DELRAY Magazine March/April 2024

ISLAND COOKING

LOCAL CHEFS SHARE THEIR SECRETS

LIVING WELL IN $OUTH FLORIDA WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

Stamm Development Group is a leading, national real estate development firm with offices in Delray and Philadelphia. SDG maintains the highest standards of quality, excellence, and attention to detail to deliver exquisite, personalized end products since the firm’s inception in 2013.

We take great pride in partnering with first class, award winning architects, interior designers, engineers, and general contractors to curate a design with excellence in lifestyle, and bespoke luxury to each project.

SDG is thrilled to be a part of the South Florida community and extends a warm welcome to you at our office.

142

913 BOND WAY | DELRAY BEACH, FL 33483

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GEORGE BUSH BLVD | DELRAY BEACH, FL

1212 NE 8TH AVENUE | DELRAY BEACH, FL 33483

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BEACH,

810 PALM TRAIL

BEACH, FL 33483

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930 PALM TRAIL | DELRAY BEACH, FL 33483

926 KENMONT LANE | DELRAY BEACH, FL 33483

12 editor’s letter

Delray Beach and the Bahamas are connected by more than a 45-minute plane ride. In fact, Bahamians have been part of the city’s firmament since before Delray was Delray.

BY MARIE SPEED

15 hot list

A new bakery brings a taste of Paris to Delray, a classic car show kicks into high gear, and green is the color of spring, from St. Paddy’s Day to a golf attraction with the heart of a Tiger. Plus, Savor the Avenue, an Old School Square lecture series and more.

BY TYLER CHILDRESS

21 snapshots

Tomato brings a creative vision to pizza-making.

BY TYLER CHILDRESS & JOHN THOMASON

40 dine

From smoked staples to veggie-forward tacos and a chicken sandwich to cluck about, upstart West Palm Beach restaurant Austin Republic transcends barbecue.

BY CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

42 how to live cheaply in the palm beaches

Seagate Golf Club made a course correction, the Morikami drummed up interest in an inaugural fundraiser, classic rockers Cheap Trick headlined Beatles on the Beach, and other recent happenings.

22 top 5/calendar

This issue’s A&E highlights include an Affair to remember, a musical tribute to a goddess of rhythm and blues, and a candid showcase from one of the great celebrity photographers. Plus, Miami City Ballet, Palm Beach Opera, Palm Beach Dramaworks’ “Death of a Salesman” and much more.

BY JOHN THOMASON

28 style

It’s the perfect time of year for at-home dining. From picnics to patio fêtes, Delray retailers have all the accessories you need to spruce up your springtime table.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

AARON BRISTOL

Does it feel like the rent—and everything else—is too damn high? Not to fear: Boca, Delray and West Palm Beach offer myriad activities, discounts, meals and experiences for the frugal of mind and shallow of pocket.

BY JOHN THOMASON

48 a taste of the islands

Cooked with love, imagination and plenty of spice, Caribbean food has become central to South Florida’s polyglot dining culture. Meet four chefs whose island cuisine is making waves in Delray and beyond.

BY TYLER CHILDRESS

57 home

Liven up your kitchens and bathrooms with stylish products from floor to ceiling. Plus, let in the light with a few shining examples of sconces, globes and pendants.

BY AMANDA MESA

out & about

Delray personalities filled “Empty Bowls” at Old School Square, the Quantum Foundation raised seven figures for charity, Taste of Recovery celebrated another year of flavor and sobriety, and

group editor-in-chief marie speed

managing editor

john thomason web editor

tyler childress

senior art director

lori pierino

production manager rafael quiñones

graphic designer james karpinen photographer aaron bristol

contributing writers

christie galeano-demott, margie kaye (promotional writing), amanda mesa, rich pollack

director of advertising and marketing nicole ruth

advertising consultants

daisy abreu, mandy forrester, karen kintner, bruce klein

special projects manager gail eagle

customer services/video editor david shuff

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DIRECTORY

Delray Beach magazine is published five times a year, with bi-monthly issues in-season and combined issues in the summertime. If you have any questions or comments regarding our magazine, call us at 561/997-8683. We’d love to hear from you.

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[ calendar ]

Where to go, what to do and see in Delray Beach. Please submit information regarding fundraisers, art openings, plays, readings, concerts, dance or other performances to managing editor John Thomason (john.thomason@boca mag.com). Deadline for entries in an upcoming calendar section is three months before publication (e.g., to list an event in March/April, submit info by December 20).

[ dining guide ]

Our independent reviews of restaurants in Delray Beach. A fine, reliable resource for residents and tourists. For more information, contact Marie Speed.

[ out & about ]

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Island Time

Delray was built on the fusion of many cultures— which is central to its charm

In this issue, we take a look at the legacy of island cooking that has infused the culinary culture of Palm Beach County (page 48), and nowhere is it as evident as it is here, in Delray. When I first moved here decades ago, one of the things that fascinated me (and still does) is how close we are to the Bahamas, a fact that everyone seems to take for granted, as if being hours away from a dazzling island nation is just business as usual. Most people in America cross a river, and they are in places like St. Louis or Gary, Indiana; we cross the Gulf Stream, and we are on an island drinking cocktails out of a coconut.

This is part of the magic of South Florida, at least historically: the fusion of so many different cultures in one place, bubbling up into our food and celebrations and languages and music. Bahamians have been part of Delray, of course, since the beginning. In the early 1900s, they came here to work on the farms and on Flagler’s railroad. The Delray Beach Historical Society notes that in 1894, “several Black families from Florida’s Panhandle and the Bahamas purchased land from the Florida East Coast Railway, becoming the first non-native settlers to Delray Beach.” In 1898, a Bahamian midwife and nurse named Susan Williams came to “provide medical needs of all races of people of Linton,” which was what Delray was called then. The first U.S. Census of Delray, in 1910, listed a dozen small farms owned by African Americans and a group of “49 Bahamians and their families operating a fishing camp on the beach.”

Many of the island immigrants lived in what became known as Frog Alley west of Swinton in Delray, but the population spread throughout South Florida—and so did the food. For years, the most famous food at the Delray Affair was the conch fritters dished up by the late “Conch Lady,” Gearline Mobley. And pigeon peas and rice are on menus everywhere, as is macaroni and cheese, another Bahamian staple no one here can quite get right.

The influence of the islands, from the Bahamas to Jamaica to Haiti and beyond, is yet another reason to celebrate Delray’s vibrant culture, a rich history that is even more important to relish as newcomers flood to the city from the Northeast and Midwest. Part of our charm is in the brilliant mix of people who have built this city—and who have fed us. I’ll toast to that. FIVE

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Spring Break

We’re celebrating spring by unwinding with green beers, dining under the stars, a hole-in-one Delray nightlife destination, and more.

WRITTEN BY TYLER CHILDRESS

SAVOR THE AVENUE

The biggest dinner party in South Florida returns for its 15th year on March 25. Savor the Avenue will feature a five-blocklong table, with diners enjoying multi-course dinners under the stars catered by Delray’s top restaurants. Tickets went fast (they always do), but foodies fortunate enough to snag a few can look forward to elegant and eclectic table designs and menu selections from Avalon Steak and Seafood, City Oyster, Rocco’s Tacos, Salt7, and more. This year’s beneficiary is Eat Better Live Better, a local nonprofit dedicated to reversing and reducing childhood obesity and other dietary-related illnesses. downtowndelraybeach.com/savortheavenue

Luck of the Irish

Delray goes green this March with the return of the city’s famous St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Atlantic Avenue will once again become a sea of Celtic cheer as musicians, dancers, storytellers and bagpipers come together to celebrate all things Irish. The festivities kick off at 12 p.m. on March 16 with the parade making its way from the Intracoastal to Northwest Fifth Avenue. Then, head over to Old School Square where the celebration continues with food trucks, live music, Cliffs of Moher rock climbing, a Blarney Castle bounce house, axe throwing and more. As always, the parade will pay special homage to veterans and first responders in the Delray community. stpatsdelray.com

Savor the Avenue

VAN S. JOHNSON SR.

DEBRA SOMERVILLE

Peak Elegance

Motorheads rejoice! The Delray Beach Concours d’Elegance returns on April 21, with an elegant collection of classic cars in tow. Last year’s Concours was a smash hit, drawing in thousands of attendees to Old School Square to view the more than 100 historically significant vehicles on display, including the Porsche 926-109 that won the 1989 Miami Grand Prix. This year's car show runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 21, and is free to spectators. This year’s Concours will benefit the Achievement Centers for Children & Families, Delray Citizens for Delray Police, and more. delrayconcours.com

BREAD WINNER

There’s a new neighborhood bakery in town. Paris Baguette opened the doors of its first South Florida outpost in Delray Beach in February, offering up a new cozy cafe to enjoy fresh baked treats and specialty coffee brews. Guests can look forward to a menu bursting with sweet and savory selections including gourmet sandwiches, pastries, quiches, cakes and more. The space also offers expansive patio seating, but who wants to give up that enticing view of the pastry displays? The interior takes its design cues from modern French cafes and features an open kitchen so customers can watch as master bakers expertly execute their craft. Paris Baguette will also be giving back to the community through its “Love Baked In” programs, which include providing proceeds from sales of specialty baked goods to local nonprofits. 1911 S. Federal Highway, Suite 214, Delray Beach; parisbaguette.com

African Americans searched by police on Delray’s segregated beach

HISTORY ON DISPLAY

The Downtown Development Authority is partnering with Florida Atlantic University and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) for a series of lectures at Old School Square centered on Florida history. On March 12, join Dr. Evan Bennett for a presentation on the desegregation of Delray Beach that shares the tragic story of James “Bay” McBride, a Black Delray resident who drowned in a section of beach that was unguarded due to segregation ordinances at the time. The lecture will explore McBride’s story in the larger context of Black Floridians’ struggles during the Jim Crow era. Then, on April 9, Dr. Jermaine Scott will present a lecture on the bootlegging king of West Palm, James “Cracker” Johnson. Johnson was an African American entrepreneur who made his fortune as the head of a massive underground bootlegging operation during Prohibition. At the core of this presentation are the various ways African Americans secured wealth at a time of heightened racial violence and police surveillance. The lectures will be held at the Fieldhouse at Old School Square and are $30 for OLLI members and $35 for non-members. delrayoldschoolsquare.com/events

AFTER DARK: POPSTROKE

This Tiger Woods-backed experiential golf concept has made an indelible mark on Delray’s nightlife scene since opening its doors in November of last year. The obvious main draw of PopStroke is its two 18-hole putting courses (designed by Tiger Woods and his TGR Design team), which are built of synthetic turf and include fairways, rough, and bunkers. While this may sound intimidating to the casual putt-putter, all holes are designed with accessibility in mind and can be enjoyed by all ages and skill levels. But PopStroke isn’t neglecting non-golfers. Its onsite restaurant offers a wide selection of bites, ranging from grilled wings and tuna tartare to tacos and flatbreads. Sports fans can also delight in a sleek new venue for watching the game over cold brews at the PopStroke bar. And be sure to not skip the ice cream parlor, which offers more than 20 premium ice cream flavors as well as signature shakes. 1314 N. Federal Highway, Delray Beach; popstroke.com/delray-beach-fl

Award-winning Porsche from 2023 Delray Concours

Rainbow cake from Paris Baguette

PHOTO COURTESY OF DELRAY BEACH HISTORICAL SOCIETY ARCHIVE

SPOTLIGHT:

ALI KAUFMAN

When Ali Kaufman opened her private coaching company, Space of Mind, in 2004, she quickly discovered a disturbing trend among her clients; many of the kids refused to go to school. It was apparent that the traditional school model was failing her students, and she began to conceive of a new way to inspire kids to fall in love with learning.

“What’s happening is that [kids] are hating school and then equating that with hating learning,” says Kaufman. “And we don’t want kids to not become lifelong learners, but school isn’t a place where they feel safe.”

As a child with a “busy brain,” Kaufman was placed in “gifted” programs where she received a highly specialized education that emphasized creativity and project-based learning. Now, she is bringing that same tailored approach to students at Space of Mind. What began in 2010 as three kids in her living room has now expanded to a roster of 50 students and more than 15 instructors. And the results speak for themselves. The graduating classes of Space of Mind boast a 100-percent college acceptance rate and have received cumulatively more than $3 million in merit scholarships.

In addition to Space of Mind, Kaufman also founded the Community Classroom Project (CCP), a nonprofit dedicated to making “learning less stressful for students, parents, families, educators and communities.” This year, the CCP unveiled its Classroom Community Kitchen, “a labor of love four years in the making,” as Kaufman puts it, that will bring families together to express themselves through cooking and communal dining.

“We’re using creativity to support families in understanding how learning works best and making it fun,” Kaufman says.

WHAT MAKES SPACE OF MIND SPECIAL: At the heart of everything is the relationships that are created in our space, and everything here is rooted in creating a sense of community.

A SPACE OF MIND SUCCESS STORY: James (name changed) came to us as a sophomore. he hadn’t left his bedroom in six months, he was incredibly depressed, had been suicidal. He came out of a public school. … He got here, and on his first day, the light switch just flipped on. By the next day he was making art and making music and became a straight-A student and our most popular kid and a friend to everyone. … He’s now a record producer in New York and living his dream.

SPACE OF MIND CURRICULUM: Our curriculum is kind of like Mad Libs. Each unit study is its own narrative, but there’s strategically placed blanks where the kids get to create their own journey through that curriculum.

GOAL OF SPACE OF MIND’S PROGRAMS: Really helping people understand the bigger picture: that stress is curable, inattention is curable, and creativity is really the antidote for those things.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT:

When kids feel that they can’t be themselves in regular school, all the potential gets stunted. But we’re aligning them with their purpose and with what they’re passionate about, and that’s really where all that potential gets unlocked.

Ali Kaufman

AARON BRISTOL

Welcome to the Warmer Side of Brain & Spine Care.

At Marcus Neuroscience Institute, healing starts with humanity. That’s why we offer the most advanced treatments for neurological conditions, combined with the most compassionate care. From neurology and neurosurgery to pain management and rehabilitation, we have everything and everyone you need, all in one place. Welcome to Baptist Health Brain & Spine Care.

To learn more, call 561-955-4600 or visit BaptistHealth.net/Neuroscience.

JIM

The Cornell Museum celebrated the color wheel’s most passionate hue with its “Season of Red” exhibition, which wrapped last month. On display were works from artists whose pieces inventively showcased the color red in a variety of permutations that elicited passion, anger, love and more. Pictured: Suzanne Barton’s “Music of Life” from the Cornell Museum’s “Season of Red” exhibit.

THRōW Social rang in the new year with its signature New Year’s Eve Bash, which featured hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, live DJ music and more. Pictured: Celebrants at THRōW Social’s NYE party.

Rock legends Cheap Trick headlined this year’s Beatles on the Beach festival, which celebrated the 60-year anniversary of the Fab Four making its American debut. Pictured: Cheap Trick.

The world-renowned Seagate Golf Club reopened its course following a massive renovation overseen by famed golf course architect J. Drew Rogers. The updated course features redesigned holes (above) to enhance the player experience.

