Boca magazine November/December 2022

DAVID ROSENBERG

A New Kind of Legacy

All in La Famiglia

For the extended Gismondi clan, celebrating Christmas the ItalianAmerican way is all about honoring traditions and inventing new ones.

By MARIE SPEED

Boca Moving Forward

A growing downtown, a high-speed train station, an office building with a Guinness record: From technology to health care to leisure, we chronicle Boca’s recent progress.

By TYLER CHILDRESS and JOHN THOMASON

Behind the Scenes at Lion Country Safari

It’s always a wild life for the denizens of Palm Beach County’s drive-thru animal attraction. In our backstage visit, we learned why zebras can be mean, why monkeys can be mercurial and why rhinos need a good spa day.

By MARIE SPEED

Florida Style & Design

Discover a master designer’s secrets for creating a sleek, elegant and spacious coastal sanctuary. Plus, learn why rounded forms, leafy wallcoverings and chandeliers both funky and graceful are all the rage.

By CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

18 Editor’s Letter

Celebrating traditions can be the best way to make new memories.

By MARIE SPEED

21 The Local

Meet an FAU graduate who made history this year, a fiber artist sharing her life story in needle and thread, and a Boca priest whose miraculous recovery from cancer has Mass appeal. Plus, locals share their own desires for holiday miracles, and our annual gift guide features the year’s top products, from jewelry to apparel to audio equipment—and much more.

By TYLER CHILDRESS, MARIE SPEED and JOHN THOMASON

32 The Look

With a nip in the air and festive galas just around the corner, ‘tis the season for snuggly sweaters, dazzling formal wear and twinkling statement pieces.

Photography by AARON BRISTOL

54 The Boca Interview

It’s all business for the BDB’s Kelly Smallridge, whose retention and recruitment efforts have brought companies far and wide to Palm Beach

County. She discusses her career breakthroughs, how her organization works, and what our region needs most.

By RANDY SCHULTZ

109 Backstage Pass

Lynn Conservatory Dean Jon Robertson talks about this year’s beloved Gingerbread Holiday Concert, another rousing program of soaring brasses, sprightly reeds and jingling bells. Plus, our eclectic Season Preview breaks down 26 A&E highlights from now through April— from Harper Lee on Broadway to a former first lady and the Boss himself.

By JOHN THOMASON

171 Florida Table: See what our food critic has to say about Corvina and Akira Back. Meanwhile, we venture to Miami to sample its Michelinstarred restaurants, and break down why the air fryer is the health-conscious eater’s favorite new appliance.

By CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

ON THE COVER: Some of the women in the Gismondi family (see page 58)

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

192 Social Supporters passed “Go” and raised money for Boca Helping Hands at a

DISCOVER ALINA

LUXURY OF PRIVACY

downtown Boca, and the

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Web Extras

Visit bocamag.com for bonus items you won’t see anywhere else—extended stories, recipes, news and more.

THE GIFT GUIDE THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Our annual gift guide is on pages 48-49 this issue. For five more suggestions of unique holiday gifts—including some quirky and budget-friendly options for your next White Ele phant!—visit bocamag.com/november-december-2022.

SPEAKING OF GIVERS …

Ron and Kathy Assaf, subjects of this issue’s Hometown Hero department (page 200), have donated to so many worthwhile causes that we couldn’t fit them all into our article. For the complete list of their philanthropic support, visit bocamag. com/november-december-2022.

Launched in early 2020, Boca Goes Live is still keeping you connected to the community through conversations streamed live on Facebook with a curated roster of some of South Florida’s leading officials, entertainers and innovators. Follow us on Facebook so you don’t miss new entries, and visit bocamag.com/ live to see the full library of videos and watch them on demand.

Don’t miss Boca on everything from FACEBOOK (facebook. com/bocamag) to INSTAGRAM (@bocamag) and TWITTER (@bocamag) for community news, retail trends, foodie updates and much more.

Best Bites

Think our dining guide is long? You haven’t seen anything until you’ve visited our digital version. We’ve got critic-reviewed restaurants from Jupiter to Miami on the web. Visit the Dining Guide tab to view the guide.

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA City Watch

Boca Raton is anything but sleepy, and Randy Schultz is the go-to for all the city pol itics, development and business news you need to know. For updates deliv ered straight to your email every Tuesday and Thursday, visit the City Watch tab on our website.

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Arts & entertainment

Where to go, what to do and see throughout South Florida. Please submit information regarding galas, art openings, plays, readings, concerts, dance or other performances to John Thomason (john.thomason@ bocamag.com). Deadline for entries in an upcoming A&E section is three months before publication.

Dining guide

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Christmas Past and Present

Carrying on traditions may be the best way to make new ones

Written by MARIE SPEED

alking to the Gismondi family about how they celebrate Christmas (page 58) was one of the times I realize I love what I do. It’s not every day you get to see people’s faces light up when they remind one another what it’s like Christmas morning when the little ones pop out of bed.

“It’s so much fun in the morning when they get up and they see all the gifts,” Rosaria Gismondi says. “And they jump on the bed saying, ‘Santa came! Santa came!’ and we say ‘Who? What? Are you sure?’”

Or how his daughters describe Vincent Gismondi cooking for them (“he has a passion for it”) and his saying how he was “born into the restaurant business. … I had a crib in the kitchen in Italy where we used to do all the cooking; as a little baby child I could smell the fresh chicken soup being made.”

Hearing their holiday traditions stirred up the long-ago ones of my own family, like the moment on Christmas morning we were allowed to descend the stairs in single file—after all of us, including mom and dad, had gotten up, brushed our teeth, and put on our bathrobes. Waiting for everyone to do all that seemed to take forever; we were hopping-around crazy. We weren’t allowed to even see the tree until we were all perfectly ready and civilized.

Years later, I remember when it snowed on Christmas Eve in Colorado when snow was not forecast, or the year our friends brought my dad to us Christmas morning from his room at the hospital. And years after that, when we met at mom and dad’s house, now in a rental pool, and managed to decorate a tree. Almost everything we remembered had been removed from the house, but there we were, the three kids and their families, reminiscing, hanging stockings, carrying on the traditions we had always shared.

I think this is a good year to remember the ways we grew up, how we celebrated holidays when the world was so different. We were all younger then, or we have kids and grandkids now, or we are alone or empty nesters or retired or in between houses or jobs or spouses. It’s comforting to recall those times of great joy and promise, like the Gismondis do every year, and to celebrate how those times made us who we are.

And, even better, how those memories can be the building blocks for making new ones.

Upgrade date night

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10hrs. 2mins.

Don’t-Miss Events

46%

Share of people who try to avoid talking politics at the Thanksgiving table

OCT. 31-NOV. 6: Boca’s TimberTech Champion ship is part of the PGA Tour Champions tour, bring ing together great names like Bernhard Langer, Mark Calcavecchia, Nick Price and Hale Irwin. It’s part of the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs and will be played this year at Royal Palm Yacht Club. Visit timbertechchampionship.com for more information.

HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

• The Boca Center Community Tree Lighting event is scheduled for Fri., November 18, 5:30 to 8 p.m. The Boca Center Community Menorah Lighting event is scheduled for Wed., December 21, 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Average

TUES., DEC 20, 7:30 P.M.: The RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl at FAU Stadium is a hometown crowd pleaser; affiliations for this year’s matchup include the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Con ference, Mountain West Conference, Sun Belt Conference and selected independents.

• In Boca Raton, The “Light The Lights” tree lighting will be at Mizner Park Amphitheater on Satur day, November 19 from 6 to 9 p.m.; Merry in Mizner every Friday (Dec. 2, Dec. 9, Dec. 16, Dec. 23) will feature strolling entertainment from 6 to 9 p.m.; the Holiday Street Christmas Parade on Wed., Dec. 7 will march down Federal Highway from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.; the Holiday Boat Pa rade will be on Sat, Dec. 17, from 7 to 8 p.m.

• The Delray Tree Lighting is Tues., Nov. 29—along with a Yule tide Street Fair. The Boynton-Delray Boat Parade is Fri., Dec. 9.

Locals sound off on issues affecting our community.

What would be your idea of a Christmas miracle this year?

“My idea of a Christmas miracle is to have all of my holiday shopping and wrapping done before my vacation time. That would allow me to actually relax and enjoy the holiday with my family. “

—Lauren LeBas, RN, BSN, Senior Endocrinology Diabetes Care Specialist, Novo Nordisk

“Practically, I’d like to use my miracle on something like construction on I-95 being totally complete (I’ve lived here 20 years … it’s still under construction). But I’ll settle on South Floridians adopting what us Texans call “driving the friendly way” (using your turn signal).”

—T.A. Walker, Entertainment Reporter, WPTV Channel 5

“My

—Christie Galeano-DeMott, Food Editor, Boca magazine

5GREAT WHISKIES FOR UNDER THE TREE

With brown spirits surging in popularity, we asked John Fitzpatrick, Spiritual Advisor at Warren American Whiskey, to give us his recom mendations on great whiskies our readers can ac tually find at their favorite local liquor stores. (And without breaking the bank!) Here’s what he said:

THINGS THAT SAY THE HOLIDAYS

Lunch at Neiman’s Mariposa (with bubbly) after a morning of holiday shopping

Buying those big Costco poinsettias

Stone crabs Christmas Eve and New Year’s

RED BREAST

12 YEAR IRISH WHISKEY: Single pot still, triple dis tilled and aged in ex-bourbon bar rels before being finished in Olo roso sherry casks, this smooth spirit boasts all the smoothness of Jameson (they’re made at the same Midleton Distill ery) with much more depth and character. $79

WOODFORD DOUBLE OAKED: This might be the best readily available bottle of bourbon under $60.“Toasted” barrel (finishing the whiskey in a second oak barrel before bottling) is all the rage these days, and Wood ford’s Double Oak delivers all the deep richness and vanilla, toffee and butterscotch notes—and takes it to the next level. $59

MICHTER’S AMERICAN WHISKEY: Michter’s Amer ican Whiskey might be the best of its baseline US1 options. Not a bourbon or rye (it has corn, rye and malted bar ley, without any grain dominat ing), this unique dram is aged in pre-soaked (used) bourbon barrels rather than brand-new American Oak. An unusual spirit with remarkable creaminess and classic flavor. $49

OLD FITZGERALD 17 YEAR WHEAT ED BOURBON: This release from Heaven Hill Dis tillery might be the smoothest of the smooth, with rye (the spiciest and sharpest of grains) removed and replaced by Kentucky Winter Wheat to create an undeniably easier drinking bourbon. When people are over the overpriced Pappy, I will offer them Old Fitz at less than half the price. We call it the Pappy killer! $199

THE MACALLAN HARMONY COLLECTION RICH CACAO: This most recent release from the Speyside distillery is a blend of American and European oak casks, with a twist by the Spanish chocolatier Jordy Roca, who infused the blend with his famous chocolate husks for a perfect finish of lightly sweet cocoa. When someone is considering just one more “taste,” this is my slamdunk finish to any meal. $189

Back-to-back “A Christmas Story” Red lipstick

Wild parrots showing up every day

Digging out the decorations and finding ones you forgot about Saturday afternoon football

Swapping out the Tito’s for Macallan (left)

John Fitzpatrick

“THE THIN PLACE”

WHEN: Nov. 4-20

WHERE: Boca Stage, 3333 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton

COST: $40-$50

CONTACT: 561/447-8829, bocastage.net Boca Stage opens its next season with this regional premiere from cel ebrated playwright Lucas Hnath (“A Doll’s House Part 2,” “A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney”). The title refers to an area of space-time in which the veil between the living and the dead blurs. A self-de scribed psychic, medium and spiri tualist, Linda forms a friendship with a younger client who fervently believes in portals connecting the physical and spirit worlds—a dynamic that comes to a head in the show’s spooky and nerve-wracking final act.

STEVEN WRIGHT

WHEN: Nov. 12, 8 p.m.

WHERE: Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs

COST: $31.57 to $52.97

CONTACT: 954/344-5990, thecentercs.com

“I remember when I was a fetus, I used to sneak out at night when my mother was sleeping. I thought to myself, now is the time I should start stealing some stuff, since I don’t have any fingerprints.”For pure absurdist delight, the opening line of this Steven Wright joke is a sliver of genius in and of itself. The punchline only amplifies the surrealist humor already present, taking it up a notch. This bit is as old as dirt but hasn’t lost any of its immediacy. Like the 66-year-old Wright’s best material, it jettisons complicated setups and overly florid language to get right to the point.

To read such jokes is one thing, and to see Wright perform them is quite another; his laconic, deadpan delivery is as inextricable to the comic affect as the words themselves. Though surviving mostly on the periphery of film and television, Wright’s influence in standup is vast and unquestioned; in 2017, Rolling Stone named him the 15th greatest comedian of all-time.

“HARD BODIES: CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE LACQUER SCULPTURE”

WHEN: Dec. 3-Jan. 22

WHERE: Society of the Four Arts, 100 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach COST: $10

CONTACT: 561/655-7226, fourarts.org

This sculpture exhibition showcases 33 works, mostly from this century, by 16 Japanese artists who explore lacquer in novel ways. This lustrous coating, which is most commonly associated with orna mental bowls and boxes, is a polymer distilled from the sap of a particular tree. Lacquer artists often spend six months to a year on a single work—such is the delicacy and dura tion of the finishing process. Each piece is a resplendent labor of love, an inherent testament to the discipline and the rigor of countless hours of shaping, slathering and shining raw material into forms both familiar and imaginative.

“HADESTOWN”

WHEN: Dec. 6-11

WHERE: Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

COST: $35-$130

CONTACT: 305/949-6722, arshtcenter.org

Arguably the most anticipated Broadway musical to tour since “Hamilton,”“Hadestown” is the brainchild of Vermont folksinger Anaïs Mitchell, who first released its alternately haunting, ethereal and rousing songs as a concept album before bringing the fully staged musical version off-Broadway. Her source material is ancient: the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the former’s harrowing journey into a hedonis tic underground to rescue the latter. Hermes, Persephone and, of course, Hades figure into the plot as well, and the elabo rate sets, costumes and songcraft helped propel the eventual Broadway production to eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Steven Wright

Chibueze Ihuoma in “Hadestown”

DAN DENNEHY

KEVIN BERNE

“Kai-sa-o” by Yoshino Takamasa

JORGE RIOS

David Selzer, MD Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Obesity Medicine

Thomas Rockland, MD Family Medicine

Alexandra Volo, DO Family Medicine

Raquel B. Dardik, MD Gynecology

Steven Cohen, MD Cardiology

Ivan Coronado, MD Cardiology

Stephen Saltz, MD Cardiology

Louis Snyder, MD Interventional Cardiology

Dennis A. Cardone, DO Sports Medicine

John G. Kennedy, MD Orthopedic Surgery, Foot & Ankle Surgery

Zulmary Andino, DPT Physical Therapy

Nicole Cox, DPT Physical Therapy

Kirsten Pierson, NP Internal Medicine

Yvette McFarlane, NP Internal Medicine

Heather Gawron, NP Cardiology

Cristina Figueira, MD Internal Medicine

Eliud Sifonte, MD Endocrinology

Agent of Change

A first-generation FAU graduate makes history

Written by JOHN THOMASON

Shyra Johnson had a clear goal in mind: “I always knew I wanted my own sports agency by the time I was 30.”

To the average person, this may sound like a lofty aspiration. But Johnson has never settled for average. She bested this goal by nine years when, in early 2022, the FAU graduate student passed the National Basketball Players Association Agent Certifica tion Exam at 21, becoming the youngest certified sports agent in

tennis. (Athletic prowess runs in the family; one cousin, Tameria Johnson, plays college hoops for the University of Delaware, while another, Tony Johnson, is a wide receiver for the FAU Owls.) Her father seeded the career choice of sports representation when she was 14, and she has approached the vocation with a single-minded focus.“I was thinking of [studying to be] a doctor or a lawyer, but I knew that whatever I chose, I’d be really good at it,” she says.

for the exam and I found out Feb. 28, which was my parents’ 20th wedding anniversary, that I became the youngest sports agent.”

history. She had already started Team Empire Sports, her own agency, where she now represents a roster of 10 to 15 athletes.

“They’re coming from all over; they have the most amazing stories,”Johnson, now 22, says. “There’s a lot of ethnicity, I would say. I have a young woman who’s a gymnast, who is from China. I have a lot of individuals from different parts of Africa—Ghana, Nigeria. And they cross different sports.”

Johnson is acutely aware of the relentless drive required to succeed in professional sports. It’s a mind set she has shared, from academics to athletics to business.

The youngest of three children, she grew up in Ocala, Florida, to parents who treated scholastic achievement as paramount.“You couldn’t get less than a B,”John son says. She became one of only three straight-A students in her middle school while excelling in a variety of sports, from cheerlead ing and basketball to track and

She gravitated to FAU for its lifestyle and access to talent and capital. But it was her acceptance into the Kelly/Strul Emerging Scholars Program that fostered the environment for her to pursue her dreams. The program allows outstanding, first-generation, financially strapped students such as Johnson to graduate debt-free.

Johnson began at FAU as a sophomore, interning at ESPN while earning her bachelor’s in business administration and man agement.“I networked like crazy. I told everyone my dream. Everyone knew me as the sports girl. I didn’t know a soul moving here, and then I just started meeting the athletes, helping them get towards their goal, being in the gym with them practicing.”

In February, she took the exam to become a licensed sports agent— despite having only begun studying for the material two weeks prior. “I took a week off; everybody was very supportive,”she says.“I sat

Next year, Johnson is expected to graduate with her master’s degree in sport management, after which she’ll be able to repre sent athletes in the professional leagues. For her current clients with Team Empire Sports, she focuses on building their brands through name, image and licens ing (NIL) agreements—a new path for nonprofessional athletes to be compensated for their suc cess, as decided by a unanimous Supreme Court decision in 2021.

“My goal is to have athletes be at the forefront of this creator space of social media,” she says. “With NIL, you’re building for your future opportunities. If you happen to go professional, now you know what marketing and endorsement deals look like. If you don’t, you have a reputation and brand to go into coaching [or] go start a business.”

As a first-gen college student with an ambitious career ahead of her, Johnson has seen her achieve ment ripple back home and beyond.“My grandpa goes, ‘do you know how crazy it is that I get to just Google Shyra Johnson, and all of this stuff comes up about you?’

So it excites them. … I’ve done all of this work to see the fruits of our name, our family legacy, going somewhere. … That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

“The vision is really to have a classroom-full size of the LeBrons and the Serenas—influential, stellar individuals that happen to be athletes.”

—Shyra Johnson

Shyra Johnson

The Italians used to call me ‘Michele il miracoloso’— Michael the miracle one.”

—Father Michael Driscoll

Michael the Miracle One

How a Boca priest and a Catholic saint are tied together by a life-saving thread

Written by TYLER CHILDRESS

In the summer of 2004, Father Michael Driscoll, a Carmelite pastor at St. Jude’s in Boca, was riding with three other priests north out of Florida. The long drive proved tiresome, and a weary Father Driscoll went to lay his head against the window when he felt a sharp pain shoot across his fore head. He knew right away there was something unusual about this pain. What he didn’t know was that he was dying.

A day later, a doctor took a bi opsy of his forehead.“The next day he called me up and just said, ‘I want you in here,’” recalls Driscoll, and summarizes the diagnosis given to him in a single word: gulp Advanced metastatic melanoma, stage 4. Reeling from the news, he was considering his options when one of his parishioners recom mended he see a doctor in Boston.

Father Driscoll traveled to Boston and was operated on three weeks later. After 11 hours, 84 lymph nodes and the salivary gland on his right side had been removed. The doctors told him he would have to travel back and forth from Florida to Boston for radiation treatment.

For the next eight years, Father Driscoll flew to Boston in regular intervals.“I wanted to come back here and start working; I was getting bored,” says Father Driscoll. Then in 2012, he got his wish, when his doctor could find no trace of cancer in him.“He said, ‘you’re cured. Don’t waste your money flying up here to Boston anymore.’”

The five-year survival rate for stage 4 metastatic melanoma is between 5 and 19 percent. Father Driscoll’s miraculous recovery, he

says, can be attributed to the intercession of a Dutch Carmelite priest that was killed during the Holocaust, Father Titus Brandsma.

Father Driscoll recalls first learning of Brandsma as a child while attending seminary in the Bronx from a Dutch Carmelite teacher. He learned that Brands ma was a vocal opponent of the Nazi regime in Holland, using his platform as both a priest and a journalist to speak out against the Nazis’ persecution of Jews. For this, Brandsma was arrest ed by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau, where he was killed by lethal injection. Driscoll recalls his teacher telling him,“Pray that he’ll be canonized one day and be as a model to Carmelites.”

In 1985, Father Driscoll at tended the beatification of Titus Brandsma, the first step toward sainthood. All Brandsma needed was one miracle, and he would be canonized. Luckily for Brandsma, Father Driscoll was in need of one.

When Driscoll received his diag nosis, he requested that a newsletter be sent out in the Florida Catholic newspaper asking for people to pray that Titus Brandsma would intercede on God’s behalf and heal him. During this time, Driscoll also came into possession of a relic that belonged to Brandsma—a tiny sliver of the suit he wore when he arrived at Dachau. Driscoll happened to be speaking to a fellow priest about Titus Brandsma and how he would love to get his hands on a relic of his, and the priest, by chance, had one.“I said to myself,‘that’s divine providence.’”

He began rubbing the small piece of cloth on his face in the weeks leading up to his surgery and after, when he was receiving treatment.“That can be [called] superstitious, but it’s not the relic that cures you; it’s the faith you have in the person who’s symbol ized in this relic.”

When Father Driscoll got the news that he was cancer-free, it was both God and Titus Brandsma to whom he gave thanks. He said it was Brandsma who delivered this miracle, and that it was time he be recognized as a saint. Years later, the Church began its inves tigation for Brandsma’s saint hood. Officials pored over more than 1,300 documents related to the case, and in May 2022, Titus Brandsma was canonized at a ceremony in Rome, which Father Driscoll attended.

“Everybody [was] saying ‘you’re the man.’ the Italians used to call me ‘Michele il miracoloso’—Mi chael the miracle one.” Father Driscoll and Titus Brandsma had both received their miracles.

Now, Father Driscoll, 81, continues to be active in the Boca community and at St. Jude Church.“People have told me, ‘you are alive because you still have work to do.’”

Father Michael Driscoll

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My work is so unique; it’s not the traditional oil on canvas or sculpture. I’m using untraditional material, and for a lot of people, it’s more of an acquired taste.”

—Michelle Drummond

Following the Thread

Delray fiber artist Michelle Drummond spins her life story into her 3D creations

Written by JOHN THOMASON

Michelle Drummond was burnt out. Living in Washington, D.C., as a federal contracted project manager for 17 years with an art hobby on the side, she decided, circa 2018, that it was time for a career change and a lifestyle change. She favored Florida for its tropical climate, but the connection she would soon establish to Delray Beach was nothing short of kismet.

“I found Arts Warehouse before I came down, and I spoke to Grace [Gdaniec, now the Warehouse’s manager],” Drummond recalls.“When I clicked on her website and looked through it and called, Grace said, ‘How did you find us?’ She said, ‘I just hit publish [on the website].’That was a sign that I was making the right move.”

Four years later, Drummond still maintains a studio in Arts Warehouse, but her reach ex tends throughout the city and county. She also runs a pop-up gallery of her work in the SofA District, and she was selected for the final exhibition curated at the Cornell Art Museum in 2021. In March, she premiered her first public art installation, “The Metamorphosis,”inside the Mandel Library in West Palm Beach, becoming the first Black female artist to be award ed a solo, permanent public art commission by the city.

Drummond’s specialty is three-dimensional fiber art whose bright hues echo the Pop Artists of yore—Kandinsky, Lichtenstein, Warhol—while occupying a space between representation and abstrac tion. In“Life’s Rhythm,”blue

yarn conjures a heart monitor with its ebbs, flows and spikes, suggesting life’s peaks, craters and surprises. In“Let it Roll,” perhaps Drummond’s most meta piece, spools of yarn tumble off an outstretched tongue, suspended in midair. “Navigating the System,”with its swirls of teal and white bands converging into a vortex, resembles both a question mark and a river—an endless flow of uncertainty, a metaphor perhaps for life itself.

“I create based on what manifests itself to me,” she says.“The colors I pull from my culture, the Caribbean; I create vibrant art to uplift me and evoke some sense of happi ness and joy and peace.”

To tour Drummond’s work is to experience her life story, as her biography and her corpus are intertwined.“Risk Taker 1,” for instance, which displays a hand pressing a button that opens a new opportunity, was completed a year after she left a financially sound career to make art full-time.

A native of Jamaica, Drummond took her first risk in 1995, leaving her family behind to attend St. Lawrence College, in upstate New York, on an academic scholarship. She played field hockey in col lege, achieved her bachelor’s in mathematics, and studied computer science and French. She didn’t have the opportuni ty to explore art seriously until her senior year.“I always liked art, but culturally, that’s not a career to pursue,” she says.“Ja maica is a very conceited envi ronment. If you’re not a doctor or lawyer, your career path is

not very respected. It’s a lot of status, money, classism.”

So Drummond played the corporate game for nearly two decades, only to find that as a woman of color, she faced hurdles in America too.

“There were a lot of biases in corporate. I was tired of fight ing—trying to earn recognition when I didn’t necessarily need to earn it. I didn’t think I was being fairly treated in most of the corporate arena, and needed to fight to keep my position, and for respect and acknowledgement. I said, what am I fighting for?”

At the time, she made art on the side and gifted the finished works to friends. One of them coaxed her into following this passion full-time, which ulti mately inspired the web search that led to Delray Beach and Arts Warehouse.

These days, her C.V. in cludes more than 25 group or solo exhibitions in just four years, a remarkably swift as cent. In addition to her original artwork, she sells prints of her work, handbags emblazoned with her imagery, and textiles derived from her finished piec es. She would welcome gallery representation to handle the business side of her art.

“My work is so unique, it’s not the traditional oil on can vas, or sculpture,” she says.“I’m using untraditional material … and for a lot of people, it’s more of an acquired taste. I’ve exhibited tremendously, and everyone is fascinated by my work, but I I need to find the right audience, and the right person, who would want to collect my work.”

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Tropical vibes at the resort, from walkways to vistas

Bungalows Key Largo

This nearby Keys oasis feels like a cross between an Indo island out post and a luxury beach retreat

Written by MARIE SPEED

Every time I decide the Keys as I knew them are lost, a year goes by and I get restless and know I have to go back.

In this case, it was to Bunga lows Key Largo, and I took the plunge. Bungalows Key Largo opened as Key Largo’s only all-in clusive adult resort a few years ago but suffered a fire only months lat er. It has been completely rebuilt, and the 12-acre resort is stunning. And it’s close. And it transports you to a place that feels a little like Key Largo and a lot more like Thailand.

Bungalows Key Largo is a showcase of tropical magic through sheer design. Once you check into the chic island registra tion building, you say goodbye to your car, hello to your chauffeured golf cart, and slip through a pair of large blue wooden gates into

a botanical oasis on Buttonwood Sound (Gulf side). There are towering walls of green shading the narrow packed-shell paths that wind through the resort, and in minutes, it feels as if you are worlds away from Key Largo and transported to an island outpost.

The resort has 135 individual bungalows (31 waterfront) with a coastal vernacular feel, complete with small front porch and a private outdoor area with a soaking tub and outdoor rain shower. Each also comes outfitted with two cruiser bikes, although it’s easy to walk to the main hub of the property, which is the waterfront Beach House. The Beach House, with its natural Indo-Florida décor, is reminiscent of a tropical retreat, with four dining options and the intimate Hemingway bar, as well as a tiki bar and an infinity Sunset Pool. The nearby Zen pool is

nestled under dense palms, and an expansive fitness tiki hut includes Peloton bikes, elliptical machines, a rowing machine, free weights and more.

Dining at Bungalows is part of the charm of an all-inclusive resort; it’s easy and it’s got enough variety to complement whatever mood you are in that day. The daily breakfast buffet (with made-toorder omelets as well as mimosa and Bloody Mary stations) at the brightly appointed indoor-outdoor Fish Tales is a great way to kick off your weekend (lunch here is also superb), and the more refined dining experience upstairs at Bogie & Bacall’s offers locally inspired seafood and steak options. Per haps the most charming venue is Sea Señor, an open-air Mexican restaurant under the palms on the ocean. We loved the tacos; it’s real, it’s flavorful, it feels like vacation

Poolside at Bungalows

with every bite. There is also, of course, the obligatory tiki hut, a generous poolside venue for light bites and handcrafted cocktails— and open until 11 p.m. if you’ve got a late craving.

The weekend we were there was a summer holiday weekend, so things were amped up by a lavish seafood and barbecue buffet, every thing from sliders and pulled pork to grilled lobster tails—and a cold sea food bar with shrimp and king crab and more. Add in a junkanoo band and fireworks, and the party was up and running. Instant revelry—and happily, not in your own backyard.

In terms of amenities, this resort has it all, but everything feels somewhat tucked away and private. Grown up. No screaming Bill’s Big Banana rides here, but you can hire the motorized tiki bar to chug along the bay while you sip cocktails with a few of your friends, or catch a sunset cruise (this is the Keys, after all) on a spa cious catamaran. There are several

excursion options as well, from swim and sail trips to snorkeling to ecotours, all available with a picnic lunch.

