Beer Archives - Take A Bite Out of Boca

Boca Raton Restaurants: Tap 42

November 10, 2016 By takeabiteoutofboca Leave a Comment

Never miss a bite! Sign up here to receive new recipes and reviews straight to your inbox.

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest of the casino and restaurants. No monetary compensation has been received for this post. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

When you think of popular gastropub Tap 42, the first thing that comes to mind is probably their burgers and beer, right? Wrong. Not for me, at least. When I think of Tap 42, I think of crispy calamari and grilled salmon, roasted Brussels sprouts and one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever had. Tap 42 is extremely pescatarian-friendly, and they’ve asked me to help spread the word!

Tap 42 has locations in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables, and will soon expand into Midtown Miami too. While it’s definitely one of the hottest spots for brunch, dinner is well worth checking out. The beer list is impressive, and has an additional rotating list that changes daily. The cocktails are creative, with some even including craft beers into the mix.

Being that it’s November and I want pumpkin-flavored everything, I had to try one of the rotating drafts from local brewery, Due South Brewing — Isle of Magourdo. The best part was the brown sugar-cinnamon rim. This is how every fall-inspired beer should be served. For someone like myself who doesn’t love beer, this was a really light and tasty brew to sip on. It definitely had all the flavors I love during this time of year, and brought me back to times when I still lived in the north and actually had a real fall season.

Enough about the beer — you came here for the food, right? I’ve never been disappointed during any of my visits to Tap 42, and this most recent one was the best yet. Like I mentioned before, I’ve had their veggie burger, which is made with falafel and comes with a roasted red pepper tzaztiki sauce that is out of this world. This time around, Jill and I got to eat just about every non-meat item on the menu. We started with one of Tap 42’s signature appetizers, the crispy Asian calamari. Out came this tower of calamari, which sat on a bed of Asian slaw dressed in a sesame ginger aioli and a sweet and sour dipping sauce on the side. The presentation was on point, but the flavor the rocked even more! As good as the calamari is, the slaw is even better. It’s on the menu as a side dish too, and I highly recommend getting it — even if you do also get the calamari. It’s good enough to eat twice!

Tap 42’s spicy tuna tartar is another winning appetizer with beautiful presentation. It’s made with hand-cut Ahi tuna, avocado, cucumber and cilantro, drizzled with honey Sriracha mayo and surrounded by malanga chips. Malanga, for those who don’t know, is a tuber, closely related to taro root. The thin, crispy chips have a very mild flavor, making them an ideal vehicle for the tartar, as it does have quite the kick to it. Even if it was a little on the spicier side, I still loved every bite. The flavors were well-balanced and didn’t overpower one another. The honey in the sauce mellowed things out a bit and kept it from being overly spicy.

Those looking for a healthier option when dining at Tap 42 will not be disappointed. The golden quinoa superfood salad is a standout menu item, made with mixed greens, Brussels sprouts, Mandarin oranges, green apple, feta, dried cranberries, almonds and citrus vinaigrette. You can add protein if you’d like — for us pescatarians, grilled salmon and blackened mahi-mahi are options. We decided to top our salad with the blackened mahi-mahi. It was cooked perfectly, had just the right amount of seasoning, and really complemented the other flavors in the salad.

Another healthy option is the grilled salmon zen bowl, which is probably my favorite thing on the menu. Pan-fried brown rice is mixed with a generous amount of green veggies that have been stir-fried with truffle miso glaze and topped with a gorgeous piece of grilled salmon, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. It’s a noteworthy dish and one that even the meatiest of meat-eaters can still enjoy.

As for the sides, the roasted Brussels sprouts with maple, mustard and thyme are a must. The mustard adds a sweet tanginess to the sprouts that puts them over the top. We also had the parmesan and herb french fries, because well, when fries are on the menu, Jill and I just can’t say no. Tap 42’s are good, especially with that dusting of parmesan on top. You can get them with cajun spice too.

We thought dinner was amazing. Until we got to dessert. No matter what, you must never ever, ever leave Tap 42 without digging into their chocolate chunk bread pudding. It is the most incredible bread pudding you will ever try in your life. Flavors of salted caramel, dark chocolate and cinnamon swirl together in your mouth with each and every bite. It’s crisp on the bottom and super soft and tender in the center, topped with vanilla bean ice cream that oozes down the sides and into each crevice. I’ve never had bread pudding this good before, and quite honestly, I don’t think I ever will.

If I didn’t just make your mouth water uncontrollably and your tummy start rumbling, we can’t be friends.

Tap 42 is located in Boca Center at 5050 Town Center Circle in Boca Raton.

Tucker Duke’s Brewmaster Series with Wynwood Brewing Co.

July 29, 2014 By takeabiteoutofboca 2 Comments

Never miss a bite! Sign up here to receive new recipes and reviews straight to your inbox.

