With visions of cheesecake dancing in her head, Taylor Morgan, host of South Florida Dines radio show and founder of SouthFloridaDines.com, envisioned a calendar, racier than a chocolate mousse — a ladle here, a toque there — of South Florida’s hottest chefs.
Only one problem, chefs may subject chicken skin to air, but not their own.
So nudity was out, but Morgan got her calendar, with her chefs — properly dressed for the kitchen — and at $19.95 at featured restaurants, bookstores and www.myhot
chefs.com, it’s selling like hotcakes.
Why? Because it includes recipes and cooking tips plus $25-off certificates redeemable at each of the 12 chef’s restaurants and 10 percent of the proceeds will go to the Big Heart Brigade, which prepares and delivers meals to needy South Floridians every Thanksgiving.
Not surprising, most of the hotties were local: Allen Susser, Taste, and Bruce Feingold, Dada, in Delray Beach; Dudley Bell Rich III, Carmen’s at the Top of the Bridge, Boca Raton; David Hagan, City Cellar, West Palm Beach; Jayme Franklin, Couco Pazzo, Lake Worth; Zach Bell, Cafe Boulud, West Palm Beach; Charlie Soo, Talay Thai Cuisine, Palm Beach Gardens.
Maybe Roberto Hernandez can make next year’s calendar. He runs the kitchen at Andrew’s, “A Modern American Bistro,” which opened Nov. 22 at 99 SE Mizner Blvd. in Boca. Hernandez worked for the Blue Door and Barton G down south and the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach before signing on with Andrew’s, which is named for Boca-based investor Andrew Pietrak. Action starts at 4 with happy hour and continues as late as customers want to stay and listen to the nightly live entertainment.
Speaking of downtown Boca, the place was crawling with mayors, present and past, Nov. 18. The occasion was the dedication of a plaque commemorating Mizner Park’s Plaza Real as one of Ten Great Public Spaces In America 2010 by the American Planning Association. Joining Mayor Susan Whelchel was former mayor and now County Commissioner Steve Abrams and former Mayor Bill Smith.
With the bigwigs, plus a brass ensemble from the Boca Raton Symphonia, a special commemorative poster, plus a cake replica of the poster designed by Boca Resort & Club pastry artist Steve Day, you’d have thought it was Christmas in November.
For longtime Ratonians who can remember the decrepit Boca Mall on the same site, the realization that Mizner Park will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year is mind boggling. Even in this tenuous economy, as tenants come and go, optimism prevails, thanks to such new arrivals as Kreiss Fine Furnishings, which opened on dedication day. Kreiss’ customers include Magic Johnson, Eva Longoria and Paul McCartney.
“Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen bought pretty much the same pieces,” Chairman Norman Kreiss said. “One thought it was a classic, and the other thought it was hip.”
To more than 800 children in the Palm Beach County School District, “home for the holidays” has little meaning. That’s because they have no home. Mizner Park’s other upscale home furnishings store, Robb & Stucky, is doing something to soften their hard times, partnering with the school system’s Department of Safe Schools to collect toys for those children. Donors are asked to bring new, unwrapped toys to the store through Dec. 15. Call 561-347-1717.
Another longtime fixture in Boca was Tom Wright, whose literally had ’em waiting in line for barbecue and soul food for three decades. Tom’s Place started in a flat-roofed blockhouse at the corner of Dixie and Glades and later moved to a building on North Federal. When Tom died nearly five years ago, the restaurant went with him, but the operation had always been a family affair, and family members never gave up hope.
Son Tom Jr. tried and failed to revive the concept in West Palm Beach, in a building formerly occupied by Blue Front Bar-B-Q. Now two other offspring hope they have the Wright stuff.
Kenny Wright and his sister, Belinda Johnson, are running Tom’s Place right next to the FEC tracks on Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach.
You won’t find much signage; just follow the aroma to the “mobile unit” — a step van in the parking lot — or to the adjacent small dining room. They’re open Tuesday through Saturday. (561-843-7487).
Deck 84 is finally a reality, and Burt Rapoport’s new restaurant on the Intracoastal in Delray Beach appears to be a hit. After a soft opening in mid-November, the veteran restaurateur held two opening parties Nov. 18 and 19 and went public a day later.
“It took me three months to get the money and three months to finish it,” said Rapoport, who also runs Henry’s in west Delray and Bogart’s in Boca Raton and claims a share of Max’s Grille in Boca. “I think it looks pretty good.”