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens launched its inaugural “Taste of Asia” culinary experience to the delight of foodies who were able to enjoy bites from South Florida’s top chefs over live taiko drumming. Pictured: Live taiko drummers at Morikami’s “Taste of Asia” event

VANESSA BORRERO

Top 5

One A-list jazz trio celebrates another, Broadway toasts Tina, the Delray Affair returns, and more A&E highlights

March/April 2024

The Delray Affair

WHEN: April 12-14

WHERE: Downtown Delray Beach

COST: Free

CONTACT: 561/278-0424, delrayaffair.com

As is customary in the Delray Affair’s historic 62nd year, expect up to 400 artists and crafters from around the corner and around the world to attend the self-described “greatest art show under the sun.” And don’t just take the festival’s own verbiage as praise; it’s won 10 international awards, eight state awards, and has been ranked as one of the top 13 Best Art Festivals in America. The Affair offers everything from fine art to funky tchotchkes, from human-scaled sculptures to paintings the size of postage stamps. Sprawling across 10 city blocks along Atlantic Avenue, it’s a place to buy wildlife photography, abstract prints, colorful beachwear and local honey all in the same place. The Delray Affair is a social occasion as much as an art sale; new for 2024, the event will feature a Beer & Wine Garden with live music on the front lawn of Old School Square, supplemented by numerous on-site vendors. Downtown can be a hectic place during these two days, but special parking accommodations and public transportation options are plentiful; visit delrayaffair.com/maps for more.

Noah Haidu | Buster Williams | Lenny White — Celebrates Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio

WHEN: April 28, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Arts Garage, 94 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach

COST: $40-$45

CONTACT: 561/450-6357, artsgarage.org Pianist Keith Jarrett was well-established as an inventive composer, both in small jazz groups and solo concerts, when he decided to go against the grain, and back in time: In 1983, with an ace rhythm section of bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, he formed the Standards Trio, which revisited the American songbook. The trio’s unrehearsed, exploratory versions of “If I Should Lose You,” “All The Things You Are,” its explosive rendition of “God Bless the Child” and others sounded like none before them, renewing interest in tunes that had collected dust during the freeform and fusion movements of ‘70s jazz. The Standards Trio retired in 2014, but these three first-rate improvisers are picking up the mantle. The youngest, Noah Haidu, will lead two legends from the piano: Drummer Lenny White, formerly of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever group; and bassist Buster Williams, an eclectic artist whose collaborators have included Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis and Herbie Hancock.

“Ellen Graham: [Unscripted]”

WHEN: March 2-June 16

WHERE: Norton Museum of Art, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach

COST: $15-$18

CONTACT: 561/832-5196, norton.org

There’s a close-up of Gloria Swanson, penetrating eyes and a half-smile glistening behind a lace veil. And Andy Warhol, leaning awkwardly against a wall in his Factory, next to a giant stuffed dog that looks, possibly, more real than the artist himself. And Sharon Tate, barefoot in the forest, her hands across her chest, her dress covering them like a straitjacket, gazing directly into the camera—a doe lost in the woods. Photographer Ellen Graham, who photographed actors, authors, royals and what would later be termed influencers from the 1950s through the 2000s, had a way of cutting through her subjects’ pretenses. Her images, which appeared in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Time and Newsweek, captured A-listers unawares, or at ease, or in sidelong glances, or shrouded in a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma. Graham lives in New York but has worked often in Palm Beach, and is a significant supporter of the Norton Museum of Art, both financially and artistically: This retrospective includes 25 photographs she gifted to the museum, along with an array of loans.

ELLEN GRAHAM

Delray Affair

Noah Haidu

Ellen Graham’s Andy Warhol

“Tina: the Tina Turner Musical”

WHEN: March 12-17

WHERE: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach

COST: $45-$109

CONTACT: 561/832-7469, kravis.org

First conquering R&B and then transitioning to rock ‘n’ roll, Tina Turner’s influence on popular music spanned more than 50 years, during which time she netted 12 Grammy Awards and earned the distinction as the first Black artist, and first woman, to grace the cover of Rolling Stone. She enjoyed—and, for too much of the time, suffered through—a life big enough for two or three Broadway musicals. For now, we have “Tina,” a jukebox musical authorized by the performer, which charts the tumultuous journey of Tennessee-born Anna Mae Bullock, later christened Tina Turner by Ike Turner, the showman and bandleader who discovered her, married her and abused her. By Act II, Turner has shed her violent first husband and embarks on a new musical vision as a solo artist, despite the pervasive racism and ageism of the era. The songs are a marvelous assemblage of 20th century rock and soul, including “Let’s Stay Together,” “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer” and, of course, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”

“America’s Sexiest Couple”

WHEN: April 18-27

WHERE: Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 N.W. Ninth St., Delray Beach

COST: $39-$69

CONTACT: 561/272-1281, delraybeachplayhouse.com

Like Ross and Rachel and Sam and Diane before them, the protagonists of this comedy from playwright Ken Levine pined for, flirted with and ultimately locked lips with each other on a beloved American sitcom. Now, some 30 years after the conclusion of their series “Residents,” Craig McAllister and Susan White, the duo once named “America’s Sexiest Couple,” are reuniting for the first time under less than pleasurable circumstances: One of their cast members has died, and the funeral has just taken place. Levine’s play is presented in real-time, in a Syracuse Marriott after the service, where the two actors find themselves torn between their past and future lives, which may come to a head if the network decides to reboot “Residents.” Playwright Levine knows his way around a well-constructed rom-com; his TV credits include “Frasier,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Dharma and Greg.” Much of the tension of “America’s Sexiest Couple” thrives on the characters’ code-switching between their offstage lives and their TV personae, a conflict that surfaces over the course of the play.

“Tina: the Tina Turner Musical”

MANUEL HARLAN

March/April 2024

Through April 4:

“Stories on the Planet: Jewelry of Asagi Maeda” at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach; $9-$15 museum admission; 561/995-0233, morikami.org.

Maeda is a metalsmith whose creations often resemble Rube Goldberg structures, apartment interiors, even entire cityscapes, while doubling as rings, necklaces and earrings. It’s worth bringing a magnifying glass to examine every detail of her wearable sculptures.

March 22:

Jimmy Vivino Band at Arts Garage, 94 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach; 8 p.m.; $45-$50; 561/450-6357, artsgarage.org. Impressively bearded blues guitarist Vivino spent 26 years as Conan O’Brien’s dedicated musical director, guitarist and bandleader. It was the most public facet of a nearly five-decade career that has included collaborations with Bob Weir, Keith Richards, Elvis Costello and a laundry list of others. He brings his stellar blues-rock trio to Arts Garage.

Through April 14:

“Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau” at Flagler Museum, 1 Whitehall Way, Palm Beach; $26 museum admission; 561/6552833, flaglermuseum.us. Born in what is now the Czech Republic, artist Mucha moved to Paris in the late 1800s and quickly became a figurehead of the burgeoning art nouveau movement. This revealing exhibition showcases his mastery of the sinuous, harmonious style, as well as the heady milieu from which it sprung.

March 22-April 7:

“Merrily We Roll Along” at Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 N.W. Ninth St., Delray Beach; various show times; $42; 561/272-1281, delraybeachplayhouse.com. This infrequently produced Stephen Sondheim musical features many of the titanic composer’s most personal songs. A backstage meta musical ahead of its time, it follows, in reverse chronological order, the fraught friendship between a jaded composer, writer and lyricist as they navigate the vicissitudes of show business.

Through April 28:

“Nora Maité Nieves: Clouds in the Expanded Field” at Norton Museum of Art, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach; $15-$18 museum admission; 561/832-5196, norton. org. Nieves, a New York resident by way of Puerto Rico, is the Norton’s 2023-2024 Artist in Residence. Her innovative, multidisciplinary work consists largely of abstracted visual motifs of architectural details, and includes paintings, sculptures and video, some of which will be created during her Norton residency.

March 23-24:

Miami City Ballet: Spring Mix III at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday; $40$229; 561/832-7469, kravis.org. The centerpiece of MCB’s spring program is Balanchine’s “Agon,” a demandingly athletic work inspired by selections from a 17th century French dance manual, and set to a majestic and intense Igor Stravinsky score. The program also features choreographer Alonzo King’s “Following the Subtle Current Upstream,” and a world premiere from Miami choreographer Ricardo Amarante.

Through May:

“Reimagining Palm Beach” at Cornell Art Museum, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach; free, but donations accepted; 561/6542220, downtowndelraybeach.com. Painter Serge Strosberg focuses his distinctive and eye-popping style—a hyperreal combination of expressionism and naturalism—on the titans and eccentrics who helped transform swampland into an upscale playground, including Solomon Spady, Henry Flagler and Addison Mizner.

March 27:

Fred Astaire West Palm Beach: “Dance Fantasy” at Society of the Four Arts, 102 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach; 7:30 p.m.; $40; 561/6557227, fourarts.org. Ten performers from this gold standard of classical dance in the Palm Beaches present an illuminating journey through the many corners of ballroom and Latin dancing, stepping and swaying through waltzes, tangos, foxtrots and more under the direction and choreography of Mykhailo and Anastasia Azarov.

Miami City Ballet

“Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau”

“Jewelry of Asagi Maeda”

Jimmy Vivino

ALEXANDER IZILIAEV

March 8:

Ulysses Owens Jr. & Generation Y at Arts Garage, 94 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach; 8 p.m.; $45-$50; 561/450-6357, artsgarage.org. A complex and fiery drummer, bandleader and educator in the style of Art Blakey, Owens has laid the rhythmic foundation for such luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride and Joey Alexander. On this tour, he leads his own outfit, a group of “young lions” dedicated to preserving and expanding the jazz tradition.

March 29-April 14:

“Death of a Salesman” at Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; $89; 561/5144042, palmbeachdramaworks. org. Arthur Miller’s seminal tragedy plumbs the fractured consciousness of traveling salesman Willy Loman, the ultimate unreliable narrator, who is increasingly unable to separate his illusions and memories with contemporaneous events. A blistering account of the withering American Dream, the play won a Tony and Pulitzer upon its 1949 debut.

March 10:

“Black Angels Over Tuskegee” at Arts Garage, 94 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach; 7 p.m.; $50; 561/450-6357, artsgarage. org. Writer and director Layon Gray’s acclaimed and inventively staged historical drama follows six members of the pioneering Tuskegee Airmen, a group of award-winning fighter pilots who broke color barriers in World War II, despite suffering the indignities of discrimination and segregation in the Jim Crow-era South.

March 10:

Pink Martini with China Forbes at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 7:30 p.m.; $35-$115; 561/832-7469, kravis. org. China Forbes sounds like a femme fatale in pulp novel, but she follows a classier muse, singing with Pink Martini, the self-described “little orchestra” founded in Oregon in 1994. The 13-piece symphony performs music in 22 languages and traverses pop, jazz, lounge music, Latin and classical.

April 5-7:

Palm Beach Opera: “Norma” at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; $25-$180; 561/832-7469, kravis.org. Vincenzo Bellini’s rarely produced bel canto masterpiece will close out Palm Beach Opera’s 2024 season on a shattering soprano note. The title character, a druid highpriestess, broke her vows of chastity when she fell in love with a Roman proconsul—leading, literally, to a fiery conclusion.

March 11-12:

Step Afrika! at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 7:30 p.m.; $35$45; 561/832-7469, kravis.org. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the dance troupe Step Afrika! will honor this achievement by returning to its roots: performing in the African-American “stepping” tradition with South African gumboot dance, while adding its own percussive instruments for a rousing polyrhythmic drum symphony.

April 6:

Stanley Jordan Plays Jimi at Arts Garage, 94 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach; 6 and 8:30 p.m.; $50-$55; 561/450-6457, artsgarage.org. Guitarist Jordan, most famous as a jazz artist—his 1985 breakthrough “Magic Touch” spent 51 weeks as No. 1 on the Billboard charts—returns to his roots as a rock artist with this searing and inventive tribute to hero Jimi Hendrix, featuring reimagined orchestrations and evocative costumes.

April 26:

Musha Ningyoo: “Avatars of the Human Spirit” at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach; 1 p.m.; $9-$15 museum admission; 561/995-0233, morikami.org. The creation of intricate samurai dolls, or ningyo, is a tradition that dates back centuries in Japan, as a tribute to the warrior’s martial ethos. Alan Scott Pate, a museum curator, academic and expert on the subject of ningyo, will present an informative and entertaining lecture.

Palm Beach Opera: “Norma”

Pink Martini

“Black Angels Over Tuskegee”

PHILIP GROSHONG

CHRIS HORNBECKER

At Bethesda Hospital, Our Donors Give from the Heart.

Home Advantage

Entertaining is effortlessly chic with a few natural accessories

PHOTOGRAPHED BY AARON BRISTOL

Leopard salad plate, $109, stemless flute, $15 each, marble cheese board with knife, $160, all from Clive Daniel; starfish toothpicks with holder, $24, gold handle cheese knife, $8, leopard stemless glasses, $24 each, ice bucket, $86, cocktail shaker, $24, all from Snappy Turtle Home; wood tic tac toe, $435, small round tray, $29, large round tray, $49, wooden spoon, $5, throw, $135, all from Vee Merklen

Highball glass, $52, set of 2, coupe glass, $62, set of 2, green salad plate, $19, white tray, $449, all from Clive Daniel; Casa Nuno dinner plates, $66 each, rattan silverware, 20-piece set, $200, placemat, $26, rattan pineapple, $89, napkin ring, $8, napkins, $6 each, all from Snappy Turtle Home; shot glass, $6.90, throw, $135, both from Vee Merklen

CLIVE DANIEL, 1351 N.W. Boca Raton Blvd., Boca Raton, 561/861-3256, clivedaniel.com

SNAPPY TURTLE HOME, 1319 N. Federal Highway, #3, Delray Beach, 561/8948634, snappy-turtle.com

VEE MERKLEN INTERIOR DESIGN, 800 Palm Trail, Suite 3, Delray Beach, 561/542-8848, veemerklen.com

Indigo blue round tray, $39, Double Old Fashion glass, $49, serving bowl, $119, all from Clive Daniel; pineapple wine glass, $18, Casa Nuno dinner plate, $66, crocodile cheese knife, $8, all from Snappy Turtle Home; oblong wood tray, $72, oblong marble tray, $98, small rectangle dish, $8 each, wooden spoon, $5, wooden fork, $5, stoneware vase, $48, throw, $135, all from Vee Merklen

STYLIST/ART DIRECTOR: LORI PIERINO

LIFESAVING INNOVATION

AT THE HEART OF ACADEMIC MEDICINE

Tampa General Hospital is among the nation’s top 10% for Heart & Vascular Care

Tampa General Hospital (TGH) continues to grow our network of world-class physicians caring for patients in Palm Beach County with the addition of Dr. Amy Mostafavi. As a Palm Beach County-based surgeon, Dr. Mostafavi brings 25 years of experience and an esteemed reputation in both general and vascular surgery to the TGH Heart & Vascular Institute, joining our expert physician network to deliver world-class care. And for patients needing more complex procedures, our health ambassadors coordinate critical care in Tampa with convenient pre- and post-care locally with Dr. Mostafavi. Just what you’d expect from Florida’s leading academic health system for over 50 years.

For a consultation, please call (561) 644-0125.

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TGH.org/

Dolores Fernandez Alonso

The Emmy-winning president of South Florida PBS has always brought community to the forefront

When the first reports of a novel coronavirus began to make news in the final weeks of 2019, Dolores Fernandez Alonso was as prepared for its seismic effects as any media professional could be. Health care was already at the front of mind for Alonso, president and CEO of Boynton Beach-based South Florida PBS, which had just debuted a sister station, the Health Channel (allhealthtv.com), in August of 2019, following a year’s worth of listening sessions with PBS viewers.

“Pre-pandemic, what people were saying at that point was, ‘I don’t have as much time with the doctor as I’d like. I don’t have as much access to health care and health care information as I would like. Can you help us?’”

