Kubo Debuts in North Palm Beach

Pan-Asian-slash-fusion cuisine inspired by izakaya–the casual, tapas-style Japanese bistro–is what’s coming out of the kitchen at Kubo Asiatic Cuisine (1201 Hwy. 1, 561-776-7248), a newly opened eatery in North Palm Beach from former Mark’s CityPlace sushi chef Roy Villacrusis.  With a spare, clean look that matches its Japanese aesthetic, Kubo…

Café de France to Become Carpe Diem

A new look, new menu, and new name are all in the cards for Delray Beach’s popular French bistro-bakery Café de France.By the end of the year, chef-owner Olivier La Gloahec aims to have completed a major expansion of the chic but tiny eatery, adding some 70 seats on a…

Pinon Grill Coming to Boca Town Center

A menu of accessible modern American cuisine and décor modeled after the Prairie School movement of Frank Lloyd Wright mark the latest restaurant to set up shop in the Town Center mall in Boca Raton.  Pinon Grill (6000 Glades Road; 561-391-7770) makes its debut this Saturday in sprawling mall’s Terrace…

“Farm to Table,” Asian Fusion Eateries to Debut in Delray

The rich just keep getting richer, on Atlantic Avenue as well as Wall Street. Or at least, that’s one way of looking at coming debuts of two more high-style, high-concept eateries on what’s become Delray Beach’s increasingly trendy Restaurant Row.  Set to open in the next few months are Atlantic…

Sweet Greens Opens in Palm Beach Gardens

Looking to hit that “gourmet but affordable” sweet spot, according to proprietor Tim McGowan, is Sweet Greens Market (4807 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens, 561-624-0857), which snuck open on Wednesday but is hosting a weekend grand opening party this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 6 and 7.  The indoor market will…

Chipotle and Sweet Tomatoes Make Local Debuts

The “fast casual” segment of the local restaurant market just keeps on growing with the opening earlier this week of a new Chipotle Mexican Grill (4220 N. State Road 7, 954-960-4000) in Coral Springs and the debut next week of another Sweet Tomatoes (1100 N. Congress Ave., 561-369-0666) in Boynton…

PGA Resort Nabs New Chef

It wasn’t exactly PDQ, but the posh PGA National Resort & Spa (400 Avenue of the Champions, Palm Beach Gardens; 800-863-2819) finally has an executive chef, replacing former Top Chef contestant Kenny Gilbert, who bailed on the gig in August after a mere couple of months behind the stove.  The…

Does Scott Conant Make the World’s Best Tomato Sauce?

TV toque Scott Conant (Chopped, 24 Hour Restaurant Battle) has been hailed as the god of tomato sauce for the (deceptively) simple “spaghetti tomato & basil” he serves at his Scarpetta restaurants in New York, Miami Beach, Las Vegas, and Beverly Hills.  Pretty much everyone who’s tasted it says it…

Spot Coffee Coming to Delray

A new spot for caffeine junkies and café munchers is readying to make its Delray Beach debut. Spot Coffee, the sixth coffee shop-café from a Canada-based chain, has already missed its once-projected July debut date, but the company promises that the Atlantic Avenue location will be “opening soon,” even if…

Oh, the Horror! Top Ten Scariest Restaurant Phrases

​Sometimes the most frightening day of the year isn’t Halloween but the day you decide to eat out at a restaurant.  “I am Dracula” intoned by a black-clad figure with bloody fangs and a bad complexion isn’t nearly as scary as some of what you might hear at your local…

Casa Mia Makes Home in Jupiter

​A pair of local restaurant vets have opened their own Italian restaurant in Jupiter’s Fisherman’s Wharf Plaza.   Roberto Cavaliere, former owner of Ocean Grille in Palm Beach Gardens, and Stefano Paggetti, an alum of Jetty’s in Jupiter and Galaxy Grille in Palm Beach, have joined forces at Casa Mia Trattoria…

Raw Kitchen Is (Not) Cooking in West Palm

​If you like to eat it raw, you’ll cheer the debut of the Raw Kitchen (509 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; 561-820-0144), a raw/vegan/organic eatery that recently opened its doors on Clematis Street. The creation of partners (and sisters) Gigi and Iris Garcia and chef Brenda Kunkler, the Raw Kitchen…

The New Burrito Bar at Whole Foods: a Taste Test

​Boca’s Whole Foods Market now has a burrito bar. If a giantmega salad bar, dozen-plus steam-table dishes, sushi bar, pizza station, barbecue station, deli counter, and impressive array of entrées to go aren’t enough, now you can build your own burrito.  Hey, it worked for Chipotle.  Burning question of the…

Five Foods We’d Like to See More Of

Oh, Lord God, please deliver me from one more freakin’ burger joint!  That’s my prayer. I’m not sure God heard me.   But if I do have any pull with the man upstairs, along with another thousand or so purveyors of designer patties, we will be seeing more of these:  ​1…

Market 17 Finally Debuts

​A month later than expected, really only milliseconds in restaurant-slash-government bureaucracy time, Market 17 (1850 SE 17th St., 954-399-0017) will make its Fort Lauderdale debut Thursday, October 21.   The restaurant, from local industry vets (and siblings) Aaron and Krista Grauberger, aims to put itself squarely in the burgeoning farm-to-table, organic,…

Restaurant News: Two Shut, One Opens; Reef Road Still Not Sucking

​• Even as local restaurant maestro Burt Rapoport readies his new Deck 84 for a November debut, a pair of other eateries on restaurant-rich Atlantic Avenue have gone out with the tide. Sonoma Café & Bistro is history, as is sleek ‘n’ trendy Blue Fish, a restaurant that always seemed…

Five Most Useless Kitchen Gadgets Ever Invented

​The junk that most of us jam into drawers, stash in a closet, or haul off to one of those DIY storage facilities, never to be seen or used again, could probably outfit a small Latin American nation. Our kitchens are the worst, full of worthless gadgets that slice! dice!…

Restaurant News: Fins Roll, Seminole Rocks, Paris Dines

​• If you bleed Miami Dolphins’ colors of orange and teal, you’ll no doubt be pleased to know that now you can eat them too. In honor of our pigskin heroes, the Pembroke Pines RA Sushi  is dishing a specially created Fins Roll — for $12, it’s lobster topped with…