Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Coming soon: The Peach Cobbler Factory
When it comes to food, South Florida is a great place to be. So many new places open up every day. Here’s what’s coming soon to a city near you.
The Peach Cobbler Factory, Pembroke Pines and Fort Lauderdale
You need to know about The Peach Cobbler Factory, because this dessert destination has big plans for SoFlo. Right after Christmas — possibly before
New Year’s Eve — the first entries into the market are expected to be an eatery at Crossroads Square in Pembroke Pines and a 40-foot, double-decker stationary bus in Fort Lauderdale (no details on that address yet, but we’re told it will be near
St. Thomas Aquinas High School). Franchise co-owners Gregory George and Larry Johnston say they are developing 30 locations from West Palm Beach to Key West over the next three to five years. The concept is a family-style dessert shop with a menu that includes 12 cobbler flavors (served with free ice cream), 12 banana pudding flavors, six cinnamon roll flavors, 11 Bigger & Better Cookies, 12 Cobbler Cookies along with Sweet Peachy Tea, cold brew coffee and Latin blend coffee. Created in 2013 as a Nashville food truck, The Peach Cobbler Factory has appeared on The Food Network and now has almost 200 franchises in the works. 212 N. University Drive (Crossroads Square shopping center), Pembroke Pines; PeachCobblerFactory.com
Jugo Boss, Lighthouse Point
This detox juicery from Mariana and Diego Uribe plans to open its first brickand-mortar this winter in Lighthouse Point’s Shoppes at Beacon Light. The shop began its life at the Alton Food Hall before migrating into the Yellow Green Farmers Market this summer. Jugo serves six cold-pressed juices including cinnamon nut mylk (raw almonds, cinnamon, vanilla bean, honey), along with immunity ginger shots, açaí bowls and smoothies. 2438 N. Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point; 954-773-4300; JugoBossDetox.com
Violet’s & Zen’s, Wilton Manors
This sushi-tapas rooftop lounge from the same owners behind Jasmine Thai & Sushi in Margate — Preecha and Benjamin Hongnopkhun — is expected to debut in early 2023 on the southern edge of Wilton Drive, in the space formerly occupied by Siam Cuisine. The restaurant will feature Cobb salads and cheese sampler platters as starters and pasta al Pomodoro and seared ahi tuna as entrees. 2010 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors; VandZWilton.com
PopStroke, Delray Beach
This 3-acre, minigolf course and restaurant designed by Tiger Woods is expected to open another Florida location on an under-construction lot north of George Bush Boulevard sometime in spring 2023. Along with two 18-hole putting courses, there will be a 4,600-square-foot restaurant selling “an expansive variety of craft beer, wine, ice cream, and food to enjoy on and off the course,” according to its website. Its Port St. Lucie menu also lists build-your-own pizzas, salads, chicken wings tossed in 11 different sauces and appetizers such as baby back pork ribs, baked pretzels and potstickers. Delray PopStroke joins outposts in Fort Myers, Port St. Lucie, Sarasota and Orlando. 1314 N. Federal Highway, Delray Beach; PopStroke.com
Anthony’s Runway 84, Fort Lauderdale
Back in May, Anthony’s Runway 84 closed its doors in preparation for a $3 million makeover. If everything goes right, the dining institution hopes to reopen in January, just in time to commemorate its 40th anniversary. The vibe will have a modern Italian supper club feel. In addition to a new look, Runway 84 plans to unveil a revitalized menu, a new beverage program and the addition of a private dining room. Owner Anthony Bruno (Andy’s Live Fire Grill & Bar) has partnered with fellow restaurateurs Pat Marzano (ex-owner of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza) and Marc Falsetto (Handcrafted Hospitality restaurant group). 330 W. State Road 84, Fort Lauderdale; 954-467-8484; Runway-84.com
Jackson’s Chicken Shack, Lake Worth Beach
Fried-chicken purveyors are having a moment in South Florida, and the latest example is this shack registered to owner Stephen Difiore, which is expected to debut before year’s end in a Jog Road plaza shared with Walmart Neighborhood Market. Jackson’s touts fried and grilled chicken handhelds, wraps, salads, fries — and tenders, naturally — slathered in toppings, dressings and cheeses. 6169 Jog Road, Lake Worth Beach; JacksonsChickenShack.com
Pummarola Pizzeria Napoletana, Fort Lauderdale
With any luck, this eighth location, in Fort Lauderdale, will open in a few more months.
