Pelican Café - simple pleasures, sophisticated choices - North Palm Beach

Pelican Café

612 US Highway 1

Lake Park, FL 33403

561-842-7272

Thepelicancafe.com

Hours change to accommodate seasons – call to confirm

Breakfast and lunch: Tues-Fri -11 a.m. 2 p.m.

   Sat/Sun: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Dinner Tues-Fri: 5 – 9:30 p.m.

Catering available

By Jane Feehan

A few surprises await visitors to the Pelican Café, a busy restaurant north of West Palm Beach. The owners tout the café as a neighborhood place, “where Nantucket meets the Florida Keys,” but I’d drive miles to return to this eatery.

The décor, with its polished dark wood floors, vibrant watercolor paintings and tables dressed with fresh flowers hints of something special to come from the kitchen.  

Chef/Owner Mark Frangione delivers standards with a twist, Italian specialties from his mother's kitchen repertoire and special customer requests. He doesn’t shrink from the unusual. I savored perhaps the best chicken tacos I’ve ever eaten. Tender slices of blackened chicken, a generous slice of avocado and fresh chopped tomatoes sat atop finely shredded cabbage drizzled with a peppery flavored vinegar. A flavorful, slightly sweet remoulade balanced the savory dish. Fellow diner ordered a mahi mahi sandwich accompanied by sweet, finely shredded coleslaw of green and purple cabbage and carrots – an unusual blend of flavors and texture.

Pelican Café presents an array of lunch or dinner dishes, including Tuscan pizzas with some unusual toppings. Pasta favorites punctuate the menu, along with interesting salads (how about a goat cheese fritter salad?), and taste-tingling appetizers. Rack of lamb and filet mignon join a number of chicken dishes and fresh fish entrees. Their popular breakfast spotlights eggs Benedict, omelets and frittatas.  Moderately priced, the menu also includes a number of award-winning house-made desserts and an excellent wine list.   

Dinner reservations suggested.  A pet-friendly patio provides an excellent dining venue year round.

A word on the converted house the café occupies: The building was the guest house of Boston entrepreneur Harry Seymour Kelsey (1879-1957), once the largest land holder in Palm Beach County. Lake Park was named Kelsey City until 1939, long after Kelsey was hit by financial losses of the land bust of the late 1920s.

Tags: Breakfast in Palm Beach County, dining Palm Beach County, fine dining Palm Beach County, Sunday brunch North Palm Beach, pet-friendly dining, pet-friendly restaurant, dog-friendly North Palm Beach, Kelsey City, catering Palm Beaches, dining Palm Beach area

Dune Deck Café in Lantana a worthy seaside draw

Dune Deck Café

100 N. Ocean Blvd.

Lantana Beach, FL 33462

561-582-0472

www.dunedeckcafe.com/

Breakfast  - M-F: 8 -11:30 a.m.

Lunch, M-F: 11:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.

Brunch, Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 7 a.m.-4:30 pm.

By Jane Feehan

Dune Deck Café sits on a short list of open air, free-standing, beach side eateries in Palm Beach County.  The restaurant lies on a small bluff overlooking the ocean and provides a view from nearly any table, making it a worthwhile casual dining destination for residents and tourists.

The view draws higher ratings than the food but that doesn’t keep me from returning. The large but pedestrian menu that includes burgers, salads, chicken or fish sandwiches is enhanced by a few tasty Greek specialties: Greek pizza, gyros, Greek salads, spinach pies and more. Greece fills the nostrils when one first walks into the covered dining area, adding to its ambiance.

Dune Deck Café is a popular spot for brunch on weekends and holidays no matter what the weather; ocean breezes make the cafe comfortable year round. They've recently added a full-service bar.  Look for the public parking lot with the café set considerably off the street. The parking lot lies across from the Ritz Carlton Manalapan off East Ocean Avenue and bridge. Metered parking runs about $1.50 per hour. Beach access.

Family-friendly, good service.