Alonso recalls. “So we actually launched a 24-7 health channel. And in so doing, when the pandemic hit, we could really pivot, and create quality science-based health information that was picked up throughout the world.”

“It’s one of the things that makes us really different,” she says. “We ask the community, ‘What things do we need to focus on for you to live a better life, a healthier life, a more satisfying life? What are the issues in this community?’ And when I first started doing these listening sessions, I was a doubter. I thought, it’s going to be so many different things, how are we ever going to get parity? But it wasn’t the case. We did listening sessions from Key West all the way through Vero Beach, and … there were some really striking similarities.”

The feedback focused on four pillars—education, arts and culture, health and the environment, and civic engagement—which continue to drive the station’s content, much of it generated locally in its Boynton Beach headquarters. Alonso sees the Congress Avenue space in Boynton, with its ample free parking, as an extension of its mission to educate, entertain and inspire. There are plans in the works to add 7,000 square feet to the studio, which will encompass a performing arts center, flexible classroom space, and a

“We ask the community, ‘What things do you need to focus on for you to live a better life, a healthier life, a more satisfying life? What are the issues in this community?’”

For homebound South Floridians and beyond, the channel hosted myriad virtual town halls, including two exclusive discussions with Dr. Anthony Fauci, whom Alonso was “bold enough” to call on the phone. “We were like, oh my God, he said yes!”

The station also modified its educational programming to accommodate remote learning. Miss Penny, its in-house education services manager, hosted book readings and virtual field trips, which soon “went bananas,” in Alonso’s words. “We had 18 million views during the pandemic. I think it goes back to, we listen to the community. By shifting our focus and quickly pivoting and providing this virtual content for kids, it was a critical service we provided.”

More than the decision-maker at the top, Alonso is the enthusiastic public face of South Florida PBS, where she has worked, in one capacity or another, since 1998. She became president and CEO in 2008, during which time she has transformed the region’s public-television infrastructure. In addition to starting up the Health Channel, her tenure has included the merger of two separate regional stations in the seventh-largest TV market in the United States—WPBT and WXEL—into the collective South Florida PBS. Under her management, the station has quadrupled the size of its endowment, and at the time of this interview, it had just earned 18 regional Emmy nominations—a testament, Alonso believes, to its viewer-driven mission.

360-degree experiential learning environment called the Igloo.

All of which is a far cry from Alonso’s beginnings in corporate media. A Columbia University graduate, she began her television career in the international newsgathering division of ABC News in New York. “I traveled all around the world covering breaking news stories, and news is hectic,” she says. “I wanted to go more in-depth, providing context—how does this affect the community?”

Now, Alonso says, “everything we do is focused on servicing the public good,” whether it’s generating a docuseries that addresses climate change’s impact on South Florida, expanding opportunities for emerging documentary filmmakers, or welcoming a diversity of voices into its programming. A moment from PBS’s Annual Meeting, in the spring of 2023, stuck with Alonso. Actor John Leguizamo, in a moderated discussion, said that when he was growing up, he only saw his future as a working Latino actor in two places, both on PBS: “Sesame Street” and “¿Qué Pasa, USA?,” a sitcom launched by South Florida station WPBT in the late 1970s.

“If you can use content for a good purpose, and you can help someone who’s growing up to say to themselves, ‘if I can see that, maybe I can be that,’ … I love the ability to have the freedom to do that, but also the responsibility to do it.”

Jordan Thomas

Losing his eyesight didn’t stop Jordan Thomas from realizing his dream of owning a pizza shop

Jordan Thomas remembers joking as a kid that he could make pizzas with his eyes closed. As a teenager working at a local pizza joint in Moosic, Penn., he would shoot videos with his friends of himself, blindfolded, making pizzas. “I used to say, ‘I could make these pizzas blind,’” recalls Thomas. “Well, I do now.”

In 2013 Thomas was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a tumor which crushed his optic nerve, rendering him nearly blind. “Shapes, sizes, dark and light,” says Thomas, are now all he is capable of seeing. At the time, Thomas was working part-time at a pizza restaurant and full-time as a firefighter, played in four softball leagues and a flag football league, and was on his way to opening a craft beer bar with a friend. “I went from doing all this stuff to doing nothing,” says Thomas.

“Life is just too short ... There’s always something you wish you would have done. Now I live life to the fullest.”

“It’s kind of like you’re driving along, and then all of a sudden, lights out,” says Thomas. Where he had previously been teetering between being a firefighter and a restaurateur, now all of his ambitions seemed out of reach. He struggled with feelings of worthlessness and uselessness, as his friends all went on to successful endeavors. “I just kind of hit my rock bottom where I was like, ‘I need to do something,’” says Thomas.

Inspired by stories of others conquering their disabilities to achieve the seemingly impossible, Thomas took the advice of his family to start fresh. An outpouring of support came from his friends in the community and his family, but he knew that if he wanted a truly new beginning, he had to start far from home. “I didn’t want to do it in Pennsylvania, because I felt like everybody in Pennsylvania was trying to feel sorry for me and help me because they had to,” says Thomas. “I wanted to go somewhere where no one knew who I was.”

Thomas found his fresh start in South Florida four years ago, and in April 2023, he realized his dream of opening a restaurant with the debut of The Twisted Tomato in Delray, which earned a rave, if curious, reception—

mostly from those who had never heard of Old Forge-style pizza. “It’s so different and unique if you’ve never been to the town of Old Forge [in Northeast Pennsylvania],” says Thomas. “It’s known as coal miner’s pizza because it’s from the coal mining towns.

“It’s not a slice, it’s a cut; it’s not a pie, it’s a tray; and it’s served and cooked in a rectangular cast iron pan. It’s not thick, it’s light and airy; it’s got a plump tomato sauce and a specialty cheese blend.”

The Twisted Tomato quickly became a family business after both Thomas’ and his wife’s parents moved down to Florida. “It’s a family deal,” says Thomas. “My daughter waitresses, my wife runs the front, my mom waitresses, my dad makes pizza with me.” In addition to family, Thomas has also prioritized hiring others with disabilities, including a man who was born blind and a former nurse who lost her sight and a leg to diabetes, with the hope that they too can feel the sense of purpose that he was able to discover.

Thomas says The Twisted Tomato has already gained a loyal following of those who enjoy both the Old Forge style and supporting the community. Not only does the restaurant host parties for local organizations like the Braille Club of Palm Beach, but Thomas also donates $1 from every pizza sold to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. “It works out great, because on top of those donations I’ve had so many people reach out that have mailed me checks already made out to the AFB or to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,” says Thomas. For a time after Thomas’ diagnosis, he felt like he could never recover anything close to what he lost. Now, he says he’ll never miss out on anything again. “Life is just too short. … There’s always something you wish you did,” says Thomas. “[Now], I live life to the fullest.”

AARON BRISTOL

BY CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT

AUSTIN REPUBLIC

4801 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach

PARKING:

Parking lot, street parking

HOURS:

Tues.-Sat., 4-10 p.m.

PRICES:

$14-$68

WEBSITE: theaustinrepublic.com

Ribs and prime brisket

Austin Republic

This barbecue from Chef James Strine is worth a jaunt to West Palm

South Florida’s glorious winter months are the perfect time to dine outside. The palm trees sway in the brisk breeze, your clothes don’t stick to you, your cocktail stays cool, and you can actually enjoy every leisurely bite without feeling the rush to finish before you melt. If you’ve driven down South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, you’ve seen the imposing maroon shipping container with a sprinkling of picnic tables just south of Southern Boulevard in the SoSo District. This is Chef James Strine’s domain. It’s where the talented chef serves up his version of Tex-Mex fare in all its glory under glowing bistro lights.

This may be Strine’s first foray into launching his own concept, but that doesn’t mean he’s a novice. His impressive resume includes stints at Palm Beach staples like Grato and Buccan. Still, it was during his decade-long tenure at Café Boulud that he mastered his culinary skills and developed his passion for live-fire cooking on the French bistro’s wood fire grill.

Austin Republic’s cool freight vibe is laid-back but not permanent. Sitting right behind the cargo crate, I could see the foundation of Austin Republic’s next evolution—a brick-and-mortar restaurant. So look out for that this month.

The casual backyard atmosphere sets the scene for Strine’s unpretentious barbecue with a unique Mexican flair. We were welcomed by the server (doubling as hostess), who, with a warm smile, directed us to choose whatever empty picnic table we desired. Laminated menus were already on the table in an organized box that housed ketchup and mustard bottles, plastic silverware and a roll of (essential) paper towels. The menu isn’t extensive, but all the barbecue greats are there alongside its Mexican counterparts. Brisket, ribs and pulled pork share the space with tacos, burritos and enchiladas.

We started with the Mexican corn ribs ($13). Elote (aka corn on the cob) has become popular on menus, but flavor and presentation can

vary, so I was interested to discover it still on a cob that was cut long and thick—like ribs. We didn’t bother with utensils; we just dove in with our hands, and it set the mood for the rest of the finger-licking meal. The corn is topped with typical queso fresco (fresh white cheese), picamas (jalapeno pepper sauce that packs a punch) and crema (a heavy cream sauce that satiates the heat).

The best way to tackle the menu is to opt for Strine’s 1/2/1—a $22 value meal with your choice of one meat, two tacos and one side. Our server raved about the prime brisket (her favorite, after her mom’s), so I was sold. I also tried the veggie and carnitas tacos and the side of shells and queso. The meat here is smoked overnight and arrives thinly sliced with beautifully charred edges. The balanced fat ratio adds to the tender meat’s smokey moistness.

The tacos, cloaked in a fresh corn tortilla, are packed with flavor. This might be sacrilegious (vegetarians, listen up), but I enjoyed the veggie taco, with its delightful mix of sweet potato, black beans, corn, tomato, shredded lettuce and queso fresco. The “shells” side dish is Strine’s take on the classic childhood Velveeta mac and cheese, and it was just as creamy and comforting as I remember it.

The surprise of the evening was the chicken sandwich ($13). The server also raved about it, so my interest was piqued. It’s rare to hear such high praise for chicken, and even rarer at a barbecue joint, where everyone craves the smoked red meat. I must also preface what I’m about to say with a confession: Chicken is my least favorite meat. It was undoubtedly the sleeper hit of the meal. Sandwiched between two toasted potato buns, the uber-tender chicken with a smokey dark skin is stacked high and topped with pickled red onion, avocado crema and queso fresco. The balance of the tender meat, crunchy onions and creamy sauce made this a standout dish that I will happily drive to West Palm Beach any day to eat.

Until then, I’ll just continue to dream about that chicken sandwich.

AARON BRISTOL

Chicken sandwich with potato salad; below, Mexican corn ribs

How to Live Cheaply

in the Palm Beaches

Sticker shock is all around us, from restaurant tabs to theatre tickets. Avoid it with this guide to a low-cost SoFla lifestyle.

By John Thomason

ven in the land of plenty, there’s nothing more American than finding a bargain. In fact, in a populace cleaved along political or religious or even economic lines, saving a bit of money on this or that is the great equalizer. A 2021 study from Personal Capital found that 90 percent of Americans reported they keep frugal habits. Similarly, in a 2018 survey from Slickdeals, 92 percent of Americans said they considered frugality an attractive quality in a romantic partner. It pays to pay less.

With this in mind, we scoured our local landscape, from food and style to shopping, arts and entertainment, for the best opportunities to store a few more nickels under the couch cushions—while still enjoying the best that South Florida has to offer.

Market Value

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average Floridian spends nearly $7,000 annually on groceries—a number collected in 2021, before the inflationary peak. But if you don’t bring home enough bacon to bring home the bacon, there are money-saving options that don’t involve the arduous 20th century tradition of coupon clipping. Checkout 51, which boasts a four-star rating on the App Store, collects all the supermarket discount offers in your area—and you earn cash back through the app whenever you purchase an item from Checkout 51’s list. The same logic applies for Fetch, another well-regarded couponing app that rewards shoppers with supermarket gift cards once they pass a certain threshold of purchase points.

Apps are not needed to secure great deals at Rorabeck’s Plants and Produce, a Lake Worth Beach institution (5539 S. Military Trail) that advertises “budget-friendly” prices for fruits, vegetables and fresh herbs, with weekend specials posted to its Facebook page. Two-dollar bagels are a highlight of Rorabeck’s on-site Smoothie & Lunch Café.

If you prefer nutritional and discounted food to be delivered to your door, Misfits Market online is our favorite option. The distributor specializes in organic and non-GMO produce, meats, seafood, bakery items and dairy products that are “cosmetically imperfect”—hence the misfit label—but perfectly healthy to consume. Shoppers can save up to 40 percent on typical supermarket prices. Also offering home delivery, the salvage-food e-retailer Martie offers overstock items at deep discounts, sometimes up to 40 percent. At the time of this writing, it was flush with packages of ginger turmeric jackfruit chews for $2.99, classic beef bone broth for $4.99 and snickerdoodle waffles for $2.69. They had us, obviously, at snickerdoodles.

Cheap Eats

Eating out is the preferred entertainment for many of us, but these days a triple-digit restaurant visit isn’t just for special occasions anymore; it’s starting to feel closer to the norm. Want to make a day of it without breaking the bank? A few low-cost—but still artisanal—outliers exist, ready to serve you from the rooster’s crow to last call.

At Howley’s, the historic diner in West Palm Beach (4700 S. Dixie Highway), you can still escape with a filling breakfast for under $20 (usually including tip). At Tacos Al Carbon (5380 10th Ave. N., Greenacres), its $3 breakfast taco (eggs, bacon, ham, chorizo, potato) is the penny-pincher’s desayuno of choice, but all of the restaurant’s tacos—beef to chicken to fish—run just $3-$4.50.

For lunch, Boca’s no-frills, cash-only Tin Muffin Café (364 E. Palmetto Park Road) is our thrifty pick for quality midday staples, with club sandwiches, curried chicken salad, and house specialties like salmon salad spanning $11.50-$13.95.

For dinner and nightlife, Lost Weekend (526 Clematis St., West Palm Beach) is home to a $5 smash burger and under-$10 quesa-

dillas, wings and nachos, which always go well with the interactive bar’s billiards, shuffleboard and vintage arcade games.

And for between-meal imbibing, at SaltWater Brewery (1701 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach), every day feels like a fire sale for the brand’s core beers, with $3-$4 for 5-ounce pours of Screamin’ Reels, LocAle and more; even a 16-ounce draft of the House Ale will set you back just $5. We’ll drink to that.

That’s the Ticket

Live theatre is one of the stickier wickets when it comes to bargains, because theatre companies are nonprofits and generally can’t afford to reduce prices; ticket sales only constitute some 30 percent of most companies’ operating budgets. That said, at Palm Beach Dramaworks (201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach), it literally pays to be young: Attendees younger than 40 pay just $40 per ticket, less than half the price of the typical $84 general-admission ticket.

Meanwhile, at Florida Atlantic University’s professional new-play incubator Theatre Lab, in Boca Raton (777 Glades Road), preview performances will set you back just $20, and are staged on the Wednesday and Friday prior to each opening night. For the Lab’s next show, “What’s Best For the Children,” those dates are April 10 and 12.