The Zen Garden Spa exudes luxury with every self-indulgent service; we loved touches like the eucalyptus steam room. In fact, wellness is a theme that runs through the resort, although it doesn’t shame you with it; there are, after all, spa-inspired cock tails. (As we said before, this is the Keys). Daily yoga classes offered on Tranquility Beach are included in the all-inclusive stay.

Overall, Bungalows does what it should: It provides a luxurious (but fun) retreat—without the preten sions of other famously luxe island resorts. And, can we reiterate: It’s only two hours down the road—but with the ambiance of a much more upscale (and slightly exotic) locale. The overall vibe is calm and sumptuous, and the attention to detail is on point. You’ll like it. Go. It’s worth the splurge.

Lounging waterside and below, the Living Room at Bungalows

WRITTEN BY RANDY SCHULTZ

BRINGING BUSINESS HOME

elly Smallridge almost passed on an interview with the place where she has spent her whole career.

Thirty-four years ago, she had answered a classified ad in the Palm Beach Post from a little-known organization called the Palm Beach County Development Board. They wanted to speak with her on a Saturday. Smallridge, who had come home from the University of Florida, wanted to attend SunFest.

But her mother pushed her to take the interview, which led to a $23,000 job as director of membership sales. Now Smallridge is executive director of the Palm Beach Coun ty Business Development Board (BDB), making about $350,000 and trying to exploit the pandemic migration in a way that reshapes the county’s economy.

Kelly Smallridge has been the epicenter of business recruitment in Palm Beach County for more than three decades

“We are at a peak now,” Smallridge says. She’s never been busier. She recruits like a college football coach. She checks mega-mansion buyers for corporate connections. She cold-calls.“You may have kissed a million toads,” she says,“be fore you get the prince.”

Since getting the top job in 2004, Smallridge has received many awards. Among others, the Sun Sentinel named her Small Business Leader of the Year, and the South Florida Busi ness Journal proclaimed her the “ultimate CEO.” In 2013, Rick Scott gave her the Governor’s Ambassador Medal.

Smallridge’s biggest accom plishment, though, may be streamlining the countywide business recruitment and re

tention effort. Here is how she explains the respective roles:

Inquiries from corporations or CEOs about moving to Palm Beach County go to Small ridge’s office. So do questions about local companies that want to expand. The simi lar-sounding Economic Council of Palm Beach County is the business community’s advocacy group on issues. Example: the county’s consideration of higher impact fees for developers.

When an inquiry comes in, Smallridge and her staff ascertain what the company wants: location, amount of land or office space, workforce. The staff offers options.

When a company or individu al expresses interest in a city, the BDB contacts local officials, such

as Boca Raton’s economic devel oper director Jessica Del Vecchio or Sara Maxfield, who has the same job in Delray Beach.

Smallridge and her staff ask whether the city might offer an incentive, such as from Boca Raton’s economic development fund. They ask how the city could help with, say, expedited permitting. They may ask local officials to check out everything from schools to country clubs to veterinarians.

Then Smallridge and her staff set up interviews in each city where a company has shown in terest. Company representatives make the rounds and decide.

“You don’t have 30 chambers [of commerce] and 39 cities going after the same deal,” Smallridge says.“They have

They call Smallridge, asking why their city missed out. She explains. The company wanted more office or land than the city had available. An executive had a family connection to a city. “The CEO,” Smallridge says, “drives the decision.”

Sometimes the script gets flipped. Smallridge recalled that Cancer Treatment Centers of America originally wanted to be in West Palm Beach. As ne gotiations progressed, however, land became available in the Park at Broken Sound, and the company chose Boca Raton.

Despite its enviable corporate tax base, however, Boca Raton is at a competitive disadvan tage in one area compared to some other cities in the county. Smallridge points out that there

entrusted us” with putting cities in contention for a corporate move.

But the cities do this knowing that they might lose, right? Smallridge says,“We all do it knowing that we may lose.”

Del Vecchio calls the partner ship with the BDB “phenom enal,” adding that she learned much from Smallridge about setting up the city’s office. Cor porate inquiries also come to Boca Raton directly, Del Vecchio says, after which her office contacts the BDB.“The best way to describe it is ‘efficient.’”

Smallridge says her organi zation ultimately doesn’t care if a company goes to Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach or Palm Beach Gardens: “Noth ing changes in my world.” It matters only that the company comes to Palm Beach County.

But it can matter to mayors.

is no new “five-star, Class A office product” that many com panies are seeking.

Predictions of post-pan demic high office vacancies, she says, don’t apply in Palm Beach County. West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens are benefiting from new office space. The Business Develop ment Board’s Wall Street South campaign has brought financial firms to West Palm Beach.

Smallridge says Boca Raton has “a lot of strengths” when going after companies. Among other things, the city already has numerous corporate head quarters—including technology firms—its own airport and a higher education cluster of Florida Atlantic University, Lynn University and Palm Beach State College. There’s an “educated workforce.”

Boca Raton, though, also has

There’s a huge sentiment among this generation that it’s not the corporate ladder that they’re looking for. ... It’s the work/life balance.”

Smallridge introducing former HUD Secretary Ben Carson at a BDB luncheon

a major shortage of workforce housing and lacks what Small ridge calls “a vibrant downtown where you don’t need cars.”

Delray Beach has that with Atlantic Avenue, but Smallridge says the city needs more “park ing options.”

During the first 10 months of the board’s 2021-22 fiscal year, Smallridge says, about 65 percent of the new jobs went “north or central” in the county. One or two went south or west.

With Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter has emerged as a draw for young workers. Smallridge believes it’s because so much of the city’s entertainment area is waterfront, offering an amenity that other cities can’t match.

Corporate moves get lots of publicity, but a key part of the BDB’s mission remains helping local businesses expand and keeping them happy so they don’t make headlines elsewhere by leaving. Smallridge still recalls when companies such as IBM, Motorola and W.R. Grace shrank or left.

Roughly 65 percent of the BDB’s revenue comes from membership fees—the rest from the county under a con

tract that, among other things, requires the board to visit at least 100 local businesses a year “to make sure we address the needs of companies in our backyard.”

Smallridge says the BDB will focus on“targeted industries and mix it up every year.”They may hear from a local official or a chamber about a company that has“an issue.”Businesses need not be members to get a visit.

Looking ahead, Smallridge sees an added role for herself and the board. She wants to “join the conversation” about “issues of competitiveness” with state and regional competitors.

Those issues are transpor tation, housing and education. Rather than react, BDB repre sentatives will start serving on organizations that set agendas and make policy.

Every company, Smallridge says, wants to know how its employees will get around and where they will live. Companies ask about education at all levels because schools and colleges produce their workforce. Small ridge praised School Superin tendent Mike Burke, who had been the district’s CFO, for his

eagerness to work with the BDB on how better to produce jobready high school graduates.

Smallridge also praised her predecessor, Larry Pelton, who resigned in 2004 after a controversy—not involving Smallridge—stemming from where Scripps Florida would go. But Smallridge also remade the BDB in her image, down to the business cards.

To succeed, Smallridge needed more than a work ethic. When she became the inter im director 18 years ago, her mother left a career to care for Smallridge’s three sons. When she slept on the couch as a new hire 34 years ago, her father would bring her dinner.

To get that job, Smallridge had to impress “a room full of white men” who were consider ing about 200 other candidates. She bought her “first suit, from Burdines” and put her hair in a bun to look older.

Three people at the BDB, Smallridge says, now have the responsibilities from that first job. It’s hard to imagine a career path today starting where hers did.“I don’t know of a 21-yearold today,” Smallridge says,“that would ever do it.”

Who are your biggest competitors in Florida?

Tampa and Miami. Tampa has a very urban lifestyle that offers a good balance that’s attractive to a young workforce, and compa nies follow the workforce.

Miami because they have a very international gateway to the Americas. Companies are going to want those direct flights and that whole interna tional ecosystem that doesn’t look anything like West Palm.

Who’s your biggest competitor outside Florida?

Probably the North Carolina area and Atlanta—areas that have big, empty plants avail able, which you don’t find here.

If you look at these corporate relocations, the vast majority of the time there was a large land donation or a large grant, and we don’t have that.

What’s your biggest ‘get?’

The Wall Street South initia tive that has attracted over 100 financial firms to the county is a huge win.

What’s the biggest one that got away?

Amazon’s second headquarters.

What’s the breakdown of your work between business recruitment and business retention?

Years ago, it was 70 percent growing what’s in our back yard. Today, after COVID, it’s 70 percent from out of state. We imagine that there will be a leveling off of economic activity. We imagine that it will go back to 70 percent retention and 30 percent recruitment. We’ve brought in a lot of people, and we don’t want to lose them.

Is all this activity because of the pandemic?

COVID did not cause this. It probably accelerated what would have happened within 10 years. It’s technology, and there’s something else.

There’s a huge sentiment among this generation that it’s not the corporate ladder that they’re looking at or the money necessarily. It’s a work/life bal ance. And Palm Beach County offers that work/life balance.

What’s the biggest chal lenge for the county?

No workforce housing, and if we don’t start getting busy in building supply, and if we don’t start getting serious about the necessary infrastructure to sup port this onslaught of growth that we’ve had, we will lose what we’ve worked on creating over a 10-year period.

Smallridge at an event with Wellington business leaders

All in

Standing, from left, Elisa, Vincenzo, Daniela and Alessandro Tufano; Sabrina and Eric Distelhurst, Mark, Giulia and Gina Merklein; Front row, Vincenzo Gismondi, Dante Distelhurst, Rosaria Gismondi with Alessia Distelhurst, Olivia Merklein

JASON NUTTLE

LaFamiglia

The Gismondis mix tradition with fun for a memory-making Christmas each year

WRITTEN BY MARIE SPEED

hen it comes to celebrating Christmas, the Gismondis think big. They have to, with 24 family members (and one on the way). Longtime owners of Arturo’s, arguably the first fine restaurant in Boca Raton when it opened in 1983, the Gis mondis moved here from New York in 1991 to help run the family business. (See sidebar.) At the time, it was Vincent and Rosaria, and five daughters, the young est three months old. Today, that number has grown to many times that, with husbands and grandkids, not to mention mothers-in-law and assorted extended family members.

We talked to Vincent and Rosaria and two of their daughters on a rainy day in the cozy alcove bar at Arturo’s about how their family celebrates Christmas; daugh ters Giulia and Elisa, Arturo’s pastry chef, talked about the holiday, from panettone to pajamas—and more.

Alessia and Dante Distelhurst

What about Christmas Eve?

There is very little Christmas Eve, as it turns out, for the Gismondis, as Arturo’s is always packed that night. Rosaria says that evening is celebrated at one of the daughters’ houses, and the whole-family holiday really starts Christmas day (if you don’t count the late-night ritual of stuffing presents under the tree after the kids go to bed).

I asked about the seven fishes tradition, where many Italians prepare feasts using seven different fishes on Christmas Eve, but it’s not something the Gismondis really do, although Vincent has a theory about why Catholics choose fish on holidays.

“Do you know the real story of why in Christianity we eat fish at Christmas?” he says, his eyes twinkling.“St. Peter had a brother and he was a fisherman. And busi ness was very slow because most of the Romans ate meat all the time. So he tried to help his brother, and he said we’ll make

a day, Christmas, to eat only seafood.”

He says it was “hearsay” of course, as his daughter Giulia rolls her eyes.

Gift giving

Buying gifts for upward of 20 family members is not for the faint of heart. Al though Rosaria depends on the individual daughters to give her lists, she does all the shopping like a warrior in a two-day spree that might be perilously close to Christmas. But she does it.

“I always give a special gift [to the family] that will be the surprise. Many times I give tickets to see a show or a big game, trips to Italy—one big thing for the whole family, a small gift for every one. I make a list and do it the week before, and go two days and buy everything…”

One of the tasks is hiding all those gifts from the children.

“We hide all the gifts beforehand. We have to put them out Christmas Eve night when the children are all in bed, so when they wake up on Christmas they see all the gifts. The little ones still believe in Santa, so hiding all the gifts is a challenge—you have to lock the doors.”

Décor and tradition

Every year, the family decides on a general theme for the dining table decor and the pajamas (more about that later). One year, it might be a plaid motif, another a blackand-white checkered look. But it’s always a thing, and it is meticulously carried out.

Not to mention the tree

“Every year the girls want to make sure we do the same thing, because they want their kids to grow up the same way they grew up. So there are no changes,” Rosaria says.“You have to have the biggest Christmas tree—

From left, at a past Christmas, Dante Distelhurst, Daniela Tufano, Olivia Merklein, Anthony Palmieri, Gina Merklein, Rocco Gisonda, Luca Palmieri, Cristian Palmieri

Dante Distelhurst under a Gismondi tree from years past

The meat and cheese board

AARON BRISTOL

Arturo’s

Arturo’s does it up for Christmas, and nothing looks better at this white-linen fine Italian restaurant than the 80 poinsettias placed everywhere, the festive window wreaths, and Elisa’s baskets of her line of liquores paired with baked goods.

Arturo’s set the standard for fine dining in Boca when the Gismondi family launched it in 1983. The Gismondi family, led by late patriarch Arturo Gismondi, hails from Sora, Italy, and opened its first restaurant in the states in Queens in 1957, establishing Arturo’s in Boca Raton decades later. Now, it’s become an institution in Boca and is known for its soft tinkling piano, its garden room, its impressive wine cellar and its black-jacket-and-tie waiters, all an homage to a white-glove dining standard that is rare these days—but a delightful change from the trendy (and loud) pricy “fine dining” go-tos that crowd the market now.

Do not miss the elegant torta primavera cart, the seafood antipasto, the fresh pastas— but you can’t go wrong with anything here. At Christmas, Arturo’s menu includes baccalà, a traditional codfish dish only made at Christmas. “It’s a tradition all over Italy,” Rosaria says, “but every region makes it a little differently. We do more of a stew with tomato sauce and peppers.”

And bakery chef Elisa Gismondi Tufano will also be showcasing her line of liquores from Tufano Liquore Company. “My husband and I are the founders of Elisa’s Creamoncello. We have three flavors: lemon, coconut and cappuc cino,” she says. “These creamy liquores are enjoyed chilled or mixed into other cocktails. I also use them in dessert recipes.”

For more, visit elisascreamoncello.com. Elisa’s liquores

and it has to be real. At least a 12-footer— and now that they are moved into their own homes when they come “home” [to us], they still expect to have the tallest tree.”

These days, the years of trudging from tree lot to tree lot to find the perfect tree are over. The Gismondis have a friend, who is a customer, who owns a Christmas tree farm in North Carolina, and they have the perfect tree delivered.

“I usually decorate the tree soon after Thanksgiving. … We have to wait for a few days before the branches open up, give it lots of water so the tree is hydrated, and then the biggest challenge is putting the lights on the tree,” she says.“So we always get Giulia and Mark, her husband—because he’s the tallest—to help.”

Vincent adds that they sometimes“get a broom, attach a barbecue fork to it so it’s lon ger to put all the lights on. It’s pretty funny.”

Giulia says they have so far “survived every year.”

The food

There’s a reason the Gismondi family wears pre-ordered matching pajamas every Christmas. Dinner is no match for shirts that are tucked, pants that zip, belts that are buckled. After the family attends Mass first thing Christmas morning, regular clothes are banished and everyone changes into the pair of pajamas that is issued to them (that reflect the theme that year) to wear for the duration.

First up is an elaborate charcuterie platter (assembled the day before) and Champagne to hold everyone over while the gift opening begins.

“I have pajamas for everybody, and every body is thrilled, because they can just relax ... and then the feast begins …”says Rosaria.

Vincent, who is the undisputed chef in the family, describes the menu.

“Once we sit down, we’re going to have the lasagna [Vincent’s mother’s recipe] that is traditional, going back many years. And then we’re going to have a stuffed turkey for tradition, but we’re also going to have a whole filet mignon with roasted potatoes and mushroom gravy; it’s got to be brown gravy. And we have rapini.”

Rosaria says,“All the girls have their favorites. Some of the girls like mashed potatoes, so we have to have those.”

Giulia adds,“And sweet potatoes as well and creamed spinach; my mother-in-law usually brings something like that.”

“Once we sit down, we’re going to have the lasagna that is traditional, going back many years.”

The Family

The Vincent and Rosaria Gismondi families are:

Enzo and Elisa Tufano (top right) Alessandro Tufano (16) and Daniela Tufano (12)

Mark and Giulia Merklein (center right) Gina Merklein (13) and Olivia Merklein (11)

Stephen and Claudia Palmieri (not pictured) Anthony (10), Luca (8), Cristian (5) and Sofia (9 months)

Michael and Roberta Gisonda (not pictured) Rocco (4) and Michela (2)

Eric and Sabrina Distelhurst (bottom right) Dante (3) and Alessia (2)

Rosaria and daughters, from left, Elisa, Sabrina and Giulia

JASON NUTTLE

Sfogliatelle and ciambelline al vino rosso are traditional pastries Elisa makes for Christmas

AARON BRISTOL

Vincent also selects the wine from Artu ro’s impressive 1,200-bottle cellar (which wins awards every year from Wine Spectator magazine), maybe a “Carlos Savina Barolo or an Amarone,” he says.

For dessert, there are roasted chestnuts, store-bought panettone and pandoro, a se lection of Elisa’s pastries like torta di fragole, Sfogliatelle, ciambelline al vino rosso and a “typical holiday cake from my husband’s region, which is called pastiera Napoletana,” says Elisa.

Christmas dinner is a group effort, the girls say. Rosaria says the girls are“pretty much in charge,”but she and Giulia usually plan the décor (but Sabrina and Claudia also weigh in), Elisa is in charge of desserts and Vincent is the man with the menu. The family dining table seats only 16, so two children’s tables are set up in an adjacent room.

“The real challenge,”Vincent says,“is to make sure we have enough wine.”

By the end of the prolonged dinner, Rosaria says “the kids are still wild,” and the

whole family sits down to play tombola or Italian bingo.“For money,” Elisa adds. The children call the numbers—and they have to be in Italian.

Giulia and Elisa say it’s another longtime tradition.“We used to play this even when we were little with our grandparents and our grandparents’ friends. It’s a tradition we try to pass on.”

And there are many, many calls to Italy that night, to in-laws and aunts and uncles, usually FaceTimed so everyone can see what everyone else has on their Christmas tables.

It’s a natural finish to a big day, with deep roots in Italian traditions, and to those the Gismondis try to keep alive over the generations. Giulia and her sisters are carrying on the family’s holiday magic, and she can recall one of her favorite memories from childhood.

“When we were younger, my grandfather from Italy would wake us up playing ‘Jingle Bells’ on the piano,” she says.

Torta di Fragole (strawberry shortcake)

Tombola or Italian bingo

BOCA MOVING FORWARD

Written by TYLER CHILDRESS and JOHN THOMASON

Something happened while we were sleeping through a global pandemic. Namely, Boca Raton ballooned. In just the past two or three years, the city has undergone seismic shifts in its cultural cachet, its travel infrastructure, its health care and tech sectors, its once neglected downtown. We were not exactly monochrome in the past, but now we’re in Technicolor.

None of these improvements happened overnight. As editors of this magazine and its up-to-the-minute web site, we have reported on the various minutiae that have led us to where we are today: the building approvals and ground-breakings, the capital campaigns and restaurant openings. Now it’s time to breathe it all in—to recog nize how far we’ve come, and the people and places responsible for this progress.

It’s long been a platitude in the business community that Boca Raton is South Florida’s best place to live, work and play. As the following pages explore, reality has finally caught up to the marketing lingo.

From technology to travel to tourism, recent changes in the city have been swift and unprecedented

What it was: The building’s provenance is storied. IBM, then the dominant entity in information technology, dedicated the campus in 1970 as a center for development, manufacturing and product testing. IBM’s General Systems Division operated a staff of 10,000, and during the pivotal decades of the ‘70s and ‘80s developed the IBM Personal Computer among other pioneering products. By the end of the 1980s, manufacturing ceased, and the building failed to live up to its potential. It took the CP Group, run by the foresighted developer behind such projects as Boca Center and Mizner Park, to realize its potential. The company bought the building in 2018 for $170 million and continues to infuse it with upwards of $100 million in improvements.

Looking to the future: BRIC is now almost entirely leased, with companies such as Modernizing Medicine, Baptist Health and Bluegreen Vacations calling it home. The tenants—and guests of the campus—will enjoy even more perks looking ahead. In the coming months and years, BRIC is set to open Boca Raton’s first food hall (punnily named Byte); a flexible event space that can seat up to 1,000; a verdant outdoor courtyard for relaxation; and a STEAM Lab. To make BRIC more welcoming to visitors, construction is un derway on a new lobby and porte-cochère with a concierge, which will enter directly into the Amenity Corridor.

BRIC: A New Work Ecosystem

What it is: Outside of certain tech behemoths in Silicon Valley— you know their names—corporate headquarters have seldom been associated with lifestyle perks. But at Boca Raton Innovation Cam pus (BRIC), the largest office building in Florida, leisure, recreation and wellness are baked into the business cake. It’s a complex, sitting on 123 acres of land in northern Boca, that is sprawling enough to house its own Amenity Corridor complete with a 7,000-square-foot fitness center, a fully staffed health clinic, and an NFT Museum with rotating examples of digital art on high-def screens.

Paintings and photographs, often connected to local institutions like Lynn University and the Boca Raton Museum of Art, line the walls. Suspended from the ceiling of the on-site JAVA coffee shop is “Celestial Romance,” an installation of 350 aluminum starburst sculptures from the late sculptor Dorothy Gillespie. It is a work that most assuredly sparks joy, functioning like confetti captured in mid-descent, lightly swaying in the air conditioning. Walking around BRIC, you almost forget that people work here.

"Silicon Valley … is now oversaturated and grossly expensive. We want to be a contender in that space. And in order to do that, we need to create an ecosystem so that employees want to go to an office building. Part of our master-planned 10-to-15-year vision for BRIC is to create that environment—an ecosystem with residential, retail, hotel, entertainment venue, grocer—amenities our existing tenants want today, but that the Apples and Googles will be attracted to.”

—Giana Pacinelli, Communications Director, CP Group

PAUL MCDERMOTT

PHOTOGRAPHY

TOP: Art by sculptor Dorothy Gillespie descends from the ceiling at the JAVA coffee shop; ABOVE LEFT: NFT Museum; ABOVE RIGHT: Artwork adorning the walls at BRIC

Boca Raton Regional Hospital: A Promise Worth Keeping

What it is: Boca Raton Regional Hospital is currently in the midst of a fundraising campaign of historic proportions. The Keeping the Promise campaign aims to dramatically transform and expand the hospital to service the evolving needs of Boca Raton and its sur rounding areas as the city continues to grow. So far, the campaign has raised more than $230 million of its $250 million goal, all donat ed from local benefactors dedicated to the health and well-being of the Boca Raton community. The hospital is a recognized leader in cardiovascular care, oncology, women’s health, orthopedics, emer gency medicine and neuroscience.

What it was: In 1967, Boca Regional opened its doors as the first medical center in Boca Raton. It was borne of necessity after its

founder, Gloria Drummond, experienced the tragic loss of both of her children. The nearest hospital at the time was in Boynton Beach, and the extra time it took for her children to get there proved fatal. Realizing a need in the Boca community, Drummond worked tire lessly to make Boca Regional a reality. The hospital started small, as a modest 100-bed medical center, but has grown considerably over the years and continues to expand.

Looking to the future: The Keeping the Promise campaign is just as much about renewing the old as establishing the new. Just this year, the hospital broke ground on its new Gloria Drummond Patient Tower expansion, which will feature 20 state-of-the-art oper ating rooms, an education suite for the community and physicians, five floors of critical care beds, and more. The addition is expected to be completed in 2026. Current hospital structures like the Marcus Neuroscience Institute will be renovated and expanded, with a new unit being dedicated to the research and treatment of epilepsy.

“Health is our greatest asset. It doesn’t matter how much wealth you hold, it doesn’t matter how famous you are, if you don’t have your health, that stuff doesn’t matter.”

—Mark Larkin, president, Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation

Gloria Drummond Patient Tower

Brightline: It’s Electric

What it is: The moment has finally arrived: As you read this, Boca Raton’s much anticipated—and debated—Brightline sta tion may well be open in its 38,000-square-foot space adjacent to the downtown library. Along with a sister station in Aventu ra, it marks the high-speed rail company’s first expansion from its original locations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. In Brightline’s five-year tenure, hundreds of thousands of riders have shuttled between these downtown hubs at speeds of 79 miles per hour. In addition to the speed, Brightline trains also represent the most environmentally conscious way to travel. The company’s goal is to take 3 million cars off the road annually, which will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 100 thousand cubic tons.

Patrick Goddard, president of Brightline Trains, has high hopes for the Boca station, which “happens to be positioned equidistant between two of our existing stations, in the densest part of South Florida, with so much to offer in terms of dining, hotel stays and attractions.”While Boca Raton tourists will likely appreciate the centrality of its location (Mizner Park is

just across from the station), we residents are most enticed by an alternative to driving to Miami, which, in overpopulated post-pandemic South Florida, is not a trek we would wish on our enemies.

What was there before: No offense to longtime rail-travel operators Amtrak and Tri-Rail, but they are what they are: 20th-century locomotives with too few frills and too many stops. They are still a boon for budget-conscious travel ers, but let’s face it; with Brightline single tickets starting at $17, it’s just more Boca than the others.

Looking to the future: The Boca Raton Brightline station will offer touchless turnstiles and a lounge for premium ticket holders, plus a full bar and food-and-beverage service onboard the trains, which are equipped with phone chargers and Wi-Fi. In 2023, the company’s long-awaited Orlando station is finally scheduled to open, reducing Boca riders’ commute to the City of the Mouse to just over two hours.

“Brightline will take 3 million cars off the road annually, which [emit] north of 100 thousand cubic tons of CO2. It is a large part of our purpose to get people out of their cars, and out of single vehicle use, and onto trains. Every time we fill a train, we’re taking a couple hundred cars off the highway, and we think that has a meaningful impact on the environment.”

—Patrick Goddard, president, Brightline Trains

Research Park: Tomorrow’s Tech, Today

What it is: Miami may be Florida’s burgeoning tech capital, but Boca Raton isn’t far behind. Florida Atlantic University’s Research Park is fast-becoming the local go-to for tech entrepreneurs who want to get their innovative ideas off the ground. The relationship between the university and the Research Park has ush ered in a surge of developments in the field of health technology from companies that began as startups in the park and are now flourishing in their own spaces. The Park is also home to FAU Tech Runway, a rich tech business ecosystem that houses startup companies and provides them with the resources they need to scale larger.

What Boca’s tech center was: Boca first made tech history in August 1981 when IBM developed the first personal computer. The “Acorn,” as it was called, was the seed of Boca’s growth into a major player on the tech scene, and this fo cus on innovation helped drive the development of FAU’s Research Park in 1985. With a 70-acre space that serves as a research and development playground for new ideas, the park continues a long tradition of tech innovation in Boca Raton, a history that informs and inspires today’s entrepreneurs.

Looking to the future: One of the biggest priorities at the Research Park is keeping economic development local. The Research Park continues to add new businesses to its already impressive gallery of startups, and by working closely with the city to develop future economic plans, Boca is sure to benefit.

“I think that we [in Boca] do contribute an outsized role...we’re punching above our weight in terms of the number of people and companies that are in the tech space in this region.”

—Andrew Duffell, president and CEO, FAU Research Park

FAU's Research Park

AARON BRISTOL

ABOVE: Via Mizner, an urban resort area featuring Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Residences in Downtown Boca Raton.

RIGHT: Rendering of Wildflower Park.

Downtown Boca: Bigger and Better

What it is: Boca is finally getting the downtown it always wanted. Foot traffic in Downtown Boca has increased as more restaurants and a hotel (with more on the way) have come on line, more crosswalks have been added, and handy wayfinders line the streets showing the paths to shop ping and dining, arts and entertainment. Palmetto Park Road is full of people din ing, Mizner Park is jumping with commu nity events and new diversions, and Royal Palm Place is cleared for a new hotel.

What it was: Prior to 1980, the area that is now Downtown Boca was sleepy to say the least. A land boom in the 1960s pushed development westward, leaving the city’s center neglected and in disrepair. A 1980 resolution made by the City of Boca Raton created the city’s Commu nity Redevelopment Agency to oversee the development of the area and now, more than 40 years later, Boca Raton has become a vibrant scene of arts, culture and dining through the advent of Mizner Park (including its amphitheater and the Boca Raton Museum of Art), more recent downtown housing and dining, and more on the way. Rather than a loosely linked series of shopping areas, downtown Boca is starting to coalesce into one contiguous downtown neighborhood.

Looking to the future: Downtown Boca continues to grow, bringing in new dining and entertainment options, businesses and tourism appeal. Foodies can look forward to the opening of new venues at Mizner Park, including Shak er & Pie, the recently opened Strike 10 Bowling and continued robust community programming for the cultural center and amphitheater. The upcoming Mandarin Oriental Residences & Hotel is on tap, as is a 144-room hotel to be built at Royal Palm Place. Another stop for nature-lovers will be the newly completed Wildflower Park, a welcome addition to Boca’s gor geous green spaces.

“I don’t see development slowing down in the next five years. It’s just going to be continual.”