Deerfield Beach’s newest hot spot, Tucker Duke’s Lunchbox, teamed up with some of Florida’s best breweries to put on a Summer Brewmaster Series complete with off-the-menu items and their perfect pairings. The second dinner of the series was with Wynwood Brewing Company out of the Wynwood District in Miami and yours truly was invited as a special guest!

This is the third beer tasting dinner I’ve attend this summer. Tucker Duke’s invited me to come out and join them for the second dinner of their Summer Brewmaster Series and of course I brought along my favorite foodie friend, Denise. I had heard some pretty good things about Tucker Duke’s, but never really felt the need to go check it out because well, it’s mostly a burger joint. Little did I know, there is much more to see behind that classic Tucker Duke’s Burger. The brains behind this establishment is none other than Chef Brian Cartenuto, two-time winner of Cutthroat Kitchen. If you can withstand being in a room with Alton Brown and all his crazy antics TWICE on that show and come out on top both times, you must be doing something right. Brian went above and beyond his normal menu items and created a unique tasting menu for his guests, and of course made a few substitutions for me. I got to chat with him for a while after the dinner, especially about what it’s like to be on Food Network. Ah, maybe one day… Wynwood Brewing Company hails straight outta the Wynwood District in Miami, which if you remember back when I did the tour with Miami Culinary Tours, I actually did get a chance to try one of their beers at one of the stops. These guys were such typical “beer guys” — totally tatted up, big bushy “I don’t care” hair, super chill attitude… and they love their beer. The rep actually told Denise and me that he started brewing his own beer in his closet when he was 18-years-old. Then he finally came out of the closet… Ha! So the food… That’s what you’re here for, right? They brought out our first beer, La Rubia, and an appetizer for the table — guacamole and what was supposed to be fried plantain chips. I was actually really excited for these chips because I love plantains. However, when the basket of chips came out, we were all kind of confused.

You see what I mean from the picture, right? How in the world could those be plantains? They didn’t taste anything like plantains, and how do you get a plantain in the shape of a triangle…? None of us were convinced they were plantains, but that’s what the menu said so we just rolled with it. Until Chef Brian came out to explain the dish and the mystery was solved. Turns out he completely burnt the plantain chips by accident and instead made us homemade tortilla chips. Our entire table burst out laughing, and then continued to stuff our faces because they were seriously delicious. You know how powerless I am around guacamole and chips. I liked the beer pairing for this, it was light and pretty refreshing, which played nicely with the spice mix that coated the chips. Next up was another lighter beer, the Blonde Bock, which I also enjoyed. It was paired with Tucker Duke’s take on a dish Chef Brian had before called El Mago Fritas — a slider with fried potato sticks and melted cheese. I was served a portobello mushroom slider instead of beef. I had a bite, but didn’t care for it much — the potato sticks were fine, but it was the cheese that I couldn’t really handle. It reminded me of cheese whiz and that just doesn’t sit well with me. That’s ok, more room to shove more chips and guac in my mouth before the next course!

Next up was a heaping bowl full of steamed mussels and two golf ball-sized corn and conch fritters on the side. The mussels were steamed in a broth made with Father Francisco, the beer we were served along with them. The mussels were good — large and prepared very well, but I’m used to a thicker style sauce so it was definitely new for me. I like a sauce you need bread to sop up, one that if it weren’t so unladylike and messy, I’d totally slurp straight from the bowl. But different is good, and hey — I guess it’s better not to have a heavier sauce when you’ve got tons of food in front of you. The fritters were just…YUM. Crispy and crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. The conch was very prominent in taste and texture, and the corn added just the right amount of sweetness to balance everything out. All this needed was a good dipping sauce and it’d be golden.

The next course was kind of funny. Actually, it was really funny. I don’t think anyone really expected what came out on their plate. Or rather, on their metal half-sheet pan — a very industrial presentation, if you will. The dish was jerk-rubbed cornish game hen with plantain sweet potato mash, broccoli and a spiced rum sauce. It was paired with one of the darkest beers of the nights, the Wynwood Fox. Now picture a little tiny chicken, in its entirety, sitting in front of you waiting for you to dig in. Yep, that’s what everyone at the table was served.

Everyone, except for me, who got a gorgeously charred grilled zucchini with roasted tomato sauce. The zucchini sat atop a bed of that same plantain sweet potato mash and broccoli but I also had caramelized onions (my favorite!), however, the rum sauce was missing. It was made with veal stock, so unfortunately, that was a no-no for me. I didn’t like the beer at all, so that went untouched, but that entree? YUM. If I wasn’t so full from all those freaking chips I would have probably licked my plate, err…sheetpan…clean.

