‘It’s everybody together’
Bruno’s Eats a new restaurant coming to Fort Lauderdale’s buzzy 13th Street
Perhaps no one is better prepared to introduce a new restaurant in the viral gloom of 2020 than Peggie Ann Blain and her infectious smile.
Yearsworking with the hyper-sanitary protocols of a medical lab doesn’t hurt.
Blain and her husband, Bruno “Chef Max” Maxino, have been a South Florida food-truck power couple since the 2013 debut of their Fort Lauderdale-based Bruno’s mobile kitchen and catering operation.
Also something of a rolling mural— its colorful paint job a token of appreciation fromartists in the MASS District— Bruno’s food truck has been a Yelp-approved presence at festivals, city events and backyard parties across Broward and Palm Beach counties, showcasing ChefMax’s mashup of influences fromHaiti, Jamaica, Latin America andNewYork street food.
If widespread admiration for Bruno’s food truck made the imminent debut of Bruno’s Eats restaurant inevitable, the COVID-19 economy makes the timing unpredictable.
With an outgoing personality the perfect antidote for these staying-in times, Blain is undaunted.
“DuringCOVID, you’re a gambler. I don’t care howbig or small the business is, you have to be very strategic to reinvent yourself according to what the environment requires,” says Blain, 40.
“Itwas its time. It took us a year to decide, do our research and looking around. We found this space, and it happens to fit like a hand in glove,” she says. “It’s really an overwhelming feeling.”
Currently under construction— all bare walls and framing— Bruno’s Eats is scheduled to open in lateNovember at 603NE 13th St., its serene white exterior facing one of Fort Lauderdale’s up-and-coming commercial thoroughfares. Steps away are LoveLee Bake Shop and the Deck on13th lounge, while the popular eatery Milk Money and Gulf Stream Brewing punctuate the east end of the corridor.
Standing out front in the signature hamburger hat that a customer gave her as a salute to one of Bruno’s fan favorites, Blain receiveswaves frompassing drivers and greetings frompedestrians.
Blain already has a special place in a neighborhood she considers special,