Secondhand, First-rate

As the success of the Church Mouse (opposite page) indicates, resale stores, consignment shops and thrift stores are popular even among affluent enclaves. Per the latest data from First Research, the second-

hand and resale market is now $53 billion. Here are some of the area’s acclaimed outlets, according to the tastemakers at thethriftshopper.com, South Florida on the Cheap and Palm Beach Thrifters:

• ENCORE PLUS, 281 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton

• FAITH FARM THRIFT STORE, 9538 U.S. Highway 441, Boynton Beach

• LEVIS JCC RESALE BOUTIQUE, 141 N.W. 20th St., Boca Raton

• PALM BEACH VINTAGE, 3623 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach

• ST. VINCENT DE PAUL THRIFT STORE, 250 W. Indiantown Road, Suite 108, Jupiter

• TRUE TREASURES, 111 N. U.S. 1, North Palm Beach

• WORLD THRIFT, 2425 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth Beach

Mighty Mouse

Perhaps only on an island of outsize wealth can gently used—if not like-new—clothing from Armani, Gucci, Lilly Pulitzer and even Chanel and Hermès be acquired for lower than half off their typical retail price. “Every day of the week, they can grab a St. John jacket, or furs, at lower than 50 percent off the market value,” says Daisy Alvarez, general manager of the Church Mouse (378 S. County Road) on Palm Beach since 2011. “If our competitors online are offering something at $100, we’re half the price … and you can come in, try the jacket, get a feel for it.”

An institution on the island since the 1970s, the Church Mouse is the sort of place where shoppers come for the deeply discounted luxury clothing and merchandise, and they return for the good karma: As a mission of the Church of Bethesdaby-the-Sea, funds raised from the resale shop support the church’s

Ham salad on French bread from Tin Muffin Cafe

Palm Beach Dramaworks

SaltWater Brewery

nonprofit partners in mental health support, homelessness, education and more. “People have been conscious of coming in to repurpose and reuse things, and just be part of what we are doing, to support these agencies,” Alvarez says, adding that the store raises some $500,000 a year for the community. Its 2022 recipients included Quantum House, Unicorn Children’s Foundation, the Lord’s Place, AVDA and 15 other organizations.

The Church Mouse is one of the most trafficked stores on one of the most sought-after retail districts in the country, with more than 300 shoppers opening its door a day during high season. They come for the clothing, of course, but also the fine crystal, fine art, high-end furniture, collectibles and home décor in which the store specializes. Fresh inventory is placed on the shelves and racks daily, and there’s nothing quite like the Church Mouse’s endof-season sale each year, on the third week of June, just before it closes for the summer.

“We start off on Monday and Tuesday, where everything in the store is 50 percent off,” Alvarez says. “Then 75 percent off Wednesday and Thursday; on the last Friday, whatever is left is 90 percent off. (The store makes an exception for certified fine art, which is not discounted so deeply.—Ed.) … It’s so fun; we have fun watching customers just pick up an item and go, ‘oh my god.’”

Garage Days

For those who enjoy the thrill of the hunt—and the potential for megafinds—garage and estate sales remain a perennial pastime for bargain shoppers. We can’t all be the Fresno, Calif. man who purchased at a yard sale a box of old photo negatives that turned out to contain Ansel Adams originals worth $200 million … but hope springs eternal. Social media has made the process of person-to-person retail that much easier through Facebook groups like Boca Raton Online Garage Sale, founded by Soooo Boca’s Michelle Bellisari, and boasting nearly 23,000 members. On it, sellers post deals on furnishings and collectibles—like an entire bedroom set for $123; an IKEA desk, chair and lamp for $50; an unworn 2021 Rolex with all its accouterments for … $12,400. It is Boca, after all. Delray Beach Online Garage Sale, with a similar P2P setup, has more than 24,000 members.

Closet Space

In 2021, it took a “COVID pivot” for Jennie Stelhi to channel her expertise in beauty and fashion—gleaned in part from her time in New York at publications such as Maxim, Elle and Glamour—into a new startup. That’s the year the Boca Raton entrepreneur and mother of four launched Shop the Curated Closet, an e-business that works with wom-

en to discover their ideal, bespoke wardrobe.

“It was an opportunity for me to help women put their best foot forward when they’re leaving the house,” Stelhi says. “I wanted to do it at an affordable price point, and encourage women to mix the high and the low of fashion—and not focus so much on the size of what they’re wearing, but what they feel good in.”

Stelhi’s average client is “probably in her mid 40s or early 50s, has gone through many transitions with her body, whether she had children or weight gain or weight loss. And a woman who is looking to not spend all of her paycheck on her clothing, but wants good quality and a good fit and really likes that personal oneon-one that they get with me.”

We spoke with Stelhi about her do’s and don’ts for shopping on a budget, whether at Shop the Curated Closet (shopcuratedcloset.com), through other internet retailers, or in physical stores. Here are some of our takeaways.

• We can definitely work within a $100 budget. We’ve got dresses that are going to be in the $40, $50, $60 range, and if they’re looking for a complete look, whether it be socially, or for work, or they’re going to a wedding or traveling or whatever it might be, we can work within that budget for whatever style they’re looking for, and accessorize it as well.

• I feel like you can find pretty good deals at Nordstrom or Bloomingdale’s. A lot of people are shopping on Amazon or Shein (an ecommerce

The Church Mouse and its general manager, Daisy Alvarez

outlet headquartered in Singapore— Ed.), but I deter my clients away from that, because the quality is not there. It might be a great price point, but you’ll wash it once or twice and it will fall apart. The good thing about the Curated Closet is that all these clothes personally come in, and I try them on. If the cut’s weird, if the quality is not there, if it’s cheaply made, if you can see through it, if it fits wrong, I’m going to return it. If I’m not going to personally wear it, I’m not going to sell it.

• [Among budget-conscious brands], I really like Day+Moon, I really like Mustard Seed. I like Ces Femme, Angie, Love Stitch—the quality is there, and I really enjoy working with those vendors.

• When visiting a brick-and-mortar, take the time to look through what’s on the sale rack. Don’t focus on the size; hold it up, and be like, ‘that might fit me, that’s a good cut, that’s a pretty color, that’s a good quality fabric.’ I think a lot of women get stuck on, ‘that’s a large, and I’m not a

large,’ or ‘that’s a small, and I’m not a small.’ They all run different.

• I encourage you to take the time, if you’re going to go into a store, to try the clothing on. If you don’t love it in the dressing room, don’t buy it. Same with online—if you buy it and try it on, and you don’t love it when you look in the mirror, and it doesn’t make you smile, and you don’t feel fabulous, don’t keep it. If you don’t love it right when you put it on, whether your hair and makeup is done or not, you’re not going to wear it. It’s just going to sit in your closet and taunt you. Return it, and take the time to find that piece that really makes you feel fabulous.

• I don’t shy away from [knockoffs]. I think that women need to dress more for themselves rather than for other people. So if it’s a knockoff, as long as you wear it with your head held high, and you feel good in it,

then it shouldn’t matter what other people think or say. If you go out with that attitude, other people pick up on that attitude, and they’re like, ‘I love your outfit.’ If you hide it, people pick up on that insecurity, and that’s what they focus on.

Screen Time

Let’s face it: There are too many streaming services, and those $8 or $20 a month for Netflix and Hulu and Amazon and Max and Apple TV and Paramount Plus and AMC Plus and Peacock and the Criterion Channel … well, they end up costing cord-cutters more money than the Stone Age days of cable TV. Overwhelmed by the muchness and leery of overspending on services I won’t use, I usually end up on the best platform of them all, one that costs absolutely nothing: Kanopy.

Screen on the Green

Jennie Stelhi

Specializing in independent, classic and foreign-language movies and series, Kanopy is free with a valid library card; just type your card number into the app, and a world of commercial-free entertainment for grown-ups is at your fingertips. Find

each month, the City of West Palm Beach hosts complimentary family-friendly movies on its open-air theater, in a program called “Screen on the Green,” continuing at 6:30 p.m. March 8 with “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken.”

it on Roku, or AirPlay it to your TV.

For those of you still venturing out to movie theaters—first of all, thank you for your service—some of the area’s cinemas offer discounted tickets on select nights. Tuesdays are the blue-plate special at Cinemark 20 in Boca Raton, where all tickets cost just $6.50, even for evening showtimes, for a savings of $6. Tuesday is also discount day at Regal Royal Palm Beach 18, where tickets run $5-$7, though you need to sign up, at no cost, for a Regal Crown Club membership.

Of course, nothing is cheaper than free, and on the second Friday of

Museum Piece

On the first weekend of each month, the Norton Museum of Art (1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach) and the Cox Science Center and Aquarium (4801 Dreher Trail N., West Palm Beach) offer free admission. But there’s a catch: You need to present a credit or debit card, in your name, from Bank of America or Merrill Lynch. Even your guests need to be BoA/Merrill cardholders. It’s part of the bank’s “Museums on Us” initiative. The Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum (300 N.

Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach), on the other hand, is always free.

Walk it Off

Entry fees for state parks aside, The Man hasn’t found a way to monetize walking in nature … yet. So lace up those sneakers and burn some calories in the Palm Beaches’ most picturesque places. The five-mile Lake Trail on Palm Beach, spanning from South Lake Drive north to the famous Sailfish Club, offers Insta-worthy views of the island’s carefully manicured hedges, swaying coconut palms, public art sculptures, historic buildings and million-dollar homes.

From its comfortable boardwalk in West Delray, the free Wakodahatchee Wetlands (13270 Jog Road) is one of the nature lover’s regional treasures, with its man-made islands—with telling names like Egret Point, Heron Creek and Cooper’s Hawkeye—providing refuge for up to 178 species of birds, along with rabbits, alligators and fish.

There are also the more than 25 Natural Areas, overseen by the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management, spread along 31,000 acres of wild Florida from Boca Raton to North Jupiter.

These wildlife havens are little pockets of rough amid the noise and teem of suburban and city life. We recommend Boca’s Pondhawk Natural Area, tucked inside another free community treasure: the vibrant lake trail around the Spanish River Library.

Cox Science Center

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

A Taste of

the Islands

how

the Caribbean Basin

has shaped South Florida’s cuisine—through flavors rooted in cultures and history

By TYLER CHILDRESS

he influence of the Caribbean islands on Florida’s distinct regional cuisine can be tasted in just about every dish our state is known for. From something as small as squeezing a lime over fried gator bites to savoring a hearty bowl of conch chowder on a winter day, each bite tells a story that spans continents and centuries.

Floribbean Flavor

What’s now known as “Floribbean” cuisine—a portmanteau of Florida and Caribbean—consists of a combination of flavors that stem from hundreds of years of colonization, cultural exchange and commercial trade that brought diverse populations of Western Europeans and Southeast Asians to the Caribbean islands. Beverly Jacobs, chef and owner of Delray’s Bamboo Fire Cafe, recalls growing up in Guyana among Indians, Chinese, Afro-Guyanese and other groups whose ancestors were brought to the country as slaves and indentured servants.

“Originally you have your indigenous peoples, who were the equivalent of American Indians throughout the Caribbean islands,” says Jacobs. With the development of the sugar industry, African slaves were brought in to work on the plantations, followed by Portuguese indentured servants and Chinese migrants. With each culture, the region’s cuisine evolved.

“All of those have had an influence. We get our curries from the Indians. We have Portuguese [recipes]; we also have Chinese food, and then there’s a British influence as well,” says Jacobs.

This diversity is, for Jacobs, what defines and distinguishes Caribbean cuisine.

“That’s what Caribbean food is,” says Jacobs. “It’s a mix of everything, and even though all of the islands are different, there are certain things that may be unique in terms of ingredients. But typically our food is all interrelated.”

The proximity of the Caribbean islands allowed recipes and traditions to spread to other countries in the region, with each culture having its own unique spin on different staples like beans and rice, plantains, and the ubiquitous jerk chicken.

“I try to translate what I’m used to, what I grew up with, what I know.”

“Jerk is uniquely Jamaican. That was something that was [used] as a means of preserving meat by the runaway slaves. Jerk is not unique to some place like Guyana, but its use has spread throughout the entire Caribbean, because everyone visits each other or moves to other islands.”

While the recipes may vary, food, and the passion of its preparation, is the universal language that unites the disparate cultures of the Caribbean. “You eat and you drink, families get together and that’s what we do,” says Jacobs. “We drink rum and we eat.”

Jacobs carries on the tradition of her Guyanese roots with dishes at Bamboo Fire Cafe like the oxtail pepperpot. It’s cooked low and slow in cassareep, a sauce invented by the indigenous populations of Guyana that consists of cassava (a root vegetable also called yuca) that is grated, boiled and concentrated to form a thick, sweet mixture.

“I try to translate what I’m used to, what I grew up with, what I know,” says Jacobs. “I don’t want to homogenize the food; I want to give people an experience as close as possible to what we eat and what we like.”

Above: Beverly Jacobs; below right: snapper in Guyanese sauce from Bamboo Fire Café

AARON BRISTOL

Can’t-miss Dishes

Here are a few island-inspired dishes to take your palate for a ride:

JERK CHICKEN: A Jamaican staple of chicken that is seasoned with Scotch bonnet peppers or other hot peppers, allspice pimento, thyme, garlic, ginger, scallions, cinnamon, nutmeg, and smoked traditionally over the wood of a pimento tree.

CURRY GOAT: A common dish throughout the Caribbean that combines slow-cooked, tender goat meat with rich, spicy curry—trust us on this one.

RICE AND PEAS: A simple, yet flavor-packed dish consisting of rice that is cooked with coconut milk and pigeon peas, a type of bean that grows in the Caribbean and can be found at grocery stores.

CONCH CEVICHE: There’s no better way to enjoy the Bahamas’ most beloved export than in a marinade of lime, cilantro and onions. If you’re feeling extra Caribbean, throw in some Scotch bonnets for additional heat.

OXTAIL: The tail of a cow (not necessarily an ox) that is traditionally braised and served with rice and peas.

HONORABLE MENTION—CUBAN SANDWICH:

There’s no way we could highlight the best Caribbean dishes without mentioning Cuba. This simple yet authentic delicacy of pulled mojo pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard reigns supreme in the world of sandwiches.

Season and Region

At the core of Caribbean cuisine is versatility—the ability to craft flavorful dishes using whatever can be found in the surrounding environment. “You eat the region, you eat the season,” says Timon Balloo, chef and owner of Fort Lauderdale’s The Katherine. “You’re thinking about what’s growing at the time, what’s growing in the region, how can you sustain this and use this product to feed a family.”

Balloo was born to Trinidadian and Chinese parents that passed on the culinary techniques that are common throughout the Caribbean, like cooking “low and slow” and the use of marinades. He began cooking more than 30 years ago for his mom’s catering company that she ran out of their house. Since then, he has traveled the world and worked under Michelin-awarded chefs and opened several of his own concepts. The Katherine features a globally inspired menu, but Balloo gives a special nod to his heritage with dishes like his mom’s Trinidadian oxtail recipe, served with coconut rice and peas and root vegetables.

Oxtail, now a delicacy in many Caribbean countries, was once considered a “peasantly” and undesirable cut of meat. “After all the dignitaries get all the primal cuts of rib-eye steak and filet and all these things, you’re left with literally the tail,” says Balloo. The fact that it is such a sought-after dish now is a testament to Caribbean flavors and cooking techniques.

“How have cultures made offcuts of tail, tripe, ear? It’s through soulful cooking, it’s through true artistry of knowing how to use ingredients,” says

Balloo. “From my family, that’s what we know from home cooking. How you start curing, seasoning, allowing acid and fat to break down collagen in tough cuts in meat to make them tender, how you slow-cook things.”

Slow cooking, marinating, stewing and the use of fresh ingredients often picked from your own backyard are all hallmarks of Caribbean cuisine, which Balloo says “embodies so much of the universal language of cooking.” But what really packs that unique island flavor punch are the spices.

“The one key is a well-stocked pantry, [having] all your spices on hand,” says Balloo. Spices like allspice (also called pimento), nutmeg and cloves can be found in many Caribbean dishes (see opposite page for more details), each adding a layer of complexity and aromatic richness. For those cooking at home, Balloo also suggests to “think about the duality of use,” how skills for cooking one dish can be applied to another.

