7960364488?profile=original7960365274?profile=originalChris Evert (top) taunts Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan (above) after lobbing a ball at him during last month’s Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.  Photos by Jerry Lower


 

By Thom Smith

With a lot of community support and a little help from tennis and show-biz friends, Chris Evert raised another $800,000 with her Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic at the Delray Beach Tennis Center and the Boca Raton Resort and Club. Since its inaugural in 1988, the event has raised $20 million, all of which has gone to charities in South Florida.

Tennis stars John and Peter McEnroe and Murphy Jensen and film/TV stars Christian Slater (Breaking In), the recently slimmed comedian Jon Lovitz, Burn Notice’s Jeffrey Donovan and Today’s Hoda Kotb added luster to the weekend. Proceeds go to Ounce of Prevention, which assists pregnant and parenting women who are trying to overcome substance-abuse problems.

7960364885?profile=originalAndy Mill (above) has won two gold medals from The Franklin Awards for his book, A Passion for Tarpon. Photos provided

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Evert’s ex-, champion fisherman and former Olympic skier Andy Mill, can now add another line to his shingle: award-winning author. Mill received two gold medals from The Benjamin Franklin Awards, one of the more prestigious accolades in independent publishing. His book, A Passion for Tarpon, was named best recreation/sports title and best regional title, the first book about fishing ever to be so honored. 

“This important new book, besides being visually stunning and a fascinating read, is an excellent resource to educate anglers and policymakers on a global scale; we hope helping to guide legislation and sound management supporting their conservation for future generations,” said Dr. Jerry Ault, University of Miami marine biology and fisheries professor and founding member/scientific advisor of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.

Mill, on the other hand, is amazed that he was able to bring it off. “It’s insane; I’m not an author, I’m a skier,” he said, noting that helping to write scripts for the fishing show he hosted on the Outdoor Life Network was nothing like writing a book.

“I needed something to pull me out of the hole I was in after my divorce and this publisher asked me to do this book,” said Mill, just back in Boca home after summering in Aspen. “It took me five years. Debra and this book pulled me out of that hole.”

Debra is the former Debra Harvick, whom he met two years ago in Aspen, asked her to marry on their third date and finally tied the knot a year ago in Aspen. 

“She’s my best friend,” Mill said. “We ride our bikes on A1A and when we go bow-hunting for elk in Colorado, she’s right there alongside me.”  

                                       

Once again, the great pigout, officially known as Best of Boca & Beyond  was a huge success. Guests didn’t seem to mind the wait as they lined up at stations in the courtyard at Boca Center for tantalizing tidbits from several dozen local restaurants. Proceeds from the 12th annual event, sponsored by Boca Raton magazine, went to Hospice of Palm Beach County

One of the highlights was provided by a restaurant that wouldn’t open for another week. Servers for Brio, which commands a sprawling 8,400-square-foot space formerly occupied by two restaurants, were hard-pressed to meet demand for the Milk Chocolate Caramel Cake dolchino. You’ll find it in the dictionary under “decadent” — chocolate cake, layered with milk chocolate ganache, caramel, rich chocolate frosting and vanilla whipped cream. At a decadent $2.95, I’ll just order three and skip dinner.

                                       

TV news. It ain’t what it used to be. This is the age of gushy recitation, gratuitous cleavage, breathy and fawning interviews; reporters who don’t know the difference between a crash and a forced landing; weather girls who don’t know a typhoon from a hurricane; sanctimonious sportscasters given to pontificating instead of reporting. 

Jim Sackett did know the difference. At 66, he also knew it was time to go. Sackett signed off his last newscast at WPTV-Channel 5, at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 23, and no doubt the managements at the area’s other two network stations gave thanks. For 33 years, he helped WPTV-Channel 5 dominate the market like no other station in the nation. For those who follow, we hope they learned a few things: his sense of place, his knowledge of the community and, most importantly, that ultimately, it’s about the story, not the storyteller. 