The newest Pummarola Pizzeria Napoletana has to do a complete buildout, turning what was an attorney’s office into a restaurant. But the location — behind the Broward Center for the Performing Arts at the foot of the drawbridge on Avenue of the Arts — was irresistible to the four brothers who own the boutique chain of Pummarolas. Lorenzo, Alessandro, Adelchi and Larry Mele imported their grandmother’s original eatery from Naples to South Florida, where there are now locations in Boca Raton, Midtown Miami, Miami Beach, Kendall
(in The Falls) and Coral Gables. There are also two Spanish locations, in Ibiza and Barcelona. The first thing that catches your eye when you go to a Pummarola Pizzeria Napoletana is the sawed-in-half Fiat 500 mounted on the wall, a nod to nonna Rosa Donna Rummo, who was known to tool around town in her red sportscar (which Neopolitans said looked like a tomato, or “pummarola” in the dialect of southern Italy). But once you get past that, “the ingredients are what really shine at Pummarola,” says Larry Mele. “They range from
San Marzano tomatoes to imported [double 0] pizza flour, smoked buffalo mozzarella ... [Protected Designation of Origin] Parma Prosciutto. These are just a few of examples of the premium products used.” 620 W Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; Pummarola.us
Grain & Berry, Fort Lauderdale
This Tampa-based, build-your-own-bowl chain plans to plant its newest outpost next February in Flagler Village, across the street from Holiday Park. Grain’s first South Florida location (and 13th in the state) comes from co-franchisee Jeremy Dover, one half of Fort Lauderdale’s Demesmin & Dover law firm. The chain focuses on superfoods and serves bowls with different bases including acai, spirulina, pitaya or yogurt. The menu also features flatbreads and quesadillas with cauliflower or broccoli crusts, avocado toast, smoothies and juices. A Pembroke Pines location is expected to follow in early 2023. 701 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale; GrainandBerry.com
El Camino Mezcal and Tequila Bar, Boca Raton
This popular Mexican restaurant chain plans to unveil its fourth location during spring 2023, making its way to Boca Raton’s planned Restaurant Row. El Camino will offer indoor and outdoor seating for
300 people with lunch, happy hour, dinner and late-night dining. Billed as “Mexican soul food,” it features signature dishes from the scratch kitchen such as Mexican street corn, brisket quesadillas, crispy fish tacos, achiote chicken, chili-rubbed steak, burritos, enchiladas and fajitas, as well as Mexican beers and handcrafted margaritas. Menu prices range from $15 to $25 for lunch, $10 to $15 for happy hour, and $20 to $35 for both brunch and dinner. Other locations are in Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach. 5355 Town Center Road, Unit 4, Boca Raton; ElCaminoBocaRaton.com
Won-Tom’s, Deerfield Beach
A mashup of Mexican, seafood bites and Asian street food, this new restaurant from Troy Ganter (Papa’s Raw Bar in Lighthouse Point) is scheduled to open next spring inside The Cove Shopping Center on the Intracoastal Waterway. The menu, created by Papa’s Raw Bar chef Chad Wyrosdick, is still being finalized, but should include dim sum, bao buns, street tacos made from wonton shells, fried rice and panko-crusted wahoo bites. Ganter’s Won-Tom’s is one of several new eateries expected to shuffle into The Cove plaza, which is undergoing a multimillion-dollar makeover from LM Restaurants (The
Cove Waterfront Restaurant & Tiki Bar, Lucky Fish Pompano, Oceanic). 813 SE 13th Court, Deerfield Beach; EDBLLife.com
Konro, West Palm Beach
This biweekly supper club touting a dozen bitesized courses paired with rare wines from niche producers is popping up inside Fern Street Wine Bar & Kitchen until its owners — husband-and-wife chef Jacob Bickelhaupt and sommelier Nadia Bickelhaupt — can open their brick-and-mortar restaurant on Dixie Highway in January. (The pop-up is sold out through mid-December.) Konro, named for the Japanese charcoal grill Bickelhaupt uses in many courses, is an intimate chef counter where dishes are cooked, deepfried and grilled on the fly by Bickelhaupt, the onetime owner of Michelin two-star 42 Grams in Chicago and a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist. His cuisine leans decidedly Asian, such as Japanese A5 wagyu steak grilled in 12-year-old tare (a soy sauce marinade). Other dishes include edible floral arrangements of microgreens and crackling chicken-skin cones filled with foie gras and cloudberry jam. 424 Park Place, No. 101; 561-466-2791; KonroRestaurant.com
Rice Mediterranean Kitchen, Fort Lauderdale
This Miami-based boutique chain of fast-casuals has been serving up Eastern Mediterranean flavors since the early 2000s. There are seven locations in Miami-Dade County. The Fort Lauderdale location is set to debut in the first quarter of 2023 in the Bank of America Plaza at Las Olas City Centre, alongside other eateries such as Coyo Taco, Subway and Smoothie King. The extensive menu includes kabobs, wraps and falafel platters. There are also tenderloin, chicken, snapper and sirloin platters. 401 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; RiceKitchen.com.
