregation wanted to move into a 23,000-square-foot building near Mizner Park but was not able to meet parking requirements there. 

Note: Events are current as of 5/27. Please check with organizers for any changes.

June 4-July 2
6/6-10 - Fun 5 Camp at Boynton Beach Art Center, 125 SE 2nd Ave. Field trips, arts & crafts, games, more. Ages 5-12. 7:30 am-5:30 pm. $140/resident; $140/non-resident. 742-6221; boynton-beach.org
6/6-10 - Gymnastics/Jazzerkamp at Ezell Hester Community Center, 1901 N Seacrest Blvd, Boynton Beach. Ages 5-16. 9 am-11:45 am gymnastics; noon-3 pm jazzercise. Gymnastics or jazzercise only: $65/resident, $81/non-resident; both: $93/resident, $116/non-resident; before-(7:30-9 am)/after-(3-5:30 pm) care: $25. 742-6550 boynton-beach.org
6/6-24 - Arts Garage Summer Camp: 180 NE 1st St, Delray Beach. Music/theatre: voice, dance, acting. Visual arts/technical theatre: costume/scenic design, stage management, lighting, more. Bring lunch & snack. Ages 6-18. 9 am-3 pm M-F 6/6-24, 7/11-29. Scholarships/payment plans available. $600/session. Before-/after-care 8-9 am $25/week & 3-6 pm $40/week. 571-8510; artsgarage.org/page/camps
6/6-7/29 - Performing Arts Camp at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Music, theater, visual arts, cirque; campers grouped by age & activity. Each week includes camp showcase F 2 pm. 8 one-week sessions. Ages 8-14. M-F 9 am-3 pm. $250/week. 243-7922 x478; oldschoolsquare.org
6/6-8/5 - Harmony in the Streets 5-day Mobile Camping Experience sponsored by Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranches and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at multiple locations; check website for locations/dates. Team sports, art & crafts, games, snacks, lunch, more. Ages 6-12. 9 am-3 pm M-F. Free. Application required: pbso.org/index.cfm?fa=harmony
6/6-8/5 - Palm Beach Sports Camps at St. Vincent Ferrer, 840 George Bush Blvd, Delray Beach. 6/6-10 All Sports Camp noon-3 pm, grades 1-5, $100; 6/13-17 Basketball Camp 9 am-3 pm, grades 4-8, $250; 6/20-24 All Sports Camp 9 am-3 pm, grades 1-8, $250; 8/1-5 Soccer Camp 9 am-3 pm, grades 4-8, $250. 276-6892; cbarulic@yahoo.com
6/6-8/19 - Quest Club Summer Camp at Boca Raton Resort & Club, 501 E Camino Real. Weekly themes: Galactic Gurus, Get Your Game Face On, Wacky Weather Wonderland, Animal Adventures, The Great Outdoors, Wet ‘N’ Wild, more. Ages 3-12. 9 am-4:30 pm. $55/day per child + $15/registration fee. Additional fees apply for Kids in the Kitchen & Field Trips. 239-9541; questclub@waldorfastoria.com
6/7-10 - American Red Cross Lifeguard Course at Boynton Beach Denson Pool, 225 NW 12th Ave. Skill assessment required first day. Certificate upon successful completion. Ages 15+. 10 am-4:30 pm. $305. 742-6645; boynton-beach,org
6/8-8/7 - Be an Angel, Send a Child to Camp at The Salvation Army Lake Worth Corps, 4051 Kirk Rd. Ages 6-12 years. M-F 8 am-4 pm, $75/week; $50/each additional child in family; before-(7-8 am)/after-(4-5 pm) care: $20/week. 686-3530; salvationarmyflorida.org/westpalmbeach
6/13-17 - 2016 Summer Agu-cation Program at South Florida Fairgrounds, 9067 Southern Blvd, West Palm Beach. Work with farm animals, harvest a garden, learn about grooming/animal care, visit a dairy, more. Morning and afternoon snack included. Ages 8-12. M-Th 8 am-5 pm; F 8 am-3 pm. $175. 790-5229; southfloridafair.com
6/13-8/5 - Sports & Fitness Zone Camp at Boynton Beach Carolyn Sims Center, 225 NW 12th Ave. Variety of sports. Ages 7-14. M-F 9 am-1 pm. $220/resident; $275/non-resident; field trips extra. 742-6641; boynton-beach.org
6/14-8/12 - Junior Lifeguard Aquatic Camps at Boynton Beach Denson Pool, 225 NW 12th Ave. New session each week. Junior lifeguard training, water safety skills, open swim. Ages 10-14. M-F 9:30 am-3:30 pm (weeks 1, 4 & 9 are 4-day weeks). Weekly: $50-$60/resident; $62-$75/non-resident. 742-6640; boynton-beach.org/recreation
6/20-24 - 2016 Junk Camp at Resource Depot, 2510 Florida Ave, West Palm Beach. Learn new ways to transform everyday objects into extraordinary works of art. 3 major projects + 1 group project per week. K-5th grade. Held again 7/11-15 & 8/1-5. 9 am-3 pm (aftercare to 4:30 pm extra). $180/week. 882-0090; resourcedepot.net
6/27-7/1 - Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue 2016 Junior Lifeguard Program at Gulfstream Park, 4489 N Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach. Ages 9-16. Half-day: 8:30 am-noon or 1-4 pm. $110. 629-8773; skaes@pbcgov.org