By this point, as with most pairing dinners, I was too full to move. And there was still the final course, something sweet to end the night. Chef Brian made a dessert mash-up, blending the textures and flavors of a Tres Leches Cake and a Churro packed into one tasty little donut swimming in a pool of coconut sauce. I did try a tiny bite, but boxed it up to bring home for my roommate who really loves anything Tres Leches. Dessert was served with a porter, naturally— Vanilla Pop’s Porter, to be exact. This is one of those beers that I can take one sip of, love it, but that’s all I can take. It’s thick and creamy and yummy, but just way to heavy for me to drink an entire glass.

Tucker Duke’s is a pretty cool spot. The atmosphere reminds me a little of Sybarite Pig, but felt more inviting. They have a killer list of beers and the chef obviously knows what he’s doing with the food. So, how many of you can say a Cutthroat Kitchen champion has cooked for you? 😉

Disclaimer: I was invited as a guest of the restaurant for this event. Dinner was complimentary for myself and a guest. No compensation was received for this review nor was I required to write it. As always, all opinions are my own.

Boca Resort’s 501 East Pairing Dinner with Cigar City Brewing

July 8, 2014 By takeabiteoutofboca Leave a Comment

Two beer dinners in one week! Who am I??? The whole craft beer thing is kicking my wine-loving self into some brand new territory, but I have to admit — I don’t hate it. As I mentioned before, there are definitely a few that I just cannot handle and that’s fine, but I’ve been discovering a few that I really enjoy. It’s pretty cool to see how the different varieties of beer pair with food too. The same way a wine can highlight flavors, beer can be just as clever.

So two beer dinners in one week makes me laugh, and so does this. I was invited to this beer-pairing dinner with Cigar City Brewery at the Boca Resort via Twitter, the morning of the event. See what social media can do?! Megan, the Digital Online Community Manager of the Boca Raton Resort, tweeted me as I was huffing and puffing away on the elliptical at the gym. She apologized for it being such late notice but hoped I could make it. You know what I did at that point? I raised that resistance on the elliptical up a few more notches. Yep, if I was going to a beer dinner there was going to be a little extra effort going on at the gym that morning. I’ve never been to the Boca Resort so I was super pumped to go. Naturally, I invited Denise to come as my guest (we’re always each other’s first pick for things like this). She’s also a wine gal whose slowly learning to like craft beer too.

The dinner was held in the 501 East restaurant in a private room where the Executive Chef, Ray, and Cigar City rep, Phil, took turns talking to us in detail about the beer poured and food served. Cigar City is a Tampa-based brewery that is only five years old. In such a short time, they’ve become one of the most popular breweries in Florida and definitely have a strong presence in the craft beer world. When we arrived, we were instantly poured a glass of one of Cigar City’s most popular beers, Florida Cracker. I’ve had this at other bars before and do like it. It’s light and was a nice way to “welcome” the guests.

First course was a wahoo crudo with citrus, chive blossoms and crispy hearts of palm. The dish was bright, acidic, and had great texture. The hearts of palm added a great amount of crunch to the buttery-soft wahoo and the pulpy wedges or orange and grapefruit lining the dish. Two thumbs up on this one from me. I’ve never had hearts of palm prepared this way and I think it needs to happen more often… The beer paired with this dish was the Tangerine Berliner. Phil told us that 1,000 tangerines were juiced and zested to make this beer. I lifted the glass to take a sip and before I could even open my mouth, I got a whiff of tangerine. Omgggg. It smelled SO good. I almost didn’t want to drink it because I just wanted to keep taking in that sweet and sour aroma. But it’s a good thing I did taste it because it quickly shot to the top of my list of favorite craft beers. What a great complement to the dish we were served — citrus on citrus. Delish!

For the second course, we were served sea-salted roasted hogfish cooked in a banana leaf with fire-roasted tomato, tequila lime butter and chili garlic sauce. Hogfish was another first for me. I’d compare its texture and taste to something like cod or sea bass. The flavors in the sauce were an insanely delicious mixture of sweet, spicy, and savory and really lit up the dish. To amp up the tequila lime butter even more, we were served a Margarita Gose. No, not a margarita cocktail — this is still a beer dinner. This beer, in the same vein as the Tangerine Berliner, used the juice and zest of 1,000 limes. It was pretty freaking close to tasting like a real margarita, and if you know me, then you know I LOVED this beer.

Now we get to the courses that require substitutions for me, haha. The third course was veal ribs with beer battered onion rings and drunken local melon salad. My plate came with extra onion rings instead of the ribs. At first I was kind of like, uh…chef, you couldn’t come up with anything better? But then I tasted one of the onion rings and changed my mind. I wanted ALL. THE. RINGS. Yummmmm. Crispy, crunchy, savory…I’ve never liked onion rings in the past, but I guess I’ve never had them beer-battered. This is totally the way to make them! Although I devoured the onion rings and melon salad, another yummy component of the dish, I didn’t care for the beer paired with this course — Barley Wine. I thought I’d like it for the sheer fact that wine is in the title. But nope. Ew. This was just not for my taste in any way, shape, or form. I pushed it to the back of my other glasses and instead, asked for a refill of the Margarita. 🙂

Course number five was a New Zealand lamb-chetta with Carolina stone ground grits and Florida lychee. Did I eat this? No. The chef made me a totally different plate. It was a beautiful salad of mesculin greens and heirloom tomatoes, topped with burrata. I was super content with my ooey, gooey, creamy burrata and refreshing plate of vegetables. I did want to try the grits, but they were made with duck fat. Oh well. Time to try the next beer…a double IPA. Another one that isn’t so much my thing. That’s okay, I still had some of the Margarita Gose left in my glass.

