along the avenues - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T21:47:22Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/along+the+avenuesAlong the Avenues: Old School Beerfest a fine debut for local brewhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-old-school-beerfest-a-fine-debut-for-local-brew2012-05-02T19:14:03.000Z2012-05-02T19:14:03.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960388070,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960388070,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960388070?profile=original" /></a><em>Ocean Ridge and county pocket residents Greg Juisly (left), Chris Dick, Scott Hargash and Jim Connolly sample the brews at Delray’s Old School Beerfest on April 21. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</em></p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Thom Smith<em><br /></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">After a year in the making, and many more developing the concept, <strong>Due South Brewing</strong> is ready to begin pouring in earnest. With another weekend of positive reviews at Delray’s <strong>Old School Beerfest</strong> on April 21, founder <strong>Mike Halker</strong> has begun production at South County’s first commercial craft brewery.<br /> “We’ll have our grand opening on May 12,” Halker said of his facility on High Ridge Road in Boynton Beach. “We’ll be brewing five types to start.”<br /> Due South’s monthly production of 3,500 gallons is barely a drop compared to voluminous Bud or Corona, but Halker is confident he can win over anyone who likes his beer with a little TLC. A caramel cream ale has been testing well, but Halker said Due South’s Category IPA (India Pale Ale) also is going down nicely and hoppier Cat 4 and 5 versions are on the way. <br /> A firm believer in the social benefits of beer and brewing, Halker also will pour samples from other craft brewers at the open house. To handle the demand, the 1,000-square-foot bar area is now stocked with samplers, 12-ounce short pour glasses, and a newly arrived shipment of 1,000 pints. For details on the open house, go to <a href="http://www.duesouthales.com">www.duesouthales.com</a>.<br /> ***<br /> Closer to Boynton’s center, another surprise: <strong>Cuthill’s Backyard</strong>. The mailing address, 511 NE Fourth St., is more like an alley, half a block west of Federal along the railroad tracks. As the website suggests, “Look for the green lite palms.”<br /> Formerly home to <strong>Tiki Tavern</strong>, it’s pretty much an outdoor bar, with misting fans, a sizeable parking lot, a stage, lots of tables, beach sand and a kitchen in a glistening Airstream trailer. <br /> But before you think greasy bar food, consider that all the food is fresh and locally grown. The Kobe beef sliders (3 for $13) are certified Kobe. The sesame seared tuna steak ($15) is brought in daily. <br /> The stage stays busy with music just about daily. Recent acts included Grateful Dead tribute band <strong>Crazy Fingers</strong>, Allman Brothers tribute band <strong>The Marshall Brothers</strong> with special guest <strong>Mike Allman</strong> (Greg’s son) and country star <strong>Amber Leigh</strong>.<br /> But the mysterious <strong>R.H. Cuthill</strong> has bigger plans. Out front on Federal in a small storefront, he plans a fine-dining restaurant. To the north of the bar, he plans a wine bar, a Mexican restaurant and a country-western dance hall. <br /> ***<br /> Down on East Ocean Avenue, the old Ruth Jones cottage has survived its six-block move and, if all goes as planned, will open in mid-June as <strong>The Little House</strong> that city officials hope will revive the downtown area. <strong>Chrissy Benoit</strong>, who opened <strong>Havana Hideout</strong> in Lake Worth, signed the lease on April 16. She plans a back-to-basics menu with prices under $10 and lots of draft beers. <br /> *** <br /> Let’s not forget the raucous <strong>Old Key Lime House,</strong> nestled along the Intracoastal’s western shore on Lantana’s Ocean Avenue. Owner <strong>Wayne Cordero</strong> needs more room and wants to enlarge his parking lot by about 50 spaces on a lot he owns to the immediate west. <br /> But that property, about one-third acre with a house built in the 1920s, is zoned residential. <strong>The Lantana Town Council</strong> seems inclined to rezone it, as do some of the Old Key Lime House’s neighbors, who also are urging the town to make empty lots on North Lake Drive available for parking. To arguments that the house was “historical,” Cordero countered that it was “hysterical” and in bad shape. He assured council members that he would not enlarge his building or add seating (now limited to 318). <br /> ***<br /> Tight squeeze for <strong>Benny’s on the Beach</strong>. By a 3-2 vote the City Commission extended for 10 more years the lease for the café and bait shop on the Lake Worth pier. Under the previous lease, Benny’s paid the city 7.5 percent of its gross revenue, about $185,000 a year. The new lease gives the city a flat $240,000 a year. <strong>Suzanne Mulvehill</strong> and <strong>Christopher McVoy</strong> argued that it should be put out to bid but were outvoted.<br /> *** <br /> In Delray, the new <strong>Sandbar Rhum Shack</strong> outdoor bar on the south side of <strong>Boston’s on the Beach</strong> opened with SRO on Friday the 13th. Not a blade of grass in sight nor any weeds, for that matter — the entire area is covered with packed sand that, unlike the beach variety across the street, is not supposed to blow away, wash away or stick like glue. <br /> “It’s kind of an adult sandbox,” GM <strong>Tom Walsh</strong> said with a smile, noting it’s only for the 21-and-over crowd. “If people want a big meal, they can eat inside and then come out.”<br /> A limited snack menu will be offered, and patrons can build their own mojitos or whet their whistles with 12 draft beers or two dozen bottled varieties. <br /> A small stage will accommodate low-key entertainers, who, as with the food, will not compete with the action inside Boston’s. When necessary, guests can avail themselves of new restrooms, labeled “Inboard” and “Outboard.” <br /> ***<br /> The line of students hoping to get a seat in the gym at <strong>Florida Atlantic University</strong> stretched across the main road then snaked back and forth across the lawn next to the student center. Those who finally made it inside to see and hear <strong>President Barack Obama</strong> were mostly enthusiastic, unusually polite for college students and unbelievably patient. Applause greeted anyone with a suit who entered the arena from beneath the giant flag, even the White House staffer who attached the presidential seal to the front of the lectern. <br /> On one wall hung a banner emblazoned with “An America Built To Last,” a presidential goal that could have been borrowed from a Ford commercial or possibly from a Grateful Dead album. The crowd didn’t applaud it, but they did give FAU President <strong>Mary Jane Saunders</strong> a big hand as she noted that FAU, the most diverse of Florida’s universities “looks like America.” They clapped for Student Government President <strong>Ayden Maher</strong> as he led the Pledge of Allegiance and for sophomore <strong>Rebecca Guillaume</strong> after her rousing Star Spangled Banner.<br /> No special treatment, by the way, for FAU trustees such as <strong>Tom Workman</strong>, <strong>Anthony Barbar</strong> and <strong>Dave Feder,</strong> who were squeezed into a corner of the bleachers behind the stage. Recently retired football coach <strong>Howard Schnellenberger</strong> also had a bleacher seat, directly behind the president, where he snapped lots of photos on his cellphone. <br /> Obama urged congressional support for increased student assistance and for his proposed “Buffett rule” — no connection with Jimmy. He made one sweep around the gym, hand-to-hand with hundreds leaning over the barriers and then barely an hour later he was gone.<br /> The presidential visit was the first to FAU since <strong>Lyndon Johnson</strong> helped dedicate the school in 1964. (Coincidentally, one person who shook LBJ’s hand was 19-year-old University of Miami student <strong>Bill Moss</strong>, the West Palm Beach city commissioner who died March 28.) Yet, surprisingly, no one knows why or how the White House picked FAU.<br /> FAU’s University Relations office speculated that it was convenient, almost on a straight line from his fund-raising stop in Palm Beach Gardens to another at the <strong>Diplomat Resort</strong> in Hollywood and finally at a private home in Golden Beach. But nothing definite.<br /> When the <strong>White House</strong> was queried, staffer <strong>Joanne Rosholm</strong> sent this reply: “It’s not entirely uncommon that we would pick a place like FAU that can hold a large number of people who want to see their President speak. Beyond that, I don’t know that there’s much more to say!”<br /> So there …<br /> *** <br /> On the road again … <strong>Michelle Bernstein</strong>, just departed as executive chef at <strong>The Omphoy i</strong>n Palm Beach, is headed back to the Palm Beaches from her Miami nest, but only for one night. Bernstein, who hosts <em><strong>Check, Please!,</strong></em> the restaurant review show on <strong>WPBT-Channel 2,</strong> has expanded her repertoire to include road trips. <br /> On May 15, 150 guests paying $125 each, will visit five restaurants in Boca. After appetizers at <strong>Sushi Rock</strong> on Yamato Road, the group will board buses for stops at <strong>Josephine’s</strong>, <strong>Bogart’s</strong>, <strong>Casa D ‘Angelo</strong> and <strong>The Tin Muffin Café</strong>. Co-hosting with Bernstein will be popular radio host and vintner <strong>Paul Castronovo</strong>. Proceeds support production of the show. To sign up, go to wpbt2.org.<br /> ***<br /> Smart cookies. And tough. No better way to describe <strong>Rena Blades</strong> and <strong>Cynthia Allen Gracey</strong>, who received Women In Leadership awards at the Kravis Center May 3. Presented by the <strong>Executive Women of the Palm Beaches</strong>, the awards recognize women who have distinguished themselves as professionals, as leaders and as community servants. <br /> As CEO of the <strong>Palm Beach County Cultural Council</strong>, now based in Lake Worth, Blades is well-known throughout the county for overseeing the council’s unprecedented growth, securing new funding, expanding services and strengthening cultural organizations.<br /> On the other hand, Gracey, who lived in Delray before moving recently to Palm Beach, has worked in the background for more than three decades to empower women. Despite dealing with CMT, a chronic neuromuscular disorder, she has practiced law, raised two sons, been a caregiver to her parents. Oh, yeah, and to raise consciousness and create a supportive network where women could feel safe, share experiences and grow together, she also helped found Executive Women. A fitting résumé for the group’s <strong>Inspirational Leadership Award</strong>. <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960388475,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960388475,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="576" alt="7960388475?profile=original" /></a><em>Terri Cooper (left) of Delray Beach samples the bouquet of her friend Michael Budd’s wine during the Fifth Annual American Fine Wine Competition at the Boca Raton Resort & Club on April 19. <strong>Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br /> What a party! Overflow crowd. <strong>Shari Gherman</strong>, president of the <strong>American Fine Wine Competition</strong> had to add two tables — for 20 last-minute oenophiles — in the Grand Ballroom at the <strong>Boca Raton Resort & Club’s Mizner Center</strong>. <strong>Alan Kalter</strong>, with a week off from announcing for <strong>David Letterman,</strong> kept the crowd informed. Saxman <strong>Dayve Stewart</strong> and <strong>The Vibe</strong> rocked the 400-plus guests at $310 each, plus whatever they spent at auction. <br /> Bam! <strong>Emeril Lagasse</strong> put on a show as he prepared roasted filet mignon, brown butter gulf blue crabmeat, local mushroom fondu, spring field peas and black truffle butter sauce. Bam!<br /> At auction, <strong>Theodore Bryant</strong> bid $15,000 for a dream dinner to be prepared at his home by several top area chefs, which helped bring the tally to $60,000 for <strong>Diabetes Research Institute</strong> and the <strong>Golden Bell Education Foundation</strong>.<br />Since it is the American Fine Wine Competition, there were winners: The 2009 <strong>Castello di Amorosa Il Passito Reserve Late Harvest Semillon, North Coast</strong> and 2009 <strong>La Follette Manchester Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir</strong>, Mendocino Ridge, were judged the best white and red, from more than 600 entries. <br /> Pity the judges. A lot of sipping, spitting and rinsing for the 25 experts who spent two days at a hotel sampling the 600 candidates in 12 categories. <br /> “They lock you up in a room and you try wine for two days, flight after flight,” said judge <strong>Stephanie Miskew</strong>, whose Glamorous Gourmet blog is found at <a href="http://www.stephaniesavorsthemoment.blogspot.com">www.stephaniesavorsthemoment.blogspot.com</a>. “The split us into groups of four judges. We tried all the wines in our group, made our notes and then got together and tried to come to an agreement.<br /> “You definitely need to pace yourself.”<br /> But late into the second day, as the judges drew closer to consensus, the tension began to dissolve. “There definitely was more sipping than spitting,” she said. <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960388271,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960388271,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="576" alt="7960388271?profile=original" /></a><em>Achievement Centers board member Barbara Murphy (right) of Gulf Stream watches the fashion show with Katherine Montana and John Lofquist, both of Delray Beach, during the Proper Affair runway show at the Boca Raton Resort & Club on April 18. <strong>Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br /> A day earlier, 350 guests had a Proper Affair at the Boca Resort. But instead of tête-à-tête, the night was devoted to prêt à porter, as they bought raffle tickets, vied for silent auction items and bid on high-end fashions from <strong>Boston Proper</strong> that were modeled by spirited volunteers. <br />The local grass-roots project raised $160,000 for the <strong>Achievement Centers for Children and Families</strong>, a Delray Beach foundation that supports 700 low-income children.<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Manero empire continues to thrive, but where is David?https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-manero-empire-continues-to-thrive-but-where-is-2012-04-05T15:14:25.000Z2012-04-05T15:14:25.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p>Curiouser and curiouser. Of course, Alice has nothing on <strong>David Manero</strong>, whose restaurant wonderland in Delray Beach has turned into a nightmare. Oh sure, the restaurants he ran — <strong>Vic & Angelo’s</strong>, <strong>The Office</strong> and <strong>Burger Fi</strong> — seem to be doing fine, but David is nowhere in sight. Which had the Atlantic Avenue rumor mill working overtime with claims that his partners had him banned from the premises and that the FBI wanted him for illegalities — not so, said spokespeople in the West Palm Beach and Miami offices. <br /> In a rare published comment, Manero told <strong>Bill Citara</strong> of <em>Boca Raton</em> magazine the parting was “ugly,” but that he’s working on several new concepts, including a Neapolitan pizzeria.<br /> While Manero usually has attracted all the ink regarding the restaurants, <strong>John Rosatti</strong> has been the silent partner who carries a big stick. A New Yorker who was one of the top automobile dealers in the country, Rosatti likes big, big, big boats and enjoys a friendly rivalry with old Flatbush buddy and car dealer-boat fancier <strong>John Staluppi</strong>. So friendly that they created <strong>Millennium Super Yachts</strong> in North Palm Beach. <br /> Rosatti’s personal website, johnrosatti.com, opens with a quotation from <strong>Abe Lincoln</strong>: “Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.” One acquaintance of Rosatti and Staluppi said recently, “They’re smart and they’re tough; you don’t want to cross either one of them.” But Rosatti’s also regarded as a strong family man and opens his wallet for worthy causes, such as the <strong>American Heart Association</strong>, <strong>Boys and Girls Clubs</strong> and in 2002 a gift to the <strong>Benjamin School</strong> in North Palm Beach of $1 million.<br /> By the way, out in Laguna Beach, Calif., on the Pacific Coast Highway, a former <strong>KFC</strong> restaurant (on land previously occupied by a used car lot) is set to reopen in June as BurgerFi. The developer? A 2012 graduate of Dartmouth College, who has family ties to Southern California but also spent summers working in his family’s Florida restaurants, beginning as a server. His name: <strong>David Mainiero</strong>. (Yes, father and son spell their names differently.) Young Dave told the left coast media he thought it would be a good way to earn money for law school.<br /> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960382885,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960382885,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960382885?profile=original" /></a><em>Tennis player Colin Fleming reads to local schoolchildren as doubles partner Ross Hutchins looks on at Delray Beach Public Library during a break from the competition at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships across the street. They read to the youngsters, mostly from Banyan Creek Elementary School and the Boys & Girls Club, answered questions, discussed tennis and stressed the importance of working with a partner. They returned to the courts and on March 3 persevered through a 15-13 final set to win the doubles title. <strong>Photo courtesy Delray Beach Public Library</strong></em></p>
<p>*** </p>
<p>The search for a new executive chef at <strong>The Omphoy</strong> is over almost as soon as it started. To replace <strong>Michelle Bernstein</strong>, who’s back in Miami, owner <strong>Jeff Greene</strong> has hired <strong>Michael Wurster</strong> who’s no doubt just thrilled to be back in a kitchen, any kitchen. Trained at CIA (that’s <strong>Culinary Institute of America</strong>, not the spy corps), spent time with <strong>Alain Ducasse</strong> and <strong>Thomas Keller</strong> and was Chef de Cuisine at <strong>Lutece</strong> for three years before running his own stove at and <strong>Cercle Rouge</strong> in TriBeCa and <strong>Icon</strong> at the <strong>W Court</strong> hotel. <br /> However, as happens in the hospitality business, the W Court closed, so Wurster, 36, signed on to run another closed restaurant, <strong>Tavern on the Green</strong> in <strong>Central Park</strong>. That was two years ago. It never reopened, so he comes to the reopened eatery at The Omphoy, now named Malcolm’s after Greene’s son.<br /> Wurster likes to give American classics a modern twist, using local products. Two previous dishes: sushi tuna with strawberries, cucumber and mojito bubbles and black and white Maine sea scallops, layered with truffles, served with braised artichoke ravioli, chipollini onions, arugula puree and foie gras emulsion.<br /> ***<br />At the corner of Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway in southern Delray something new — and fresh — may be on the horizon. According to merchants in the mall now anchored by <strong>Carrabbas Italian Grill</strong>, Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, <strong>Panera Bread</strong> and <strong>Seaview Optical</strong>, a complete revamp is planned with the addition of a 20,000-square-foot <strong>Fresh Market</strong>. Merchants say they’ve been notified of the plans, but mall management referred our call to the owners in Alabama, and neither would comment or confirm. Would be nice to have an alternative grocery option right across the bridge!<br /> ***<br />Meanwhile, at the north end of Boca, the party continues at <strong>Caldwell Theatre Company</strong>, even as Artistic Director <strong>Clive Cholerton</strong> and his brain trust work on a salvation. The Caldwell owes <strong>Legacy Bank</strong> nearly $6 million on two mortgages. The bank filed for foreclosure, and now the theater’s finances will be controlled by a court-appointed receiver, <strong>Scott Brenner</strong> of Fort Lauderdale-based <strong>Brenner Real Estate Group</strong>. Brenner specializes in turning around troubled businesses, and as long as he remains in charge, Legacy will not close it down. <br /> ***</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960383071,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960383071,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960383071?profile=original" /></a><em>Serena and Venus Williams contend with the breezes on the patio of Apt. 401, the $6.5 million condo Venus decorated at One Thousand Ocean in Boca Raton. <strong>Thom Smith/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><br /> When her tennis game is on, few players want to be across the net from <strong>Venus Williams.</strong> Just ask last year’s Wimbledon champ <strong>Petra Kvitova</strong> after her loss at Key Biscayne on March 23 or <strong>Aleksandra Wozniak</strong>, who had match point two days later and couldn’t convert, and then <strong>Ana Ivanovic,</strong> who took the first set and then could win only four more games. <br /> Not bad for someone who was diagnosed last year with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder similar to lupus that causes fatigue and joint pain. But anyone who’s ever watched her play or played against her knows one sure thing: Venus is a fighter. <br /> She took time off from tennis. She adopted a vegan diet. She began a drug regimen to determine which are effective. She has her sights set on qualifying for the Olympics in London. But in June she’ll turn 32, and she knows her competitive days are numbered, so Venus is focusing more on her life away from tennis.<br /> Just as she and sister <strong>Serena</strong> demolished barriers on the court, she aims to break artistic barriers with <strong>V Starr</strong>, her decade-old interior design firm in Jupiter. She’s done work for pro athletes who live in South Florida; model homes residences in Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens; a Miami hotel; the athletic center at Howard University in Washington and even the set for <strong>Tavis Smiley’s</strong> PBS show. Nevertheless, it has all been relatively low key, until last month’s grand slam introduction at <strong>One Thousand Ocean</strong>, luxury 52-unit condo on <strong>Boca Raton Resort & Club</strong> property on Boca Inlet.<br /> To push the 12 unsold units, <strong>LXR</strong> President of Development <strong>Jamie Telchin</strong> threw a party where residents and prospective tenants could mingle in an unfinished penthouse and also see Unit 401, Venus’ contribution to the seascape: 4,971 interior square feet, another 1,289 on the terrace, four bedrooms, 4½ baths and $6.45 million with Venus’ furnishings, $5.95 million without. <br /> For Venus, who studied at the <strong>Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale</strong>, design is organic and a matter of trust. “V Starr is me and nothing happens that isn’t my style,” she said. “And my style is that you can’t do something just because you want to. You have to have reason; it has to be functional; it has to be beautiful.”<br /> While she had to start at the bottom, just as she did in tennis, Williams concedes she had some advantages in the design game because of her name. <br />“Because of my high profile, people say OK we’ll talk to her, but that doesn’t mean they’ll let me do the job,” Williams said. “But once they meet me and my team and really see the picture, they realize this is really serious design, that we can do the job.” <br /> Asked how much of her competitive nature from tennis did she bring to the design world, Venus answered, “All of it.”<br /> Game on. <br /> ***<br /> It’s festival time. More events than you can shake a stick at, and enough to satisfy just about everyone’s needs. First up is the <strong>Palm Beach International Film Festival</strong>, although its south county presence is limited this year. The festival opens April 12 at <strong>Muvico Parisian</strong> in CityPlace with a screening of <em>Robot & Frank</em>, a <strong>Sundance</strong> entry starring <strong>Frank Langella</strong>. It wraps April 19 at <strong>Cobb Theatres</strong> in Downtown at the Gardens with a screening of <em>Sassy Pants</em> (<strong>Haley Joel Osment</strong> and <strong>Anna Gunn</strong>). <br /> A lifetime achievement award will be presented to actress <strong>June Lockhart</strong> at <strong>Silver Screen Bash</strong> at <strong>The Lake Pavilion on the Waterfront</strong> in West Palm Beach on April 15. Lockhart, who became a cult figure as <strong>Maureen Robinson</strong> in <em>Lost in Space</em>, is 86 and still acting. She co-stars in the comedy <em>Zombie Hamlet</em>, which will have its world premiere at PBIFF. The film also stars <strong>Shelley Long</strong>, who will attend. <br /> In south county, short films will be screened at the <strong>Lake Worth Playhouse’s Stonzek Theatre</strong> on April 13, 14 and 15, and at Delray’s <strong>Debilzan Gallery</strong> on April 15. Several documentaries are scheduled for <strong>Mizner Park’s Cultural Arts Center</strong>: <em>Money and Medicine</em> and <em>Genius on Hold</em> (April 13); <em>Lunch Hour</em>, <em>Free China: The Courage To Believe</em>, <em>True Gods Have Bones</em> (Los Dioses De Verdad Tienen Huesos), <em>Crocodile in the Yangtze</em> and <em>Happy You’re Alive</em> (April 14); <em>My Mother’s Idea</em>, a student film showcase, <em>John Portman: A Life of Building</em>, <em>Violins in Wartime</em>, <em>Follow Me</em> and a local film showcase (April 15). Tickets are $10, $7 for students and seniors, $60 for the opening night party, $40 for the closer. Festival packages range from $150 to $500. Visit <a href="http://www.pbifilmfest.org">www.pbifilmfest.org</a>.<br /> ***<br /> This year’s <strong>Delray Affair</strong>, April 13-15, promises to be golden. After all, the post-Easter, season-ending street party is celebrating its 50th anniversary. New this year: a Delray Beach history booth and two covered beer gardens with live entertainment at <strong>Old School Square</strong>. Lots of good free entertainment. Those waxing nostalgic for affairs two decades ago when the hottest local band was <strong>InHouse</strong>, should drop by the street tent at 11 a.m. Saturday, when ex-InHousers <strong>Gin Blische</strong> and <strong>Andy Stein</strong> take the stage. <br /> The beer tents, by the way, will stay up through April 21 for the <strong>Old School BeerFest</strong>. The early evening bash — 4-8 p.m. — will feature more than 50 craft beers, 15 food trucks, and live music with <strong>The Dillengers</strong> and <strong>The Resolvers</strong>. It’s a fundraiser to support free Friday night concerts at Old School Square. Tickets are $30 in advance, $40 at the door; VIP $75 and $85 and space is limited. Call 243-7922. <br /> ***<br /> Across the lawn, the little idea that could is a year old. Quite frankly, the <strong>Arts Garage</strong> has taken off, a maelstrom of human expression — art, theater, concerts, movies and of course, artists. <br /> “We were hoping,” Executive Director <strong>Alyona Ushe</strong> said of the Garage’s success. “ It just speaks to the great need, and to the sophistication of the audience we have here in South Florida. From the beginning it was our plan to attract as many programs as possible, and to be all encompassing. It’s the space itself. It’s warm and cozy, yet edgy. It has its own pulse.” <br /> On April 28, Delray’s Arts Garage will celebrate with a birthday party with food, wine, an auction, saxophonist <strong>Ed Calle</strong>, cabaret performances by <strong>The Garage Girls</strong> and some surprise performers. For tickets — $75 single, $125 per couple — and sponsorships, <a href="http://www.artsgarage.org">www.artsgarage.org</a>. <br /> ***<br /> <strong>SunFest</strong> is just around the corner with an entertainment lineup that includes the <strong>Marshall Tucker Band</strong>, <strong>Snoop Dogg</strong>, <strong>Herbie Hancock</strong> and <strong>Counting Crows</strong>. Hard to believe this is the 30th festival. Opening in 1983 as a replacement for the <strong>Royal Palm Festival</strong>, it lasted 10 days, no admission was charged, and fans were entertained by the likes of <strong>Washboard Bill</strong> and the high-wire derring do of <strong>Carla Wallenda</strong>. <br /> A year later, the buzz was jazz with <strong>Dave Brubeck</strong>, <strong>Dizzy Gillespie</strong>, <strong>Ramsey Lewis</strong> and <strong>Herbie Mann</strong>, but change was in the wind as the first pop group, <strong>The Association</strong>, appeared. <br /> The inaugural attracted about 100,000; in 1991, organizers became concerned when crowds exceeded 350,000. Recent attendance has settled under 300,000 and a day pass is still $30 before April 28, $35 at the gate, and an advance 5-day pass is $61. Rock on.<br /> *** <br /> When the first settlers arrived more than a century ago, the water was a major attraction. That hasn’t changed. In fact, it may be reinforced with the opening a few weeks ago of Lake Worth’s <strong>Snook Islands Natural Area</strong>. The project affects 100 acres of wetlands in Lake Worth just east of the <strong>Lake Worth Municipal Golf Course</strong> that were just about ruined in the 1920s. Dredging and filling killed off the mangroves and native wildlife that was replaced by Brazilian pepper and Australian pine.<br /> But thanks to a $1.9 million restoration project, the bad flora is gone, the mangroves and wetland habitats are back, the dredged holes have been filled, seagrass planted and oyster beds created. And the public can take advantage of the improvements thanks to a new 590-foot fishing pier, a 545-foot boardwalk, floating boat docks and kayak launch. <br />Now, if the city can hold a steady course on the $6.7 million restoration of the beach casino … <br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: A festival, a president and two new theatershttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-a-festival-a-president-and-two-new-theaters2012-03-01T17:15:30.000Z2012-03-01T17:15:30.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960375273,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960375273,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="576" alt="7960375273?profile=original" /></a><em>John Davidson serenades Susan Pincus of West Palm Beach at Atlantis Country Club on Valentine’s Day. <strong>Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p>By Thom Smith</p>
<p> The last time <strong>Jose Carreras</strong> performed in Palm Beach County, in March 2009, a persistent cough forced him to cut short a concert at the Kravis Center. He apologized to the audience and said he would like to return when he was in better health. That eventually became March 7, the opening of the <strong>Festival of the Arts Boca</strong>, part of a five-concert U.S. tour.<br /> It’s off. With no reason given, the Spanish tenor, 65, canceled the tour, including a March 2 date in Tampa. The only hint, a notice published Feb. 13 on an unofficial Carreras website, (<a href="http://josepcarreras-tenor-breakingnews.blogspot.com">http://josepcarreras-tenor-breakingnews.blogspot.com</a>): “The US tour, based on five dates has been cancelled due to organizational problems.”<br /> Nevertheless, the festival will press ahead. <br /> With this crazy primary season, presidential historian <strong>Doris Kearns Goodwin</strong> is all over TV these days, but on March 18 she’ll be in the flesh talking about presidents past and present under the big tent at <strong>Mizner Park Amphitheatr</strong>e. A winter resident of Boca, Goodwin serves as the festival’s Distinguished Writer in Residence. <br /> Another face familiar to political TV junkies is <strong>Mika Brzezinski</strong>, co-host of <strong>Morning Joe</strong> on MSNBC and daughter of former National Security Adviser <strong>Zbigniew Brzezinski</strong>. She’ll speak March 12. <br /> The festival offers a broad spectrum, with jazz by <strong>Patti Austin</strong> and <strong>Tony DeSare</strong> (March 15), a screening of <em>Casablanca</em> with live accompaniment provided by the <strong>Boca Raton Symphonia</strong> conducted by festival music director <strong>Constantine Kitsopoulos</strong> (March 9), and pianist <strong>Valentina Lisitsa</strong> performing Rachmaninoff’s <em>Piano Concerto No. 2</em> with the <strong>Lynn University Philharmonia</strong> (March 14). For information, <a href="http://www.fesitvaloftheartsboca.org">www.fesitvaloftheartsboca.org</a> or 866-571-2787.<br /> ***<br /> Whoa! Double take! Is that who I think it is, <strong>Senada Adzem</strong> asked herself early on the Sunday afternoon of Feb. 19 as she was leaving the <strong>Boca Raton Resort & Club</strong>. Indeed, it was former <strong>President Bill Clinton</strong>, natty in light gray suit and surrounded by Secret Service.<br /> “The security detail was incredible,” said Adzem, a local Realtor, noting that she was not allowed to snap a photo. “But the buzz was incredible! People love him. He looked terrific.”<br /> A few hours later, the Prez, had changed clothes and joined Carnival CEO and Miami Heat owner <strong>Micky Arison</strong> at the <strong>Heat</strong>’s stomping of the <strong>Orlando Magic</strong>. No problems with photos at the game, and afterward Clinton met the players and the game officials, whom he told, “No one in this building, other than me, has been second-guessed more than you guys.” <br /> Clinton’s visit to the Boca Resort, however, was so low-key that some members of management didn’t even know he was there, much less why. A spokesperson at Clinton Foundation offices in New York had no comment.<br /> ***<br /> <strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960375670,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960375670,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="333" alt="7960375670?profile=original" /></a>Leola Bell</strong> is African-American, she’s 27 and her dad is a Seventh-Day Adventist minister.<br />Nevertheless, she’s <em><strong>Playboy</strong></em>’s “Miss February. The Boynton Beach-based beauty is proud of her heritage, her age and her family support, saying the magazine has become more representative and she is especially proud to be one of the “older girls.” As for her parents, the Maryland-born Bell, who’s studied psychology at Florida Atlantic University, told Bustedcoverage.com. “I don’t think that this is the career choice he (her father) would have chosen for me, but he’s happy for me. My mom loves it! She wants to wear my (Playboy) necklace.”<br /> Bell, who has been modeling for years, hooked up first with Playboy’s Girls of Golf, entertaining golfers at Playboy golf events. That earned her a trip to the Playboy Mansion, where she played dominoes with Hef. <br /> ***<br /> It’s hard to believe <strong>John Davidson</strong> turned 70 in December. He may feel it once in a while after a bad game of golf, but the star of stage, screen, TV and records doesn’t look it as he continues his second season of cabaret at Atlantis Country Club west of Lake Worth.<br /> “I’m not a song stylist, Davidson said. “I use music to move people to either laugh or cry or be inspired about something. I’m an entertainer.” <br /> And the show is entertaining for audiences and for Davidson, who moved with his wife, Rhonda, to <strong>Atlantis</strong> to be near his daughter Jennifer. His ex-wife also lives in Atlantis. Show and dinner (Thursday-Saturday) are a steal at $48. (965-5788) <br /> ***<br /> Easy come, easy go. No decision yet as to who or what will replace the destination restaurant <strong>Michelle Bernstein</strong> at <strong>The Omphoy</strong>. Now just <strong>The Restaurant</strong> at The Omphoy, hot, hot, hot Miami chef Michelle Bernstein is gone.<br /> “The menu is the same,” a restaurant employee said, “and we’re currently interviewing. We’ve had applicants from all over, but management is taking their time with it to get the best possible chef.”<br /> Bernstein hasn’t commented on her departure, nor executive chef <strong>Lindsay Autray</strong>, a Bernstein protégé, who was on leave competing on <strong>Bravo TV</strong>’s latest edition of <em><strong>Top Chef</strong></em>. Autray should have little problem finding work, and Bernstein stays busy with her Miami restaurants plus <em><strong>Check, Please!</strong></em>, her popular restaurant review show on <strong>WPBT-Channel 2</strong>. Plus, think how much she’ll save in gas.<br /> Also gone after only a few months on the job: <strong>Glen Manfra</strong> at <strong>SpoonFed</strong> in Delray and <strong>Roy Villacrusis</strong> at <strong>Kapow! Noodle Bar</strong> in Boca’s <strong>Mizner Park</strong>. <br /> For the peripatetic Manfra, who made his name two decades ago in Palm Beach and later returned at <strong>Vic and Angelo’s</strong> in Delray, the arrangement with <strong>AMG Restaurants</strong> just didn’t work out. He had a good staff and he liked the three meals a day concept — although that can be tiring. <br /> Villacrusis, he of the two-toned hair and the multi-toned palate, has checked out of Kapow! Noodle Bar in Boca’s Mizner Park after only a few weeks. Apparently his Asian fusion menu ideas didn’t coincide with those of the somewhat more conservative patrons, so he took a hike. <br /> Meanwhile, Villacrusis has teamed with <strong>The Traveling Plate</strong>, a Fort Lauderdale-based movable feast that raises money for charity. On April 5, he’ll create the menu and oversee the festivities at <strong>Girls’ Club Collection</strong>, a gallery dedicated to and for women.<br /> *** <br /> Wonder what congressional candidate <strong>Adam Hasner</strong> was discussing with former Delray City Council candidate <strong>Nick Loeb</strong> one recent afternoon at <strong>Coffee District</strong> on Second Ave? A donation perhaps? Loeb does have some deep pockets. Or possibly a campaign appearance by Loeb’s squeeze <strong>Sofia Vergara</strong> for Republican Hasner who would face a tough fight with former West Palm Beach Mayor <strong>Lois Frankel</strong>? <br /> ***<br /> Mixed media. First to shut down was <strong>Florida Stage</strong>. Now the <strong>Caldwell Theatre Company</strong> is facing, at minimum, bankruptcy, or worse, curtains. Artistic Director <strong>Clive Cholerton</strong> says South Florida’s longest-running regional theater is trying to restructure its debt and doesn’t intend to shut down. <br /> No doubt the builders of <strong>Broadstone at North Boca Village</strong> wonder what will happen. <strong>Alliance Residential Co. LLC</strong> of Phoenix, Ariz., had planned to make the Caldwell an integral part of its new 384-unit townhouse and apartment complex rising just to the south, even providing 126 parking spaces for the theater. A fitness center, putting green, yoga studio, business center, video game room, demonstration kitchen, cyber café, personal massage salon, wine and cigar room, and resort-style swimming pool area already are planned. Why not a theater, too!<br /> ***<br /><strong> But you win some and you lose some. In Florida Stage’s old space at Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar, Alan Jacobson, who ran Florida Jewish Theatre</strong> in West Palm, brought in <em><strong>A Chorus Line</strong></em> legend <strong>Donna McKechnie</strong> to inaugurate his <strong>Plaza Theatre Company.</strong> Next up, the songs of <strong>Neil Sedaka</strong> with <em><strong>Breaking Up Is Hard To Do</strong></em> from March 8-25. It’s light and isn’t going to challenge patrons like <em><strong>Waiting for Godot</strong></em> or <em><strong>A Streetcar Named Desire</strong></em>, but any show is better than no show.<br /> After shutting down Florida Stage, which had made its ill-fated move to West Palm Beach, <strong>Lou Tyrrell</strong> promises to continue challenging audiences in <strong>Delray’s Arts Garage</strong>. February was dedicated to a master playwright series of readings with the writers themselves — <strong>Israel Horovitz</strong>, <strong>John Pielmeier</strong>, <strong>John Guare</strong> and <strong>William Mastrosimone</strong>, followed March 1-4 by a <strong>New Play Fest</strong> with readings of new plays by Mastrosimone, Horovitz, Lauren Gunderson, Jessica Goldberg, Marsha Norman and Bruce Graham. <br /> The first actual production will run March 16 to April 8. <em><strong>Woody Sez</strong></em> opens just in time for the centennial of the birth of the show’s namesake, folk music icon <strong>Woody Guthrie</strong>. <br /> Of course, theatrical productions are just one facet in the Arts Garage diamond. On March 4 it offers <strong>One Opera in One Hour</strong>, an abridged version of <strong>Daniel Catan</strong>’s <em><strong>Florencia en el Amazonas</strong></em>, that will be performed by <strong>Young Artists from the Palm Beach Opera</strong>. <br /> Some of the whackiest movies of the ’70s and ’80s are on tap for the Garage’s <strong>Icon Film Series</strong> including <em><strong>Blazing Saddles</strong></em> (March 8), <em><strong>Harold and Maude</strong></em> (March 23), <em><strong>Pink Flamingos</strong></em> (April 6) and <em><strong>The Big Lebowski </strong></em> (April 20); <strong>The Jazz Project</strong> offers <strong>Rose Max</strong> (March 9) and <strong>Davis & Dow</strong> (March 24). (artsgarage.org or 450-6357.)