Steven Dapuzzo slices a completed pie at SoLita & Mastino in Delray Beach. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related story: Hey, Dad! This brew's for you at local beer masters

By Sallie James
 
The faint smell of burning oakwood wafted through the air at SoLita & Mastino as the setting sun streamed through the west windows in the busy downtown Pineapple Grove district in Delray Beach.
As students chatted and sipped wine at raised tables, waiters served up gourmet eggplant stacks. The murmur of lively conversation began to rise.
But not for long.
Enter Steven Dapuzzo, restaurateur and teacher for the night: It was time to talk tomatoes. Pizza 101 was in session, and every student was going to make a 12-inch Neapolitan pie.
“It’s just something different, something that is engaging, to get people interacting,” said Dapuzzo, who offers the two-hour interactive class from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the eatery at 25 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach. “You have a drink, you have a little snack, you have a drink, we make some pizza and then you go home.”
Cost for the class is $69 and includes a wine or beer and a 12-inch pizza you make yourself.
The pizza-making experience is fun, educational and a great way to get to know your tablemates. Participants get started with a white-bibbed apron, a 7-ounce ball of mastino dough and a lot of guidance. They learn how to stretch pizza dough and add toppings. Then they watch their own pie cook at more than  800 degrees in a  wood-fired oven.
Coral Springs resident Doreen Diaferio and her boyfriend Frank Braile, self-described foodies,  said the class was a perfect fit for them. Diaferio enrolled them in the class as a Christmas surprise.  
“We make pizza at home and we wanted to experience a different type of making pizza. We make a Chicago-style pizza,” said Braile, of Coral Springs, as he began to shape his crust on the flour-sprinkled table where he sat.
Dapuzzo regaled the crowd with stories about the history of pizza, the different types of pizza, and how the ingredients evolved. He explained what specific ingredients are used and why, where the ingredients are from, and demonstrated how to stretch pizza dough: Two fingers, up and down in a circular motion, then flip the dough and do the same on the other side. Hand-stretch the dough lightly. And never roll the dough out because it takes out all the air. 

Irene Revelas of Delray Beach (foreground) and cookbook author Barbara Seelig-Brown of Highland Beach form dough for pizzas at SoLita & Mastino in Delray Beach. Sallie James/The Coastal Star

Some of the details students learn:  
• The dough is made from “00” flour, considered the finest stone-milled flour in the world, from Naples. It’s fine and light like baking powder.
• The pizza dough is formed into 7-ounce balls and allowed to rise three times. Each rise makes the dough lighter.
• The marinara sauce is made from San Marzano tomatoes grown in the rich volcanic soil of Mount Vesuvius. The sauce was named “marinara” after the mariners’ wives who originally made it.
• Other ingredients include organic basil, fresh mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.
• The pizzas are fired in a low-dome, wood-fired stove at 800 to 1,000 degrees. The oven cooks the pizzas in less than two minutes using convection on the top, radiant heat from the side, and baking from the bottom.
• The pizza crust bakes with black spots, called “leopard spotting,” which give it a distinct taste.
Highland Beach resident Barbara Seelig-Brown, a cookbook author who writes for the Italian Trade Commission, loved the class.
“I thought they did a very nice job with it,” she said. “It was very fun. There was a nice mix of die-hard cooking enthusiasts and people who just came to socialize.”
West Palm Beach resident Amanda Rypkema, an event planner, attended the pizza-making class to see if it might work as a team-building activity. She left impressed.
“I love it. (Dapuzzo) was really easy to follow when he described what techniques to use,” Rypkema said. “I would bring my family here when they are in town to do this, or a girls’ night or any of my clients. It’s fun, it makes people engage in conversation. Conversation should happen around food. This encourages it.”
Dapuzzo said the restaurant has been holding the pizza-making classes for about eight months and they are always busy.  
“We were trying to think of something different,” he said. “The staff thought it would be really cool to do. Interest has been steady. It’s a fun, unique night out. It’s a departure from the normal eating-out night.
“We call it eating sociably,” he said. “I love it. I like watching how the people interact. It’s a lot of fun. That environment is very inviting — learning something and having something to eat.”

