Boca Raton singer Chloe Dolandis joins Ira Sullivan during Sullivan’s
sold-out June 11 concert at the ArtsGarage in Delray Beach’s Pineapple
Grove. Photo by Jerry Lower
By Thom Smith
Four decades ago, the builders of The Bridge Hotel, just inside Boca Inlet, had ambitious plans that included a casino. Slots, roulette and other games of chance still aren’t legal in hotels, so the present owners have put much of the hotel’s $2 million renovation into entertainment.
In addition to the view, Carmen’s restaurant on the top floor offers a musical supper club for dining and dancing. Wednesdays are set aside for Jazz, Bossa & Blues. For a $10 cover, South Florida’s best singers and musicians perform, while you eat, drink, dance, talk — or listen. Recent acts included the stunning Nicole Henry and Anthony Corrado.
Latin jazz guitarist Jorge Garcia and Grammy-winning violinist Federico Britos perform July 8, and a week later, it’s two shows for the price of one with sax man Michael Kennedy and pianist-vocalist Hal Roland.
If anything is harder to find than blues, it’s jazz, but all of a sudden, it’s popped up in Lake Worth, Delray and Boca, in a garage and a hotel skybar.
Imagine the legendary Ira Sullivan playing in a garage. Well, not actually where the cars park, but in an area with 130 seats — yes, it’s air-conditioned — in the parking garage by Old School Square. Sullivan’s June 11 show sold out and the sponsoring Creative City Collaborative expects vocalist Dana Paul (July 9), saxmen Ed Calle (July 23) and Turk Mauro (Aug. 13) and Brazilian vocalist Rose Max (Aug. 27) to do the same. Advance tickets are $20, reserved tables for six (with priority up-front seating), $150.
Boca Raton has installed parking meters at Mizner Park,
but not in the parking garages. Photo by Lauren Loricchio
Notice something new at Mizner Park? The parking meters have arrived. Put in as away to raise city revenues in the middle of a recession, the meters are getting a less-than-enthusiastic welcome.
“Parking meters are an inconvenience, but there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Annie Kim, owner of Love Me.
“It kills business,” said Maria Quezada, who works at Bark Avenue Grooming. “Nobody wants to pay to walk around.”
Street parking in Mizner Park will cost $1 per hour during the day and $2 an hour between 5 p.m. and midnight. The good news: Parking in the Mizner Park garages is still free.
One Boca Raton restaurant closes and two more take its place, or so it seems. Taking over the old III Forks spot on East Palmetto Park Road is Philippe Chow — upscale Asian out of New York.
Chow has made quite a name for himself with his Philippe eateries in New York and Miami Beach. No connection, by the way, to Mr. Chow in New York, except that Philippe worked there for a quarter-century after moving from Hong Kong and they occasionally skirmish over naming rights.
Philippe’s high-profile followers include Oprah Winfrey and Paris Hilton. One of his South Beach investors, former Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning, also has a stake in the Boca venture.
Another familiar name is that of Philippe Restaurant Group CEO Stratis Morfogen, younger brother of 32 East Executive Chef Nick Morfogen. Some wags already are punning “the Morfogen the better.”
To the Max … Mennan Tekeli made a name for himself years ago as executive chef at Dennis Max’s restaurants. Now he’s back in Boca Raton on Federal Highway, just a few blocks south of Max’s Grille, teaming with Brazilian owner Ferraretto Davila on Ovenella.
With an ultra-traditional wood-fired oven at the hearth, they incorporate modern design and a modern take on some traditional Italian staples. Entrees range from rigatoni Bolognese tp espresso- and peppercorn-crusted filet mignon, or artisan pizzas heaped with shrimp, scallops and calamari, basil, pesto and tomatoes.
It’s a little flashier, but similar in principle to the fare offered at 2-year-old Pizzeria Oceana in Lantana by another Max protégé, Dak Kerprich. Everything is fresh and, when possible, locally produced.
Max himself has jumped on the local-produce cart with Max’s Harvest, which opened in early June in Delray Beach.
Head Football Coach Howard Schnellenberger says construction of Florida Atlantic University’s football stadium is ahead of schedule and under budget. Paying for it just became a little easier, thanks to a gift of $2 million from Richard and Barbara Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation. They’ll get an acknowledgement on the scoreboard.
The university will kick off its 50th anniversary celebration with a “50 on the 50” fundraising gala in the stadium on Oct. 29. The $250 tickets will go to scholarships.
Although FAU didn’t enroll students until 1964, the Florida Legislature approved it in 1961, so school officials are tying in that year with the stadium’s opening. Alumni are asked to share their experiences at fau.edu/50th.
Speaking of things Schmidt, the board of the Schmidt Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park, which presents the annual Festival of the Arts BOCA has named Yvonne S. Boice as chair. No stranger to big organizations, Boice has served on the boards of the Palm Beach International Film Festival, the South County YMCA, the county Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The festival is planned for March 8-17. Boice owns The Shoppes at Village Pointe and Fugazy International Travel.
Steve Weagle’s annual bike ride for the Red Cross is over, but the money’s still coming in.
“The last figure I heard was $50,000,” the Channel 5 weather anchor said of his 11th annual trek that starts in Sebastian and wraps in Boca. “A last-minute donation of $5,000 put it above 50.”
Weagle modified his tour this year to stop for the first time in Delray Beach at Old School Square and was forced to move his Boca terminus to The Dubliner when ZED451 closed the week before.
Boosted by favorable winds and temperatures, Weagle and four cycle-mates arrived early enough to refresh with a beer at Bru’s Room before making his 5 o’clock telecast.
A special surprise this year was a visit during Weagle’s stop at CityPlace by American Idol’s Taylor Hicks, a big Red Cross supporter who had helped with tornado relief in Alabama. And after the ride was over, an anonymous bidder put up $1,750 for Weagle’s bike, donated by Stan Kilbas at Wheels of Wellington.
Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at ThomSmith@ymail.com.
Jan Norris contributed to this report.
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