News

The Plate: The Country Pulled Chicken Sandwich
The Place: M.E.A.T. (Meat Eatery and Taproom), 980 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton; 419-2600 or www.meateateryboca.com
The Price: $10
The Skinny: We at The Plate have a message for you, gentle readers:
When dining at M.E.A.T., order the fries.
Forget specialty flavors and rubs and salts.
It goes without saying that nobody knows the truffles we’ve seen, at least when it comes to fries.
But these were cooked in duck fat, and that is no canard.
Oh, you can order truffle fries here, but who needs that when duck fat renders a potato that is wonderfully crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside — it’s actually worth all those calories.
And that’s all the better to ponder some of the namesake dishes at M.E.A.T. (that’s short for Meat Eatery and Taproom), chef George Patti’s Islamorada concept that he opened in the lobby of a Wells Fargo bank building.
Consider the pulled chicken: tender bits of gently smoked chicken, tossed with broccolini and banana peppers, and served on a perfectly toasted bun.
It makes a near-perfect meal, and you don’t need any sauces, but you’ll want to taste that house-made ketchup, as well as the sinus-clearing mustard.
It’s all very fresh. Patti says all sausages and bacon are house-made, with seasonal ingredients, and there also is a top-flight beer menu that is sure to have us coming back for more.
— Scott Simmons