A customer works the dough on a Neapolitan-style pizza during a class at SoLita & Mastino.

Next, sauce covers the top of the raw pizza dough for a pie.

A drizzle of olive oil finishes the pie, topped with basil and mozzarella, before it goes into the oven.

If You Go
What: Pizza 101
Where: SoLita & Mastino, 25 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach
When: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday
Cost: $69 per person, includes glass of wine or craft beer, 12-inch pizza you make yourself and the class
Reservations: 899-0888

Pizza not your thing?
Here are a few other cooking class options:
• Sur la table, a kitchen lover’s playground in Mizner Park, offers cooking classes that share recipes and techniques. Students get to eat what they make, of course, and go home with class recipes, a list of needed tools and helpful notes. 438 Plaza Real, Mizner Park, Boca Raton. 953-7638, www.surlatable.com.
• Italian Cooking Class with Chef Baba (Andrew Bennardo) shows students how to make classic Italian fare, from shrimp wrapped in prosciutto or brochette to apple tart. Wine included. Vegan juicing classes also available. 8081 Congress Ave., Boca Raton. www.chef-baba.com.
• Publix Apron’s Cooking School offers classes offering cooking tips, pairing topics, cooking for kids and regional cuisines. 5050 Champion Blvd., Boca Raton. 994-4461, www.publix.com/aprons/schools/Boca/Classes.do
• Williams-Sonoma offers cooking classes throughout the year at its stores. Town Center, 6000 Glades Road, Boca Raton. 620-0245, www.williams-sonoma.com/pages/store-events/store-events.html
• Cafe Frankie’s offers cooking classes for a minimum of four students.  640 E. Ocean Blvd., Boynton Beach. 732-3834, www.cafefrankies.com

Related story: Hey Dad! Eat, drink and make pizza in Delray Beach restaurant class

By Thom Smith
 
Father’s Day. What to do?      

By comparison, Mother’s Day is a piece of cake, or maybe croissants, eggs Benedict and Champagne at a special brunch at a beachfront hotel or along Atlantic Avenue, plus flowers and a nice card.  
Dads, however, aren’t big on mushy stuff. As long as they don’t have to mow the lawn, most are content to just sit back and relax.  
Sure, he could launch the boat, but if comfort is the order of the day, how about something simple, something primal, something like … beer.  
No, we’re not talking get-up-from-the-sofa-and-walk-to-the-refrigerator kind of beer. No Bud, Coors or Miller Lite. Nope, Father’s Day deserves something special, a day out to sample any of the magical, mystical concoctions brewed at one of the area’s seven craft breweries.  
They have lots of choices with perennial favorites, seasonal treats and frequent out-of-the-tank surprises. For the uninitiated, most offer tastings, such as Copperpoint’s sample pour of four 5-ounce glasses for $7.    