The biggest feature, of course, is the water access. With 150 feet of dock space, Deck 84 can handle anything from personal watercraft to yachts. Anglers can clean their catch at a dockside table and the staff will prepare it with sides, salad and drink for $9.
The décor is simple. Seating is ample inside and out, with banquettes, lots of bar space and a soon-to-be-added ground-level patio out back.
That may not go over too well with some Deck 84 neighbors who have expressed concerns to the city about noise and about patrons and staff parking where they shouldn’t, blocking driveways and making life unpleasant.
“It was the biggest opening ever for one of my restaurants, which is great,” Rapoport said, “but all the guests plus all the employees really caused some problems. We want to be good neighbors. That’s why we’re not having any music at night.”
To solve the parking problems, Rapoport has arranged for parking at a nearby private lot and has contacted the city about improving signage in the area around Deck 84, so guests know where they can and cannot park.
Yes, the season is upon us. Arts organizations are launching programs, greenmarkets are hitting their stride, restaurants are opening and some folks are taking bus trips.
Celebrating its 25th season, Miami City Ballet made its first of several visits to the Kravis Center Nov. 19-21. Why a Miami troupe in the Palm Beaches? Because a disproportionate amount of its patronage is up here compared to Miami-Dade and Broward counties. To get a greater feel for the program, a busload of supporters and donors rolled to South Beach recently to tour the company’s headquarters, take in a rehearsal and lunch with Founding Artistic Director and CEO Edward Villella.
Among the group, Nancy Hart of Palm Beach Gardens and her daughter, Lisa Leder of Boca Raton, especially wanted to get the inside scoop as they’re chairing The Gala, A Prelude to Romeo & Juliet Feb. 18 at the Flagler Museum. (Tickets $500, 561-674-9978.)
They saw firsthand that dancers who seem to float so effortlessly on stage pay a price for defying gravity. To make the point, Villella held up three fingers to represent his hip replacements. “And I may have to have a knee done, too,” he said.
The wear and tear is so great that the staff includes trainers and therapists who help dancers work out kinks and treat injuries in a special therapy room and gym.
The Palm Beach International Film Festival has announced dates for its 16th annual affair. The festival, rumored to be on hiatus for a year, will take place March 23-31, Executive Director Randi Emerman said. The festival also has moved its office from Royal Palm Place to the Shoppes of Village Point.
A new festival is on the way. Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival execs Karen Davis and Barbara Magovsky, Palm Beach Festival publicist Terri Neil and Provincetown (Mass.) Festival Executive Director PJ Layng of Lake Worth plan to stage the Palm Beach Women’s International Film Festival April 7-10. Their goal: “A world class film festival that will inspire, promote and support women filmmakers.” Stay tuned.
More good movie news. Boca has a new cinema complex. During the grand opening of the Living Room Theaters on the FAU campus Dec. 2-5, first-run movies can be seen for the a mere $2. First-run films, classics, avant-garde, foreign, take your pick, while enjoying tapas or a panini with a latte or a tall, cold beer in one of four high-tech, 48-seat screening rooms.
Curiouser and curiouser. The Artists Guild, an auxiliary of the Boca Raton Museum of Art, will hold its first show, Rhapsody in Art, in … Delray Beach. The juried show at 110 E. Atlantic Ave. will feature more than 80 paintings, sculptures and photographs from Dec. 6 to Jan. 15.
What better way to wrap yourself in the spirit of the holiday season than to take in a holiday parade, and we have loads of them, from Boca to Lake Worth, with Boca’s 40th Annual Holiday Street Parade starting at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at Southeast Eighth Street and heading up Federal Highway to Mizner Park.
More than 70 entries will join Delray’s Holiday Parade on 6 p.m. Dec. 6. The route runs along Atlantic Avenue from Venetian Avenue to Northwest Fifth Avenue.
First up is Boynton Beach on Dec. 4. The parade begins at 4 p.m. at Southeast 12th Avenue and moves along Federal Highway to Ocean Avenue.
Tough times have again forced Lantana to scrap its Category 5 Winterfest.
Lake Worth’s 45th Annual Holiday Parade is the oldest in southern Palm Beach County. Festivities begin at noon Dec. 11 with a “Holiday Winter Workshop,” featuring games, food vendors and bike raffle, followed by the parade at 6 and a tree lighting at 9.
And what’s Christmas in Florida without a boat parade. Boca’s 34th annual, on Dec. 18, launches at 6:30 on the Intracoastal at the Boca-Delray line and wraps at Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach.
Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com.
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