<br /> ***<br /> Those who turn up their noses at South County culture could learn a lesson from the <strong>2012 Muse Awards</strong> presented at the <strong>Kravis Center</strong> Feb. 9 by the <strong>Palm Beach County Cultural Council</strong> as five of eight awards will be displayed in Boca and Delray.<br /> <strong>Stephen Backhus</strong>, outreach program manager at the <strong>Milagro Center</strong> in Delray Beach, was named outstanding arts educator; <strong>Palm Beach Poetry Festival</strong>, outstanding organization with budget less than $500,000; the <strong>Morikami’s</strong> annual <strong>Bon Festival</strong>, outstanding art or cultural program; and <strong>Carol Prusa</strong>, artist and art professor at FAU, received the <strong>Hector Ubertalli Award for Visual Arts</strong>. <br /> “I read in Art in America that Palm Beach was the next hot place, and I asked myself could that be?,” Prusa said. “So I packed my bags and moved down here. And I haven’t regretted it.”<br /> <strong>The Boca Raton Museum of Art</strong> was named the county’s outstanding arts and cultural organization for programs with budgets more than $500,000. <br /> These are heady days for the Cultural Council, which moved into its new digs in Lake Worth in January and now has mounted its first show. <em><strong>Foundations</strong></em>, which includes works by Prusa and such veteran local artists at <strong>Paul Aho</strong>, <strong>Bruce Helander</strong>, <strong>Kathleen Holmes</strong> and <strong>Katie Deits</strong>, runs through April 14. The exhibition is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.<br /> *** <br /> Party on … and on … and on … annnnnd …<br /> <strong>St. Patrick’s Day</strong> falls on a Saturday this year, which is good, since celebrants will have all of Sunday to recover. Delray’s 44th annual salute to the International Fire Fighters will include firefighters from 13 states plus a contingent from Australia. Parade starts on Atlantic at 2 p.m, March 17; after-party at 3:30. <br /> Stressing more green — and a smaller carbon footprint — Boca will inaugurate the <strong>“Off the Green” Downtown Golf Cart Parade</strong>, starting at noon from Mizner Park to Royal Palm Place and back. Families, neighborhoods, country clubs and golf courses, schools, community organizations and visitors are urged to decorate golf carts. Entry fee is $25. (Call 393-7827.) Parade will be followed by Irish festivities all afternoon and a free concert by Celtic band Seven Nations at 6. <br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960375497,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960375497,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="576" alt="7960375497?profile=original" /></a><em>Featured comedian Sebastian Maniscalco brings the house down during the Laugh with the Library Chapter 6 event at the Delray Beach Marriott on Feb. 3. The event, attended by about 400 people, raised more than $50,000 to enhance the Delray Beach Public Library’s outreach programs for children and teens. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p></div>Along the Avenues: Wine, women, song, golf and garlichttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-wine-women-song-golf-and-garlic2012-02-01T23:00:00.000Z2012-02-01T23:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960361889,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960361889,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960361889?profile=original" /></a></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Robert Rookie, 21, of Delray Beach checks out the Stanley Cup at Boston’s on the Beach on Jan. 19. The trophy and a few Bruins (2011 champs) are on a national tour. <strong>Photo by Kurtis Boggs</strong></em></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><em><strong>By Thom Smith<br /></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. Forthwith, insofar as most of January was swallowed up by political palaver, and a weary populace doth need more time than that allotted to allow our better nature to let the rhetoric, bombast and hyperbole ooze our pores, his majesty the king proclaims that the lowly month of February shall be extended to six weeks. </em><br /> <em> P.S. The king will make it up to March later, probably by shortening August, which is too hot anyway.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><br /> Oh, the curse of February. Even with a bonus day this year, we still won’t have enough time to deal with everything. From the <strong>Allianz Golf Championship</strong> through <strong>Valentine’s Day</strong> to the <strong>Boca Heart Ball</strong> and beyond, Febmar, as the new month will be known, is packed. <br /> Not only will the Allianz Championship bring the world’s best senior golfers to Boca’s <strong>Broken Sound Club</strong> from Feb. 6-12, including local heroes <strong>Mark Calcavecchia</strong>, <strong>Bruce Fleischer</strong>, <strong>Nick Price</strong> and <strong>Bernhard Langer</strong>; defending champ <strong>Tom Lehman</strong>; and legends <strong>Tom Watson,</strong> <strong>Ben Crenshaw</strong> and <strong>Hale Irwin</strong>, but the tournament will offer something for everyone. <strong>Annika Sorenstam</strong>, arguably the greatest woman golfer in history, will host an executive women’s brunch, a private clinic and a women’s pro-am on Feb. 7. <br /> For those who appreciate the social nature of golf, <strong>Grapes on the Green</strong> returns for the third year. If you think golfers are just into beer, think again. Wine is big, with many of the pros promoting their own labels. For a ticket ranging from a basic $85 solo to $750 for the Fuzzy Zoeller VIP package for four, patrons can sample varietals from such pros as Sorenstam, <strong>Arnold Palmer</strong>, <strong>Gary Player</strong>, <strong>Fred Couple</strong>s and <strong>David Frost</strong> plus appetizers from <strong>Carmen’s Top of the Bridge</strong>, <strong>WaterColors</strong>, <strong>Max’s Harvest</strong>, <strong>Max’s Grille</strong>, <strong>Broken Sound Club</strong>, <strong>Frank & Dino’s</strong>, <strong>Assiago del Forno</strong>, <strong>Ruth’s Chris</strong> and <strong>Morton’s</strong>, among others. <br /> As a special twist this year, the reception, a benefit for <strong>Boca Raton Regional Hospital</strong>, will overlook action on the second day from a pavilion between the driving range and the 18th green. For more info, check out <a href="http://www.allianzchampionship.com">www.allianzchampionship.com</a>.<br /> ***<br /> Speaking of bottles, the <strong>Ritz-Carlton</strong> in Manalapan is celebrating Valentine’s Day with its own version of Spin the Bottle and a dining experience that’ll offer Seven Minutes in Heaven several times over.<br /> The lowest price for a bottle in the Ritz’s wine wall is $65, but guests taking a $65-spin may win a bottle valued up to $225, then enjoy it at dinner … either in the Temple Orange restaurant or one of the resort’s eight oceanfront cabanas. <br /> A candlelit aphrodisiac dinner for two in the <strong>Temple Orange</strong> dining room offers tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad, beef Wellington with au gratin potato, buttered asparagus and porcini mushroom sauce, plus white and dark chocolate fondues, chocolate bark, red velvet cupcakes, cappuccino, chocolate-covered cherries and even Whoopie Pies. Price: $130 per couple or $225 with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.<br /> Snuggling is not only permitted but encouraged in the cabanas, where dinner begins with chilled seafood delicacies (citrus-poached shrimp, Wianno oysters, caviar and stone crab), continues with a second course of heirloom beets with Loxahatchee goat cheese, avocado and micro basil; then a dual entrée of chateaubriand and lobster with buttered asparagus and sweet potato mash. For dessert: chocolate souffle, chocolate crème brulee and chocolate molten cake, plus cappuccino. Guests can canoodle by the fire pit with after-dinner libations and simmering conversation and take home a Valentine treat for two! Personal server and champagne included — $600 per couple. Reservations, obviously, are a must.<br /> ***<br /> If you can’t wait for Valentine’s Day for that love life boost, consider that the ancient Greeks and Egyptians — and some present-day experts — have considered garlic an aphrodisiac. So why not start the weekend before with the <strong>Delray Garlic Festival</strong> at Old School Square. The “Best Stinkin’ Party in Town” offers garlic in every shape and form, competition to crown the 2012 “Garlic Chef,” plus a little music to boot. The entertainment bill this year includes <strong>Uncle Kracker</strong>, <strong>Andy Childs</strong>, <strong>G. Love & Special Sauce</strong>, plus a Sunday full of tribute bands playing the music of <strong>Billy Joel</strong>, <strong>Bon Jovi</strong> and <strong>Journey.</strong> Admission is $10 per day and proceeds — $350,000 so far — benefit local youth education and arts organizations. To “Eat, Drink, Reek!,” go to <a href="http://www.dbgarlicfest.com">www.dbgarlicfest.com</a>. <br /> ***<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960362253,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960362253,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="283" alt="7960362253?profile=original" /></a>It seems only yesterday that <strong>Donna McKechnie</strong> won a best-actress Tony for her performance in <strong><em>A Chorus Line</em></strong> in 1976. Since she’s brought down the house more than a few times, it’s only fair that she open one. On Feb. 17 and 18, she’ll inaugurate the new <strong>Plaza Theatre</strong> in Manalapan, recounting her remarkable career in her one-woman show, <em><strong>My Musical Comedy Life</strong></em>. In his review of her show, New York Times critic Ben Brantley wrote: “She remains the essence of the heroic drive that <em>A Chorus Line</em> celebrates.”<br /> With the Plaza, <strong>Alan Jacobson</strong>, who has mounted regional productions for two decades, is taking a shot at a permanent site in the space formerly occupied by Florida Stage. He aims to offer lower-than-average ticket prices and provide a wide range of entertainment with broad appeal. <br /> For McKechnie’s show, opening night tickets, including post-show reception are $55; second night $39. McKechnie also will hold a master class reception prior to second show. Reservations required. (561-585-2683).<br /> ***<br /> <br /> Another star with more than a little Broadway experience returns for a second season, albeit a little bit off the beaten track. <strong>John Davidson</strong> brings his dinner-and-a-show back for a second year, every weekend in February and March at <strong>Atlantis Country Club</strong>. The package is $48. (965-5788 or <a href="http://www.AtlantisDine.com">www.AtlantisDine.com</a>).<br /> ***<br /> The nominations are out, and the Oscars (as always) are a hot ticket. To satisfy your red carpet fix, the <strong>Palm Beach International Film Festival</strong> is again hosting <strong>Oscar Night America</strong>, the official academy sanctioned viewing party. Admission to the Feb. 26 bash in Boca’s <strong>Mizner Park Amphitheater</strong> is free. A red carpet will be rolled out for guests, who can bring a chair or blanket to watch the telecast on a giant screen, bid for silent auction items and buy official Oscar souvenirs. Food and drink will be available for purchase. VIP tickets, $100, include choice seating, a buffet and complimentary drinks, commemorative poster and programs. (<a href="http://www.pbifilmfestival.org">www.pbifilmfestival.org</a> or 362-0003.)<br /> ***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960362266,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960362266,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960362266?profile=original" /></a> Check out the tats, the piercings, the hip-hop attire, the coolness. Cool as ice. Yet, deep down inside, <strong>Rob Van Winkle</strong>, popularly known as <strong>Vanilla Ice</strong>, is a regular guy. Oh, sure, he likes fancy cars and loves the night life, and he remains active in show business. In December he played <strong>Captain Hook</strong> in a British pantomime production of <em><strong>Peter Pan</strong></em>, but if he hadn’t knocked pop music on its derriere with <em>Ice Ice Baby</em> way, way back in 1989, he could very well be an automobile mechanic or a carpenter. <br /> In fact, he is a carpenter, of sorts. In his <strong>DIY Network</strong> TV series, <em><strong>The Vanilla Ice Project</strong></em>, entering its second season, he renovates homes in Wellington, each episode dedicated to a different room in the house. Tying in with his latest project, he’s hooked up with <strong>Capitol Lighting</strong> in Boca and <strong>Habitat for Humanity</strong> for its Making Lives Brighter campaign. Through Feb. 28, anyone who donates old lighting fixtures to any Capitol store will save 10 percent on new fixtures and a tax deduction from Habitat. <br /> “Twenty years ago I would never have dreamed this,” Van Winkle said during a recent stop at Capitol’s Boca Raton showroom to publicize the campaign. “I can’t believe it’s all happened. It amazes me. I’m blessed.<br /> “I hope we can branch out on the show and go to other areas. I’d like to do something in Palm Beach or Boca. I have friends there.”<br /> Van Winkle autographed a curvy chrome lamp at Capitol that will be put up for auctioned on eBay to raise money for Habitat for Humanity and to publicize the opening of its Delray Beach “re-store” at 1900 N. Federal Highway on Feb. 18. <br /> ***<br /> Come on, all of you big strong men … and women, too!, to <strong>Lake Worth Playhouse</strong> on Feb. 19, because what once was old is new again. A coalition of local nonprofits has assembled some of the area’s top performers including <strong>Tracy Sands</strong>, <strong>Matt Turk</strong> and <strong>Rod MacDonald</strong> to perform <em><strong>The Music of Phil Ochs</strong></em> at 2 and 7 p.m.<br /> Ochs, a prolific singer-songwriter in the ’60s in what was then called the folk era, never charted a hit, but such compositions as <em>There But for Fortune</em> (a hit for Joan Baez) and <em>I Ain’t Marching Anymore</em> became anthems for the anti-Vietnam War movement. In 1976, a depressed Ochs hanged himself, but his legacy lives thanks to documentarians such as <strong>Ken Bowser,</strong> whose film <em>Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune</em> premiered on PBS’s <strong><em>American Masters</em></strong> Jan. 23, and Ochs’ sister <strong>Sonny,</strong> who will narrate the concerts. For tickets, $20 and $25 in advance, $26 and $30 at the door, go to <a href="http://www.LakeWorthPlayhouse.org">www.LakeWorthPlayhouse.org</a>. <br /> ***<br /> Palm Beach may be the ball capital, but Boca has its share of society galas and the season is heating up. <strong>The Building Hope Gala</strong>, Feb. 4 at <strong>The Polo Club of Boca Raton</strong>, will celebrate 30 years of work by <strong>Food for the Poor</strong>. Its goal: Raise enough money to build 100 residences and a community center and begin an animal husbandry project in Deuxieme, Haiti. Tickets: $225 (888-404-4248).<br /> A day later at the Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan, <strong>Christopher Kennedy Lawford</strong> will speak at the annual spring luncheon for the <strong>Comprehensive Alcoholism Rehabilitation Programs</strong>. Tickets: $150-$500 (844-6400, Ext. 228). <br /> Before all the other hospitals in South County, there was <strong>Bethesda</strong> and its foundation is celebrating its 65th anniversary at <strong>The Breakers</strong> March 3 with the “Phantom Ball,” featuring a performance by Broadway Phantom <strong>Davis Gaines</strong> and co-star <strong>Teri Bibb</strong>. Tickets: $350 (737-7733).<br /> <br /> <em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Lou Tyrell looks ahead to theater at Arts Garagehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-lou-tyrell-looks-ahead-to-theater-at-arts-garag2012-01-04T22:22:43.000Z2012-01-04T22:22:43.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Thom Smith</strong></p>
<p>For three decades, <strong>Lou Tyrrell</strong> has generated hard-hitting drama in Palm Beach County, first with the <strong>Theatre Club of the Palm Beaches</strong>, then with the <strong>Pope Theatre</strong> and with <strong>The Florida Stage</strong>, until last June, when the curtain fell with a thud. The move to the <strong>Kravis Center</strong> from <strong>Plaza del Mar</strong> in Manalapan had looked promising … until the economy fell into the pit. Tyrrell had no choice but to close. <br /> But once a trouper, always a trouper. “I was trying to figure out what would be the next model,” Tyrrell said. “It was obvious that our crowd wasn’t going to follow us up to the Kravis. In the new model, people would have a place to come where the show was part of a larger experience.”<br /> Meanwhile, in Delray Beach, <strong>Alyona Ushe</strong>, with help from the Community Redevelopment Agency, was turning the ground floor of the new parking garage at <strong>Old School Square</strong> into a hub for the arts — musicians, actors, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, writers and art educators. Voila! <strong>The Arts Garage</strong>. <br /> To enhance the city’s image as a thriving arts community, the CRA also bought a 15,000-square-foot warehouse with 28-foot ceiling a couple of blocks away in <strong>Pineapple Grove</strong>. Envisioned as an “arts incubator,” it could provide space for galleries, studios, education and — here’s where Tyrrell fits in — a multi-discipline black-box theater. <br /> “They asked me to sit on advisory committee of the warehouse,” Tyrrell said. “Meanwhile Alyona asked me to do some theater at the garage. This was the new model I was looking for.”<br /> Tyrrell went right to work. A Master Playwright Series opens Feb. 7 with <strong>Israel Horowitz</strong> doing a reading of <strong><em>Line</em></strong>, which has been playing in New York for 39 years. On Valentine’s Day, <strong>John Pielmeier</strong> will read <em><strong>Agnes of God</strong></em>, followed by <strong>Bill Mastrosimone</strong> (Feb. 21) and <strong>John Guare</strong> (Feb. 28). A reading festival of six new plays will follow in the first week of March and on March 16, <em><strong>Woody Sez</strong></em> will open for a three-week run. A musical with a bite, it celebrates the centennial of folk hero <strong>Woody Guthrie</strong>.<br /> “What Woody was writing about during the Great Depression is just as pertinent today. The echo is clear and consistent,” Tyrrell said. “We feel it’s a great way to launch a theater program.” <br /> In conjunction with the Guthrie production, Tyrrell will revive a Florida Stage program of education outreach. Students from five schools and two children’s centers will write monologues and songs based on their experiences during the downturn. The best will be performed.<br /> If <em>Woody Sez</em> Is successful, he’ll develop a full performance season for next year.<br /> “Here we go again! I was in my 30s when I did this the last time,” Tyrrell laughed. “To come full circle is a real gift to me and allows me to contribute to the community where I’ve lived for 30 years. If there’s a nook or cranny, we’ll try to turn it into a theater. We can’t help ourselves.”<br /> ***<br />The theater at the former Florida Stage in Manalapan has been empty for a year and a half now.<br />But Palm Beach Gardens producer and performer <strong>Alan Jacobson</strong> plans to change that.<br />Jacobson said he plans to bring a mixed bill of music, musical revues and theatrical works to the 252-seat space, which will be called <strong>The Plaza Theatre</strong>.<br />He promises “a hybrid between a regional theater and a performing arts space.”<br /><strong>Stephanie Young</strong>, marketing director for <strong>Plaza del Mar</strong>, confirmed the deal.<br />There will be a sneak preview of the theater during a grand opening for the plaza on Jan. 20. A soft opening, with the Dreyfoos School of Art troupe <strong>Dreyfoos to Go!</strong>, is set for Feb. 14. The first big act will be <strong>Donna McKechnie</strong>, who starred on Broadway as Cassie in <em><strong>A Chorus Line</strong></em>. Her show, <em><strong>My Musical Comedy Life</strong></em>, will consist of a performance and a master class. It is scheduled for Feb. 17-18, and a <strong>Neil Sedaka</strong> revue, <em><strong>Breaking Up is Hard to Do</strong></em>, is set for March 1-18.<br />For tickets, call 385-2683.<br /> ***<a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960361682,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960361682,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960361682?profile=original" /></a><br /> Moving to a new home: More often than not, it’s dreadful. Things break or disappear. Maybe a caster falls off a chair … a file cabinet topples … the coffee urn shorts out.<br /> But this is one of those blue moons reserved for joy, and one look into <strong>Rena Blades’</strong> eyes confirms that she’s tickled pink with her new digs. As executive director of the <strong>Palm Beach County Cultural Council</strong> she knows some things aren’t right … yet … but she can see the big picture — a new home, a showcase for her organization and the artists it supports. <br /> “So many people have no idea we even exist,” Blades said a day after beginning the move into the building at 601 Lake Ave. in Lake Worth. “Now they’ll really know who we are and what we do.” <br /> Since it was founded in 1978, the Cultural Council has served as the spine for the county’s arts community. But its offices were hidden in a high-rise on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. Modern conveniences, but no style. The new headquarters on the main street in one of the county’s most artistically active cities will give it a face and certainly more personality. <br /> The space is boiling over with credentials. <strong>The Art Deco Lake Theater</strong> opened in February 1940. As a college student in the late ’60s, I saw J<strong>oseph Strick’s</strong> film version of <strong>James Joyce’s</strong> <em><strong>Ulysses</strong></em> there. As times changed, it served as a disco and a restaurant theater.<br /> In 1980, <strong>Patrick Lannan</strong> bought the building. He lived in Palm Beach and New York, was a director of <strong>ITT,</strong> a member of the executive committee of <strong>Macmillan Publishing</strong> and chairman of the board of <em><strong>Poetry</strong></em> magazine. He also collected art, lots of it, and he could use the renovated theater to spotlight promising artists. <br /> Three years later he was dead. In 1986, the <strong>Lannan Foundation</strong> decided to move most of the 5,000 works in his collection to Los Angeles, and in 1989 it donated the building and more than 1,100 works of art to <strong>Palm Beach State College</strong> (then Palm Beach Community College). It was renamed the <strong>PBCC Museum of Contemporary Art</strong>, but according to news reports, the college was not a good steward. Works were damaged. More than 100 disappeared. <br />In 1999, Palm Beach attorney, arts patron and museum trustee <strong>Bob Montgomery</strong> and his wife, <strong>Mary</strong>, bought it and its contents for $500,000 and renamed it the <strong>Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art.</strong> New energy brought new exhibits and cutting-edge shows, but it couldn’t attract a sufficient endowment.<br /> In March 2005 it again went into hibernation, but soon after the Cultural Council began to envision it as its showcase, the face on the body. In 2008, Bob Montgomery died. Negotiations soon began with his family and with Lake Worth city officials. In January 2010, the deal was announced: The family would donate the building and its contents to the council, and the city would put up $700,000 in cultural improvement money for renovations. <br /> “When we got it, it was essentially just a big box,” Blades said. “It took some work, but for the first time, this building has offices,” Blades said, pointing to new glass-tiled walls overlooking the main gallery. We still have 2,500 square feet of exhibition space, which will be more than enough. But the main thing is that for the first time in our history, we’ll be an active presence in the community.”<br /> Now the waiting is almost over. Blades expects to finish the move this month. The old ticket booth will serve as a welcome area. A ramp from the original theater leads from the lobby to the display area. Overhead in the lobby is the only vestige of Lannan: the whimsical, somewhat bawdy figures in <strong>Tom Otterness’s</strong> frieze, <em><strong>Battle of the Sexes</strong></em>, which he commissioned for the original museum, remain saucily vigilant. Not surprisingly, they survived.<br /> ***<br /> If you want art and culture, Palm Beach and West Palm Beach aren’t quite up to snuff. Judging from the <strong>2012 Muse Awards</strong>, recently announced by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, southern Palm Beach County is the place to be. The year’s top art or cultural program was the <strong>Morikami’s Bon Festival</strong>. The <strong>Boca Raton Museum of Art</strong> was named the top arts and cultural organization with a budget more than $500,000, and the <strong>Palm Beach Poetry Festival</strong> at Delray’s Old School Square (coming Jan. 16-21) was the best under $500,000.<br /> Artist and educator <strong>Steve Backhus</strong>, outreach program manager for the <strong>Milagro Center</strong> in Delray Beach, whose “unique and tailored programs teach young people how to discover their individual creativity and reach their highest potential,” was named the outstanding arts educator, while FAU art professor <strong>Carol Prusa</strong> was honored with the <strong>Herbert Ubertalli Award for Visual Arts</strong>. So there!<br /> For tickets ($300) to the Muse Awards gala dinner and show Feb. 9 at the Kravis Center, call 472-3340.<br /> ***<br /> Five stars for the <strong>Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach</strong> and <strong>The Four Seasons Resort</strong>, the only hotels in Florida to max out in <strong>Forbes Travel Guide</strong> (formerly Mobil). So what if the Ritz is in Manalapan and the Four Seasons is only a few yards north of Lake Worth beach. <br /> The only central Palm Beach resort to draw attention was <strong>The Breakers</strong>, with four twinkles, still not bad when none in Lauderdale, Miami or Miami Beach — including <strong>The Four Seasons</strong>, <strong>Loews</strong>, the <strong>Mandarin Oriental</strong> or <strong>Trump International</strong> — could score better than four stars. <br /> On the restaurant side, <strong>Café Boulud</strong> and <strong>The Restaurant</strong> (at The Breakers) managed four stars. <br /> Of course, diners don’t hold back when assessing restaurants. Whether they’re visiting their favorite hole-in-the-wall pasta joint, chowing down at a Chinese buffet or making the annual outing for the candles-and-piano anniversary treatment, they want it done well. Americans, according to the annual <strong>Zagat</strong> rankings, dine out 3.1 times a week and 66 percent of them say service is their No. 1 concern. <br /> South Floridians, however, eat out more — 3.4 times a week — and 72 percent have problems with service. Of course, with the average meal price at $40.70 (New Yorkers pay $43.36 and Las Veggies a whopping $47.53), they have a right to complain. <br /> Not many problems in the new 2012 Zagat guide, however, with <strong>Café L’Europe</strong>, which scored 27 (out of 30) in service as well as food and décor. <br /> <strong>Chez Jean Pierre</strong> in Palm Beach and <strong>Marcello’s La Sirena</strong> in West Palm Beach were tops in food, 28, and scored 26 in service. Drawing mention in Boca was <strong>Chops Lobster Bar</strong> — 26 for service along with The Breakers’ <strong>Flagler Steakhouse</strong> and Café Boulud. Delray’s <strong>Sundy House</strong> scored 27 for service, trailed at 26 by <strong>Piñon Grill</strong> in Boca, <strong>Michelle Bernstein’s</strong> at The Omphoy and Cafe Boulud.<br /> ***<br /> Wonder what Zagat diners will think of <strong>Iggy Lena’s</strong> pizza. Recently opened in Delray’s Pineapple Grove, the one-time paramedic’s aptly named <strong>Pazzo Italiano</strong> (“crazy Italian”) offers — along with pasta, subs, salads and desserts — a 30-inch pizza. Price is $29.99, but before you scream, consider that it’s almost four times the size of a 16-incher that typically goes for $10 or more. <br /> Lena’s a big believer in marketing. He’s owned restaurants before and also sells real estate. At one former venture called <strong>Heart Stoppers</strong>, waitresses dressed as nurses served 3-pound, 13-inch-high burgers. Lena continues to think big: He says he’s working on a 48-inch pie. Hello, U-Haul! <br /> ***<br /> On a slightly more somber note, <strong>Breathe</strong> brings Mediterranean cuisine to <strong>Atlantic Avenue</strong>, but daring to go where none have ventured, before. The restaurant-lounge-nightclub is west of Swinton Avenue at 401 W. Atlantic. General Manager <strong>Sylvie Benloulou</strong> promises “a funky new twist on Mediterranean region fare” from Executive Chef <strong>Marcel Ivan </strong> in a chic, stylish and intimate atmosphere that includes a couple of DJs and, on the patio, hookahs (tobacco only). <br /> ***<br /> Another time and place … for <strong>Callaro’s Prime Steak and Seafood</strong>. Seven months ago it closed a decade-plus run at Plaza del Mar in Manalapan. On Dec. 28, co-owner <strong>Danny Callaro</strong> reopened in his hometown at the corner of Lake and J Street with his husband and wife partners <strong>Keith</strong> (he’s the chef) and <strong>Beth</strong> (she manages the front of the house) <strong>Scragg</strong>. It’s in the spot formerly occupied by <strong>L’Anjou</strong>. <br /> “I am so excited to bring Callaro’s to my hometown,” Danny said.” My family and I have lived here for many years and I always wanted to be downtown. We have had such a wonderful experience working with our neighbors and the city of Lake Worth. The climate is right for a steakhouse on the avenue.”<br /> ***<br /><strong>Here and there.</strong><br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960362452,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960362452,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="282" alt="7960362452?profile=original" /></a>Sources say he travels light, with a backpack slung over his shoulder and a baseball cap to mask his identity, but they still know it’s country music star <strong>Kenny Chesney</strong> when he checks into the <strong>Delray Beach Marriott</strong> or makes a non-singing visit to <strong>Boston’s</strong> down the street, as he did during the holidays. Has something to do with a girlfriend who lives here. . . <br /> Another girlfriend-boyfriend deal — this time the hometown boy was lunching at <strong>Boheme Bistro</strong> with his squeeze while checking our real estate brochures: Could <strong>Nick Loeb</strong> and <strong>Sofia Vergara</strong> be looking for new digs in Delray? Nick, who’s been living in L.A., wants to sublet his New York apartment, and says he’ll be spending more time in Florida.<br /> … Fresh from her recent smash interview with ex-boxing champ <strong>Oscar de la Hoya</strong>, Univision journalist <strong>Teresa Rodriguez</strong> was spied near the beach in Delray with a friend from Miami … and travel guru <strong>Johnny Jet</strong> (aka <strong>John Di Scala</strong>) checked in at the Delray Marriott. He has family in Gulf Stream.<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Find him at thomsmith@ymail.com</em><br /><br /> </p></div>Along the Avenues: Evert continues to score with tennis classichttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-evert-continues-to-score-with-tennis-classic2011-11-30T19:44:20.000Z2011-11-30T19:44:20.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960365495,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960365495,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="238" alt="7960365495?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960366062,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960366062,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960366062?profile=original" /></a></p>
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<p><em>Chris Evert (above) taunts Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan (left) after lobbing a ball at him during last month’s Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. Donovan told Evert not to hit the ‘money-maker.’ <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Thom Smith</strong></p>
<p>With a lot of community support and a little help from tennis and show biz friends, <strong>Chris Evert</strong> raised another $800,000 with her <strong>Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic</strong> at the <strong>Delray Beach Tennis Cente</strong>r and the <strong>Boca Raton Resort and Club</strong>. Since its inaugural in 1988, the event has raised $20 million, all of which has gone to charities in South Florida.<br /> Tennis stars <strong>John and Peter McEnroe</strong> and <strong>Murphy Jensen</strong> and film/TV stars <strong>Christian Slater</strong> (<em>Breaking In</em>), the recently slimmed comedian <strong>Jon Lovitz</strong>, <em>Burn Notice’s</em> <strong>Jeffrey Donovan</strong> and <em>Today’s</em> <strong>Hoda Kotb</strong> added luster to the weekend. Proceeds go to <strong>Ounce of Prevention</strong>, which assists pregnant and parenting women who are trying to overcome substance abuse problems. <br /> ***<br /> Evert’s ex-, champion fisherman and former Olympic skier <strong>Andy Mill</strong>, can now add another line to his shingle: award-winning author. Mill received two gold medals from <strong>The Benjamin Franklin Awards,</strong> one of the more prestigious accolades in independent publishing. His book, <em>A Passion for Tarpon</em>, was named best recreation/sports title and best regional title, the first book about fishing ever to be so honored.<br /> “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 <strong>Dr. Jerry Ault</strong>, University of Miami marine biology and fisheries professor and founding member/scientific adviser of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.<br /> 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 <em>Outdoor Life Network</em> was nothing like writing a book.<br /> “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 after summering in Aspen. “It took me five years. Debra and this book pulled me out of that hole.”<br /> Debra is the former <strong>Debra Harvick</strong>, 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. <br /> “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.” <br /> ***<br /> Splendid timing. It’s not in our circulation area, but no doubt some local beachcombers will want to make the trip to Stuart’s <strong>Lyric Theatre</strong> on Dec. 13, 14 or 15. Actor <strong>Robert Wagner</strong> will deliver a personal retrospective. Wonder what he’ll have to say about that night 30 years ago aboard his yacht Splendour. All tickets are $50. (772) 286-7827 or info@lyrictheatre.com.</p>
<p> ***<br /> For love or …? One-time Delray Beach businessman and two-time failed political candidate <strong>Nick Loeb</strong> says he won’t run for the U.S. Senate. Loeb had been interested in the seat held by Democrat <strong>Bill Nelson</strong>.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960366259,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960366259,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="248" alt="7960366259?profile=original" /></a>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 <em>Modern Family</em> star <strong>Sofia Vergara</strong>, who offered aid and comfort after he was banged up in a car crash. <br /> Loeb had said last summer that he would decide about another campaign after the <strong>Emmy awards</strong> in September. On Nov. 17, shortly after <strong>Fox News</strong> 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. <br /> Maybe the pain is caused by bad odds. Republican hopefuls include local <strong>Adam Hasner</strong>, the former state House majority leader, former U.S. Senate appointee <strong>George LeMieux</strong> and, most recently, <strong>U.S. Rep. Connie Mack</strong> 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. <br /> ***<br /> South county residents who remember <strong>Prezzo</strong>, rejoice! <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960366285,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960366285,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="236" alt="7960366285?profile=original" /></a><br /> “It’s like the son of Prezzo,” restaurant mogul <strong>Dennis Max</strong> said of his next project. He plans to open <strong>Assaggio del Forno</strong> — that’s Italian for “Taste of the Oven” — in early January in the space formerly occupied by <strong>Bistro Zenith</strong> in <strong>Regency Court</strong> at the corner of Jog and Yamato. <br /> Prezzo was a popular Italian bistro that Max and then-partner <strong>Burt Rappoport</strong> 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.<br /> “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.”<br /> In <strong>Mizner Park</strong>, <strong>Max’s Grille</strong> is enjoying its best year ever, and <strong>Max’s Harvest</strong>, which opened in Delray’s <strong>Pineapple Grove</strong> in June, has exceeded expectations, said Max, who has added live music with “Jazz off the Avenue” every Friday, featuring saxophonist <strong>Will Bridges</strong>. <br /> In mid-December, Max plans to open another Italian restaurant in Deerfield Beach. In the South Federal Highway space formerly occupied by <strong>Marcello’s</strong>, <strong>Frank & Dino’s</strong> will offer a culinary salute to <strong>Frank Sinatra</strong> and <strong>Dean Martin</strong>. <br /> “It’s where the <strong>Rat Pack</strong> 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.”<br /> ***<br /> In other restaurant news, the creators of <strong>Cut 432</strong> — <strong>Brandon Belluscio</strong>, <strong>Brian Albe </strong>and <strong>Chef Anthony Pizzo</strong> — plan a January opening of <strong>Park Tavern</strong> in <strong>Worthing Place</strong> on East Atlantic in Delray. Look for candy-red tufted booths, rough Chicago-brick walls, a poured-concrete bar, nostalgic Edison light fixtures and a menu that changes with the seasons.<br /> ***<br /> To paraphrase <strong>Mark Twain</strong>, reports of the death of <strong>Plaza del Mar</strong> have been greatly exaggerated. OK, its viability looked bleak with the departure of <strong>Florida Stage</strong>, the <strong>Epicurean</strong> and <strong>Collaro’s</strong>, but resuscitation began with the arrival of <strong>John G’s</strong> and Newport-based <strong>Angela Moore</strong>, which arrived last year on Worth Avenue, opened its Manalapan sibling Oct. 14. An opening party is scheduled for Jan. 20. <br /> Maybe we can blame it on <strong>Maurici Luz</strong>. Styling first with <strong>Frederic Fekkai</strong> and then at his own salon in Lake Worth, his attention was directed to a large space at Plaza del Mar. On April 1, he opened <strong>Maurici’s Salon & Spa </strong>and <strong>Milton’s Grooming Parlor</strong>, offering the utmost in pampering for humans and canines. (Milton is Maurici’s pet French bulldog.)<br /> Since then, <strong>First Trust Investments</strong>, <strong>Guido the Tailor</strong>, <strong>Jewelry Artisans</strong>, <strong>Jeannie’s Ocean Boutique</strong> and <strong>The Gym Manalapan</strong> have moved in. Rumors have another restaurant coming in, allegedly with Lake Worth roots, but inquiries were met with firm denials. <br /> ***<br /> 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. <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960365897,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960365897,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960365897?profile=original" /></a> <strong>Jim Sackett</strong> did know the difference. At 66, he also knew it was time to go. Sackett signed off his last newscast at <strong>WPTV-Channel 5</strong>, Nov. 23 at 6:30, 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 the story, not the story teller. <br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Bridge closings span short, long times for travelers in Delray, Lantanahttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-bridge-closings-span-short-long-times-for-trave2011-11-02T21:01:49.000Z2011-11-02T21:01:49.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p> </p>
<p><strong>By Thom Smith</strong></p>
