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The ‘chocolate salon‘ is a feature of Norman Love Confections, which just opened a new shop in Delray Beach. It has seven stores in Florida, with plans for 10 more. Photo provided

By Jan Norris

Let’s talk breakfast. Restaurant prices have soared, and dinner out has become more of a special occasion. That has made the morning meal, or brunch, somewhat trendy and easier on the wallet.

Several places offer more than just the typical eggs or pancakes, too, though Americans love that standard.

At Costa Delray on Atlantic Avenue, diners will find organic, gluten free, paleo and traditional fare to kick off a day. Extras on every dish elevate flavors and nutrients.

The P.B. Nana pancakes are griddled paleo cakes with caramelized banana and peanut butter, drizzled with maple syrup. Diners can choose a cassava wrap to make the Farm Fresh Burrito gluten free. It wraps up organic eggs, nitrite-free bacon, and a tomato-and-chipotle aioli sauce.

Trumpet mushrooms, hemp hearts, micro greens, nut “mylks” and other health foods are on the menu that’s served till noon here.

Diners dot the landscape in each town, each with its own personality. Full parking lots hint at favorites.

The Diner on Gateway in Boynton Beach is popular for its friendly servers, varied menu and breakfast served all day.

Five-egg baked omelets can be custom made with a field of ingredients, or chosen from a long list. For those wanting healthier fare, egg white frittatas, described as open-faced omelets, have similar options.

You’ll also find peameal bacon, the cornmeal-crusted favorite of Canadians, along with eggs Benedict several ways, steak and eggs, and a “lite” menu with quinoa, avocado toast and veggie scrambles. Giant fluffy pancakes come in stacks of two or four. Servers recommend two even for hearty eaters.

Boca Beach House, a family-owned spot on East Palmetto Park Road, was closed during the coronavirus pandemic, but has rebounded nicely.

Unique additions and upscale offerings keep diners recommending it. Coconut pancakes (you can add Nutella) make for a twist on the common stack. Breakfast tacos or huevos rancheros in tortillas with black beans, cojita and jalapenos will wake you up.

A lobster and blue crab “egg scramble” is served with hollandaise and avocado. Smoked salmon elevates the avocado toast.

If it’s traditional Scandia pastries you prefer, Palm Beach Bakery and Cafe in Lantana is the one. The owner is the baker, turning out traditional cardamom bread, with or without almonds and raisins, danishes filled with a variety of fruits, strudels, honey buns, marzipan tarts and the unique Finnish cheesecake, rahkapiirakka.

The breads include the dark Finnish rye, a bestseller, Swedish limpa, and mysli — a honey, fruit- and seed-studded bread.

A selection of espresso coffees rounds out this small spot just off Ocean Avenue.

Here are some other longtime favorites to consider:
John G’s in Manalapan. The new owners kept many of the breakfast favorites from the former ex-Detroit owners. Try the corned beef hash.

The Green Owl in Delray Beach. Traditional breakfasts reign. Mickey cakes (with ears) and peanut butter as a side option make it kid-friendly.

Sande’s in Delray Beach. Go for the service alone: friendliest around, and it’s an everybody-knows-everybody spot. Traditional diner fare with breakfast all day. Creamed chipped beef on toast and kielbasa hash are here.

Saquella Cafe in Boca Raton. Italian touches: prosciutto and ciabatta egg sandwiches, zucchini omelets, overnight muesli, and several bottomless cocktails all day — served with potatoes.

Dune Deck Cafe in Lantana. With ocean views and open-air dining, it’s the place to take out-of-towners (especially in winter). A crab cake Benedict is a favorite, and savory crepes are worth a taste. Bloody marys also notable.

East Ocean Cafe in Boynton Beach. A tiny cafe with pet-friendly sidewalk seating and a few seats indoors; be prepared to wait, especially weekends. Quiche of the day, shrimp and grits, and a signature gooey cinnamon roll topped with bacon are among the nontypical dishes.

Love comes to Delray
Chef Norman Love is coming home, sort of. The acclaimed artisan chocolatier and pastry chef, owner of Norman Love Confections, opened a “salon” in Delray Beach in 12985278873?profile=RESIZE_180x180September on Federal Highway south of Linton Boulevard.

It is No. 7 in the brand’s shops, with 10 more planned in Florida. The shop serves artisan chocolates, gourmet desserts and pastries as well as drinks and savory sandwiches.

Love grew up in Hollywood and started in pastry at various restaurants and hotels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

“L.A. was where cuisine was happening, so I moved out there,” he said, “then came back and became the corporate pastry chef for Ritz-Carlton.”

As the hotel expanded internationally, Love had a chance to experience the best foods in every culture.

When he left the Ritz to open his own chocolate and pastry business, he drew from premier ingredients, he said, with a goal of creating the top chocolates in the country, while using his artistry to make them beautiful as well.

It was a success. Norman Love Chocolates has won countless awards, and was named best chocolate in the country 2002, exploding his brand. He’s won the same title five times since.

His innovation has swept the chocolate world.
“I was the first chef to put color on chocolate. My friends thought I was crazy: ‘You can’t put red or green on chocolate.’ But I did and they were an instant hit. They look like jewels,” Love said.

Cocoa butter is colored and airbrushed onto the surface, giving the chocolates a shiny, jewel-like appearance.
“Americans eat with their eyes,” he said.

But Love said that when he began, Americans had to be taught about artisan chocolates.
“In Europe, you go to a chocolate shop to buy chocolates. Not a grocery store or a drugstore. Our chocolates have no preservatives, nothing artificial. Pure chocolate and the finest ingredients. They have a shelf-life of a few days. They’re meant to be consumed right away.”

He also knew American palates and designed flavors they recognized.
“They want easily identifiable foods,” he said. “They don’t want to have to think ‘what am I eating?’ It’s difficult to eat a chocolate and not know what it is you’re tasting.”

So Love focused on single-flavor profiles, but the most intense he could make them, knowing that sensory or flavor associations that take you back to happy childhood memories sell products.
“If you go into an airport, and smell cinnamon baking, wafting from a counter, you’re remembering that scent from your mom’s or aunt’s or grandma’s kitchen. It’s a happy memory. So now you’re going to go get a Cinnabon, no matter how unhealthy it is,” he said.
“So how do you create a flavor profile inside a chocolate with that same reaction?”

By using intense flavor coaxed from myriad ingredients — even peanut butter and jelly.
“My friends called me out on that one, and thought I was nuts,” Love said. “But you bite into the squishy center and it all mixes together. You’re taken right back to your childhood. It’s one of our most popular flavors.”

His personal favorite is the Tahitian vanilla caramel, made with a top vanilla, and finished with flakes of fleur de sel. Simple, he said, yet complex.

He credits his team members for his success and empowers them to create new products while maintaining the favorites.
“They come to work wanting to do something right every day,” Love said. “We are focused on the best ingredients, and making a consistent product.”

For now and in the foreseeable future, he’ll keep his main production factory in Fort Myers, but will ship several times a week to this coast. He figured out temperature-controlled packaging early on.

He supplies hotels, restaurants and other shops with his upscale products.

Shipping is the crux of his business, but he’s building 10 more salons in Florida with a focus on the east coast. Boca Raton is next; it will be on the periphery of Town Center mall.

He said he’s glad to be back on this coast, and Delray Beach has been welcoming.
“We want to be part of the community. We give back, and are looking forward to being here,” Love said.

Norman Love Confections, 1911 S. Federal Highway, Suite 104, Delray Beach. Phone 561-749-9049; normanloveconfections.com. Open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.


Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com.

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