Katherine Vellis and Michelle Remus enjoy a glass of wine
at Josephine’s Italian Cuisine in Boca Raton. Josephine’s
restaurant was one of the stops on the Check Please! South
Florida Tasting Tour. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley
More than 100 foodies are gathered at Teeca Plaza to participate in the sold-out Boca Raton Check Please! Tasting Tour. Most of these people are fans of the popular WPBT-Channel 2 television series Check Please! South Florida hosted by über-chef Michelle Bernstein.
“This tour sounded like a different and fun thing to do,” says Marian Link, who with her husband, Ronald, drove 1½ hours from Kendall through torrential rain to be here. “We also get to discover new restaurants.” And at $125 per ticket, they are supporting the public television station.
Now in its eighth season, every episode of the show gives three amateur foodies a chance to review and discuss their favorite eateries. Bernstein enjoys publicizing small, out-of-the-way spots.
This bus tour promises to take participants to five Boca Raton restaurants already featured on the show. Hosts for the evening include Bernstein and radio personality Paul Castronovo of the Paul & Young Ron Show.
The only hitch: Bernstein is seriously ill with bronchitis and doesn’t attend the event.
Instead, she sends her husband and co-restaurateur David Martinez to offer her apologies. He tells the crowd she is sorry to miss this opportunity to introduce restaurants and support the television station. Then he offers his own apology: “I’m not as cute as she is.”
Of course some people are disappointed.
“Sure we wanted Michelle to be here,” says Maria Fregosi of coastal Boca Raton. “But we enjoy food and wine, and this is a good chance to support the television station. We’ll eat and enjoy,”
Although Bernstein isn’t here in person, tasting a dish from Michy’s restaurant (michysmiami.com) in Miami is still on the itinerary. Her assistant Amanda Ghetia prepares Watermelon Greek Salad under a blue tent off the parking lot. It’s served with Sparkling Strawberry Basil “Mojitos” in plastic flutes.
Then it is time to visit the first stop on the tour, Sushi Rock (sushirockboca.com) in the same plaza. Here we sample spicy tuna as well as garlic mussels. A few sips of Santa Cristina wines from a sponsor, Thai coffee or tea, and it’s time to board the bus.
A plate of food from Josephine’s.
We head to Josephine’s (josephinesofboca.com) for a bit more elegant eating. Waiters serve wine and green apple martinis to guests as they wait to sample a generous Italian buffet. Then we take seats at linen-covered tables where we enjoy candlelight and the singing of Debi Lewin.
The next stop is Bogart’s Bar & Grille (bogartsofboca.com). The televisions station staff had asked this eatery to serve its mahi fish tacos because they had been reviewed on the show. Guests also sip Tito’s Texastinis made from a sponsor’s vodka.
At the next restaurant, Casa D’Angelo Ristorante (casa-d-angelo.com), chef Rickie Piper serves the most popular dish of the evening — braised beef short ribs with a sweet Amarone fig sauce and pear raviolini.
Castronovo, who is a fan of this restaurant, provides a case of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from a vineyard where he is part owner. Interesting facts that we discover over wine: Paul grew up in Lake Worth and his wife, Gina, in Boca Raton. “That’s when Military Trail was the end of the earth,” she tells us.
The final stop is the Tin Muffin Café (on Facebook: The-Tin-Muffin-Café). Tour participant Jerry Friedman of Parkland reviewed it on the show last season. “I’d gone by this place 1,000 times on my way to the beach before I tried it. Since then I’ve been back often,” he says.
He — and everyone else — will return for thick slices of coconut cream pie and slabs of moist carrot cake, all garnished with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
Become a reviewer
Check Please! South Florida producer Joyce Belloise offers some tips for being chosen as a guest reviewer. To apply, visit checkpleasefl.com
- Have an interesting occupation.
- Select a hidden gem of a restaurant in a small neighborhood.
- When interviewed on the phone, convey your enthusiasm about the restaurant, food and the show.
- Don’t get discouraged. They have 1,500 applications and can use only about 15 each season. However. they do keep applications on file so it could be two to three years before you are contacted.
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