—Ruby Childers, manager, Downtown Boca

WRITTEN BY MARIE SPEED

t’s a sunny morning in Las Pampas. Lancelot the Aldabra tortoise, well into his 90s now, barely raises his head as we crawl by in our SUV. A light breeze ruffles the slash pines, distant ibis wheel overhead, and all is at peace here at Lion Country Safari. Except for the million things that are really going on.

We took a behind-the-scenes look at what is arguably Palm Beach County’s most beloved attraction with longtime PR Manager Haley McCann, who showed us a different perspective, from ill-tempered lady zebras to a very Zen chimp named Higgy, to love between the impalas and handsome Kawazi, a swoon-worthy lion.

The vast drive-through safari park, which must have been ranchland 60 years ago, is now divided into seven zones with exotic names like Ruaha National Park or the Kalahari Bushveldt, and is home to 900 animals. It was the first“cage-less zoo”when it opened in 1967, and it is known for its conservation efforts, working closely with the Association of Zoos and Aquari ums (AZA) to achieve breeding herds, and even bring back some populations, like the scimitar-horned oryx, from the brink of extinction.

But what about the everyday drama? We asked McCann how things really work, from stormy weather to heartsick rhino love.

The day-to-day lives of animals and the people who care for them is more than a drive through the park.

HOW THE DAY STARTS

This morning, we meet greater rhea Newman, who has enormous blue eyes; tiny impala calves newly born; an extremely handsome eland named Blue; and the new bongos, Ma kumi and Bacari. But it’s all in a morning’s drive-through for the keepers…

“Each day, we have an early morning inspection and do a count. The keepers know their animals so well, they know where they like to lay down and how they like to sleep—for example, the chimps are on island habitats overnight. … The keepers know the chimps’ individual quirks or pref erences; some chimps prefer to sleep on top of the shelter, some are in the shelter. So usually once you call their names they will in some way turn or acknowledge you. On cooler evenings in Florida’s winter, when they’re really bedded down in the hay and they don’t feel like really getting up in the morning, they’ll just stick an arm out of the hay bed and say, ‘I’m here, let me sleep, why are you bothering me?’”

WHO GETS TO WORK HERE?

“We have several keepers for the lion hab itat, several keepers for the chimp habitat, antelope and hoof stock, rhino section. Our keepers have a variety of backgrounds; some have a lot of animal experience, some of them go to school specifically to be an animal keeper, and some have higher degrees in biology. They have quite diverse backgrounds.”

WHEN A BABY IS ON THE WAY

“When we see we are expecting a baby from an animal—our team is very good at recog nizing those signs—we will relocate females to maternity areas, as they get closer to birth. We have maternity areas within the habitats, a quieter zone, that gives mom and baby a really good opportunity to bond as well.”

HOW YOU MOVE AN 8OO-POUND ANIMAL

“You’d be surprised how strong a moti vator food is, either their regular food or extra-special treats. … and you just kind of herd them very slowly.”

Clockwise from above, Haley McCann; the entrance to Lion Country; a herd of rhinos; Newman, a greater rhea; herd of greater kudu and Makumi, eastern bongo

AND THEIR ANNUAL CHECK-UPS

“We keep detailed records on the animals under our care; those records start the day they are born. We will generally do a neo natal exam—we’ll weigh them to make sure they are healthy, and everybody gets some sort of ID number and a microchip.

We try to give everyone a health exam once a year, but at the same time we do not want to overstress an animal unneces sarily. We do routine health care “training” [practicing contact with animals through positive reinforcement, like food] with lions, rhinos, giraffes. These are massive species, so we do regular training with them, so if we need to do a blood test or something, it’s not stressful to them. We always pair it with positive reinforcement, so they’re coming up and choosing to participate, which gives us enough time to give them an injection or take a blood draw.”

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

“Anytime we work with another accredited zoo—for example, to get a new male that will bring more diversity to the genetics of the herd—there’s a whole process that we go through. We only work with other zoos that are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums so we know they are reputable. The first thing we do is relocate them to an area and put them under a quar antine period. Even though there is health testing before they leave the facility, we just double check before we introduce them to other members of their species to make sure they don’t have any health issues that could be contagious or of concern to the other animals in the habitat.

Then we start with introductions to members of their species under supervision and for short periods of time.”

THE MANE ATTRACTION

There are nine lions at Lion Country Safari, and a newly expanded habitat. It’s the only fenced-in part of the park, and McCabe says they are beginning to “formulate their breeding pride,” with three groups of males and one group of females. There are strict safety procedures here, and iron bars on the windows of trucks of keepers who monitor the habitat all day. It’s tricky to introduce male lions to one another, a process underway right

COURTESY OF LION COUNTRY SAFARI

now with Masaba and his uncle, Atlas, whose son is K'wasi, generally considered drop-dead handsome and the heartthrob of the bunch.

“Lions are considered a Class I animal— an animal that would be a predator or dan gerous—so there are strict protocols. They have their night house across the road. They go up there in the evenings and have their dinner there. There are nice little fans. They come out again first thing every morning. We actually have an elevated catwalk above the night pens so the keepers can control a series of doors to different areas.

We don’t want to introduce lions where we think there might be very serious fight ing involved. That’s all part of the introduc tion process. We don’t move forward to the next step unless we’re seeing signs of be havior that they are ready to move forward and it’s not going to be a huge clash. But it’s super normal behavior for lions to scrap in the wild. Between females, between males, that’s standard lion behavior.

As they are establishing their hierarchy, they are going to have a little conflict and then they are going to decide who’s going to back down, who’s going to be domi nant, but you can’t simply take two lions who don’t know each other at all and then just stick them together and expect it to go well. It’s not going to. It’s all about the slow, monitored introduction process. It’s all about being in tune with the behavior, knowing the animals you care for. Our lion keepers don’t need to even see who’s roar ing; they know whose roar it is.”

RHINO LOVE AND AN AGING LOTHARIO

In an enclosure with its own shelter lives Buck, a “founding member” of the park who has been here since 1972. Buck is an aging rhino who, as is true for most male species, does not know how old he is when it comes to putting the moves on a girl. Which is partly why he gets to live out his golden years with plenty of TLC and privacy.

“Buck was a breeding male for many, many years. At this point he is in his early to mid-50s, which makes him one of the oldest rhinos in the country. Male rhinos are generally very solitary unless they are pursuing a female for mating.

Females are very tightly knit, and if they don’t feel like putting up with the males, they don’t mind telling them that—in a very rhino

Clockwise, from top: lion cubs Atlas and Mara, part of the zebra herd, southern white rhinoceros Blossom with her baby Ruby, and K'wasi the lion

AARON

way. At his age, with his arthritis and having slowed down, we don’t feel like he needs to deal with the level of drama that comes with a large group of female rhinos. We don’t want him to hurt himself trying to reproduce.

He also gets specialized geriatric care, [in cluding] a spa day. [Rhinos can only roll in mud to protect their skin.] With his arthritis, he really can’t reach his back anymore, so his keepers will come in (rhinos are very tactile) and use scrub brushes; essentially, they are exfoliating him. We’ll also do the Skin So Soft, which has insect-repelling properties, and we finish with a nice little mudpack on his back. And then he gets to just rest and relax and nap the rest of the day. He is a really cool guy. …”

ZEBRAS CAN BE MEAN GIRLS

We always had an urge to nuzzle a zebra in its striped pajamas, but it turns out these are not the most friendly of animals, and the girls are always making trouble. In fact, throughout the course of our day, we learn there’s a lot of this sort of drama going on throughout Lion Country—and most of it revolves around either sex or food.

“[Herds of zebra have cliques] with ranking females, like lions. … There are a lot of things that go on, a lot of drama there as well.

We use the stripe patterns to identify the different zebras, and we have a book in our keeper complex that has a picture of every single zebra’s face in it, so if we’re trying to find a specific individual we can figure it out. Our dominant stallion, Billy Ray, is easy to tell apart because he has a different [short and spiky] mane from everybody else.”

RUBY BABY AND OTHER TALES OF LIFE

The newest zoo star, baby Ruby the rhino, was still in the maternity pen with her mother when we visited. But very cute and very sleepy.

“The rhinos come out of their night area every morning and voluntarily enter our chute system [part of the way keepers can readily access the animals]. We always do this kind of positive training with food involved. [It’s how] we do regular weights with the rhinos, quick checks of their feet, medication distribution or injections and blood draws. It’s very important when you’re dealing with an animal that weighs 4,000 pounds or so for us to safely be able to do this in a way that is not stressful on our staff

or the animals. Thanks to that chute system we actually caught a rare kind of cancer in one of our rhinos that we were able to treat. She’s now in remission and has been for years. What initially presented as a little wound or abscess of her soft tissue outside of her horn turned out to be an enormous tumor that was growing in the soft tissue and up through the center of her primary horn.

Had we not had that good relationship and hands-on care with the rhinos, who knows if that would have been caught early enough to do something about it?”

MONKEY BUSINESS

The chimp islands are complex social groups, each headed by a male. And were once the home of the now-famous late Little Mama, of whom Jane Goodall was a fan—once the oldest known chimp in the world. Today, the oldest girl is Swing, 54. The chimps are cared for and observed by a team of professionals, including Dr. Tina Cloutier Barbour, a doctor of evolutionary psychology who specializes in chimpanzee aging.

“We do not put two alpha males on the same island at once—there would be a lot of aggression. The biggest challenge is just kind of keeping a finger on the pulse of their social systems because they are always fluctuating. And they are so important to their social sys tems, just keeping track of who’s angry with whom, what’s going on, who’s best friends this week and who’s in estrus—because that changes their behavior entirely. It’s like a constant soap opera/chess match.”

AND THE DOCTOR’S

FAVORITE

Cloutier Barbour says,“I try not to have one. But then there’s Higgy on Island 3 over there. He’s just been such an influence on my life. He’s a magnificent alpha. Watching him work is a pleasure. For example, his group is going through some difficulties right now. Janice is younger, and she is trying to move up in rank over Jen, who is older and the matriarch of that group. There was some conflict between them earlier in the week, and Higgy—it’s like watching a maestro in an orchestra—he’s just ‘you’re allowed to come here but not this much closer’ or ‘you don’t look at her that way.’The alpha’s job is to keep peace, even if there is some aggression.”

Clockwise, from top, Higgy, an island leader, Tuli, one of the park’s giraffes, Larry, a whitehanded gibbon monkey, a group on one of the chimp islands, Dr. Tina Cloutier Barbour, and Irene carrying Tonk

AARON

COURTESY

OF LION

PARK WITH A HEART

“Lion Country Safari was the first one that implemented cardio mobile monitoring— and blood pressure monitoring as well," says Cloutier Barbour.“Cardiac disease is the No. 1 cause of mortality in chimpan zees—it seems to impact our male chimps more than the females.

Swing, our oldest chimp, was retired from a lab many years ago. There was a researcher named Linda Koebner who was really inter ested in figuring out if chimps could be re habilitated and learn how to be chimps after being in laboratories. The only place that was willing to give that a try was Lion Country. So the initial six or seven retired laboratory chimps—Swing was one of them—came here to try to integrate with ‘normal’ chimps and be social. It was successful here. [After that] they were able to found the National Chimp Sanctuary and Save the Chimps and the Center For Great Apes.”

BASHFUL

Driving toward the giraffe herd, McCann says “The challenge of giraffes is working with their needs. Some of the giraffes are very par ticular. They are very wary. For example, when they are ready to walk through the chute they don’t even want you to look at them.

“They are also prone to heart-related concerns later in life, as the chimps are. Theirs is more related to the fact that their hearts have to work so hard to pump 6 feet against gravity to their heads.”

WEATHER WOES

“We have protocols and procedures for heat and cold and hurricanes,” McCann says.

“We don’t have much of an issue with extreme heat; the animals are mostly from climates that have high heat and humidity. … the rainforests of South America, the plains of Africa. We do like to give cold treats: frozen Crystal Lite ice pops for the chimps, blood popsicles for lions, to give them opportunities to cool off. Sometimes we’ll set up the sprinklers for the antelope and the alpacas.

“Our cold weather protocols mostly affect our smaller species and our reptiles. We don’t want our cold-blooded animals to be exposed to temperatures that are too cold, because they are more sensitive. So we’ll bring them into the building, provide extra food, extra hay bedding. For most of the animals here, though, it does not get cold enough that we have to adjust much.

“We train for hurricanes all year round [the regular health care training that brings animals into their houses pays off here with treats and activities], so the animals that have secure facilities such as the lions, the rhinos and the chimps will go to these secure facilities. The hoof stock has differ ent protocols. Because they are prone to flight or panic if something weird is going on, it’s actually more dangerous to try to contain them in a barn where they could hit a wall or seriously injure themselves. So they have a natural instinct to go out in the center of the pasture, find the low spots, turn their rumps to the wind and get away from trees and buildings. We open up access to buildings to give them freedom of choice, and this reduces stress on them significantly, which is one of the major hazards for animals. They ride it out better than we do.”

COASTAL CHARM

CARMEL

Narcisse Cham pagne coupes, $480/set of 2, Baccarat, us.baccarat.com

Tip The Balance

Symmetry enjoys major hype, with its perfect balance and predictable forms. But don’t discount the allure of more avant-garde and asymmetric de signs—they’re often the most memorable and magical. That’s certainly true of the Narcisse collection by Baccarat. Imagined in 1971 by sculptor and furniture designer Boris Tabacoff, these off-center, fabulously faceted Champagne coupes appear to mimic narcissus as they lean toward the sun.

The millwork’s design added to the textural play of the space as it wraps the entire foyer and ascending staircase.

Eternally Elegant

A maven of timeless design, Erin Paige Pitts (above) created a clean, freshly traditional aesthetic for a Boca Bay Colony home.

Written by CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT Photography by CARMEL BRANTLEY

The clients craved a contemporary Bahamian style for the home’s exterior, so architect Gary Eliopoulos designed it with piers, classic black shutters and a gate that leads to an entry courtyard.

lean-lined and timeless translate to fresh and fabulous when Erin Paige Pitts has her way. With nearly two decades of interior design experience, Pitts is a master of her craft and delivers custom, visually stunning spaces that are specifically catered to her clients’ lifestyles. For this Boca Raton residence, she worked with an empty-nest couple who wanted a warm and cozy home that also doubled as an entertain ment pad for their visiting children and grandchildren. Pitts responded with many special spaces, including a spacious great room for gathering, an outdoor living area for entertaining as well as smaller, more intimate spaces for relaxing within the 7,000-square-foot home. The designer’s mastery of color, layering, lighting and millwork helped her curate a home that’s effortlessly timeless with contemporary details and a few surprises along the way.

The homeowners craved a serene color palette, so Pitts integrated predominately light icy blues, creams and grays with touches of pale greens and deep

TOP: Departing from typical South Florida marble, stone or porcelain floors, Pitts outfitted the home with rich walnut floors to appeal to her clients’ Northeastern sensibilities. A bright, contrasting backdrop helps deliver the home’s sundrenched, light-filled aesthetic. ABOVE: Pitt’s masterful millwork animates the great room’s impressive ceiling design.

A dramatic Visual Comfort polished nickel chandelier with a cream linen shade hangs above a Crate & Barrel table in the breakfast nook.

Pitts admits that while she likes white kitchens, she doesn’t like just white kitchens. There must be a twist, like the island’s end panel design and range’s backsplash.

blues. The focused palette creates a sense of continuity throughout the home, indoors and out, so that both the great room and patio spaces are decoratively linked and become extensions of one another.

“All the spaces need to have a relationship to one another. They don’t need to match, but there needs to be a cross relationship from space to space,” Pitts says. “When that’s done well, a house actually lives even larger because there aren’t defining separators.”

Applying a layered approach to color and prioritizing texture over pattern, Pitts teams a unifying palette with an assortment of layered textures to create spaces with depth. In the breakfast nook, for example, she combines

the subtle textures of a Phillip Jeffries woven striped wall covering with the textured weave of built-in bench cush ions. Two blue-and-white Wisteria woven chairs sit with a walnut table that complements the walnut floors below.

“It’s all these little elements dancing together in unison that makes a space interesting,”Pitts explains.“In good design it isn’t about one thing, it’s the well-considered way that all things work together that makes it successful.”

The first-floor primary bedroom’s décor is also layered with an upholstered Bernhardt textured headboard that mirrors the millwork’s linear design, tweed-upholstered benches and gray paneling referencing the gray in a tex tured Stark rug. Vibrant Euro shams pull the room’s color

The home’s tranquil blues-y color palette is reflected in the dining room, while pops of pattern add interest to the space.

LEFT: To accentuate a long custom vanity, Pitts created a tile runner with a mosaic inset and framed it with blue-grey subway tile.

BELOW: Wispy drapery adds softness while allowing the unobstructed views to take center stage.

The patio’s wood ceiling detail, reminiscent of the interior’s floors, gives the space an intimate, inviting feeling. Large sectionals ensure enough seating for the entire family.

story together and play on the rug’s geometric pattern.

In the kitchen, the island performs as the primary focal point. The base’s criss-cross pattern mimics the ceiling’s detailing, and by choosing different colors for its end panels, Pitts creates visual interest and depth for the space. Like wise, instead of choosing a single pattern for the backsplash, Pitts placed a vertical detail to the right and left of the range and then inset a chevron pattern in the center. This is how Pitts works her magic, layering details into her spaces to make them visually interesting and truly engaging.

The designer animated the home’s entry foyer with classic Northeastern millwork, as she did in the primary bedroom, where typical drywall is replaced with stun ning vertical paneling that boxes over the bedside tables. Designed in a contemporary fashion, the foyer’s white semi-gloss paneling creates a backdrop that allows the

furnishings within it to pop, including a mahogany Jas per bench by Michael Smith.“I didn’t want to make it too traditional, because it’s Florida, but I wanted to do it in a clean, transitional, fresh way,” says Pitts.

To brighten the home’s interior, Pitts chose statement lighting, mainly in polished nickel. From the duo Visual Comfort chandeliers in the great room to the Jamie Young kitchen pendants, the substantial pieces ground the spaces with delight.“I believe lighting is the jewelry of the house. I don’t like diminutive lighting,” she explains.“I like lighting that stands on its own two feet.”

Reflecting on the project, Pitts explains that the home looks now as it did on the design boards that guided the project. She attributes the success of the final product to her clients, who embraced the design process and trusted that Pitts was always working in their best interest.

A New LEAF

From dainty to dramatic, lush foliage offers a fresh alternative to wallcoverings’ full-blown florals.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:

Velvet Leaves in Ivory and Sage, Schumach er, fschumacher.com

Willow in Yellow, Lee Jofa, kravet.com

Coralie in Eau De Nil/Ivory, Sanderson, sanderson.sandersondesigngroup.com

Gilded Garden in Gold on Shetland Horse hair, Phillip Jeffries, phillipjeffries.com

Marakanda in Emeraude/Dore, Casamance, casamance.com

Weymouth in Leaf, Brunschwig & Fils, kravet.com

TAKE THE EDGE OFF

Rounded forms and curvaceous shapes are still big news in the design world, as they ease elegance and comfort into rooms throughout the home.

“People usually live in geometric spaces with sharp lines, edges and corners. The naturalworld tends to be curvier. The curves we use in our pieces soften the hardened edges of our interiors. They should feel more organic and bring reassurance and serenity.”

—Ross Hamilton, Founder, Hamilton Conte

1. Edgewater Lounge Chair, $1,498, Serena & Lily, Palm Beach, ser enaandlily.com 2. Oliver Sofa and Seven Cocktail Table by Hamilton Conte, to the trade, J Nelson Inc., jnelsoninc.com 3. Newton White Console, $19,980, Boca do Lobo, bocadolobo.com 4. Harrison Bench, $2,395, Jayson Home, jaysonhome.com 5. Luna Fresca Blanket Roll, $86, Caminito, caminito.co 6. Clyborne Textured Ceramic Vases, $70 each, Crate & Barrel, Boca Raton, crateandbarrel.com 7. Calanova In/Outdoor Coffee Table by Palecek, price upon request, Clive Daniel, Boca Raton, clivedaniel.com 8. 60-inch Round Dining Table, price upon request, Clive Daniel, Boca Raton, clivedaniel.com

“Of course, lighting should assure a comfortable and functional atmosphere in your home, but Ithink it should also elevate moods and create well-being. Without this, interior spaces cannot be experienced to the fullest.”

—Andreea Braescu, visual artist

“Asymmetry is the rhythmic expression of functional design.”

—Jan Tschichold, designer, typographer and author

OFF KILTER

Want a stylish way to relax your room? Today’s asymmetric forms and unbalanced silhouettes deliver lively interest and a shot of informality to any space.

1. Ike Bookcase, $3,850, home.com 2. Hyperion Light, $3,769, ings, Boca Raton, sklarfurnishings.com 3. 23-inch Geometric Kilim Pillow Covers, $70 each, Crate & Barrel, Boca Raton, crateandbarrel.com 4. Andorra Wicker Pendant Light by Palecek, price upon request, Clive Daniel, Boca Raton, clivedaniel.com 5. Canephora Mirror, $3,970, felattehome.com 6. Odilia Curved Sofa by Randolph & Hein, to the trade, J Nelson Inc., jnelsoninc.com

7. Tears II Coffee Table, $9,500, appointment), bykoket.com

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Get into the spirit of the season …

19th annual Gingerbread Holiday Concert

Featuring the Lynn University Philharmonia Orchestra and Conductor Jon Robertson Presented by Lynn University Friends of the Conservatory of Music

Now in its 19th year of making the holidays merry and bright, Lynn University’s annual Gingerbread Holiday Concert welcomes grandparents, parents and children of all ages to the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center to enjoy the musical classics of the season. Plus, experience Santa’s Workshop and meet Santa Claus himself!

Sponsored by Boca Magazine, this pops concert raises funds for scholarships for talented student musicians. Your support makes it possible for many of our students to graduate to positions with renowned orchestras.

Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022

Pre-show holiday activities at 2 p.m. Concert begins at 3 p.m.

Lynn University 3601 N. Military Trail Boca Raton, FL 33431

Tickets: $35 Plus, we’re raffling three Pine Tree Camp three-week sessions ($1,250 value). Raffle tickets: one for $20, three for $50 +1 561-237-9000 | lynn.edu/gingerbread

Become a sponsor!

Gold Sponsorship $2,500 ($2,020 is tax-deductible)

• 12 preferred seats

• Complimentary valet parking

• Champagne lounge

• Santa’s Workshop

• Name in the program

Silver Sponsorship $1,500 ($1,100 is tax-deductible)

• 10 seats

• Complimentary valet parking

• Champagne lounge

• Santa’s Workshop

• Name in the program

Reserve your sponsorship online: lynn.edu/support-gingerbread + 1 561-237-7745 | lmiller@lynn.edu

BACKSTAGE PASS

Bruce Springsteen

Jon Robertson

The dean of the Lynn Conservatory readies another sprightly program of holiday cheer

Written by JOHN THOMASON

Jon Robertson admits that classical music is a “niche”—its atmosphere hushed, its repertory hallowed. But the pops style of symphonic music is an entirely different animal, a place where the same standards of performance quality meet an en vironment where singing, foot-tapping and general revelry are encouraged.

Once a year, Lynn Conservatory of Music’s Ginger bread Holiday Concert indulges in such an event, a spectacle for the eye and ear alike. Returning Dec. 11, the 19th-annual fundraiser supports tuition costs for its conservatory students, and is anticipated by many

Does that extend to the players as well? Very much so. They recently have been dressed in holiday outfits, and some of the young ladies are in gowns, and the guys have on red bow ties. It’s a completely different atmosphere— fun-loving.

Why is holiday music so popular, cutting across so many ages, demographics, even faiths?

“There’s little question that the symphony orchestra is maybe the most exciting form of expressing celebratory music. To hear a full orchestra do its thing, there’s just nothing else that can quite match up with that.”

—Jon Robertson

in the Boca community as the kickoff to the “season.” (Boca magazine is a regular sponsor of the concert.)

For this year’s performance, Robertson, dean of Lynn’s Conservatory of Music, expects the arrange ments to take a jazzier direction than in years’ past, while the programming will reflect both Jewish and Christian backgrounds.“Each year we try to say some thing new and different,” he says.“And that’s a huge challenge. After each concert, particularly if it goes well, I get together with my librarian, and we bemoan, ‘what are we going to do next year? What can we do to top this?’There is a lot of energy and research that goes in trying to find things that will be spectacular.”

How is the atmosphere of the Gingerbread Concert different from a typical conservatory performance?

It’s far more celebratory than going to a concert. We communicate with the audience. We have a sing-along with the fun Christmas songs that everybody enjoys.

Santa makes his appearance, which the kids absolutely adore. He comes down, and we bring all the kids down front, and I think he hands out some candy. … It’s a very different atmosphere than when you go to a concert, as far as straitlaced, and you’re on your best behavior, so to speak.

Can you talk about the difference between hearing the conservatory perform a holiday number, versus hearing the Bing Crosby version on the radio? The symphony orchestra is certainly a unique instrument. We run the full orchestra—40 or 50 strings, for example, and all the winds and the brass and the percussion. And most celebratory music usually entails large percussion things—whistles, and people banging around. [It’s not] a voice singing with a little background; it’s the entire background on steroids, in your face. And when you have world-class arrangers doing what they’re doing, it’s really something to behold.

I think because it usually spawns a tremendous sense of joy. Gosh, we live in a time in society when joy and peace and a sense of optimism are so necessary. You hate to turn the news on—what new catastrophe are you going to have to emotionally deal with? And this music cuts across all that. It just makes you feel good.

Do you have other news from the conservatory?

This past year has been a banner year for many of our students winning competitions, both nationally and internationally—and regionally. A number of our students have obtained positions in full-time orchestras. That’s a moment of truth, to be able to make that gigantic leap over the chasm of “I’m in school, I graduate and now I’m out doing what I went to school to prepare for.”This has been probably the best year of the 17 years I’ve been involved with the conservatory, for students winning competitions and getting jobs.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Gingerbread Holiday Concert

WHERE: Wold Perform ing Arts Center at Lynn University, 3601 N. Mili tary Trail, Boca Raton

WHEN: Dec. 11, 3 p.m. COST: Starting at $35 CONTACT: 561/2379000, lynn.edu

Jon Robertson

Raise the Curtain

More than two dozen events highlight a return to South Florida’s robust arts season

Written by JOHN THOMASON

Aaah, normalcy. Whoever thought such a banal word could sound so refreshing? But in the mercurial performing-arts world, after two-plus years of the COVID shuffle, where postponements and cancelations became so commonplace they lost their news worthiness, we arts writers can finally assert with a degree of confidence that these events will actually transpire. On the dates laid out in the following pages. In these actual venues. We weathered the storm—now let’s get out and celebrate! These 25-plus curated suggestions from the worlds of theatre, dance, opera, visual arts and popular, jazz and classical music are a great starting point.

LEANDRO ERLICH: “LIMINAL”

BONNIE RAITT

An institution in American roots music, Raitt is cele brating 50 years in the music business, during which time she has treated genre like putty. Mastering blues, country, folk and rock idioms, Raitt is a style unto herself, one that has secured 10 Grammy Awards, including this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Such accolades are often awarded to musicians in their creative twilight, but Raitt remains active and relevant, touring behind her latest and 18th album, Just Like That. Marc Cohn, singer-songwriter behind the 1992 Grammy-nominated “Walkin’ in Memphis,” will open the show. Nov. 16 at Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org

Liminal states are by definition elusive: They exist in the ethereal transitions between life and death, and between wakefulness and sleep. Such zones typically escape the literality of visual art, but Argentinean sculptor Leandro Erlich has found them to be the ideal settings for his illusory site-specific installations. “Lim inal” presents 16 immersive spaces arranged throughout the Perez Art Museum’s galleries. By presenting deceptive visions of ordinary life—the elevator, the subway, the classroom, the swimming pool—that are actually fabricat ed simulations of these everyday locales, Erlich allows our perceptions of reality to blur, much like a daydreamer drifting between worlds. Nov. 29, 2022-Sept. 4, 2023 at Perez Art Museum, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305/375-3000, pamm.org

CHELSEA HANDLER: VACCINATED AND HORNY TOUR

The late-night talk show format has been a virtually estrogen-free zone since its inception, a glass ceiling Chelsea Handler helped puncture with the success of her seven-year run on E!’s “Chelsea Lately.”

She’s also enjoyed more success in more diverse media than her male counter parts in late night, including penning six books, five of which have topped the New York Times best-seller list. The title of Handler’s 2022 HBO Special “Candid Chelsea” speaks to her observational, autobiographical style of joke-telling, in which relatable narratives emerge from vividly delivered life experiences. Nov. 20 at Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Holly wood; 954/797-5531, seminolehardrock hollywood.com

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR

Whether singing African spirituals or American pop tunes, the Soweto Gospel Choir emphasizes music’s singular power to heal. A spreader of freedom from its 2002 inception—its career highlights include performing at the first 46664 concert for Nelson Mandela—the South African choir has won three Traditional World Music Grammy Awards and has collaborated with artists including Robert Plant, U2 and Peter Gabriel. Expect a soul-stirring experience complete with multipart harmonies, a swaying rhythm section and traditional African dress. Dec. 19-20 at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561/832-7469, kravis.org

“WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME”

“There will not be a woman on the Supreme Court until 1981. There are nine men deciding the fate of birth control, four of whom are cheating on their wives.”

