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You've probably heard about all hot stuff going on along Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. Linda Bean's (as in L.L.) Perfect Maine Lobster Roll just opened (check back for a First Look next week). David Manero's The Of-fice (in the old Louie Louie Too space) is under major construction, and the long-shuttered Shore just around the corner is slated to become a fish 'n' burgers joint called Surf Sliders.
But one spot that has been getting local foodies hot is a couple blocks north of the town's restaurant row. It's Bamboo Fire Café on northeast 4th Avenue, and the res-taurant has a laid-back, funky charm that's matched by the sweet good humor of its husband-and-wife owners and its riotously flavorful home-style Caribbean fare.
Beverly and Donald Jacobs run Bamboo Fire as "labor of love," she says, which it
better be as they do it in the time off from their day jobs (she,
paralegal; he, auto technician). Donald runs the front of the house,
while Beverly, who has no formal culinary training, turns out curries
and jerks and other Caribbean specialties from a minuscule kitchen.
The
name "Bamboo Fire" comes from a folk song of her native Guyana, Beverly
says, and its folksy roots are reflected in the tiny dining room with
its corrugated sheet metal walls, low ceiling and Caribbean art-works,
and more spacious outdoor patio set with mismatched furniture and a
thatch-roofed tiki hut. Slam down a few frosty Banks beers (the pride
of Barbados) and kick back and enjoy what the crowds on Atlantic Avenue
are missing.