Dessert was a winner. Smoked vanilla soufflé with espresso ganache and macerated local cherries. The ganache was in a small dish off to the side and we were instructed to pour it directly over top of the soufflé before indulging — and indulge we did! I could have drunk that ganache right from the dish, it was SO delicious, and even better when paired with the soufflé, which even for a simple vanilla soufflé, was full of rich, deep flavor and was velvety smooth in your mouth. Very appropriately, we were served Cubana Espresso, a beer laced with coffee. YUM!! Coffee beer and espresso dessert. You’d think I would have been up all night, but I actually slept like a baby. Good food and drinks will do that to ya.

Now Denise and I are hoping to plan a road trip to Tampa so we can visit the Cigar City Brewery, and I’m itching for the next time the Boca Resort invites me to an event. #Lifeofafoodblogger. Doesn’t get much better, does it?

Disclaimer: You must be a member of the Boca Resort or staying in the hotel to dine in any of their restaurants or attend any events such as this beer pairing dinner. I was invited on behalf of the resort as their guest.

The Rebel House Pairing Dinner with New Belgium Brewery

July 7, 2014 By takeabiteoutofboca 2 Comments

Boca gastro pub (and one of my absolute favorite places), The Rebel House, teamed up with Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing for a five-course pairing dinner for locals to enjoy. I was invited by the restaurant’s owners to come as their guest for the night.

Chef/owner Michael Saperstein and sous chef Danielle Herring put together an awesome menu — not surprisingly, since the Rebel menu is always full of unique and creative offerings that you won’t find in many other restaurants. Dave, the South Florida rep for New Belgium Brewing, showed off five of his best beers to go with each of the courses. There were probably about 15 people there — none of whom I knew, but by the end of the night I had mixed and mingled with everyone and really had a great time.

Now, I’ve been to my share of wine tastings and wine pairing dinners, but this was the first beer pairing dinner I’d ever been to, so I was pretty stoked. Recently, I’ve really started to like craft beers — the flavors can be so complex and sometimes pretty tasty. Though there are definitely ones I steer clear from (most IPAs, anything real hoppy, stouts, dark/thick beers), I’m usually down to at least try a taste of it all.

First up was Grilled Peaches with spicy coppa (my plate didn’t have this thinly sliced meat), whipped ricotta, charred garlic scapes (a cross between garlic and onion that resembles a Brussels sprout), and crushed marcona almonds. My favorite component of the plate was the whipped ricotta. With a sprinkling of the crushed almonds on top, it was the perfect combination of crunchy and creamy. The pairing was an IPA called Rampant — it was okay, but not something I’d choose to drink.

The next course was my absolute favorite of the night — Gooseberry Island Cod with yam crust, grapes, apple butter and a beerblanc sauce. So smooth and buttery soft, each bit of cod slid onto my fork far too easily. And the crispy yam crust! What a great idea. I’m hoping to see this on Rebel’s menu very soon. I reeeaally liked the beer pairing for this dish — a sour beer, La Folie. Second course got two big thumbs up from me!

Course number three was Lambchetta with carrot griddle cakes in a fennel yogurt with spiced honey. Of course, my plate was just doubled up on the griddle cakes, which I was more than okay with, because they were SO delicious. They were the consistency of a thick hearty potato latke but much sweeter. Although I was totally loving on my carrot cake dish, I didn’t love the beer pairing — Gruit. I smelled it first, as I did with all the beers we were served, and immediately was reminded of an extremely oaky chardonnay, only my most disliked wine ever. Then I tasted it…Yep, chardonnay through and through. I couldn’t even take another sip.

Hah, the beer rep was sitting next to me so I turned to him to make sure my taste buds weren’t off. He agreed with me on the chardonnay-esque taste and smell… Ugh, my least favorite of the night for sure. But it’s okay, because the La Folie and the next course’s pairing completely made up for it.

The next course was the “Duck Duo” of duck and foie gras sausage, duck confit cigar, camembert potato panisse, and a smoked cherry jam. Instead of the duck, my dish came with a nice arugula salad with peaches. I did get the potatoes and cherry jam, thankfully. The potatoes were kind of like a croquette both in taste, texture, and presentation. And that cherry jam… It was a true campfire in your mouth — smoky and sweet and just absolute perfection. The best thing about this course was the pairing of the Transatlantique, which had notes of cherry. Sipping on that after having a bite of the cherry jam intensified the smoky campfire flavor, and made me wish I was outside sitting around the fire with s’mores…s’mores that include this cherry jam. Omg. Genius idea. #MustMake!