Use search box at top right to find breakfast in Jupiter or other cities.

For recipes, grocery lists, a meal planner and meal plans, visit DinnerTool  at: www.dinnertool.com

Tags: breakfast in Lantana, beachside dining in Lantana, lunch on the beach in Lantana, brunch in Lantana. 

Duke's Lazy Loggerhead Café - Good food a few steps from Jupiter beach

Lazy Loggerhead Café

401 North A1A (Carlin Park)

Jupiter, Florida 33458

Seven Days, 8 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

561-747-2952

Breakfast served all day until 2 p.m.

By Jane Feehan

Open for breakfast and lunch, Duke’s Lazy Loggerhead Café serves up gigantic portions at moderate prices.

It draws the gourmand rather than the gourmet but Lazy Loggerhead goes the extra mile to elevate a standard menu of egg dishes, salads, sandwiches and grilled lunch specials to acclaim and repeat performances. Most people are regular customers at this very busy eatery.

A recent lunch of a grilled chicken sandwich (about $11), steak fries and exceptional cole slaw proved to be as good as it looked (above). The chicken, marinated tender, came with shaved red onion, and a fresh, juicy tomato slice on a soft version of a hard roll. Companion diner enjoyed a blacked dolphin sandwich that earned high marks for perfect spicing.

The café sits on a ridge adjacent to the ocean in Jupiter’s Carlin Park; the beach lies on the other side of a berm of seagrape trees and tropical flora, so there’s no ocean view but the deep blue is just steps away. A long walk or bike ride will be in order after a meal at the Lazy Loggerhead Café. Beach goers welcome.

Tags: breakfast in Jupiter, lunch in Jupiter, beach side breakfast in Jupiter

Café Chardonnay reigns best in Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach County

Café Chardonnay

4533 PGA Blvd.

Palm Beach Gardens, FL

561-627-2662

Lunch: Monday –Friday, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Dinner : Monday-Saturday – 5:30-10 p.m.; Sunday dinner 5:30-9 p.m.

Catering available

http://www.cafechardonnay.com/

Enter zipcode in search box at right to find more restaurant reviews

By Jane Feehan

Elegant, sophisticated, sumptuous, unpretentious – these are just a few of the adjectives that aptly describe both the food and décor of Café Chardonnay in Palm Beach Gardens.

Continental entrées are served with a 21^st- century emphasis on organic.   Starters for our lunch visit included French Onion soup appropriately crusted with golden browned Gruyere cheese, and Lobster Bisque infused with the flavor of those wonderful Maine crustaceans.  Organic Irish salmon served atop a bed of lentils, and a jumbo lump crab cake with far more meat than bread made for two exquisite meals.

Café Chardonnay is pricey with dinner entrées averaging $35 and sides served a la carte but it’s well worth it.  The summer provides an opportunity to dine for less. A specially priced four-course dinner menu changes weekly featuring house specialties such as rack of lamb, organic breast of chicken Milanese, San Francisco Cioppino (seafood stew), and braised short ribs, and much more.

Patio dining -popular during the cooler months

Consistently delicious, Café Chardonnay may be one of the finest dining establishments in Palm Beach and Broward counties.  Dinner reservations suggested.

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Tags: Fine dining Palm Beach Gardens, fine dining Palm Beach County, catering in Palm Beach County, summer dining deals, Cafe Chardonnay

Nick's Tomatoe Pie draws Jupiter fans of Italian food

Nick’s Tomatoe Pie

1667 W. Indiantown Rd.

Jupiter, FL 33458

561-744-8935

Open daily for dinner; takeout available

Sunday –Thursday: 4:30-9:30 p.m.

Friday-Saturday: 4:30-10:30 p.m.

By Jane Feehan

If you can get by the kitschy atmosphere with its wood and neon signs, tomato cans as center pieces, and elevated noise levels that reminds one of Italian eatery Buca di Beppo it’s clear that Nick’s Tomatoe Pie dishes up some good southern Italian food.