“If you can make mashed potatoes, you can make boniato (sweet potato) mash,” says Balloo. “If you can make potato chips, you can fry yuca.”

For Balloo, the influence of the Caribbean is readily apparent wherever you look around South Florida. “Everyone may not realize how Caribbean their day-to-day is,” says Balloo. From the refreshing minty zest of a mojito to the corner cafe serving up Cuban sandwiches, a taste of the islands can be found just about anywhere.

“We’re all Caribbean,” says Balloo. “If you’ve got a coconut tree in your backyard ... you are Caribbean in a sense; that has imparted its reverence in you.”

Mom’s Trini Oxtail from The Katherine

Tim Balloo

Spices

Here are the spices and basic ingredients that will ensure your pantry is well stocked for island cooking:

Allspice (also called pimento)

Cinnamon

Cumin

Nutmeg

Star anise

Fresh thyme

Cloves

Lemongrass

Coriander

Parsley

Bay leaves

Cayenne pepper

Ginger

Mojo criollo marinade (for Cuban dishes)

Scotch bonnet and habanero peppers (for a little less heat, try jalapeños)

The Haitian Connection

In Haitian culture, almost every dish is a labor of love that takes hours to prepare. Haitian cuisine is built upon layers of marinades, herbs and techniques, but Marco Normil of West Palm’s Hallelujah Kitchen says that the number one ingredient is time.

“You can’t rush in, and you can’t be like, ‘I’m hungry, I’m going to make some Haitian food,’” says Normil.

At the foundation of every Haitian dish, Normil says, is epis.

“It’s a combination of herbs, spices and vegetables that are all put together and blended into a marinade that is used for the meat, it’s used in the rices,” says Normil. “It’s basically the base for Haitian cuisine.”

“Once you’ve come in contact with griot, your taste buds will forever be changed.”

The most popular dish in Haitian cuisine is griot, chunks of pork that are marinated, cooked, then fried. Cooking griot requires a three-step process of cleaning the meat with vinegar, salt and lime juice before being marinated in epis. After marination (the longer the better), the meat is boiled for an hour before it’s ready to be fried. Griot is traditionally served with diri djondjon (pronounced jon-jon) rice, which is made using the djondjon mushroom that is only found in Haiti. That’s where the real work begins.

“Instead of starting off with just water and then pouring in the rice, we work backwards,” says Normil.

The process begins with epis, followed by

an infusion of chopped peppers, onions and pigeon peas. After sauteeing the ingredients, the water that’s been infused with dry djondjon mushroom is added, as well as coconut milk.

“By this point you haven’t even gotten to the rice yet, but the kitchen is just jumping,” says Normil. The finished product should have a rich, earthy and savory taste.

While a Haitian meal isn’t something you can throw together for a quick dinner, Normil says you’ll be well rewarded for the effort.

“Once you’ve come in contact with griot, your taste buds will forever be changed.”

Left: Marco Normil; above: perfect griot platter from Hallelujah Kitchen

AARON BRISTOL

It’s an Island ‘Ting…

As any chef will tell you, there are no shortcuts when it comes to preparing an island meal (see opposite page on preparing Haitian cuisine). The flavors of the Caribbean are uncompromising, and if a single ingredient is missing or substituted, your tongue will tell you. But there’s no exact science to crafting the perfect dish, which is why chefs like Shari Bedasee, owner of West Palm’s FIWE restaurant, let instinct be the guide.

“A big part of our culture is that we don’t use measuring cups or measuring spoons,” says Bedasee. “It’s a dash of this, a dash of that, and just knowing how much to put, whether it’s going to be one pound of meat you’re cooking or 10 pounds.”

Bedasee jokes that when she was a child growing up in Jamaica, she couldn’t even boil water. She discovered her passion for cooking through her husband, after leaving a cushy job with the Department of Defense. That’s when she decided she wanted to open her own restaurant to share her Jamaican culture as well as the many different cultures throughout the Caribbean.

“If you taste our flavor, our culture, our food … it opens a whole new world, because you’re now getting a piece of the island in West Palm Beach.”

Above: Shari Bedasee; below: island chicken salad from FIWE

“It’s not uncommon for you to be a stranger and be walking down the street in Jamaica and say hi to somebody, and they go, ‘would you like to come inside for some food?’” says Bedasee.

Bedasee honors this tradition of Jamaican hospitality at FIWE, where she hosts classes on preparing traditional Caribbean dishes from her menu for guests to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the cultures that created them. As with her own cooking, she encourages her students to let taste be their guide.

“When you’re tasting as you go along, there’s that familiar taste in the back of your mind that’s etched in there, that you know what it’s supposed to taste like,” says Bedasee. “And if you don’t feel or get that taste from it until you put that right spice in it, then you’re not satisfied.”

Cooking a traditional Caribbean meal isn’t something you do on a whim. To do it right, the seasonings need to be perfect, the meats need to be slow-cooked after a lengthy marination period and, perhaps most importantly, rum needs to be shared. The food is cooked on island time but is well worth the wait.

“I don’t think that we see the amount of time that we put into it [as excessive], because the pleasure that comes with it is natural,” says Bedasee.

For Bedasee, the best part of preparing food is sharing it with others. “We are so proud of what we have and our flavors, that we want to share it with the world,” says Bedasee.

“If you taste our flavor, our culture, our food … it opens a whole new world, because you’re now getting a piece of the island in West Palm Beach.”

AARON BRISTOL

Interior design

Designing an experience to evoke emotions, tell stories, and create memories through a clean, elegant

design

JESSICA GLYNN

SET THE MOOD

Transform any bathroom into a spa-like oasis using organic textures, soothing colors and luxurious accessories.

1. Bisbee 48” freestanding double vanity set, $1,999, Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery, Boca Raton, fergusonshowrooms.com.

2. Tamara burl wall cabinet, $698, Anthropologie, Palm Beach Gardens, anthropologie.com.

3. Williams Sonoma Beach House diffuser, large, $34.99, Williams Sonoma, Boca Raton, williamssonoma.com. 4. Dolomiti vanity tray, $420, Neiman Marcus, Boca Raton, neimanmarcus. com. 5. Tura lattice teak bath mat, $49.95, Crate & Barrel, Boca Raton, crateandbarrel.com. 6. Triplo Bourdon bath sheets, $235, Frette, Bal Harbour, frette.com.

COOK IN COLOR

Add personality to that timeless white kitchen with cheerful hues and bold patterns.

1. Le Creuset signature enameled cast iron 6-piece cookware and bakeware set, $629.96, Williams Sonoma, Boca Raton, williams-sonoma.com. 2. Styled by Sub-Zero featuring the 36” classic over-and-under refrigerator/ freezer with glass door, $12,320, Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove Showroom, Miami, subzero-wolf.com.

3. Deborah Rhodes Sinamay flower placemat, Set of 4, $110, Hive, Palm Beach, hivepalmbeach.com. 4. Breville kitchen appliances in Damson Blue smart oven fryer, $349.95, Barista Express Impress, $719.96, Sur La Table, Boca Raton, surlatable.com. 5. Brera bluegrey counter stool, $379, Crate & Barrel, Boca Raton, crateandbarrel.com.

Lisa Tack, PA-C

Christina Smitley, APRN, FNP-C

Chere Lucas Anthony, MD

Ann Mazor Reed, DO

2024 2024

From passions turned into thriving professions, to creative outlets and corporate callings, these BEST of Women in Business make a living doing what matters most to them.

Get to know a bit about this successful bevvy of the BEST at what they do, and how their expertise and excellent work product may just be your BEST new resource!

Elizabeth M. Bennett, MBA

PRINCIPAL AND CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

INTERCOASTAL WEALTH PLANNING

Certified Financial Planner™ and Certified Financial Fiduciary Beth Bennett advises that women must be empowered and involved in their financial plans and understand where all of their assets are and what they are used for. As a mother and a woman who has been through a divorce, Bennett is constantly working toward her own financial future. She advises her clients to do the same, and be in control of their finances, not leaving that responsibility to someone else.

“It is imperative to know and understand the types of investments that you have, the log-ins for your accounts, and to share that information with your spouse/significant other, if applicable. Being aware of your spending habits and where all of your money is going, whether you are single or married, is also very important,” she says.

In the midst of tax season, Bennett shares a few helpful hints: “Make sure that you’re taking advantage of all of the deductible retirement account contributions that you can make, and remember that up until April 1, you can make a prior year contribution to your IRA or your Roth IRA, so don’t miss out on that opportunity.”

Bennett adds, “In the new year, and always, it’s important to keep your financial house in order with someone you can trust. I am here for you.”

561.210.7339

intercoastalwealth.com Securities

Laurie George, Ph.D

PRESIDENT & CEO

UNITED WAY OF PALM BEACH COUNTY

Laurie George was the first female elected to the role of President and CEO of United Way of Palm Beach County in 2013. Known for her careerspanning history of nonprofit organization management, she is highly respected for her competency, collaboration and thoughtful ability to lead with kindness and inspiration. A strong business development professional, she is skilled in nonprofit organizations, program evaluation, volunteer management and public engagement.

Across the footprint of Palm Beach County, from the Glades to Jupiter and down to the Boca Raton area, Dr. George studied what the needs were in those different pockets for necessities including, food, shelter, education and access to health care.

“We are fortunate to have generous corporations and local companies who are committed to their social responsibility goals, so it’s really about what we see as the needs in the community, what it is that the company is looking to accomplish, and how we marry those together. We don’t provide a direct service. We’re more of the facilitator who finds the different nonprofit agencies that can facilitate the programs,” she explains.

“After earning a Ph.D. focused on Child Development & Family Relationships from the University of Texas at Austin, I thought I would end up teaching at the university level, but once I saw what existed in the nonprofit community, I really fell in love with it,” says Dr. George, who describes her day-to-day responsibilities at United Way of Palm Beach County as an opportunity to live life with an absolute sense of purpose, making the world a better place.

MICHAEL CONNOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Dr. Janet Allenby FOUNDER & OWNER

ALLENBY COSMETIC DERMATOLOGY & BODYSQUAD

Dr. Janet Allenby’s journey in dermatology began with a deep appreciation for the aesthetic aspects of the field. Her passion for every facet of dermatology, particularly its ability to bring happiness through aesthetics, set her on a unique path. With more than 30 years of experience and recognition on a global scale, Dr. Allenby’s innate artistry has set apart as a true innovative leader in cosmetic dermatology.

Driven by a problem-solving mindset, she excels in guiding patients to optimal outcomes, whether it involves correcting previous procedures or helping them discover their best selves. Dr. Allenby views each patient’s concern as a puzzle to solve, exploring various approaches for the most effective solutions.

Dr. Allenby takes her patients on an aesthetic journey. She offers not just treatments but also the tools and candid advice needed for graceful aging—both physically and mentally. Included in her scope of offerings is BodySquad, which is wholly dedicated to non-invasive BodySculpting services including CoolSculpting, CoolTone, Morpheus8, and Resonic. From permanently reducing stubborn pockets of fat to building muscle, Allenby’s specialists are adeptly trained to help patients reach their goals without resorting to surgery or enduring downtime. The clinic is especially excited about its newest offerings, semaglutide and tirzepatide, both safe and effective weight loss solutions.

Staying at the forefront of her field, Dr. Allenby’s commitment to continuous learning takes her around the world, where she gains insights from areas deeply immersed in aesthetics and forward-thinking practices. Her philosophy reflects a holistic approach to patient care, emphasizing the importance of exploring diverse perspectives for the benefit of her patients.

561-499-0299

AllenbyDermatology.com

MICHAEL CONNOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Brittany Wright AAMS®, CLTC®

LPL FINANCIAL ADVISOR

PENCE FINANCIAL GROUP

Brittany Wright is a financial advisor with Pence Financial Group, a prestigious wealth management firm supported by LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer in the nation.*

Beyond her professional prowess, Brittany’s personal journey, marked by the challenges of divorce, the loss of her mother in a tragic accident, and stepping into the role of caregiver for three stepchildren fuels her dedication to guiding others through similar life transitions.

“Financial challenges are not unique to women, yet many statistics support the notion that when it comes to financial planning, women often face more obstacles than men. From juggling responsibilities for both children and parents to taking on increased custodial duties post-divorce and facing limited access to financial education and resources, women navigate a complex landscape,” she says. “Prepare for your financial future now.

Procrastination can be detrimental. Waiting until a life-altering event, like divorce or the sudden financial responsibility thrust upon you by the passing of a loved one, is a risk you don’t want to take. Get involved in your finances, formulate a plan and prioritize yourself,” cautions Brittany. “Often, women tend to prioritize the needs of others before their own, leading to reduced earnings, job loss, and diminished social security benefits.

“Given how many roles and responsibilities women often juggle, you deserve to have an advisor who has your best interests at heart and wants to help you successfully traverse life’s unexpected twists and turns.”

MICHAEL CONNOR PHOTOGRAPHY

THE BEST OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Donna Ennis

CO-FOUNDER

ENNIS PLASTIC SURGERY

Donna Ennis, ARNP, of Ennis Plastic Surgery in Boca Raton, has mastered the art of creating aesthetic beauty—and applies that skill to her patients each and every day.

Known as “The Gentle Injector” due to her gentle touch and comfort when providing treatments, Donna is a double-boardcertified family nurse practitioner and expert in non-surgical laser and injectable procedures, as well as weight loss. For more than 25 years, she has used her clinical experience to help patients look and feel their best.

“I specialize in injectables for the lips and face, and my patients are always really blown away by how painless and safe these injectables are,” Donna points out. “We take our time with our patients—we get to know them and listen to their needs and goals. We can provide whatever they need, whether surgical or non-surgical.”

Donna and her husband, L. Scott Ennis, MD, FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon, founded Ennis Plastic Surgery with the intention of offering patients a family-like experience with a welcoming boutique-style office that looks more like a 5-Star hotel than a doctor’s office.

“Scott and I grew up in Alabama and knew each other in high school, but didn’t start dating until college,” Donna expresses. “We fell in love with South Florida and now live and work in Boca Raton.”

561-266-4344

donna@ennismd.com

MICHAEL CONNOR PHOTOGRAPHY

THE BEST OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Lizabeth Olszewski

FOUNDER/CEO

CORE GROWTH, LLC & HORSES HEALING HEARTS

Lizabeth Olszewski, founder/CEO of Core Growth, LLC, in West Palm Beach, goes beyond her role, serving as coach and consultant. With a mission to help individuals and corporate teams discover and live their purpose, Liz draws inspiration from her childhood challenges with alcoholic parents. Her determination to rise above and make a difference led to the creation of Core Growth, LLC, building on her experience with Horses Healing Hearts (HHH), a charity she’s operated since 2009.

HHH combines counseling, horsemanship and riding to equip the kids with essential tools for a healthy and successful life. Liz attributes her success with Core Growth to overcoming childhood challenges, which culminated in her tenacity, resilience and determination.

A resident of West Palm Beach, Liz reflects on her journey, saying, “Working with more than 10,000 adults in recovery over the last decade through one of the HHH programs has allowed me to understand the root of the challenges many face— primarily centered around connection and discovering their authentic selves.”

Motivated by gratitude for transformative blessings, Liz founded HHH to pay it forward. The unique charity gained recognition on MSNBC’s Morning Joe in November 2023 and in the August 2023 issue of Woman’s World. It also played a central role in the movie “Without Wings.”