JOHN MULANEY: “FROM SCRATCH”

“TWELVE ANGRY MEN”

Guest composer Kinan Azmeh

SYMPHONIA: “EARTH”

This season’s four Symphonia concerts each spotlight a different natural element, beginning with “Fire” on Nov. 13. Perhaps the most bracing of these is “Earth,” a testament to the power of music to transport listeners to far-off places and explore transcendent ideas. Principal Conductor Alastair Willis leads a program featuring Mendels sohn’s “Hebrides Overture,” with its evocations of Scotland’s Fingal’s Cave; Kinan Azmeh’s “Suite for Improvisor and Orchestra,” a piece inspired by Syria; and Christophe Chagnard’s multimedia symphony “Terra Nostra,” which brings the impact of climate change to life through high-definition visuals. Dec. 4 at Roberts Theatre, 3900 Jog Road, Boca Raton; 561/376-3848, thesymphonia.org

This excerpt from Heidi Schreck’s “What the Con stitution Means to Me” speaks to both its pallia tive humor and righteous anger. Schreck premiered the nearly solo show in 2017 as a raucous ex ploration of the founding document’s rights and omissions, its triumphs and its flaws, from a highly personal perspec tive. Don’t be surprised if the play—more relevant now than it was during its successful Broadway run—leaves its audience in stitches one moment and gasping in horror the next. Dec. 1-18 at Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305/9496722, arshtcenter.org

It’s fair to say that come dian John Mulaney had a rough go of the pandem ic. He’s spoken candidly about his divorce, as well as his struggles with alcohol and drug abuse that he sought treatment for last year. Now freshly sober, Mulaney is touring with new material drawn from overcoming a year of deeply personal hard ships. “From Scratch” offers a glimpse past the naive, bright-eyed charm to which audiences have grown accustomed, and toward a side of him that is more vulnerable and intimate. At its heart, “From Scratch” is a new beginning forged from the rubble of grief. Dec. 3 at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach; 561/795-8883, westpalmbeachamphitheatre.com

You probably know the story of Reginald Rose’s iconic 1954 TV drama turned stageplay: Twelve white jurors are tasked with deciding the guilt or innocence of a Black youth accused of murder. Only one juror is uncon vinced of the child’s guilt, and he’ll spend the play’s duration attempting to sway his colleagues, in turn exposing their in herent biases. Nearly 70 years after it was writ ten, “Twelve Angry Men” remains both a crackling piece of stagecraft and a paean to how our judicial system is supposed to work. Dec. 9-24 at Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; 561/514-4042, palmbeachdramaworks. org

DAVID PETRAEUS

When it seems like the world is aflame, it might be wise to hear from a leader who has operated from the trenches of global chaos. General David Petraeus has spent 40 years in the military and public service, ascending from a commander of the 101st Airborne Division in the Iraq War to director of the CIA, which he secured with a 94-0 Senate confirmation. Now a member of the Trilat eral Commission and a board member of the Atlantic Council, Petraeus continues to shape American foreign policy. In this lecture, he’ll discuss the importance of U.S. leadership at home and abroad and emerging threats to the geopolitical order. Jan. 10 at Society of the Four Arts, 100 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach; 561/6557226, fourarts.org

MERZ TRIO

As their official bio states, the members of Merz Trio—violinist Brigid Coleridge, cellist Julia Yang and pianist Lee Dionne, met “in the middle of a snowstorm in NYC in December 2016 … and now we spend the majority of our lives together.” Named after a term coined by German polymath Kurt Schwitters, who believed that art can only occur in shared spaces, the Merz Trio has shared its space with disparate other creatives, from puppeteers to chefs, film directors to dancers. Not to mention poets: The award-winning group’s 2021 debut album, Ink, deconstructs Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor of 1914, breaking it up into four movements interspersed with poetic spoken word from Jean Cocteau and others, and even popular songs of the period.

Jan. 25 at Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College, 4200 S. Congress Ave., Lake Worth; 561/868-3309, duncantheatre.org

“LAST NIGHT IN INWOOD”

A COVID cancelation from Theatre Lab’s previous season, “Last Night in Inwood” is being resuscitated this season; there’s still no better way to welcome Armageddon. In this world-premiere play by Alix Sobler, Manhattan is in the throes of the apocalypse, leaving its frantic islanders scrambling literally for higher ground: in this case Danny’s one-bedroom apartment in Inwood. As it fills up with her family and friends, they all must survive each other to survive the end of the world.

Jan. 28-Feb. 12 at Theatre Lab at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton; 561/297-6124, faue vents.com

“MADAMA BUTTERFLY”

In one of Puccini’s many masterworks, an opportunistic American naval officer in 1890s Japan courts a 15-year-old girl from Nagasaki, takes her as his wife, and forces her to abandon her family and her religion, only to callously dump her—and worse. With its 34 musical numbers and lavish sets, “Madama Butterfly” is a herculean accomplishment of Italian opera, and it has cast a long shadow across art from virtually every media— from the Broadway musical “Miss Saigon” to the Weezer album Pinkerton. This production marks the opening of Palm Beach Opera’s lavish season at the Kravis. Jan. 20-23 at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561/832-7469, kravis.org

Merz Trio

DAVID TO LUCIAN FREUD”

How artists see them selves and others is at the heart of this broad survey of portraiture from the 18th century to the present day. Featuring 81 works on paper by 68 artists, “Contemplating Character” is rich with insights and juxtapositions regarding the treatment of the human form in its many dimensions, and the myriad ways it is captured with pencil and oil. In addition to the major portraitists of the title, the exhibition includes works by Alfred Hitchcock, Wil liam Merritt Chase, George Wesley Bellows and many more. Feb. 4-April 2 at Society of the Four Arts, 100 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach; 561/655-7226, fourarts.org

“GIANNI SCHICCHI” AND “BUOSO’S GHOST”

The operatic canon can feel awfully limited: How often, really, do we need to see another “Barber of Seville” or “Carmen”? So my Spidey Sense perks up when I notice an unfamil iar name on the docket for the esteemed Florida Grand Opera (FGO), and in February the company will produce two such rarely performed operas in one evening of mischievous mirth. Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi,” last produced by FGO in 1953, is a one-act comedy, inspired by an incident in Dante’s Divine Comedy, about a fami ly’s ravenous attempts to plunder the estate of their dearly departed (and filthy rich) uncle. Michael Ching’s “Buoso’s Ghost,” first produced in 1996 and enjoying its FGO premiere, is the composer’s enter taining sequel to “Gianni.” Feb. 9 and 11 at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org

“GOOD PEOPLE”

This drama by David Lindsay-Abaire is set in the playwright’s native blue-collar South Boston, where protagonist Margie has just lost her job cashiering at a dollar store—unwelcome news as she tries to raise a special-needs daugh ter as a single mother. Desperate for financial security, she contacts her old high school boyfriend, now a successful doctor, seemingly with a scheme to blackmail him into believing he’s the father of her child. Class and, it turns out, race figure heavily into Lindsay-Abaire’s absorbing drama, a play that feels freshly relevant amid eco nomically uncertain times. Feb. 12-26 at Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter; 561/5752223, jupitertheatre.org

CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT: “GHOST SONG”

Speaking of jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant’s work, Wynton Marsalis has said, “you get a singer like this once in a generation or two.” Carrying the torch (songs) of timeless influences Sarah Vaughn and Billie Holiday, she has laid her ethereal, sinuous vocals atop compelling arrangements by artists ranging from Sting to Kate Bush to Kurt Weill, as well as her original compositions. A Miami native, Salvant has released six albums since 2010, winning three Grammys, her voice elevating both spartan duets and full-scale orchestral ensembles. Her 2022 release Ghost Song offers 12 thematically connected compositions cen tered on spirits, nostalgia and yearning. Feb. 3 at Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305/949-6722, arshtcenter.org

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND

Just an Emmy short of an EGOT, Bruce Springsteen has nonetheless accrued enough accolades—including 20 Grammy Awards—for a dozen lifetimes, and he has sold upwards of 135 million albums. As what we would call a high-net-worth individual, the Boss doesn’t need to tour, and in fact, he hasn’t played a proper concert in North America since 2016. We welcome him back with open arms because he’s a national treasure—one of a minority of Americans who unequivocally fit that de scription—and because he always shakes the roofs off of whatever arenas he plays. We have no idea what hits and obscurities will populate the set lists, but if history is our guide, expect a different one every concert. Feb. 7 at Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood; 954/797-5531, seminolehardrockhollywood.com

“CONTEMPLATING CHARACTER: PORTRAIT DRAWINGS AND OIL SKETCHES FROM JACQUES-LOUIS

Bruce Springsteen

A CONVERSATION WITH LAURA W. BUSH AND BARBARA PIERCE BUSH

Admiration for former First Lady Laura Bush rarely waned during her husband’s turbulent administration. She departed the White House in January 2008 with a resounding 82-percent approval, ac cording to Gallup. Most notably a cham pion for literacy and education during her eight-year tenure, Bush established the annual National Book Festival in 2001, and also advanced causes for women, including Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In this live discussion, she’ll speak on a range of civic issues and personal priorities with her daughter Barbara Pierce Bush, whose own foundation supports racial justice and global health through entrepreneurism. Feb. 11 at Kaye Auditorium at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton; 561/2976124, fauevents.com

CLAN OF XYMOX

In their native Europe, the Dutch band Clan of Xymox has headlined festivals; here in the United States, catering to a smaller, if equally passionate, audience base, the group plays small clubs like Respectable Street, if it even tours at all. Indeed, this spring’s tour marks the alternative band’s first South Florida appearance in 31 years. Crafting a hard-edged rhythmic and industrial sound from a sonic palette of nervous guitars and soaring synthesizers, Clan of Xymox makes music for brooding and dancing alike.

March 17 at Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; 561/832-9999, sub-culture.org

WHITFIELD LOVELL: “PASSAGES”

Contemporary artist Whitfield Lovell’s work can feel bigger than life— and bigger than death. “Passages” marks the most comprehensive survey yet of his diverse corpus, which includes drawings on pencil, oil stick, charcoal or crayon, often paired with found objects salvaged and manipulated from flea markets and antique shops. His art addresses historical brutalities toward African-Americans through the prisms of identity and memory, which resonate across centuries. “Deep River,” for instance, includes a soil mound embedded with vintage objects and surrounded by 56 wooden foundry molds, each depicting a nameless African-American Civil War victim. Feb. 15-May 21 at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton; 561/392-2500, bocamuseum.org

JERRY SEINFELD

In a move that would make fellow lowbrow foodie Jim Gaffigan proud, Jerry Seinfeld is evidently making an entire feature film about a Pop-Tart. The eminent comic’s forthcoming project, titled “Unfrosted,” and starring Seinfeld and “Borat” alumnus Maria Bakalova, is adapted from his own two-minute bit about the Pop-Tart from an old comedy routine. It sounds dubious, but if anyone can stretch a premise for all its potential yuks, it’s Seinfeld. This appearance at the Kravis will feature a slate of all-new 2023 material from one of the titans of observational humor, so you may be among the first to witness his next film idea incubating onstage.

March 18 at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561/8327469, kravis.org

“Deep River,” from “Passages”

MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE: MOTHERLAND

Composer Mark de Clive-Lowe has carved out a niche that only he has the imagination and bona fides to fill. Born in Auckland to a Japanese mother and New Zealand father, the young de Clive-Lowe nourished his musical education through his dad’s jazz collection and, after dropping out of the Berklee College of Music after two semesters, would go on to combine jazz’s freeform polyrhythms with electronic, funk and world-music flourishes.

At once an organic musician and a digital DJ, he performs feats of breathless musicianship onstage, juggling piano, synthesizer, beat making and live sampling. His 2022 release MOTHERLAND plumbs Japanese mythology and folklore into a sonic tapestry supplemented by multimedia projections.

March 23-24 at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561/832-7469, kravis.org

SAN SALVADOR

Handclaps, tambourines, drums and, most importantly, their impressive vocal cords: That’s all that San Salvador, a polyphonic vocal sextet from the nether regions of southwestern France, needs to mount an electrifying concert. The group, which formed among friends around 2015, seems positively out of time. The vocalists sing in an obscure—and endangered—Indo-European dialect of the Occitan language, connecting with their audiences not through linguistic understanding but through the trancelike swarm of pure rhythm. By the end of their gigs, one of the members told a journalist in 2020, “we’re drained—but exhilarated.”

April 11 at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561/832-7469, kravis.org

“TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”

The only non-musical in the Broward Center’s season of Broadway tours promises as much star-studded spectacle, behind of and in front of the stage, as its song-and-dance brethren. Aaron Sorkin scripted this daringly free adap tation of Harper Lee’s signature novel about race and justice in the Deep South, which positions Atticus Finch (played on the tour by Richard Thomas), the crusading defense attorney, as the protagonist, not his daughter Scout. The show’s Broadway premiere earned nine Tony nominations in 2019.

March 28-April 9 at Broward Center for the Per forming Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org

“SWEAT”

Celebrated playwright Lynn Nottage’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner is set in a bar in Reading, Pennsylvania—one of the poorest cities in America at the time Nottage researched her play—where a group of factory workers, facing the Rust Belt’s exodus of heavy industry, face layoffs and in-fighting. Labor, race and politics coalesce in Nottage’s sweeping work, which captures the erosion of the American dream during an eight-year period.

April 14-23 at FAU’s Studio One Theatre, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton; 561/297-6124, fauevents.com

MIAMI CITY BALLET: “WEST SIDE STORY SUITE”

Thirty-four years after winning an Academy Award for his choreographic work in the 1961 film of “West Side Story,” Jerome Robbins distilled its genius into this theatrical suite of dances, completed just three years before his death in 1998. Shed of its songcraft and narrative trappings, the Suite retains the emotional summits and valleys of the original show, as the Jets and Sharks rumble and soar from high school gyms to the pitiless streets. This Miami City Ballet program also includes George Balanchine’s enchanting “Symphony in C,” featuring more than 50 dancers, and a world premiere by a choreographer who trained at the MCB School.

April 21-23 at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561/832-7469, kravis.org

Their names may be familiar but their talents, expertise and occupations remain a source of information and inspiration.

Find out more about these Faces that grace our community with their contributions, and teach us a few things along the way.

The 561 Face of ELITE Diamonds

Rosenberg Diamonds & Co.

David Rosenberg,

President, Diamantaire

Known fondly as the international iceman, diamantaire David Rosenberg has certainly earned the title and has risen from self-taught entrepreneur to renowned diamond expert. At his elegant Boca Raton boutique, Rosenberg has spent the last two decades curating a collection of some of the world’s rarest and most soughtafter diamonds. From designs worn by royalty and precious heirlooms to important D Flawless and natural fancy color diamonds, Rosenberg Diamonds & Co. is dripping in some of the world’s most exquisite pieces.

While these past couple of years have certainly disrupted the normal daily life, Rosenberg’s dR brand continues to grow, which he attributes to the strong relationship with his worldwide clientele and the emotional connection that jewelry and diamonds evoke. He says over the last year, he’s had a flurry of clients arrive to his boutique or jump on a zoom call from a remote location, seeking that special token of gratitude for that special someone who deserves it.

“The past couple of years have taught us, if nothing else, to cherish our loved ones,” Rosenberg says with a smile. “We’ve overcome incredible challenges together both as a community and globally, and we continue to see that there is no better way to show appreciation than with a timeless symbol of love, a natural diamond!”

The display cases of Rosenberg’s boutique are carefully curated. With a mind-blowing selection of the world’s rarest and most unique diamonds and high jewels, the boutique offers items fit for both the novice to the most astute and experienced buyers. Rosenberg’s eye for detail and artistic touch have made him a favorite amongst elite connoisseurs and collectors who are looking for the bespoke one-of-a-kind experience.

“We house some of the world’s finest and best treasures,” he adds. “When a sophisticated buyer walks into our boutique, they know they’re home.”

Even more than the transaction, he takes pride in the relationships he builds with his clients and the handshakes behind every sale. According to Rosenberg, this is what matters most.

JASON NUTTLE

LILIANA ARANGUREN, DDS, MDSc

JEFFREY GANELES, DMD, FACD

FREDERIC J. NORKIN, DMD

JASON NUTTLE

The 561 Faces of Board Certified Dental Excellence

SOUTH FLORIDA CENTER FOR PERIODONTICS & IMPLANT DENTISTRY

Maintaining good oral health is critical to maintaining good general health. Yet surprisingly, about 47 percent of Americans have some degree of periodontal disease, even though many already see a dentist. Treating and managing these problems early is vital, according to the team of board-certified periodontists at South Florida Center for Periodontics & Implant Dentistry, who excel at managing periodontitis (gum disease) or permanently replacing teeth with dental implants. In 2002, they trademarked TeethToday® to immediately reverse years of dental problems, allowing patients to predictably leave the office with new, fixed, implant-supported teeth. Their motto is “No one leaves our office without teeth!”

The dentists are known for implementing technology to improve results and minimize healing time. One example is they helped create, test and obtain FDA approval for the world’s first robotic system for precise implant placement. They use lasers, advanced imaging, digital bite analysis and other technology, and offer sedation.

While the office has always been meticulous about infection control through universal precautions, they recently redoubled those efforts and implemented new measures to protect against the spread of airborne diseases like coronavirus. Their multi-tiered approach to minimize droplet and aerosol production and pathogenesis also includes regular hospital grade sanitization and fogging, use of antiseptic rinse and irrigation, high powered aerosol and droplet vacuums, meticulous surface decontamination, air filtration and significant attention to scheduling for social distancing.

With all these measures in place, they are able to provide the full scope of services for which they are renowned, and provide patients with the confidence to have all their dental needs met. Now, more than ever, optimizing dental health is important for maintaining dental health. New information suggests that people with gum inflammation (periodontitis) may be predisposed to worse complications with COVID-19.

don’t need a referral to call the office for an evaluation or periodic maintenance.

Jeffrey Ganeles, DMD, FACD Liliana Aranguren, DDS, MDSc Frederic J. Norkin, DMD Samuel Zfaz, DDS

SAMUEL

The 561 Face of Custom Home Building BELLA HOMES

Stephen Petrucci

Building beautiful, quality custom homes is what Stephen Petrucci, managing partner at Bella Homes, does best.

Bella Homes in Delray Beach is a full-service real estate development company with a progressive focus on eco-luxury initiatives for residential sale and rental communities, and has been constructing stately, impressive homes since 2014.

“What makes us different is our attention to details in the architecture, building materials and design, which is second to none, and our one-ofa-kind craftsmanship,” Petrucci says. “I show up at the job site every day to make sure everything is going smoothly, which is why people want to work with us.”

Bella Homes designs eco-luxury homes and is always on the forefront of the latest and greatest design trends and smart technology. Every home is built differently, from the architecture to the finishes. Petrucci collaborates with the best contractors and vendors, which allows him to put together his masterpieces.

He started out in finance and quickly moved into building custom homes, so he’s well versed in all aspects of home building.

He built his career from the ground up with decades of experience in home building. His track record of constructing thousands of homes started with the company building mid-level homes, and transformed into building high-end luxury residences. Bella Homes is currently constructing homes in the best locations—in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Ocean Ridge.

“We have a great team that puts their hearts and souls into every home we build, and makes sure we provide the very best product on the market.”

The 561 Face of Total Skin Care

ROBERT S. BADER, MD

Founder of RSB Dermatology

Dr. Robert Bader’s dermatology and cosmetic surgical practice, RSB Dermatology in Deerfield Beach, offers comprehensive skin, hair and nail treatments that include Mohs’ micrographic surgery, reconstructive surgery and dermatologic plastic surgery. Dr. Bader takes great pride in his versatile Ivy League training, board-certified expertise and the personal connection he forges with his patients.

Bader graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences with distinction, completed an internship at Yale New Haven Hospital, served as chief resident in dermatology at Hahnemann University, and completed a fellowship in Mohs’ and Dermatologic Plastic Surgery at Affiliated Dermatology, a program affiliated with Columbia University.

Among the many enhancing skin treatments patients request in his practice, Bader provides the 1540 Fractional Laser, a popular non-ablative laser resurfacing treatment that heats columns of skin to reduce wrinkles, improve stretch marks, and/or improve scars with virtually no downtime.

“As this is less aggressive than its ablative CO2 counterpart, most patients will require three to six treatment sessions to achieve their desired results. Most often these sessions are spaced four to six weeks apart,” Bader explains.

“The results look fabulous and natural, and most patients are thrilled,” he adds. Many patients with unwanted fat deposits can now have them melted away safely with TruSculpt-iD. By heating the skin, fat cells are damaged, resulting in up to a 24-percent reduction and tightening of the skin in only 15 minutes without any downtime. Almost any area on the body can be treated.

RSB DERMATOLOGY, INC.

954.421.3200 drbader.com

The 561 Faces of Luxury Estates’ Award-Winning Team

Premier Estate Properties

Geri Penniman, Estate Agent

Jackie Feldman, Estate Agent

It’s hard to imagine that the award-winning real estate team of Geri Penniman and Jackie Feldman has only been working together since March of 2020, and yet has amassed over $70 million in sales in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club alone in just the past year. When asked the secret to their success, they recite in unison their mantra, “Selling homes is not a volume play for us, it is about helping people navigate one of the most important decisions of their lives, which is why we love what we do.”

What they do so well at Premier Estate Properties is to provide their combined 36 years of expertise and palpable exuberance in exclusively representing ultra-luxury waterfront, golf and estate properties in excess of $1 million dollars.

Like-minded and driven to work 24/7 for their high-net clients, Geri and Jackie handle every detail of the transaction with the utmost attention, consideration and respect every client deserves. Whether buying or selling a $1 million or $25 million property, Geri and Jackie’s personalized service and hands-on work ethic has earned them the RealTrends award as one of the Best Real Estate Teams in Florida for 2021.

Geri and Jackie pride themselves on their vast market and community knowledge and unrelenting passion to deliver extraordinary service throughout every step of the process, and beyond. The bonds they forge with their clients result in enduring friendships and repeat business.

PREMIER ESTATE PROPERTIES

Geri: 561.212.3888 Jackie: 561.400.2156 geriandjackie@premierestateproperties.com

The 561 Face of Jewelry Buying & Equity Lending

Diamond Banc

Kathleen Trocine, Director, GIA Graduate Gemologist

Kathleen Trocine is the Director of Diamond Banc in Boca Raton. She has more than 25 years of experience buying fine jewelry, diamonds and luxury watches. Her vast knowledge of the fine jewelry business, GIA certification and loan expertise ensure the highest values paid and the lowest rates in the industry. Diamond Banc has grown to become one of the nation’s best jewelry equity loan providers. Couple that with its recent ranking as Florida’s top-rated jewelry buyer and lender on Google, and it’s no wonder why Kathleen Trocine has been exponentially busy, helping valued clientele sell or secure a loan backed by their jewelry items. Diamond Banc operates with the same professionalism and confidentiality of a traditional bank, in a customer-focused, prompt and streamlined fashion. It offers free, no-obligation liquid value assessments that allow you to understand what your item is worth in today’s market before selling or getting a loan. “The goal is to provide exemplary customer service so you feel confident about your decision,” says Kathleen. “We take every value-adding factor into consideration to ensure you receive an industry-leading offer for your jewelry and diamonds. Diamond Banc offers customized funding solutions tailored to each individual client. We pride ourselves on being able to offer a simple, fast and secure way of doing business for all our guests.”

Diamond Banc Boca Raton office is conveniently located on the corner of Federal Highway and Southeast First Street.

BOCA

The 561 Face of Financial Freedom Intercoastal Wealth Planning

Elizabeth M. Bennett, MBA

Principal and Certified Financial Planner™

When the state of the market isn’t the best news, you can count on Certified Financial Planner™ Beth Bennett to “talk her clients through volatility,” with sound advice and personal concern for their fears. More importantly, her decades of experience provide clients with a breadth of solutions for their wealth management and a voice of calm to help forge a plan together, in good times and bad.

“Traditional asset allocation and core portfolio construction is being challenged at the moment. Staying invested in the market is very important for the growth of your wealth. You cannot time the market. What is more important is time IN the market. According to JP Morgan’s analysis, if you had invested $10,000 in the S&P 500 on January 1, 2002, and stayed the course, you would have $61,685 as of December 31, 2021. However, if you missed the 10 best days in the market, you would have $28,260. All this being noted, it is very important to have a cash buffer to weather these markets,” says Bennett.

Bennett’s new Florida office, Intercoastal

a division of Chesapeake

Planning, is now open at 6751 N. Federal Highway, fourth floor, in Boca Raton. “Please call or stop by,” she says.

The 561 Face of a Personal Luxury Real Estate Advisor Pierce Luxury Real Estate Group, Douglas Elliman

Michael Pierce

A Boca Raton native, Michael Pierce was always enamored by the beautiful homes that surrounded Lake Boca, and the wealthy friends he grew up with who owned them. He reveled in the experience of living vicariously through their good fortune and chartered a plan for his own. Becoming a REALTOR®, and selling high-end homes became a means of achieving his lifestyle goals as well as those of his clients’.

With a business degree from University of Central Florida and a strong sense of discipline rooted from playing college football and hitting the gym daily, he did his due diligence by learning all of the luxury Boca Raton communities from the opulent country club communities to charming hideaways.

“Times are changing,” he says with a sigh of relief. “We are no longer in a state of emergency brought on by Covid. The market is softening with more inventory and a lot more room for negotiation.”

Pierce prides himself on his negotiation skills and finding exactly what his clients are looking for. “My clients and I end up becoming friends, and they have my contact information, forever.

I’m a very busy individual. I love my work, my work out, golfing, boating, playing football and basketball. I easily connect with people everywhere I go. When the time is right, I have the opportunity to sell or list their home for them,” he says.

561.927.5011

PIERCE

The 561 Face of Boca’s Newest Sports Medicine Specialist orthopedic surgery and sports medicine

Drew Stein, MD, PLLC

After practicing orthopedic surgery and sports medicine in New York City for 20 years, Dr. Drew Stein recently opened his solo practice in Boca Raton, treating sportsrelated shoulder, knee, and ankle injuries.

“The active lifestyle we enjoy year-round in South Florida, with sports like tennis and pickle ball, allows a sports medicine specialist the gratification of keeping people in the game,” says Stein.

“Even though my specialty is shoulder and knee surgery, I try to be thoughtful about non-surgical options. My patients and the physical therapists who see them are extremely appreciative that my first inclination is not to operate. It really depends on the type of injury, the patient’s activity level, and pain at the time I see them. I believe that many injuries can heal with proper guidance, supplemented with injections and physical therapy as the first round of treatment before going straight to surgery.

When a person comes in with knee arthritis and a meniscus tear, most of the time the symptoms they are experiencing are more from the arthritis rather than the tear. Likely, they will improve from treating the arthritis instead of operating on the degenerative meniscus tear, not the primary cause of their pain. I would prefer taking a more evidencebased approach and proceeding with surgery when it is absolutely indicated, assuring the best possible outcomes for my patients,” Stein explains.

The 561 FaceS of NEXT-GEN WEALTH MANAGEMENT

ANDREW LERNER, CFP®, ChFC® AND LOGAN SHALMI

Founders, The Atlantic Group; Managing Directors – Investments, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

College roommates-turned-business partners, Andrew Lerner and Logan Shalmi met on a tennis recruiting trip at Jacksonville University. Finishing up their finance degrees at Florida Atlantic University, the duo decided not long after graduating and working for different companies to come together and build their own practice in 2014. Today, The Atlantic Group oversees more than $1 billion in client assets.

The average age of financial advisors hovers around 55 years old, which is what sets Lerner, 31, and Shalmi, 30, apart. “Typically, advisors are the same age as their clients. This becomes problematic because as clients enter retirement, the most crucial part of their financial lives, their advisor may be retiring as well. However, our team is multi-generational and will be around to guide clients when they need us most.” Shalmi says.

The Atlantic Group also takes a fresh, holistic approach to management. “The 60/40 standard stock and bond mix for retirement may not be the ideal strategy. The number of investment choices and asset classes available to the public has increased substantially over past few years. We can help act as your personal CFO to develop a financial plan in coordination with your CPA, estate attorney and other trusted partners.” Lerner says.

Clients of The Atlantic Group only have to make one phone call to do all of the above. “Every successful company has a CFO, right? So why shouldn’t you, as an individual or family, have your own CFO?” Shalmi asks.

OF OPPENHEIMER

561.416.8686

oppenheimer.com/atlanticgroup

The opinions of the author expressed herein are subject to change

notice and do not necessarily reflect those of the Firm.

information is available upon request. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. does not provide legal or tax advice.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Boca magazine are not affiliated.

JASON NUTTLE

The 561 Face of Philanthropic Women Impact 100 Palm Beach County

Kelly Fleming, President

“All it takes is one woman, one check and one vote,” explains Kelly Fleming, president of Impact 100 Palm Beach County. Impact 100 PBC inspires women to improve their community by collectively funding multiple $100,000 grants to nonprofit high-impact initiatives in southern PBC.

Impact 100 PBC has provided $5.25 million in grants to local nonprofits. With 61 Impact 100 chapters around the world, Impact 100 PBC is the second largest, with 727 women members. Fleming describes the organization’s model as “efficient philanthropy,” which allows women to support nonprofit programs that create transformational change while leading busy lives with family and careers. Women invest knowing Impact 100 has thoroughly vetted the programs for sustainability and achievability.