Dessert was a Green Tea Financier, which is a light, spongy cake make with almond flour, with malted milk foam, caramelized citrus, cilantro syrup and coriander. Definitely a different take on dessert and not something I would normally be apt to try, given that I don’t particularly like citrus desserts. But the cake was fantastic, the caramelized orange slice was like biting into a citrusy chip, and the cilantro syrup was surprisingly sweeter than I expected it would be. Paired with this course was New Belgium’s most popular beer, and the one that started it all — Fat Tire.

For my first beer dinner experience, this was a pretty good one. Although two of the beers did not suit my taste at all, the others did! It was cool to discover two new beers I had never heard of before and liked — La Folie and Transatlantique. I’ll have to keep an eye out for these in stores!

Have you ever been to a beer pairing dinner before? What is your favorite kind of beer?

My Favorite Local Happy Hours

June 9, 2013 By takeabiteoutofboca Leave a Comment

It’s so weird not working a 9-5 (well, 9:30-6) job anymore. There are days when I’m out of work as early as 3pm and I have no idea what to do with myself! Daylight! An entire evening ahead of me to do whatever I please. One of my favorite ways to spend this newfound time is checking out local happy hours. I couldn’t really go out for happy hour too often when I working at my other job. By the time I’d get home and change, happy hour would be over. I put together a list of my most recent favorite spots.

Brule Bistro in Delray is probably my top favorite place to go. It’s in Pineapple Grove. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. The chefs are extremely creative with their food and the specials are always top-notch. My boyfriend is the manager and head of promotions there (I swear I’m not biased — it really is good!), so I’m there pretty often. They just launched a brand new happy hour menu for both food and drink, with awesome daily drink specials: Sundays and Mondays are all night HH, and Saturday is all day. Tuesday is half off all glasses of wine, and Wednesday is half off all craft beers. They have a pretty extensive beer menu and a gorgeous wall of wine, so you’re sure to find something you like — and probably discover new favorites. Thursday night you can get $5 mixed drinks and Friday is 25% off all bottles of wine. My favorite appetizer on the happy hour menu is the grilled avocado with roasted tomato salsa. I recently tried the Korean chicken wings and they’re freaking awesome. I promise you’ll enjoy yourself when you go, so make it a point to…soon. Normal happy hour is from 4-6:30pm daily with $4 select wine and spirits, $3.50 tap beers, and $5 or $7 appetizers.

There are a couple of great places in Mizner Park in Boca. Truluck’s has a reputation of being pretty expensive, but their happy hour is legit. I wrote about it once before, as I was very impressed. But that was a while ago, and I finally got around to going back. It just so happened that I went on a Wednesday — Wine Wednesday, to be exact. I had no idea that I had just stepped into the best night there. Half off every single bottle of wine in the place. If that isn’t enough to tempt you to go, happy hour is Monday through Saturday from 4:30-7 and all night on Sundays with half price appetizers, cocktails and wine. If you go, definitely get the Baja Ceviche. The super crispy chips served along with it are probably the best part. I’ve never dined inside, but if the happy hour menu is any indicator of the food served for dinner, it’s gotta be good.

Also in Mizner Park is Yardhouse. I first went to this restaurant in Hallandale about a year and a half ago. The menu is insane. They have every kind of food imaginable — Asian inspired, American classics, pasta dishes, vegetarian and vegan friendly dishes, etc…The beer list is even bigger. When you sit at the bar, it’s like being introduced to 100 new beers. I love looking at all the cool taps for each one. What I like about Yardhouse is that aside from having a regular happy hour during the week from 3-6pm, they also have a late night one that starts at 10pm on Sunday-Wednesday. Late night happy hours are hard to come by around here, so when you find one you have to hope it’s good! Select dishes are half price — a pretty decent amount are listed on the happy hour menu so you have a lot to choose from. There are drink specials for the various beers, $6 house martinis and $2 off all specialty drinks and glasses of wine. One of the best things I’ve had is the chicken garlic noodles. It’s listed as an appetizer, but you could definitely order it as dinner.

Venture a little further west in Boca and you’ll find one of my Bubby’s and my favorite places: City Fish Market. When we go, we like to hang at the bar to indulge in their happy hour specials for a bit before sitting down to dinner. The happy hour there is really good, but we really love having dinner here. If you haven’t been, you must go. Happy hour is Sunday through Friday from 4-7pm and includes specials on draft beer and select wines by the glass. There is a nice list of martinis and cocktails, plus their special infused martini of the day and homemade sangria. You can get delicious appetizers for anywhere from $4-9. Oysters Rockefeller, Bluepoint Oysters, mussels, Top Neck clams, calamari, crab cake, ceviche, shrimp and crab cocktail — all the great seafood dishes you know and love. There’s usually live music in the bar area too, which makes for a pretty nice ambiance.