<p>Call it the tale of two bridges. But the climax, thrilling or depressing, won’t be written for months … or even years. <br /> Delray’s <strong>Atlantic Avenue Bridge</strong> will be closed until Nov. 23 for a face lift. Crews will work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., so only late-night revelers will be inconvenienced, if anyone. Those who want to leave <strong>Blue Anchor</strong> or <strong>Deck 84</strong> and breathe in that salt air at the newly renovated <strong>Boston’s</strong> need only drive north to George Bush Boulevard. <br /> The new bridge over the Intracoastal in Lantana won’t open until late 2013, at the soonest. That’s the word, as of Oct. 17, from the town of Lantana and from Palm Beach County. Construction is slated to begin March 18. <br /> Meanwhile businesses twist in the wind, as lots of moms and pops — you won’t find many big boxes and chains on Ocean Avenue — wait and wonder: How many more delays lie ahead? How many customers will make the drive north to the Lake Worth Bridge or south to Boynton to hit their favorite eatery? Will Ocean Avenue become a haven for the homeless? (Or has it already: Sources on the avenue report that they find nightly shelter in one vacant restaurant.)<br /> At the east end, <strong>John G’s</strong>, recently moved to <strong>Plaza del Mar</strong>, reports good crowds, aided by a much larger dining room than the old home on Lake Worth Beach and by free parking. And the <strong>Ritz-Carlton</strong> finally has reopened its signature restaurant, <strong>Angle</strong>, with a popular new angle: local and fresh. Most fixin’s come from local farms and local waters. <br /> At the west end, a block from Federal, Tuscan-flavored <strong>Bar Italia</strong> claims “easy access via the Ocean Avenue Bridge” in its advertising. It also boasts a cigar lounge and a fire pit, which some locals joke is where management tosses disgruntled customers. <br /> Until late spring, it was <strong>Apicius</strong>, but owner <strong>Leo Balestrieri</strong> abandoned that high-end concept, because, as he told <em>New Times</em>, “I’m not in this for the money — it’s the passion, and that wasn’t appreciated.” Balestrieri sold to a New York group, agreed to stay on as a consultant while he looked for a new restaurant site in Palm Beach that never materialized and brought in “Mango Gang” original <strong>Mark Militello</strong> as a partner to create “the ambiance of Piazza Michelangelo” with “the finest authentic Tuscan cuisine this side of Florence.” <br /> Picture Vesuvius and Etna merging to form one volcano. Spectacular or disaster? We’ll never know.<br /> “I left after four hours,” said the peripatetic Militello, who’s exploring other possibilities and will reveal when the time and the mango are ripe. <br /> ***<br /> <strong>Latest arrival:</strong> Another Tuscan offering, <strong>D’Angelo Trattoria</strong>, with a gelateria and pastry shop on one side and a trattoria on the other, welcomed its first diners on Oct. 26. The latest project from <strong>Angelo Elia</strong>, who has restaurants in Boca, Lauderdale and Nassau, is nestled in the old house a block east of Federal in Delray Beach that previously housed <strong>Carolina’s Coal Fired Pizza</strong>.<br /> ***<br /> <strong>Farewell:</strong> To <strong>Margy’s Restaurant</strong>, which tried to make a go of it on the ground floor of Boynton’s new <strong>Promenade</strong> condo. The popular American-Greek café had been a lunch and breakfast favorite on Federal Highway for years before it gave way to the Promenade. The Community Redevelopment Agency offered low rent in the new building, but parking was a problem and it wasn’t easily seen from the street.<br /> ***<br /> <strong>Looking good:</strong> Five years ago, <strong>Chrissy Benoit</strong> turned Lake Worth’s aptly named <strong>Lizard Den</strong> into <strong>Havana Hideout</strong>, a fresh take on Caribbean street food. It was so rad, it even caught the eye of Food Channel’s punk chef <strong>Guy Fieri</strong>. She also opened a couple of production kitchens where aspiring chefs, bakers and artisans can hone their skills and produce their goods without having to spend a fortune. That kind of chutzpah is just what Boynton’s CRA believes is perfect for the <strong>Ruth Jones Cottage</strong>, and she plans to create a rustic café offering locally farmed foods and craft-brews at 480 E. Ocean. The cottage, built in 1940, is one of the few remaining structures built with now extinct Dade County pine and Benoit wants to keep as much of the original atmosphere as possible.<br /> “We want to keep the big stone fireplace and preserve the Dade County pine,” Benoit said. “I really want to preserve that look and feel. The financing is in place, we’re working on the lease and we could be ready by March. I’m so excited.”<br /> ***<br /> <strong>More maybe:</strong> Construction continues on the new casino at Lake Worth Beach with an opening target of next fall. But the new anchor tenant has dropped a wrench into the concrete. <strong>Johnny Longboats</strong>, which will occupy two-thirds of the rental area (the former John G’s space), wants five months free rent to help offset its estimated $1 million build-out costs, and it wants to stay open until 2 a.m. Since Longboats plans to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, why not just stay open 24 hours!<br /> ***<br /> Back in Boynton, Boat Club Park, on Oct. 11, was officially renamed <strong>Harvey Oyer Jr. Park</strong> in honor of one of the town’s pioneers and its unofficial historian. Oyer died last December at age 84. Speaking at the dedication was <strong>Harvey III</strong>, who vigorously assumed his father’s mantel, serving as chairman of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, leading the fight to preserve the county courthouse and writing children’s Florida history books. His efforts were recognized nationally last spring with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.<br /> ***<br /> Speaking of awards, send a shout-out to <strong>Jim Ponce</strong>, who knows more about this county than any living being. Known as the walking landmark, Ponce, 94, is the 2011 winner of the <strong>Providencia Award</strong>, presented annually by the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau to the person or organization that helps make Palm Beach County desirable to tourists.<br /> ***<br /> The pop music scene in Palm Beach County isn’t what it used to be, not that it’s that great anywhere in South Florida these days. Simply put, most acts and promoters follow the money, and unless they’re strong enough to draw big crowds in Jacksonville, Tampa or Orlando, they don’t want to spend the money to come this far south. <br /> That said, let’s not forget that good things often happen in small places, such as the <strong>Bamboo Room</strong>. <strong>John Oates</strong>, without Hall, played Oct. 26. Guitarist <strong>Les Dudek</strong> drops in Nov. 5, <strong>Steve Forbert</strong> Dec. 1, <strong>The Lee Boys</strong> Dec. 2 and <strong>Devon Allman and Honeytribe</strong> Dec. 8. <br /> ***<br /> And who would have thought a year ago that the new parking garage next to Old School Square in Delray would be a hot musical showcase, but when the <strong>Creative City Collaborative</strong> is involved, anything is possible. Executive Director <strong>Alyona Ushe</strong> and Programming Director <strong>Matthew Farmer</strong> have devised a multidisciplinary program that embraces music, visual arts, film, photography, even puppetry. <br /> Yes, <strong>Puppet Rampage</strong>, a not-for-kiddies “blitzkrieg of hell bent bunnies and cuddly chainsaws,” will create mayhem Nov. 4, but the remainder of the weekend will be dedicated to music — <strong>Ian Maksin’s 21st Century Cello</strong> on Saturday and hip — and pop— hoppers <strong>Eric Biddines</strong> and <strong>Chloe Dolandis</strong> opening the Garage’s Urban Underground series Sunday. <br /> Prefer classic jazz? <strong>Jeffrey Chappell</strong> will perform <em>Rhapsody in Blue</em> Nov. 11, and, among others, four-time Grammy-winning jazz violinist <strong>Federico Britos</strong> visits Nov. 26. <br /> ***<br /> <strong> Chris Evert</strong> always tries to have a rocking good time at her annual <strong>Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic</strong>, both on the court and at her Gala Dinner Dance and Auction the weekend of Nov. 11. This year is no exception. On the court, look for Oscar-winner <strong>Elisabeth Shue</strong>, Today show host <strong>Hoda Kotb</strong>, comedian <strong>Jon Lovitz</strong>, newsman <strong>Stone Phillips</strong>, <em>Breaking In’s</em> <strong>Christian Slater</strong>, <em>Burn Notice’s</em> <strong>Jeffrey Donovan</strong>, <em>Grey’s Anatomy’s</em> <strong>Scott Foley</strong>, actress and former pro tennis player <strong>Maeve Quinlan</strong>, “Real Housewife” <strong>Jill Zarin</strong>, <strong>Alan Thicke</strong> and a few tennis players including <strong>Monica Seles</strong>, <strong>Murphy Jensen</strong> and <strong>Vince Spadea</strong>. At the Saturday night gala, <strong>The Spinners</strong> will perform.<br /> “Chrissy always likes for the crowd to dance,” an associate said. “She wants people to have a good time.” (<a href="http://www.chrisevert.org" target="_blank">www.chrisevert.org</a>) <br /> ***<br /> <strong> On the fund-raising calendar:</strong> After the anticipated madness at Sundy House Nov. 7, Delray Beachers may do anything for a Twinkie. “<strong>Real Men Bake for the Rescues</strong>” will feature 30 upstanding citizens competing for the title of “best celebrity baker” (definitely a loose term). It’s a benefit for <strong>Dezzy’s Second Chance Animal Rescue</strong>. Unlimited desserts and pastries, live performance by “Elvis,” silent auctions, raffles, giveaways and cocktails. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (<a href="http://www.dezzyssecondchance.com" target="_blank">www.dezzyssecondchance.com</a>)<br /> ***<br /> For those who’ve been striking out lately and for those who just want to have a good time, head to the <strong>Back Room</strong> at 6 p.m. on Nov. 10 on West Atlantic in Delray, for the second annual <strong>Sexy Sensational Singles</strong> charity bachelor and bachelorette auction. It’s a benefit for <strong>Prep and Sports</strong>, which provides academic guidance and performance training to at-risk youth. A $20 ticket ($15 in advance) includes food and one drink. At least one celebrity will go on the block and the rumor mill keeps spitting out “Miami Heat, Miami Heat.” (<a href="http://www.prepandsports.org" target="_blank">www.prepandsports.org</a>)<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: John G's leads changes at Plaza del Marhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-john-g-s-leads-changes-at-plaza-del-mar2011-09-28T20:51:30.000Z2011-09-28T20:51:30.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Jan Norris</strong></p>
<p>The locals were waiting to say “welcome back” to <strong>John G’s</strong> when it reopened Sept. 10 in its new Manalapan site in <strong>Plaza del Mar</strong>, and already the restaurant is settling in.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960347660,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960347660,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="231" alt="7960347660?profile=original" /></a> “Things are going so smooth,” said <strong>Wendy Yarbrough</strong>, one of the “kids” of founder <strong>John Giragos</strong>. “They are so excited to have us here. I got a beautiful bouquet from <strong>Evelyn & Arthur</strong> (dress shop) yesterday.”<br /> But there were anxious moments during the move, especially from brothers <strong>Keith and Jay Giragos</strong>, the cooks. “Keith for one was worried about our customers. ‘What if they don’t come back?’ or ‘What if they don’t like the new place?’”<br /> Their fears seem put to rest now that the famous line that forms down the sidewalk is back — with most of the diners longtime customers.<br /> These diners will find much that’s familiar in the former <strong>Callaro’s Steakhouse</strong> space, including the same menu served at the beach. Reupholstered chairs and freshened tables, plus lighter décor brighten the space, but there’s “John’s Room” in the front window — a few tables outfitted in the classic red leatherette, with photos of the casino restaurant and John G. himself looking over his diners. <br /> “Sure, we miss the ocean — who wouldn’t miss the ocean? But hey: How about that parking lot! It’s free!” she said, making reference to the meters that caused a good deal of angst for many diners on the beach.<br /> “I’m really pleased. It’s just been unbelievable,” she said. “I think dad would like it.”<br /> They’re open for breakfast and lunch, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. A few nights of dinner could be in the works, but for now, Yarbrough said, they’re just settling in and “doing what we know best.”<br /> ***<br /> John G’s arrival with its hordes of customers will have a good deal of company in its new home at Plaza del Mar. <br /> This month, <strong>The Gym in Manalapan</strong>, a two-story fitness facility, will open with a limited number of memberships available, according to <strong>Stephanie Young</strong>, marketing director for the plaza. The Gym is the concept of area residents <strong>Pamela and John Murphy</strong>.<br /><strong> Jim O’Keefe</strong>, general manager, said the 8,700-square-feet gym features state-of-the-art exercise equipment downstairs, and a private area upstairs for one-on-one personal training, nutritional counseling and baseline testing. Yoga, Pilates and sculpt classes will be offered, and in good weather, done outside on the terrace — a quiet garden area overlooking the waterway. <br /> Also in the plaza, a number of clothing and accessories retailers are opening, Young said, including <strong>Sea Stallion Traders</strong>, a menswear store selling fine clothing as well as casual resort wear.<br /> <strong>Angela Moore</strong>, noted for its collectible beaded bracelets, bright casual dresses and hand-painted home accents and ornaments, moves into the old Evelyn and Arthur annex shop space. <br /> <strong>Evelyn & Arthur</strong> reopens its popular annex in triple the space of its old shop.<br /> A café serving lunch and dinner is planned for the center courtyard, and a live stage will feature a variety of performances by a panoply of acts, such as stage theater, Broadway and band music, and an illusionist. Entertainment is planned at least once monthly, with two night performances and one matinee scheduled.<br /> A grand opening is in the works for January, once the community is back, to unveil the revitalized center, Young said.<br /> “We’re trying to bring back the Plaza del Mar that the community told us they want — all the shopping, entertainment and restaurants,” Young said. “It’s such a beautiful plaza.”<br /> ***<br /> A possible trademark infringement of the name <strong>Art, Beats and Eats</strong> from Royal Oaks, Mich., helped the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative decide to change the name of its Atlantic Avenue event to <strong>On the Avenue</strong>.<br /> The inaugural event, scheduled for 6:30-10:30 p.m. on Oct. 6, will center on the city’s centennial celebration. <br /> The Centennial Committee has created a “stroll through time,” with bands representing different decades, and performers in period costumes. On each block of the avenue, vignettes will portray cultural and historic events in the city, including photo exhibits and the opening of a 1986 time capsule.<br /> It kicks off with a mayoral parade and cutting of a birthday cake, old-fashioned games, entertainment and a scavenger hunt.<br /> It’s combined with an Oktoberfest, with German music, food and beer with five restaurants set up in the center of the avenue.<br /> Admission is free; the Oktoberfest beers, a vodka tasting, and restaurant offerings are priced individually. Get tickets to these online at <a href="http://www.ontheavedelraybeach.com">www.ontheavedelraybeach.com</a>.<br /> ***<br /> Diners can get in on the trendy <strong>Dining in the Dark</strong> dinners — <strong>SoLita</strong> in Delray Beach’s Pineapple Grove is offering the blackout meals every other Wednesday (Oct. 5 and 19), or by private party booking.<br /> “I thought it was just a gimmick at first,” said <strong>Steven Dapuzzo</strong>, owner of SoLita. “I went to one in Fort Lauderdale at <strong>Market 17</strong>, just to see what it was about. I was really surprised. It’s really true what they say: Your food tastes different if you can’t see it before you eat it. You don’t have a preconceived notion of what you’re eating, so the flavors are much bolder and you can pick out individual tastes.”<br /> Diners are seated in SoLita’s lounge — totally blacked out with curtains once the meal starts. No wristwatches with lights or mobile phones are allowed. Servers wear night-vision glasses. “They look ridiculous, right?” said one. <br /> Once everyone notes any foods they are allergic to or can’t eat, a five-course meal is presented course by course, set on plates arranged directly in front of the guests to prevent as much spillage as possible.<br /> Wines are served in rocks glasses. “Stems are dicey,” Dapuzzo said. An extra napkin offered serves as a bib — a good idea, since using hands instead of forks is encouraged.<br /> “Chefs eat with their fingers, right?” said <strong>Anthony “Radar” Risoli</strong>, SoLita’s chef.<br /> Diners aren’t given a menu but encouraged to guess the foods, such as beet salad, grilled snapper or shrimp SoLita with house tartar sauce. A few “ringers” are thrown in. A night we visited, tender ostrich and chewy faro, an Italian grain, stumped most.<br /> With no lights, conversation flows readily among the guests — and gets silly. A soundtrack of ’70s dance music started once the room darkened. “Are we supposed to dance in the dark, too?” one wondered. “Maybe pole dancing?” another quipped.<br />The menu will vary, Dapuzzo said, since many Dinner in the Dark diners want to return with friends — many in our group immediately booked the next dinner. “We’ll keep it interesting,” he said.<br /> The dinners are $59 for five courses (a four-wine flight is $20 extra). Reservations are required; call 899-0888.<br /> ***<br /> <strong>Lori Durante</strong> of the <strong>Museum of Lifestyle and Fashion History</strong> is launching a monthly culinary tour to pair with her narrated bus tours of historic Delray Beach. Food enthusiasts will travel by bus and on foot to historic areas of Delray and Boynton, and make at least two restaurant stops along the way. <br /> “We announce the restaurants the day of the tours,” Durante said. Some of the restaurants on the list of possible visits include <strong>Gol!</strong> and the <strong>Sundy House</strong> in Delray Beach and <strong>Hurricane Alley</strong> in Boynton Beach — all three in vintage buildings.<br /> The three-hour tour picks up and drops visitors at the <strong>Boynton Beach Mall</strong>. They are scheduled on the third Saturday of the month at 11 a.m.; cost is $20 for adults 18 and over; children under 18 are free. <br /> For information, call 243-2662 or visit the website at <a href="http://www.delraybeachbustours.org">www.delraybeachbustours.org</a>.<br /> ***<br /> <strong>SpoonFed</strong>, the new farm-to-table restaurant from chef <strong>Glen Manfra</strong>, is scheduled to open early this month where his short-lived appropriately named <strong>Pop-Up</strong> was. The Atlantic Avenue restaurant, formerly the <strong>Atlantic Ocean Club</strong>, has been transformed with wood floors and tables, and opened up as a dining space. It will be open daily year-round, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner serving an American menu sourced locally when possible. <br /> ***<br /> Area greenmarkets return this month. <strong>The Delray GreenMarket on Fourth</strong> opens for its season Oct. 15 at its home on Southeast Fourth Street, where the road is blocked off for vendors selling fresh produce, prepared foods, vinegars, oils, handmade cheese, fish dip, golden crabs, sauces and more. Freshly made butter and raw milk, which is labeled “not for human consumption” due to USDA regulations, are available. Every week, says <strong>Lori Nolan</strong>, greenmarket director, there’s a quasi petting zoo on site, with a wide variety of live animals brought by the farmers and ranchers to show where the foods come from. Opening day will feature live entertainment and other activities. The market is free, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. <br /> ***<br />In Lake Worth, the renamed <strong>Lake Worth Farmer’s Market, Waterside</strong> returns to the Intracoastal location Oct. 15 at the northeastern foot of the Lake Worth bridge. Director <strong>Peter Robinson</strong> has a number of special events planned for the market, including several market brunches, to benefit area nonprofits. “They were really popular last year, so we’re doing more this year,” he said. Market vendors sell gourmet baked goods, grass-fed beef, Florida seafood, fresh produce, herbs and plants, jewelry and a number of prepared foods. The market is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.<br /> ***<br /><strong>The Ocean Avenue Greenmarket</strong> opens its season with a new name — <strong>CCC’s Green Market</strong>, under the auspices of <strong>Community Caring Center</strong> of Boynton Beach. This market is open daily, with the <strong>Secret Garden Cafe</strong>, a produce market and an Urban Farming Project. On Tuesdays, <strong>Gratitude Tuesday</strong> $5 dinners return — find out about these meals by getting on the email list: sheryccc@aol.com. <strong>The Pumpkin Patch</strong> arrives Oct. 15. Call 368-4261 for vendor information or youth group volunteer opportunities.<br /><br /><em>— Jan Norris is a freelance writer, find her at <a href="http://www.jannorris.com" target="_blank">www.jannorris.com</a>.</em><br /><em>Thom Smith is on assignment.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: 30 years ago, ‘Body Heat’ sizzled with scenes from Lake Worthhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-30-years-ago-body-heat-sizzled-with-scenes-from2011-08-31T18:32:02.000Z2011-08-31T18:32:02.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960346867,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960346867,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960346867?profile=original" /></a><br /><strong>By Thom Smith</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><br />“You’re not very smart, are you? . . . I like that in a man.”<br />That’s the appraisal <strong>Kathleen Turner</strong> made of <strong>William Hurt</strong> in <em>Body Heat</em>. Hard to believe the film that made <strong>Lake Worth</strong> famous was released 30 years ago. <br />Actually, the movie, which ignited the careers of several stars, was shot in November and December of 1980, with little fanfare. <em>The Palm Beach Post</em> ran a brief note about casting for 400 extras and a few weeks later added a photograph of writer/director <strong>Lawrence Kasdan</strong>. <br />The movie may have sizzled, but the weather didn’t. <strong>Victoria Preuss</strong> of West Palm Beach (and a copy editor for <em>The Coastal Star</em>) then lived in Hollywood and was an extra in that supposedly steamy beach scene that actually was shot 50 miles south at a band shell on <strong>Hollywood Beach</strong>.<br />“Though it was supposed to be a heat wave, it was in fact quite cold out,” Preuss recalled. “All the extras had sweaters and jackets, which we had to push down out of sight in the seats whenever the camera rolled. And Kathleen Turner was getting spritzed to look like she was perspiring. Filming went on overnight and during breaks I got hot tea from a Chinese food shop that stayed open for the business.<br />“I spent the 20 bucks or so I got in my Central Casting paycheck on cough medicine, as I recall. Still, it was kind of a hoot.”<br />Then-Mayor <strong>Dennis Dorsey</strong> was in his heyday — utilities were cheap, the city was growing — but at the time the movie wasn’t that big a deal to him. <br />“The producers went to the city manager and asked what they had to do,” Dorsey recalled. “The City Commission said it would be fine as long as filming didn’t disturb the city and affect its ability to do business. But I didn’t get involved, other than to approve the applications.”<br />A vacant store at the corner of Lucerne and Dixie was converted into <strong>Stella’s Diner</strong> and a vacant lot across the street became a used car lot that caused some confusion for one commissioner until Dorsey reminded him about the film. The company used the now-demolished <strong>Scotia Plantation</strong> in Hypoluxo for exteriors and some sexy scenes between Hurt and Turner.<br />Too bad the company filmed under the radar. Kasdan had written <em>The Empire Strikes Back</em> and <em>Raiders of the Lost Ark</em>. <em>Body Heat</em> was his first shot at directing. Remember <em>The Big Chill</em>? That was his. <em>Silverado</em>, <em>Grand Canyon</em>, <em>French Kiss</em>. Out next year, <em>Darling Companion</em>, starring <strong>Kevin Kline</strong> and <strong>Diane Keaton</strong>.<br />The only star with any name recognition was <strong>Richard Crenna</strong>, whose lengthy résumé of film and TV work was topped by the <em>The Real McCoys</em>. <br />Known mostly for his work in theater, Hurt had won good notices for <em>Altered States</em>. Turner had been a regular on <em>The Doctors</em>. The movie also kicked off the careers of <strong>Mickey Rourke</strong> and the ta<em>p-dancing prosecutor — another ex-Doctors cast member — <strong>Ted Danson</strong>.</em> A year later he would debut in a sitcom called <em>Cheers</em>.<br />A couple of other notes: <strong>Kim Zimmer</strong>, the actress who played Turner’s lookalike friend <strong>Mary Ann</strong> in the movie, actually replaced her on <em>The Doctors</em>; Danson actually does like to tap dance; and Body Heat’s executive producer, although uncredited, was <strong>George Lucas</strong>. <br />Dorsey, since retired from his funeral home business but still dabbling in politics, later moved to Hypoluxo, just a couple of blocks from Scotia Plantation and remembers it being overgrown and full of raccoons: “They were ferocious. Go down that street and they’d come charging at you.”<br />Two city commissioners were hired as extras — <strong>Ron Exline</strong> and <strong>Mark Foley</strong>. Exline, who later served as mayor, is a businessman holding a valise as Hurt walks by. Foley eats a burger at “Stella’s” counter. <br />“The city agreed to the movie in hopes of getting favorable publicity. We thought it would be a murder mystery, Exline said. “Actually, I was told by a member of the crew that they rented a mansion down in Delray and there were some shenanigans down there. Darn it, I didn’t get into any of those. “<br />He also said Lake Worth was a second choice, that a New Jersey site was scratched because of a labor dispute. But it’s entirely possible that Kasdan knew exactly what he wanted. After all, he was born in Miami. <br />Exline, no relation to Jim Exline, the convicted West Palm Beach city commissioner, now calls himself a retired politician, and wishes he knew then what he knows now. But he isn’t complaining: “It’s one of the high points of my career, but I am still waiting for my first royalty check.”<br /> *** <br /><br />On those same sidewalks where movie stars once walked (<strong>Paul Newman</strong> a few years later in <em>Harry & Son</em>), the <strong>Downtown Cultural Alliance</strong> will hold its first Second Saturday Sidewalk Sale on Sept. 10. Bring a card table filled with treasures to support one of the largest yard sales in the region. <br />The monthly bazaar will range from Dixie Highway to Federal Highway along the curbs of Lake and Lucerne avenues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. City residents pay $10 per table, non-residents $15. Call 561-533-5272.<br /> ***<br /><br />11/11/11. The folks who ran <strong>Callaro’s</strong> in Manalapan hope that’s their lucky day — the opening of their new restaurant in Lake Worth. Sources confirm that they have a verbal agreement to take over the site that had been occupied since <em>Body Heat</em> days by <strong>L’Anjou</strong>, with an option to buy. <br /> *** <br /><br />Fans also are hungry for the reopening of <strong>John G’s</strong>, but they’ll have to wait a bit longer. Forced to leave their home of 37 years on Lake Worth Beach when the city began restoration of the Casino, the <strong>Giragos family</strong> quickly found a new space — the former Collaro’s in <strong>Plaza Del Mar</strong>.<br />The new kitchen is in, the old wooden benches are anchored, the old light fixtures hang from the ceiling, and mementoes from the old restaurant are scattered about. But plans for an August opening have been pushed back a few weeks. <br /> *** <br /><br /><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960347280,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960347280,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960347280?profile=original" /></a>Chris Evert</strong> thought she was going to have old rival <strong>Steffi Graf</strong> on the court with her this coming November at the 2011 <strong>Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic</strong> in Delray Beach. But not to worry, she’s lined up plenty of other stars. <br />Thus far the list includes a healthy list of TV and film stars including <strong>Elisabeth Shue</strong> (Oscar nominee for <em>Leaving Las Vegas</em>), <strong>Christian Slater</strong> (“Oz” in TV’s <em>Breaking In</em>), <strong>Scott Foley</strong> (<em>Grey’s Anatomy</em>, <em>Cougar Town</em>), <strong>Jeffrey Donovan</strong> (<em>Burn Notice</em>) and NBC’s <strong>Hoda Kotb</strong>, who’ll no doubt grab some cuddle time with new boyfriend, Boca Raton attorney <strong>Jay Blumenkopf</strong>. <br />The 22nd annual event is set for Nov. 11-13, with the celebrity gala on Nov. 12 at the <strong>Boca Raton Resort & Club</strong>. More at <a href="http://www.chrisevert.org">www.chrisevert.org</a>.<br /> ***<br /><br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960346699,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960346699,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="240" alt="7960346699?profile=original" /></a>Down in Delray Beach, <strong>David Manero</strong> has his second <strong>Burger Fi</strong> up and running on A1A. Patrons describe the fare as a “more affordable version of the burgers at <strong>The Office</strong>,” David’s more upscale spot a few blocks to the west.<br />… And just to the north on Second Avenue, in a town I thought had just about every kind of bar except a strip club, the first gay bar in years is open. <strong>Tag Bar</strong> replaces <strong>Paul’s Place Piano Bar</strong>, because <strong>Paul Mullen</strong>, the piano player, took a cruise ship job. Brother <strong>Kevin Mullen</strong> bought out Paul and changed the tune. <br />Actually, says Kevin Mullen, Tag Bar welcomes everyone, but will be gay-themed with live entertainment, karaoke nights and even drag queen bingo. <br /> *** <br /><br />Boynton’s new $300,000 amphitheater is open. Situated just east of the <strong>Schoolhouse Children’s Museum and Learning Center</strong>, it features a 1,200-square-foot stage and can accommodate 500 guests in lawn chairs. The first scheduled even is a downtown open market on Oct. 16 with local arts and crafts, vintage goods and gourmet food. <br /> ***<br /><br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960347462,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960347462,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="226" alt="7960347462?profile=original" /></a>We still don’t know who bought his oceanfront Manalapan estate, but boxing promoter <strong>Don King</strong> is still hanging around. Don didn’t say where he’s living when he stopped for lunch at <strong>Scully’s</strong> in Boynton Beach, but when asked what happened to the oceanside small-scale Statue of Liberty on his lawn, the old softy told owner <strong>Kevin Scully</strong> he took it with him.<br />“I couldn’t leave Lady Liberty behind,” he confessed. <br /> <br /> ***<br />Taste of Tuscany. It’s scheduled for Oct. 2, but you’d better make your reservations now for a special dinner being whipped up by <strong>Four Seasons Palm Beach</strong> Executive Chef <strong>Darryl Moiles</strong>. The occasion is a celebration of wines by <strong>Antinori</strong>, legendary Italian producer since the 14th century. Moiles’ 21st century four-course menu is $125 and includes a sampling reception. Call 533-3750.<br /> <br /> ***<br /><strong>Tastemakers of Boca</strong> … is set for Sept. 13 and 14. The third annual event will feature progressive tastings and cocktails at 11 Mizner Park restaurants. A VIP ticket ($30) is good for one sampling plate and one drink at each spot, including <strong>Max’s Grille</strong>, <strong>Racks</strong>, <strong>Uncle Julio’s</strong>, <strong>The Dubliner</strong> and Mizner’s newest, <strong>Kapow! Noodle Bar</strong>. The ticket also includes specials offered at each of the restaurants through Oct. 31. For info, go to <a href="http://www.ggp.com">www.ggp.com</a>. <br /> <br /> ***<br />Taking civic duty to a new level. Office holders worthy of election should be able to take a few shots, but can they pour a decent one? On Sept. 21 the mayors of south county’s big three — Boynton’s <strong>Jose Rodriguez</strong>, Delray’s <strong>Woodie McDuffie</strong> and Boca’s <strong>Susan Whelchel</strong> — will test their skills as guest bartenders at <strong>Bru’s Room</strong> in Delray. The first “Mayors Throwdown for the Arts,” a benefit for Delray’s <strong>Plumosa School of the Arts</strong>, goes from 5 to 7 p.m. Tips and a percentage of the take will go toward a bus to transport students for field trips and performances. <br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Expect to be Spoonfed at new downtown Delray eateryhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-thom-smith2011-08-03T17:30:00.000Z2011-08-03T17:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p> </p>
<p>By Thom Smith</p>
<p>He’s ba-a-a-ck on Atlantic Avenue, and <strong>Glen Manfra</strong> can’t wait for the birth of his new baby — that will be <strong>Spoonfed</strong>. Actually, he’s already in the nursery with a foster child … <strong>Pop Up</strong> …, a moderately priced mixed bill of popular dishes with Italian overtones. The Pop Up baby itself is a fill-in for the failed <strong>Atlantic Ocean Club</strong>, and sometime in mid-August, it will go out with the bathwater. <br />Manfra will shed no tears. <br />Spoonfed has an early September due date, and Manfra, who’s nurtured more than a few culinary offspring in the last 25 years, wants it to be his pride and joy. <br />Some history: Last winter, <strong>Larry Lipnick</strong>, a Washington, D.C., real estate investor, acquired the three-story space on the northwest side of the FEC tracks at Atlantic Avenue and opened Atlantic Ocean Club on the ground floor and <strong>Buddha Sky Bar</strong> upstairs. After four months and lots of staff turmoil, he shuttered the Ocean Club, although the Sky Bar, with its sushi-fusion menu, seems to be holding its own through the slower summer. <br />Rather than leave a dark space on the ground floor, Lipnick hooked up with Manfra, who’d been working in Anguilla but yearned to return to Florida. The Long Island native, who trained in Manhattan, first came to Palm Beach in 1989 to open <strong>Bice</strong>. Then he and some of the Bice gang hooked up with the heavy-hitting investment team of Revlon boss <strong>Ron Perelman</strong> and <strong>Howard Gittis</strong> first to open <strong>Amici</strong> and then <strong>Galaxy Grille</strong> in Palm Beach, <strong>Lido Mare</strong> on Singer Island and <strong>Savannahs</strong> on Long Island.<br />Manfra made his first stop in Delray in 2001, cheffing at <strong>Sopra</strong>, <strong>David Manero’s</strong> first venture on Atlantic. Manero went on to open V<strong>ic & Angelo’s</strong> and <strong>The Office</strong>, both a meatball toss away from Pop Up/Spoonfed, but he and Manfra parted ways. <br />Prior to the Anguilla gig, Manfra had done some personal cheffing in Palm Beach and on some yachts. Lipnick’s offer couldn’t have been better timed. <br />“It was beautiful,” Manfra said of Anguilla,” but it’s a long way off and I’ve got a family up here. I love Delray. It’s much younger than Palm Beach, much more fashion oriented; definitely a lot of style going on and it’s very eclectic. There’s not a lot of Atlantic Avenues around.” <br />Pop Up has allowed Manfra a trial run for new menu items and products from new purveyors.<br />“The summer is when I can experiment,” he said. “Then when we open Spoonfed, I know what I’m playing with.”<br />One of his toys has ties to childhood: his grandmother’s croissant soufflé cooked in a cast iron skillet and soaked in a crème brûlée, with fresh fruit on the side. He’ll keep his favorite Italian recipes and the homemade pasta, and he’ll add some dishes he discovered in the islands and even toss in a few favorites from Miami Beach delis such as <strong>The Rascal House</strong>.<br />His playground will break new ground — open 365 days a year, not only for lunch and dinner but also breakfast. <br />“I can’t wait to do breakfast on the avenue,” he said. “Just like <strong>John G’s</strong>. Four-egg omelets, almond-crusted French toast, carafes of coffee on the table. German puffed pancakes. Fresh fruit on side of the plate. <br />“Hash browns, blintzes, old Yiddish dishes — I’m trying to pull every breakfast I know, from everywhere I’ve been.<br />“I just wish Delray would let me stay open 24 hours, “but the city has a shutdown at 2 a.m. <br />“Maybe down the road. I’d love to be the first.”<br /> ***<br /> Now that the women’s <strong>World Cup</strong> is over, soccer fans are turning their attention to Boca Raton for a few games, at least. <strong>magicJack</strong>, Boca’s surprise, last-minute franchise in <strong>Women’s Professional Soccer</strong>, features seven members of the women’s national team, including player and newly named head coach <strong>Abby Wambach</strong> and goalkeeper <strong>Hope Solo</strong> (no relation to <strong>Han Solo</strong>).<br />magicJack’s new owner is as controversial as his players are talented. Palm Beacher <strong>Dan Borislow</strong> bought the <strong>Washington Freedom</strong>, moved to Boca and renamed it magicJack for the internet telephone device that made him millions. He’s often seen tooling around Palm Beach on his $30,000 Can-Am Spyder RT, a three-wheeled motorcycle. He’s also a fan, and even played the game.<br />Only three regular season home games remain, all of which will be played at <strong>FAU’s</strong> soccer stadium.<br /><strong>New Jersey’s Sky Blue Soccer</strong> comes to town Aug. 6, led by U.S. National Team player <strong>Heather O’Reilly</strong> and Swedish player of the year <strong>Therese Sjögran</strong>. Four days later, it’s the <strong>Western New York Flash</strong> with four-time world player of the year <strong>Marta</strong> and Satellite Beach’s own <strong>Ashlyn Harris</strong>. Expect the largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in Palm Beach County. magicJack will close out the regular season Aug. 14 against league-leading <strong>Philadelphia Independence</strong>. For ticket info, go to <a href="http://www.ticketmaster.com">www.ticketmaster.com</a>.<br /> ***<br /><br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960343485,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960343485,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960343485?profile=original" /></a>While soccer is packing in the crowds at FAU, football season isn’t far away, which raises some questions: <br />No. 1: How will the Owls do this year? A: Could be dicey. Head coach and Ocean Ridge resident <strong>Howard Schnellenberger</strong> says the quarterback is key and hopes to pick one no later than 10 days before the Sept. 3 opener at <strong>University of Florida</strong>. If they survive the Swamp, they get <strong>Michigan State</strong> a week later and <strong>Auburn</strong> two weeks after that.<br />No. 2: Asked if he had the energy for his 11th season at age 77, Schnellenberger, FAU’s first and only head coach, said, “If I didn’t, I’d already be gone.” Athletic Director <strong>Craig Angelos</strong> says he won’t make a decision until the season is over. <br />No. 3: How’s the stadium doing? Still ahead of schedule and under budget, school officials boast. <br />As for specs, it seats 30,000 in the grandstand, 24 suites, 26 loge boxes, more than 1,000 open-air premier club seats and more than 4,000 priority club seats. Suite, loge and premier club seat holders can relax in an air-conditioned, 8,000-square-foot premier club or a covered, 16,000-square-foot outdoor priority club. By the way, premium seats (not just for fat-cat boosters) are wider. <br />The student-and-band-only section is in the south end zone. Student tickets are free.<br />Elsewhere, most season tickets are $135 and $150. That covers the entire east stands, north end zone and the west stands to the 5-yard-line at the north end. A seat on the 50 can be had for $385.A seat in Section 205 Row Z will set a die-hard Owl fan back $1,480 while one in Loge 306 C will go for $9,560. <br />But then, this is Boca.<br />First home game is Oct. 15 against <strong>Western Kentucky</strong>. The stadium also will play a big role in FAU’s 50th anniversary celebration Oct. 29. Meanwhile, <strong>Fanfest</strong> on Aug. 20 should offer more answers.<br /> ***<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960343654,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960343654,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="239" alt="7960343654?profile=original" /></a> Frying the knot. Ritz-Carlton Chef <strong>Ryan Artim</strong> has handled a few weddings in his day, but none more significant than his own in mid-July. Artim and <strong>Jill Klein</strong>, a music director, actually let the gang at <strong>Breakers West</strong> handle the wedding feast, but for the rehearsal dinner he relied on home cooking, literally. <br />The menu: Gulf shrimp cocktail with tomato horseradish sauce; Romaine lettuce salad with avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers and balsamic basil vinaigrette; steamed middleneck clams with drawn butter; papaya marinated skirt steak with horseradish cream and chimichurri; roasted chicken with homemade barbecue glaze, herb roasted potatoes, green beans with applewood-smoked bacon; seasonal fruit; warm chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies, peach and blueberry cobbler.<br />For wines, they chose home state productions: <strong>Clover Hill Winery</strong> from Pennsylvania and <strong>Firelands Winery</strong> from Ohio, including a toast with Firelands’ Raspberry Riesling Champagne.<br />Not surprisingly, Artim ran short of time, but help was close by — his dad, <strong>Edward Artim Sr.</strong>, his groomsman, <strong>Georg Hoehn</strong>, executive chef at Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, Jill’s family friend <strong>Cindy Rich</strong> and her aunt <strong>Jean Ross</strong>, who sliced the peaches. <br />“Thanks to the help of our family and friends, we were able to prepare a delicious and memorable rehearsal dinner,” Artim said before heading somewhere to the south for the honeymoon.<br /> ***<br /><br />Since <strong>Nick Morfogen</strong> arrived 15 years ago, <strong>32 East</strong> has ranked as one of the best restaurants in the Southeast. But he’s not the only family member in the business.<br />This month brother <strong>Stratis</strong>, a veteran of the New York and more recently Miami restaurant scene with partner <strong>Philippe Chow</strong>, will open <strong>Philippe</strong> in Boca Raton. The casual version of Chow’s Manhattan showcase will take over the former <strong>III Forks</strong> site on East Palmetto Park Road.<br />Morfogen has some big investors who could make for a star-studded opening: <strong>Alonzo Mourning</strong>, ex-Miami Heat, <strong>Jerome Bettis</strong>, ex-Pittsburgh Steelers and still-active hoop stars <strong>Chauncey Billups</strong>, New York Knicks, and <strong>Al Harrington</strong>, Denver Nuggets. <br />Chow is one of two dozen chefs from Boca to Palm Beach participating in the <strong>March of Dimes’ Sixth Annual Signature Chefs Auction</strong>, Sept. 9 at the <strong>Boca Raton Resort & Club</strong>. Exquisite wines and spirits, sumptuous samplings from Signature Chefs, and auction dining packages. Call 684-0102. <br /> ***<br /><br />Heading north. As we reported earlier, <strong>Angelo Elia</strong>, owner of <strong>Casas d’Angelo</strong> in Fort Lauderdale, Nassau and Boca, had been looking for months for the right spot to bring the Angelo name to Delray. He finally found it just south of Atlantic on Seventh Avenue — the old <strong>Carolina’s Coal Fired Pizza</strong> space. He hopes to have <strong>D’Angelo Trattoria</strong> open by summer’s end, with a gelato shop to follow soon after. <br /> ***<br /><br /> As of Monday, Aug. 1, <strong>Boston’s on the Beach</strong> is closed. That means <strong>Red Sox</strong> fans will have to watch the pennant race elsewhere, but if all goes according to plans, Boston sports fans should be able to resume their routine in early November.<br /> Owner <strong>Ocean Properties</strong> has seized the opportunity offered by the late summer doldrums to make major renovations to the popular beachside watering hole.<br /> “The whole place is already gutted,” Manager <strong>Mark DeAtley</strong> said two days into the project. “Downstairs will still be like the Boston’s of old, but upstairs will be completely redone, similar to our restaurant in Sunset Key.”<br /> Gone is the <strong>Bermuda Inn</strong> immediately to the south, but it will be replaced by a new tiki bar and lots more parking, DeAtley said. The company also is using the time to give Boston’s extensive collection of sports memorabilia “some much-needed TLC.”<br /> “We’re just preparing for the next 30 years,” DeAtley said.<br /> <br /> When <strong>John G’s</strong> announced that the restaurant would move to the space formerly occupied by <strong>Callaro’s</strong> in Manalapan’s <strong>Plaza del Mar</strong>, Callaro’s kept its name alive by offering a limited takeout menu from its sibling <strong>Riggins Crabhouse</strong> in Lantana. Owners are looking for a new space in Lake Worth. They found three, but one has already sold. The only hold up for the other two is bank approval, so we could see a new Callaro’s by New Year’s.<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Email him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Marking the life of Elwood's founderhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-marking-the2011-06-29T18:45:04.000Z2011-06-29T18:45:04.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p>By Thom Smith </p>