Fleming has reviewed grants for seven years and understands their intricacies. She also understands their benefits. Each member contributes $1,000, all contributions are aggregated, and in 2021, $727,000 was awarded through seven $100,000 grants and three merit grants.

Nonprofit programs are considered in five categories: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation; Family; Environment and Animal Welfare; Education; and Health and Wellness. Through a rigorous nomination and interview process, including multiple site visits, nonprofit finalists are selected. The year culminates at the Grand Award Celebration, where each member casts one vote to determine which finalists receive $100,000 grants.

“It’s exciting that the organization aspires to grow to 1,000 members, enabling Impact 100 PBC to give $1 million a year to our community,” says Fleming.

The 561 FaceS of BUZZWORTHY PUBLIC RELATIONS

JULIE MULLEN AND ELIZABETH KELLEY GRACE Co-founders of The Buzz Agency

In 2009 amid the great recession, Julie Mullen and Elizabeth Kelley Grace were working from their dining room tables on their own public relations consulting practices when they decided to combine forces. The duo can remember going into the bank to open a business account together with just 500 dollars to invest.

Now with 13 years under their belts, the cofounders of The Buzz Agency run the largest public relations firm in Palm Beach County, according to the South Florida Business Journal’s 2022 “Book of Lists.”

One of the agency’s key attributes is that even as they’ve scaled to include seven team members, Mullen and Grace continue to oversee management of clients directly. “Liz and I are so hands-on with every client,” Mullen says. “We truly love what we do, and know our clients appreciate having the co-founders involved in servicing their PR needs.”

What brings Mullen and Grace joy is working one-on-one with their consumer-facing and business-to-business clients, providing media relations and community outreach for nonprofits and corporate clients. “Nothing makes me more excited than seeing positive news coverage about our clients,” Grace says. “We love being a part of moving the needle for them.”

JASON NUTTLE

The 561 Face of Sports Surgery

ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY, SPORTS MEDICINE

Charlton Stucken, MD, FAAOS

Double board-certified orthopedic surgeon Dr. Charlton Stucken always dreamed of becoming a doctor, long before he obtained his prestigious world-class training. “Being an orthopedic surgeon gives me an opportunity to personally develop a relationship with a patient who is sometimes at their worst and guide them through the process of getting their life back again,” he explains. “It is extremely gratifying.”

Dr. Stucken, Chief of Staff at Bethesda Hospital, is known for his expertise in treating shoulder and knee injuries, ranging from non-operative treatment and guidance to surgical intervention.

“I essentially take care of nearly all shoulder issues and knee problems, whether someone falls and breaks their shoulder or knee, has been overusing their arm and tearing it over time, or is suffering from an unknown pain. Most of our patients are able to rehab without surgery. When surgery is necessary, we utilize the newest technologies: 3D CT scans allow us to use intra-operative computer navigation to assist in shoulder replacement, while pressure sensors allow us to balance soft tissues. We are now able to integrate data extending from the pre-op office evaluation, through the surgical technique, and extending into the post-op recovery by using artificial intelligence algorithms and patient tracking software. It’s a really exciting field to be in because the technology is increasing at a rapid pace and options we never imagined years ago are now reality,” he says.

“My goal is that patients choose my practice in Boca Raton for their surgical needs, knowing that I am guided by the belief in providing the most exceptional care, without exception.”

CHARLTON STUCKEN, MD, FAAOS

The 561 Face of the Sustainable Office Building and Campus

The Greenhouse

Marc Wigder

Starting and growing a business is challenging, but The Greenhouse corporate office building and campus in Boca Raton makes the process much, much easier.

Founder Marc Wigder is a real estate corporate business attorney by trade, and a New York native who has made South Florida his home, together with his wife, Fran, and family, over the last 17 years.

In 2012, he acquired an east Boca Raton distressed office building out of foreclosure that was largely vacant. “We renovated the building, and what I noticed was that it had many small office spaces of multiple sizes, generally from 500 to 1,500 square feet. Small businesses were naturally gravitating to this building, because there simply aren’t many buildings with small office solutions,” explains Wigder.

“I worked with a marketing firm, and we came up with the idea of branding this office building The Greenhouse, where we grow businesses in a sustainable way, organically.”

In addition to its eco-friendly setting, The Greenhouse has a large atrium with plants and waterfalls—a relaxing, tropical setting that creates a spirit of collaboration—and a downstairs café.

“And, we have flexible leasing, so tenants can move into larger spaces as they grow,” Wigder adds.

In the last 10 years, he’s expanded The Greenhouse into commercial and residential assets on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and in several other cities countrywide.

Raton has been a great place for us not only to start a business, but help others do the same.”

AARON BRISTOL

The 561 Face of the World’s First 5G TV Service SuperCloud International, Inc.

Jim Devericks, Founder, Chairman and CEO

A dynamic industry pioneer and a gifted serial entrepreneur, SuperCloud International’s Jim Devericks has combined his passion for entertainment and his progressive vision for technology to create and launch UMAXX.TV, the world’s first 5G TV service in the United States. This premium technology--with in-home service for Internet-connected smart TVs--is the result of over fifteen years of research and development.

Devericks notes that UMAXX.TV’s 5G home Internet service is military grade, which is faster, stronger, and far superior to traditional 5G Internet service. This also allows his company to support their alliances, fostered with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, and to provide consumers with a rich, multidimensional and personalized TV experience.

Devericks states, “No more satellite dishes, no more cable boxes, no more unsightly wires-this is the revolutionary future of TV and home entertainment. We have integrated traditional cable TV, IPTV, and streaming, into one powerful gamechanging solution.”

Consumers throughout the country, who sign up for UMAXX.TV Internet and TV service, may choose the UMAXX.TV package that suits them best. UMAXX.TV customers may enjoy over 270 TV channels, over 20,000 movies, over 2.6 million ebooks, over 90 million songs, and a roster of live, pay-per-view events.

The future looks bright for Devericks and his company--they will also be offering Green Power on Demand (GPOD) to power 5G cell towers all over the world. This is no surprise to the man who launched the world’s first live mobile TV service, in the United States, in 2016.

The 561 Face of STATE-OF-THE-ART HAIR RESTORATION

Bauman Medical

DR. ALAN J. BAUMAN Founder, CEO and Medical Director of Bauman Medical

When Dr. Alan J. Bauman started his surgical residency in New York, he met a patient whose hair transplant not only transformed the way he looked but also the way he felt. Nearly 25 years later, Bauman still says, “changing people’s lives is the part of my profession I enjoy the most.”

As South Florida’s go-to physician for hair restoration, Bauman has treated more than 33,000 patients over the span of his career. Drawn to Boca Raton for its healthconscious community, Bauman identified a gap in local care, noting that while there were plenty of dermatologists and plastic surgeons, no one was exclusively treating the hair and the scalp.

A Board-Certified Hair Restoration Physician, Bauman artfully uses Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), a minimally invasive transplant technique that doesn’t leave linear scars and allows patients to recover quickly. Other all-natural and effective drug-free restorative solutions include PRP, PDOgroTM, Topical Exosome Therapy and Low-Level Laser Therapy.

Beyond helping patients, Bauman is also the medical director and a founding board member of the Grey Team, which provides active U.S. military and vets with a holistic health and wellness program. “I’ve always had a deep appreciation for the sacrifices that our military personnel and their families make,” he says.

PHOTO BY BAUMAN MEDICAL GROUP

The 561 FaceS of Financial and Business Services

CBIZ MHM, LLC Scott Schulman and Darina Bowerman

CBIZ MHM (Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C.) offers clients an extensive range of financial and business services. MHM’s CPA firm is expertly supplemented with resources from CBIZ, Inc., a national multidisciplinary services company that presents accounting and tax, benefits and insurance, and business consulting services. In tandem, the two work seamlessly as a Top 10 national accounting provider—so their clients’ best interests are always first and foremost.

The engaged, compassionate staff and exceptional work environment are the main reasons the company is different from others like it.

“We are a great team, and we truly care for each other as well as our clients,” says Darina Bowerman, CPA, Senior Manager, CBIZ MHM. “I have personally been with the company for 15 years; it is the team and environment that encouraged me to return to the office after COVID, even with our office policy being flexible and allowing remote work.”

The positive work attitude transfers to the company’s clients, who seem to appreciate and feel more comfortable when they see the same engagement team members each year, Bowerman explains.

CBIZ MHM enables its work processes and communications with cutting-edge technology platforms, including behind-the-scenes investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, to aid and increase efficiencies.

Bowerman works closely with Scott Schulman,

, Senior Tax Manager, at CBIZ MHM, who also serves as the Tax Technology Champion for the South Florida office, which entails being responsible for the various programs that create efficiencies in the company’s day-to-day work.

Together, they and their team bring to clients

of experience, national technical resources, being present at all times, and so much more.

The 561 Faces of Spine Surgery and Care Florida Spine Associates

Dr. Brian Burrough & Dr. Robert Norton

If you are suffering from any type of neck pain or back pain, rest assured that Dr. Brian Burrough, Dr. Robert Norton and their entire team of providers at Florida Spine Associates will utilize their skills and expertise to provide you with the best care available.

“Dr. Norton and I set out with a goal of starting a comprehensive spine care practice in 2015, and we’re still doing that,” explains Dr. Burrough, a board-certified pain management doctor and anesthesiologist.

“We wanted to treat everything spinerelated, from the most simple problems like sprains and strains to complex scoliosis surgeries. Other practices are not able to offer the same level of services and advanced treatment options.”

Florida Spine Associates has eight office locations throughout South Florida to serve patients—Fort Lauderdale, East Boca Raton, West Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Atlantis and West Palm Beach.

The practice focuses on non-surgical treatments, pain management and surgery for all spine-related conditions. The doctors offer telehealth as well as traditional medical services, including onsite digital imaging, physical therapy, and even inoffice procedure suites to expedite patient treatment. Same-day treatments can eliminate pain for most conditions.

“We’re determined to find the cause of our patient’s pain, and come up with the most successful treatment strategy,” Dr. Burrough points out. “We’re dedicated—and provide patients with state-of-the-art treatment options.”

The 561 Face for SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION & RECOVERY

JAN CAIRNES

CEO of Hanley Foundation

Jan Cairnes, CEO of Hanley Foundation and chair of the Florida Alcohol & Drug Abuse Association Board of Directors, has spent nearly 24 years educating parents on how to prevent their kids from developing an addiction. “The No. 1 thing that can reduce the likelihood of your child having a substance use disorder is based on the number of family meals you have per week,” says the proud mother of three adult children.

Cairnes still speaks with a subtle, soothing Southern accent from growing up in Pineville, Kentucky, even though she’s called South Florida home for more than 40 years now. “There are a lot of people here who really care, and when you do the work that we do, and you see the generosity of people who support that work, it’s really phenomenal,” she says of the West Palm Beach community.

Overseeing about $10 million in grants, Cairnes says a majority of Hanley Foundation’s funding is put toward prevention efforts. But soon, her vision is to ramp up recovery support to provide post-treatment individuals with the resources they need to secure jobs and housing—two of the most important factors for long-term recovery.

“There are a lot of people out there in recovery who no one knows are in recovery because there’s such a stigma, and one of the things I’m passionate about is moving from stigma to empathy,” Cairnes says.

The 561 Face of EXPERT INVESTMENTS & BANKING

RENEE E. JOHNSON

Vice President, Banker at J.P. Morgan Private Bank

Renee Johnson does more than help her clients build wealth; she also gives them back their time. “I have the ability to monitor with my New York trading team so my clients can enjoy things like sunsets instead of having to worry about their portfolios,” she says.

retired CEOs, to family offices, to active private equity partners, Johnson’s clients receive advice that could result in millions of dollars in tax savings. “I am a

partner,” she says. “We examine the problem in great depth before a solution is enacted. That pause makes us smarter and more disciplined in our approach.”

Johnson started her career in New York City, where she worked in the offices of billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, a pioneer of the modern-day hedge fund and founder of the Robinhood Foundation. “I saw the balance of what I refer to as the intersection of money and meaning,” she says. “Working at J.P. Morgan Private Bank affords me the opportunity to make an impact in my community.”

back to South Florida—where

husband raised their three children—

sits on the advisory board of the Boca Raton libraries and the executive board of The Stranahan House, and she volunteers with groups like Soroptimist, Junior League and Habitat for Humanity.

The 561 Face of the Art of Practicing Law

Zappitell Law Firm

David Zappitell Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer

Attorney David Zappitell limits and restricts the number of cases that he takes on at his personal injury law firm in Delray Beach, so that every client is treated like a “big fish in a small sea.”

Zappitell considers his firm to be an Old School law practice, achieving great results for people by treating them the way they deserve to be treated. “My people-first strategic approach of practicing law yields excellent results for my clients. Other lawyers seek my advice frequently. It is as much about the process as it is taking care of people and consoling them; part of my job I take very seriously,” he explains.

“Each day, I encounter very painful wrongful death cases and am constantly grieving with families who have lost loved ones. And through all of that, what I take away is gratitude for health, and the chance to be happy and able to enjoy all life has to offer. Art is a tremendous part of my life. It gives me a more human, less lawyer-like perspective. The true work of art in my life has actually been raising my three kids. They have been a huge part of my grounding, and who I am as a person,” Zappitell reflects.

The 561 Face of Feeding the Food Insecure Boca Helping Hands

Steve King, Director of Development

After three decades spent working in the private sector and for a local university, Steve King joined the staff of Boca Helping Hands (BHH) in 2021, where he oversees the development department. He first began assisting BHH 10 years ago as a volunteer, engaging with clients and listening to their struggles.

“I believe each of us is just one bad thing away from needing someone’s help. I first got involved with Boca Helping Hands because it was important to expose my kids to that reality—so they never take things for granted,” he says.

King enjoys helping others through BHH, a community nonprofit that serves hot lunches, distributes pantry bags of groceries, and expands access to healthcare, as well as provides emergency financial assistance and job training.

“We serve 80,000 hot meals a year, open to anyone in need. About 70,000 pantry bags a year are designated for financially qualified recipients living in Palm Beach County. We also cover the full cost of vocational training for low-to-moderateincome individuals, preparing them for indemand careers in 11 different professions in hope that they will become financially self-sufficient and won’t need our services any longer. This is what drove me to BHH’s mission—it’s the wraparound services that mean so much,” says King.

King also serves as a volunteer fundraiser for Boca Raton’s TOPSoccer so that specialneeds kids can participate at no charge to their families. He, his son, and his daughter have volunteered as coaches there for 12 years.

BOCA HELPING HANDS 561.417.0913 BocaHelpingHands.org

The 561 Face of Compassionate Nursing Care Boca Nursing Services

Rose Glamoclija, RN

As the COVID vaccination has taken place, for the majority of our clients and staff, we are still following all precautionary measures as we did pre-vaccine.

When the quality of life you’ve known is compromised by illness, you want the highest caliber of care. And since none of us know when that time will come, we are often overwhelmed when it does. At times like these, you need to rely on the comfort and connection to people who will be there for you when you need it most.

Rose Glamoclija, RN, the founder and Administrator of Boca Nursing Services, and a Registered Nurse for more than 30 years, understands. She knows the chemistry between caregivers and patients is paramount, especially when patients are vulnerable and out of their elements. With compassion and concern for every person Boca Nursing Services serves in the surrounding four counties, Rose provides guidance and resources for families needing in-home support and nursing care. Patients are treated with the highest level of respect for their rights, personal beliefs, and privacy.

Rose oversees and supervises the entire operation and personally reviews all qualifications and experience prior to selecting each Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse, Certified Nursing Assistant, home health aide, live-in caregiver, and therapist for hire. The concierge private duty nursing care is made available in the comfort of home, a hospital room, during facility stays and while residing at assisted living or rehabilitation facilities. Rose prides herself on the community support she receives and the generations of patients who recommend her services to their friends and families, year after year.

The 561 Face of Private Investigation Global Intelligence Consultants

Efrat Cohen Barbieri

With a degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, and positions as a state court-appointed investigator responsible for managing, controlling and directing surveillance operations in the deployment of covert and under-cover operations on an international level, Efrat Cohen investigates in order to discover all the information that is available regarding these individuals.

As Executive Director of Global Intelligence Consultants, Cohen’s expertise as a Licensed Private Investigator and Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist bring a variety of interesting and challenging cases—from rescuing missing children, to traveling abroad to provide personal protection for high-profile individuals and corporative executives, to following cheating spouses to the girlfriend’s or boyfriend’s residence, where they are often accompanied by their children for leverage, especially in divorce cases.

Today, parents call on Cohen to deep dive into the lives of prospective daughters and sonsin-law, often fearing their children don’t know enough about their spouse or spouse-to-be. One such case, Cohen recalls, involved a woman who married a man she barely knew, only to discover through Cohen’s investigation that he was a registered sex offender. A simple pre-employment background search or a background investigation to determine who an individual really is can be accomplished for individuals, corporations or the legal profession with a simple request to Global Intelligence Consultants, Inc.

“My job is to find out what people need to know to protect their families, their livelihood and their future, no matter the circumstances,” she says.

JASON NUTTLE

The 561 Face of Hospitality

Boca Grove Golf & Tennis Club

Jennifer M. Jolly, CCM

If there’s one lesson Jennifer Jolly learned early in her career that she still lives by, it’s the importance of human connectivity. Although she didn’t start out in hospitality, everything she has done has its roots there. For example, when she worked as a packaging engineer, she had to figure out how to keep products safe—and really get to know her clients.

“You need to be hospitable in some manner,” explains Jennifer, general manager of Boca Grove Golf & Tennis Club. “The biggest tool of hospitality is being able to genuinely hear someone and be in the moment.”

Now, with more than 20 years of experience in the club industry under her belt, Jennifer still sees the importance of this lesson.

“We never stopped working since COVID but got more efficient using technology—even though the hospitable part of our world went away,” says Jennifer, who joined Boca Grove as the director of marketing in 2018. Fortunately, she and her staff are again reconnecting with club members.

“Since reopening, we’ve been trying new things to have our new and existing members get to know each other,” Jennifer points out. “We’re doing our first Grove magazine since 2020, with the theme, ‘The importance of human connectivity.’”

As the landscape of the Boca Grove community changes (with more than 325 children under age 24, and 207 under age 17), so, too, has its focus.

“This is a huge deal for us,” Jennifer expresses. “We’re now using the new center for our own young members, not just for grandkids visiting. We also have a teen room—and are adding a dog park.”

These days, it’s all about connecting people and finding solutions to problems, Jennifer’s favorite part of her job.

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Wendy Kupfer is a seasoned professional drawing on decades of experience guiding clients through complex financial decisions, both as a former private banker with Citigroup Private Bank, and now as a real estate agent with Balistreri Real Estate.

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Wendy first seeks to understand her clients’ unique goals and then leverages her negotiating skills and neighborhood expertise to give her clients a leading edge. Her reputation for integrity and exceptional client experience has grown through her concierge approach to buying and selling homes—and working tirelessly to serve her buyers’ and sellers’ best interests.

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Yellowtail serrano at Akira Back

Clockwise from bottom: AB tuna pizza, seared halibut and Wagyu short rib fried rice

Akira Back

233 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach; 561/739-1708

Written by CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

The Michelin Guide has taken Miami by storm, but we’re fortunate to have a chef right in our own backyard who has also achieved that star-stud ded accomplishment. Chef Akira Back’s Seoul restaurant DOSA earned a Michelin star a few years ago, and now he’s showcasing his talented take on Japanese cuisine at his namesake restaurant inside The Ray hotel.

unique to him.

The restaurant’s ambience is laid-back, and while the menu’s price points lean toward upscale, there are options on both sides of the spectrum.

IF YOU GO

PARKING: Hotel valet, street and garage parking

HOURS: Tues.-Thurs., 5-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m.

PRICES: $8-$160

WEBSITE: akirabackdelray.com

An imposing door leads into a contemporary dining room that’s punctuated with pops of vivid colors. While the décor is mini malist, Back breathes life into it by incorporating his mother’s artwork into the mural that adorns the su shi counter, the plush banquettes and even the dishware. Massive windows flood the room with nat ural light while greenery suspends from the ceiling, giving the space a warm, lush feeling.

Born in Korea and reared in Colorado, Back blends his heritage with Japanese flavors and tech niques to deliver dishes that are

The menu is divided into cold and hot starters followed by rolls, nigiri/sashimi, robata grill, mains and fried rice. Dishes are made to be shared (even the entrées), and our waiter suggested about four to six plates per couple. We started with the AB Tuna Pizza ($28) and Yellowtail Serrano ($28). While the former is a chef specialty—a crunchy, slim tortilla topped with tuna and white truffle oil—it was the yellowtail that won us over. Floating in citrus soy, the paper-thin slices topped with serrano salsa and a petite slice of the pepper delivered a delicate bite that was not overpowered by one ingredient.

For the mains, we opted for the Hot Mess roll ($25), Seared Hal ibut ($42) and Wagyu Short Rib Fried Rice ($31). The roll hit the ta

ble, and I was immediately struck by the tuna’s gorgeous spectrum of pinks as it overflowed from the crab tempura wrapped in rice pa per. It’s topped with a spicy ponzu aioli, but the heat doesn’t linger; it simply awakens the palate. The halibut—pearly white, tender and cut into a perfect square—sits in a soy beurre blanc that I could have easily eaten by the spoonful. We enjoyed that with a side of the fried rice, which was garlicky and perfectly cooked with the right amount of seared grains; I had just hoped for a bit more meat.

We finished the meal with a Chocolate in a Cup ($14), which is exactly what it is. Layered Nutella and vanilla ice cream in a small cup, it’s a great choice if what you’re looking for is a hint of sweetness to end your dinner. For a hotel restaurant that had quite the hype surrounding its arrival, I must say the meticulous service and rich flavors elevated our evening and made us excited to return.

Peruvian ceviche, lobster mac & cheese, and red Thai curry shrimp

Corvina Seafood Grill

110 Plaza Real S., Boca Raton; 561/206-0066

CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

elebrating its one-year anniversary in December, Corvina Seafood Grill debuted on the Boca dining scene to much fanfare, and it continues to deliver consistent seafood-cen tric dishes in a charming coastal setting. Texas native Jeff Tunks, a professionally trained chef with vast hospitality experience, has brought a Northeastern flair that’s seen throughout his dishes. You can catch Tunks greeting guests in the open kitchen while vigi lantly ensuring the dishes meet his high standards before they head out to his hungry patrons.

of blue throughout and a ceiling detail that’s reminiscent of coral.

We started with the Bar Harbor Roll ($26). While the description does say warm Maine lobster, I was thrown off by the warmth of the roll, but not necessarily in a bad way. It was well balanced with spicy blue crab and avocado, and topped with a citrusy agave-lime aioli that had a hint of sweetness.

also features whole local snapper in case this option isn’t available. It was a little too drenched in the sun-dried tomato and basil butter sauce for my taste, but the toasted almonds gave it a nice crunch, and it was served with a hearty portion of creamy lobster mashed potatoes.

IF YOU GO

PARKING: Valet and street parking

HOURS: Mon.-Thurs., 5-9 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m. Sun., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

PRICES: $12-$59

WEBSITE: corvinabocaraton.com

The menu is indeed seafood-fo cused, and Tunks does a notewor thy job of incorporating South Florida’s varied Latin and Caribbe an culinary influences into it. Peru vian and Honduran ceviches share the menu with Brazilian fish stew. You’ll also find plantain-crusted corvina in a Creole curry sauce alongside Jamaican jerk chicken and island-spiced pork ribs. Aside from the menu, the décor adds to the seaside feel with serene shades

I also tried the Classic Peruvian Ceviche ($14) that came with all the anticipated accoutrements like pieces of sweet potato and cancha corn in a citrus leche de tigre marinade. It was refreshing and served with tortilla chips for easy scooping. Other appetizers included vegetable options like roasted cauliflower and Brussels sprouts alongside pork ribs, charbroiled oysters, fish chowder and char-grilled octopus.

With a focus on sourcing local ingredients, the menu spotlights several daily specials, so look out for those. We enjoyed the Local Red Snapper Parmesan Almon dine ($41), but the regular menu

I also tried the Red Thai Curry Shrimp ($35) with local Key West pink shrimp that I would order again. Flavorful without being too spicy or too bland, the dish’s pine apple gave it a lovely, unexpected sweetness. The Maine Lobster Mac & Cheese ($28) was recommend ed, and so we indulged. While the butter poached lobster was tender and abundant, I was hoping it would be mixed into the white cheddar mornay sauce instead of just being placed on top.

In another nod to shopping local, Tunks features a homegrown Proper Ice Cream Sundae ($12) on his rotating list of specials. There is nothing quite like a Proper sun dae, and I loved every bite.

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FLORIDA TABLE Dining Guide

Palm Beach County BOCA RATON

Abe & Louie’s —2200 Glades Road. Steakhouse.

All Americans are endowed with certain inalienable rights, among them the right to a thick, juicy, perfectly cooked steak. At this posh, comfortable (and expensive) meatery, the USDA Prime steaks are indeed thick, juicy and perfectly cooked, also massively flavorful and served in enormous portions. Don’t miss the New York sirloin or prime rib, paired in classic steakhouse fashion with buttery hash browns and ubercreamy creamed spinach. Chased with an ice-cold martini or glass of red wine from the truly impressive list, it’s happiness pursued and captured. • Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner nightly. Brunch on Sat. and Sun. 561/447-0024. $$$$

AlleyCat—409 S.E. Mizner Blvd. Japanese. Chef Eric Baker’s Japanese izakaya, or a casual spot for drinks and bites, is serving up dishes like sushi, dumplings and fried rice that have an unexpected whimsical element. Here you’ll find king crab tacos and hot fried chicken alongside the hamachi ponzu and spicy scallop roll. And to deliver the freshest sushi in town, he has partnered with celebrated sushi chef David Bouhadana of Sushi by Bou. • Dinner Tues.-Sat. 561/717-8415. $$

Arturo’s Ristorante —6750 N. Federal Highway. Italian. Arturo’s quiet, comfortable dining room; slightly formal, rigorously professional service; and carefully crafted Italian dishes never go out of style. You’ll be tempted to make a meal of the array of delectable antipasti from the antipasti cart, but try to leave room for main courses like the veal shank served on a bed of risotto. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/997-7373. $$$

Basilic Vietnamese Grill —200 S. Federal Highway. Vietnamese. This popular restaurant offers satisfying food and reasonable prices. Plus, there’s bubble tea. Opened in 2014, it has a wide range of Vietnamese favorites, such as cha gio tom heo, fried shrimp and pork Imperial rolls, all kinds of pho, noodle bowls, chicken curry and more. • Lunch and dinner six days a week; closed Tuesdays. 561/409-4964. $$

Bluefin Sushi and Thai—861 N.W. 51st St., Suite 1. Sushi/Thai. Arrive early for a table at this Asian hot spot—it’s popular with no reservations for parties fewer than six. Don’t skip the tempura lobster bomb, big in both size and taste. The ginger snapper will impress both Instagram and your stomach. Try the chicken satay and pad Thai. Bluefin offers a variety of dishes from multiple cultures, all well done. • Dinner daily. Lunch Mon.-Fri. 561/981-8986. $$

Burtons Grill & Bar —5580 N. Military Trail. New American. Known for its reliable food as well as its non-gluten, Paleo and “B Choosy” kids menu, the first Florida location for this restaurant is deservedly crowded, so make reservations. Don’t miss the General Tso’s cauliflower, the pan-seared salmon (Paleo), the crab cakes or the Key lime pie. Popular half-portions are available, too. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/465-2036. $

The Capital Grille —6000 Glades Road. Steaks. This is one of more than three dozen restaurants in a nation al chain, but the Boca Grille treats you like a regular at your neighborhood restaurant. Steaks, dry-aged if not Prime, are flavorful and cooked with precision, while starters from the pan-fried calamari to the restaurant’s signature spin on the Cobb salad (lunch only) are nicely done too. Parmesan truffle fries are crispy sticks of potato heaven; chocolate-espres so cake a study in shameless, and luscious, decadence. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/368-1077. $$$

Casa D’Angelo —171 E. Palmetto Park Road. Italian. Chef Rickie Piper, who has mastered the menu and cuisine of this fine-dining staple for more than a decade, knows when to say when with both plating and ingredients. His dishes, including the sides and accompaniments, are visually appetizing and aromatic. A grilled veal chop easily 3 inches thick proved tender and juicy, and the wild mushrooms served alongside in a marsala added earthiness. • Dinner nightly. 561/996-1234. $$$

Casimir French Bistro—416 Via De Palmas, Suite 81. French. Take a trip overseas without leaving the city and enjoy excellently prepared traditional French dishes, such as duck l’orange or beef bourguignon, or go with Cajun chicken and veal Milanese. The comfortable dining room is a Parisian experience, as is the apple tarte tatin. This is a local favorite, and may we add they have what is as close to real French bread as anyplace in Boca? • Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. 561/955-6001. $$$

Chez Marie French Bistro —5030 Champion Blvd. French. Marie will greet you at the door of this nicely dec orated, intimate, classic French restaurant tucked in the corner of a strip shopping area. This feels like an intimate neighborhood bistro and is a welcome discovery. From escargot encased in gar lic butter, parsley and breadcrumbs to a tender duck a l’orange to an unforgettable crepe Suzette, you’ll be in Paris all evening. Voila! Also on the menu: pan-seared foie gras, tasty onion soup, coq au vin, rack of lamb, salads and more desserts. French food in an unassuming atmosphere.• Dinner Mon.-Sat. (closed on Mon. in summer) 561/997-0027. $$

Seven-layer chocolate cake from Abe & Louie’s

AARON BRISTOL

Chops Lobster Bar —101 Plaza Real S., Royal Palm Place. Steak, seafood. There is nothing like a classic chophouse every now and then for a special dinner. At this upscale downtown restaurant, steaks are aged USDA Prime— tender, flavorful and perfectly cooked under a 1,700-degree broiler. There’s all manner of fish and shellfish, but you’re here for the lobster, whether giant Nova Scotian tails flash-fried and served with drawn butter or sizable Maine specimens stuffed with lobster. Let’s face it: Trendy menus come and go, but a great steakhouse is a win-win on all occasions. • Dinner nightly. 561/395-2675. $$$$

Cuban Café —3350 N.W. Boca Raton Blvd., Suite B-30. Cuban. One thing Boca needs more of is coffee windows—and real Cuban restaurants. Part of the charm of South Florida is its melting pot of Latin cultures, and Cuba is the granddaddy of them all. Which is undoubtedly why diners pack this traditional Cuban restaurant for lunch specials that start at $10.95, including slow-roasted pork served with white rice and black beans. Other highlights include the Cuban sandwich, the media noche and (on the dinner menu only) lechón asado. Full bar. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner Mon.–Sat. 561/750-8860. $

Dorsia—5837 N. Federal Highway. Continental. The simple pleasures of the table—good food, personable service, comfortable ambience—are what this modestly stylish restaurant is all about. The menu has a strong Italian bent, evidenced by dishes like a trio of fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with an airy three-cheese mousse, and a cookbook-perfect rendition of veal scaloppine lavished with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and a tangy lemon-white wine sauce. • Dinner nightly. 561/961-4156. $$

Farmer’s Table —1901 N. Military Trail. American. In the pantheon of healthy dining, Farmer’s Table is a standout in Boca, one of the first restaurants to elevate natural foods to fine dining. Fresh, natural, sustainable, organic and local is the man tra at this both tasty and health-conscious offering from Mitchell Robbins and Joey Giannuzzi. Menu highlights include flatbreads, slow-braised USDA Choice short rib and the popular Ramen Bowl, with veggies, ramen noodles and shrimp. • Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 561/417-5836. $$

Frank & Dino’s —39 S.E. First Ave. Italian. Cue the music. Dim the lights. Retrieve the chilled martini glass and shaker; it’s time to dine. The Rat Pack is alive and well here in both décor and soundtrack. So, too, are traditional Ital ian dishes such as Dentice oreganata, capellini Pomodoro and tiramisu. But you may want to get there early for one of the longest happy hours around (11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays) for Damiano meatballs, filet mignon sliders or antipasto misto between lunch and dinner. • Lunch Mon.-Fri.; dinner nightly. 561/218-4636. $$$

Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen —399 S.E. Mizner Blvd. American. Natural, seasonal, sustainable. You’ll enjoy the varied menu, and won’t believe it’s made without butters or creams. Try the too-good-to-be-true buffalo-style cauliflower appetizer, the seared salmon or buffalo burger, and have apple skillet for dessert. Healthy never tasted so good. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/826-2625. $$

The Grille On Congress —5101 Congress Ave. American. Dishes at this longtime favorite range from tasty chicken entrees and main-plate salads to seafood options like Asian-glazed salmon or pan-seared yellowtail snapper. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner Mon.–Sat. 561/912-9800. $$

Houston’s —1900 N.W. Executive Center Circle. Con temporary American. Convenient location, stylish ambience and impeccable service are hallmarks of this local outpost of

Everyday Favorites

For an affordable bite at any time, consider these durable chains and home grown Boca favorites—where the attire is understated and reservations are rarely necessary.