561-713-6133

coregrowthpb.com

MICHAEL CONNOR PHOTOGRAPHY

THE BEST OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Nina Presman FOUNDER

ANTI AGING CENTER OF BOCA

Everyone wants to feel confident and like what they see in the mirror! Nina Presman turned this desire into her life’s journey. She initially focused on her own body and face sculpting when she started the Anti Aging Center of Boca, and created the revolutionary technology that reversed the signs of aging on her face and body

AGELESS technology is exclusive to Anti Aging Center of Boca and was developed to replace the traditional plastic surgery. The Face & Neck lift treatments replace the facelift at a much more affordable price with permanent and immediate results that are seen immediately after the procedure. “I look better at 60 than I did at 37!” she proudly says. “Nobody should have to hide their age, because now we can finally be truly AGELESS!”

“We remove crepey skin on the arms and legs, all the loose skin around the waist and abdomen, and all the fat that adds unwanted inches. An average person loses 3 to 6 inches of fat per treatment with measurable results before they even leave,” Nina states, adding that she is so confident in the results of these treatments that Anti Aging Center of Boca has adopted the policy, “If you don’t lose, you don’t pay!” This means that if there are no visible results right after the treatment, the client will not be charged: “Our clients can’t believe how great they look afterwards,” she adds.

561-654-0177

antiagingcenterofboca.com

Please join us for our Thirteenth Annual

Grand Awards Celebration

Our members will gather and vote on which nonprofit finalists will receive our multiple high-impact $100,000 grants.

Luncheon at Boca West Country Club

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

10:00 AM Mimosa Reception

11:30 AM - 1:15 PM Program

Marta Batmasian

Presenting Sponsor

Media Sponsor

Impact 100 Palm Beach County connects, engages, and inspires women to improve our community by collectively funding multiple $100,000 grants to nonprofits that implement high-impact initiatives in southern Palm Beach County.

We fund grants in each of five focus areas: Arts, Culture & Historic Preservation; Education; Environment & Animal Welfare; Family; and Health & Wellness.

RSVP required by April 22, 2024 at www.eventbrite.com

Find answers and inspirations behind a select group of local experts who took the time to share their insights with us.

Learn the latest from some familiar faces you’re sure to recognize, and be introduced to some new ones; all eager to shed light on what they do best.

While the scope of their services varies, their professions and passions provide us with food for thought and new resources to embark upon, page by page.

The Expert in Non-Surgical Aesthetic Excellence

Dr. Janet Allenby, Founder & Owner ALLENBY COSMETIC DERMATOLOGY & BODYSQUAD

In the realm of cosmetic dermatology, Dr. Janet Allenby stands as a beacon of expertise and innovation. With an illustrious career spanning nearly three decades in the vibrant landscape of South Florida, Dr. Allenby is more than a medical professional—she’s an artist dedicated to harmonizing medical prowess with an aesthetic touch.

Dr. Allenby’s approach goes beyond traditional dermatology; it’s about sculpting timeless beauty that enhances both the physical and mental well-being of her patients. Acknowledging the profound impact appearances wield in today’s society, Dr. Allenby guides her patients on an aesthetic journey, providing the tools, treatments and candid advice needed to age gracefully.

AQHow do you address your patients’ aging concerns and aesthetic goals?

My passion lies in helping patients actualize their aesthetic goals using cutting-edge technology in injectable products, devices and skin care. Each patient undergoes a comprehensive assessment, leading to a personalized treatment plan targeting specific concerns. Our most sought-after services include skin rejuvenation, facial balancing and structural correction, with the aim of minimizing downtime and delivering efficient, effective results.

AQWhat is BodySquad?

BodySquad is wholly dedicated to non-invasive BodySculpting services, including CoolSculpting, CoolTone, Morpheus8 and Resonic. From permanently reducing stubborn pockets of fat to building muscle, our specialists are adeptly trained to help patients reach their goals without resorting to surgery or enduring downtime. We’re particularly excited about our newest offerings—Semiglutide and Tirzepatide—a safe and effective weight loss solution.

Q What has contributed to your success and notoriety in medical aesthetics?

AHaving been at the forefront of cosmetic dermatology since its inception, I’ve cultivated a deep understanding of what works best for people. Whether correcting procedures done elsewhere or guiding patients towards their best selves, our mission is clear: to have patients feel and look their best. Because, as we firmly believe, looking good feels good!

561-499-0299

Allenbydermatology.com

561-903-4945

Thebodysquad.com

The Expert in Financial Advice and Wealth Management

Elizabeth M. Bennett, MBA Principal and Certified Financial Planner ™ INTERCOASTAL WEALTH PLANNING

Certified Financial Planner™ and Certified Financial Fiduciary Beth Bennett often “talks her clients off the ledge,” with sound advice and personal concern for their fears when the state of the market takes a plunge. Her decades of experience provides clients with a breadth of solutions for their wealth management and a voice of calm to forge a plan together, in both good and bad times in the market.

Q Why is now a good time to invest?

A

There are times that are better than others, but you shouldn’t wait for those times to invest on a regular basis. If you are truly dollar costs averaging in the market, you’re going to get the highs and you’re going to get the lows. It’s better to consistently invest instead of trying to time the market.

Q Why is compound interest the greatest secret of smart investing?

A Compound investing of compound interest is really what growing your wealth is about. For example, if you had $250,000 invested at an average rate of 6 percent a year, at the end of the 20 years, the account value would be worth about $800,000. In contrast, if you postponed investing for 10 years, it would only be worth about $440,000.

Q Are there tax updates for 2024?

AYes, the brackets are changing, so it is always good to review your withholdings with your tax professional to make sure you are withholding enough. Under withholding penalties are also increasing. The gifting amount is increasing to $18,000. The standard deduction is increasing to $14,600 for single and $29,200 for married filing jointly. The federal estate tax exemption is increasing from $12.92 million to $13.61 million.

561-210-7339

Intercoastalwealth.com

PHOTO: MICHAEL CONNOR PHOTOGRAPY

The Expert in Medical Malpractice

Gary M. Cohen, Partner, Malpractice Lawyer GROSSMAN ROTH YAFFA COHEN

Throughout his 43-year tenure, Gary M. Cohen has been instrumental in securing compensation for hundreds of individuals and families grappling with the devastating aftermath of medical malpractice incidents in Florida and beyond. “I advocate for people’s rights,” says the partner at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen. His extensive experience has made him well-versed in all fields of medicine, a crucial asset in his role as a medical malpractice lawyer, where he adeptly handles incidents ranging from surgical errors and strokes to cardiology and maternal mortality. Cohen’s tireless efforts in battling against doctors and hospitals have left an indelible mark on the legal landscape. His enduring mission is to assist families in navigating life after medical malpractice, making the challenging journey more bearable for those impacted.

AQHow do you stay at the forefront of developments in medical malpractice law?

I keep up with any new laws, statutes or court decisions that affect the medical malpractice litigation in Florida and receive the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) several times a day by email. I also speak to my expert witnesses in particular areas of medicine if there’s something I’m not aware of.

AQWhat’s your mission for your practice?

It is my goal to be the best in every way so that my clients get full and fair compensation. I have also grown increasingly concerned about the future of medical care for our younger generations. This unease comes from the influence of private hospital ownership, which is affecting both the quality of care and the legislative landscape for medical malpractice cases in Florida.

AQWhat else do you want our readers to know about you and your firm?

Our firm is known for what we do through the excellence of our work seen by other lawyers, judges, prior clients, and litigation organizations. We are a firm that pushes our cases quickly but comprehensively. I’m very proud to be a partner in this law firm because of the excellence we strive for and the care we see our clients receive.

866.629.1061

grossmanroth.com

PHOTO: JASON NUTTLE

The Expert in Aesthetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery

Rafael Cabrera, MD, FACS, Founder PLASTIC SURGERY SPECIALISTS OF BOCA RATON

For more than two decades, Rafael Cabrera, MD, FACS, a double board-certified plastic surgeon, has dedicated himself to the art and science of aesthetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, neck and eyes. Renowned for his artistry and compassion, Dr. Cabrera is a recognized expert in cosmetic elective procedures, as well as in melanoma and skin cancer reconstruction. He earned his medical degree and completed his surgical residency at New York University School of Medicine and has authored more than 20 textbook chapters and research articles.

Q What defines a good facelift?

AA good facelift means you look beautifully natural without any evidence of cosmetic intervention. Strategic tightening of the muscle layer and ligaments is often necessary to get a more rejuvenated contour. Additionally, the augmentation of natural tissue, such as with one’s own fat and stem cells, will counteract facial deflation associated with aging.

Q What procedures are popular for men?

A

In an era when men now work longer, play harder, and maintain muscle mass, the synchronization of their appearance with physical vitality becomes paramount. Procedures like eye and neck lifts are popular choices to refresh and enhance their aging visage. Success, from Dr. Cabrera’s perspective, is when friends and family are unable to pinpoint why one looks so good!

561-393-6400 pssbocaraton.com

PHOTO:JASON NUTTLE

The Expert in Luxury Watches

Danny Goldsmith, Owner GOLDSMITH & COMPLICATIONS

Perched strategically atop The Wine Room Kitchen & Bar in Delray Beach, it takes intention to follow the wallpapered staircase up to Goldsmith & Complications. But once inside the elegant boutique, the eclectic array of watches and jewelry will surely blow your mind. Fueled by his fascination for the intricate, mechanical artistry of handcrafted Swiss watches and clocks, Goldsmith opened his showroom to bring the world’s best watches to Delray and help make the town a destination for the global community of watch collectors.

Q

AAre you an authorized watch dealer?

Yes, I am an authorized retailer for all the new watches and clocks we have in the boutique, including brands like Urwerk, Genus, Oris and Purnell. Along with all the new timepieces, we also offer a constantly changing selection of pre-owned watches from some of the most popular brands. We guarantee the authenticity of all the used watches we sell to ensure peace of mind.

Q

AWhy carry G-Shock when you have such expensive watches?

Price isn’t always the best way to measure a watch’s value. I love G-Shocks because putting one on always puts me in a good mood! G-Shocks are functional, fun, durable, and addictively collectible. You’d be surprised how many high-end collectors are big G-Shock fans, too.

Q What are those unique sculptures with watch pieces floating inside?

ABerd Vay’e makes all of those. The artist is passionate about watches and incorporates that into the sculptures, which contain hundreds—and sometimes thousands—of vintage watch parts. They’re suspended in Lucite shaped like everything from skulls and spheres to cubes and chess pieces. I love baseball, so I commissioned a limited series of mini bats that include a mix of watch parts and pieces from a bat used in a Major League game.

561.332.3747

goldsmithandcomplications.com

The Expert in HandCrafted Luxurious Gowns & Special Occasion Evening Wear

Andrea Karabatsos, Owner and Designer JENNA STUDIO

“Jenna Studio in Town Center at Boca Raton is a physical manifestation of my extraordinary visions of how women should look and feel on their special day,” explains boutique owner Andrea Karabatsos.

Canadian-born and acclaimed for her 25 years as a fashion designer in Quebec, Andrea has the power, perception and inspiration to guide her clients to being open-minded to trying designs they may have never imagined themselves wearing, whether they are a size 2 or 22.

“Clients quickly learn that they can all look stunning if they are willing to trust me. It is then that their dream dresses and gowns come to life before their eyes, often bringing tears of joy and amazement,” she assures.

Q Why do you have your designs created in Canada?

AThe linings that are used and the boning to hold your body in place that offer modern, elegant shapes can only be found in Canada. My seamstresses work on each individual piece, not machines; that changes everything, as well as the fact that modifying garments is possible because they are cut and sewn by hand, so the patterns can be adjusted and crafted for special orders with a very quick turnaround.

Q How does boning enhance the design of your gowns?

AThe gowns are boned and lined to create a well-crafted piece that takes time, but it definitely shows. That’s how you can tell a quality garment from the ones that are mass-produced. Fit is equally important during this process. When a quality garment is cut and produced, its specific style and fit is imperative, and basically suits EVERY size.

Q Why do clients keep coming back to Jenna Studio for special occasions?

A I am honest, fiercely passionate and knowledgeable, and clients feel that instantly. We want all women to feel inspired the second they walk in our door. That feeling is an extension of my raison d’être—super powerful.

561-888-3378

Jennasstudio.com

PHOTO: MICHAEL CONNOR PHOTOGRAPY

The Expert in Advanced Face and Body Sculpting Technology

Nina Presman, Founder ANTI AGING CENTER OF BOCA

Nina Presman has been transforming clients’ faces, bodies and lives since starting the Anti Aging Center of Boca in 2014. With a background in psychology, nutrition and personal training, she has worked hard to help women and men feel good about their bodies and gain back confidence. Nina revolutionized the body sculpting technology Alfa Lypolysis with HIFU, which completely liquifies and melts the undesired fat cells on all levels, resulting in immediate and permanent loss of inches, lifting and rejuvenating the skin, and building collagen without side effects, pain or downtime.

Q Can your technology replace a face and neck lift as well as a liposuction and tummy tuck?

AThis technology delivers immediate and permanent results. Whether we work on your face, neck or body, it completely replaces all known surgical procedures that include lifting, tightening and fat removal. I am my best customer and I created this process for myself, because I do not believe in aging at all!

Q

What are the benefits of non-surgical procedures, as opposed to surgical procedures?

A There is no downtime with non-surgical procedures (like this one), and no anesthesia. You do not have to be taken through the surgical procedure itself; there’s no pain and no side effects. You can see 90 percent of your results before you even leave the spa/center. And there’s no swelling and no draining, like with a face-lift or tummy tuck. You just need to drink water and walk to activate your lymphatic system.

Q What are the advantages of your technologies over others?

AOur technology is the only one that can permanently and painlessly remove all sagging skin whether it’s on your face, jawline, neck, or arms and legs right in front of your eyes. We even guarantee the results: if it doesn’t work you don’t pay!

561-654-0177

antiagingcenterofboca.com

BIBLIOPHILE

Brenda Medore & LeeAnn Adair

FIRST EDITION

David & Paige Emilhovich

Wally & Carly Yoost Robert & Francine Shanfield

NOVELIST

Mark & Rebecca Walsh

BEST SELLER

Gary & Dr. Regine Bataille

Tom & Chiara Clark

private education camp guide 2024

The following section presents helpful information provided by prominent private schools and camps in Palm Beach County.

All listings include a brief synopsis of the programs’ achievements, curriculum highlights, and many more important details families look for when choosing the best fit for their children.

This comprehensive guide is designed to help you make informed decisions at a glance.

It’s Nice to Be Recognized!

SCHOOL IN FLORIDA

Being ranked as the top Jewish school in Florida and #3 in the nation is a prestigious recognition.

It also underscores what our families and alumni already know — DKJA provides an exceptional K-12 college preparatory education. Our comprehensive dual curriculum of rigorous academics and character-building Judaic studies prepares students for admission to the best colleges and universities and instills the wisdom to navigate a complex world.

Email admissions@dkja.net to schedule a personal tour and discover all DKJA has to offer.

JEWISH

Private Education & Summer Camp Guide

ADVENT SCHOOL

- Grades: Infants - 8th - Tuition Range: $5,000 - $15,000

- Students: 450

- Student-Teacher Ratio: Varies by class

- Denomination: Christian

At Advent, your child will become a CONFIDENT, CAPABLE, CHRISTIAN LEADER making a difference in the world! Advent combines rigorous academics with leadership development in a safe environment. Innovative programs include Elementary & Middle School STEM enrichment, 1:1 technology, Spanish for K -8 th grade as well as Dual Language and Emergent Reader groups in the Early Childhood School. Advent also provides opportunities in spiritual growth, fine arts, robotics and athletics. Aftercare and camp programs offer engaging extra-curricular activities. We accept VPK vouchers and state scholarships (FTC, FES-EO and FES-UA). Need based tuition assistance is available. Advent serves Infants to 8th Grade – you can grow with us!