<p> Just like old times … with one big exception. No Elwood.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960342666,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960342666,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="365" alt="7960342666?profile=original" /></a> <strong>Michael Elwood Gochenour</strong> had left this world a couple of weeks earlier, but on the night of June 15, which would have been his 60th birthday, his spirit was alive and, as friends who gathered in tribute noted, he no doubt was enjoying the moment.<br /> “Tonight and tonight only, good evening, Elwood’s,” <strong>Delray Mayor Woodie McDuffie</strong> declared as he opened the celebration at <strong>Johnny Brown’s</strong>, which had been <strong>Elwood’s</strong> until Gochenour sold it two years ago. <br /> Gochenour died at home, alone, May 30. <em>The East Hampton Star</em> in East Hampton, N.Y., one of his former haunts, reported it was a ruptured esophagus and that he had been ill for some time. A friend at the memorial gathering said oxycontin was involved. At press time, the county Medical Examiner’s Office had not yet released the cause of death.<br /> But the crowd that turned up at Johnny Brown’s was there to celebrate a life, not mourn a death. <br /> <strong>Jim Jackson</strong>, former news anchor at <strong>WPBF-Channel 25</strong>, was a radio disc jockey when he first met Gochenour in the ’70s in Richmond, Va. He lived in a turn-of-the-century row house that had been converted to a duplex. <br /> “The ceilings were really high, and really narrow stairs led to the second floor,” Jackson recalled. “It was really a long climb up those stairs. At the top, I walk into the living room, and right in the middle is Mike’s Harley. <br /> “He’d ride it up the stairs every night because he didn’t want it to get wet or dirty. We became fast friends.”<br /> In Richmond, Elwood was known as “Oakie.” He was a photographer and a good one, Jackson said, who’d built quite a reputation among the Long Island social elite. <br /> He’d also been a magazine art director and owned a used car business in Richmond, then tended bar and ran a barbecue restaurant in Amagansett, N.Y., where his curly blond locks earned him the nickname “Frampton.” <br /> On June 19, old Long Island friends gathered to pay tribute at <strong>Stephen Talkhouse</strong>, his old haunt in Amagansett.<br /> The resuscitation of the gas station that became Elwood’s in 1993 cost Gochenour $100,000 and the city Community Redevelopment Agency chipped in $25,000 for the historic preservation.<br /> “He`s very creative. He delivers an incredibly high quality product,” then <strong>CRA Director Chris Brown</strong> said. “We encouraged him to come downtown because we needed more food establishments.”<br /> That creativity dialed a wakeup call for sleepy Delray. <br /> “He really changed the avenue,” friend <strong>Jay Chavez</strong> said. “He brought it to life.”<br /> “He opened without a liquor license,” Elwood’s brother <strong>Dave</strong> said, “so he gave away the beer and sold the chips.” <br /> Bikers and beach types, old and young, came for barbecue, beer, rock ‘n’ roll and Elvis tributes.<br /> Two years ago, Elwood sold the joint for a reported $2 million to Pittsburgh-based <strong>Primanti Bros</strong>., which reopened it as Johnnie Brown’s, as in <strong>Addison Mizner’s</strong> pet monkey. <br /> But Michael couldn’t stay away. A few months ago he announced he was bringing Elwood’s back at 301 NE Third Ave., once occupied by <strong>The Annex</strong> and <strong>Two Thirds Tavern</strong>. It was a noble effort that departed quietly just days after Michael.<br /> He left thousands of grieving friends who knew they’d lost someone special.<br /> “He never met a stranger,” brother Dave said with a grin, and then added, “We have to move on.”<br /> ***<br /> While the second Elwood’s is history, the <strong>Back Room Blues Bar</strong> is into its fourth incarnation. <strong>John Yurt</strong> got the bug in 1992, opening on West Atlantic then moving to East Atlantic, back to West Atlantic and for four years on Dixie Highway in north Boca.<br /> That ended last November, but Yurt prefers singing the blues, not crying them, so he jumped at a vacancy in Congress Square on the southwest corner of Congress and Atlantic. <br /> It’s the farthest west that Yurt has pitched his tent, but he has more space, food and lots of music. <strong>JP Soars and the Red Hots</strong> (mostly Tuesdays) and <strong>Junior Drinkwater</strong> and the <strong>Westside Blues Band</strong> (Wednesdays) are the house bands. Savannah-born <strong>Eric Culbertson</strong> comes in July 2, and on July 30 Yurt’s grand opening party will have 10 bands going from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., $5 cover. (860-4679).<br /> ***<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960343052,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960343052,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960343052?profile=original" /></a>Imagine the legendary <strong>Ira Sullivan</strong> playing in a garage. Well, not actually where cars park, but in an area with 130 seats — it’s air-conditioned — in the parking garage by <strong>Old School Square</strong>. Sullivan’s June 11 show sold out and the sponsoring <strong>Creative City Collaborative</strong> expects vocalist <strong>Dana Paul</strong> (July 9), saxmen <strong>Ed Calle</strong> (July 23) and <strong>Turk Mauro</strong> (Aug. 13) and Brazilian vocalist <strong>Rose Max</strong> (Aug. 27) to do the same. Advance tickets are $20, reserved tables for six, $150. (243-7129)<br /> ***<br /><br /> Four decades ago, the builders of <strong>The Bridge Hotel</strong>, just inside <strong>Boca Inlet</strong>, 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.<br /> In addition to the great view, <strong>Carmen’s</strong> restaurant on the top floor offers a supper club for dining and dancing. Wednesdays are set aside for <strong>Jazz, Bossa & Blues.</strong> For just a $10 cover, South Florida’s best singers and musicians perform, while you eat, drink, dance, talk — or listen. Recent acts included <strong>Nicole Henry</strong> and <strong>Anthony Corrado</strong>. <br /> Latin jazz guitarist <strong>Jorge Garcia</strong> and Grammy-winning violinist <strong>Federico Britos</strong> perform July 8, and a week later, it’s two shows for the price of one with sax man <strong>Michael Kennedy</strong> and pianist-vocalist <strong>Hal Roland</strong>. (368-9500).<br /> ***<br /><br /> Lake Worth now has <strong>The Hideaway</strong> (129 N. Federal Highway), offering live and recorded jazz and dancing in a century-old building every day but Monday from “Swing Time Happy Hour” at 4 p.m. until close. It’s the musical love child of <strong>Ada Litt</strong> and her partner, <strong>Reggie B.</strong> (540-4411)<br /> ***<br /><br /> The announcement in 2003 by legendary restaurateur <strong>Daniel Boulud</strong> that he was bringing a restaurant to Palm Beach was met with more than a little skepticism. After all, big names chefs had failed before, most notably <strong>Charlie Palmer’s Aquaterra</strong>. <br /> Now, it seems everyone loves <strong>Café Boulud</strong>, even the naysayers. Credit goes not only to Boulud, who demands the best, but to the people who work for him, such as <strong>Zach Bell</strong>, the executive chef in Palm Beach from the start. <br /> On June 15, Boulud announced that Bell is leaving and will be replaced by another veteran, <strong>Jim Leiken</strong>. Both were at his side and surrounded by staff.<br /> Unlike so many restaurant changes in South Florida, this one is amicable. Bell, who grew up in citrus country west of Orlando, will become executive chef at <strong>Addison Reserve</strong>, a 700-home country club development west of Delray Beach. He confessed he and wife, <strong>Jennifer Reed</strong>, former Boulud pastry chef who runs <strong>The Sugar Monkey</strong> in West Palm Beach, want more family time.<br /> ***<br /><br /> Down the road in Lantana, the pot continues to boil. We reported last month that <strong>Leo Balestrieri</strong> was putting his upscale Italian concept <strong>Apicius</strong> to rest, turning over the Ocean Avenue boite to new managers who would open <strong>Bar Italia</strong>. <br /> Now for the rest of the story. . . Balestrieri has brought in new investors from New York. He’ll retain some control, but will turn his attention to a new restaurant — possibly called <strong>Harry’s American Bar</strong> — in Palm Beach, just north of <strong>Tiffany.</strong> <br /> But there’s more ... A partner in Bar Italia is <strong>Mark Militello</strong>. An original member of the <strong>Mango Gang,</strong> which created a culinary identity for South Florida, he cut his relationship with <strong>David Manero</strong> at <strong>The Office</strong> in Delray in the spring of 2010, headed south to <strong>Trina</strong> on Lauderdale Beach and then was going to create <strong>Cabo Blue</strong>, a grill and tequila bar in the new <strong>Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort</strong>.<br /> But, as of mid-June, it’s Bar Italia. Modified menu, he says, that will feature lower prices. Can’t wait till Militello and Balestrieri disagree. Think Vesuvius.<br /> <br /> ***<br /> Down in Boca, another new restaurant, <strong>Philippe Chow</strong>, takes over the old <strong>III Forks</strong> spot on East Palmetto Park Road. Chow has made quite a name for himself with his <strong>Philippe</strong> eateries in New York and Miami Beach and has some high-profile followers, including <strong>Oprah Winfrey</strong> and <strong>Paris Hilton</strong>. </p>
<p> One of his South Beach investors — who is also taking a stake in the Boca venture — is former Miami Heat star <strong>Alonzo Mourning</strong>. <br /> Another familiar name is that of <strong>Philippe Restaurant Group</strong> CEO: <strong>Stratis Morfogen</strong> is the younger brother of <strong>32 East</strong> Executive Chef <strong>Nick Morfogen</strong>. Some wags already are punning “the Morfogen the better.”<br /> <br /> ***<br /> Head Football Coach <strong>Howard Schnellenberger</strong> says construction of <strong>FAU’s</strong> 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 <strong>Richard and Barbara Schmidt</strong> through the <strong>Schmidt Family Foundation</strong>. They’ll get an acknowledgement on the scoreboard.<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> *** <br /> <strong>Steve Weagle’s</strong> annual <strong>Red Cross</strong> bike ride is over, but the money’s still coming in. <br /> “The last figure I heard was $50,000,” the <strong>Channel 5</strong> weather anchor said of his 11th annual trek that starts in Sebastian and wraps in Boca. </p>
<p> Weagle modified his tour this year to stop for the first time in Delray Beach at <strong>Old School Square</strong>. The ride was so effortless, helped by favorable winds and temperatures, that Weagle and his four cycle-mates arrived more than an hour early and refreshed with a beer at <strong>Bru’s Room</strong>.<br /> A surprise this year was a visit during Weagle’s stop at <strong>CityPlace</strong> by American Idol’s <strong>Taylor Hicks</strong>, a big Red Cross supporter who helped with tornado relief in Alabama. <br /> ***<br /><br />Sold! And considering the real estate market, both the anonymous buyer and the seller, boxing promoter <strong>Don King</strong>, got good deals.<br />Sales price: $15.95 million for two homes on adjacent lots on 300 feet of beach in Manalapan. King was asking $19.95 million, down from a 2009 price of $27.5 million, but considering King — actually his late wife, <strong>Henrietta</strong> — bought it for $14.3 million in 1999, an 11 percent return is better than a short sale.<br /><strong>Jack Elkins</strong> of <strong>Engel & Volkers</strong> handled the sale. All parties agreed not to identify the buyer, but local real estate sources say the new owner is not someone with ties to the Palm Beaches.</p>
<p><br /><em> Email Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em><br /><br /><em>Jan Norris contributed to this report.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Steve Forbes pays a visit to Trump’s placehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-steve-forbes2011-06-01T17:42:08.000Z2011-06-01T17:42:08.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p>By Thom Smith</p>
<p>For decades the family yacht tied up at local marinas, the better for dad to entertain big clients and the family to enjoy a little respite from Northeast winters. <br /><strong>Malcolm Forbes</strong> died in 1990, but the wining and dining aboard <strong>Highlander</strong> has continued, albeit at its seasonal berth in Fort Lauderdale. So it isn’t like <strong>Steve Forbes</strong> is unfamiliar with Palm Beach. In fact, he’s a welcome guest at many homes on the island.<br />But until a few weeks ago, the businessman, unsuccessful presidential candidate and editor and publisher of <em><strong>Forbes</strong></em> magazine had never been to the home — the estate most synonymous with Palm Beach: <strong>Mar-a-Lago</strong>. <br />On a whirlwind tour for <strong>Northwestern Mutual</strong> to drum up business among its clients and prospects and to inspire company agents, Forbes teamed with Northwestern CEO <strong>John Schlifske</strong> to host a luncheon of beef filet and sea bass in the grand ballroom and to offer his take on the economy.<br />“I think within five years, the dollar will again be tied to g-o-l-d.”<br />“A weak dollar means a weak recovery.”<br />In investing, “Emotions are your enemy; consistency is the key.”<br />Since Mar-a-Lago’s owner was elsewhere, weighing a decision to withdraw — as pace car driver for the Indy 500 — Forbes and Schlifske took a brief look around Mar-a-Lago on their own. After climbing the iron spiral staircase in the parlor, Forbes could only shake his head.<br />“It’s amazing,” he said.<br />Asked if he still harbored any political ambition, the affable Forbes laughed and answered, <br />“I’m an agitator now; I’m in my <strong>Tom Paine</strong> mode.”<br />Advice for Trump? Silence and a smile. <br /> <br />Remember <strong>Jeff Greene</strong>, one of the few candidates rolling in dough who wasn’t elected last year? The onetime <strong>Breakers</strong> busboy made the <strong>Forbes 400</strong> list by investing in, and then betting against, the real estate market. Then last year he ran for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate (yes, some Democrats are rich, too!) and was trounced. <br />For a while we didn’t hear much from Jeff. Having licked his political wounds, he’s back doing what he does best — buying real estate — but not before signing on in February to <strong>The Giving Pledge</strong>. That’s the campaign spearheaded by <strong>Warren Buffett</strong> and <strong>Bill Gates</strong> to urge rich folks to give half their wealth to charity. <br />Greene likes to spend money almost as much as he likes to make it. Earlier this year he bought a 43,000-square-foot loft in New York’s Soho for $26 million. <br />With one young son, and another baby due in September, Greene reportedly was looking for some property where he and wife <strong>Mei Sze Chan</strong> could raise them. On May 3 he bought <strong>Tyndal Point</strong>, a 55-acre estate in the Hamptons. The price was not reported, though its most recent listing was $44.99 million.<br />Back in Palm Beach, as a “fun investment,” he got a deal worthy of <strong>Donald Trump</strong>, picking up the <strong>Omphoy Ocean Resort</strong> for a reported $42 million. Not bad considering it offers 134 rooms, a spa and two restaurants, including <strong>Michelle Bernstein’s</strong>. Through their <strong>Ceebraid Signal Corp</strong>., previous owners <strong>Richard and Leslie Schlesinger</strong> had paid $42 million in 2005 for the former <strong>Palm Beach Hilton</strong> and poured an additional $55 million into renovations.<br />“We love Palm Beach and want to continue having the Omphoy run as the great hotel that it is,” Greene told <em><strong>The Palm Beach Daily News</strong></em>. “It’s packed on the weekends. It’s the most elegant boutique oceanfront hotel in Florida and maybe in the country.”<br /> <br />Speaking of big oceanfront homes, Casa Pugilista is for sale … again. Well, that’s not really the name, but pugilism did buy it for boxing promoter <strong>Don King</strong>. Now he hopes he’ll have less of a fight trying to sell the Manalapan estate. Asking price: $19.95 million. That’s down from $27.5 million in 2009, but up from the $14.3 million they (technically King’s wife, <strong>Henrietta</strong>) paid for the two adjacent lots and houses in 1999. <br />King, whose <strong>Only In America</strong> offices lie on the east side of I-95 in Deerfield Beach, turns 80 in August. Henrietta died in December. When he first put it up for sale, he said the kids were grown and it was time to downsize. Now he has even more reason to sell. <br />So what does $19.95 million bring? <br />Three acres, 300 feet of beachfront and two docks on the Intracoastal, two houses, two pools, a tennis court, a generator, a grill big enough to barbecue 100 slabs of ribs, an illuminated replica of the Statue of Liberty facing the ocean. The larger house (18,000 square feet) has nine bedrooms. The smaller “guest” house (6,800 square feet) includes five bedrooms, an outdoor cabana with kitchen and an ice cream parlor. <br /> <br />Seems like only a few weeks ago we were announcing the opening of the <strong>Atlantic Ocean Club</strong> and its upstairs sibling <strong>Buddha Sky Bar</strong> on Atlantic next to the tracks in Delray. Actually it opened Jan. 24, and while the Sky Bar is going strong, AOC is history. Shuttered in mid-May, it’s being replaced by <strong>The Pop-Up</strong> … but only for four months. At the helm is <strong>Glen Manfra</strong>, last heard from as culinary director for <strong>David Manero’s</strong> restaurants, which include <strong>Vic & Angelo’s</strong> across the street and <strong>The Office</strong>, half a block west. <br />Manfra first emerged two decades ago as the chef at <strong>Bice</strong> in Palm Beach. He was a partner in <strong>Amici</strong> and <strong>Galaxy Grill</strong>, then dropped from the scene for a few years before teaming with Manero.<br />Sources say the menu will change frequently and will offer lower prices. <br /> <br />New to Delray: <strong>Island Flair</strong> on the Ave, featuring Caribbean vendors, musicians and food, premiered May 21 in Southwest Fifth Avenue Plaza. The Flairs are held the third Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Admission is free. Potential vendors should call (561) 290-6739.<br /> <br />Starting over. <strong>Apicius</strong>, the controversial upscale Italian restaurant on Ocean Avenue in Lantana is history. In its place: <strong>Bar Italia</strong>. Reportedly under new management, although ownership remains with the controversial <strong>Leo Balestrieri</strong>. Apicius’ brief stint (It opened last September), was greeted with generally positive reviews for the quality of food, but a mixed bag on service, including unpleasant encounters from Balestrieri toward customers who complained. We’ll wait to judge the book by its new cover. <br /> <br /><strong>Palm Beach Golf Course</strong>, which <em><strong>Golf Digest</strong></em> has called “the best par 3 in the U.S.,” has a lot going for it: location (smack dab against the ocean), reasonable rates and its recent renovation by golf legend <strong>Raymond Floyd</strong>. Plus the folks who run the snack bar claim to make the best burger in Palm Beach and soon will add a roaming food and beverage cart … with full liquor service. <br /> But there’s more. On June 2, they tried a singles night, an 18-hole scramble, including cart and one “adult” beverage for just $20. It could become a regular event.<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Email him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: The NFL in Delray Beach!https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-the-nfl-in2011-05-04T19:39:11.000Z2011-05-04T19:39:11.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960334073,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960334073,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960334073?profile=original" /></a><em>The recently revived and moved Elwood’s in Delray (301 NE Third Ave.) seems to be hitting its stride — barbecue with a Virginia accent and a strong weekend lineup up of regional bands and the occasional national act, including The Dillengers and the HepCat Boodaddies and Johnny Ray’s ‘Elvis Thursdays.’ The locals get their shot on Open Mic Wednesday. Take H2O (above). That’s H as in Steve Hull and two Os, as in Billy and Bobby, the Ott twins. They play jazz. Bass player Hull and drummer Bobby live in Boca Raton. Keyboardist Billy calls Delray Beach home. They’re all pretty much retired, enjoying life and playing music for fun. And a plus for Elwood’s, they have a following: the loafer, khaki and buttondown crowd from beachside. <strong>Photo by Jerry Lower</strong></em></p>
<p>By Thom Smith</p>
<p><strong>NFL</strong>. Could be the <strong>No Football League</strong> this fall if the owners and the players union don’t cool off. Meanwhile, the players have no choice but to stay in shape, and a couple of tons of them were working out together in Delray Beach. Lockout or not, they’re also planning to do something to put the community in better shape with “<strong>Grid Iron Greats Blitz Delux</strong>” at <strong>Delux</strong> night club at 6 p.m May 26.<br /> Organized by <strong>Prep and Sports Inc.</strong> and Kansas City Chiefs defensive back <strong>Brandon Flowers</strong>, who played high school football at Atlantic High, the bash will feature several NFL stars and hopefuls as celebrity bartenders. They’ll compete for tips and guests will bid for “dates” with them. Donations will go to programs that help high school athletes in Delray, Boca and Boynton improve their physical and academic fitness.<br />The Blitz is a kick-off event for <strong>Flowers’ Charity Weekend</strong> of comedy, bowling, a 7-on-7 high school football tournament and other events from July 7-10. (<a href="http://www.prepandsports.org" target="_blank">www.prepandsports.org</a>)<br /> <br /> <strong>Steffi Graf</strong> arrived on the international tennis scene just as <strong>Chris Evert</strong> was leaving, so tennis aficionados never saw them prime against prime. But come November, we’ll be able at least to see them on the court again. Graf, now married to <strong>Andre Agassi</strong> and mother of two, has committed to play in the <strong>Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Classic</strong>, Nov. 11-13, at the <strong>Delray Tennis Center</strong>. It’ll be a class act.<br /> <br />Paying his dues … and loving it. In mid-April, <strong>Bobby Lee Rodgers</strong> was the morning wakeup band at the four-day <strong>Wanee Musical Festival</strong> along the Suwannee River in Live Oak. On the 27th, he opened for the <strong>Avett Brothers</strong> at <strong>SunFest</strong>, then was off to Key West, St. Pete and Orlando, before heading to Lake Worth for a May 21 gig at the <strong>Bamboo Room</strong> in Lake Worth. <br />Bobby hails from Augusta, Ga., where he naturally picked up bluegrass and then headed north to Boston, to the prestigious <strong>Berklee School of Music</strong>, where he became one of its youngest teachers ever, of jazz. In 1999, he formed <strong>The Codetalkers</strong>, which enjoyed some festival popularity, especially for his guitar work. The Codetalkers signed off for good in 2009, but Rogers and his trio, with a new CD, are still plugging away with a show that offers a little bit of everything. </p>
<p>“I’m having a ball,” he said after his SunFest set. “It was a great crowd, great sound. And I always love playing the Bamboo Room. Can’t wait to get back.”<br />With the likes of Rodgers and several other top acts, the revived Bamboo is barreling full speed into summer. The lineup includes: <strong>Albert Castiglia</strong>, May 7; <strong>Debbie Davies</strong>, May 12; <strong>Commander Cody</strong>, May 14; <strong>Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers</strong>, May 28; <strong>John Lee Hooker Jr</strong>., June 18, and <strong>Randall Bramblett</strong>, July 9.<br /> <br />In southern Palm Beach County, the trend seems to be two-for-one — two restaurants open for every one that closes. The latest announcement is the arrival in Delray of concept king <strong>Dennis Max</strong>. He’s taking over Susser’s old <strong>Taste</strong> space on Northwest Second Avenue and plans a June opening for <strong>Max’s Harvest.</strong> It’s a farm-to-table approach offering “clean, simple, unadulterated food” from local and regional growers and producers “that lets the land speak for itself.”<br />Max already has neighborly competition: Turkish owner <strong>Numan Unsal</strong> has converted an interior design shop into his first U.S. restaurant, and it’s garnering rave reviews. <strong>Sefa</strong>, which translates as “fare,” as in food and drink, shows a Mediterranean flair … and a fair price.<br />Tabbouleh, baba ghanouj, tzatziki, falafel, kibbe, kebabs, gyros, pasta, baklava and coffee done right, and the most expensive dishes on the menu are a mixed grill and Mediterranean dorado, both at $24. Most entrees, however, go for $14 to $18. Fridays and Saturdays, Unsal offers belly dancing … not with him, though, he’s in the kitchen. <br /> <br />One restaurateur who seems to continue defying the odds in Delray is <strong>David Manero.</strong> He’s close to the tracks on Atlantic with <strong>Vic & Angelo’s</strong> and <strong>The Office</strong> and now he’ll soon return to the beach scene with <strong>BurgerFi</strong> at the corner of Atlantic and A1A. Manero knows the place well; before the now departed but delightful <strong>Surf Sliders</strong>, he had <strong>Shore</strong> there.<br />Though it may conjure up gung ho images, BurgerFi has nothing to do with the Marines. Manero talks of the “burgerfication” of America, as if <strong>McDonald’s</strong> hasn’t done that already. But his fi is high — in quality with grass-fed, hormone-free beef, and all the fixin’s and in price with a 3.5-ounce burger (the Whopper is 4 ounces) starting at $5.47 at the flagship Fort Lauderdale stand. Fries start at $2.77, “real” Coca Cola (made in Mexico with cane sugar), $2.57.<br />Remodeling continues at a blistering pace as Manero plans a July 4 opening. <br /> <br />And for good measure, look for another high-profile addition to appear soon on the Delray scene. Rumors have <strong>Angelo Elia</strong> opening <strong>D’Angelo</strong> downtown in the near future. Elia’s <strong>Casa D’Angelo</strong> has been one of the top-rated restaurants in Fort Lauderdale for more than a decade, and he’s building a similar reputation at a his <strong>Casa</strong> in Boca. (No connection to the since departed <strong>Cucina d’Angelo</strong>, late of Boca Center, or <strong>Café d’Angelo</strong>, on West Glades Road.) D’Angelo reportedly will offer less pricey variants of Angelo’s Tuscan specialties. Stay tuned. <br /> <br />Up in Boynton, the <strong>WalMart</strong> is rising faster than a loaf of cheap bread, but the bigger news is barely a mile up the road. After observing the scene in Delray for several years, <strong>Clint Reed</strong> has decided to give Boynton a shot at <strong>Las Ventanas</strong>, the huge condo-commercial complex at the corner of Woolbright and Federal. He’s just opened <strong>Sweetwater Bar & Grill</strong> with plush leather sofas and chairs, craft beers, specialty drinks, upscale bar food and soon a band on weekends. <br />“I got a lot of my ideas from <strong>Tribeca</strong> in New York — it’s the hot place now — and <strong>San Francisco</strong>,” Reed said. “We wanted it to be a little bit more than a gastro pub.”<br />The commercial side of Las Ventanas isn’t exactly booming: Sweetwater is only the third occupant, but the residences are 81 percent rented. <br />“We’ve got 1,000 people living here,” Reed said, “plus we’re getting a lot of people from across the bridge.” <br /> <br />Forget Iowa. No way, New Hampshire. The 21st century spawning ground for presidential politics is Florida. Don’t be surprised if someday the Oval Office is renamed the Orange Office, which would be quite apropos if, by some quirk of the cosmos, one particular political noisemaker should take over. <br />As in <strong>Donald Trump</strong>. He continues to toy with the media and the American people, some of whom believe all this candidate talk is a ploy to boost ratings on <em><strong>Celebrity Apprentice</strong></em> and some who really believe he would make a great president. <br />Precedent? At the state level, we’ve had wrestler <strong>Jesse Ventura</strong> in Minnesota, terminator <strong>Arnold Schwarzenegger</strong> and <strong>“Gipper” Ronald Reagan</strong> in California. But no one has become president without holding some office before. <br />Europe has its version of the Donald. Italian Prime Minister <strong>Silvio Berlusconi</strong> made millions in real estate and then in the TV business, although Berlusconi is short (5-5, Trump is 6-2), and Trump isn’t saddled with a sex scandal. Berlusconi had hair transplants; Trump, well … <br />The Donald plows ahead, adhering to the philosophy that you can say what you want about him, just spell the name right. He doesn’t hesitate to steal the spotlight from anyone, be it <strong>Rep. Allen West</strong> at a Boca Tea Party rally or taking credit for forcing <strong>President Obama</strong> to produce his “long form” birth certificate. <br />So is he running, or isn’t he? He won’t fess up, but on at least two recent occasions at his <strong>Mar-a-Lago</strong> — a true gem of Trump’s remaking — eyewitnesses claim he requested presidential introductions.<br />Just before taking the stage at a March charity gala, Trump read over the master of ceremonies’ printed introduction, nodded a couple of times, then struck through the last sentence with his pen and wrote, “next president of the United States.”<br />At the April 15 <strong>Palm Beach Centennial</strong> kick-off reception attended by <strong>Gov. Rick Scott</strong> and Tea Party backer <strong>David Koch,</strong> he suggested to organizers that he be introduced as “the next president of the United States.” <br />Questions are being raised about Trump’s draft status and the absence of military service during the Vietnam War, his truthfulness about his wealth and his endeavors in pushing for Obama’s birth records. He’ll have to come clean soon, or the advice offered by a former president could ring true: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” <em>— Abraham Lincoln.</em><br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Email him at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Lights! Camera! Action!https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-lights2011-03-30T15:54:46.000Z2011-03-30T15:54:46.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p>By Thom Smith</p>
<p>Seems like everywhere you turn these days, you’ll find a film festival. No sooner does the <strong>Palm Beach International Festival</strong> wrap than two others hit local silver screens.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960324667,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960324667,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960324667?profile=original" /></a>The first <strong>Palm Beach Women’s International Festival</strong> opens April 7 for a four-day run at <strong>Muvico Parisian</strong> in West Palm Beach and the <strong>Lake Worth Playhouse</strong>. Opening film is <em>The Whistleblower</em>, best picture winner at the Palm Springs Festival. <strong>Hannah Free</strong>, the producer, and star <strong>Sharon Gless</strong> will be honored at the film’s screening at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 8 at the <strong>Compass Community Center</strong> in Lake Worth. A party in Gless’ honor will follow at <strong>The Cottage</strong> in Lake Worth.<br />The festival boasts 10 world premieres, seven U.S. premieres and films from 15 nations. Details at <a href="http://www.pbwiff.com" target="_blank">www.pbwiff.com</a>. <br />From April 9-17, we get the <strong>Sixth Annual Downtown Boca Film Festival</strong>. Wait a minute! A festival in Boca? Well, the festival’s the same, just the name and the location have changed. For five years it was the <strong>Delray Beach Film Festival</strong> and, in fact, many of the films will be screened at the <strong>Movies of Delray</strong>.<br />The Boca festival opens with “Casino Night in Old Hollywood” at the <strong>Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center</strong>. <strong>Michael Stone</strong>, one of the forces behind <strong>Pineapple Groove</strong> in Delray, will host the party with sister <strong>Kelly Stone-Singer</strong>. No confirmation yet that their sister Sharon will make an appearance. <br />“She’s making a film right now, so we don’t know if she can get away or not,” Michael Stone said. <br />The event will benefit <strong>Planet Hope</strong>, founded by the Stones to help homeless children and their mothers. The black-tie-optional party will include food from local restaurants, silent and live auction, a casino and entertainment by 44th Street. Tickets are $50 in advance, $65 after April 4.<br />Several additional events are planned, including <strong>Reel to Runway</strong> fashion show on April 11 at <strong>Mizner Park</strong> ($35), filmmaker workshops, and parties every night. The screening schedule, however, was not available at press time. Check out <a href="http://www.dbff.us" target="_blank">www.dbff.us</a> for details. </p>
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<p> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960324470,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960324470,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960324470?profile=original" /></a>A day for legends. Two of football’s greatest coaches, enjoying a little breakfast at the <strong>Boca Raton Resort & Club</strong>, then taking a few friendly jabs at each other and offering some insight. The occasion was the <strong>Boca YMCA’s annual Prayer Breakfast</strong>. The legends: <strong>Howard Schnellenberger</strong> and <strong>Bobby Bowden</strong>. <br />Schnellenberger helped guide the <strong>Miami Dolphins</strong> to NFL titles and led the <strong>University of Miami</strong> to a national collegiate championship. Bowden won two titles at <strong>Florida State University</strong>.<br />Now Schnellenberger is working his magic at <strong>Florida Atlantic University</strong>, building the program and a stadium from scratch. “It’ll be ready next fall,” he says of the stadium, its towers easily visible from I-95. “Even better, it’s ahead of schedule and under budget.”<br />Bowden, who retired, not exactly willingly, last year, said he’s on the road three or four days a week, but instead of recruiting, he’s making speeches. “I do get a chance to play golf a little more,” he confessed between bites, “but I’m not beating anybody.”<br />He turned a little more serious during his address, stressing the need for opportunity and responsibility. <br />“We need help for our young people; we need help for our families,” he said, asking rhetorically if young college players have changed in the half century since he started coaching. <br />“No, boys haven’t changed … but where the heck are their daddies? Who’s gonna raise these boys? Boys haven’t changed; parents have changed.<br />“Put a ball in their hands, and I don’t care if it’s a football, a baseball, a basketball or what, it’ll keep ’em occupied.”</p>
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<p> Tie down your easels, it’s going to be a bumpy month at <strong>Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery</strong> in Lake Worth. <br />The madness began with an April Fool’s party, but it really gets going with the <strong>Second Annual Haitian Empty Bowl Fundraiser</strong> Saturday, April 9, from 10-4. More than 500 ceramic bowls — no two alike — that have been decorated by local artists, will be sold to supporters for $25 each or four for $80 in advance, $35 day of. Purchasers can then take their bowls to participating Lake Worth restaurants for menu morsels. <br />Participants this year include: <strong>La Bonne Bouche, The Cottage</strong>, <strong>Java Juice Bar</strong>, <strong>Taco Lady</strong>, <strong>TooJay’s</strong>, <strong>Rita’s Italian Ice</strong>, <strong>Havana Hideout</strong>, <strong>Kilwin’s</strong>, <strong>Nature’s Way</strong>, <strong>Paws on the Avenue</strong> (doggy treats), <strong>Rum Shack</strong>, <strong>Downtown Pizza</strong>, <strong>Dolce Vita</strong>, <strong>Dave’s Last Resort and Raw Bar</strong>, <strong>Brogue’s</strong>, <strong>Rotelli’s</strong> and <strong>Fiorentina</strong>. <br />Proceeds will go to the <strong>Art Creation Foundation for Children</strong>, an arts-based organization promoting personal growth, empowerment and education for children in Jacmel, Haiti. (561-588-8344)<br />On April 19, CGMS is hosting a “<strong>Peep Show</strong>” from 6-9 p.m. Gallery manager <strong>Joyce Brown</strong> isn’t saying much, except that the gallery “will be flooded with peeps of all kinds, shapes and colors.”<br />Rest easy, it’s G-rated.</p>
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<p><br /> Hot stuff on the beach. <strong>Anthony Sanders</strong>, who for years was sous chef at the hot, hot <strong>32 East</strong> in Delray and currently is a chef-consultant just up A1A at <strong>Café Cellini</strong> in Palm Beach, has a somewhat more earthy gig a little closer to the beach. Every Saturday during the season, he dishes up tacos from a truck at the <strong>Oceanside Farmer’s Market</strong> in Lake Worth.<br />At <strong>Taco Loquisimo</strong> (for gringos: Crazy Taco), he uses fresh ingredients and, unlike the usual taco trucker, his menu is always changing, depending on what’s available, including items he buys from fellow vendors that morning. Tacos are $3 a pop and they really ring a bell according to local patrons who begin lining up before Anthony’s 8 a.m. opening. Business is booming. He usually sells out.</p>