Brew master Matt Manthe at Brewzzi in Boca Raton. Photo provided

• Brewzzi, Boca Raton. The area’s oldest microbrewery opened in 1997. Three years later its beers won gold and silver medals at the Great American Beer Festival. The only area brewery with a full-service restaurant.     Matt Manthe oversees the brew side that includes perennial favorite Boca Blonde and special pours such as Sour Red Ale. (2222 Glades Road, 392-2739, www.brewzzi.com)
• Funky Buddha, Boca Raton. In 2010, brothers Ryan and KC Sentz opened a small -time brewery, bar and hookah lounge in a strip center on North Federal. Three years ago, the “Buddha” went big time with a “regional” brewery in Broward County, but the Boca buzz continues with some of the nation’s top-rated craft brews, such as Morning Wood, and Maple Bacon Coffee Porter (available in cans). Also live entertainment and open mic nights. (2621 N. Federal Highway, 368-4643, www.thefunkybuddha.com)    
• Barrel of Monks, Boca Raton. After home-brewing for seven years, Boca buds Matt Saady, Keith DeLoach and Bill McFee hatched a highly unoriginal idea: Let’s open a brewery! For 15 months, they’ve been brewing beer in the 1,000-year style of Belgian abbeys.  
No monks around, but you will find beers and ales crafted with European malts, hops and legendary Belgian yeasts. Staples from pale ale  to 10.5-percent quadrupel-malt and seasonal releases such as Imperial Stout offer religious experiences.          Guests can buy snacks inside, visit food trucks outside or BYOM — Bring Your Own Meal. (1141 S. Rogers Circle, #5, 510-1253, www.barrelofmonks.com)  

SaltWater Brewery co-founder Peter Agardy artfully pours some Screamin’ Reels IPA.Thom Smith/The Coastal Star

• SaltWater Brewery, Delray Beach. SaltWater, not even 3 years old, is the dream of several old school, surfing and fishing pals who found another common bond in beer. They converted an old feed store along the tracks, added rich woods, hung artwork by co-owner Peter Agardy and exposed gleaming stainless steel tanks behind the bar. Screamin’ Reels IPA is a hot seller.  
SaltWater is making national headlines with its experimental six-pack holder made of biodegradable and compostable byproducts from the brewing process. Food trucks, occasional live music. (1701 W. Atlantic Ave., 865-5373, www.saltwaterbrewery.com)   

Chip Breighner

• Devour, Boynton Beach. Operating a home-brew that grew too big for the kitchen, Chip and Trish Breighner rented a warehouse last year and gave it sort of a family room feel with overstuffed sofas and chairs, video games and the brewing apparatus. Chip brews Belgian-style and recommends the milk stout, brewed with lactose, oatmeal and roasted barley. Just beginning distribution. Snacks and food trucks.  (1500 SW 30th Ave., #4, 806-6011, www.devourbrewing.com)   

Due South Manager Rob Dinsmore pulls a pint of caramel cream ale. Photos by Thom Smith/The Coastal Star

• Due South, Boynton Beach. Opened in 2012 by Mike and Jodi Halker in a large warehouse in the industrial area north of Gateway Boulevard, Due South is adding an adjacent 12,000 square feet. Top-seller is Caramel Cream Ale. Category 5 Gold IPA won a gold medal at the Florida Brewers Ball in 2014. Snacks are available at the bar; also food trucks. (2900 High Ridge Road,  No. 3, 463-2337, www.duesouthbrewing.com)  

Copperpoint founder Matt Cox.

• Copperpoint, Boynton Beach, a block north of Due South. Though just celebrating the brewery’s first anniversary, founder Matt Cox has been brewing for nearly two decades. He has one of the area’s neatest taprooms, with brick and aged wood on the walls and copper-topped bar and tables. Cox recommends the B Rabbit Espresso cream stout and Witless Belgian wit. Snacks available, plus food trucks. (151 Commerce Road, 508-7676, www.copperpointbrewingcompany.com)          
 Special note: Craft brewing is attracting tourists. The Discover Brew Pass, $15 for visitors and tourists alike from Discover The Palm Beaches, entitles the holder to a glass of beer at Barrel of Monks in Boca Raton and Due South in Boynton Beach plus Accomplice Brewery and Ciderworks in West Palm Beach, Twist Trunk in Palm Beach Gardens and Tequesta Brewing in Tequesta. (800-554-7256 or www.palmbeachfl.com) 

More than 800 guests — a record — turned out to support the school and help raise in excess of $600,000, which will fund student scholarships. During the evening, university President John Kelly announced a $5 million gift from Bobby and Barbara Campbell to name the Bobby and Barbara Campbell Academic Success Center. Spread throughout three levels of the stadium, the gala offered gourmet dining, live and silent auctions and a fireworks display. ABOVE: (l-r) FAU Ambassador-at-Large Howard Schnellenberger, Barbara Schmidt and FAU Athletics Director Patrick Chun. Photo provided