A nice thing about going for happy hour is you aren’t out too late and can get to bed at a decent time. For me, that’s a huge plus because I like to wake up pretty early to get in my morning workout. OR, there’s the fact that everything is cheaper. Yeah, that’s a pretty good plus, too.

Posted with Blogsy

Boca Bacchanal Grand Tasting 2013

April 4, 2013 By takeabiteoutofboca 1 Comment

Let me apologize for being MIA for the past week. My Jersey peoples came to visit! (Jersey people meaning my parents and sister). They arrived last Monday and it’s been a whirlwind, as always, since the moment they stepped off the plane. Before I delve into my week full of craziness with them, I want to tell you guys about the awesome event I went to the day before they got here: Boca Bacchanal Grand Tasting. Once again, I helped the planning committee prep for the event, contacting restaurants and passing out their information packets. The morning of the tasting, McKenzie and I both got up bright and early to help with setup. In return, we were able to enjoy ourselves all afternoon, indulging in way too much food and wine (something we seem to do pretty often). This year’s setup seemed a lot more organized than last year. Those maps made all the difference, I’ll tell ya. Last year we were scrambling around forever trying to figure out where each restaurant and winery was to set up; this year was much better. The Junior League of Boca Raton always does a great job with this event; it is always a hit and people really love it. The Mizner Park Amphitheater was packed with people tasting food from about 30 South Florida restaurants, a huge variety of wines, as well as a variety of beers from the newest addition to the event: the beer garden.

I wish I could give you a full run down of all the food each restaurant prepared, but uh…this was also a wine tasting. Of course I remember my favorites of the day. Howard’s Market showcased a bunch of their specialities: white beach turkey chili, roasted Brussels sprouts with purple cabbage, quinoa with spinach and carrots and a creamy, citrusy coleslaw that I actually liked — that’s saying something because I very rarely will eat coleslaw. My other fav belonged to a restaurant I’ve never heard of, Pinon Grill. They served a delicious corn and red pepper salsa with one of the best crab cakes I’ve tasted in South Florida. It was among the few places we went back to for seconds. My favorite dessert of the day was obviously from All Star Cupcakes, who had the best display — towers overflowing with their famous mini cupcakes ranging in flavors from chocolate chip cookie dough to carrot cake and just about everything in between: Golden Oreo, Chocolate Oreo, M&M, sea salt caramel, key lime, strawberry…I could continue, but I don’t want to make your mouth water any more than I’m sure it already is. The Melting Pot was there, too, with lots of goodies to dip in dark chocolate fondue — chocolate fudge brownies, red velvet cake and big, juicy strawberries. Nothing goes better with dessert than a nice cup of cappuccino. Nespresso was there to feed that coffee fix.

Last year there were way too many ceviches; there was really only one true ceviche, which came from Publix Aprons. Chef Rey (my soon-to-be new boss, more on that later!!) served a shrimp ceviche and spruced it up a bit by adding a paprika-spiced popcorn garnish to the dish.

There was a decent amount of pasta dishes, each one with their own twist to make them a little bit different than the next. My favorite was from Max’s Grille, their signature “Max’s Raditore Chicken Pasta” with broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and goat cheese tossed in a balsamic pan-sauce. This was another one I went back to for seconds. You can’t go wrong when you have goat cheese. Maggiano’s did a nice job with their choice of pasta dish, too — the “Famous Rigatoni ‘D’” with chicken, mushrooms, caramelized onions in a marsala cream sauce. Rosso Italia served a rich and creamy classic macaroni and cheese alongside a slide of steak and sausage-stuffed peppers. Steak was actually seen on a lot of plates throughout the day. Obviously I didn’t try any of the meat, but that’s okay — my boyfriend had enough for the two of us. You could find red meat at the tables of NYY Steak, Texas de Brazil and Rebel House.

The most prominent cuisine was definitely seafood with ocean-inspired dishes from Bogart’s, City Fish, City Oyster, Legal Sea Foods and Trulucks (stone crab, so good!).

As we strolled along and tried all of the food, there were so many different wines and beers to try along the way. I was upset to see that Florida-based Lakeridge Winery was nowhere to be found. I discovered Lakeridge at last year’s tasting and it’s become one of my absolute favorites. I love their Sweet White and Sweet Red and was hoping they’d be there to fill my glass, over and over again. No worries, there was still enough wine — both familiar and new — for me to try.

I really enjoyed myself, yet again, at the tasting. Last year was fun, especially because it was all brand new to me — I felt like a kid who had just discovered her first candy store. This year I knew what to expect, which made for quite the eager anticipation leading up to the day of the event. Here’s to another job well done by our Junior League of Boca Raton and all the amazing participating restaurants, wineries, craft beers, and vendors who made the event possible! This is where I raise my cute little “Boca Bacchanal” wine glass I received at the tasting and clink it against my laptop screen to all you readers out there. 😉

SoFla Restaurant Reviews: The Mexican & Riverside Market Cafe

March 4, 2013 By takeabiteoutofboca Leave a Comment

NOTE: The Mexican has since closed.