Sauces  - marinara, bolognese, alla vodka, primavera - and others that define Italian cooking are available with most anything the kitchen serves (the menu is huge). For starters, I ordered a Gorgonzola salad tossed with several varieties of lettuce, and tomatoes and olives topped with a generous amount of cheese that was worth the visit.  I was less enthusiastic about the individual loaf of tasteless bread served in a bag. It was redeemed by olive oil with plenty of garlic cloves. For the main course, I sampled eggplant rollatini (about $16). Three huge vegetable rolls stuffed with quality ricotta cheese in a delicious marinara plus a side penne (overcooked) was enough for two.  Smaller portions are available for a dollar or two less.  Fellow diner supped on penne with bolognese, another tasty sauce, and a better-than-average house salad. For $15, this small order dinner choice was a bit overpriced.

A raw bar with cold water oysters, and clams in white or red sauce are among favorites of regular customers. Nick’s serves pizza but with bland dough and tasteless toppings, it’s not worth naming this restaurant (and mis-spelling tomato) for. There are plenty of other menu items that please, including a lineup of pasta, meats, lobster and fish.

 Full bar, good service, family friendly. 

For recipes, grocery lists, a meal planner and meal plans, visit DinnerTool:  www.dinnertool.com

Tags: Jupiter Italian restaurants, dining in Jupiter, raw bar in Jupiter, takeout in Jupiter, wedding rehearsal dinner accommodations, Nick's Tomato Pie

III Forks in Palm Beach Gardens - They show the beef

III Forks

4645 PGA Blvd.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33418

561-630-3660

http://www.iiiforks.com

Monday-Thursday: 5-10 p.m.

Friday and Saturday: 5-11 p.m.

Sunday: 5-10 p.m. (Closed Sundays July and August)

By Jane Feehan

 III Forks throws off a masculine aura with its dark woods and sophisticated, imperious-looking bar at the center of the dining room. The décor declares it’s a steak house and that business is conducted here.

USDA Prime steaks and a great selection of wines (there’s a walk-in wine room) serve as the two pillars of III Fork’s reputation. New York Strip, rib eye, filet mignon, rack of lamb and double cut pork chops headline the menu ($30-40). The kitchen does a command performance with meat. They claim the same expertise with seafood but that’s another matter.                                                              

Seafood ($28-32) includes lobster, salmon, sea bass, shrimp, scallops and other dishes. Lobster bisque is flat tasting, thin and devoid of lobster meat. Crab cakes don’t live up to III Forks’ claims of excellence. They do a fair job with fish filets but steaks and chops reign.

For the price conscious, there’s an interesting bar menu with popcorn shrimp, burgers, Kobe sliders, and salads. During the summer, III Forks offers complete dinners for $30 – a really good deal.

Full bar with a good choice of single malt Scotches. Quiet, understated sophistication earns my return visits.  Service: Good

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Tags: Palm Beach Gardens restaurants, Palm Beach Gardens steak house, fine dining in Palm Beach Gardens, Three Forks Restaurant 

Spoto's Oyster Bar, Palm Beach Gardens: Oyster bliss

Spoto’s Oyster Bar

4560 PGA Blvd.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33418

Lunch and Dinner

561-776-9448

http://www.spotosoysterbar.com

By Jane Feehan

Shell fish lovers will find many pleasures at Spoto’s Oyster Bar: a sophisticated ambiance, great service, but above all, excellent oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp and other shelled delights.

From the cold waters of the northeastern U.S. and Canada, oysters take top billing here. Unlike their counterparts from the warm Gulf and Florida coastal waters, northern oysters tend to be less fleshy, delicate and a bit more salty. Spoto’s serves Blue Point, Well Fleet, and a variety of others as they find them.

