When most people think of gourmand capitols, big cities like New York, San Francisco, or Chicago usually spring to mind.
But those who really know where to find good food, stick to the smaller foodie towns.
Charleston, South Carolina is one of the best small culinary cities in the country; and one of its best restaurants popped up at PB Catch last night as part of the Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival.
James Beard award winner Mike Lata brought down his award winning concept The Ordinary, which has made it to Esquire's list of "Best New Restaurants 2013," for a celebration of local, sustainable seafood.
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After putting off the opening of The Ordinary to participate in festival events last year, Lata and festival organizer David Sabin discussed bringing the now realized concept to the festival as a pop up dinner for this year.
Together the two decided to bring in local chefs to create local, sustainable seafood dishes inspired by the menu at The Ordinary, which prides itself on sourcing and celebrating local seafood by working closely with local fisherman.
"We had a conference call, followed by emails with the chefs," said Lata. "Everyone looked at the menu online and said what they wanted to do to interpret it and we took it from there."
Lata joined PB Catch's Aaron Black along with celebrity chef Dean Max -- who is working on bringing some new concepts to South Florida -- Zach Bell of Addison Reserve Country Club, and master pastry chef Patrick Leze of his namesake Patrick Leze bakery in Palm Beach.
Here's a peak at the menu:
- Lobster "minute" ceviche (basically, raw lobster), Florida citrus, coriander, and chili paired with Four Vines Naked Unoaked Chardonnay - Mike Lata
- Whitewater clam, Calabrian spiced tomato broth, bacon, and grilled red romaine matched to Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River River Ranches Chardonnay - Dean Max
- Grouper cheek schnitzel, Green Cay white acre peas, sweet and smoky grits, and sauce crustacé paired with Iron Horse Unoaked Chardonnay - Zach Bell
- Snowy grouper in "parchment," shrimp velouté and mousse, fennel, and banana buds with Sequana Russian River Valley Pinot Noir - Aaron Black
- Hazelnut dacquoise, praline feuilletté, chocolate ganache, and milk chocolate chantilly matched with Quinta do Noval Ten Year Tawny Port - Patrick Leze
The dinner was well attended by many of the visiting celebrity chefs, including Daniel Boulud, who cheered on his former protege Zach Bell as he took the mic to describe his dish.
Unfortunately, if you missed out on this one, you've got about a ten hour drive to sample The Ordinary's fare.
PB Catch is located at 251 Sunrise Ave. in Palm Beach. Call 561-655-5558, or visit pbcatch.com.
Follow Sara Ventiera on Twitter, @saraventiera.
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