Biergarten—309 Via De Palmas, #90. German/Pub. Part vaguely German beer garden, part all-American sports bar, this rustic eatery offers menus that channel both, as well as an excellent selection of two-dozen beers on tap and the same number by the bottle. The food is basic and designed to go well with suds, like the giant pretzel with a trio of dipping sauces and the popular “Biergarten burger.” • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/395-7462. $$

Bonefish Grill—9598 Glades Road. Seafood. Market-fresh seafood is the cornerstone, like Chilean sea bass prepared over a wood-burning grill and served with sweet Rhea’s topping (crabmeat, sautéed spinach and a signature lime, tomato and garlic sauce.) • Dinner nightly. Lunch on Saturdays. Brunch on Sundays. 561/483-4949. (Other Palm Beach County locations: 1880 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach, 561/732-1310; 9897 Lake Worth Road, Lake Worth, 561/9652663; 11658 U.S. Highway 1, North Palm Beach, 561/799-2965) $$

The Cheesecake Factory—5530 Glades Road. American. Oh, the choices! The chain has a Sunday brunch menu in addition to its main menu, which includes Chinese chicken salad and Cajun jambalaya. Don’t forget about the cheesecakes, from white chocolate and raspberry truffle offerings. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/393-0344. (Other Palm Beach County locations: CityPlace, West Palm Beach, 561/802-3838; Downtown at the Gardens, Palm Beach Gardens, 561/776-3711). $$

Nick’s New Haven-Style Pizzeria—2240 N.W. 19th St., Suite 904. Italian. Cross Naples (thin, blistered crust, judicious toppings) with Connecticut (fresh clams and no tomato sauce), and you’ve got a pretty good idea of the pies coming out of Nick Laudano’s custom-made ovens. The “white clam” pizza with garlic and bacon is killer-good; Caesar salad and tiramisu are much better than the usual pizzeria fare. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/3682900. $$

P.F. Chang’s—1400 Glades Road. Chinese. There may have been no revolution if Mao had simply eaten at the Boca outpost of P.F. Chang’s—the portions are large enough to feed the masses—and the exquisite tastes in each dish could soothe any tyrant. We particularly like the steamed fish of the day, as well as the Szechuan-style asparagus. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/393-3722. (Other Palm Beach County location: 3101 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens, 561/691-1610) $$

The Sandwich Shop at Buccan—350 S. County Road, Palm Beach. Takeout stop. Like big sister Buccan Italian restaurant, the Sandwich Shop is full of flavor and builds your favorite sandwich with just a touch of delicious creativity you won’t find elsewhere. Owned by celeb chef Clay Conley and partners, the menu has hot or cold sandwiches, salads, sides and drinks (both alcoholic and non). Good-sized portions mean the Italian and prosciutto subs include leftovers if you have some willpower.• Lunch daily. 561/833-6295. $$

Shake Shack—1400 Glades Road. American. We’re not sure there is really any such thing as a bad burger joint and when you have a really good one—like Shake Shack— there’s a little piece of heaven just a short order away. Shake Shack in University Commons has great all-Angus burgers, non-GMO buns, and a frozen custard that makes grown men weep. Throw in some crinkle-cut fries and life is the way it should be. And the outdoor patio is a definite bonus in these times. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/932-0847. $

Steve’s Wood Fired Pizza—9180 Glades Road. Italian. With an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients and rigorous preparation—the hand-rolled dough rises for three days before use—this reliable purveyor offers varieties of ‘za that are both familiar and novel, from BBQ chicken and veggie primavera to Mom’s White Roasted Garlic and the Mupsa (mushroom, pepperoni and sausage) . • Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sat., dinner Sun. 561/483-5665. $$

Tap 42 —5050 Town Center Circle, Suite 247. Gastropub. This hugely popular nouveau-Industrial gastropub is not for the faint of eardrums when packed, but don’t let that discourage you. The kitchen here executes the hell out of a short, simple all-day menu. Grilled salmon chopped salad with tomatillo ranch dressing is delightful, as is guacamole studded with fat chunks of bacon and charred corn. Same goes for decadent shrimp mac-n-cheese. The wicked-good chocolate bread pudding with salted caramel sauce would be the envy of any Big Easy eatery. • Lunch Mon.-Fri. Brunch Sat.-Sun. Dinner nightly. 561/235-5819. $

the Hillstone restaurant chain. There are plenty of reasons why this is one of the most popular business lunch spots in all of Boca, including menu items like Cajun trout, the mammoth salad offerings and the tasty baby back ribs. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/998-0550. $$$

Il Mulino New York Boca Raton —451 E. Palmetto Park Road. Italian. From the four pre-menu bites to the after-dinner coffee from freshly ground beans, this is a white-tablecloth venue that delivers on its upscale promises. Try the langostino, the red snapper, the risotto, the pasta, or

Catching Air

Air fryer tips for home cooks

Written by CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

As an emergency room doctor, trained chef and cookbook author, Dr. Sonali Ruder knows ex actly what foods make us healthier. Her passion for helping others live healthy is clear with the recipes, content, advice and tips she shares on The Foodie Physi cian, her lifestyle website. She excels in creating simple, fast meals that are both delicious and good for you. So with those quick-and-easy air fryers all the rage now, Dr. Ruder is sharing a few of her favorite tips and tricks.

FIRST, WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE AIR FRYER?

It gives you the taste and crispy texture of deep-fried foods but with little to no oil. Not only is air frying a healthy cooking method, it’s also so convenient. In the time it takes to preheat your oven, you could make an entire dish in the air fryer. Also, most air fryers are easy to clean.

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIPS?

• Always preheat the air fryer.

• Flip your food or shake the basket halfway through cooking. This will help ensure that all sides get evenly browned.

• Don’t overcrowd the basket. Arrange your food in a single layer so that it crisps up nicely.

• You can adjust pretty much any recipe that’s cooked in the oven to cook in the air fryer; just adjust the cooking temperature and time. A good general rule of thumb when converting a conventional oven recipe to an air fryer recipe is to reduce the temperature by 25°F and reduce the cooking time by about 20 percent.

• Air fryer models differ quite a bit, so check your food occasionally to make sure it’s not brown ing too quickly. It’s OK to open the basket to check on it.

WHAT SHOULD WE COOK (AND NOT COOK) IN THE AIR FRYER?

YES:

FOODS THAT ARE TRADITIONALLY DEEP-FRIED: chicken wings and French fries

FROZEN FOODS: chicken nuggets, salmon burgers, garlic bread ROASTED VEGETABLES: potatoes, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, butternut squash

MEAT: pork chops, chicken breast, meatballs

SEAFOOD: fish filets and shrimp

NO:

FOODS WITH A THIN, WET BATTER: onion rings or tempura. They won’t set up immediate ly as they do when submerged in the hot oil of a deep fryer. You’ll be left with a drippy mess.

WET FOODS: meats in a liquid marinade. They won’t brown well. Meat should be patted dry and spritzed with oil before going in.

LIGHT, LEAFY GREENS: kale. They’ll fly around because of the fan and cook unevenly.

SOME BAKED GOODS: delicate cakes and pastries tend to dry out.

LARGE WHOLE CHICKENS: may cook unevenly.

WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THE AIR FRYER REGARDING THEIR HEALTH?

Air frying is a healthy cooking method, because air fryers cook your food with minimal or no oil. However, they don’t make everything healthy, like bacon, mozzarella sticks and stuffed Oreos.

IS THERE A BRAND YOU RECOMMEND?

I personally love my Ninja Max XL 5.5-quart air fryer. It has a large basket that’s perfect for a family of four (they also have smaller sizes). COSORI is one of the most popular brands of air fryers on Amazon and is another good option.

More tips and recipes @ thefoodiephysician.com.

Ideal air fryer fare, from top: Teriyaki salmon, General Tso’s chicken, coconut shrimp

Dr. Sonali Ruder

go for the ceviches, caviars and seafood tower. Save room for dessert and complimentary lemoncello. Make a night of it. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/338-8606. $$$

Fries to Caviar —6299 N. Federal Highway. Con temporary American. Going one better than soup to nuts defines this Boca restaurant, an easygoing, affordable bistro that really does offer fries, caviar and more. Four varieties of fish eggs are shown off nicely crowning a quartet of deviled eggs, while the thick-cut fries complement a massively flavorful, almost fork-tender hanger steak in the classic steak frites.Try the seasonal soups as well. • Dinner Tues.-Sun. 561/617-5965. $$

Josephine’s —5751 N. Federal Highway. Italian. Tradition trumps trendy, and comfort outweighs chic at this Boca favorite. The ambience is quiet and stately but not stuffy, and the menu is full of hearty dishes to soothe the savage appetite, like three-cheese eggplant rollatini and chicken scarpariello. • Dinner nightly. 561/988-0668. $$

Kapow! Noodle Bar —431 Plaza Real. Pan-Asian

This Asian-inspired gastropub delivers an inventive punch to the taste buds. Among the hardest hitters is its angry shrimp dumplings and the char sui pork belly bao bun. The Saigon duck pho is yet one more reason to go. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/347-7322. $$

The French Gazebo—4199 N. Federal Highway. Traditional French. There are new owners at what was Kathy’s Gazebo, and we’ll be reviewing the new iteration soon. But we are told the menu will not change dramatically, and we think that French

offerings like Dover sole, escargot, coq au vin duck, veal, lobster and more will carry on the tradition. Don’t forget the rich, well-crafted desserts. Classical dining and an excellent chef. • Lunch Mon.-Fri. Dinner Mon.-Sat. 561/395-6033. $$$

Ke’e Grill —17940 N. Military Trail, Suite 700. Tradition al American. In this busy dining scene for more than 30 years, you will find a lot of seafood (fried calamari, blue crab cakes, yellowtail snapper Francaise and lots more), a few steak, chicken, lamb and pork options, and a quality house-made apple crisp. Your traditional choices are baked, fried, breaded, grilled, broiled, sauteed. With Provencal, Francaise, maple mustard glaze, toasted macadamia nut pesto and piccata twists. A consistent crowd for a consistent menu. • Dinner nightly. 561/995-5044. $$$

La Nouvelle Maison —455 E. Palmetto Park Blvd. French. Elegant, sophisticated French cuisine, white-glove service and a trio of stylish dining rooms make Arturo Gismondi’s homage to Boca’s storied La Vieille Maison the home away from home to anyone who appreciates the finer points of elegant dining. The cuisine showcases both first-rate ingredients and precise execution, whether a generous slab of silken foie gras with plum gastrique, posh lobster salad, cookbook-perfect rendi tion of steak frites and an assortment of desserts that range from homey apple tart to bananas Foster with chocolate and Grand Marnier. • Dinner nightly. 561/338-3003. $$$

La Villetta —4351 N. Federal Highway. Italian. This is a well-edited version of a traditional Italian menu, complete with homemade pastas and other classic dishes. Try the signature

whole yellowtail snapper encrusted in sea salt; it’s de-boned right at tableside. Shrimp diavolo is perfectly scrumptious. • Dinner nightly. (closed Mon. during summer). 561/362-8403. $$$

Le Rivage —450 N.E. 20th St., Suite 103. French. Don’t overlook this small, unassuming bastion of traditional French cookery. That would be a mistake, because the dishes that vir tually scream “creativity” can’t compare to the quiet pleasures served here—like cool, soothing vichyssoise, delicate fillet of sole with nutty brown butter sauce or perfectly executed crème brûlee. Good food presented without artifice at a fair price never goes out of fashion. • Dinner nightly. 561/620-0033. $$

Loch Bar —346 Plaza Real. Seafood. This sister restau rant to Ouzo Bay includes fried oysters, moules frites and Mary land crab cakes. The bar offers literally hundreds of whiskeys, a noisy happy hour crowd and live music most nights. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/939-6600. $$

Louie Bossi’s —100 E. Palmetto Park Road. Italian. This jumping joint serves terrific Neapolitan pizza (thin crust), but don’t miss the other entrées. Start with a charcuterie/cheese plate and grab the amazing breadsticks. All breads and pastas are made on the premises. Other faves include the carbonara and the calamari, and save room for house-made gelato. Unusual features: Try the bocce ball court included with the retro Italian décor. • Lunch and dinner daily, weekend brunch. 561/336-6699. $$$

Luff’s Fish House —390 E. Palmetto Park Road. Seafood. A renovated 1920s bungalow houses this shipshape restaurant, in addition to two large, outdoor deck and patio areas.

Box Set

Prezzo’s $14 “Lunch Box” specials include select lunch menu items, plus a soda or iced tea, until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

It’s known for familiar dish names with new tweaks: smoked fish-hummus dip, falafel fish fritters, crab guacamole, mussels in coconut curry broth, plus the paella on Sundays only. Don’t leave without the enormous slice of the Key lime pie, topped with meringue on a graham cracker crust. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/609-2660. $$

Maggiano’s —21090 St. Andrews Blvd. Italian. Do as the Italians do, and order family-style: Sit back and watch the endless amounts of gorgeous foods grace your table. In this manner, you receive two appetizers, a salad, two pastas, two entrées and two desserts. The menu also includes lighter takes on staples like chicken parm, fettuccine alfredo and chicken piccata. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/361-8244. $$

Mario’s Osteria —1400 Glades Road, Suite 210. Italian. This popular spot is swanky, but the rustic Italian fare keeps with an osteria’s humbler pretensions. Signature dishes like the garlic rolls, lasagna and eggplant “pancakes” are on the new menu, as are butternut squash ravioli and thick, juicy rib-eye served “arra biata” style. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/239-7000. $$

Matteo’s —233 S. Federal Highway, Suite 108. Italian. Hearty Italian and Italian-American food, served in giant “family style” portions, needs no reinventing. Though there is no shortage of local restaurants cooking in that genre, it’s the details of preparation and service that make Matteo’s stand out. Baked clams are a good place to start, as is the reliable chopped salad. Linguini frutti di mare is one of the best in town. • Dinner nightly. 561/392-0773. $$

Max’s Grille —404 Plaza Real. Contemporary Amer ican. After 24 years in Mizner Park, This modern American bistro is a true local classic. The food and decor are both time less and up to date, and the ambience is that of a smooth-run ning big-city bistro. Service is personable and proficient. The menu is composed of dishes you really want to eat, from the applewood bacon-wrapped meatloaf to the wickedly indulgent crème brûlèe pie. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Brunch Sat–Sun. Dinner nightly. 561/368-0080. $$

Morton’s The Steakhouse —5050 Town Center Circle, Suite 219. Steakhouse. There’s seemingly no end to diners’ love of huge slabs of high-quality aged beef, nor to the car nivores who pack the clubby-swanky dining room of this meatery. While the star of the beef show is the giant bone-in filet mignon, seasonally featured is the American Wagyu New York strip. Finish off your meal with one of the decadent desserts.• Dinner nightly. 561/392-7724. $$$$

New York Prime —2350 N.W. Executive Center Drive. Steakhouse. This wildly popular Boca meatery Monday, Mon day packs them in with swift, professional service, classy supper club ambience and an extensive wine list. And, of course, the beef—all USDA Prime, cooked to tender and juicy lusciousness over ferocious heat. The bone-in rib-eye is especially succulent, but don’t neglect the New York strip or steak-house classics like oysters Rockefeller, garlicky spinach and crusty hash browns. • Dinner nightly. 561/998-3881. $$$$

Patio Tapas & Beer —205 S.E. First Ave. Spanish. Be transported to the Iberian Peninsula with a variety of tapas. Chef Bryant Fajardo, who trained under celebrated chef José Andrés, specializes in one of Spain’s most traditional and iconic cuisines and delivers both classic selections like Manchego cheese and anchovies alongside premium nibbles like seared duck and foie gras. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/419-7239. $

Prezzo —5560 N. Military Trail. Italian. A reincarnation of a popular 1990s Boca venue, this version has updated the dining room, kept the yummy oven-baked focaccia bread slices, and

added a 21st-century taste to the menu. Don’t miss the tender bone-in pork chop, thin-crust pizza and seafood specials. Veg etarian and gluten-free choices are on the menu, too. • Lunch Mon.-Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/314-6840. $$

Rafina —6877 S.W. 18th St. Greek. If you find the ambience of most Greek restaurants to be like a frat party with flaming cheese and ouzo, this contemporary, casually elegant spot will be welcome relief. Food and decor favor refinement over rusticity, even in such hearty and ubiquitous dishes as pas titsio and spanakopita. Standout dishes include the moussaka, the creamy and mildly citrusy avgolemono soup and the precisely grilled, simply adorned (with olive oil, lemon and capers) branzi no. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/409-3673. $$

Rebel House —297 E. Palmetto Park Road. American Eclectic. As wild visually as it is in the kitchen, this place rocks on all points. Start with the popcorn flavor of the day (instead of bread) and don’t miss the cauliflower Caesar salad, Uncle Pinkie’s Fried Rice, the lobster meatballs or whatever duck option is on the menu. You can’t miss with these dishes. • Dinner night ly, brunch Sat.-Sun. 561/353-5888. $$

Ristorante Sapori —301 Via de Palmas, Royal Palm Place. Italian. Sapori features fresh fish, veal and chicken dishes imbued with subtle flavors. The grilled Italian branzino, the veal chop Milanese and the zuppa di pesce served over linguine are especially tasty, and the pasta (all 17 kinds!) is available in full and half orders, with your choice of 15 zesty sauces. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/367-9779. $$

Ruth’s Chris —225 N.E. Mizner Blvd., Suite 100. Steak house. Not only does this steakhouse favorite emphasize its New Orleans roots, it also distinguishes itself from its competi tors by just serving better food. The signature chopped salad has a list of ingredients as long as a hose but they all work together. And how can you not like a salad topped with crispy fried onion strings? Steaks are USDA Prime and immensely flavorful, like a perfectly seared New York strip. The white chocolate bread pudding is simply wicked. • Dinner nightly. 561/392-6746. (Other Palm Beach County locations: 651 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach, 561/514-3544; 661 U.S. Highway 1, North Palm Beach, 561/863-0660.) $$$$

Seasons 52 —2300 Executive Center Drive. Contempo rary American. The food—seasonal ingredients, simply and healthfully prepared, accompanied by interesting wines—is firstrate, from salmon roasted on a cedar plank to desserts served in oversized shot glasses. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/998-9952. (Other Palm Beach County location: 11611 Ellison Wilson Road, Palm Beach Gardens, 561/625-5852.) $$

SeaSpray Inlet Grill —999 E. Camino Real. American. Unobstructed views of Lake Boca Raton, soaring palm trees and coastal décor peppered with fringed umbrellas all set the mood for a relaxing experience that will make you feel as if you’re on vacation. The menu accommodates different dietary preferences with gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options. Don’t sleep on the pear tortellini pasta starter; it’s a star item. Portions are hearty and can be easily shared. • Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 561/226-3022. $$

Six Tables a Restaurant—112 N.E. Second St., Boca Raton. American. The dimly lit chandeliers, burgundy velvet curtains and smooth Sinatra lyrics set the mood for a memorable evening that’s dedicated to fine dining without pretention. With a seasonal menu that’s ever changing, you can rest assured that whatever husband and wife chef-proprietors Tom and Jenny Finn prepare for you, it will truly be special and made with love. • Dinner Thurs.-Sat. 561/347-6260. $$$$

Cucumber gimlet from Max’s Grille

PAPPHOTO

Sushi Ray —5250 Town Center Circle, Suite 111. Japa nese/Sushi. Impeccably fresh and exactingly prepared sushi and other Japanese specialties are on display. The Nobu-esque miso sea bass gives a taste of this modern classic at a fraction of the price of the original, while the chef’s sushi assortment offers a generous arrangement of nigiri and maki for a reasonable $22. • Lunch Mon.–Fri., dinner nightly. 561/394-9506. $$

Tanzy —301 Plaza Real. Italian. Part of the swanky iPic Theater complex (though it does not service the theater), this handsome spot relies on quality ingredients and careful preparation instead of culinary special effects and car chases. The Parma Bar, a sort of sushi bar for meat and cheese fanatics, also does terrific quattro formaggio fiocchi and spiced pear. The scarletta pepper steak and bone-in pork chops are excellent, as are the braised Angus beef short ribs with toasted pearl barley and collard greens. For dessert, try the red velvet bread pudding and your choice of a trio of sorbets. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner nightly. Brunch Sat.–Sun. 561/922-6699. $$

Taverna Kyma —6298 N. Federal Highway. Greek/ Mediterranean. Hankering for a traditional Greek meal, and a menu that offers just about everything? This is where you want to try the meze plates (cold, hot, seafood, veggie), saganaki, grilled entrees and kebobs. From the taramosalata to the branzino and pastitsio, servings are generous and good. Don’t forget dessert. • Lunch Mon.-Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/994-2828. $$

Trattoria Romana —499 E. Palmetto Park Road. Italian. This local mainstay does Italian classics and its own lengthy list of ambitious specials with unusual skill and aplomb. The service is at a level not always seen in local restaurants. Pay attention to the daily specials, especially if they include impec cably done langostini oreganata and the restaurant’s signature jumbo shrimp saltimbocca. • Dinner nightly. 561/393-6715. $$$

Twenty Twenty Grille —141 Via Naranjas, Suite 45. Contemporary American. You’ve probably licked postage stamps that are larger than Ron and Rhonda Weisheit’s tiny jewel box of a restaurant, but what it lacks in space it more than makes up for in charm, sophistication and imaginative, expertly crafted food. Virtually everything is made in-house, from the trio of breads that first grace your table to the pasta in a suave dish of tagliatelle with duck and chicken confit. Don’t miss the jerk pork belly and grilled veal strip loin. • Dinner nightly. 561/990-7969. $$$

Villagio Italian Eatery —344 Plaza Real. Italian The classic Italian comfort food at this Mizner Park establish ment is served with flair and great attention to detail. The reasonably priced menu—with generous portions—includes all your favorites (veal Parmesan, Caesar salad) and some outstanding seafood dishes (Maine lobster with shrimp, mussels and clams on linguine). There is a full wine list and ample people-watching given the prime outdoor seating. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/447-2257. $$

Vino —114 N.E. Second St. Wine Bar/Italian. An impressive wine list of some 250 plus bottles (all available by the glass) offers a multitude of choices, especially among Italian and California reds. The menu of “Italian tapas” includes roasted red peppers with Provolone, as well as ricotta gnocchi with San Marzano tomatoes. • Dinner Tues.–Sat. 561/869-0030. $$

Warike Peruvian Bistro —2399 N. Federal Highway. Peruvian . Classic dishes, such as aji de gallina, and classic drinks—Warike Sour—make this small restau rant a place to remember. Modern, clean décor and a menu that includes well-prepared seafood, meat or vegetarian meals means it’s a busy venue, so reservations are recom mended. • Lunch and dinner Tues.–Sun. 561/465-5922. $$

Buzz Bite I

Did You Know?

For some, eggnog is an unappealing and unnecessary accessory to a holiday festivity, while for others, it’s a joyful indulgence and the celebratory culmination of the holidays. Whatever your stance, where did this egg and milk concoction come from? It seems it originated from a medieval English drink but has been a holiday staple in America since the 18th century and is similar to Mexican rompope and Puerto Rican coquito. While in Britain it evolved into a sher ry-forward drink, in the States Caribbean rum was more readily available. Bour bon is also a popular alternative. While supermarket shelves are bursting with it around the holidays, the recipe’s short list of ingredients (eggs, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, milk, cream and choice of spirit) makes it easy to mix up at home.

—Christie Galeano-DeMott

Chloe’s Bistro —6885 S.W. 18th St. Italian. One of the few venues that’s on the water, with food to match the view. Try the seafood linguine, the large snapper filets in Marechiara sauce, and the desserts to end on a sweet note. House-made pasta and a good wine list ensure a pleasant, satisfying meal. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/334-2088. $$

City Fish Market—7940 Glades Road. Seafood. A multimillion-dollar remodel of the old Pete’s has turned it into an elegant seafood house with a lengthy seafood-friendly wine list, impeccably fresh fish and shellfish cooked with care and little artifice. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/487-1600. $$

Ditmas Kitchen —21077 Powerline Road. Con temporary kosher. This west Boca restaurant is named after a Brooklyn avenue in a district known for its food. Here you’ll find very good casual food, and no dairy products are used. Try the Hibachi salmon, all-kale Caesar salad, the shnitzel sandwich. • Dinner Sun.-Thurs. 561/826-8875. $$$

DVASH —8208 Glades Road. Mediterranean. The menu, a collection of Mediterranean fusion dishes with a variety of daily specials, caters to an array of diets, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free. The Cohen family, who previously owned Falafel Bistro & Wine Bar in Coral Springs for more than a decade, now welcomes diners to this West Boca restaurant that’s tucked away in the Publix Greenwise strip mall. • Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. 561/826-7784. $$

Oli’s Fashion Cuisine —6897 S.W. 18th St. Mod ern American. With the unusual name comes a menu sporting lobster risotto to tuna tacos, grilled mahi and more. There are Italian, vegetarian, steak, flatbreads, salads and desserts, all pleasing to the eye and palate. Inside is a bit noisy, so try the outdoor, lakeside patio for a quieter meal. • Lunch and dinner daily, breakfast weekends. 561/571-6920. $$

Oliv Pit Athenian Grille —6006 S.W. 18th St. Mod ern Greek. The owners’ goal of bringing together the best of Greek cooking under one roof, much like the melting pot that is Athens, is covered here in an extensive menu. The best way to enjoy the food is to share it: the Pikilia trio with tzatziki, spicy feta and eggplant spread is a starting place. Try the mix grill platter and the hearty red Greek wine. End the night with a unique, velvety frappe cappuccino. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/409-2049. $$

Yakitori —271 S.E. Mizner Blvd. Asian. This Japanese restaurant that has sat for nearly a decade in Royal Palm Place is still welcoming devoted diners and delivering consistent, premium dishes. Sip on one of its refreshing cocktails like the lychee martini or green tea mojito before perusing the vast menu that offers everything from sushi and sashimi to fried rice, ramen and entrées from the robata grill. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/544-0087. $$

WEST BOCA

Boon’s Asian Bistro —19605 N. State Road 7. Japanese/Thai. This is one of two Boon’s (the other is in Delray Beach), and it’s where the rush to eat excellent sushi started. The fast-moving staff is choreographed to deliver dishes such as shrimp pad Thai that’s light, delicate and happily filled with shrimp. The Thai fried rice is unusually delicate too, with lots of egg, and is some of the best around. The sushi rolls are as fresh and inventive (try the Daimyo roll) as they are beautifully presented. Go early or call for a reservation. • Lunch Mon.-Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/883-0202. $$

Skyfin Asian Bistro —8221 Glades Road. Asian. After nearly a decade of dishing out elevated Beijing cuisine at MR CHOW inside the posh W South Beach, chef Aden Lee left his sous chef position to venture out on his own. Here, you’ll find both playfully named sushi rolls and fresh sashimi alongside protein-rich house specials, fried rice and noodles. Don’t miss the Toro Roll and Tangerine Peel Beef. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/556-1688. $$

Villa Rosano —9858 Clint Moore Road. Italian. You can be forgiven for imagining yourself in some rustic Italian hill town as the smells of garlic and tomato sauce waft through the air. Start by sopping up the house olive oil with slices of crusty bread, then move on to a stellar version of clams Guazzetto and delicate fillets of sole done a la Francese. • Lunch Mon.-Sat. Dinner nightly. 561/470-0112. $$

BOYNTON BEACH

Driftwood —2005 S. Federal Highway. Modern Amer ican. Take food combos that sound unusual (popcorn sauce, avocado chocolate ice cream) but that taste wonderful and you’ve got Chef Jimmy Everett’s ideas on the table. They don’t last long,

Star Power

Miami’s Michelin restaurants are worth the drive

Written by CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

It’s the holidays, so you may have gour mand family or friends visiting, or perhaps you’re just looking for a festive meal to celebrate your 2022 accomplishments. What ever the reason, Miami was recently inducted into the revered Michelin Guide, and its list of restaurants should be on the top of your list if you’re making the journey south.