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<p> For two decades, <strong>Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation</strong> has been one of the most popular culinary fundraisers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The nationwide event, which features many of the nation’s top chefs, has raised more than $80 million to help reduce childhood hunger. Now it’s finally coming to Palm Beach County.<br /><strong>Café Boulud’s Zach Bell</strong>, who has hosted several smaller Share Our Strength dinners at his restaurant ,will spearhead this much larger event, set for Wednesday, April 13, at the <strong>Kravis Center</strong>. <br />Joining Bell will be <strong>Darryl Moiles</strong> from the <strong>Four Seasons Resort</strong>, <strong>Roy Villacrusis</strong> of <strong>Kubo</strong>, <strong>Holger Struett</strong> of <strong>Chops Lobster Bar</strong> and <strong>Dean James Max</strong> of <strong>3800 Ocean</strong>, among many others, and including south county favorites <strong>32 East</strong>, <strong>Casa d’Angelo</strong>, <strong>Dada</strong>, <strong>Michelle Bernstein’s at the Omphoy</strong>, <strong>Temple Orange</strong> at the <strong>Ritz-Carlton</strong>, <strong>Atlantic Ocean Club</strong> and <strong>Buddha Sky Bar</strong>, <strong>de la Terra</strong> at <strong>Sundy House</strong>, <strong>City Fish Market</strong> and <strong>Apicius</strong>. <br />Taste of the Nation supports Share Our Strength’s <strong>No Kid Hungry</strong> campaign, which supports summer meal and after-school snack programs, an average of nearly 11,000 lunches each day. Tickets are $80 in advance, $100 at the door; VIP tickets are $125 and $150 and include special lounge seating, specialty wines and spirits and a gift bag. Go to <a href="http://www.strengthflorida.org" target="_blank">www.strengthflorida.org</a> or call 561-998-2983.<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Batter Up!https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-batter-up2011-03-03T17:43:53.000Z2011-03-03T17:43:53.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960325262,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960325262,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960325262?profile=original" /></a><em>John McEnroe plays to the crowd Feb. 18 during the 2nd annual ‘Tennis on the Ave.’ Grand Slam champions McEnroe and Mats Wilander competed as part of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. <strong>Photo by Tim Stepien</strong></em></p>
<p>By Thom Smith</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Spring training is here. Time to lather up with sunscreen, put on your team hat and head to the ballpark. But why not make it really special? <br />Born in Boston, <strong>Christine DiRocco</strong> can’t remember when she wasn’t a fan, of baseball in general, and the <strong>Red Sox</strong> in particular. <br />“We’d go to games when we could, and when we couldn’t, we watched them on TV or listened on the radio,” said DiRocco, who is now the publicist at the <strong>Ritz-Carlton</strong> in Manalapan. “I absolutely love the game. So I’ve always had this dream of putting together a special baseball package. This year I was finally able to do it.” <br />The Ritz has teamed with the <strong>Florida Marlins</strong>, the <strong>St. Louis Cardinals</strong> and management at <strong>Roger Dean Stadium</strong> in Jupiter, to produce the Take Me Out to the Ballgame “Play Ball” spring training package. It offers hotel guests accommodations, a mini-road trip to the stadium, four box seats at a game, a media stat pack, plus a chance to go on the field and behind the scenes, touring the clubhouse. One member of the group can throw out the first ball; another can be honorary bat kid. Beginning rate for a family of four is $799. Call (561) 533-6000.<br />Both Boynton Beach and Delray Beach are offering more modest but no less exciting day trips that include the bus ride, batting practice, premium seats, and photo ops. <br />Spring Training with the Schoolhouse, hosted by the <strong>Schoolhouse Children’s Museum</strong> will take in the Marlins-Mets game on March 20. Tickets are $37.50 for museum members, $47.50 for non-members. (561-742-6780)<br /><strong>Delray’s Parks & Recreation Department</strong> is offering a Marlins Spring Training Day Trip on March 24. The $45 tab includes bus ride, seats behind home plate and a $10 food voucher. (243-7350 or roland@mydelraybeach.com.) </p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>Elwood’s</strong> is back. Not in the same place on Atlantic, since that spot’s been taken over by <strong>Johnny Brown’s,</strong> but it’s still close by the railroad tracks, which is fitting for a barbecue joint. Actually, part of the address is the same — from 301 E. Atlantic to 301 NE Third Ave., formerly occupied by <strong>The Annex</strong> and <strong>Two Thirds Tavern</strong> — and Elwood, aka <strong>Mike Gochenour</strong>, hasn’t changed much either. <br />Gochenour helped launch the Delray miracle in that old gas station in 1993. He offered live music, including an <strong>Elvis</strong> impersonator, decent food and cold beer. Bikers loved the place; so did the yuppies. He sold it in ’09, but hinted that, like <strong>MacArthur</strong>, he might someday return. <br />And he’s brought with him much of the old staff, a restructured 301 East house band and the promise of special appearances by <strong>The Dillengers</strong>, <strong>Jason Colannino</strong> and <strong>Black Finger</strong>.</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960326257,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960326257,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="217" alt="7960326257?profile=original" /></a>First time’s a charm … for <strong>Chuck Gittleman</strong>. He may have been executive chef at newly opened <strong>Deck 84</strong> for only three months, but he’s no rookie. He knows how to work with garlic, so much so that he took top honors at the <strong>Delray Beach Garlic Fest</strong> with three courses featuring goat and garlic and dethroned three-time winner <strong>Andy Trousdale</strong> of <strong>Le Bistro</strong>. </p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Gitelman offered up a salad of seared spiced goat with shaved fennel/sunflower sprouts, garlic yogurt dressing and plantain croutons; an appetizer of chopped goat steak (Holstein) with a salad of roasted garlic, mushroom and arugula; and a main dish of curried grilled goat, bone in, with garlic spinach, mashed acorn squash and mango relish. <br />Put it on the menu.</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"> Things looked poorly for one of Delray’s great traditions, the <strong>St. Patrick’s Day parade</strong>, on March 12. City fees and insurance had doubled in the past two years and organizers had no idea how they would cover it. Word got out, and to the rescue sprang <strong>Peter DeRosa</strong> and <strong>Mark Hasche</strong> of <strong>PeterMark Salon</strong>. They signed on as presenting sponsors. <br />In turn, <strong>Mercedes-Benz of Delray</strong>, <strong>Bru’s Room</strong>, <strong>Cigar Connoisseur</strong>, <strong>Stuart & Shelby Development</strong>, and the new <strong>Buddha Sky Bar</strong> and <strong>Atlantic Ocean Club</strong> ponied up additional funds.<br />Buddha Sky Bar and Atlantic Ocean Club went even further. They’re opening a VIP Skybox from noon to 5 where guests can enjoy a lofty view of the parade while sampling complimentary green libations and hors d’ oeuvres for $100. <br />Of course, there will be the usual pre- and post-parade parties on the front lawn at <strong>Old School Square,</strong> with live shows at 3:30 and 5:15 by Journey and Bon Jovi tribute bands. </p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Oh, yeah, and the parade, an international tribute to firefighters, begins at 2 p.m.</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"> Films by an award-winning veteran, a successful actor making the leap to directing and a dedicated local filmmaker who keeps plugging away: the <strong>Palm Beach International Film Festival</strong>, as usual, will offer a little bit of everything during its March 23-28 run. <br />The opener will be <em>Win Win</em>, whose director, <strong>Thomas McCarthy</strong>, made a name for himself acting in <em>The Lovely Bones</em>, 2012, and in several installments of <em>The Wire</em>. So now he’s behind the camera, barking orders to the likes of <strong>Paul Giamatti</strong>, <strong>Amy Ryan</strong> and <strong>Jeffrey Tambo</strong>r. <br /><strong>Mark Medoff</strong>, by comparison, was making headlines before McCarthy reached puberty, winning a Tony as a playwright for <em>Children of a Lesser God</em>, but he’s acted in, directed and produced more than his share, including <em>Clara’s Heart</em>. Now the University of Miami grad, who also served as the Burt Reynolds Eminent Scholar at FSU’s theater school, is back as writer and director of festival feature <em>Refuge</em>, starring <strong>Linda Hamilton</strong> and <strong>Christopher McDonald</strong>. <br />And then we have <strong>Frank Eberling</strong>. He’s had a love affair with a camera in Palm Beach County for more than 30 years. Started as a TV news shooter, branched into documentaries and even dabbled in a couple of locally made features and taught his craft to hundreds of high school and college students. Frank’s latest project is <em>Turkles</em>, which he wrote, directed and filmed. It’s a kids comedy about turtle egg poachers and, as is typical of Eberling’s productions, cast and crew are locals. <br />The festival will close March 28 with <em>The First Grader,</em> a Kenyan film about the struggle to get the education he could never afford by an 84-year-old man. <br />As for the suspense, well, most of it has abated along with rumors that the festival would not be held this year. <br />“That was never true,” festival Executive Director <strong>Randi Emerman</strong> said. “The only question was about <strong>Mizner Park Cinema</strong>, because we knew it was going to close. But we’ve got it all worked out.”<br />Instead of Mizner, the festival’s Boca site will be the new <strong>Living Room Theaters</strong> on the FAU campus. Screenings also will be held at the <strong>Movies of Delray</strong>, <strong>Lake Worth Playhouse</strong> and <strong>Muvico CityPlace</strong> in West Palm Beach. Boca’s <strong>Bridge</strong>, recently renovated, is the host hotel this year.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960326270,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960326270,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="245" alt="7960326270?profile=original" /></a>Festival organizers have kept the celeb list a tight secret, but they did let on that this year’s Golden Palm Award will go to the busiest man in movies … <strong>Richard Jenkins</strong>. <br /><em>The Visitor</em>, in which he appeared with McCarthy, is just one of 20 credits for Jenkins since 2005, and it earned him an Oscar nomination. Actually, his career stretches back to <em>Silverado</em> (1985) and before, and includes <em>The Witches of Eastwick</em>, <em>Stealing Home</em>, <em>Sea of Love</em>, <em>There’s Something About Mary</em>, <em>Random Hearts</em>, <em>Shall We Dance</em>, <em>Eat, Pray, Love</em> and the just-released <em>Hall Pass</em>. Jenkins will be honored at a new event, the <strong>Silver Screen Splash</strong> on Friday, March 25, at the <strong>Boca Resort & Club</strong> swimming pool.<br />“If it rains, I have a backup,” Emerman said. “And in keeping with our commitment to make this a festival for everyone, people can go to every film and every event, including the Splash, with a Platinum Pass for just $300. A $150 Gold Pass admits to every event except the Splash, and a pass for the festival films is offered to students for $35.” (<a href="http://www.pbifilmfest.org">www.pbifilmfest.org</a>)</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;">A car dealership is an odd place for a fashion show, but then the “All About Shuzz,” March 11 at <strong>Mercedes Benz of Delray</strong>, is not your typical runway event. <br />Participants, literally, can be “the first” to acquire shoes as they are paraded on the runway — more than 100 pairs from the latest collections of such international designers as <strong>Gucci</strong>, <strong>Chanel</strong>, <strong>Tory Burch</strong>, <strong>Prada</strong>, <strong>Jimmy Choo</strong>, <strong>Manolo Blahnik</strong> and <strong>Valentino</strong>. <br />All proceeds from the ticket sale — from $100 to $250 for VIP seating — and a portion of shoe sale cash will go directly to supply shoes to children around the world. In addition, the event will raise money to help support mission trips to Haiti and other countries. <br />Shuzz is nothing if not ambitious. Its goal is to provide shoes to 10 million poverty-stricken children around the world in the next 10 years. (<a href="http://www.shuzz.org">www.shuzz.org</a>).<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com.</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Bamboo Room to return to playing the blues in Lake Worthhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-bamboo-room2011-02-03T17:00:00.000Z2011-02-03T17:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323461,original{{/staticFileLink}}"></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323098,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323098,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="241" alt="7960323098?profile=original" /></a></p>
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<p><em>Charles Benoit (left) gets a chuckle from comedian Eddie Brill who entertained hundreds Jan. 28 at the Delray Beach Marriott, during the 5th Annual Laugh with the Library fundraiser to benefit the Delray Beach Public Library.</em><br /><strong><em>Photos by Jerry Lower</em></strong></p>
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<p>By Thom Smith</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">After more than 2½ years of darkness and silence, the heavens are once again embracing Lake Worth: <strong>The Bamboo Room</strong> is back. <br />The only blues club in this county that features top regional and occasional national acts will reopen at 25 S. J St. on Feb. 17. <strong>David Shelley</strong> will open, followed on Friday by <strong>J.J. Gray</strong> from <strong>Mofro</strong> and <strong>Iko Iko</strong> and <strong>Blues Dragon</strong> wrapping up on Saturday.<br />“Ever since we closed, we’ve had so much good will,” owner <strong>Russ Hibbard</strong> said. “We kept the website up, and over the past year and a half we got so many e-mails. We were fortunate that we owned the property, so even though we were closed we were able to make improvements. Our old staff is back, and our intention is to keep the caliber of entertainment that we had before.” (<a href="http://www.bambooroomblues.com" target="_blank">www.bambooroomblues.com</a> or 585-2583)</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323474,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323474,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960323474?profile=original" /></a>Butch Trucks</strong> is one of the many top musicians who’ve played the Bamboo Room. For nearly a half-century, Trucks has been singing and playing the blues, most notably as the drummer for the <strong>Allman Brothers Band</strong> … And he’s still around to tell about it — the highs and the lows. <br />On Feb. 13, he will tell some stories, some of them about the highs and the resulting lows, at the 16th annual luncheon of <strong>CARP</strong>, the <strong>Comprehensive Alcoholism Rehabilitation Programs</strong>, at the <strong>Ritz-Carlton</strong> in Manalapan. The luncheon ($150) will feature performances by singer <strong>Avery Sommers</strong> and pianist <strong>Pepe Morreale</strong>.<br />Trucks says he won’t pull any punches. “What I’m gonna talk about is what happens to idiots, not to idiots, but to normal people when they get deified, especially in their early ages,” Trucks said. “And why things like CARP are needed for idiots like us and for other people who can’t quite cope. <br />“My perspective is from that perspective: about fame and wealth coming much too fast, much too early, unexpected and then all the sycophants around you telling you how great you are. <br />“We used to fly around in a jet called the Starship. It had the ‘Allman Brothers Band’ written on the side of it. In the back was a bedroom with a big round bed with fur all over it, mirrors on the ceiling and all the walls and two very willing stewardesses. There was a den with a fireplace in it, and we put bean bags on the floor and that’s where everybody smoked reefer.<br />Some stories will be funny and some will be sad; he might even tell some about <strong>Cher</strong>, said Trucks, who’s battled his own demons. Thirty years ago, he quit drinking liquor. He continued to drink wine, but it made him aggressive and turned him into “a total jerk.” <br />“I finally decided eight years ago last October that if I couldn’t stop then I wouldn’t start,” he said. “That was the last sip of any alcohol I have had.”<br />“Talking about CARP is easy. I have never seen anything like CARP, and it’s free, and I still don’t know how they do it.</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"> Heaven help us all.<br />The <strong>Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course</strong>, recently revitalized, is being featured on the <strong>Golf Channel</strong>.<br />Blame the <strong>Haney Project</strong> and its host <strong>Hank Haney</strong>. In his two previous seasons, the renowned swing coach — who helped improve the game of <strong>Tiger Woods</strong>, that young duffer who has that fortress just up the beach on Jupiter Island — worked with the likes of <strong>Ray Romano</strong> and <strong>Charles Barkley</strong>. In version No. 3, which debuted Jan. 25, he really goes off the deep end: His new student is <strong>Rush Limbaugh</strong>. <br />Watch as the king of bombast blasts cigar smoke in his host’s face. Watch as his chip shot rebounds off a cart and almost beans him. Watch as he pontificates: “I actually think I’m too smart for the game. If you look at the people that can do this game very well, their minds are vacant.”<br />Limbaugh admits he never practices, as he swings away and declares, “Nothing good ever happens when you go left.” Of course, the aim in golf is to go straight; not much chance of that with Rush either.</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323487,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323487,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="239" alt="7960323487?profile=original" /></a>If you’re not a bum, but you’ve got a good bum and a desire to serve, then you might be just right for … <strong>Butlers in the Buff</strong>. <br />“The male order company” offers living party rentals — in white collar and cuffs, black bow tie and black apron (not wrap-around) — to serve drinks and hors d’oeuvres. All fully above board. Conceived in England, where more than 250 tie one (apron) on, the concept spread to Australia and has now reached the colonies with the first franchise in Florida. <br />Prospective butlers — and customers — should visit <a href="http://www.ButlersInTheBuff.com" target="_blank">www.ButlersInTheBuff.com</a> or call (941) 309-5430.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> From Atlantic Avenue to Hollywood and Vine: Former Delray Beach millionaire, socialite and politician <strong>Nick Loeb</strong> apparently has recovered sufficiently from a car crash to accompany his new squeeze, actress <strong>Sofia Vergara</strong>, to the Golden Globe awards bash on Feb. 16. Tagging along with Vergara, star of Modern Family, trust-funder Loeb, who has run unsuccessfully for Delray City Commission and Florida Senate, even managed a little face time on some of the gossipy entertainment shows. He showed no ill effects from the crash last August that put him in intensive care with a broken leg and pelvis.<br />Now, apparently, his intensive care comes from Vergara, although he hasn’t given up on politics. He told Access Hollywood’s <strong>Billy Bush</strong> he’s thinking about running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> <br />What will islanders do?<br />“I don’t know if I should be laughing or be scared,” <strong>Maurizio Ciminella</strong> said with an uncharacteristically muted chuckle. Ciminella just opened <strong>Amici Market</strong> on North County Road, and come spring he’ll be the only grocer in Palm Beach. That’s when <strong>Publix</strong> plans to begin rebuilding its only store in Palm Beach County east of the Intracoastal Waterway. <br />The new store, 50 percent larger at 44,018 square feet, will be ready no sooner than December.<br />“Imagine the possibilities! Maybe I’ll fill the coolers with bread, milk and eggs,” Ciminella said, noting that some Publix regulars are already checking out his market. “People are coming in and asking if we are going to be open on Sunday. And we always deliver. We’ve already delivered to Manalapan. <br />“They’re closing around Easter, and we’ll start opening Sundays on Easter … with the blessing of the church, of course,” he said, referring to <strong>St. Edward’s Church</strong> across the street.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />*** </p>
<p style="text-align:left;">For two decades <strong>JAMS</strong>, the <strong>Jazz Arts Music Society</strong>, has been about the only source for live jazz in the Palm Beaches. Its concert series at “<strong>the Harriet</strong>” in <strong>CityPlace</strong> already is into its 11th season, and pianist <strong>Marian Petrescu</strong> will headline the anniversary celebration on Feb. 22. <br />Should you prefer a little dinner with your jazz, head to the <strong>Four Seasons Resort</strong>, where JAMS has introduced its new <strong>Living Room Series</strong>. Take in a concert in the resort’s Living Room ($25 for JAMS members, $35 non-members) plus pre-concert three-course prix fixe dinners in either the Bistro ($35) or the Restaurant ($45). Call 582-2800 for dinner reservations, (877) 722-2820 for concert info and tickets. Next up, Feb. 7, saxman <strong>Harry Allen</strong> and his quartet.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> Meanwhile, down the road in Manalapan, the <strong>Ritz-Carlton</strong> is embracing a new angle with the reopening of its signature restaurant, appropriately named <strong>Angle</strong>. Most of the fixin’s, from greens and produce to line-caught fish, comes from local farms, and boutique purveyors who support the “slow food movement.” It’s an American supper club with modest prices — starters from $10, entrees from $26. Of course, you can go all out and request a special dining experience at the Onyx Tasting Table, glowing onyx and amber, that features <strong>Far Niente Wines</strong>, chef’s plates and special Taste Makers dinners. (540-4924)</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> Newest Delray opening is the <strong>Atlantic Ocean Club and Buddah Sky Bar</strong> (217 E. Atlantic Ave.), just west of the tracks. <strong>Jamie DeRosa</strong>, mostly recently at <strong>Taste Gastropub</strong> is running the kitchen, stressing fresh, local, sustainable, organic fare. DeRosa is Florida-raised but raised the level of his craft with <strong>Wolfgang Puck</strong> for five years and then at the Michelin-rated <strong>Fat Duck</strong> in London. Open only since Jan. 24, AOC is already earning good notices, with raves about the seafood, especially the crab cakes.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323500,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960323500,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="240" alt="7960323500?profile=original" /></a>Enjoying some down time in Delray at the <strong>Seagate Hotel,</strong> actor <strong>Morgan Freeman</strong> … Semi-hometown boy <strong>Andy Roddick</strong> headlines the <strong>Delray Beach International Tennis Championships</strong>, Feb. 18-27, and <strong>John McEnroe</strong> once again will play a few games in the middle of Atlantic Avenue. Big Mac’s opponent will be Swede <strong>Mats Wilander</strong> for the “Grand Slam grudge match” at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 18. No charge. <br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Mario Batali cooks up a demonstration at Morikamihttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-mario-batali2010-12-30T17:51:25.000Z2010-12-30T17:51:25.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960315261,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960315261,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="271" alt="7960315261?profile=original" /></a>By Thom Smith</p>
<p><strong>Mario Batali</strong> had logged a busy day, giving a cooking demonstration for <strong>Publix Apron’s Cooking School</strong> at <strong>The Morikami.</strong> The <strong>Food Network</strong> favorite was hungry, and he wanted someone else to do the cooking. He also wanted a place where he could relax with an old school friend who now lives in Boca. <br />So they motored into Delray to <strong>32 Eas</strong>t, where another old — and much honored — friend runs the kitchen. Only one problem: <strong>Nick Morfogen</strong> was away visiting his kids.<br />“We still had a good time,” 32 East owner <strong>Butch Johnson</strong> said of the Dec. 13 encounter. “Mario got there late and we had closed down, but he ate and we did the bulk of our partying with no one around. He stayed late; we enjoyed some grappa and told some stories.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960315089,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960315089,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="269" alt="7960315089?profile=original" /></a>“He’s fun to be around, just like you see on TV. He’s not full of himself.”<br />After partying into the wee hours, Batali hightailed back to New York for a late-night appearance on <strong>Jimmy Fallon’s</strong> show. Sadly for Johnson, he didn’t mention Delray. <br />The Apron’s Cooking School continues Jan. 10 with the Food Network’s newest Iron Chef, <strong>Jose Garces</strong>, followed on Feb. 5 by actress and <em>The Crabby Cook</em> author J<strong>essica Harper</strong>, and Feb. 20 by chef, author and Tuscan travel expert <strong>Gina Stipo</strong>. (<a href="http://www.publix.com/aprons">www.publix.com/aprons</a>).</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>Atlantic Avenue</strong> may be one of the hottest streets on the planet, but life isn’t all peaches and crème fraiche. Location does not guarantee success nor does celebrity. <br />Within a year, two founders of “Floribbean” cuisine have now come and gone. <strong>Mark Militello’s</strong> engagement at <strong>The Office</strong> began in late ’09 and ended barely three months later when owner <strong>David Manero</strong> pink slipped him via text message.<br />The Office remains busy, with new menu items, new Monday-Friday happy hour, cigar menu and, for the first time, reservations.<br />Barely a block north in <strong>Pineapple Grove</strong>, however, <strong>Taste Gastropub</strong> is history… at least in its original form. Its lure was to be <strong>Allen Susser</strong>, another South Florida hero, but various sources claim portions were disproportionate to the prices, the menu was too “South Beachy” and/or Susser’s reputation hadn’t preceded him. Rumors have owner <strong>Robert Workens</strong> reopening with a different concept. <br />Other Floribbean fanciers have come and gone, but <strong>Robbin Haas</strong>, who was at <strong>Bek’s</strong> in Boca late in the last century, will join Militello, Susser, <strong>Doug Rodriguez</strong> of <strong>D. Rodriguez Cuba</strong> in Miami Beach, <strong>Oliver Saucy</strong> of <strong>Café Maxx</strong> in Pompano and <strong>Cindy Hutson</strong> of <strong>Ortanique on the Mile</strong> in Coral Gables at <strong>Boca Bacchanal</strong> in March.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br /> ***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>Worth Avenue</strong> looked busy… <br /><strong>Ferragamo</strong> was packed with a special party aimed at shoe-buyers.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Another private party filled <strong>Tiffany</strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>Graf Jewelers</strong>, too!<br />Valets in black caps and red jackets steered the invited social elite from their luxvees — including a very un-Ferrari-like silver and blue Ferrari — into <strong>Cartier</strong>, which for the umpteenth year teamed with a local charity for a Christmas party. This season’s beneficiary: <strong>Caron Renaissance Treatment Center</strong>: a Delray Beach-based substance-abuse treatment center whose clientele includes many who reside in 33480.<br />Waiters circulated with champagne, caviar crisps and stone crab salad on silver spoons. Cartier Director <strong>Clemens Ritter von Wagner</strong> and Caron’s 2011 Renaissance Gala Chairman <strong>Petra Levin</strong> made sure that everyone felt comfortable, since for five days, 10 percent of Cartier’s sales went to Caron.<br />But even in Palm Beach, life is not what it seems. The economic Grinch may not have stolen Christmas, but he’d furloughed some long-timers.<br />“Where’s Santa?” asked <strong>Arlette Gordon</strong>, a Cartier party regular, lamenting the absence for the first time in many years of “Santa to the Stars” <strong>Brady White.</strong> “It’s just not the same without him.”<br />Still, a good time was had by all, as a photographer caught the women trying on Cartier’s newest designs … easy hints for husbands and boyfriends.<br />Across the street, <strong>Ta-boo</strong> was busy, for which owner <strong>Franklyn DeMarco</strong> was grateful. <br />“Everyone’s in town now,” he said. “But what about after the holidays. … And in the summer. The days of being open just in the season are long gone. We need people year round. The street (<strong>Worth Avenue</strong>) is beautiful now. But I hope the $16 million (refurbishment) does some long-term good.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> <strong>The Breakers</strong> was lit up a few days earlier for <strong>Hospice of Palm Beach County’s</strong> annual golf weekend: cocktail party, raffle and auction on Friday night, golf on Saturday. The event has been hosted since 1998 by <strong>NBC Today’s Matt Lauer</strong> who hasn’t forgotten its great work when his father needed hospice care. <br />Lauer brought some heavyweights to the cocktail party, including former Miami Dolphins running back <strong>Keith Byars</strong>, who, swears Breakers VP <strong>Dave Burke</strong>, has the world’s largest forearms. Also in the crowd, ex-pro QB <strong>Steve Walsh</strong>, hoops legend <strong>John Havlicek</strong> and Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist <strong>Paul Szep</strong>. <br />Turns out Byars’ forearms swing a golf club well. His fivesome won Saturday’s golf event.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> Farther south, the shops along <strong>Ocean Avenue</strong> in Lantana have been given a reprieve of sorts.<br />Replacement of the bridge over the Intracoastal was supposed to begin in early summer, now the word is maybe early fall.<br />“We hear maybe 10 months,” said <strong>Dak Kerprich</strong>, owner of <strong>Pizzeria Oceana.</strong> “When it happens, it happens.”<br />Meanwhile, he’s been dealing with the cold weather as most of his seating is on an outdoor deck. Since the inside bar accommodates only half a dozen customers, “We had a wait,” Kerprich said with a smile as he prepped another pie. “No problem. We put a couple of tables back here in the kitchen. Of course, they had to help clean up.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> Could be cool … The Seventh Annual <strong>Delray Beach Poetry Festival</strong> will feature eight of America’s top poets, including <strong>Robert Pinsky</strong>, the nation’s poet laureate from 1997 to 2000. On Jan. 19, Pinsky will read his poems accompanied by local jazz musicians. <br />The eight writing workshops and 13 public events at <strong>Old School Square</strong> will feature national slam poetry champs <strong>D. Blair</strong> and <strong>Taylor Mali</strong>, plus <strong>Stuart Dischell</strong>, <strong>Jane Hirshfield</strong>, <strong>Thomas Lux</strong>, <strong>Heather McHugh</strong>, <strong>Vijay Seshadri</strong>, <strong>Alan Shapiro</strong>, <strong>Ellen Bryant Voigt</strong> and <strong>C.D. Wright</strong>.<br />The festival won a $50,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s <strong>Knight Art Challenge</strong>. The five-year, $40 million program is designed to bring South Florida together through the arts. The poetry festival is the only Palm Beach County event to receive a Knight grant in 2010. (<a href="http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org">www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org</a>.)</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br />***</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> I can smell it now! The <strong>Delray Garlic Festival</strong> is just around the corner. <br />Everything garlic that you can imagine, including a chefs competition, 180 vendors and, yes, music, topped on Saturday night, Feb. 12, with a knock-’em dead show by <strong>Buddy Guy.</strong> <br />Other acts over the three days include the <strong>Dark Star Orchestra</strong> and the <strong>Fabulous Fleetwoods</strong> on Friday and regional acts <strong>Amber Leigh</strong>, <strong>Andy Childs</strong> and <strong>Outside the Box</strong>, plus Zeppelin tribute band, <strong>Led-Hed</strong> on Sunday. All for just $10 a day.<br /><br /><em>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com</em></p></div>Along the Avenues: Rapoport revives restaurant with Deck 84 debutehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-rapoport2010-12-01T21:07:32.000Z2010-12-01T21:07:32.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Thom Smith<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Deck 84</span> is finally a reality, and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Burt Rapoport’s</span> 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. <br /><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960315452,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
“It took me three months to get the money and three months to finish it,” said Rapoport, who also runs <span style="font-weight:bold;">Henry’s</span> in west Delray and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bogart’s</span> in Boca Raton and claims a share of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Max’s Grille</span> in Boca. “I think it looks pretty good.”<br />The biggest feature, of course, is the water access. With 150 feet of dock space, Deck 84 can handle anything from Jet Skis to mega yachts. Anglers can clean their catch at a dockside table and the staff will prepare it with sides, salad and drink for $9. <br />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. <br />That may not go over too well with some Deck 84 neighbors who already have expressed concerns to the city about noise and about patrons and staff parking where they shouldn’t, blocking driveways and generally making life unpleasant.<br />“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.”<br />To solve the parking problems, Rapoport has arranged for additional 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. <br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
More live music for Delray. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pineapple Groove</span> opened quietly in late November, a couple nights here and there to work out the kinks, but if things go as planned, the new club by the tracks will be rockin’ by early December. <br />“We’ve got great sound and a great concept. We’ll have a wide variety of music — blues, classic rock, even some jazz,” co-owner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Randy Grinter</span> said. <br /> The building, just north of Atlantic and east of the FEC tracks, originally a vegetable packing house and more recently a warehouse for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Hand’s Office and Art Supply</span>, was <span style="font-weight:bold;">City Limits</span> until April 2009. To Grinter, who’s been involved in several South Florida live music clubs and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Club Ovation</span> in Boynton Beach, and Miami-based partners <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mitch and Richard Clarvit</span>, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.<br />“It’s got great sound and it’s a place where people can do a lot of things,” Grinter said. “Club owners always wish they could do it like this.”<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
With visions of cheesecake dancing in her head, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Taylor Morgan</span>, host of <span style="font-weight:bold;">South Florida Dines</span> radio show and founder of <span style="font-weight:bold;">SouthFloridaDines.com</span>, envisioned a calendar, racier than a triple chocolate mousse — a ladle here, a toque there — of South Florida’s hottest chefs. <br /><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960314673,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