300 E. Yamato Road • Boca Raton • 561.395.3631 • AdventSchoolBoca.org

FRENCH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

- Grades: K - 8th - Tuition: $12,500

- Students: 100

- Virtual Classes: Optional

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 16

- Denomination: Non-sectarian, Co-educational

The French American International School (FAIS) offers a bilingual dual curriculum, satisfying American and French academic standards. As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, FAIS offers the PYP to all primary school students. Students not only become proficient in a second or third language but have access to an array of enrichments courses. Call us for a visit: (561) 479.8266. Merci!

2500 NW 5th Avenue • Boca Raton • 561.479.8266 • Faisbr.org

LEVIS JCC MARLEEN FORKAS CAMP AT THE J

- Ages: 2-16 (entering 10th grade)

- Price Range: $580 - $7,200

- Counselor/Camper Ratio: 1:5

- Dates: June 10 - August 2

The Levis JCC has been providing children of all ages with unforgettable summers since 1986. Our dedicated, caring team is committed to making the camp experience the best it can be for every child, every summer. Our full-day camp program offers exciting activities, convenient schedules and experienced staff. We provide kids the freedom to learn and grow while developing skills that prepare them for future success. With a culture built on universally accepted moral ideals as well as strong Jewish values, we incorporate respect, honor, good sportsmanship and teamwork into all that we do. Campers from all backgrounds are welcome.

21050 95th Avenue S. • Boca Raton • 561.852.5090 • Levisjcc.org/camp

PINE CREST SCHOOL FORT LAUDERDALE

- Grades: PreK - 12th - Tuition Range: $35,245 - $44,880

- Students: 1,842

- Virtual Classes: No

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 9:1

- Denomination: Independent

True to tradition and inspired by innovation, Pine Crest School offers a researchbased, challenging curriculum complemented by arts and athletics. We believe that building social and emotional competencies in a safe, secure, and inclusive learning environment is fundamental to our students’ success. Pine Crest classrooms foster creativity and innovation, giving students opportunities to practice ethical thought leadership and to become curious, adaptable learners. Our goal is to send our graduates out into the world as leaders who know their strengths and who have the courage to challenge norms, break barriers, and move forward with confidence. #PCFutureReady

1501 NE 62nd Street • Fort Lauderdale

954.492.4100

DONNA KLEIN JEWISH ACADEMY

- Grades: K - 12th - Tuition Range: $27,800 - $31,500

- Students: 680

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 7:1

- Denomination: Jewish

Donna Klein Jewish Academy (DKJA) provides an education of extraordinary power and purpose for each of its students through a rigorous curriculum designed to meet the individual needs of a diverse student population. DKJA offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities including JV and Varsity sports, and an extensive fine arts program including music, dance, drama, and visual arts. Our students are provided with the skills and knowledge required for success in college and beyond.

9701 Donna Klein Blvd • Boca Raton • 561.852.3310 • DKJA.net

GRANDVIEW PREPARATORY SCHOOL

- Grades: EC 3 - 12th - Tuition Range: $16,900 - $28,300

- Students: 350

- Virtual Classes: Yes

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 8:1

- Denomination: Independent

Grandview Preparatory School is an independent private school committed to the philosophy that education is a personal endeavor. At Grandview, we are not simply preparing students to be great students, but rather extraordinary individuals who are curious, confident, and have the social and emotional skills to navigate the modern world in a healthy and enriching way. Our students have ample opportunities to engage in real-life experiences on and off campus that prepare them for life beyond school. Nestled in a residential neighborhood in Boca Raton located on Spanish River Boulevard, east of Florida Atlantic University, west of the Atlantic Ocean, we welcome you to visit with us and experience our community.

336 Spanish River Blvd. NW • Boca Raton • 561.416.9737 • Grandviewprep.net

PINE CREST SCHOOL BOCA RATON

- Grades: PreK - 8 - Tuition Range: $35,245 - $41,280

- Students: 857

- Virtual Classes: No

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 9:1

- Denomination: Independent

True to tradition and inspired by innovation, Pine Crest School offers a researchbased, challenging curriculum complemented by arts and athletics. We believe that building social and emotional competencies in a safe, secure, and inclusive learning environment is fundamental to our students’ success. Pine Crest classrooms foster creativity and innovation, giving students opportunities to practice ethical thought leadership and to become curious, adaptable learners. Our goal is to send our graduates out into the world as leaders who know their strengths and who have the courage to challenge norms, break barriers, and move forward with confidence. #PCFutureReady

2700 St. Andrews Boulevard • Boca Raton • 561.852.2800 • pinecrest.edu

SAINT JOHN PAUL II ACADEMY

- Grades: 9th - 12th - Tuition Range: $15,250 - $16,000

- Students: 600

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 14:1

- Denomination: Catholic Based

Saint John Paul II Academy, located in Boca Raton, Florida, is a Catholic coeducational college preparatory school in the Diocese of Palm Beach following the tradition of Saint John Baptist De La Salle and the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Saint John Paul II Academy provides a rigorous academic curriculum designed to prepare students for success in college and in life. Our faith-based learning community fosters excellence in all programs and enables the spiritual, academic, artistic, and physical development of each student. Dedicated faculty and staff instill the Gospel values of tolerance, concern for the poor, justice, peace, and responsibility while welcoming students of all beliefs and backgrounds.

4001 N. Military Trail

Private Education & Summer Camp Guide

SPACE OF MIND

- Grades: K - 8th - Tuition Range: $0 - $35,000

- Students: 45

- Virtual Classes: No

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 3:1

- Denomination: None

Space of Mind (SOM) is a boutique educational experience, designed for our modern, social world. We provide a creative, flexible and personalized educational environment that fosters social, emotional and academic growth for all kinds of learners, including children, parents, adults, families and educators.

SPANISH RIVER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

- Grades: PreK3 – 8th - Tuition Range: $5,244 - $13,881

- Students: 540

- Student-Teacher Ratio: 14:1

- Denomination: Presbyterian

Preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. Academic program K-8th with high quality, challenging academics enhanced by robust technology innovation in the classrooms; leadership skill building; strong fine arts and performing arts programs; critical thinking and project based learning. High school-level honors Algebra 1, Geometry, and Spanish I for middle school students. Accredited by CSF and MSA. Before and after-school programs. Interscholastic Sports program. After school enrichment. State-of-the-art technology, including 3-D printing, video productions, coding. Competitive robotics. Stanford Achievement Test. Lunch program. Clinic with full-time nurse. Uniforms required. Parent-Teacher Fellowship. Summer Camp. New STEM Lab, Art Studio, and Dance/Exercise room opening at the start of the 2024-25 school year.

102 N. Swinton Ave. • Delray Beach • 561.894.8772 • findspaceofmind.com

ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL

2400 Yamato Rd • Boca Raton • 561.994.5006 • Spanishriverchristianschool.com

THE STUDY LOUNGE SUMMER CAMP

- Grades: 5th - 9th - Pricing: Starting at $275/Week

- Students: 410

- Grades: PS3-8th - Tuition Range: $5,220 - $13,630 - Student-Teacher Ratio: Varies

- Denomination: Lutheran

Since 1962, St. Paul has been an accredited traditional Christian school in East Boca Raton. We offer leveled reading and math groups, art, music, band, advanced technology, physical education, Spanish, as well as STEM in grades 6-8. Our nurturing Early Childhood program is developmentally appropriate and offers flexible days and times. After care and summer camp are available. Our Parent Teacher League offers many opportunities for parents to be involved. Contact us for a tour or more information.

A Family Fostering a Foundation for the Future!

701 W. Palmetto Road Park Road • Boca Raton • 561.395.8548 • stpaulbocaschool.com

TRINITY DELRAY LUTHERAN SCHOOL

- Grades: Age 1 – 8th - Tuition Range: $5,000 - $12,500

- Students: 450

- Student-Teacher Ratio: Varies

- Denomination: Lutheran

Trinity Delray, Excellence in Christian education since 1948. For over seventy years, Trinity Delray Lutheran School has been providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment. Trinity Delray is committed to providing the best instructional environment for students. Trinity Delray is a Cambridge International School. Cambridge International helps students become confident, responsible, reflective, innovative, engaged, and ready to tackle the demands of tomorrow’s world, capable of shaping a better world for the future. We offer class sizes that give students the opportunity to have curriculum differentiated to their needs. Trinity Delray students develop critical thinking skills that are needed to be successful after elementary and middle school.

400 N Swinton Ave • Delray Beach • 561.276.8458 • Trinitydelray.org

WAVES SURF ACADEMY

- Camp Type: Surf Camp - Camp Rate: $350 Weekly / $100 Daily / M-F

- Camp Ages: 5-15

- Camp Times: 9:00 A.M -2:30 P.M.

- Camp Dates: Spring Break Mar. 18th - 22nd • Summer Break Jun. 3rd - Aug. 23rd

Waves Surf Academy Surf Camp is located at The Delray Breakers on the Ocean Hotel in Delray Beach,FL. This location offers spring & summer surf camp programs. The camp provides surf instruction for all levels. Camp activities include surfing, paddle boarding, boogie boarding, snorkeling, swimming in the pool, beach games, marine biology lessons, water safety lessons, arts and crafts & much more! The camp is located on a private beach with a kids club room which is ideal for weather shelter in case of weather anomalies. All instructors are lifeguard certified and background checked. Don’t miss another wave - register online today!

561.843.0481 • Delray Beach • wavessurfacademy.com

- Students: 20

- Dates: June 10th - Aug 2nd

Dreading the screentime summer brings? Time to put phones down and turn the creativity up! Join us as The Study Lounge becomes The SUMMER Lounge! The day is filled with crafts, cooking, STEM activities and so much more! Field trips every Friday in the Marketplace (arcade, bowling, movies) and in-house escape rooms! Camp runs from 9-3:30 with before and aftercare available. Rates start as low as $275/week. Bring a friend and get a discount or come make new friends that will last a lifetime! Enroll by May 1st to save an extra 15%!

9089 W. Atlantic Ave Unit 112 • Delray Beach • 561-822-6018 • thestudylounge.com

TWISTERS GYMNASTICS BOCA RATON

- Ages: 5th - 10th - Pricing: From $476/Weekly

- Dates: Beginning June 3rd

- Denomination: Gymnastics

Whether your child spends a session, a day, a week or the whole summer at Twisters, their time here will be filled with loads of fun! Our professional and safety certified staff will lead your children in gymnastics instruction, games, organized activities, fitness, arts & crafts, and supervised play in our fun, clean, safe, and fully air conditioned facility! Dates may vary at each location.

3100 NW Boca Raton Blvd #308 • Boca Raton • 561.750.6001 • Twistergymnastics.com 6805 Lyons Technology Circle • Coconut Creek • 954.725.9199

DELRAY Insider

ADVERTISING • PROMOTIONS • EVENTS

MILAGRO CENTER PRESENTS OUR "BACK TO THE 90'S" FUNDRAISING GALA

Celebrating when Milagro Center, in Delray Beach, opened and began creating miracles for the underserved children and teens enrolled in our afterschool and out-of-school time programs to carry them forward successfully in life. A fun evening including Open Bar, Dinner and Dancing, Live Entertainment, Auctions and Miracle Making. Join us on May 4th 2024 from 7pm to 11pm at Lakeside Terrace in Boca Raton and support the wonderful work Milagro Center does in our community. To Purchase Tickets: auctria.events/90s.

Milagro Center

561.279.2970, Ext. 112 milagrocenter.org

LOOK GOOD AND FEEL GOOD

Dr. Janet Allenby is a world-renowned Cosmetic Dermatologist who specializes in customized beautification techniques. Her unique eye and crafted skill allow her to take her patients' natural beauty to the next level. Her Cosmetic Dermatology Practice utilizes fillers, lasers, devices, and skincare to provide specific solutions to each patient's unique concerns. In addition, she is the founder of BodySquad, a one of a kind clinic completely dedicated to non-invasive BodySculpting treatments like CoolSculpting, CoolTone, Morpheus, Resonic, and Semaglutide.

Allenby Cosmetic Dermatology BodySquad

561.499.0299

561.903.4945 allenbydermatology.com thebodysquad.com

VOYAGE BOUTIQUE

Voyage Boutique is a hidden gem in Delray beach, off the beaten path. It offers a wide variety of styles from casual to evening wear. Shop in a friendly atmosphere. Alterations are done on the premises, while having a glass of wine. Find your travel jewelry, and your must have hand bag. Voyage boutique is open Monday thru Saturday from 10am to 4:30pm.

400 Gulfstream Boulevard Delray Beach, FL 33444 561-279-2984

voyageboutique.com

EMPTY BOWLS DELRAY

WHAT: The Palm Beach County Food Bank’s annual Empty Bowls Delray event returned for its eighth year to help ensure that food-insecure Palm Beach residents could put meals on the table for the holidays. Chaired by Diane and John Brewer and honorary chair Stephanie Dodge, last year’s Empty Bowls brought in hundreds of local supporters for a humble meal of bread and soup to “eat simply so others can simply eat.” Guests were also treated to live music and entertainment, as well as the opportunity to purchase bowls hand-crafted by the community. Participating restaurants included Old School Bakery, which graciously provided the fresh bread, 800 Palm Trail, Belladukes, Burt & Max’s, and more.

WHERE: Trinity Delray Lutheran Church

Bob and Diane Stone

John and Diane Brewer

George Elmore and Marti LaTour

John Acello, Jamie Kendall and Eileen Acello

Laura Reiss, LaShaundra Highsmith and Marla Garchik

Capehart

Linda Lake and Geri Grocki

Tom Markert, Juli Casale, Ryan Boylston

Jamelle Murray, Todd Zimmerman, Jamall Hunte

Stephanie Dodge and Louise Glover

Chuck Halberg, Amy Bernstein, Stephen Greene

13TH-ANNUAL QUANTUM IN THE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST

WHAT: The Quantum Foundation’s annual Quantum in the Community Breakfast returned for the first time since COVID to celebrate the smaller nonprofit organizations that tirelessly dedicate themselves to bettering Palm Beach County. During the breakfast, the Quantum Foundation donated $1 million to more than 120 grassroots organizations, including Delray Beach’s CityHouse, a nonprofit dedicated to providing aid to mothers and children experiencing homelessness; and PROPEL, a Boca-based nonprofit that promotes educational and leadership development for less fortunate youth. The Quantum Foundation also announced that Quantum in the Community will add an additional $250,000 in 2024’s grantgiving budget, bringing the total distributed to $1.25 million. To date, Quantum in the Community has donated more than $10 million to small local groups, many of which operate from spare bedrooms or churches.

WHERE: Riviera Beach Marina

Tracey Benson Photography

Juanita Brown, Twengela Brown

Shandra Stringer, Glenice Glover

Kristin Carstarphen, Debra Tendrich Bradley Hurston, Michael Dixon, Brian Kilpatrick

Dr. Gerald O’Connor, Quantum in the Community co-chair Dr. Ron Romear

Tracey Graham, Eric Kelly, Triesta Hatten

Gerald O’Connor, M.D., Mary Jill Hanson, Ronald Romear, M.D., Yolette Bonnet, Karl Dhana, M.D., Michael Dixon, William Meyer, Bradley Hurston, Brian Kirkpatrick, Stephen Moore

SHOP & SIP

WHAT: The Royal Poinciana Plaza hosted a luxurious Shop & Sip to benefit the Children’s Foundation of Palm Beach County. Attendees enjoyed a rosé bar, light bites, drinks, music, a silent auction and more to benefit the nonprofit’s mission of funding projects in the Boca Raton and Palm Beach County areas to aid at-risk children and their families. The event served as a kickoff for the third-annual Walk the Walk held the next day at Post Park in West Palm Beach, and the combined amount of funds raised between the events was more than $270,000.