There are so many great little places all over South Florida, it’s impossible to go to every single one. But McKenzie and I do get around, that’s for sure. Whether he’s introducing me to one of his favorite local hidden gems, or I pick a place that’s been recommended to me, we always have an awesome time whereever we go. The best part is that he constantly gets me to try different kinds of food and drink that I may not have tried on my own. As a food blogger, it’s pretty important to have an open mind and an even more open palette. He has helped to expand mine — especially in the drink category. Who knew I liked gin and bourbon? Well…only when mixed in some kind of crazy cocktail, but still… You get the point.

Over the past couple months, we’ve hit up lots of cool spots that I haven’t had a chance to blog about yet, so I thought I’d do a little round-up. The first one I’ll tell you about is seriously one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to — this is not an exaggeration. It’s called The Riverside Market Cafe in Ft. Lauderdale. Actually, I have no idea where it is exactly; I would never be able to tell you how to get there. You’ll just have to Google it. It was on some back road, in what felt like the middle of nowhere. It’s literally an old market, with glass sliding doors full of all kinds of beers, ciders, and wine. The variety of flavors and different brands is insane. It’s all honor system there; you can just go and grab whatever beers you want throughout your stay and before you leave, bring all of your bottles up to the register to pay. All the drinks are $3-$5 and they have a food menu, too. The best part? GAMES!!!! Board games, dice games, card games… We played Yatzhee the whole time we were there. Inexpensive, good-quality beer and fun games? Sounds like a good time to me.

One of my all-time favorite restaurants is Max’s Grill in Mizner Park, so when I heard that the owner was opening up a Mexican restaurant in Royal Palm Place, I had to check it out. You walk inside and you’re instantly transported to an authentic Mexican place to dine; there is awesome, colorful graffiti all over the walls and a big “Food Truck” in the back that serves as their “nacho bar.” I really liked how it was decorated. I started with one of their flavored margaritas, the Cabo — pineapple infused tequila, mango, pomegranate, limonata, agave nectar and licor 43. It came with a pretty little flower garnish and was fruity and delicious. The chips and salsa closely followed our drinks and then of course we ordered the guacamole too. For dinner, I had the crab & shrimp tostaditas — plantain chips topped with crab and shrimp ceviche, avocado, red chili and cilantro. It was yummyyyy. I freaking love ceviche. The flavors of seafood and citrus go so well together, and avocado is the perfect creamy complement to it all. The crispy plantain chips were good with the ceviche (and the guac, too!) McKenzie had the chicken burrito, which also was pretty good.

SoFla Restaurant Reviews: The Mexican & Riverside Market Cafe

Cabo Margarita

I recently went back there with my cousin Leah. This time I had the enchiladas del tierra with roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, spinach and Mexican cheeses. Oh. My. God. Sooooo good. I tried one of their classic house margaritas and it was deeeelish. As I’ve said many times before, give me a good margarita and guacamole and I’m happy. Needless to say, both of my visits to The Mexican left me very happy.

There are three more restaurants, all located in Boyton Beach, that I cannot wait to share with you guys. Stay tuned 🙂

How’s that for a cliffhanger??

Disclaimer: I was not compensated to review these restaurants. I just love sharing my great experiences with all of you. All opinions are my own!

Yard House, Hallandale Beach

December 9, 2011 By takeabiteoutofboca 1 Comment

The best part about family vacation is all the great dinners we get to enjoy together. My dad has some relatives who also live here in South Florida, so we met up with them in Hallandale Beach for dinner at the Yard House. The location of the restaurant is at the Gulfstream Park Racetrack, which is what you would call a “Racino,” a racetrack and casino. There was a beautiful holiday display in the center of all the shops and restaurants surrounding the racino, and we were lucky to catch the musical light show before we left. Although it was about 75 degrees out and the tree was nowhere near as big as the one in Rockefeller Center, it felt a little like celebrating the holidays in the city.

But back to our dinner… The Yard House has one of the most versatile menus I’ve seen at a restaurant in a great while. There are classic American dishes such as pizza, sandwiches and burgers, as well as a large selection of Asian-American inspired entrees and some great seafood, steak, and chicken options. Their drink list was pretty extensive, too, and they even had a “Skinny” drink menu. I ordered a Ruby X, a very light and fruity drink with 1800 Silver Tequila, X-Rated Fusion liqueur and fresh grapefruit. For the beer lovers, there is a huge list of all types of beers to try.