Only one problem, chefs may subject chicken skin to air, but not their own. <br />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 <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.myhotechefs.com">www.myhotechefs.com</a></span>, it’s selling like hotcakes. <br />Why? Because it includes recipes and cooking tips plus $25-off certificates redeemable at each of the 12 chefs’ restaurants and 10 percent of the proceeds will go to the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Big Heart Brigade</span>, which prepares and delivers meals to needy South Floridians every Thanksgiving. <br />Not surprising, most of the hotties were local: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Allen Susser</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Taste</span>, and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bruce Feingold</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dada</span>, in Delray Beach; <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dudley Bell Rich III</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Carmen’s at the Top of the Bridge</span>, Boca Raton; <span style="font-weight:bold;">David Hagan</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">City Cellar</span>, West Palm Beach; <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jayme Franklin</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Couco Pazzo</span>, Lake Worth; <span style="font-weight:bold;">Zach Bell</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cafe Boulud</span>, West Palm Beach; <span style="font-weight:bold;">Charlie Soo</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Talay Thai Cuisine</span>, Palm Beach Gardens.<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Another longtime food fixture in Boca was <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tom Wright</span>, whose literally had ’em waiting in line for barbecue and soul food for three decades. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tom’s Place</span> started in a flat-roofed blockhouse at the corner of Dixie and Glades and later moved to a brand new 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. <br />Son <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tom Jr.</span> tried and failed to revive the concept in West Palm Beach, in a building formerly occupied by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Blue Front Bar-B-Q</span>. Now two other offspring hope they have the Wright stuff. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kenny Wright</span> and his sister, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Belinda Johnson</span>, are running Tom’s Place right next to the FEC tracks on Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach.<br />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 at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Green Market Cafe</span>. They’re open Tuesday through Saturday. (561-843-7487).<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Up in Palm Beach, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ristorante Amici</span> was a fixture for two decades and proprietor <span style="font-weight:bold;">Maurizio Ciminella</span> was one of the area’s most popular restaurateurs. <br />A few years ago, Ciminella and his partners added <span style="font-weight:bold;">Forte</span> on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach. Reviews were uniformly good, but bad times hit downtown and Forte was morto. <br />Ciminella, however, never says die. A few years ago, he began selling his own brand of sopressata, Italian-style sausage, so he decided why not market it in his own market. Just so happens, one was available in Palm Beach — <span style="font-weight:bold;">Market Salamander</span>. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sheila Johnson</span>, a co-founder of <span style="font-weight:bold;">BET</span> cable network, had paid $2 million for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Herbert’s Lafayette Market</span> at 155 N. County Road in 2004 and poured another $2 million into renovations before opening in early 2007. Never caught on. <br />Ciminella and partner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bob Cuillo</span> cut a deal and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Amici Market</span> opened Nov. 30. <br />“We have a little bit of everything,” Ciminella said, showing off his 300-bottle wine cellar, self-serve espresso/cappuccino/latte/hot chocolate machine, gourmet kitchen for pizza and other take-out, fresh bakery, produce, seafood counter, even cereal and packaged pudding. “And I’m competitive. I’m priced below <span style="font-weight:bold;">Publix</span>.”<br />Cranking out the pizza and other delights will be <span style="font-weight:bold;">Johnny Contreras</span>, his former chef at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Amici</span>. <br />And most important for folks to the south: “We deliver,” Ciminella said. “We have lots of customers in Manalapan, and lots of our restaurant customers came from Boca. Now we will go to them!”<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Ah, the sweet life has been so good on J Street for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cindy White</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jay Simpson</span> that they needed more room for their <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dolce Vita</span> wine bar. Just like that, something fell into their laps, and it wasn’t pinot noir. <br />When <span style="font-weight:bold;">Soma Center</span>, the yoga and vegan center at 609 Lake Ave., was evicted, Cindy and Jay jumped at the opportunity and will open Dec. 11. The new space includes an outdoor patio, and will permit an expanded menu that includes draft beers, tapas and, to attract the former clientele, organic dishes.<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Celebrating its 25th season, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Miami City Ballet</span> made its first of several visits to the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kravis Center</span> Nov. 19-21. Why a Miami troupe in the Palm Beaches? Because a disproportionate amount of its patronage is up here compared to 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 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Edward Villella</span>.<br />Among the group, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Nancy Hart</span> of Palm Beach Gardens and her daughter, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lisa Leder</span> of Boca Raton, especially wanted to get the inside scoop as they’re chairing <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Gala, A Prelude to Romeo & Juliet</span> Feb. 18 at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Flagler Museum</span>. (Tickets $500, 561-674-9978.)<br />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. <br />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.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com</span><br /><br /></div>Along the Avenues: Evert lobs challenges by focusing on family — South Palm Beach through Delray Beachhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-evert-lobs2010-11-03T21:30:00.000Z2010-11-03T21:30:00.000ZScott Simmonshttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ScottSimmons<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img style="width:477px;height:344px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960308856,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<br /><br />Racquet back, eye on the ball …<br />Pop! And another shot strikes the clay inches inside the baseline. “That’s it, that’s it!,” the encouraging words follow as a young girl, barely in her teens, struggles with the fusillade that tests her forehand and backhand. Poor child, she’s definitely in over her head, so young she probably doesn’t appreciate that she’s being challenged by one of the greatest women ever to play tennis. <br />Maybe, just maybe, the child will grow into a complete player, maybe a champion, but it will take time. <br />“You don’t see drop shots; you don’t see lobs as much,” <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chris Evert</span> explains after the session at her Evert Tennis Academy west of Boca Raton. “It’s just all power. None of these kids know what a drop shot is. That was my best shot. I tease them with it. These kids are in pain after getting drop shots for an hour.”<br />Not tall (5-foot-6), never muscular, Evert developed a mastery of the mental game that helped her win 157 singles titles, including 18 Grand Slams. Now, as she approaches 56, she tries to teach her students to wear down opponents, make them uncomfortable.<br />“When most of them get to the net, they don’t know what to do,” she says. “I also work on the approach shot. Like when I was drilling balls at that girl: They’re fine, but when it comes to moving up, hitting and split-stepping, they don’t hit enough of those shots. That is the missing link with these girls today.”<br />The past 18 months tested Evert’s steely constitution more than ever, but she’s again focusing on the things that matter most — her three sons, her family and the 21st Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic.<br />Tennis players such as <span style="font-weight:bold;">Vince Spadea</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sebastian Grosjean</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Martina Navratilova</span> will pair with such celebs as <span style="font-weight:bold;">Alan Thicke</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jon Lovitz</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gavin Rossdale</span> and American Idol <span style="font-weight:bold;">David Cook</span> for matches Nov. 6 and 7 at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Beach Tennis Center</span>. The Nov. 6 gala at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boca Raton Resort & Club</span> stars <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kool & The Gang</span>. <br />The money raised, $18 million, stays in South Florida to fight drug abuse and help neglected and abused children. (Call 561-394-2400 for tickets.)<br />Despite her sudden divorce from golfer <span style="font-weight:bold;">Greg Norman</span> after 15 months of marriage, Evert never doubted she would return for year 21 of the classic.<br />“I would be willing to say that probably last year was the toughest year of my life,” she volunteered. “I was blindsided. It was very tough. But at the same time, there’s always a silver lining. Being alone for the last year, as painful as it was coming out of it, you certainly learn a lot about yourself through adversity. <br />“I’m in a lot better place now than I was this time last year. Time heals.”<br />Self-discipline helped. Hitting at the academy four days a week, weight training, pilates, yoga helped to dampen the pain. <br />“I’m very lucky to have the luxury of time,” she said. “Not every woman can do that. If you have a 9-to-5 job, it’s tough. Honestly, it’s not about how I look, it’s how I feel up here. In the last year, I’ve really charged ahead and upped my fitness. For my frame of mind, it really helped me.”<br />So did family. Her parents, now in their 80s, take walks every day and mom Colette still plays a little tennis. Brothers John and Drew are on the academy staff; sister Jeanne lives and teaches tennis in Delray; and, of course, her three sons are growing up.<br />Alex, 18, enrolled this fall at the University of Colorado, Nicky, 16, attends St. Andrew’s School, and Colton, 14, attends Boca Prep. At Nicky’s age, Chris was winning tournaments — and cars she was too young to drive. Nicky plays some tennis, but the boys’ interests are more diverse. That’s fine with Chris and their father, Andy Mill — “He’s really been a good dad” — who splits time between Boca and Aspen. <br />“My kids are the most important thing to me,” she said.<br /> <br /><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960308697,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<br />So much is going on at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Florida Atlantic University</span>, and now that includes construction of the football stadium. Finally. Ground was broken Oct. 15, complete with a field goal through palm tree “goalposts,” and the traditional earth-turning ceremony. Leading the way were FAU’s new president, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mary Jane Saunders</span>, who was formally inaugurated a week later, and former president <span style="font-weight:bold;">Frank Brogan</span>, now state university system chancellor, who served as cheerleader. <br />“We’re going to do things that nobody thought were possible,” Brogan told several hundred guests at the party. Now if <span style="font-weight:bold;">Coach Howard Schnellenberger</span> can just put his team on a winning path, so people will fill the 30,000-seat stadium when it opens next fall.<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Yes, the season is upon us. Green markets are setting up every Saturday in the southwest parking lot at Royal Palm Place in Boca, on Southeast Fourth Avenue just south of Atlantic in Delray and just off the beach in Lake Worth. The produce is special; so is the camaraderie. To view photos from opening days at our local Green markets, visit <a href="www.thecoastalstar.ning.com">www.thecoastalstar.ning.com</a>.<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Hoping to give Boynton a boost downtown, the Community Redevelopment Agency has approved the conversion of two historic houses it owns into restaurants.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Ruth Jones Cottage</span>, built in 1940, will be moved from First Street to the southwest corner of Ocean and Southeast Fourth Street to become <span style="font-weight:bold;">201 Trading Post</span>. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sandra Gagne</span>, who owned the now closed <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dockside Market</span>, plans a restaurant and market with a takeout window. <br />The two-story <span style="font-weight:bold;">Magnuson House</span>, built in 1910, will stay at 211 E. Ocean and become <span style="font-weight:bold;">Oscar’s</span>, a Key West-style an organic café. The proposal was made by entrepreneur <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jordan Chussler</span>, who runs a bio-fuels company in Boca. <br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Another Boca entity, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Harvey Lowenstein</span>, is having so much fun with his monster Chicago-style franks at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Hotdog-Opolis</span> on North Federal that he’s bringing a second to the former <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chicago Joe’s</span> site in Boynton. <br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Elsewhere on the restaurant scene: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jo-Al’s</span> in Boynton is now <span style="font-weight:bold;">Beach Break</span>. Breakfast only, but lunch to come soon … <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chrissy’s Sweet Treats</span> in Delray is history … <span style="font-weight:bold;">Burt Rapoport</span> will open <span style="font-weight:bold;">Deck 84</span> (the old <span style="font-weight:bold;">Busch’s</span>) on Atlantic in Delray on Nov. 19 … Yoga, vegan food and the ambience weren’t enough for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Soma Center</span> in Lake Worth. Rent hadn’t been paid for months, so landlord Herman Robinson evicted Soma in mid-October. He’s open to a similar concept. … <span style="font-weight:bold;">Michelle Bernstein’s Terrace</span> at <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Omphoy</span> is offering a Sizzling Sunday Jazz Brunch at the beachfront hotel Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Jan. 2. A la carte or prix fixe, 540-6450. … <span style="font-weight:bold;">Steven Pellegrino Sr. and Jr.</span>, the folks who gave Delray's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Il Bacio</span>, have bought <span style="font-weight:bold;">Blue Fish</span> on Atlantic and plan to convert from seafood to steakhouse. December or January opening. … West of the George Bush Blvd. Bridge, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dirk and Lily Buchheit</span> have opened <span style="font-weight:bold;">Patio Delray</span> in the former <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pauline’s</span> (and previously <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pineapple Grill</span>) location. It’s dinner only now, but lunch is planned soon.<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Switching from one Boynton street corner to another along Federal Highway is <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bank of America.</span> The large, white building at the corner of Federal and Ocean is scheduled to close on April 1, 2011 with a new banking center opening in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sunshine Square</span> at the corner of Federal and Woolbright a few days later. All associates from the current bank location are expected to move to the new location, so look for the same familiar faces.<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
At the theater: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Caldwell Theatre Company</span> revives the spicy dance musical <span style="font-style:italic;">Vices: A Love Story</span> (Nov. 7-Dec.12); <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Beach Playhouse</span> celebrates 64 years of live theater with <span style="font-style:italic;">Who Killed Santa Claus?</span> (Dec. 3-19) and <span style="font-style:italic;">Hello David!</span> (Dec. 13-22); <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lake Worth Playhouse</span> plants <span style="font-style:italic;">Steel Magnolias</span> (Nov. 18-Dec. 5).<br /><div style="text-align:center;">***<br /></div>
Finally, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boynton Beach Library</span> is offering a photographic exhibit, <span style="font-weight:bold;">“From Julia Child’s Kitchen,”</span> through Jan. 27. It features photos shot in 1975 by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Albie Walton</span> for Julia’s cookbook. Afterward, you can head downstairs for lunch, a snack or the occasional culinary demonstration in the library’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sailfish Café</span>. Bon appétit!<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com.</span></div>Along the Avenues: Boynton Diner scores chef with Ta-boo tieshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-boynton-12010-09-29T17:00:00.000Z2010-09-29T17:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">By Thom Smith</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">In spite of the tough times and the crazy politics, life goes on in Boynton Beach. In fact, in some cases it’s getting better. Just ask <b>Troy Wyman</b>.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For Wyman, the sun is shining brightly in <b>Sunshine Square Plaza</b> at the corner of<br /> Woolbright and Federal, where his <b>Boynton Diner</b> is taking a big leap to …<br />
dinner!</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">As of Oct. 1, the diner will offer three squares a day. To the already ambitious<br /> daily menu, add the likes of maple, peach and jalapeño-glazed twin boneless pork<br />
chops, pineapple jerk-marinated jumbo shrimp brochette or smoked salmon penne<br />
with asparagus and vodka dill cream sauce.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Wyman credits his new chef, <b>Jim Grisbeck</b>, who until recently cooked at <b>Ta-boo</b> on Palm<br /> Beach’s Worth Avenue. Yeah, yeah, it’s hard to believe, but Boynton is doing<br />
better than Palm Beach, at least where the Diner is concerned.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“There’s nothing in the area that does our kind of food, diner food that’s a step<br /> above,” Wyman said. “The<br />
opportunity was there and I picked up a great chef, so we decided to try<br />
dinner. It’s the best value in the area.”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Wyman’s optimism is bolstered by the surge in occupancy at <b>Las Ventanas</b>, the massive<br /> 494-unit rental and retail project across the street, where occupancy has<br />
already reached 80 percent.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“We really hated to lose him,” Ta-boo manager <b>Mark Mariacher</b> said of Grisbeck, “but<br /> he was much better than what we had him doing here and with business being<br />
slow, we had no choice.”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The breakfast menu offers 50-plus items, from basic bacon and eggs to fancy French<br /> toasts. The Camp Fire ($9.50) is<br />
two slices of graham-cracker-encrusted French toast stuffed with chocolate and<br />
marshmallow. The seafood frittata ($12.95) includes grilled shrimp, crab and<br />
lobster with three eggs and Swiss cheese topped with béarnaise sauce, plus a<br />
side and toast.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">A recent lunch menu included chicken pot pie ($8.95) and fried catfish jambalaya<br /> with shrimp, mahi, crab and lobster with peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic<br />
rice and tomatoes, topped with cornmeal breaded catfish and jalapeno cornbread<br />
on the side ($9.95).</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Diner food? A step above? How about a<br /> giant step?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">***</span></font></p>
<br />
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<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Speaking of Palm Beach, the massive seven-month, $15.8 million <b>Worth Avenue</b> improvement<br /> project is on schedule and by some accounts should be done before the projected<br />
Nov. 30 finish date and under budget. The new clock tower is in place at the<br />
ocean end of the street. Sidewalks have been widened and paved with tabby; new<br />
street lights are going up; pedestrian rest areas will include shade trees.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Of course, the construction has snarled traffic and hasn’t been great for<br /> business. County Road, which was closed just south of Worth Avenue in early<br />
August, is scheduled to reopen Oct. 15. Some businesses have struggled.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“Our customers have been very loyal,” Ta-boo’s Mark Mariacher said. “Despite all the<br /> mess and the inconvenience, they’ve kept coming back. <b>Bice</b> and <b>Renato’s</b> have<br />
held on, too!</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span>***</span></span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Word is finally out … <b>Burt Rapoport’s</b> new restaurant in Delray will be called <b>Deck<br /> 84</b>. Nestled along the Intracoastal at 840 East Atlantic — hence the name, which<br />
Burt says “suited the concept well” — the former <b>Busch’s Seafood</b> site will seat<br />
260 inside and outside along a 150-foot dock. Rapoport, who also has <b>Henry’s</b> on<br />
Jog Road west of Delray and <b>Bogart’s</b> in Boca, will put the kitchen in the<br />
competent hands of Bogart’s exec chef <b>Chuck Gittleman</b>. Look for a casual menu<br />
of small plate dishes and finger food with an emphasis on fresh seafood.</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;">Rapoport<br />
had hoped to open in October, but now he’s pushed it back to mid- to late November.<br />
“We had hoped to open sooner,” he said, “but it never goes the way you want it.<br />
Little things always pop up, and I want to get it right first.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">***</span></font></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Look for lunch service to begin in mid-October at Lantana’s newest eatery, <b>Apicius</b>.<br /> After several delays, <b>Leo Balestrieri</b> finally began serving Florentine<br />
specialities for dinner at his <i>ristorante</i><br />
and <i>enoteca</i> (wine repository) at 210<br />
E. Ocean in early September. Balestrieri has turned it inside out with 4,000<br />
square feet of inside and outside seating. Apicius has a lot of history on its<br />
side, being named for the first Italian cookbook, but the site’s history has<br />
been spotty. Four attempts since 2005 have failed: most recently <b>R-Kitchen</b>,<br />
<b>Sara’s Kitchen</b> and the highly regarded <b>Il Cioppino</b> and <b>Il Trullo</b>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">***</span></font></p>
<br />
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<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Meanwhile in Lake Worth, <b>Prime 707</b> which begat <b>Ouzo Blue</b> has begat <b>Fiorentina</b>. The names<br /> have changed, but at least one face remains the same at 707 Lake Ave. That<br />
being <b>Josh Santangela</b>, who has gone from manager at Prime 707 to chef/owner at<br />
Fiorentina. He’s dishing out contemporary regional Italian, or as he sees it,<br />
“like Paradiso but with a lower price point.”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">More change in Lake Worth as we say good-bye to <b>Yesterday’s</b>, and say hello to <b>Palm<br /> Beach Home Interiors</b>.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><b>Yesterday’s Antique Mall</b>, the popular but unprofitable (for the landlord) antique<br /> consignment store on Lake Avenue, closed rather suddenly last month. But as of<br />
Oct. 1, it’s home to Palm Beach Home Interiors, a furniture consignment store,<br />
operated by <b>Palm Beach Consignment Group</b>. The company also owns <b>Van Michael’s<br />
Consignment</b> in West Palm Beach and <b>Jamie’s Classic Consignment</b> in Lantana<br />
and plans to open <b>Antique Row Consignments</b> on Oct. 6 at the<br />
former <b>Chris Ellis Collection</b> space on Dixie Highway in<br />
West Palm Beach. Offering “upscale furniture without the upscale price of new<br />
retail,” the new store will offer a couple of other little twists: monthly<br />
exhibits by local and regional artists and seminars in art and home design.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span>***</span></span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Both <b>The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach</b> and the the <b>Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Race for<br /> the Cure</b> are celebrating their 20th anniversary in Palm Beach this year. Since<br />
October is <b>Breast Cancer Awareness Month</b>, the resort is teaming with the<br />
foundation to offer a special deal that actually will continue until race day,<br />
Jan. 20.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The purely pink “Sweet Dreams for the Cure” package offers each guest a pink<br /> bathrobes and a pair of fluffy pink socks, a pink “Dream for the Cure”<br />
pillowcase from Pioneer Linens, a pink pedicure from the resort’s <b>Eau Spa by<br />
Cornelia</b>, and special pink welcome cupcakes.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Five percent of the proceeds ($399 per room) goes to the Komen Foundation. Call<br /> 561-533-6000.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">***</span></font></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Since he arrived on the scene in the early ‘70s, <b>Dennis Koehler</b> has been involved in<br /> public service. A veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam, he represented District<br />
3 on the County Commission from 1976-1984. One of the first proponents for<br />
controlled growth in Palm Beach County, he continued that role on the County<br />
Planning Commission. <br />
Koehler also is an advocate for veterans and veterans rights. Last month the<br />
Vietnam Veterans of America recognized him with its highest honor, the VVA<br />
Commendation Medal, for “outstanding, exemplary service to veterans, and to his<br />
community.”<br />
He’s still fighting . . . but now the foe is cancer. What started out as small<br />
battle against melanoma has become a full-body war. The cancer and its<br />
treatment have forced him to close his one-man law practice and the bills are<br />
staggering, so fellow veterans and friends have organized a benefit at <b>E.R.<br />
Bradley’s Saloon</b> in West Palm Beach at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 12. Sponsorships are<br />
available, but friends are urged to come and contribute what they can. For more<br />
info, contact <u>thcorey@aol.com</u>.</span> <span>mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;"><br /></span></font></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;">Don’t miss</span></b></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The first <b>Oktoberfest</b> of the season — Saturday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m., at the <b>Count de<br /> Hoernle Pavilion at the of F.E.C. Railway Station</b> in Boca Raton. Benefits the<br />
<b>Boca Historical Society</b>. Food, German <i>bier</i>,<br />
bake sale (German) and music by the <b>Sheffield Brothers</b>. $75, 561-395-6766<br />
or <a href="http://www.bocahistory.org">www.bocahistory.org</a>.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The big daddy, the <b>American German Club’s</b> 37th annual fest, opens Friday, Oct. 8<br /> and runs for two weekends at the club’s headquarters at 5111 Lantana Road. $7<br />
admission, free parking, bands from Munich, German food and drink, carnival<br />
rides and lots of dancing — belly, Irish and, of course, chicken. 561-967-6464.<br />
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">***</span></font></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">While the <b>Dolphins</b> are away, the Dol-Fans will play …<span>yes""></span> at <b>Mizner Park</b> in Boca. This year the Dolphins and the city<br /> have teamed up to produce “South Florida’s biggest away-game parties” every<br />
time the Fins are playing somewhere else. On Oct. 17, while the Dolphins are<br />
playing the <b>Packers</b> in Green Bay, several thousand fans are expected to join<br />
Dolphins alumni, cheerleaders and the <b>T.D. Fins Force</b> to watch games on<br />
large-screen TVs. Area restaurants offer game specials and admission and<br />
parking are free. See <a href="http://www.downtownboca.org">www.downtownboca.org</a>.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span>***</span></span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">He wasn’t around back then, but <b>Harvey Oyer, III</b> knows better than most what life was<br /> like for Florida’s legendary “<b>Barefoot Mailmen</b>.” Oyer, an attorney and<br />
historian, is the great-grand-nephew of <b>Charles Pierce</b>, one of that select and<br />
celebrated group in the late 1800s who delivered the mail between Palm Beach<br />
and Miami, almost 70 miles one-way by foot and by rowboat.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Oyer also is an author. To help celebrate Florida Heritage Month, he’ll discuss his<br /> latest book, <i>The Adventures of Charlie<br />
Pierce: The Last Egret</i>, on Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Delray Beach Public<br />
Library. No charge. 561-266-9490.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;">***</span></font></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Just in case <b>BP</b> hasn’t learned its lesson, the <b>Raging Grannies</b> and supporters of<br /> <b>Clay Glass Metal Stone Cooperative Gallery</b> in Lake Worth intend to make a point<br />
from Oct. 1-13 with its latest exhibit, “The Raging Arts (or) What Are We Doing<br />
to This Planet?”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">To call attention to recent environmental disasters, the gallery’s sidewalk will<br /> become a beach scene complete with sand, wildlife (extant and extinct) and an<br />
oil-pumping derrick. Local artists will be joined by the Raging Grannies, part<br />
of a national movement of activist grandmothers, who perform parodies that<br />
promote peace not war.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The Oct. 1 opening will include wine and cheese tastings. Call 215-205-9441.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;"><i><br /></i></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15px;"><i>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com</i></span></font></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p></div>Along the Avenues: Omphoy still seeks recipe for successhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-omphoy-still2010-09-02T15:13:59.000Z2010-09-02T15:13:59.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">By Thom Smith</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Colonel Sanders</span> was the chicken king, but <span style="font-weight:bold;">Michelle Bernstein</span> may be the new queen, and
if enough of her subjects seek an audience, it could be good news for the
troubled <span style="font-weight:bold;">Omphoy Resort</span> just north of the Lake Worth bridge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The rage at her Miami restaurant for years, Bernstein’s fried chicken is now an
all-you-can-eat item on Wednesdays at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Michelle Bernstein at the Omphoy</span>. Price:
$36 including cornbread, cole slaw and watermelon Greek salad, plus a red
velvet cupcake.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Let’s face it, The Omphoy can use all the help it can muster. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Stabfund (USA) Inc.</span>, a
Swiss investor, filed a foreclosure suit against <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ceebraid-Signal Corp.</span>, parent
company of Omphoy and Lake Worth’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gulfstream Hotel</span>. Stabfund wants its $60
million back.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Ceebraid-Signal has been blessed by bad timing. After several delays and nearly a $100 million
investment, The Omphoy opened last summer, just as the economy was tanking.
This after Ceebraid-Signal had bought the historic Gulfstream, on the city side
of the bridge, in 2005, just in time for Hurricane Wilma. It hasn’t opened
since. Fortunately for Ceebraid-Signal, its old standby,
the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Brazilian Court</span>, is a condominium, so it still realizes income from those
fees.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Meanwhile the Omphoy limps along, hoping to restructure its debt. “Ceebraid has rallied
from numerous setbacks over the years,” a source said, noting that Bernstein’s
restaurant and the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Exhale Spa</span> continue to do well. But the Omphoy is “not
running as a four-star resort,” and the company is “looking for a
partner.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">When we last visited <span style="font-weight:bold;">Callaro’s</span> in this column, the Manalapan restaurant was
providing hors d’oeuvres for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Florida Stage’s</span> farewell party. The stage is now
empty, but business must go on, so Callaro’s is augmenting its steaks and
seafood with something new: SOB dance parties.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">That’s SOB as in South Ocean Boulevard.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 10, the lights go down and the music comes up for
late night dancing designed to attract singles, couples, singles who may become
couples and couples on the verge of going single. Different drink and food
specials are offered each night. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">In a twist on the old adage, the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Beach Public Library</span> seems to be on a
course that the path to a man’s heart — and brain — is through his stomach.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">When city cut the library’s funding by 5 percent, the library turned to the city’s
vibrant restaurant community to take up some slack. “Dine Out for a Cause” —
begun in 2008 as a summer promotion — features city officials “performing” as
celebrity chefs. On Aug. 26, at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Triple 8 Lounge at Falcon House</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mayor
Woodie McDuffie</span> took his turn in the kitchen. More customers for Falcon House,
and the library got 10 percent of the total tab. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The library also has a deal with <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ken Bebout</span>, who owns a <span style="font-weight:bold;">Subway</span> two blocks away on
Atlantic Avenue. Realizing that young readers make good customers, Bebout began
donating food and free coupons to neighborhood children who take part in the
library’s summer reading programs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">On Aug. 19, he opened his second sub shop at the corner of Federal and Atlantic, and proceeds from opening day went,
natch, to the library. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Just across the street from the library is the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Beach Tennis Center</span>, which has
hosted the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Beach International Tennis Championships</span> for 13 years. For
its contribution to the county’s tourism, the tournament was just named
recipient of the <span style="font-weight:bold;">2010 Providencia Award</span> by the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Palm Beach County Convention
& Visitors Bureau.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Due largely to the tournament, Delray was voted one of the “10 Best Tennis Towns”
in the nation by the <span style="font-weight:bold;">U.S. Tennis Association</span>. Who can forget February’s match on Atlantic Avenue
featuring <span style="font-weight:bold;">John “You can’t be serious” McEnroe</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ronald Agenor</span>?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Nominees included the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boca Raton Museum of Art</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">CityPlace</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">David Feder</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">International
Polo Club Palm Beach</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum,</span> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Nancy Marshall</span> and
the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Palm Beach International Boat Show</span>. Previous winners include <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jack Nicklaus,</span>
<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Morikami Museum</span>, the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Norton Museum of Art</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">SunFest</span> and the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boca Raton
Resort & Club.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Presentation is set for Sept. 30 at the County Convention Center.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Love’s labors won’t be lost this Labor Day weekend, thanks to <span style="font-weight:bold;">Il Bacio.</span> The Delray
nightclub’s “Amazonia,” party on Sept. 5, will feature a glow-in-the-dark body
paint fashion show, neon jungle models and a seven-piece reggae band. Guests
are urged to wear all white. Reservations required (561-865-7785). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Restaurateur <span style="font-weight:bold;">Burt Rapoport</span> anticipates a mid-autumn opening for his new waterfront
restaurant in the site formerly occupied by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Busch’s Seafood</span>. It won’t, however,
be called <span style="font-weight:bold;">Burt’s At The Bridge,</span> as previously reported. Stay tuned.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The other Intracoastal bridge, on <span style="font-weight:bold;">George Bush Boulevard</span>, is closed for repair, and
so is <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pauline’s Restaurant</span> … for good. A sign in the window by the new —
undisclosed — owner says it will reopen in November.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">We’ll give the just-opened <span style="font-weight:bold;">Caliente Kitchen</span> some time before deciding if it’s just another
taco stand, no matter that they’re served in bright orange shells. Lots of
tequilas behind the long red bar. The trendy cantina at the west end of
Atlantic shares a courtyard with <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tryst.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">So Aunt Sophie in Topeka is on a diet and you want to punish her? Why not have
<span style="font-weight:bold;">TooJay’s</span> send her a “Killer Cake”? The popular deli that spread from its
original location in Palm Beach’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Royal Poinciana Plaza</span> to 26 locations in
Florida, including Boca, Boynton and Lake Worth, is going semi-national.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">From the decadent Killer Cake ($37.95) to the Ultimate Deli Lunch (serves 6-8) for
$74.95, TooJay’s Online Store will ship anywhere east of the Mississippi for
just $19.95 and guarantee it’s fresh. Call 888-537-8380 or visit
<a href="http://www.toojays.com">www.toojays.com</a>. <br /></span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960301480,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">One of the largest nonprofits anywhere and one of the smallest hooked up for a
fund-raiser at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Crane’s BeachHouse</span> in Delray Aug. 19.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">As custodian for a 146,000-acre National Wildlife Preserve, the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Arthur R. Marshall
Foundation</span> may be the largest nonprofit on earth. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Mounts Botanical Garden</span>
in West Palm Beach only occupies 10 acres.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Both, however, need money, and since they are two of Palm Beach County’s “greenest”
organizations and both feature names that begin with M, it was fitting that
green M&Ms were the treat of the day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">A handful of guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, beverages and a raffle that included
exotic plants and airboat rides to raise money and awareness for the crucial
environmental groups.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“It’s a start,” said Mounts Friends Chairman <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mike Zimmerman</span>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com.</i></span></p></div>Along the Avenues: Celebrity chefs find recipes for success in hotel restaurantshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-celebrity2010-08-05T15:10:20.000Z2010-08-05T15:10:20.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Thom Smith<span style="font-size:11pt;"><span><br /></span> Let’s
face it, chefs are sexy, the new rock stars. And for those who love TV dinners,
<i style="font-weight:bold;">Top Chef</i> is the ultimate. Culinary
gladiators square off with saucepans and skewers in a wild and tasty quest for
fortune and fame. The latest series is even more inviting to the local crowd
because one of the competitors has a local hook. Actually, several.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Just a few weeks ago, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kenny Gilbert</span> became executive chef at <span style="font-weight:bold;">PGA Resort & Spa</span>,
but he’s hardly a newcomer to these parts. Originally from the Cleveland
lakeshore suburb of Euclid, he brought his Southern-influenced international
style south more than a decade ago, exec cheffing at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ritz-Carlton Golf Club
& Spa</span> in Jupiter and then at <span style="font-weight:bold;">BallenIsles Country Club</span> in Palm Beach Gardens
before running off to Telluride, Colo., for a few years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The Ritz, of course, still likes to claim Kenny, and in fact, last winter at the
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach</span> in Manalapan, he was a star at the annual <span style="font-weight:bold;">Food for the
Poor</span> fundraiser. His chosen dish: bison.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Of course, the Palm Beach heavens are filled with culinary stars. Before he left
for a big gig in Miami and more recently Kenya, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Hubert DesMarais</span> put <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Four
Seasons</span> on the map, a reputation continued by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Darryl Moiles</span>. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Daniel Boulud</span>
makes frequent visits to his <span style="font-weight:bold;">Café Boulud</span> at The Brazilian Court in Palm Beach,
while its sister hotel, <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Omphoy</span>, boasts <span style="font-weight:bold;">Michelle Bernstein</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Tales of two cities:</span> Last
month, Lake Worth Mayor <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rene Varela</span> complained of drunken spending and pledged
to cut $4.5 million from the city’s budget. Some of the oomph seems to be
leaving downtown. Latest to go is <span style="font-weight:bold;">Miami Subs</span> at the corner of Lake and Dixie,
and the raucous <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ouzo Blue</span>, open only a year and a half, shut down a few weeks
ago, as did its sibling in Palm Beach Gardens. A greater loss is <span style="font-weight:bold;">L’Anjou</span>, its
lace curtains drawn for good after more than three decades of French cuisine
and a lasting memory as a backdrop in <i style="font-weight:bold;">Body
Heat</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Not all the losses are culinary. Those with a taste for things old, really old,
will have to shop elsewhere now that <span style="font-weight:bold;">Yesterday’s Antique Mall</span> has shuttered.