L’ATELIER DE JOËL ROBUCHON

The only concept to receive two stars, this is where the late Joël Robuchon’s haute French cuisine takes center stage. While the menu offers a la carte options, for the best experience opt for the tasting menu.

(See Le Jardinier address, Suite 235)

ARIETE

This global menu with hints of chef Michael Beltran’s Hispanic heritage sprinkled in can be enjoyed a la carte or through the tasting menu. If you choose the former, make sure to order the duck.

151 N.E. 41st St., Miami; 305/402-9070

BOIA DE

Tucked into an unassuming strip mall just north of the Design District, this place is small, so keep your eyes peeled. You’ll be rewarded with Italian-inspired dishes with delectable twists. And make sure to order the potato skins. You can thank us later.

5205 N.E. Second Ave., Miami; 305/967-8866

COTE MIAMI

The outpost of the Manhattan-based Miche lin-starred Korean steakhouse concept now

has its own star to tout. In the Design District, this sexy, dimly lit restaurant makes for a perfect date night. Plus, with more than 1,000 wine bottles, you will certainly find the perfect pour to pair with your meat.

3900 N.E. Second Ave., Miami; 305/434-4668

ELCIELO MIAMI

If you’re looking for over-the-top, then this Brickell restaurant is it. Chef Juan Manuel Bar rientos interprets his Colombian roots into an innovative tasting menu (that’s the only option here) that will liven all your senses.

31 S.E. Fifth St., Miami; 786/694-9525

HIDEN

Its name says it all. You must find this restau rant before you can indulge in its masterfully prepared omakase menu.

313 N.W. 25th St., Miami; no phone number

LE JARDINIER

Directly below L’Atelier, this vegetable-focused concept delivers dishes almost too pretty to eat and exemplary service in a serene, lush Design District setting.

151 N.E. 41st St., Suite 135, Miami; 305/4029060

LOS FELIX

The only Mexican restaurant on the list, this Coconut Grove restaurant honors its heritage throughout its selections. Ingredients like corn, cacao and chiles dance on the menu, and you can taste the care that went into making each dish here.

3413 Main Highway, Miami; 305/640-5013

THE DEN AT SUSHI AZABU

This exclusive restaurant within the South Beach restaurant offers hungry patrons two seatings per day. With an ever-changing omakase menu, you never know what you’re going to eat, and that’s part of the excitement. 161 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach; 786/276-0520

THE SURF CLUB RESTAURANT

The celebrated chef Thomas Keller brings his talents to the Four Seasons Hotel in Surfside. Start with some bubbles from the Champagne cart before deciding on your next steps. Beef Wellington enthusiasts shouldn’t sleep on the short rib Wellington.

9011 Collins Ave., Surfside; 305/768-9440

STUBBORN SEED

A surefire way to impress out-of-town guests is to take them here. It’s also a place where locals assemble for consistent meals that tempt all the senses. If you’re unsure of what to order, choose the tasting menu.

101 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 786/460-5962

In addition to the stars, the Guide also selected several establishments to designate as Bib Gourmand, which guides patrons to Michelin-approved restaurants that offer meals at a lower price point. Those included are: Bachour, Chug’s Diner, Doya, El Turco, Ghee Indian Kitchen, Hometown Barbecue, Itamae, Krus Kitchen, La Natural, Lung Yai Thai Tapas, Mandolin Aegean Bistro, Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, Phuc Yea, Red Rooster Overtown, Sanguich de Miami, Tinga y Cafe, Zak the Baker and Zitz Sum.

Black Forest dessert from L’Atelier De Joël Robuchon

Le Jardinier

Buzz Bite II

Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival

Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the festival returns Dec. 8-11 with a slew of events. The weekend extravaganza will cater to all your cravings, from French fare with Daniel Boulud, Southern comfort food with Lindsay Autry, barbecue with Rick Mace and don’t forget the Grand Tasting fête at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Celebrations will be hosted by a variety of venues throughout the county, including restaurants like Stage Kitchen & Bar, Buccan, Oceano, The Regional and hotels including the Colony Hotel, Four Seasons Resort, Eau Palm Beach and PGA National Resort. Each day is an opportunity to choose from a dif ferent list of enticing events, including chef dinners, classes and tastings, so make sure to pace yourself, drink plenty of water and, most importantly, enjoy every bite. Purchase tickets at pbfood winefest.com.

—Christie Galeano-DeMott

because they taste terrific. Try the smoked swordfish, the lobster with pickled okra, ricotta dumplings, the burger with gouda, the grilled octopus and pastrami’d chicken breast with roasted cabbage. • Brunch Sun. Dinner Tues.-Sun. 561/733-4782. $$

Josie’s Italian Ristorante—1602 S. Federal High way. Italian. Famed chef and South Florida culinary godfather Mark Militello is back at Josie’s after a brief stint at Boca’s Prezzo, and his magic in the kitchen of this cozy, old-school Italian restaurant is duly noted. His influence is evident in the daily specials, but old favorites like beefy short rib meatballs, an upmarket version of the classic San Francisco cioppino, and Josie’s signature veal Bersaglieri (veal me dallions with artichokes, olives and roasted peppers in lemon-white wine sauce) don’t fail to satisfy either. • Lunch Mon.-Sat. Dinner nightly. 561/364-9601. $$

Prime Catch —700 E. Woolbright Road. Seafood Waterfront restaurants are few and far between in our neck of the woods, and those with good food are even more rare. Prime Catch, at the foot of the Woolbright bridge on the Intracoastal, is a best-kept secret. The simple pleasures here soar—a perfectly grilled piece of mahi or bouillabaisse overflowing with tender fish. Don’t miss one of the best Key lime pies around. • Lunch and dinner daily, Sunday brunch. 561/737-8822. $$

Sushi Simon 1628 S. Federal Highway. Japanese It’s been called “Nobu North” by some aficionados, and for good reason. Local sushi-philes jam the narrow dining room for such impeccable nigirizushi as hamachi and uni (Thursdays), as well as more elaborate dishes like snapper Morimoto and tuna tartare. Creative, elaborate rolls are a specialty. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/731-1819. $$

Tuna crudo from Avalon

The Stars Are Out City Oyster, one of Delray’s longtime see-and-be-seen spots, has earned four stars from Zagat, OpenTable and Yelp.

DELRAY BEACH

3rd and 3rd —301 N.E. Third Ave. Gastropub. This quirky, individualistic, obscurely located little place is one of the most important restaurants in Delray. The menu changes frequently, but hope the evening’s fare includes plump scallops with caramelized mango sauce, stunning delicious roasted cauliflower with Parme san mousse and bacon, and wicked-good espresso panna cotta on it at your visit. • Dinner Mon.-Sat. 561/303-1939. $$

50 Ocean—50 S. Ocean Blvd. Seafood. The former Upper Deck at Boston’s on the Beach is now the more upscale, seafood-oriented spot. The menu ranges from familiar to slightly more inventive, from a classic lobster bisque and crisp-tender fried clam bellies to rock shrimp pot pie and baked grouper topped with blue crab. The cinnamon-dust ed beignets are puffs of amazingly delicate deep-fried air and should not under any circumstances be missed. • Lunch Mon.-Sat. Dinner nightly. Brunch Sun. 561/278-3364. $$

800 Palm Trail Grill —800 Palm Trail. American This contemporary space is serving up American fare and classic cocktails. The menu has a steak-and-seafood-house feel to it but without any stuffiness. Instead, you’ll find dishes that entice the palate, like the loaded baked potato eggrolls and Wagyu boneless short rib. • Dinner Tues.-Sat. Brunch Sun. 561/865-5235. $$

Amar Mediterranean Bistro —522 E. Atlantic Ave. Lebanese. From the moment you step inside, there’s a familial feeling, a hidden gem that everyone is drawn to. Amar is a quaint bistro amidst the buzzy Atlantic Avenue that serves Lebanese food. But this isn’t your typical hummus and pita joint. Here, the proprietor’s family recipes take center stage alongside Mediterranean favorites that have been elevated with slight tweaks. • Dinner nightly. 561/865-5653. $$

Angelo Elia Pizza • Bar • Tapas — 16950 Jog Road. Italian. Nothing on the menu of Angelo Elia’s modern, small plates-oriented osteria disappoints, but particularly notable are the meaty fried baby artichokes stuffed with breadcrumbs and speck, delicate chicken-turkey meatballs in Parmesan-enhanced broth, and Cremona pizza with a sweet-salty-earthy-pungent mélange of pears, pancetta, Gorgonzola, sun-dried figs and mozzarella. • Lunch Tues.-Sun. Dinner nightly. 561/381-0037. $

Atlantic Grille—1000 E. Atlantic Ave. Seafood/Contem porary American. This posh restaurant in the luxurious Seagate Ho tel & Spa is home to a 450-gallon aquarium of tranquil moon jellyfish and a 2,500-gallon shark tank. Savor inventive cuisine that takes the contemporary to the extraordinary. Bold flavors, inspired techniques and the freshest ingredients make every meal a culinary adventure. • Lunch and dinner daily. Brunch Sat.–Sun. 561/665-4900. $$

Avalon Steak and Seafood—110 E. Atlantic Ave. Seafood/Steakhouse. The enticing reasons we all go to a steakhouse are present here—boozy cocktails, a diverse wine list, dry aged steaks, prime cuts, rich accompaniments, decadent sides and indulgent desserts. The menu is then enhanced with a selection of seafood like a raw bar medley of oysters, shrimp and crab alongside the customary octopus, fish, scallops and lobster. Don’t miss Avalon’s signature dish, the Angry Lobster, and for an unusual surprise check out the kimchi fried rice. • Dinner nightly. 561/593-2500. $$$$

Bamboo Fire Cafe—149 N.E. Fourth Ave. Caribbean. The Jacobs family joyously shares its Latin and Caribbean culture through food that’s bursting with bright island aromas and flavors. Tostones, plantain fries and jerk meatballs share the menu with curry pork, oxtail and conch. • Dinner Wed.-Sun. 561/749-0973. $

Beg for More Izakaya—19 S.E. Fifth Ave. Japanese Small Plates. The large sake, whisky and beer menu here pairs beau

tifully with the small plates full of everything except sushi. No sushi. And that’s fine. Try the takoyaki (octopus balls), the crispy salmon tacos and anything with the addictive kimchi, such as the kimchi fried rice. There are pasta, teriyaki and simmered duck with bok choy dishes—or 16 varieties of yakitori (food on skewers). You’ll be back to beg for more. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/563-8849. $$

Brulé Bistro —200 N.E. Second Ave. Contemporary American. The regular menu of this Pineapple Grove favorite always has satisfying dishes. Its specialties include crab tortelli ni with black truffles, chicken meatballs with coconut broth and cashews, plus signature dessert pistachio crème brùlée. Spirits and house cocktails steeped in speakeast style are paired with an ever-changing menu. Outside tables offer the best option for conversation. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/274-2046. $$

Burt & Max’s —9089 W. Atlantic Ave. Contemporary American. This bastion of contemporary comfort food in west Del ray is approaching local landmark status, forging its own menu while borrowing a few dishes from Max’s Grille, like the hearty chopped salad and bacon-wrapped meatloaf. Other dishes are variations on the comfort food theme, including a stellar truffle-scented wild mushroom pizza. • Dinner nightly. Sunday brunch. 561/638-6380. $$

Cabana El Rey—105 E. Atlantic Ave. Cuban tropical. Little Havana is alive and well in Delray. The menu is a palette-pleasing trav elogue, including starters like mariquitas (fried banana chips) and main courses such as seafood paella (think mussels, shrimp, clams, conch, scallops and octopus). • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/274-9090. $$

Caffe Luna Rosa —34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. Italian. This multiple Delray Beach-award winning restaurant has sparkling service, comfort food taken to a higher level, and a setting just steps from the Atlantic. A success from day one, they dish up big flavors in a tiny space, so call for reservations. Try the calamari fritto misto, then the rigatoni pomodoro and leave room for dessert. Or come back for breakfast. • Open daily from breakfast through dinner. 561/274-9404. $$

Casa L’Acqua —9 S.E. Seventh Ave. Italian. You’ll get what you pay for here: very good Italian food in an upscale, mod ern, cool gray and white restaurant that is a refreshing change from busy Atlantic Avenue. The antipasti (bread, balsamic/honey dipping sauce, Parmesan chunks, bruschetta) are so good, they could be dinner. But save room for the pollo Parmigiana, the scal lopine piccate al limone, the four kinds of risotto, and dessert. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/563-7492. $$$

City Oyster —213 E. Atlantic Ave. Seafood. This stylish mainstay of Big Time Restaurant Group serves up reasonably priced seafood that never disappoints, such as shrimp and grits with a jumbo crab cake. This is the place to see and be seen in Delray, and the food lives up to its profile. • Lunch Mon.–Sun. Dinner nightly. Outdoor dining. 561/272-0220. $$

Coco Sushi Lounge & Bar —25 N.E. Second Ave. Asian. Local hospitality veterans Tina Wang and chef Jason Zheng continue to grow their restaurant empire with this concept. The extensive menu caters to any palate, dietary restriction or craving and features both traditional and creative dishes. Soups and salads lead into sushi selections and appetizers divided into cool and hot. Cooked and raw rolls are followed by rice, noodle, land and sea en trée options. • Dinner Mon.-Sat. Sunday brunch. 561/908-2557. $$

Cut 432 —432 E. Atlantic Ave. Steakhouse. Hipper decor, a more casual vibe and an inventive take on steak-house favorites make this sleek restaurant just different enough to be interesting. Starters such as ceviche (prepared Peruvian style) and ultrarich oysters Rockefeller are first-rate, while the wet-aged beef is ap propriately tender and tasty. • Dinner nightly. 561/272-9898. $$$

PAPPHOTO

Dada—52 N. Swinton Ave. Contemporary American. The same provocative, whimsical creativity that spawned Dada the art movement infuses Dada the restaurant, giving it a quirky charm all its own. The comfort food with a moustache menu has its quirky charms, too, like shake-n-bake pork chops with sweet-savory butterscotch on ions, and a brownie-vanilla ice cream sundae with strips of five-spice powdered bacon. The wittily decorated 1920s-vintage house-turnedrestaurant is, as they say, a trip. • Dinner nightly. 561/330-3232. $$

Deck 84 —840 E. Atlantic Ave. Contemporary American Burt Rapoport’s ode to laid-back tropical dining is like a day at the beach without getting sand between your toes. Though the restaurant is casual, the kitchen takes its food seriously, whether the stellar flatbreads, the thick and juicy 10-ounce special blend burger or homey seasonal cobbler. And the waterfront location just seems to make everything taste better. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Brunch Sat.–Sun. Dinner nightly. 561/665-8484. $

Eathai —1832 S. Federal Highway. Thai. If you’re craving ap proachable and affordable Thai food, put Eathai at the top of your list. While you can expect to find curries, noodles, soups and fried rice on the menu, the dishes here aren’t the typical ones you’ll find around town. Indulge in the Thai Chicken French Toasted or Crispy Duck Breast with Lychee Curry Sauce or Oxtail Basil Fried Rice to savor the true talent of owner and chef Sopanut Sopochana. • Lunch and dinner daily, except Tuesday. 561/270-3156. $

El Camino —15 N.E. Second Ave. Mexican. This sexy, bustling downtown spot is from the trio behind nearby Cut 432 and Park Tavern. Fresh, quality ingredients go into everything from the tangy tomatillo salsas to the world-class fish tacos clad in delicate fried skin, set off by tart pineapple salsa. Cinnamon and sugar-dusted churros are the perfect dessert. And check out the margaritas, especially the smoky blend of mezcal and blanco tequila. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/865-5350. $$

Buzz Bite III

Wine Pairings for the Holidays

Master Sommelier and local wine merchant Virginia Philip shares her favorite wines to pair with classic holiday dishes.

APPETIZERS

Whether you kick off your celebratory meal with mini brie tarts or deviled eggs, Philip recommends starting with bubbles: Gran Moraine Brut Rosé Sparkling Wine, Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon, N.V. , $55. This brut rosé is a real knockout, with a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

ENTRÉES

Households celebrate with different main courses, so wines need to compliment that variety without becoming overpowering. Philip is drawn to Grenache for its medi

Elisabetta’s —32 E. Atlantic Ave. Italian. An ornate Italian spot, with classically prepared dishes including spiedini shrimp, burrata de prosciutto bruschetta, costoletta di vitello (veal), a guanciale pizza, cacio e pepe pasta, malfadine Amatriciana and gemelli puttanesca. Portions are large and that, thankfully, goes for the homemade gelati, too. The best seating outdoors is the second-floor balcony overlooking Atlantic Avenue. • Lunch and dinner daily; weekend brunch. 561/650-6699. $$

Ember Grill —233 N.E. Second Ave. Contemporary American. The Ray Hotel’s modern bistro is helmed by Joe Zanel li, who has created a variety of globally inspired dishes. Seafood, steaks and house specialties like the duck pancakes share the menu with delectable desserts like the baked Alaska ablaze on your table or the refreshing frozen pineapple. • Dinner nightly. 561/739-1705. $$

The Grove —187 N.E. Second Ave. Contemporary American. The Grove, which has been tucked inside the tranquil Pineapple Grove district for nearly a decade, continues to surprise diners with its vibrant dishes. The upscale but casually comfort able nook has an international wine list that spans the globe and a seasonal menu that’s succinct and well thought out. • Dinner Tues.-Sat. 561/266-3750. $$

Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar 1841 S. Federal Highway. American. You don’t have to worry about calories (most dishes are under 500), you don’t have to worry about finding something you haven’t tried before (new items are added every three months) and freshness is the silent ingredient throughout. Try the pesto Caprese flatbread, the supergrain salad and the steak or salmon or chicken. Desserts offer big tastes in small jars. • Lunch and dinner daily; brunch on weekends. 561/266-3239. $$

Henry’s—16850 Jog Road. American. This casual, unpreten tious restaurant in the west part of town never fails to delight diners. Expect attentive service and crisp execution of everything—from meat loaf, burgers and fried chicken to flatbreads and hefty composed salads. • Lunch Mon.–Sat. Dinner nightly. 561/638-1949. $$

Il Girasole —2275 S. Federal Highway. Northern Italian. If you want Northern Italian in a low-key atmosphere, and nobody rushing you out the door, this is your spot. Start with something from the very good wine list. Try the yellowtail snapper, the penne Caprese and the capellini Gamberi, and leave room for the desserts. Reservations recommended. • Dinner Tues.–Sun. 561/272-3566. $$

J&J Seafood Bar & Grill —634 E. Atlantic Ave. Seafood. This local favorite on Atlantic Avenue—owned by John Hutchinson (who is also the chef) and wife Tina—serves up everything from burgers and wraps to a menu brimming with seafood options. Don’t forget to inquire about the stunning array of 10 specials—every night. This is is a bona fide local go-to spot that never disappoints. • Lunch and dinner Tues.–Sat. 561/272-3390. $$

Jimmy’s Bistro —9 S. Swinton Ave. Contemporary American. This small gem off noisy Atlantic Avenue is big on taste and ambience, and has been busy since 2009. You can travel the world with dumplings, conch fritters, pork schnitzel, rigatoni Bolog nese, étouffée and more. Reservations are recommended at this laid-back, comfortable venue. • Dinner nightly. 561/865-5774. $$

Joseph’s Wine Bar —200 N.E. Second Ave. Mediter ranean-American. Joseph’s is an elegant, comfortable, intimate nook in Delray’s Pineapple Grove, and an ideal place for a lazy evening. This family affair—owner Joseph Boueri, wife Margaret in the kitchen, and son Elie and daughter Romy working the front of

um body that has just enough fruitiness and subtle tannins to enhance the food’s flavors: Yalumba Bush Vines Grenache, Barossa Valley, Australia, 2018, $20.

Made from 100-percent Grenache, this wine has aromas of red fruits and dark cherries, and a rich concentrated palate.

Domaine du Gour de Chaulé Gigon das, Southern Rhône, France 2018, $42. A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, it has intense aromatics of red raspberry and licorice with complex flavors of rasp berry, cherry, tobacco and orange peel.

DESSERTS

From apple pies to gingerbread cookies, desserts are a staple of the holidays, so pair them with a lighter wine with bright fruits and low alcohol:

La Spinetta Moscato D’Asti “Biancospino,” Piedmont, Italy, 2021, $25.

Fresh and elegant, this delicious sparkling wine has notes of white flowers and peach on the nose, with a hint of almond on the finish.

Virginia Philip Wine Spirits & Academy; 340 Royal Poinciana Plaza, Palm Beach; 561/5574202; virginiaphilipwineandspirits.com

—Christie Galeano-DeMott

Virginia Philip

Whole crispy lionfish from its namesake restaurant

the house—has all tastes covered. Try the special cheese platter, the duck a l’orange or the rack of lamb. • Lunch Mon.–Sat. Dinner nightly. 561/272-6100. $$

La Cigale —253 S.E. Fifth Ave. Mediterranean. Popular venue since 2001, with Greek and Italian dishes and more. High lights are seafood paella, roasted half duck and grilled jumbo artichoke appetizer. Lots of favorites on the menu: calf’s liver, veal osso buco, branzino, seafood crepes. Nice outdoor seating if weather permits. • Dinner Mon.–Sat. 561/265-0600. $$

Latitudes —2809 S. Ocean Blvd. Modern American. You should come for both the sunset and the food. This oceanfront restaurant is a gem tucked inside the Delray Sands resort. From the airy, bubbly interior to the raw bar, the décor is soothing and fun. Try the lobster and crab stuffed shrimp, the miso-glazed Sku na Bay salmon, the branzino or the veal Bolognese. • Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 561/278-6241. $$$

Lemongrass Bistro—420 E. Atlantic Ave. Pan-Asian Casually hip ambience, friendly service, moderate prices and a blend of sushi and nouveau pan-Asian fare make this a popular destination. The quality of its seafood and care in its preparation are what gives Lemongrass its edge. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/278-5050. (Other Palm Beach County locations: 101 Plaza Real S., Boca Raton, 561/5448181; 1880 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach, 561/733-1344). $

Lionfish —307 E. Atlantic Ave. Seafood. Focusing on sustainable and locally sourced ingredients, Lionfish’s menu is diverse while its coastal décor is both stylish and comfortable. Choose from oysters, octopus, specialty sushi rolls, fresh catches and, of course, the namesake white flaky fish in a variety of preparations including whole fried and as a bright ceviche. Make sure to save room for the Key lime pie bombe dessert. • Dinner nightly, brunch weekends. 561/639-8700. $$$

Lulu’s—189 N.E. Second Ave. American. Lulu’s in Pineapple Grove offers a relaxed ambiance with unfussy, approachable food. The quaint café is open every day and serves an all-day menu including breakfast until 3 p.m. and a selection of appetizers, sandwiches, salads and entrées that are ideal for an executive lunch, lively tapas happy hour, casual dinner or late night snack (until 2 a.m.). • Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 561/453-2628. $

standards. Try the Monet-colored lobster risotto, or house-made pasta, pizza, bread and desserts. From the mushroom arancini to the tiramisu, you will be glad Owner/Chef Suzanne Perrotto is in the kitchen. Indoor and outdoor seating. • Dinner Wed.-Sun. 561/271-9423. $$

Salt7—32 S.E. Second Ave. Modern American. All the pieces needed to create a top-notch restaurant are here: talented chef, great food, excellent service. From the pea risotto to the crab cake to the signature steaks and a lot more, this is a venue worth the money. Thanks goes to Executive Chef Paul Niedermann, who won TV’s notorious “Hell’s Kitchen” show, and his talent is displayed here on the plate. • Dinner Mon.-Sat. Brunch Sunday. 561/274-7258. $$$

Sazio —131 E. Atlantic Ave. Italian. This long-lived venue on crowded Atlantic Avenue is a reason to sit down and take a breath. Then take up a fork and try the linguine with white clam sauce or the ravioli Sazio or grilled skirt steak or pretty much anything on the menu. Prices are reasonable; leftovers are popular. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/272-5540. $$

Sundy House—106 S. Swinton Ave. Contemporary Ameri can. Set in a lush, tropical garden, the outside tables here are the most coveted, second only to the tastes and combinations in the shrimp and grits, or the eggs Benedict, Taru burger, Nutella French toast and prime rib roast. This is a place to sit and savor your meal and the surroundings. • Brunch Sat.-Sun. Dinner nightly. 561/272-5678. $$$

Taverna Opa —270 E. Atlantic Ave. Greek. Yes, you can order a side of belly dancing and napkin tossing with your mous saka and baklava at this chain. But the moussaka and baklava are very good; so is the rest of the food at the downtown Delray outpost. Also worth your while (and appetite) are appetizers like melitzanosalata, whipped eggplant with orange zest and roasted red pepper, and tarama, a creamy emulsion of bread, olive oil and salmon roe. Whole grilled bronzino is finished with lemon and orange juices for a citrusy flavor boost, while tongue-tying galakto boureko goes baklava one better by adding vanilla-scented custard to golden, flaky phyllo. • Dinner nightly. 561/303-3602. $$

Give Peas a Chance

Peas constitute the main protein source at Veg Eats Foods, a vegan and GMO-free restaurant whose burgers and banh mi are not to be missed.