                                       

For love or …? One-time Delray Beach businessman and two-time failed political candidate Nick Loeb says he won’t run for the U.S. Senate. Loeb had been interested in the seat held by Democrat Bill Nelson.

The son of a Reagan-appointed ambassador, Loeb lost a Delray Beach commission race in 2007 and abandoned a Florida Senate race in 2009 after his wife filed for divorce. He then popped up in California, where he became friends with Modern Family star Sofia Vergara, who offered aid and comfort after he was banged up in a car crash. 

Loeb had said last summer that he would decide about another campaign after the Emmy awards in September. On Nov. 17, shortly after Fox News reported Loeb would run — with the blessing of Vergara — he held a brief news conference in Miami Beach. With Vergara at his side, he announced he would not run. “I’m still very hurt from last year’s accident,” he explained. 

Maybe the pain is caused by bad odds. Republican hopefuls include local Adam Hasner, the former state House majority leader, former U.S. Senate appointee George LeMieux and most recently U.S. Rep. Connie Mack from Cape Coral. Mack has name recognition: Old-timers think he’s his father (the former senator) and old-old-timers think he had something to do with baseball. 

                                       

South County residents who remember Prezzo, rejoice! 

“It’s like the son of Prezzo,” restaurant mogul Dennis Max said of his next project. He plans to open Assaggio del Forno — that’s Italian for “Taste of the Oven” — in early January in the space once occupied by Bistro Zenith in Regency Court at the corner of Jog and Yamato. 

Prezzo was a popular Italian bistro that Max and then partner Burt Rapoport opened nearly two decades ago on Glades Road just east of the turnpike. Assaggio del Forno expands some of its concepts and introduces some new ones.

“We’ll have an Italian wood-burning oven to make artisanal pizzas,” Max said. “But the menu will cover all of Italy, not just the south, and it will be mainly small plates and smaller plates. You can sort of graze through. We encourage people to get a few things and share them.”

In Mizner Park, Max’s Grille is enjoying its best year ever, and Max’s Harvest, which opened in Delray’s Pineapple Grove in June, has exceeded expectations, said Max, who has added live music with “Jazz off the Avenue” every Friday featuring saxophonist  Will Bridges

In mid-December, Max plans to open another Italian restaurant in Deerfield Beach.  In the South Federal Highway space formerly occupied by Marcello’s, Frank & Dino’s will offer a culinary salute to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin

“It’s where the Rat Pack eats,” Max says. “We’re paying homage to that whole era — drinking, partying, a convivial atmosphere and good food. Italian-American classics — we’ll serve those dishes in their glory, surrounded by pictures of all those stars, with live music on the weekend.”

                                       

A movie extra with extra motive. Jamie Telchin, president of development for LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, which owns the Boca Raton Resort & Club, The Beach Club, would love nothing more than to sell the remaining 12 units in the adjacent One Thousand Ocean, just north of the Boca Inlet. So why not put it in a movie?

After a few phone calls and faster than a hopped-up BMW, the deal was cut to use the complex as the high-rise star of Parker, starring Jennifer Lopez and Jason Statham and directed by Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman, Ray).

Filming occurred in late September, but only recently were details about the secret location revealed. The story is set in Palm Beach, and some exterior shots were filmed on South Ocean Boulevard, Worth and Peruvian avenues and the bridges across Lake Worth. But Hackford’s request to shoot at Mar-a-Lago was nixed because Palm Beach doesn’t allow commercial filming in residential areas. So instead of Donald Trump’s grand old lady, moviegoers will see Telchin’s baby when the film opens next fall.

Lopez plays a real estate agent who becomes involved with Statham, a thief planning a heist at a Palm Beach auction. (It has elements of several Palm Beach capers. A $4 million safe-deposit box robbery at the Palm Beach Towers condo in 1976 was never solved.)

Telchin’s wife, Jessica, and sales associates Maria Scarola and Kimberly Gambino also served as “extras.” During a break, Telchin gave Statham  a tour of the 8,770-square-foot penthouse.

Price: about $15 million. Who knows? Everyone’s a prospect!

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

 

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