Mall owner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Steve Gaffney</span> said he was offered a new lease and higher rent, too.
It hasn’t helped, he said, that eBay has become such a big player in the
antique world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Building owner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cimaglia Holdings LLC</span> of Pompano Beach claims to have a new tenant, but
has not said who it is.</span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960299485,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">So much for glum:</span> Out
on the beach, the city has asked <span style="font-weight:bold;">REG Architects</span> to design the renovation of the
beachfront casino. When the original building went up in 1922, gambling was
legal. A1A ran between the casino and the ocean and bathers took an underpass
to the beach. A1A is farther west now, well off the dune line, on filled land,
and the casinos are elsewhere, but architect <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rick Gonzalez</span> has done his best to
reclaim the original design with colonnaded archways, towers and tiled roof.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Gonzalez comes with impressive credentials. Projects include the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Harriet Himmel Theater</span>
in CityPlace, the <span style="font-weight:bold;">1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse</span> restoration, the
<span style="font-weight:bold;">International Polo Club</span> in Wellington and the new ballroom at <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Mar-a-Lago
Club</span>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The city believes it can come up with the $6.5 million for the project. Hope so. In
1921, the city signed a contract for $99,500, but by the time the casino,
underpass and pier were done, the cost was $150,000.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">While Lake Worth is smarting, down in Delray Beach, they’re playing it smart.
According to the most recent count, says <span style="font-weight:bold;">Marjorie Ferrer</span> of the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Downtown
Development Authority</span>, Delray has 102 restaurants in the downtown area, which
could keep a body busy for quite some time. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tastemakers of Delray</span> may help ease
the load. It’s a two-day restaurant crawl (Aug. 13 and 14, 5-10 p.m.), with 24
of the town’s best offering menu tastings paired with wine, beer or cocktails.
Examples: Anticuchos (marinated skirt steak skewers) at
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Cabana El Rey</span> with a Santa Rita 120 Cabernet Sauvignon, Thai
chicken in a traditional sweet red chili sauce paired with a Blackstone Pinot
Grigio at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ziree</span> or chocolate mousse with a Marcel Martin sparkling wine at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Café
de France</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">To crawl, however, you’ll need a passport: $25, available at the participating
restaurants above and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sundy House</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tryst</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Blue Fish</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">32 East</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Olio</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Linda
Bean’s Perfect Maine</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Il Bacio</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Taste Gastropub</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Brule Bistro</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">City Oyster
& Sushi Bar</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cugini Grille</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Johnnie Brown’s</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Paddy McGee’s Irish Pub</span>,
<span style="font-weight:bold;">GOL! The Taste of Brazil</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Crepes by the Sea</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cut 432</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lemongrass</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">J&J
Seafood</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Caffe Luna Rosa</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boheme Bistro</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boston’s on the Beach</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The passport also provides admission to after-parties and drink specials, plus
special savings through Sept. 30 at participating restaurants. Proceeds benefit
the <span style="font-weight:bold;">American Cancer Society</span>. For more info, call the DDA at (561) 243-1077.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Carl DeSantis</span>, who made billions with Rexall Sundown vitamins, wants to pump some
new life into some properties he owns. DeSantis owns all of the land on the
north side of Atlantic Avenue from Northeast Sixth Avenue to Veterans Park
along the Intracoastal. It’s only 8.5 acres, but in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Atlantic Plaza II</span>, DeSantis
envisions a $325-million complex — 182,000 square feet of retail space, 106,000
square feet for offices and 197 residences.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">To run the show, DeSantis’ <span style="font-weight:bold;">CDS International Holdings</span> has hired <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bill Morris</span> as
vice president for development. Morris’ recent development credentials include
Delray’s 217-unit <span style="font-weight:bold;">Worthing Place</span> and the 255-unit <span style="font-weight:bold;">Palmetto Place</span> in Boca Raton.
This project may be his longest, with a phased-in five- to seven-year buildout.
An abandoned gas station at the corner of Atlantic and Fifth already is gone
and some other small buildings, including DeSantis’ former antique shop and art
gallery, won’t be far behind. The biggest chunk, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Atlantic Plaza</span>, also will be
razed, but DeSantis will see that all those tenants are relocated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">If you enjoy being green, drop by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Crane’s BeachHouse</span> in Delray Aug. 19 from 6-8:30 p.m. for the inaugural <span style="font-weight:bold;">Green
M&Ms Party</span>. It’s a fundraiser for two of the greenest operations around:
the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden</span> in West Palm Beach and the
Everglades-protecting <span style="font-weight:bold;">Arthur R. Marshall Foundation.</span> Lots of tree-huggers and
swamp-sloggers — ah, the stories they can tell — plus a raffle, live music,
hors d’oeuvres and a free drink. Donation is $25. Inquiries and reservations to
garyschwei@aol.com.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com.</i></span></p></div>Along the Avenues: Weatherman Weagle tests pedals' mettle for American Red Crosshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-weatherman2010-07-01T16:06:49.000Z2010-07-01T16:06:49.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960302269,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span>By Thom Smith</span> <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Heads turned. Hands waved. Horns honked.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Motorists and pedestrians from Sebastian to Boca Raton had no trouble recognizing the
familiar cyclist during the first week of June. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Steve Weagle</span> was at it again,
biking north to south to raise awareness and money for the <span style="font-weight:bold;">American Red Cross</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">No easy task either for the <span style="font-weight:bold;">WPTV-Channel 5</span> weatherman. When temperatures weren’t
in the 90s, he and his occasional riding companions were being buffeted by
energy-sapping headwinds and pelted by stinging rain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Yet after 11 years and more than 1,200 miles, he’s ready to do it again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“It’s amazing how many people recognize us,” Weagle said as he pedaled through
Lantana on the final 25-mile leg along U.S. 1 from <span style="font-weight:bold;">CityPlace</span> in West Palm Beach
to Boca’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mizner Park</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Joined by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Stan Kilbas</span>, owner of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Wheels of Wellington</span> and who, as usual, donated
the bike, Weagle covered the 25 miles in a wearying four hours, slowed
significantly by rain and an unrelenting headwind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The entourage still managed to arrive in time for the final party at <span style="font-weight:bold;">ZED 451</span>, where
a couple of check presentations and an auction of Weagle’s bike brought his
total for the week to an impressive $52,000. (Two bidders, Toyota-man <span style="font-weight:bold;">Earl
Stewart</span> and an anonymous one, put in $12,500 for the bike.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“We covered 130 miles,” Weagle said. “We started 10 miles farther north this year,
but it was worth it. The ride doesn’t just raise money. It calls attention to
the Red Cross’ work and brings in a lot of volunteers, too.” <span><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">With folks like Rush Limbaugh spending millions on his umpteenth wedding (He
reserved 200 rooms for guests and paid $1.2 million just for Elton John), <span style="font-weight:bold;">The
Breakers</span> is having a good year.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Other Palm Beach hotels also are doing well, too. Business at the established restaurants
hasn’t returned to the heady, pre-Bernie Madoff levels of five years ago, but
with the exception of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Amici,</span> which has been sold to a Monte Carlo group and
will reopen in the fall as <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cafe Milano</span>, most are bearing up.</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;">To
ensure that customers keep coming in during the slow summer months, 14
restaurants from Manalapan to Palm Beach are reviving “<span style="font-weight:bold;">Palm Beach Restaurant
Summer.</span>” The Ritz-Carlton’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Temple Orange</span> and The Four Seasons <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ocean Bistro</span> are
joining a dozen Palm Beach eateries to offer three-course lunch specials for
$20.10 and three-course dinners for $35 through Sept. 30.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Additionally, several restaurants are offering a variety of specials featuring happy hours,
take-outs, and themed meals.</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;">In
the Restaurant Summer mix: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bice</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Café Boulud</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Café Cellini</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Charley’s Crab</span>, The
Chesterfield’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Leopard Lounge & Restaurant</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">COCO Palm Beach</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Renato’s</span>,
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Michelle Bernstein at The Omphoy</span> and The Breakers (including <span style="font-weight:bold;">Echo</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Flagler
Steakhouse</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Italian Restaurant</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Seafood Bar</span>).</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;">Other
specials: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Café L’Europe</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">264 The Grill</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Michael R. McCarty’s</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cucina dell’Arte
</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Nick & Johnnie’s Patio Bar and Grill</span>, The Colony’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Polo Steakhouse</span>,
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Testa’s</span>.</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size:11pt;">And let’s not
forget the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Circle Dining Room</span> at The Breakers, where Sunday brunch with
unlimited champagne, mimosas and Bloody Marys (be sure to bring a designated
driver) is summer-priced at $75.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“It’s heartbreaking, but it’s what I had to do,” Amici proprietor <span style="font-weight:bold;">Maurizio Ciminella</span>
said about closing after nearly 17 years. Big customers aren’t eating out as
often. Hotels are adding more restaurants; you can’t blame them.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The Breakers offers nine restaurants on and off the grounds, the newest being <span style="font-weight:bold;">Top of the Point</span>, formerly
the Governor’s Club, in Phillips Point in West Palm Beach.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Delray Beach, however, hasn’t been hit so hard — far fewer Madoff victims, a less
transient population, more dining variety and lower rents. Its problem may, in
fact, be too many people. Not that the city wants to drive them away, but it
would like to make it easier for them to drive away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“Our restaurants are pretty solid,” Downtown Development Authority Executive
Director <span style="font-weight:bold;">Marjorie Ferrer</span> said. “Our problem is that by 2 a.m. everything is
closed and at 2:30 the street is packed with people. It’s almost like a sports
event ending.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“In some places they turn their valet stands into taxi stands, so the people who
shouldn’t be driving can find an easy ride home. We’re looking into that.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Like <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gol!</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Blue Anchor</span> to the east, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Paddy McGee’s</span>, the first Irish Pub on
Atlantic, has become a haven for soccer fans during World Cup matches, opening
early to accommodate all the bleary-eyed fans. And you can bet no tears were
shed when France was sent packing. Full menu. Door prizes. Drink specials,
including a Harp’s 20-ounce World Cup glass that costs $8 with unlimited $3
refills during cup play.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Also coming soon to Delray is <span style="font-weight:bold;">Caliente Kitchen</span>, billed as Atlantic Avenue’s “Spicy”
New Mexican Dining Concept. Ole!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Tucked two doors south of Atlantic on Swinton, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jimmy’s Bistro</span> is just off the beaten
path, but despite seating for about 30, it’s quickly making a name for itself.
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Jimmy Mills</span> learned his trade for a decade in New York at Le Chantilly and
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Aureole</span> plus a year in France, before settling in Delray late last year.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Everything is fresh and the eclectic menu — on a chalkboard — changes daily. Point of
information, an 86 on the board is not the price; it means that dish is sold
out. And word has it that if you want the killer three-course $25 summer
special, arrive early. (Call 561-865-5774.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">When in Rome … cook as the Romans cook. That’s what is about to happen down on Ocean
Avenue in Lantana, where <span style="font-weight:bold;">Apicius Ristorante E Enoteca</span> will be opening soon at
what was once Il Trullo and most recently R Kitchen. The name is Italian for a
Florentine-style restaurant and wine bar. It’s the brainchild of Palm Beach
developer and restaurateur <span style="font-weight:bold;">Leo Balestrieri</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Apicius was the first known Roman cookbook, and Balestrieri and his partner and general
manager <span style="font-weight:bold;">Nubar Talanian</span> want to bring something original to South County: a wine
bar with small, tapas-like plates, plus a full menu of meats, seafood and game,
much of it imported from Italia, including venison, pheasant and wild boar.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For several years, Balestrieri ran <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mulberry Street</span>, a restaurant in Boone, N.C.
That space is now occupied by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gol! Express</span>, a Brazilian steakhouse, partly
owned by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Luciano Madeiro</span>s, who also has a share of Gol! in Delray.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The colorful Balestrieri made news of a different sort last year in West Palm Beach
when he took issue with a Democratic Party activist over an anti-Rush Limbaugh
moving billboard that was parked on Clematis Street.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Sounds like diners are in for an original experience. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Remember when Howard Johnson’s 28 flavors posed the ultimate indulgence for a youngster?
Of course, by 2010 standards, 28 is a paltry number. The ice cream shelves at
Publix take up an entire aisle. In this decade alone, the company has
introduced more than 40 new products and flavors.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">It makes sense that July, being one of the hottest months of the year, is <span style="font-weight:bold;">National
Ice Cream Month</span>. To celebrate, the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ritz-Carlton</span> in Manalapan is hosting <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ice
Cream Sundays</span>, from noon to 5 p.m. throughout July, and on Fridays and
Saturdays as well. Customers at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cool Breeze on the Resort Lawn</span> can build their
own cone with ice cream made in-house and topped with sprinkles, gummy
bears, Oreos, M&Ms and, of course, a cherry on top. Price: $4 per
cone.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Also on tap are snow cones, $4 for regular, or $9 for the more daring — flavored
with strawberry, cherry, lemonade, lime, peach, mango, raspberry or banana
vodkas.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">• </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">If you build it they will come. And if they come, they’ll need places to eat.
Which is why <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Promenade</span> in Boynton Beach will have two restaurants by year’s
end, rising like a pair of phoenixes from the ashes, or rather the rubble, of
the old shopping center that gave way to The Promenade. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Margy’s</span>, a
2,500-square-foot sit-down restaurant, and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Happy Garden</span>, 1,000 square feet of
take-out, enjoyed long and productive histories before the walls came down.
Let’s hope they haven’t been away too long.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Across the bridge on A1A, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Wachovia Financial Center</span> customers have been notified that the Ocean Ridge branch — across the street from <span style="font-weight:bold;">Nomad Surf Shop</span> — will be combined with the branch at Woolbright and Federal in late September. That's one less banking opportunity on the East side of the bridge.<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt;">•</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Coming Aug. 13 and 14, it’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tastemakers of Delray 2010</span>. The ultimate restaurant crawl
features samplings from 24 of the city’s top restaurants, paired with wine,
beer or cocktails, all for the price of a “passport,” only $25. And the deal
continues long after the 14th, as passport holders can continue to use them
until Sept. 30 for special deals at participating restaurants.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Tastemakers is sponsored by the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA), <i>Boca Raton</i> magazine and <i>Florida Table</i> magazine and
benefits the American Cancer Society. For details, call (561) 243-1077 or
visit <a href="">www.bocamag.com, </a>;
<a href="">www.floridatable.com or</a> <span>
</span><a href="http://www.downtowndelraybeach.com">www.downtowndelraybeach.com</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com.</i></span></p></div>Along the Avenues: Kravis-bound Florida Stage rings down the curtain in Manalapanhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-kravisbound2010-06-03T16:00:00.000Z2010-06-03T16:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960291083,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
By Thom Smith
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For two decades, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Florida Stage</span> has brightened the cultural landscape far beyond its little corner in Manalapan. Inevitably, the magnitude of the little company has<br />
grown, so its orbit had to expand.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">On June 20, the last lines of the fittingly titled <i>When the Sun Shone Brighter</i> will be delivered from the stage in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Plaza Del Mar</span>. Four weeks later, the actors will be singing and dancing the <i>Low Down Dirty Blues</i> at the Kravis<br />
Center’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rinker Playhouse</span>. But Florida Stage is making the move with style.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Opening night of <i>When the Sun Shone Brighter</i> was a family reunion, the house filled with dozens who have lent something to<br />
the place over the years, as patrons, actors, contributors and even critics. On<br />
either side of the performance, they enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and<br />
champagne, a jazz trio and good memories.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Producing Director <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lou Tyrrell</span> and Managing Director <span style="font-weight:bold;">Nan Barnett</span> took a few minutes before the show to salute the old hands and thank some new faces including<br />
Miami-based lawyer/playwright <span style="font-weight:bold;">Christopher Demos-Brown</span>, whose play was seeing<br />
its first production, and photographer <span style="font-weight:bold;">Barry Seidman</span>, whose work adorned the<br />
walls outside the auditorium.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Demos-Brown even brought along a cheering section, headed by his sister-in-law, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cynthia Demos</span>, familiar to some as a former reporter at <span style="font-weight:bold;">WPTV-Channel 5</span> in West Palm<br />
Beach. Recently married, Cynthia now anchors morning and midday news shows at<br />
Miami’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">WFOR-Channel 4</span>.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The play is filled with political intrigue with a distinctive Florida touch, as the main character is a charismatic Cuban-American Miami mayor who wants to be a<br />
U.S. senator, but must deal with a few skeletons in his closet. Meanwhile, the<br />
audience is transported from the Castro revolution to the Bay of Pigs to the<br />
Mariel boatlift to the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Elian Gonzalez</span> saga.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The stellar cast offers a mix of Broadway and local talent — Tony nominee <span style="font-weight:bold;">John Herrera</span> as the candidate’s uncle and political advisor, Dreyfoos School of the<br />
Arts grad <span style="font-weight:bold;">Natasha Sherritt</span> as the candidate’s wife and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bill Schwartz</span> as the<br />
candidate’s ghostly father.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For Schwartz, the play especially hits home. As is often the case with actors, he had a day job: for 15 years he was<br />
the spokesman for the Miami Police Department. When federal agents, with help<br />
from Miami cops, removed Elian Gonzalez from his uncle’s home in Miami,<br />
Schwartz found himself trying to reason with an angry mob.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“I had a big crowd that wasn’t too happy with the Miami Police Department that day,” he told a Miami TV station when he retired in 2008. “I was the face (of the Miami Police<br />
Department.), and I took a few lumps. … But it was exciting,<br />
too.”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Fellow officers rescued the beaten and bruised Schwartz, who lived to act another day.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Just across the bridge, the crew at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Old Key Lime House</span> in Lantana is still feeling good vibrations after a visit from the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Beach Boys</span>, and they’ve put the pictures<br />
on the wall to prove it.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">While in town in April for their show at the Kravis Center, original keyboardist <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bruce Johnson,</span> actor-musician <span style="font-weight:bold;">John Stamos</span>, whose association with the band goes<br />
back to 1988, and members of the backup band took a boat ride and stopped by<br />
the restaurant for lunch.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“They were great,” Assistant General Manager <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kristine Sullivan</span> said. “They gave everyone hugs and posed for pictures. I got a picture of me with John Stamos.<br />
… He’s a cutie!”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Half a block east of U.S. 1 on Ocean Avenue at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pizzeria Oceano</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dak Kerprich</span> has set aside June 8 for a “5 percent party.”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">A what? Kerprich opened his little gourmet pizza joint a year ago with half a dozen stools inside and a few umbrellaed tables on the front deck. Business has<br />
been good, so good on some nights that he runs out of food and closes early. A<br />
veteran in the South Florida restaurants wars, he couldn’t be happier, because<br />
he knows survival is risky.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“Ninety-five percent of restaurants fail in the first year,” he said. “We’ve made it this far, so we’re having a ‘5 percent party’ to celebrate.”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Fans are advised to arrive early.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Falcon House</span> down in Delray is one of those 5 percenters, but its fortunes were looking bleak until another veteran came to the rescue. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Karl<br />
Alterman</span>,previously associated with <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gigi’s</span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">MoQuila</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">City Limits</span> in Boca,<br />
was planning to head back home to the summery breezes of Nantucket, but “this<br />
literally fell into my lap,” he said.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Falcon House founders <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tim Bauer</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ted Keer</span> had left late last year to convert <span style="font-weight:bold;">Monterey Cantina</span> at the corner of Northeast Third Street and Third Avenue into<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Two Thirds Tavern</span>.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Meanwhile the third partner, who remained at Falcon House, wasn’t thrilled with his situation and decided to get out, Alterman said, the result being an offer he couldn’t resist.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">So the menu reverts to affordable snacks and entrees with a renewed emphasis on the bar scene … with a twist: <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Triple 8 Lounge</span> at Falcon House.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">No 8-balls, but 8s are everywhere, as Alterman has formed an alliance with <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cisco Brewers</span> in Nantucket, which among other things, operates the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Triple 8<br />
Distillery</span> which produces 888 Vodka. It’s premium vodka, perfect for the<br />
current infusion rage, as it’s bottled pure or blended with Nantucket<br />
cranberries, New Guinea and Madagascar vanilla beans, Maine blueberries and<br />
Florida honey belle oranges. Cisco also markets rum, gin, bourbon, wines from<br />
Oregon and an assortment of crafted brewed beers.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Add a menu with items priced at $8.88 (lobster mac and cheese, grilled Asian barbecue shrimp, grilled ribeye quesadilla), a “$6.66 Satanic Section”<br />
(Hellfire spicy jerk chicken lollipops with mango cilantro dipping sauce, truffle<br />
deviled eggs).</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Entertainment has returned and promotions will abound. “I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Alterman said. “This is what Falcon House was meant to be.”</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Some restaurants managed to hang on for a while and then go boom. Such was the case with <span style="font-weight:bold;">Busch’s Seafood</span>. It had the history of the old Busch’s in Ocean Ridge and<br />
the location as one of only two Delray restaurants on the Intracoastal. Wasn’t<br />
enough. Closed last fall.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">But hope springs eternal, especially since the new operator is <span style="font-weight:bold;">Burt Rapoport</span>. In West Delray he has <span style="font-weight:bold;">Henry’s</span> and in Boca he has <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bogart’s</span> at the Cinemark Palace<br />
20 movie complex and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Max’s Grille</span> in Mizner Park.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“It couldn’t have a better location,” said Rapoport who will put $1 million into renovations before he opens Burt’s at the Bridge in October, and he quickly<br />
pointed out that he isn’t the namesake. That distinction goes to the building’s<br />
owner, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Burt Handelsman</span>, who also owns much of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Worth Avenue</span> in Palm Beach.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">But no Palm Beach prices at Burt’s. Rapoport plans to attract boaters to his 150-foot dock with live music inside and out, a large array of appetizers and<br />
an entrée list heavy on fresh seafood.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Across the bridge, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Old Vines Wine & Spirits</span> isn’t quite a year old but word is already getting out, and not just in Delray. In a recent viewer poll by<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">WFLX-Channel 29</span>, it was voted the No. 1 wine shop in the Palm Beaches and<br />
Treasure Coast. Owner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dave Spitzer</span> will celebrate the vote and the birthday<br />
this month with discounts, special tastings and raffles.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">It’s quiet in Boynton but not dead. In fact, two buyers have even closed on apartments in the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Promenade</span>. So what if construction wrapped up nine months<br />
ago. Prices aren’t bad in the 14-story, 318-unit condominium: One-bedroom with<br />
a water view start in the mid-$200,000s. If you prefer a sunset, you can get in<br />
for $150,000.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">On the ground floor, facing the marina, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Susan Mandell</span> has opened what she calls “the first cardio soup kitchen.” Mandell wants everyone to be healthy but she<br />
especially wants to attract teenagers to her spin center <span style="font-weight:bold;">“Thank You for Your<br />
Ride”</span> (561-398-5280) because obesity is rampant in the schools. Furthermore,<br />
the veteran schoolteacher runs the center primarily on donations. If you have<br />
the money, leave something; if you don’t, that’s OK, too.</span></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p></div>Along the Avenues: Atlantic rapidly becoming place to be for cultural eventshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-atlantic2010-04-29T17:34:17.000Z2010-04-29T17:34:17.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960292098,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">By Thom Smith</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Once known as sleepy Delray, it now seems like the town that never sleeps. A couple
of months ago we had Savor The Avenue, with diners at “long tables” down the
middle of Atlantic Avenue. Then the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Beach Film Festival</span> — the little
festival that could, and perhaps the only film festival to feature a beach
cleanup. <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">As usual, the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Affair</span> drew more than a quarter-million the weekend after Easter. Then a week later, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Circle on the Square</span> offered <span style="font-weight:bold;">Martinis
& Motown</span> at Old School Square.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">And on May 21, Atlantic Avenue will be transformed into an outdoor lounge, South
Beach style, for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chillounge Night,</span> sponsored by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cointreau</span>, with food vendors,
samba parade, fashion show and live music to raise money for children’s music
education in South Florida through <span style="font-weight:bold;">Nat King Cole Generation Hope, Inc .</span>Tickets
are $15 ($75 for VIP) at <span>
</span><a href="http://www.chilloungenight.com">www.chilloungenight.com</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">So it makes sense that the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Palm Beach International Film Festival</span> might seek a
little resuscitation by moving its opening night to Delray. When <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cinemark
Palace</span> in Boca Raton decided not to host the festival premiere, <i>Princess Ka’iulani</i>, siblings <span style="font-weight:bold;">Glenn</span> and
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Brad Gray</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rochelle Walters</span> stepped in and offered to screen it at their
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Movies at Delray</span> at no charge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">After the screening, guests headed back to town to join a few hundred more fans for
an opening night party on the top deck of the parking garage at Worthing Place,
a spanking new seven-story, 217-unit luxury rental complex. The party featured
sliders and tapas from <span style="font-weight:bold;">David Manero’s</span> nearby <span style="font-weight:bold;">Vic & Angelo’s</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Office</span>,
beer and booze, as well as antique and luxury car displays.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Of course, no festival is complete without bright lights and cameras, still and
video, to focus on celebs old and new, such as Rob Van Winkle, aka <span style="font-weight:bold;">Vanilla Ice</span>,
who arrived in one of the featured Rolls Royces; the still stunning Jo Ann
Pflug who starred as Lt. Dish in <i>M*A*S*H</i> way
back in 1970; and the “biggest” (literally) new star, The Blind Side’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Quinton
Aaron</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Also on hand, a horde of festival brass — Executive Director <span style="font-weight:bold;">Randi Emerman</span>, Board
Chair <span style="font-weight:bold;">Yvonne Boice</span> and hubby <span style="font-weight:bold;">Al Zucaro</span>, Chairman Emeritus and County
Commissioner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Burt Aaronson</span> and County Film Commissioner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chuck Elderd</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">This year’s festival had a reduced film lineup, no gala and no contribution to
support local student filmmakers. In its previous 14 years, the festival
contributed $1 million that helped 30,000 students train in filmmaking, but
before the projector rolled, Aaronson said it will make no contribution this
year.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“We’ve scaled back, just like every other business,” he said, acknowledging a dim
present and darker future. “But we’ll keep going as best we can. The show must
go on.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">By contrast, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Florida Stage</span> is saying farewell to Manalapan, but the future
couldn’t be brighter. After almost 20 years in Plaza del Mar, it’s leaving with
a bang, not a whimper. Before heading to its new home in the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kravis Center</span>’s
Rinker Playhouse, it’ll offer one more delicious opening night — May 14 — for <i>When the Sun Shone Brighter,</i> by Christopher Demos-Brown.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">It’s the story — fictional, of course — of a charismatic Cuban-American mayor of
Miami who decides to run for the Senate. Sex, lies and ambition complicate
things. Tony nominee <span style="font-weight:bold;">John Herrera</span> (<i>The
Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>) stars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Outside the auditorium, patrons will be able to take in a new exhibition by
internationally renowned photographer <span style="font-weight:bold;">Barry Seidman</span>. Titled Art-chi-textures,
it features shots taken during a visit to the northern latitudes. The photos
and the play run through June 20.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Seidman will mount a new exhibit titled Multiple Sins at Lighthouse Center for the Arts
in Tequesta, opening June 10. Florida Stage will debut at the Kravis Center
with a raucous, bawdy, good-time summer show, <i>Low Down Dirty Blues</i>, opening in previews July 17.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Giving back. When the real estate market soured, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jay Bernhardt</span> took an unusual
approach with a building that he couldn’t rent in downtown Lake Worth. He gave
it away, sort of. He lent the space to a group of area artists and artisans,
who otherwise might have been shut out, to showcase their work. On May 7, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Class Glass Metal Stone
Gallery</span> at 605 Lake Ave., will celebrate its first anniversary. Bernhardt will
be there, and gallery manager <span style="font-weight:bold;">Joyce Brown</span>, and of course dozens of artists
who’ll celebrate with a cake and mimosas.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">And one more thing: butterflies. Dozens of living butterflies will be released into
the community, and butterfly art will be displayed by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Karen McGovern</span> from
Loxahatchee. When she’s not working with arty lepidopterae, Karen and hubby
Paul are zoologists who rescue and breed rare species for release back into the
wild.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The artists at CGMS believe in giving back. When Haiti was hit by the recent
earthquake, Brown quickly organized a relief project, the Haitian Empty Vessel,
and asked her artists to fire ceramic bowls that customers could buy for $25
each (four for $80) and that were used to sample foods provided by 17 Lake
Worth restaurants.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">More than 60 artists participated, plus art students at Jupiter High School,
contributing more than 500 bowls. “We sold about 200 bowls,” Brown said, “150
of them to people who’d never been to Lake Worth before and raised $4,800. It
was a great start, and we’ll probably do it again next year.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Here and there:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Il Bacio</span> in Delray welcomed several hundred guests to its first anniversary party
on April 21 with host <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jaime Edmondson,</span> <i>Playboy</i>’s
Miss January 2010, and illusionist <span style="font-weight:bold;">Drew Thomas</span>, late of <i>America’s Got Talent</i>. Proceeds benefited Make-A-Wish. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Suite 225</span> sushi house in Lantana has followed its <span style="font-weight:bold;">Kyoto</span> (Delray, West Boca) siblings
to the restaurant graveyard. But onetime manager <span style="font-weight:bold;">Dak Kerprich</span>, has other ideas.
Last fall, Kerprich, who had moved on to other ventures years ago, opened <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pizza
Oceana</span> half a block west of Suite 225. Now he’s looking to bring his classy
pies to Lake Worth, “just across from <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bamboo Room</span>,” he says.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Speaking of Bamboo Room, Lake Worth’s lamented live music club closed two years ago this
month. But it isn’t permanent, promises owner <span style="font-weight:bold;">Russ Hibbard</span>: “We’ll reopen when
the economy’s a little better. I haven’t abandoned it. In fact, we’ve used the
opportunity to fix some things and make it better. It’s just a matter of time.”
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Maybe in late fall?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“Readers digest” has a new meaning at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boynton Beach Public Library</span>. Visitors can now
roam the stacks and then enjoy a snack at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sailfish Cafe</span>, nestled into a
corner of the new 28,000-square-foot north wing. Caterer <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jim Gilbeault</span>, owner
of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Culinary Solutions</span>, offers an assortment of sandwiches, salads, soups, soft
drinks, pastries, coffee, tea and
treats. It’s open 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. on Saturdays. The library is closed Fridays and Sundays. <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com<br /></p></div>Along the Avenues: Delray promises another Affair to rememberhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-delray2010-04-01T16:55:30.000Z2010-04-01T16:55:30.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">By Thom Smith</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Brace yourselves. It’s April, but it seems like the season is just starting.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Savor the Avenue’s</span> long table has barely been cleared, the last reel is still
spinning at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray Beach Film Festival</span>, and already the aroma of conch
fritters is filling the air along Atlantic Avenue. Fritters, of course, mean
that the <span style="font-weight:bold;">48th Delray Affair</span> is upon us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">From April 9 to 11, more than 800 artists and crafters from 38 states and 16
countries will show off their talents, local vendors will offer everything from
bric-a-brac to fresh vegetables, and the seemingly endless food and drink
stations will be highlighted by what many believe is food from heaven: those
conch fritters.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Doesn’t cost a thing to get in, which is good, because with all the good stuff on sale,
your wallets still will take a beating. Organizers expect upwards of 300,000
visitors, so be patient, have fun and bring plenty of sunscreen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">A week later (April 17), it’s the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sixth Annual Circle on the Square “Martinis
& Motown” Food & Wine Dance Party</span> under the tent at Old School Square,
with food and drink from top area eateries. For advance tickets, call 561-637-4441;
general admission is $90, VIP $120. Hours are 7 to 10:30 p.m.</span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960298055,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The aforementioned long table was set up on March 18 right down the centerline of
Atlantic from Swinton to Fifth Avenue, with breaks only for stoplights and the
railroad tracks. The diners, more than 1,000 in all (up 60 percent from last
year’s inaugural) barely noticed the two noisy northbound freights as they
enjoyed their prix fixe meals from 18 of Delray’s top restaurants. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Each restaurant set its own four-course menu and its own price. Santa Rita Wines
provided pairings for each course. At the low end for $50, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cabana El Rey</span>
offered a nuevo Latina “fab fusion” meal of beef empanada or spicy shrimp,
cabana salad or lobster bisque, churrasco (marinated skirt steak) or roasted
chicken and shrimp in a garlic and wine demi-glace and flan or tres leches.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">At the top, the 56 fans of <span style="font-weight:bold;">La Cigale</span> paid $85 for antipasti, jumbo Maryland crab
cake or beet and goat cheese salad; veal wrapped in prosciutto in a morel
mushroom reduction, or seafood paella and a mixed-fruit tart.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Most of the restaurants sold out in advance, although a few late deciders were
accommodated by <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gol!</span>, the Brazilian steakhouse. A slight chill did little to
dampen enthusiasm, and, in fact, to <span style="font-weight:bold;">Linda Bean</span> it was downright balmy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“The weather’s been terrible this winter,” the lobsterwoman said of her home state
of Maine (She’s L.L. Bean’s granddaughter), as she made a point of chatting up
all her Perfect Lobster Roll guests. “In the places where it usually snows, it’s
been rainy and muddy. A real mess. So it’s really nice to be here.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Despite all the eatin’ in the street, most Atlantic Avenue restaurants, typical for a
Thursday night, were packed with diners. That meant double duty for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Larry
LaValley</span>, executive chef at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Vic & Angelo’s</span>, who recently took on the same
role across the street at <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Office</span>, after owner <span style="font-weight:bold;">David Manero</span> dismissed
uber-chef <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mark Militello</span> (reportedly via text message). Based on the reaction
at his tables to the osso bucco Milanese and Guinness braised short ribs,
LaValley did just fine.</span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960297490,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Though <span style="font-weight:bold;">Taste Gastropub</span> was still a few weeks from opening, chef <span style="font-weight:bold;">Allen Susser</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">used the long table as a test run for his staff. Dubbed the “Ponce de Leon of New Florida Cuisine” by <i>The New York Times</i>, the James Beard Award winner couldn’t have been
more excited as he offered last-minute instructions to his staff on the
sidewalk.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“We’re excited,” said Susser, who also plies his trade at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chef Allen’s</span> in Aventura.