I got the classic salad as a starter: iceberg and Boston lettuce with tomatoes, carrots, sweet corn, jack & cheddar in a gorgonzola vinaigrette. Other starters included the organic tomato bisque and a Caesar salad that had these delicious parmesan crisps tossed throughout. Deciding what to order for dinner was quite the project considering how large this menu was. I kept going back and forth between a few different options and finally decided on the Miso Glazed Sea Bass over brown rice with bok choy, carrots and edamame. It just so happened that my mom and I were both deciding between the same two dishes, so we each ordered one and tried a little of each. She got the Lobster Garlic Noodles with shrimp, crab, lobster, shiitake mushrooms, fresh spinach & parmesan.

Both entrees were delicious. Asian food is one of my favorite cuisines; if there are Asian options on a menu, I almost always order one of them. These two dishes had such great bursts of flavor in each bite. The seafood was cooked really nicely and paired really well with the tastes of the sauces. The sea bass was so delicate and I especially liked the crab and mushrooms in the noodle dish.

My sister got the Vodka Shrimp Pasta with chopped shrimp tossed in angel hair pasta in a light vodka tomato cream sauce and parmesan. My dad and his cousin both got the Roast Beef Dip with Swiss cheese on garlic toasted French bread served au jus with horseradish cream. My dad’s other cousin’s son and his wife were dining with us, also. They got the Mac & Cheese: chicken, applewood bacon, wild mushrooms, cheddar, and parmesan tossed with campenelle pasta and truffle oil. I tried a taste of this rich, cheesy dish and I can understand why it is the first entree listed under “House Favorites.” This is what you would call some good gourmet mac & cheese. His wife got the Ginger Crusted Norwegian Salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes, snow peas and carrots in a spicy peanut vinaigrette.

Even the dessert menu had a lot to choose from, but we all were able to pick what we wanted pretty quickly. As always, my sister and I ordered something pretty lavish to share while the others at the table opted for the “mini” dessert options: the Peach Apple Cobbler with caramel ice cream, and the Creme Brûlée with vanilla bean custard and chocolate topped with caramelized bananas. Rebecca and I got the Kona Coffee Ice Cream Sundae topped with Oreo cookie crumbles, macadamia nuts and chocolate sauce and a macadamia nut cookie. When it comes to dessert for us, it’s go big or go home. I love the combination of coffee and chocolate. A little bit of sweet with a little bit of bitter. The crushed Oreos were a nice addition and I definitely aimed to scoop up a piece of cookie with every spoonful. I didn’t like the macadamia nut cookie too much. It was a little too hard for my liking. I like my cookies soft and chewy and this one wasn’t either.

Everyone seemed very pleased with their dinner from start to finish. I would definitely go back to Yard House and recommend it to others for a night when they’re looking for good food with a low-key atmosphere.

Hallandale on Dwellable

Biergarten Boca Raton

December 6, 2011 By takeabiteoutofboca 3 Comments

November 19, 2011

Last night was my second outing to the Biergarten and once again, I had a great time. This is one of the newest spots in Boca Raton, located in Royal Palm Place. The outside area is nice, with lots of seating at the bar and tables are available, too. Hanging behind the bar is a chalkboard full of available beers and food specials hangs, so there is no excuse not to know what you’re going to order! I’m not really a big beer drinker, but last time I went I thought I’d try out a few that sounded appealing. I tried two that I really liked: Woodchuck and Shipyard Pumpkinhead. Woodchuck tastes a lot like a cider, which is probably why I like it; it doesn’t taste like beer! The Pumpkinhead was just a little bit heavier than the Woodchuck, but still a really light beer with a nice pumpkin flavor to it. It’s Fall, pumpkin is everywhere! For my second visit to the “garten,” I wanted to try one of their cocktails. My waitress suggested her favorite, Holy Water, which is a banana liquor and another liquor I was not familiar with, Aquavit. Whenever I hear banana, I think creamy so I was iffy about ordering the drink, but I was assured it was really light and sweet and definitely delicious. She was 100% on the money! I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who likes a drink that is more on the sweet side. We decided we’d get an appetizer after seeing the huge Pretzel that everyone around us had ordered. “The Pretzel” is the Biergarten’s signature appetizer: a giant soft pretzel served with house made mustards and some kind of German cream cheese dip. I shared it with friends when I was there last time and it’s good, but we opted for a much healthier and filling choice and were happy with it. We got the Alpine Tray, which comes with cucumbers, carrots, celery, broccoli, pretzel bites, and a small balsamic onion side salad served with the cream cheese dip. This platter gives you a little taste of everything: you still get the pretzel along with other healthier options for dipping into a not-so-healthy but amazing dip. It was a nice pairing to our drinks. Aside from enjoying our drinks and appetizer, the crowd was fun too. There was a mix of all ages, groups of friends hanging out, couples on dates, etc. Our waitress was super sweet and friendly. She stopped a few times to talk to us and made some great recommendations when we asked. Good conversation, good company & good eats…I can’t think of anything better.

Connect with me