Fellow diner and I enjoyed a sampler platter, about 20 oysters on the half shell, and what a palate pleaser. Ice cold and fresh from Long Island Sound, Cape Cod, and Canada, the oysters were served with lemon, three sauces and plenty of crackers. We couldn't decide which ones were best; they were all delicious. We then shared a meal of Panko fried scallops, also from cold waters, with rice and asparagus. This part of the meal was less exciting. The scallops, though fresh and of good texture, were unimaginatively prepared. Spice cake from the dessert tray served as the ending. Not nearly as good as it looked, the cake was heavy and short on flavor.

Other diners sitting at high top tables next to us raved about their seafood salads and chowders. A jumbo shrimp cocktail for $12.95 looked like a show stopper. My inclination would be to stick with  shellfish for the main course; that’s their specialty.

                                                                                                                  

Whether one visits Spoto’s for shellfish (how about some oyster shooters?) lobster, salads, chowders and soups (including gumbo), pasta, and land lover dishes, there’s an inviting array of options to put together a meal without denting the wallet. 

A raw bar, the Blue Point Lounge, and a patio provide plenty of seating and socializing venues. There’s a good crowd at Spoto’s during the season and if there’s a wait, it’s worth it for their oysters and other shellfish.

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Tags: oysters, oyster shooters, Palm Beach Gardens seafood restaurants, Palm Beach Gardens fine dining, clams, lobster dinners, shrimp dinners

Captain Charlie's Reef Grill - where seafood sings in Juno Beach

Captain Charlie’s Reef Grill

12846 US Hwy 1

Juno Beach, FL 33408  (near the split in the road)

Lunch: Monday- Saturday 11:30 A.M.- 3 P.M.

Dinner: Sunday – 5-9:30 p.m.

Dinner: Monday-Friday 5-10 p.m.

561-624-9924

By Jane Feehan

Captain Charlie’s Reef Grill – known to most as “the Reef” - tops many lists for best seafood in the area. The focus is on fresh food, great wines and a convivial atmosphere generated by owner Ross Mathison.

Reef Grill

Ross knows fish. His menu features lobster, clams, shrimp, and fresh fish every day that’s grilled, blackened, sautéed, broiled or fried. The Reef also serves up grouper cheeks, the most coveted part of that fish - excellent. Panko fried scallops rank as some of the best I’ve eaten. Throw in a few of Ross’s creative touches such as mixed vegetable garlic cream, citrus vinaigrette, spicy marinara, or blueberry teriyaki and - presto – the seafood almost sings. And about that housemade ice cream: it's unmatched in South Florida. 

His wine inventory may also be unmatched. Ross Mathison ranks second among purveyors of wine in Palm Beach County, just behind the Breakers Hotel.

Sit at the bar to watch cooks in the open kitchen and, if Ross is there, engage in some lively conversation that may include food prep secrets, wine histories and his world travels. Or, rub elbows with sports greats or some very interesting locals. No cell phone zombies here. One thing is certain, no one is rushed from their seat at the bar – and that’s a good thing. Casual, unpretentious atmosphere. Service: good. Expect a wait after 6 p.m. Copyright © 2019. Jane Feehan. All rights reserved.

Tags: Seafood restaurants Juno Beach, grouper cheeks, Jupiter, Florida, casual dining, best seafood Juno Beach, Reef Grill Juno 

Little Moir's Food Shack: Food Wow - Jupiter, Florida

Little Moir’s Foodshack

103 S. U.S. 1, Jupiter, Florida 33477

Lunch and dinner served Monday through Saturday 11:00-9 p.m.

561-741-3626

www.littlemoirsfoodshack.com

By Jane Feehan

If ever there was a reason not to judge a place by its name, Little Moir’s Food Shack will be it. Sitting in a strip shopping center with a nondescript storefront, Food Shack is a culinary surprise. Exterior seating for fans willing to wait for a table provides one hint of what’s to come; opening of the door by a staffer before patrons reach it gives another.