“We finally get to show our stuff. Delray’s such an exciting place.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Each guest received a backpack, courtesy of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Office Depot</span>, and was urged to fill it
with school supplies or food for redistribution to needy school kids through
the Office Depot Foundation, which also received $5 from each meal served at
Savor the Avenue. <br /></span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960298466,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Too bad the crowd at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Movies of Delray</span> wasn’t larger. Then again, patrons are
accustomed to seeing movie stars on the screen, not in person. But in slacks, a
jersey top and sneakers, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jessica Walter</span> hardly looked the part. In some ways,
she didn’t seem to feel the part either, as she hosted a special Delray Beach
Film Festival screening on March 24 of her most memorable film, <i>Play Misty for Me</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">When one fan mentioned one of her earliest roles, opposite William Shatner, in the
TV legal series <i>For The People</i>, she
paused, giggled, juggled some figures in her head, and joked, “You’ve got a
great memory. That was almost 50 … yes <span>
</span>50 … years ago.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">You name it, she’s been in it, starting with the soap opera <i>Love of Life</i> in 1962 when she was 21. Now, just turned 69, married
to actor Ron Liebman since 1983, Walter stays busy, most recently as a voice on
the animated Archer, as Tabitha
Wilson on <i>90210</i> and soon to return as
Lucille Bluth on <i>Arrested Development</i>.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Yet her iconic role remains that of Clint Eastwood’s obsessive, possessive jazz
radio fan in <i>Play Misty for Me</i>, a
portrayal that blazed the trail for <i>Fatal
Attraction</i> and <i>Basic Instinct</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“It was a great movie to work on,” Walter said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“But they were all new,” one fan at the screening said. “You held it all together.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Almost as quickly as she arrived, Walter had to leave. “If I miss my flight, my
husband will never forgive me,” she yelled on the way out with festival
organizer <span style="font-weight:bold;">Michael Posner</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">A busy man, Posner, who founded the event in 2006. He’s a veterinarian by trade,
but movies are his love, and Delray, he believes, is the perfect place to hold
a festival. It may also be the only film festival that includes a surfing
contest and a beach cleanup. But Posner has nerve. He once invited <span style="font-weight:bold;">Anthony
Hopkins,</span> who gave a “maybe.” Last year the festival honored <span style="font-weight:bold;">Barry Bostwick,</span>
who’s back as the “creative chair.” Walter and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sharon Gless</span> (<i>Cagney & Lacey</i>) are Lifetime
Achievement Award recipients.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">While on the subject of movies, Boynton Beach is offering free outdoor movies on the
first Friday of each month through June at the Ocean Avenue Amphitheater.
Showtime is 7 p.m. Up first, on April 2, <i>Hairspray</i>;
May 7, <i>Up</i>; and June 4, <i>The Blind Side</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Also, two dates remain in Boynton’s Ocean Avenue Concert series (6-9 p.m.): April 16,
Cricklewood; May 21, Pure Justice Band. Concerts also are free. Lawn chairs
and/or blankets plus bug spray are recommended.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">After 33 years of c’est si bon in Lake Worth, <span style="font-weight:bold;">L’Anjou</span> is history. Tough financial
times led to a foreclosure last year and the recent ill health of founder
<span style="font-weight:bold;">Gilbert Cela</span> forced the classic French restaurant to close March 21. Should
Cela’s son Marc be unable to resurrect L’Anjou, it will be remembered every
time someone sees <i>Body Heat</i>. The
restaurant’s exterior provided backdrop for a meeting between Ned Racine
(<span style="font-weight:bold;">William Hurt</span>) and Matty Walker (<span style="font-weight:bold;">Kathleen Turner</span>) in the classic film noir shot
in and around Lake Worth in November and December 1981. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">A thank-you ad in <i>The Palm Beach Post</i> from the Ladd Co., which produced the film, included L’Anjou as one of the businesses “whose cooperation and patience were
indispensible.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Incidentally, the movie’s best line isn’t uttered in Lake Worth. When Walker snares Racine
with, “You aren’t very smart, are you. I like that in a man,” they’re at the
bandshell on Hollywood Beach, about 45 miles south.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">May is National Burger Month. To celebrate, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Breeze,</span> the Ritz-Carlton’s oceanfront
gourmet burger bar, will feature a different burger special each day of the
month, all but one of which will come from the hotel’s chefs. But during April,
recipes will be accepted from the Ritz’s Facebook community, and on April 28,
hotel execs will decide which cyber-recipe makes the grade. In addition to the
honor of having his or her burger spotlighted, the winner will be invited to
lunch at Breeze. Burger lunches are $15. To hook up with the resort’s Facebook
page, go to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/theritzcarltonpalmbeach">www.facebook.com/theritzcarltonpalmbeach</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Up the road at <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Four Seasons Palm Beach</span>, proceeds ($2.50 per glass, $10 per
bottle) from sales of specially selected Chilean wines through April 18 will be
donated to the Chilean Red Cross for earthquake relief.</span></p></div>Along the Avenues: Spring? Spring!https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-spring2010-03-04T22:30:00.000Z2010-03-04T22:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Thom Smith
Chilly temperatures be damned, we’re warming up. I mean, what else are we supposed to do in South Florida? Fortunately, a little chilly weather here is better than most of the weather up north, and the folks who live and work along the beach avenues don’t let a few degrees get in the way of a good time. <br />There are not too many places this time of year where you’d find <span style="font-weight:bold;">John McEnroe</span> playing tennis in the middle of the street. But there he was in Delray Beach on the usually bumper-to-bumper Atlantic Avenue, on Feb. 19, trading shots and banter with Davis Cupper and Top 20 player <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ronald Agenor</span>. They were promoting the following week’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Delray International Tennis Championships</span>. <br />“Do we have to stop when the light turns red,” McEnroe joked to umpire de jour <span style="font-weight:bold;">Woodie McDuffie</span>, also known as Delray’s mayor. <br />“Can we fix the road, mayor? We got a problem here,” McEnroe persisted good-naturedly. Of course, were this the real world and a quarter of century earlier, McDuffie might have longed for the civility of City Hall politics. But this time it was just for fun when hizzoner called a return out and Johnny Mac conjured up the past, tossing his racquet and uttering those famous words, “You cannot be serious!” <br /><br />*** <br /><br />The weekend before, despite rain on Friday and the chilly weather, Delray’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Garlic Fest</span> was a winner, thanks largely to the “no problem, mon” music of <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Wailers</span>. A week later, a reported 400 artists at Lake Worth’s 16th annual <span style="font-weight:bold;">Street Painting Festival</span> paved the streets with chalk works. <br />With a crowd estimated near 100,000, perhaps the city needs to look at limiting the crowds, limiting the artists, increasing the space or all of the above. Too bad the art is temporary. <br /><br />*** <br /><br />More art is on the way in Lake Worth, for a cause — Haitian Earthquake relief. Area artists have pledged to craft and decorate at least 500 bowls for the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Haitian Empty Bowl</span> project. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 20, purchasers can take the bowls to 16 of the city’s restaurants and food specialty shops for samples of their menu items. The bowls will be sold at Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery for $25 each (four for $80) in advance, $35 without reservation. All proceeds will benefit orphaned children of Haiti. For information, call 215-205-9441. <br /><br />**** <br /><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960286461,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<br />McEnroe was a passing fancy on Atlantic; chefs can be, too! For a year, Delray has been all abuzz about the teaming of restaurateur <span style="font-weight:bold;">David Manero</span> with legendary chef <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mark Militello</span> at <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Office</span>, Manero’s new “gastro-pub” at the corner of Second and Atlantic. Less than three months after The Office opened, however, Militello is gone. <br />Manero’s Feb. 26 announcement was short and sweet: “Mark Militello was released from his duties by David Manero Restaurants. We wish him well in his future endeavors.” <br />A member of the “Mango Gang” that gave South Florida its culinary identity in the mid-’80s, Militello has practiced his craft at several self-named restaurants — including Mark’s in the Park in Boca and Mark’s City Place in West Palm — all since closed. And as soon as the pairing of the two strong personalities was announced, some skeptics began wondering how long it would last. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Larry LaValley</span>, executive chef at Manero’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Vic & Angelo’s</span> across the street, will run both kitchens. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Francy Deskin</span> remains chef d’cuisine. Manero will keep his gastro-pub concept: fish, chops and even burgers with “The Office” branded into the bun, an assortment of craft beers, impressive wines, imaginative cocktails, an indoor/outdoor bar and state-of-the-art sound system. <br />Manero’s wife, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lynn</span>, has handled the decor — her 15th restaurant — contrasting dark wood paneling in the dining room with glossy chrome-accented panels in the bar. Hundreds of books adorn the walls, from <span style="font-style:italic;">A Year in Architecture</span> to <span style="font-style:italic;">Michael Jackson: The Man in the Mirror</span> to <span style="font-style:italic;">Are You Hungry Tonight? Elvis' Favorite Recipes</span>. Enhancing the office mood: an array of mailboxes from an old post office that serves as a wine rack and, near the front door, a bright red Royal Quiet Deluxe (a strange contraption called a typewriter). <br />In their quest for green, the Maneros have gone green. They bottle their own water, distilled through a triple filtration system. The fireplace is powered by ethanol. All paper products, from the place mats to restroom towels, are made from recycled paper. <br />Manero has worked hard to get the word out. Business has been brisk. Ultimately, its success could be determined by a phone call: “Hi, honey. Don’t fix dinner for me. I’m working late at The Office.” <br /><br />**** <br /><br />Before you know it, summer will be here and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Florida Stage</span> will be gone … at least from Manalapan. Rehearsals are in full swing for <span style="font-style:italic;">Dr. Radio</span>, the penultimate production at the playhouse in Plaza del Mar, running March 24 through May 2. <br />That will be followed by When the <span style="font-style:italic;">Sun Shone Brighter</span>, and then the company will move to its new home at the Kravis Center. <br />The current production, <span style="font-style:italic;">Sins of the Mother,</span> which is sold out, is the most popular non-musical in the 23-year history of Florida Stage. <br />“I think our fans see this at the beginning of the end and the beginning of the beginning,” marketing director Michael Gepner said. “There is some nostalgia — that there won’t be many more shows here — but ultimately, it’s the quality of the show. If it isn’t a good production, people aren’t gonna come.” Incidentally, Florida Stage recently attracted the attention of <span style="font-style:italic;">The Wall Street Journal,</span> which reviewed <span style="font-style:italic;">Sins of the Mother</span> and offered: “The cast is ideal, the staging ferociously right. This is a show with no weak links, one that in a better-regulated world would now be playing on Broadway.” <br /><br />*** <br /><br />Biologists are citing at least one positive from the recent arctic blasts: They weren’t kind to nuisance non-native reptiles such as pythons and, yuck, iguanas, which apparently died in record numbers. Unfortunately, the cold also hurt manatees and sea turtles, but if awareness can help, several beachfront hotels do their part by protecting nests and offering information to their guests. <br />Now the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach</span> has gone a flipper further. In cooperation with the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, the Ritz has adopted <span style="font-weight:bold;">Gilda</span>, a leatherback that has been fitted with a satellite-tracking device. Guests, staff and children in the resort’s AquaNuts program will be able to follow her movements on the Internet. <br /><br />***** <br /><br />And the Academy Award goes to … Oscar parties on March 7. <br />Guests at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cafe L’Europe</span> in Palm Beach dress as their favorite movie stars or screen characters. Four-course dinner, plenty of champagne, big-screen TV for $115. Reservations a must at 655-4020. The <span style="font-weight:bold;">Fifth Annual Delray Beach Film Festival</span> throws its own Oscar party that night from 7 to midnight at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bluefish Restaurant</span>. Red carpet, live auction, dinner and one cocktail for $30. The festival, running March 22-28, will honor Barry Bostwick (<span style="font-style:italic;">Rocky Horror Picture Show</span>) as its creative chair and Sharon Gless (<span style="font-style:italic;">Cagney & Lacey)</span> and Jessica Walter (<span style="font-style:italic;">Play Misty for Me</span>) with lifetime achievement awards. Tickets online only at <a href="http://www.dbff.us">www.dbff.us</a>. <br />The new <span style="font-weight:bold;">Omphoy Ocean Resort Palm Beach</span> will host Oscar Night America Live from Hollywood!, a benefit for the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Palm Beach International Film Festival</span> (April 22-26), at 7 p.m. Oscar attire. Cocktails and dinner at Michelle Bernstein Restaurant for $250, or cocktails and Oscar party with “an array of heavy hors d’oeuvres,” whatever they are, for $125. Info at <a href="http://pbifilmfest.org">pbifilmfest.org</a>. <br /><br />***** <br /><br />Call it a consolidation. Boynton Beach’s green markets have moved east. Formerly at the Boynton Mall and the Schoolhouse Museum, everything now will be held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through May 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Green Market Cafe</span> at 400 E. Boynton Beach Blvd. The program now includes a bakery, a deli, produce and an urban farming project with plans to establish a permanent downtown public marketplace. (561-752-8598). <br /><br />***** <br /><br />Afterthought: Channel 5 declares that Steve Weagle is South Florida’s “most trusted” TV weatherman. I want to know, especially after this crazy winter, the source of that appellation. Was it a Gallup Poll? The Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau? The Nielsen ratings? I suspect Weagle, a product of the Canadian Maritimes — he was born in Nova Scotia — got lonely for the far north and wished this weather upon us. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com</span><br /><br /></div>Along the Avenues: Five ♥ recommendations for Valentine's Dayhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-five2010-02-04T20:00:00.000Z2010-02-04T20:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Thom Smith
Virginia may be for lovers, but let’s face it, if you could choose where to be on Valentine’s Day, which would you prefer: some icy condo along the Chesapeake Bay or one of the choice beachfront resorts along A1A between Lake Worth and Highland Beach? To sweeten the pot, several of our local resorts are offering lovebird specials that show off the best in their bedrooms and their kitchens.
♥ While the Palm Beaches have nothing to compare to the Seine, The Restaurant at The Four Seasons will offer Valentine’s Day images of Paris represented by brilliant flower arrangements, a chocolate Eiffel Tower, candles and live jazz, plus a special four-course menu from Executive Chef Darryl Moiles. Price: a modest $95. (561-582-2800).
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After a summer hiatus, The Restaurant reopened in late November with a new look and a more casual atmosphere and a new menu acknowledging guests’ desires for more Atlantic seafood dishes, the fresher the better.
Thanks to modern technology and transportation, Moiles can order Dover sole from Europe at 6 p.m., and serve it the next night, usually enhanced with herbs from the resort’s own organic herb garden, weather permitting. Sometimes, however, weather prohibits, as the recent cold snap left the garden wilted and useless. It will recover quickly, but in the interim, Moiles can rely on fresh herbs grown locally in greenhouses protected from the elements.
♥ For six couples only, the Omphoy — a brief northward stroll from the Lake Worth Pier — offers a sweetheart deal: private beach dinners for two, in one of four private beachside dining rooms or one of two pagodas nestled among the lush foliage on the terrace. James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein has worked up a five-course menu that starts with oysters, a classic aphrodisiac, and caviar and ends with a decadent dessert for two with wine and Champagne to complement each dish. Strolling musicians, glistening stars and the sounds of waves breaking on the shore add to the romantic experience. The private dining rooms start at $500, the pagodas at $400.
Once those are taken, or for those with more modest expectations, dining reservations also are accepted at Michelle Bernstein at The Omphoy. Guests wishing to make a day of it can hit Exhale Spa for a deep flow massage or a facial, followed by dinner and then extend the bliss in one of the resort’s 130 rooms with rates starting at $349. (561-540-6440 or <a href="http://www.omphoy.com" target="_blank">www.omphoy.com</a>).
♥ Based upon first impressions, you might think Ritz-Carlton Executive Chef Ryan Artim has gone off the deep end of the resort’s pool. He’s featuring a deluxe BBQ burger for two in The Breeze outdoor patio. But the Ritz never does anything ordinary. The Breeze’s Bubbly & BBQ dinner, meant to be shared, includes a 16-ounce sirloin burger for two, with barbecue-braised short ribs, Gorgonzola tater tots and a bottle of Champagne. The complete dinner is $100, or share just the burger with your sweetheart for $40.
Artim also has a cabana dinner of four courses: a seafood ice starter (with Florida stone crab, citrus poached shrimp, Wianno oysters and American caviar), farmer’s dream salad (Local heirloom tomatoes, Buratta cheese, Opal basic and aged balsamic drizzle), Land & Water Delight Main Course (wood-grilled dry-aged filet mignon, horseradish-crust fennel-glazed sea bass, Champagne buerre blanc-herbed Parmesan polenta, jumbo asparagus, roasted porcini mushroom sauce) and Cupid’s Heartbeat dessert (strawberry chocolate Kit Kat bar, strawberry sorbet). Wash it down with two premium cocktails, two glasses of Champagne and a choice bottle of wine for $500 per couple.
Artim has even come up with a take-out Valentine’s special: a bottle of Champagne, a seafood platter (12 Gulf shrimp, eight oysters, four stone crab claws, with sauces), fresh salad of field greens, red beets, spiced walnuts, cucumber and a Champagne dressing, a main course of two eight-ounce filets mignon with horseradish crust, au gratin potato, asparagus and fricassee of mushroom, and a decadent Cupcake Tic-Tac-Toe Dessert. Price: $150.
Temple Orange, the resort’s signature restaurant, will offer Valentine’s Day pre fixe menu at $120 per couple on Feb. 13 and 14. From Feb. 6-21, the Ritz’s Eau Spa is offering “Pearls and Champagne” Valentine’s specials ranging from a $75 do-it-yourself package to a $485 signature treatment that includes cocktails, chocolates, Champagne bubble bath and full body massage. (561-533-6000).
♥ A little further south, the Delray Beach Marriott’s Romance Package, not only for Valentine’s Day but throughout the season, offers a deluxe oceanfront suite, breakfast for two, a $75 voucher applicable for dinner or room service, bottle of Champagne and strawberries upon arrival and late check out. Valentine’s weekend price $449, with promotion code LVU. Additionally, the Marriott’s Seacrest Grill has lovebird specials for non-guests. (561-274-3200).
♥ And just a block to the west, The Seagate in Delray is offering deluxe rooms, Champagne and “tuxedo” strawberries upon arrival and a couples massage in The Seagate Spa for $725 a night from Feb. 11-21. That’s 20 percent off its regular rate. For guests who prefer not to hit one of the many restaurants along Atlantic Avenue, executive chef Adam Gottlieb has worked up a romantic menu. (561-665-4800).
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Joyce Brown at Flamingo Clay studio has put out a call to her fellow artists to fire 1,000 individual bowls for the Haitian Empty Vessel project at Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery in Lake Worth. People can buy the bowls ($25 or four for $80 in advance, $35 at the door) and then use them to sample a “taste of Lake Worth” at many of the town’s restaurants on a date to be determined in early March.
Details are still sketchy because Brown wanted to generate bowl production first, but restaurants are already responding, she said. Each bowl will be handcrafted and buyers will be able to choose theirs at the gallery, first come, first served. Those e-mailing Brown at jclay6@aol.com will be notified of the details. Anyone wishing to become involved or seeking more information may call 561-588-8344.
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Now that his new Delray gastropub, The Office, is open, and celeb chef Mark Militello is lording over the kitchen, owner David Manero can finally relax.
R-i-i-i-ght! Word has it Manero often sits at an outside table that allows scrutiny of not only The Office, at the northeast corner of Atlantic and Second Avenue, but also his popular Vic & Angelo’s across the street. Manero describes The Office as “not quite a bar and not quite a restaurant … offering a casual-meets-refined atmosphere that welcomes beer drinkers and wine snobs, non-fussy eaters, and foodies alike … A charming neighborhood watering hole.”</div>Along the Avenues : Florida Stage's 'no-brainer' move is no help to Plaza del Marhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-florida2009-12-31T16:30:00.000Z2009-12-31T16:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Thom Smith
After producing cutting-edge theater in Manalapan’s <b>Plaza del Mar</b> for nearly 20 years, <b>Florida Stage</b> is cutting out, heading to a new home at the <b>Kravis Center</b>. The move, announced in November, won’t be made until July, but tickets for the summer musical go on sale in January.
While it’s a blow to Plaza del Mar, which lost its anchor <b>Epicurean</b> gourmet market last spring, it was not a bolt from the blue.
For years, Producing Director <b>Lou Tyrrell</b> had looked for an opportunity to move to a more central location that would enlarge his subscriber base. Until recently he thought it might be Palm Beach. The Sterling Organization had big plans to tear down the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in the Royal Poinciana Plaza and replace it with condos and a new, 350-seat theater. Florida Stage would call it home and the Kravis Center would provide the management. Community opposition and the economic downturn thwarted that plan.
However, Tyrrell and Kravis Center CEO <b>Judy Mitchell</b> continued to talk. With a little tweaking, they realized the Kravis’ own Rinker Playhouse would work. The deal was cut, and local architect Young Song designed the new space that will include a three-quarter thrust stage.
“We’ll be increasing revenue and cutting expenses, while improving production values and the audience experience,” Tyrrell said, noting his company will save $250,000 a year in rent and utilities. “When you combine the reconfiguration of the Rinker with two-story sets, improved lighting, special effects, plus the location in the middle of the community, it really was a no-brainer.”
Times are tough, and nonprofits across the board are looking for new models to increase audience and minimize costs. Tyrrell couldn’t look back.
“How much will we lose?” asks Tyrrell, whose been winning over fans since he first appeared in The Elephant Man at Boca Raton’s Caldwell Theatre in 1981 and first staged shows at the Norton Museum in 1986. “Virtually everyone in our audience already goes to the Kravis Center. Plus you’re looking at tens of thousands of people who could be added to our audience base.
As for Plaza del Mar, Tyrrell believes it will find a new tenant. Someone recently looked at the space for a possible jazz club, he said.
“Sure I’ll miss it,” he said. “When I drive up and see an audience in the lobby and think of the almost 20 years we’ve served here, I get nostalgic, but I’m a person who looks forward.
“When I think of the people who will find us now, who’ll discover us, it’s so exciting.”
Time marches on at <b>Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery</b> in Lake Worth. More and more customers are finding their way to the nonprofit co-op at 605 Lake Ave. that features the work of 28 artists, whose creations range from ceramic goblets to phallic bronze doorknockers to fused glass to stonework.
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Among the artists to be featured in January is sculptor <b>Mary Ellen Dohrs</b>. An octogenarian, she nevertheless still exudes the exuberance of youth in her meticulously detailed work, ranging from dramatic action among basketball players and sumo wrestlers to whimsical “smiling” snails. She’s also Miss October in the gallery’s first “Artists Uncovered” calendar.
Inspired by the legendary English gambit that led to a movie, the gallery’s brain trust decided to give the gallery and its artists a boost by posing them with their art, au naturel.
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Tastefully, of course. Cover girl <b>Sara Lerner,</b> for example, sits serenely on the gallery floor, surrounded by her stone sphere sculptures, her dark tresses cascading over her shoulders, her arms wrapped around her drawn-up knees. <b>Durga Garcia</b>, curator of exhibitions at the Palm Beach Photographic Center and a crack shot with a camera or a gun (She was a member of the U.S. International Pistol Team), took the photos.
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Incidentally, not all the artists are women. Well-known centaur <b>Norm Gitzen</b> also makes an appearance and husband and wife <b>Kelly and Linda Manganaro</b> are the February lovebirds. Half of the 1,000 original edition already have been sold, the gallery’s <b>Joyce Brown</b> said. Price: $19.95.
<b>Jim Taube</b> has been through this before — 17 times in Palm Beach County — but this is the first time he’s tried it in Delray Beach. “It’s still exciting, but I’m always a bit concerned when I open a new one,” he said as he looked around <b>Surf Sliders</b>, his new restaurant at the corner of A1A and Atlantic Avenue in the site formerly occupied by Shore.
Actually, Taube, a Palm Beach countian for 38 years, needn’t have worried. His opening on Dec. 15 was actually a little ahead of schedule, and it fits nicely with his other nautical eateries — <b>Key Grill</b> in Juno and Boca Raton, <b>Bimini Twist</b> in West Palm Beach, <b>Coola Fish Bar</b> in Palm Beach Gardens and the longstanding <b>Jetty’s</b> at Jupiter Inlet.
Surf Sliders, by the way, has nothing to do with baby burgers. “Sliders,” Taube said, “are anything that slides in the ocean — fish, surfers …”
Mind you, burgers are on the menu — topped with ’shrooms, guac, bleu cheese ($9.95) — but the menu is classic American bistro, offering sandwiches and entrees of fresh fish, chicken, filet mignon and imaginative salads including sweet-potato-crusted fresh fish over mixed greens and scallions and mango remoulade topped with the house vinaigrette ($14.95).
With a bar out front by the sidewalk, Sliders will get its share of beachgoers, who’ll feel right at home. Woven bamboo board covers the ceiling beams, ferns hang from stained wood baskets, surfboards hover here and lean there, and two giant marlin keep watch from the south wall. A distinctive aroma permeates the room, possibly the wormy chestnut, Taube says.
In an earlier day, folks used to gather around a cracker barrel or a toasty stove to share news and gossip. Packaging has replaced the barrels and, except for a few days each year, stoves aren’t needed in South Florida. But people still like to chat and that old convivial mood abounds at 259 NE Second Ave. in Delray Beach’s Pineapple Grove. You’ll also find some good buys and people who want to help, which is why Gulf Stream resident <b>Caron Dockerty</b> wrangled the space in a building owned by husband Bob to start <b>Treasures 4 Charity.</b>
Dockerty and her friend <b>Brooke Qualk</b> saw the space’s potential as a boutique where donated goods and clothing could be sold at thrift store prices to raise money for local charities. It started with a few friends, but word quickly spread and now Treasures 4 Charity is a community force.
“On opening night we sold half our merchandise,” Dockerty said of the planned two-month run, “but then the next few days were a bit slow. We thought, ‘Oh, well, it was a good idea … But then momentum started to build. More and more people started to bring in donations and more and more people offered to volunteer. We went from being open three days a week to five, from helping four charities to 14.”
The volunteer list has grown to 24 who staff the boutique from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 to 2 on Saturday.
“Everyone is having a blast working here,” Caron said. “We have become a community gathering place.”
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As honorees assembled on stage at the Kravis Center's Cohen Pavilion Dec. 10, <b>Anne Bright’s</b> cell phone rang. The caller: her husband and lifelong prankster <b>Reeve Bright.</b> Anne brushed it off with typical aplomb, but she took quite seriously her inclusion among 33 women honored by the <b>South Florida Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America</b> at its inaugural Best and Brightest luncheon.
Bright was recognized for her work with Lupus and with the <b>Achievement Center for Family and Children</b> in Delray.
Also honored was <b>Lula Butler</b>, Delray’s director of community improvement, who coordinated the city’s successful All-America City campaigns in 1993 and 2001 and co-founded the <b>Delray Beach Youth Council.</b>
Finally, some action at <b>Las Ventanas</b>, the much-anticipated residential/commercial complex at the corner of Woolbright Road and Federal Highway. First in: <b>Butterfl</b>y, a Chinese restaurant, and it’s already seeking votes in the national Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA competition. <b>Tsunami Subs & Wraps</b> is next, and a construction supervisor said an Italian restaurant will soon be ready, adding that 40 percent of the retail space is under contract.
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Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com</i></div>Along the Avenues: Blues, food and a beachy resorthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-avenues-blues-food2009-12-03T19:00:00.000Z2009-12-03T19:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Thom Smith
Maria Muldaur, Devon Allman, Cephas & Wiggins, Marcia Ball, John Hammond, John Sebastian. For nearly a decade, appearances by such acts made the <b>Bamboo Room</b> in Lake Worth one of the premier live music venues in the Southeast. But when the economy went south two years ago, the performers decided they weren’t about to follow, and with much regret <b>Russ Hibbard</b> decided to shut down.<br />
“We remain optimistic that the cultural and economic climate will improve,” Hibbard wrote in a farewell note on Bamboo’s Web site in May 2008.<br />
Well, the climate is improving, and though nothing has been announced yet, Hibbard has told friends that Bamboo Room will reopen soon. The timing has to be right, he said.<br />
Stay tuned.<br />
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Delray a dining magnet? Sure looks that way. Of course, <b>Nick Morfogen</b> has been a star at 32 East for years, but now he’ll have some noteworthy company with the arrival of <b>Allen Susser</b> and <b>Mark Militello</b>, two of the seminal forces behind “Floribbean” cuisine.<br />
Susser is partnering with <b>Robert Workman,</b> a local property developer, to open <b>Taste</b>, a gastropub, in the hot little enclave of <b>Pineapple Grove</b> early in 2010.<br />
It’ll be a dramatic departure from <b>Chef Alan’s</b>, his legendary restaurant in Aventura, as he’ll offer American “pub” fare foods — sliders, sandwiches “with a little South Florida flavor.”<br />
“I love Delray,” Susser told food blogger and Coastal Star writer <b>Jan Norris</b>. “It’s a quiet little community on the ocean, with nice energy and it has a real sense of that community. I like that. That’s the more important thing about opening a new restaurant to me. It will be a part of a real community instead of a restaurant coming in and saying ‘Let’s see how much money we can make.’ ”<br />
Sliders also are expected on the menu at <b>The Office</b>, a joint effort between Militello and <b>David Manero</b> who gave Delray <b>Sopra</b>, <b>Shore</b> and <b>Gotham</b> and <b>Vic and Angelo’s</b>. They hope to open The Office, at Atlantic and Northeast Second Avenue formerly occupied by <b>Louie Louie Too</b>, by year’s end.<br />
Previously a presence in Palm Beach County, Militello was chef/owner of <b>Mark’s CityPlace</b> and <b>Mark’s Mizner Park</b>.<br />
“I’m still working on the menu,” Militello told Norris, “but it will be eclectic American. Upscale, gastropub, with an emphasis on local products and growers, fresh seafoods.”<br />
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<b>Pauline and Tom Smith</b> (no relation) finally have <b>Pauline's</b> (formerly planned as Marley’s Island Time Grill) open at 800 Palm Trail, just off George Bush Boulevard. The Smiths took over what used to be the <b>Pineapple Grille</b> and are offering a backbreaking three “Island-style” meals a day.<br />
Breakfast offers Rasta Ital (three egg whites, cheese, two veggies and and English muffin) for $5.75, or Grandma Muller’s Eggs (two eggs fried in a pan of bacon over toast) for $5.25. At lunch, curried chicken will set you back $9.75, fresh fish sandwich with a side of greens $9.75. Oxtail dinner runs $17, coconut shrimp $16.50.<br />
“We’re working at it,” Pauline said. “We’ve started bringing in Screamin’ Jerry Leeman on Friday nights and for Sunday brunch.”<br />
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Also in full flourish is the <b>Seagate Hotel</b>, the swank new hotel that welcomed its first guests on Nov. 1. It has 162 rooms, a spa, two pools and connection to the <b>Seagate Club</b> on the beach. The stylish sea-themed decor includes wave-theme motifs on the walls and aquariums populated with eels and anemones.<br />
Locals, however, are more likely to be concerned with the social life. To that end, both the main restaurant, <b>Atlantic Grille</b>, and the bar open onto Atlantic Avenue and offer indoor or patio dining and socializing.<br />
Exec Chef <b>Adam Gottlieb</b> has worked up an American menu that includes cheddar bacon sirloin burgers for $13, mahi sandwiches for $15, bouillabaisse for $29 and 14-ounce New York strips for $38.<br />
It remains to be seen if the beach crowd from <b>Boston’s</b> and the west of Federal gang can find common ground at the Seagate.<br />
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Never a dull moment at <b>Il Bacio</b>, the new eclectic Italian eatery and night spot just south of Atlantic on Second Avenue in Delray. On the night before Thanksgiving, it hosted a party to introduce the Palm Beaches to the <b>Miami Caliente</b> — that’s hot en Español — South Florida’s entry into, get this, the <b>Lingerie Football League</b>.<br />
It’s tackle football, just like the Dolphins and the Gators, except they play seven against seven on a 50-yard field. Players wear helmets and shoulder pads, but who needs jerseys! The rest of their uniforms amount to color coordinated bras and panties with numbers embossed on the back.<br />
George Halas and Knute Rockne never had this in mind.<br />
The new league plays a four-game schedule before the playoffs which culminate with the Lingerie Bowl to be played a week before the Super Bowl. The Caliente, which plays at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, already has a 2-1 record. Sadly, none of the 20 players on the roster calls Palm Beach County home, and don’t expect to see Tim Tebow offering endorsements, although this wild and crazy group is guided by a former Gator quarterback, Bob Hewko, who in one inspired halftime talk, exhorted his charges with, “There’s no crying in football.” (For more information: <a href="http://www.lflus.com/miamicaliente" target="_blank">www.lflus.com/miamicaliente</a>)<br />
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<b>St. Paul’s Episcopal Church</b> is just a couple of blocks west of Il Bacio, but needless to say, it serves a different clientele. For 20 years it has ministered to the community through the <b>Turnover Shop</b>, a thrift store housed in the 107-year-old <b>Wuepper House</b> at 10 NE Fifth Ave. In recent years, however, the floors were wearing thin, so in September, the church closed it down to replace the floor and spruce it up.<br />
In these tough times, thrift stores are enjoying resurgence and at the Nov. 21 reopening the regulars were joined by some new customers. Not only do they provide low-cost merchandise and clothing, but the proceeds help provide hot meals for dozens of children in the church’s after-school program in Delray Beach and daily meals for 200 children St. Mary Madeleine School in Bondeau.<br />
“It was wonderful, ” store manager <b>Shelly Seales</b> said. “We had a lovely time. Once we got all the paper off the wall and cleaned up, we thought, ‘Oh it looks really nice.’ We’re really glad to be open again.”<br />
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No, they won’t paint the hotel pink. But in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s <b>Race for the Cure</b> in West Palm Beach on Jan. 30, the <b>Ritz-Carlton</b> in Manalapan is offering a “Sweet Dreams for the Cure” pink package during January.<br />
In addition to the room, guests receive two pink bath robes, two pairs of fluffy pink socks, two pink 300-count pillowcases monogrammed with the guest’s initials, Sole Foot Delight treatment with pedicure in the spa and a pink welcome cupcake. The special room rates begin at $569 and the Ritz-Carlton will donate 5 percent of the rate to the Komen Foundation.<br />
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<i>— Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com</i></div>