WHERE: The Royal Poinciana Plaza

Anne & Elliot Bloom

Shelly and Arthur Adler

Brenda Axelrod and Judy Ruttenberg

Nora Kendal, Miriam Easterkis, Richard Cooper

Randi Henry and Hilary Cooper

Capehart

Stuart and Sharyn Frankel

Pamela Weinroth and Richard Zenker

TASTE OF RECOVERY

WHAT: Delray’s acclaimed foodie festival changed locations from Old School Square for its fifth year but brought the same great tastes to its new venue at the American German Club in Lake Worth Beach. More than 800 guests enjoyed bites crafted by top chefs from some of the most notable Palm Beach restaurants, as well as live music and entertainment. The event, chaired by Christopher and Joan Finley, raised more than $100,000 to benefit The Crossroads Club, a Delray-based nonprofit that for the past 40 years has dedicated itself to providing a safe haven for those suffering from substance abuse disorders. Restaurant partners included Louie Bossi’s Ristorante, Bar & Pizzeria; City Cellar Wine Bar & Grill; and many more. The “People’s Choice” Award for “Best Bite” went to City Oyster & Sushi Bar for its Maine Lobster Roll, and Little Moir’s Hibiscus strEATery and J&J Seafood also took home awards for Critics’ Choice.

WHERE: American German Club

NYCZ Productions

Sydney Soldatov, Georgia Melita, Janine Giamboi Jordan Stilley, executive chef at City Oyster

John Hutchinson, owner and chef of J&J Seafood

Marion Oates and Mike Munger

Louie Bossi’s Ristorante at Taste of Recovery

Chris and Joan Finley

Seated: Conor Hamlin and Tony Allerton; standing: Tracy Allerton, John Snellman, Jeff Michaud

ASK THE EXPERTS LUNCHEON

WHAT: Supporters of Cleveland Clinic Florida were treated to an opulent lunch at Palm Beach’s Café Boulud and received the opportunity to hear about the latest in medical advancements from neurological specialists. The Nancy Jones Beard Foundation underwrote the event, which featured a panel discussion moderated by Cleveland Clinic Florida Chief of Staff Dr. Joseph Iannotti. The topic for the event’s discussion centered on Cleveland Clinic’s new Neurological Institute, which provides cutting-edge neurological treatment for movement disorders, epilepsy, dementia and more. The event also served as a kickoff for the annual Cleveland Clinic Florida Ball on Feb. 24.

WHERE: Café Boulud

Seymour and Evelyn Holtzman

Kathryn and Leo Vecellio

Bud Hendrick and Dr. William Gans

Dr. Joseph Iannotti, Nancy and Gene Beard

Richard and Fay Kline

Capehart

Beth and Sean Lang

David and Suzanne Frisbie

Featuring fine wine, exquisite auctions, dinner, dogs and lots of fun between courses!

Robert Irvine is a world-class chef, entrepreneur, and philanthropist and the host of Food Network’s hit show Restaurant: Impossible. He has given struggling restaurateurs a second chance to turn their lives and businesses around in over 300 episodes and counting. He would know a thing or two about running a successful business. In addition to his restaurants—Robert Irvine’s Public House at the Tropicana in Las Vegas and Fresh Kitchen by Robert Irvine within the Pentagon—he is the owner of FitCrunch, whose protein bars, powders, and snacks are available nationwide.

dining guide

Your resource for Greater Delray Beach’s finest restaurants

STAFF PICK

Ask the Staff

Comfort-food recommendations from our very own tastemakers

Every month, the staff at Delray magazine works diligently behind the scenes to bring you the hottest trends, the latest local news, and captivating stories of the people in our community who make things happen. This time around, we thought it would be fun for them to share their favorite dishes they can’t wait to indulge in this year.

Everyone has that comforting, restorative dish you crave when your soul needs a pick-me-up. Think for a moment what yours is, and when your pulse begins to rise, and you start to salivate, you’ll instantly know what it is. And if you can’t think of one, perhaps this list can inspire you to start exploring our local dining scene.

Margaret Mary Shuff, President/Publisher La Nouvelle Maison’s lamb chops are delicious, and the beef short ribs melt in your mouth.

Marie Speed, Editor-In-Chief

Stone crabs, of course. This needs no explanation. And I need to have lunch at Farmer’s Table and have a big cup of their bone broth; I swear it makes me feel like a cross between a sheep farmer in Cornwall and a superhero. It is so good and cozy. As for Delray, the sky’s the limit, from warm rice salad at J&J to steaks at Avalon to a jaw-dropping dinner at Akira Back.

Lori Pierino, Art Director

A favorite of mine is the escarole and beans appetizer at Sazio in Delray Beach—and any dessert at La Nouvelle Maison.

Karen Kintner, Account Executive

I love Dada, with its beautiful banyan trees and delectable dishes. Favorites here are grilled brie with apples, toasted ciabatta fruit and honey butter to start, and the braised short ribs with green beans and mashed potatoes in a red wine gravy. Coco Sushi Lounge & Bar has excellent sushi in a delightful atmosphere. My favorites are crispy baby bok choy in a wonderful sauce and the lobster bomb—out of this world!

Tyler Childress, Web Editor

Barstool oysters from Racks Fish House + Oyster Bar. It’s a taste of the cold, salty North Atlantic. And an Italian combo sandwich from V&S Italian Deli, because there’s no better sandwich in Boca.

AARON BRISTOL

AARON BRISTOL

Lamb chops from La Nouvelle Maison

Stone crabs

Dessert from La Nouvelle Maison

Bone broth from Farmer’s Table

Barstool oysters from Racks

Tomahawk steak from Avalon

DINING KEY

$ Inexpensive: under $17

$$ Moderate: $18 to $35

$$$ Expensive: $36 to $50

$$$$ Very expensive: $50+

DELRAY BEACH

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-dusted 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-seafoodhouse 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. • Lunch and dinner daily, with patio dining. 561/865-5235. $$$

Akira Back—233 N.E. Second Ave. Japanese. Chef Akira Back’s Seoul restaurant 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. Born in Korea and raised in Colorado, Back blends his heritage with Japanese flavors and techniques he has mastered to deliver dishes that are unique to him. With plates made to be shared, the menu is divided into cold and hot starters followed by rolls, nigiri/sashimi, robata grill, mains and fried rice. Dinner nightly. 561/739-1708. $$$$

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. 561/278-3364. $$

Angelo Elia Pizza • Bar • Tapas— 16950 Jog Road. Italian. Nothing on the menu of Angelo Elia’s modCern, 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. • Dinner nightly. 561/381-0037. $$

Atlantic Grille—1000 E. Atlantic Ave. Seafood/ Contemporary American This posh restaurant in the luxurious Seagate Hotel & 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. 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 more. 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. • 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. A quintessential Delray gem. • Dinner Wed.-Sun. 561/749-0973. $

Bar 25 Gastropub— 25 S.E. Sixth Ave. American Taking inspiration from the Northeast, the menu boasts staples like Philly cheesesteak, Rhode Island clams, pierogis, Old Bay fries and plenty of mootz (aka mozzarella). Loyal to its gastropub DNA, dishes here aren’t complicated or complex but satisfying, interesting takes on the familiar without being boring. • Lunch and dinner daily, weekend brunch. 561/359-2643. $

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

Bar 25 bowl

Burt & Max’s—9089 W. Atlantic Ave. Contemporary American. This bastion of contemporary comfort food in west Delray 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 trufflescented 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 travelogue, 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. Open since 1993, and a success since then, 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. Diners can expect white tablecloths, tuxedoed staff and attentive service at this fine-dining restaurant. The wine list is Italian-focused but does offer a variety of bottles from around the world, and each dish is expertly prepared with sizable portions. The main dining room, with its vibey bar and wine cellar, is cozy, and so is its fully enclosed patio in the back. • 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 entrée options. • Dinner Mon.-Sat. Sunday brunch. 561/908-2557. $$

Costa By OK&M—502 E. Atlantic Ave.. Contemporary American. Hipper decor, a more casual vibe and an inventive take on steakhouse 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 appropriately tender and tasty. • Dinner nightly. 561/272-9898. $$

Cut 432—432 E. Atlantic Ave. Steakhouse. Hipper decor, a more casual vibe and an inventive take on steakhouse 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 appropriately tender and tasty. • Dinner nightly. 561/272-9898. $$$

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 menu has its quirky charms, too, like shake-n-bake pork chops with sweet-savory butter-

scotch onions, and a brownie-vanilla ice cream sundae with strips of five-spice powdered bacon. The wittily decorated 1920s-vintage house-turned-restaurant 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 approachable 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 toast 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 Wed.-Mon. 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. $$

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. $$

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 comfortable 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. $$$$

The Hampton Social—40 N.E. Seventh Ave. American. The Hampton Social is known for its “rosé all day” tagline, but it doesn’t just slay its rosé; its food is equally as tempting. It does a standout job of incorporating its casual coastal aesthetic into not just its décor but also its menu, from its seafood-centric dishes to its droll cocktail names like the vodka-forward I Like It a Yacht. Lunch and dinner daily, weekend brunch. 561/404-1155. $$

Henry’s—16850 Jog Road. American. This casual, unpretentious 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. • Lunch and dinner Tues.–Sat. 561/272-3390. $$

Jimmy’s Bistro—9 S. Swinton Ave. International Jimmy’s Bistro is a casual neighborhood concept serving consistently delightful dishes from a diverse menu that can transport diners to Italy with house-made pasta or Asia with its delicate dumplings and tender duck. • Dinner nightly. 561/865-5774. $$$

Joseph’s Wine Bar—200 N.E. Second Ave. Mediterranean-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 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. Highlights 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 Skuna Bay salmon, the branzino or the veal Bolognese. • Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 561/278-6241. $$$

Le Colonial—601 E. Atlantic Ave. Vietnamese French. Le Colonial radiates classic elegance that is as sophisticated as it is comfortable. Created to showcase Vietnamese cuisine and its French influences, Le Colonial has a standout method of curating classic Vietnamese

Grouper from J&J Seafood Bar & Grill

dishes that appeal to various palates, from meat lovers and pescatarians to vegetarians and everyone in between. The space immediately transports you back to Saigon’s tropical paradise of the 1920s. Lush birds of paradise and palms line the halls that lead into intimate dining nooks throughout the 7,000-square-foot restaurant. • Lunch (on weekends) and dinner. 561/566-1800. $$$

Lemongrass Bistro—420 E. Atlantic Ave. PanAsian. 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. 561/2785050. (Other Palm Beach County locations: 101 Plaza Real S., Boca Raton, 561/544-8181; 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. $

MIA Kitchen & Bar—7901 W. Atlantic Ave. Contemporary American. Owner Joey Lograsso and chef Jason Binder have curated a balanced choreography of fascinating yet approachable dishes. The menu travels the world from Italy to Asia and showcases Binder’s formal training with elevated dishes that are exceptionally executed. It’s vibey with a great playlist, and the design, reminiscent of a cool Wynwood bar, is industrial with exposed ducts, reclaimed wood and sculptural filament chandeliers. It’s a place that amps up all your senses. • Dinner Tues.-Sun. 561/499-2200. $$$

The Office—201 E. Atlantic Ave. Contemporary American. Your office is nothing like this eclectic gastropub, unless your office sports more than two dozen craft beers on tap. 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. $$

Papa’s Tapas—259 N.E. Second Ave. Spanish. This family-owned restaurant will make you feel welcomed, and its cuisine will satisfy your craving for Spanish tapas. Start with a few shareable plates and then enjoy a hearty paella that’s bursting with a selection of seafood, chicken or vegetables. • Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., dinner Sun. 561/266-0599. $

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. Second 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. $$$

Voyage Boutique has been sharing authentic French Fashion with South Florida for over 20 years.

10:00

Voyage Boutique may be tucked away from the bustling Avenue, but it stands out as a pinnacle of fashion. Whether you’re in search of casual wear, attire for a special occasion, or an elegant ensemble for a soiree, you’re guaranteed to discover it within our unique boutique.

When embarking on international travels, setting sail on a cruise, or preparing for the holiday season, your search ends here. Allow us to elevate your wardrobe with style and a touch of ‘je ne sais quoi.’

Voyage Boutique also serves as your European haven for handbags, belts, shoes, gifts, and more. We cater to all sizes, ranging from XS to 3X, and offer in-house alterations for a perfect fit.

Come join us for a shopping experience that transcends the ordinary and when you do, don’t forget to mention that you found us in Boca Mag.

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 standbys updated with delicious ingredients and high standards. Try the Monetcolored lobster risotto, or housemade pasta, pizza, bread and desserts. • 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. $$

Taki Omakase—632 E. Atlantic Ave. Japanese. Taki Omakase, a shining example of omakase done right, is pricy but worth it, so long as you love eating raw fish. Every night is different, because it prides itself on importing fish, meat and seasonal ingredients from Japan that arrive daily. So, if you do pine for the delicacies of the sea, buckle in and get ready for the talented chefs at Taki Omakase to guide you through a culinary journey unlike anything else. Dinner nightly, lunch hour Fri.-Sun. 561/759-7362. $$$$

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 authentic 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 cartoccio 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. Thincrust pizzas are family-friendly, but you won’t want to share the Quattro Formaggi Tortellini filled with al dente pear and topped with truffle cream. If you have room for dessert, the classic sweets include cannoli and a tiramisu. • Dinner nightly, brunch weekends. 561/278-9570. $$

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. $$$

PALM BEACH

Bice—313 Worth Ave. Italian. This 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 American. Casual elegance of Palm Beach meets modern culinary Miami at this hot 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 (not available during summer), the elegant lounge or the sophisticated dining room. • Dinner nightly. 561/655-6060. $$$

WEB EXTRA: check out our complete dining guide only at BOCAMAG.COM.

Scott McLean

Board Member, Herd Foundation

THEN: Armed with an associate’s degree in canine science, Scott McLean spent his entire career as a dog handler, working for a short time as a security officer at a major sporting arena and other facilities before joining the Air Force and, later, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. After enlisting in the military in the mid-1980s and going through rigorous canine training, McLean was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, doing base security before he was assigned to bases in California and New Mexico, where he and his canine partners served in more traditional police officer roles. Several of the cases, especially those involving babies and murdered teens, left a mark on him which, for decades, would spawn bad dreams, trigger chronic sorrow and even lead to painful thoughts.

NOW: It was after he attended an informal reunion of veterans he worked with that McLean went to the Veterans Administration center, where he was officially diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder. It was with a doctor at the VA’s office in Delray that McLean learned about the Herd Foundation, an organization that uses horses to help veterans with mental health issues. “That first session changed everything,” McLean says. “It is amazing what happens when you work with a horse. This brought perspective to my life.” McLean says he is now calmer and has “stopped having the bad dreams.” Working out of a horse farm tucked into an urban area just west of Delray Beach, the Herd Foundation focuses on connecting humans to horses so they can better connect with others and improve a sense of belonging. After successfully completing the programs offered, McLean was invited to become a facilitator working with other veterans and is now a member of the foundation’s board of directors.

“Even the hardest piece of granite can crack on the inside, but a horse can mend that crack in a person just by being a horse—if you let it.”

Scott McLean

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