We chose a counter dining spot to watch the cooking. No stumbling over each other here; it was choreographed preparation.  While trying to decide from one of their two daily menus, we ordered house made potato chips tossed with lemon, garlic, black pepper, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, capers, caramelized red onion and freshly shaved Parmesan cheese. WOW. So good we could barely stop eating but wait – we said - there’s more; other items beckoned.

I chose Sweet and Spicy ($19) with scallops. Made with fresh cauliflower, squash, wilted spinach, mango, and peanuts over coconut rice, the soupy dish, loaded with scallops, was ambrosial. Fellow diner ordered blackened grouper over coconut rice (about $18) with Food Shack’s distinctive spiced fruit salad and cucumber slaw. Perfectly spiced and super fresh, the meal was more than pleasing. To top off the occasion we shared Raspberry Key Lime Pie ($6.50) that had to be the best version of that Florida tradition I’ve indulged in. Instead of a thick graham cracker crust, it was made with the thinnest layer of light cake. The creamy filling: a perfect blend of sweet and tart.

Food Shack, a name derived from a picture of a Bangkok, Thailand alleyway, is known for fresh fish, sweet potato crusted fish, BBQ chicken sandwiches and its fried tuna and basil roll. I’ll return to try some of their other “Shackatizers": Crab Guacamole ($12), or Fried Eggplant Stack with Grilled Pineapple, Tomato, and Homemade Mozzarella Cheese Topped with Blue Crab and Citrus Wine Vinegar Glaze ($11.50). There’s so much more – much of it not even on the menu, we were told. A glance at the offerings shows off innovation, variety and appreciation for freshness.  As one cook told us proudly – this is five star food in a one star setting.  Agreed.  All good reasons for me to dine at their other restaurant -Leftovers©. Beer and wine served. I've suggested Food Shack to Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.   


Service: Excellent. Reservations for parties of six or more. See their recent addition, Maxi's Lineup. 

Tags: Food Shack, Seafood, Jupiter, Florida, restaurants, dining

Too Bizarre ... Too disappointing - Jupiter, Florida

                                      

                                                          

Too Bizarre

287 E. Indiantown Rd.

Jupiter, Florida 33477

561-745-6262

Lunch and dinner

Monday : 11:30 a.m. 12 a.m.

Tuesday-Thursday: 11:30-12 a.m.

Friday and Saturday: open until 1 a.m.

Sunday: 5 p.m.-11 p.m.

www.toobizarre.com

By Jane Feehan

Busy and noisy, expensive and trendy – that’s Too Bizarre. Overstuffed sofas and chairs, decorated interior balconies, ornate chandeliers, and stained glass lamps creatively thrown together provide a unique setting for drinking and dining.  With a name that reflects its décor more than anything else, Too Bizarre is a gathering spot for the 20 and 30 somethings of north Palm Beach County.

The food is not as enchanting as the setting.

The menu, touted as Thai, is not authentic with its overly sweet and less-than-spicy dishes. What they list as tapas run about twice as much as tapas in other places I’ve dined at from Washington D.C to Miami.  I sampled Thai Dumplings for $13 from the tapas menu; they were tasty but small. Fellow diner chose another tapas item – stuffed mushrooms for $16. The mushrooms topped with crabmeat were watery, tough and poorly prepared with the “gills” or membranes still intact. My main course was an Asian Crepe for $20. Rather than a paper thin soft pancake, the meal came in a crispy, fried, thickish casing with a bizarrely sweet interior concoction.  Companion ordered a Thai pizza for one - $14. With a random piece of chicken and some raw broccoli, this dish also proved to be a disappointment. The bill, which included three glasses of wine and a tip came to $108. I don’t mind paying for good food, but it wasn’t good here for any amount of money.

Another thing – Too Bizarre is too dark inside. Bring a flashlight to read the menu. This establishment doesn’t have much competition among the youngish set; that may account for its popularity. Service: good. ©2010 Jane Feehan. All rights reserved. Jupiter restaurants, Palm Beach County, Florida