The Office —201 E. Atlantic Ave. Contemporary Amer ican. Your office is nothing like this eclectic gastropub, unless your office sports more than two dozen craft beers on tap and a menu that flits from burgers and fries to mussels. Don’t miss the restaurant’s winning take on the thick, juicy Prime beef burger and simply wicked maple-frosted donuts with bacon bits and two dipping sauces. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/276-3600. $$

Park Tavern —32 S.E. Second Ave. Contemporary American. Check out the high-top seating or bar stools during an excellent happy hour menu that includes deviled eggs, pork sliders, chicken wings and a happy crowd. Entrees are generous and well executed. Try the fish and chips, one of six burgers, fish tacos and more. • Dinner nightly. Brunch Sat.-Sun. 561/265-5093. $$

Racks Fish House + Oyster Bar —5 S.E. Sec ond Ave. Seafood. Gary Rack, who also has scored with his spot in Mizner Park, certainly seems to have the restaurant Midas touch, as evidenced by this updated throwback to classic fish houses. Design, ambience and service hit all the right notes. Oysters are terrific any way you get them; grilled fish and daily specials are excellent. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/450-6718. $$$

Rose’s Daughter—169 N.E. Second Ave. Italian. While not your traditional Italian trattoria, it is a place to find new favorites and revisit old standards updated with delicious ingredients and high

Terra Fiamma—9169 W. Atlantic Ave. Italian. The pleasures of simple, well-prepared Italian-American cuisine are front and center here. Enjoy the delicate, pillow-y veal meatballs in Marsala sauce; lusty chicken Allessandro with mushrooms, spinach and artichoke hearts; and a finely crafted tiramisu that’s as satisfying as it is familiar. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/495-5570. $$

Tramonti —119 E. Atlantic Ave. Italian. In a world where restaurants chase trends with the relentlessness of Casanova in full Viagra heat, Tramonti stands out as a classic outpost of au thentic Italian cookery. Not trendy hardly means stodgy, however, as evidenced by expertly crafted, robustly flavorful dishes like the signature spiedini di mozzarella Romana, spaghetti al cartoc cio and braciole Napoletana. Torta della nonna is a triumph of the highly refined simplicity that lies at the heart of true Italian cuisine. • Lunch Mon.–Sat. Dinner nightly. 561/272-1944. $$$

Veg Eats Foods —334 E. Linton Blvd. Creative Vegan This is comfort food for everyone; the dishes will impress carnivores, too. Smell the fresh coconut vegetable curry soup, which tastes as good as it sounds. Try the grilled brawt sausage, the Ranch chixn, the banh mi and a Ruben—all from plant-based ingredients that will fool your taste buds. • Lunch daily. 561/562-6673. $

Vic & Angelo’s —290 E. Atlantic Ave. Italian. People watching is a staple ingredient here, a complement to the Italian fare. The wine menu is robust, mainly grounded in Italy but with choices from around the world. Larger than personal pies, thin-crust pizzas are family-friendly, while you won’t want to share the Quattro Formaggi Tortellini, fluffy purses filled with al dente pear and topped with truffle cream. For a protein,

try the traditional chicken parmigiana, a hearty portion of paper-thin breaded chicken breast topped with a subtly sweet San Marzano sauce under a gooey layer of fresh mozzarella, and a substantial side of linguine pomodoro. If you have room for dessert, the classic sweets include cannoli and tiramisu. • Dinner nightly; brunch weekends. 561/278-9570. $$

Yellowtail—7959 W. Atlantic Ave. Asian. Chef and partner Andrew Marc Rothschild has cooked in notable international kitchens including France’s Michelin-starred Au Crocodile and Palm Beach’s The Breakers—and he’s bringing that elevated experience and cuisine to Delray Beach. What sets Yellowtail apart from the plethora of other sushi joints is its fully customizable menu with its impressive variety of not-so-basic proteins. Yes, there is chicken or shrimp for your pad Thai or curry, but there’s also duck, lobster, squid and scallops. You can also ramp up your maki with eel, ama ebi (prawns) and sea urchin, just to name a few. • Dinner Tues.-Sun. 561/501-6391. $$

LAKE WORTH BEACH

Paradiso Ristorante —625 Lucerne Ave. Italian. A Tomasz Rut mural dominates the main dining room, and there is also a pasticceria and bar for gelato and espresso. Chef Angelo Romano offers a modern Italian menu. The Mediterranean salt-crusted branzino is definitely a must-try. Plus, the wine list is a veritable tome. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/547-2500. $$$

LANTANA

The Station House —233 Lantana Road. Seafood. If you’re hungry for Maine lobster, plucked live out of giant tanks and cooked to order, this modest replica of a 1920s train station is the place to go. Lobsters come in all sizes (up to 6 pounds) and are reasonably priced. • Dinner nightly. 561/547-9487. $$$

PALM BEACH

Bice —313 Worth Ave. Italian. Bice continues to hold the ti tle of favorite spot on the island. The venerable restaurant offers a marvelous array of risottos and fresh pastas and classic dishes like veal chop Milanese, pounded chicken breast and roasted rack of lamb. The wine list features great vintages. • Lunch and dinner daily. Outdoor dining. 561/835-1600. $$$

Buccan —350 S. County Road. Contemporary Ameri can. Casual elegance of Palm Beach meets modern culinary sensibilities of Miami at the first independent restaurant by chef Clay Conley. The design offers both intimate and energetic dining areas, while the menu is by turn familiar (wood-grilled burgers) and more adventurous (truffled steak tartare with crispy egg yolk, squid ink orrechiette). • Dinner nightly. 561/833-3450. $$$

Café Boulud —The Brazilian Court, 301 Australian Ave. French with American flair. This hotel restaurant gives Palm Beach a taste of Daniel Boulud’s world-class cuisine inspired by his four muses. The chef oversees a menu encompassing classics, simple fare, seasonal offerings and dishes from around the world. Dining is in the courtyard, the elegant lounge or the sophisticated dining room. • Dinner nightly. 561/655-6060. $$$

Café L’Europe —331 S. County Road. Current Inter national. A Palm Beach standard, the café has long been known for its peerless beauty, the piano player, the chilled martinis and the delicious Champagne and caviar bar. Try one of its sophisti cated classics like wiener schnitzel with herbed spaetzle, grilled veal chop and flavorful pastas. •

(closed Mon. during summer). 561/655-4020.

Market Value

Fancy a Veuve Clicquot with your jumbo cinnamon roll? Brunches are decadent affairs at Meat Market.

Echo—230A Sunrise Ave. Asian. The cuisine reverberates with the tastes of China, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam. The Chinese hot and sour soup is unlike any other, and the sake list is tops. This offsite property of The Breakers is managed with the same flawlessness as the resort. • Dinner nightly (during season). 561/802-4222. $$$

Henry’s Palm Beach —229 Royal Poinciana Way. American Bistro. Part of The Breakers’ restaurant properties, this venue opened in 2020 and is an elegant addition to The Island. Try the pigs in a pretzel dough blanket, beer can corn, the lobster roll, butter crumb Dover sole and chicken pot pie. All comfort food with a Palm Beach twist, and it’s all delicious. • Lunch and dinner daily. 877/724-3188. $$$

HMF—1 S. County Road. Contemporary American. Beneath the staid, elegant setting of The Breakers, HMF is the Clark Kent of restaurants, dishing an extensive array of exciting, inventive, oh-so-contemporary small plates. Don’t depart without sampling the dreamy warm onion-Parmesan dip with housemade fingerling potato chips, the sexy wild boar empanaditas, chicken albondigas tacos and Korean-style short ribs. The wine list is encyclopedic. • Dinner nightly. 561/290-0104. $$

Imoto —350 S. County Road. Asian Fusion/Tapas. Clay Conley’s “little sister” (the translation of Imoto from Japanese) is next to his always-bustling Buccan. Imoto turns out Japa nese-inspired small plates with big-city sophistication, like witty Peking duck tacos and decadent tuna and foie gras sliders. Sushi selection is limited but immaculately fresh. • Dinner nightly. 561/833-5522. $$

Leopard Lounge and Restaurant—The Chesterfield Palm Beach, 363 Cocoanut Row. American. The restaurant offers excellent food in a glamorous and intimate club-like atmosphere. In fact, it’s advisable to make early reser vations if a quiet dinner is the objective; the place becomes a late-night cocktail spot after 9. The menu is equally decadent. • Breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner daily. 561/659-5800. $$

Meat Market—191 Bradley Place. Steakhouse. “Meat Market” may be an inelegant name for a very elegant and inven tive steakhouse but there’s no dissonance in its food, service or ambience. Multiple cuts of designer beef from multiple sources can be gilded with a surprising array of sauces, butters and up scale add-ons. Whole roasted cauliflower is an intriguing starter, while a meaty Niman Ranch short rib atop lobster risotto takes surf-n-turf to a new level. Cast your diet to the winds and order the dessert sampler. • Dinner nightly. 561/354-9800. $$$$

Renato’s—87 Via Mizner. Italian with continental flair. This most romantic hideaway is buzzing in season and quietly charming all year long with Italian classics and a Floridian twist—like the sautéed black grouper in a fresh tomato and pernod broth with fennel and black olives and the wildflower-honey-glazed salmon fillet with crab and corn flan. • Lunch Mon.–Sat. Dinner nightly. 561/655-9752. $$$

Ta-boo —2221 Worth Ave. American. This self-described “American bistro” is less typical “American” restaurant or classical French “bistro” than it is posh-casual refuge for the see-and-be-seen crowd in and around Palm Beach. The eclectic menu offers everything from roasted duck with orange blossom honey-ginger sauce to dry-aged steaks and an assortment of pizzas. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/835-3500. $$

WEST PALM BEACH

Banko Cantina —114 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach. Northern Mexican. Start with the Adelita cocktail and don’t look back. The bacon-wrapped shrimp, the Al Carbon

steak tacos and the house guacamole add up to a full-flavor dinner. The west-facing rooftop bar is a nice sunset option, and the Pan de Elote (homemade sweet cornbread with vanilla ice cream and berries) is a delightful end to the evening. • Dinner daily. 561/355-1399. $$

Café Centro —2409 N. Dixie Highway. Modern Ameri can. A cornerstone in the Northwood neighborhood, this venue draws because of a complete package: food, drinks and great nightlife and music. Take some char-grilled oysters, add shrimp pesto capellini or a marinated pork chop with polenta, plus local singing fave Tessie Porter, and you have a fun and delicious night out. • Lunch Mon.–Sat. Dinner nightly. 561/514-4070. $$

French Corner Bistro & Rotissorie 4595 Okeechobee Blvd. Classic French. It’s France in a tiny venue, with big-taste dishes that include all the faves: beef bourguignon, rack of lamb, duck à l’orange, frog legs Provencale, veal kidneys, tender branzino and simple desserts to end the meal. Reservations are mandatory for dinner. • Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. 561/689-1700. $$

Grato —1901 S. Dixie Highway. Italian. “Grato” is Italian for “grateful,” and there is much to be grateful for about Clay Conley’s sophisticated yet unpretentious take on Italian cookery. Anyone would be grateful to find such delicate, crispy and greaseless fritto misto as Grato’s, ditto for lusty beef tartare piled onto a quartet of crostini. Spinach gnocchi in porcini mushroom sauce are a revelation, so light and airy they make other versions taste like green library paste. Don’t miss the porchetta either, or the silken panna cotta with coffee ice cream and crunchy hazelnut tuille. • Dinner nightly. Sunday brunch. 561/404-1334. $$

Leila—120 S. Dixie Highway. Mediterranean. Flowing drapes and industrial lighting complete the exotic decor in this Middle East ern hit. Sensational hummus is a must-try. Lamb kebab with parsley, onion and spices makes up the delicious Lebanese lamb kefta. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner Mon.–Sun. 561/659-7373. $$

Marcello’s La Sirena —6316 S. Dixie Highway. Italian. You’re in for a treat if the pasta of the day is prepared with what might be the best Bolognese sauce ever. • Dinner Mon.–Sat. (closed Memorial Day–Labor Day). 561/585-3128. $$

Pistache —1010 N. Clematis St., #115. French. Pistache doesn’t just look like a French bistro, it cooks like one. The menu includes such bistro specialties as coq au vin and steak tartare. All that, plus guests dining al fresco have views of the Intracoastal Waterway and Centennial Park. • Brunch Sat.–Sun. Lunch and dinner daily. 561/833-5090. $$

Planta —700 S. Rosemary Ave. Vegan. For those who savor every juicy, tender and flavorful bite of a well-prepared burger, patronizing a vegan establishment may seem like a sac rilegious act. But what if a restaurant served up plant-based dishes that surprised your taste buds with exploding flavors?

Here vegans don’t have to worry about ingredients making the cut, and non-vegans can enjoy approachable and appetizing plant-based dishes that won’t make you yearn for a steak. • Lunch and dinner daily. 561/208-5222. $$

The Regional —651 Okeechobee Blvd. Southern. “Top Chef” alum and James Beard Foundation semifinalist Lindsay Autry embraces her southern roots while adding a dash of her Mediterranean heritage (her grandmother was from Crete) onto the menu. You’ll find traditional southern ingredients and dishes like collard greens, tomato pie, okra, fried chicken and shrimp & grits alongside smoked burrata, Greek salad, octopus and bucatini. • Dinner nightly. 561/557-6460. $$$

Coq au vin from Pistache

Rhythm Café —3800 S. Dixie Highway. Casual Amer ican. Once a diner, the interior is eclectic with plenty of kitsch. The crab cakes are famous here, and the tapas are equally de lightful. Homemade ice cream and the chocolate chip cookies defy comparison. • Dinner Tues.–Sun. 561/833-3406. $$

Rocco’s Tacos —224 Clematis St. Mexican. Big Time Restaurant Group has crafted a handsome spot that dishes Mexican favorites, as well as upscale variations on the theme and more than 425 tequilas. Tacos feature house-made tortillas and a variety of proteins. • Lunch Mon.–Fri. Dinner nightly. 561/650-1001. (Other Palm Beach County locations: 5250 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, 561/416-2131; 110 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, 561/808-1100; 5090 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens, 561/623-0127) $

Table 26°—1700 S. Dixie Highway. Contemporary Ameri can. Take a quarter-cup of Palm Beach, a tablespoon of Nantucket, a pinch of modern American cookery and a couple gallons of the owners’ savoir faire, and you have Eddie Schmidt’s and Ozzie Medeiros’s spot. The menu roams the culinary globe for modest contemporary tweaks on classically oriented dishes. Try the fried calamari “Pad Thai.” • Dinner nightly. 561/855-2660. $$$

Tropical Smokehouse —3815 S. Dixie Highway. Barbecue. When you take the distinct tastes of Florida/Caribbe an/Cuban dishes and pair them with barbecue, you end up with a place you visit a lot. Local celeb chef Rick Mace smokes the meats himself, and his recipes include all kinds of citrus in tasty spots (sour orange wings, pineapple carrot cake); you’ll discover new favorite flavors. Don’t miss the BBQ pulled pork, brisket and ribs. Try the hot and sweet hushpuppies or the homemade chorizo queso in this very casual spot that we can happily say is also unique—there’s nothing else like it. • Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. 561/323-2573. $$

Broward County DEERFIELD BEACH

Chanson —45 N.E. 21st Ave. Contemporary American/ French. A little bit of Palm Beach, a little bit of France come to Deerfield Beach in the form of this elegant, sophisticated restaurant in the oceanfront Royal Blues Hotel. Service is as stellar as the views from the cozy, modestly opulent dining room, notable for the 1,500-gallon aquarium embedded in the ceiling. Consistency can be an issue with the food, but when it is good it is very good. • Breakfast and lunch daily, dinner Tues.-Sat., brunch Sun. 954/857-2929. $$$

Oceans 234 —234 N. Ocean Blvd., Deerfield Beach. Con temporary American. One of the only oceanfront (as in, on the beach) options in South Florida, this familiar-with-a-twist venue is fun to both visit and eat. Try the Infamous Lollipop Chicken Wings, a starter that could be an entrée. Seafood is definitely top-shelf, as are the desserts. A true Florida experience. • Lunch and dinner daily. 954/428-2539. $$

Tradition —626 S. Federal Highway. French. This is a petite place with a large following, for good reason. Owners Eric and Anais Heintz start meals with an amuse-bouche and a menu that spans the length of France. Order a creamy Caesar salad with a light anchovy-based dressing. Try the coq au vin (sauce cooked for two days), and if you like calves’ liver, this is the best you’ll find in the area. End with a Grand Marnier soufflé (worth the 15-minute wait), and make your next reservation there before going home. • Dinner Mon.-Sat. 954/480-6464. $$

LIGHTHOUSE POINT

Cap’s Place 2765 N.E. 28th Court. Seafood. Eating here requires a boat ride, which is very SoFla and terrific for visitors. This is one of—if not the only—family-run, old-Florida seafood restau rants you’ve never heard of, open since the 1920s. The heart of palm salad is the best and purest version around. Seafood abounds; fish can be prepared nine ways and much more. (There are non-seafood dishes that are done well, too.) Go for the short boating thrill and for the food. • Dinner Tues.-Sun. 954/941-0418. $$

Le Bistro —4626 N. Federal Highway. Modern French. The menu is modern and healthy—98-percent gluten-free, according to chef Andy Trousdale and co-owner Elin Trousdale. Check out the prix-fixe menu, which includes pan-roasted duck to beef Wellington. • Dinner Tues.–Sun. 954/946-9240. $$$

Seafood World —4602 N. Federal Highway. Seafood This seafood market and restaurant offers some of the freshest seafood in the county. Its unpretentious atmosphere is the perfect setting for the superb king crab, Maine lobster, Florida lobster tails and much more. Tangy Key lime pie is a classic finish. • Lunch and dinner daily. 954/942-0740. $$$

POMPANO BEACH

Calypso Restaurant—460 S. Cypress Road. Caribbean. This bright little dining room and bar (beer and wine only) has a Caribbean menu that is flavorful, imaginative—and much more. Calypso offers a spin on island food that includes sumptuous conch dishes, Stamp & Go Jamaican fish cakes and tasty rotis stuffed with curried chicken, lamb or seafood. • Lunch and dinner Mon.–Fri. 954/942-1633. $

Darrel & Oliver’s Café Maxx —2601 E. Atlantic Blvd. American. The longstanding institution from chef Oliver Saucy is as good now as when it opened in the mid-1980s. Main courses offer complex flavor profiles, such as the sweet-on ion-crusted yellowtail snapper on Madeira sauce over mashed potatoes. Parts of the menu change daily. • Dinner nightly. Brunch Sunday. 954/782-0606. $$$

COCONUT CREEK

NYY Steak—Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, 5550 N.W. 40th St. Steakhouse. The second incarnation of this Yankees-themed restaurant swings for the fences—and connects—with monstrous portions, chic decor and decadent desserts. The signature steaks are a meat lover’s dream; seafood specialties include Maine lobster and Alaskan king crab. • Dinner nightly. Brunch Sun. 954/935-6699. $$$$

FORT LAUDERDALE

15th Street Fisheries —1900 S.E. 15th St. Seafood. Surrounded by views of the Intracoastal, this Old Florida-style restaurant features seafood and selections for land lovers. We love the prime rib. • Lunch and dinner daily. 954/763-2777. $$

3030 Ocean —Harbor Beach Marriott Resort, 3030 Holiday Drive. American. Now led in the kitchen by Adrienne Grenier of “Chopped” fame, the new-look 3030 has a farm-to-ta ble focus, along with an emphasis, as always, on locally sourced seafood. • Dinner nightly. 954/765-3030. $$$

Bistro 17—Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Hotel, 1617 S.E. 17th St. Contemporary American. This small, sophisticated

RESTAURANT DIRECTORY

restaurant continues to impress with competently presented food. The menu is surprisingly diverse. • Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 954/626-1748. $$

Bistro Mezzaluna —1821 S.E. 10th Ave. bistro is all Euro-chic decor—mod lighting, abstract paintings. It also has good food, from pastas to steaks and chops and a wide range of fresh seasonal fish and seafood. Don’t forget the phe nomenal wine list. • Lunch and dinner daily. 954/522-9191. $$

Café Martorano—3343 E. Oakland Park Blvd. Italian. Standouts include crispy calamari in marinara sauce and flavorful veal osso buco. Our conclusion: explosive flavor, attention to all the details and fresh, high-quality ingredients. Waiters whisper the night’s spe cials as if they’re family secrets. • Dinner nightly. 954/561-2554. $$

Canyon —620 S. Federal Hwy. Southwestern. Billed as a Southwestern café, this twist on regional American cuisine offers great meat, poultry and fish dishes with distinctive mixes of lime, cactus and chili peppers in a subtle blend of spices. The adobe ambience is warm and welcoming, with a candlelit glow. • Dinner nightly. 954/765-1950. $$

Casablanca Café —3049 Alhambra St. American, Mediterranean. The restaurant has an “Arabian Nights” feel, with strong Mediterranean influences. Try the peppercorn-dusted filet mignon with potato croquette, Gorgonzola sauce and roasted pepper and Granny Smith relish. • Lunch and dinner daily. 954/764-3500. $$

Casa D’Angelo —1210 N. Federal Highway, #5A. Ital ian. Many dishes are specials—gnocchi, risotto and scaloppine. The marinated grilled veal chop is sautéed with wild mushrooms in a fresh rosemary sauce. A delightful pasta entrée is the pappardelle con porcini: thick strips of fresh pasta coated in a light red sauce and bursting with slices of porcini mushrooms. • Dinner nightly. 954/564-1234. $$

Chima —2400 E. Las Olas Blvd. Steaks. The Latin American rodizio-churrascaria concept—all the meat you can eat, brought to your table—is done with high style, fine wines and excellent service. The sausages, filet mignon, pork ribs and lamb chops are very good. • Dinner nightly. 954/712-0580. $$$

Il Mulino —1800 E. Sunrise Blvd. Italian. This modest, unpretentious Italian restaurant doesn’t attempt to reinvent the culinary wheel. Instead, it dishes up big portions of simple, hearty, flavorful food at extremely reasonable prices. Zuppa de pesce is a wealth of perfectly cooked seafood over linguini in a light toma to-based sauce. • Lunch and dinner daily. 954/524-1800. $

Sea Watch —6002 N. Ocean Blvd. Seafood. For a righton-the-beach, welcome-to-Florida dining experience, there’s Sea Watch. Decked out in a pervasive nautical theme, this is definitely tourist country, but it’s pretty and on the beach. The perfect entrée for the indecisive: The broiled seafood medley brochette, with lobster tail, jumbo shrimp and scallops, yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms and pineapple. • Lunch and dinner daily. 954/781-2200. $$

WEB EXTRA: check out our complete tri-county dining guide only at BOCAMAG.COM

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP

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eight times a year. ISSN 0740-2856. Annual subscription price: $19.95

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of known Headquarters of General Business offices of the Publishers is 1000 Clint Moore Rd #103 Boca Raton

names and addresses of the

HANLEY FOUNDATION HOLDS CELEBRITY PIZZA COOK-OFF

WHAT: The Hanley Foundation’s inaugural Boca Celebrity Pizza Cook-Off fundraiser served up slices and raised dough for the Hanley Foundation’s Brice Makris Endowment Fund, a vital resource that provides lifesaving treatment scholarships and prevention programs to addicts in need. Local celebrities including State Senator Tiny Polsky, Boca Chamber CEO Troy McLellan and Boca Raton Center for Arts & Innovation CEO Andrea Virgin competed in a pizza making competition judged by Chef Louie Bossi, World Pizza Champion, with Polsky taking home the title of “Champion Pizza-Maker.” The delectable event also served as a taste of what’s to come at the Hanley Foundation’s second-annual Brice Makris Brunch coming up in December.

WHERE: Louie Bossi’s Ristorante in Boca Raton

1. Andrea Virgin, Spencer Siegel, Tina Polsky and Troy McLellan

Neil Saffer, David Dweck and Spencer Siegel

Matt and Jan Savarick

Kathleen Naughton and Lisa Elkan

Brockway and Alyssa Hicks

Makris, Amy Gottlieb and Stephanie Eisner

Timmer and Gina Franano

Bossi and Chip James

FRIENDS OF JAMES BEARD BENEFIT DINNER

WHAT: Discover The Palm Beaches and the PGA National Resort hosted a Friends of James Beard Benefit Dinner on Aug. 2 to kick off The Palm Beaches Restaurant Month. Chef Lindsay Autry and Chef Jeremy Ford, both James Beard Award semifinalists, prepared unique and delectable dishes for the sold-out dinner, which raised $7,500 for the James Beard Foundation to support restaurant industry programs and initiatives, and $7,500 for Feeding South Florida, which will help provide the equivalent of 67,500 meals for the local community. The James Beard Foundation is a nonprofit organization that celebrates and supports the people behind America’s food culture, while pushing for new standards in the restaurant industry to create a future where all have the opportunity to thrive.

PGA National Resort

Joseph Fisher, Kris Moon, Chef Lindsay Autry, Chef Jeremy Ford, Paco Velez and Jorge Pesquera

Jean and Steve Smith

Bruce Shulman and Rita Barreto

Mary Chesley and Michael Renkey

Al Salopek and Sierra Malnove

16TH ANNUAL MONOPOLY® EVENT & CASINO NIGHT

WHAT: More than 150 supporters of Boca Helping Hands (BHH) gathered at the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club for a night of cocktails and board game fun, the proceeds of which went toward helping 27,000 South Floridians through BHH’s various programs including hunger relief, job training, health care, emergency financial assistance and childcare.

Mike Wohl was crowned this year’s MONOPOLY® champion after a tournament mediated by two-time National MONOPOLY® Champion and Boca Helping Hands’ Board President Gary Peters. The event was chaired by Rochelle LeCavalier and sponsored by JM Family Enterprises, Gary Peters Family Foundation, Tandy and Joe Robinson and more.

WHERE: The Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club

The White Coat Society held its annual White Coats-4-Care scholarship fundraiser to support the Schmidt College of Medicine’s incoming class of medical students. More than $1 million was raised during this year’s recordbreaking fundraiser, the proceeds of which will help to dress and equip the future doctors graduating in the class of 2026. Benefactors Ann and John Wood made a standout donation of $800,000, which will support 20 deserving medical students throughout their entire fouryear education. Event Co-chair Bonnie Kaye attributed this year’s success to “the combined respect and advancement of the Schmidt College of Medicine, the community’s embrace of its mission and the deep commitment of generous donors invested in growing a strong, vital health care community.”

Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence

AVDA, INC. 15TH-ANNUAL HEART OF A WOMAN LUNCHEON

WHAT: Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, Inc. hosted a lavish luncheon presented by the Vegso Family Foundation to honor the strength, courage and determination of women, particularly those who are survivors of domestic abuse. Many members of the Boca Raton community, including past luncheon honoree Helen Babione, came to the pink-adorned Royal Palm Yacht Club and celebrated this year’s honorees, Boca magazine’s own Margaret Mary Shuff and SafeSun Foundation’s Fran Nachlas. Sponsors for this year’s luncheon included the Schmidt Family Foundation, the James H. and Marta T. Batmasian Foundation, Boca magazine and more.

WHERE: Royal Palm Yacht Club

1. Event hall decor

2. Helen Babione, past luncheon honoree

3. AVDA, Inc. President and CEO Pam O’Brien, Dr. Heidi Schaeffer and Anne Vegso

Margaret Mary Shuff and Fran Nachlas, AVDA’s 15thannual Heart of a Woman Luncheon Honorees

November/December 2022 issue. Vol. 42, No. 8. The following are trademarks in the state of Florida of JES Media, and any use of these trademarks without the express written consent of JES Media is strictly prohibited: Savor the Ave nue; Tastemakers of Delray; Tas temakers at Mizner; Florida Style and Design; Delray Beach mag azine; Boca Raton , South Florida At Its Best; bocamag.com; Florida Table ; Boca Raton magazine. Boca (ISSN0740-2856) is published 8 times a year (September/October, November/December, January, February, March, April, May/June and July/August) by JES Media. Editorial, advertising and admin istrative offices: 1000 Clint Moore Road, Suite 103, Boca Raton, FL, 33487. Telephone: 561/997-8683. Please address all editorial and advertising correspondence to the above address. Periodicals postage paid at Boca Raton, Fla., and ad ditional mailing offices. Subscrip tions: $24.95/6 issues, $34.95/12 issues (shipping fee included for one- and two-year rates). Single copy $5.95. No whole or part of the content may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission of Boca magazine, ex cepting individually copyrighted articles and photographs.

POST MASTER: Send address changes to Boca magazine, P.O. Box 820, Boca Raton, FL 33429-9943.

Lovern J. Gordon and AVDA, Inc. Board Chair Vicky Mayen

FIRE

I think it really does take a village to get together and help each one individ ually. And Boca is really blessed; we have so many philanthropic people who reach out and help each other or set up foundations or start charities...”

—Kathy Assaf

Ron and Kathy Assaf

This longstanding Boca couple has made giving central to their lives here

Written by MARIE SPEED

Ron and Kathy Assaf are longtime community pillars whose bios detail pages and pages of community giving and involvement. Ron founded Sensormatic in 1966; when he retired in 2001, the company had revenues topping $1 billion and did business in 110 countries. His community involvement was also legendary, from top posts at boards like FAU and Boca Raton Regional Hospital, to Nova Southeastern University and more. Kathy, who is honorary chair of the Woman Volunteer of the Year luncheon again this year, was a founding director of Boca Bank, with charitable endeavors that range throughout the entire community, from Saint Andrew’s School to Red Cross, St. Jude, the YMCA and scores of others.

For a full list of their involvement and awards, please visit bocamag.com/category/in-the-maga zine/web-extras.

Causes near and dear to their hearts:

RON: Education certainly is—and the hospital. Between Nova Southeastern University and Boca Raton Regional Hospital, we have donated money and a lot of time.

KATHY: For me, it’s Saint Andrew’s School, St. Jude’s Church in Boca and the Palm Beach diocese, where I am the chairman of the Diocesan Finance Com mittee.

Especially proud achievement:

KATHY: Naming the nursing school at NSU, because nursing is near and dear to us. We also named the nursing center of excellence at the Hospital.

Ron and Kathy Assaf

This page is a tribute to community citizens who have demonstrat ed exemplary service and leadership to the city of Boca Raton and is in memory of John E. Shuff.

RON: We have been involved in nursing for years and years; it started when I was on the board of the hospital and we saw how hard the nurses worked and how important they were to the hospital. We’ve been involved ever since.

What directed them to civic involvement:

KATHY: We both came from blue-collar families. Neither one of us would have ever been able to go to college had it not been for scholarships that other

people made possible. It was gratitude that inspired us to help others as we’ve gone along.

Why giving matters:

RON: It is important for us to try to duplicate what was done for us.

KATHY: We were both brought up in Catholic households; the idea of giving was instilled at a very early age. I got a quarter allowance a week, and I was expected to put a dime in the offertory basket every Sunday. If you had something, you were expected to share.

How they might imagine their legacy in Boca Raton:

KATHY: I think it really does take a village to get together and help each one individually. And Boca is really blessed; we have so many philanthropic people who reach out and help others or set up foundations or start charities. I’m inspired by those people, and I hope our giving inspires other people to give.

RON: Philanthropy is so important, but I feel like my legacy will be to my family. Family is just so important. To have my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren assured of a college edu cation is really my legacy.