SushiMas, Fort Lauderdale
This fast-casual is expected to enter the Fort Lauderdale market in spring 2023 with a location at The Quantum, on the edge of the Flagler Village enclave. As the name makes clear, the restaurant serves sushi and Japanese cuisine, and it originally debuted as a delivery- and takeout-only operation in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood in August 2020. A dine-in location opened in Aventura in May 2022. The ambitious expansion slated for next year also includes eateries in Kendall, Doral and Miami Beach, with longer-range plans for Coconut Grove and West Palm Beach. Essentially, the menu will remain the same, with sushi rolls, makis and tiraditos in the $11 to $19 range, as well as crispy rice, gyosa and bao bun dishes from $7.95 to $16. 701 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale; SushiMas.com.
Mathews Brewing Co. Scratch Kitchen, Lake Worth Beach
Owner and head beer-wizard Dave Mathews is opening a downtown pizzeria-slash-taqueria a block away from his eponymous Lake Worth Beach brewery on South H Street, he announced recently on social media. The menu is still being finalized, but the South Dixie Highway-facing storefront, which is expected to debut by mid-2023, would serve a variety of tacos and craft beers from the taproom around the corner. 125 S. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth Beach; MathewsBrewingCompany.com
The Hampton Social, Delray Beach
This Chicago-spun restaurant and bar that leans strongly into the phrase “rosé all day” is bringing a pair of locations to South Florida, the first of which expects to debut this January at the upcoming Atlantic Crossing shopping village. Its menu touts mostly trendy seafood fare, including colossal crab cakes and grilled octopus in creamy herb sauce, olives and pistachios, along with oysters and avocado corn pizzas, lobster rolls and smash burgers. Entrees include honey-glazed salmon and short rib atop a bed of creamy polenta. On social media, the 308-seat restaurant is a whole vibe: Instagrammable walls dripping with faux ivy, coastal decor, walls of rosé bottles, chair swings and market lights, and messages like “Let your dreams set sail” written in cursive neon. The 8,390-squarefoot project comes from Chicago’s Parker Hospitality, which plans to open another outpost in Mary Brickell Village in spring 2023. 621 E. Atlantic Ave., Suite 100, Delray Beach; TheHamptonSocial.com
Le Colonial, Delray Beach
This high-end time capsule to 1920s French Colonial Vietnam, under restaurateurs Rick Wahlstedt and Joe King, aims to shuffle into the new Atlantic Crossing shopping village by early 2023. At 7,500 square feet, this restaurant-bar will be accented with tropical furnishings, breezy verandas, leather banquettes, mahogany millwork and framed period photographs. Its classic Vietnamese menu, by chefs Nicole Routhier and Hassan Obaye, will offer crunchy green papaya salad dressed in tangy nuoc cham (a sweet-sour-spicy dipping sauce), moist dumplings garnished with ginger, half roasted duck and suon nuong, or lemongrass-marinated baby back ribs. Wahlstedt and King — who operate other locations in Chicago, Houston and Atlanta — are planning another Le Colonial in Naples in late 2023. 601 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; LeColonial.com
Shabibi, Boca Raton
With the arrival of this Lebanese-inspired eatery from chef and “Hell’s Kitchen” runner-up Ralph Pagano (Naked Taco), Boca Raton’s tony Restaurant Row will be fully occupied, and the 5,300-square-foot space will debut by the end of 2023 or early 2024. Shabibi, which combines the Hebrew word “shalom” (peace) and Arabic word “habibi” (darling), will tout a 70-seat patio and 50-seat bar, a mazza station with brick ovens for fresh flatbreads, a wood-burning grill and a mezzanine area where DJs and belly dancers will entertain. Shabibi will join current Restaurant Row tenants Fiolina Pasta House, Pubbelly Sushi and El Camino, all expected to open next year. 5355 Town Center Road, Boca Raton
Carmela Gourmet Toast & Coffee Bar, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach
This coffee-and-avocado-toast chain, cofounded in Parkland by owners Rainer Abreu and Rafael Baretta, is in rapid expansion mode, with a rebranded name (changed from Carmela Coffee Co.) and nine new locations planned for 2023. Before that, Carmela’s next Boca Raton location expects to open within the upscale Park Place plaza this December. Along with caffeine, they sling empanadas, avocado toast, flatbreads, salads and more. A West Palm Beach outpost is set to follow in January at the Village Commons plaza. 5560 N. Military Trail, Suite 322, Boca Raton; 701 Village Blvd., Suites 101-102, West Palm Beach; CarmelaCoffee.com
New River Cafe and Bakery, Fort Lauderdale
Her tantalizing red-andgreen velvet cake smeared in coquito cream cheese won Netflix’s “Sugar Rush Christmas,” and now Sabrina Courtemanche is opening a downtown Fort Lauderdale bakery in early 2023. Courtemanche, the executive pastry chef at Riverside Hotel, plans to open the shop in a retail space near the hotel, where she’ll make confections such as snicker brownies, chocolate-chip sourdough loaves, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin tiramisu. For those who can’t wait until the debut, the chef will helm a cake-decorating class during January’s Visit Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival. 420 SE Sixth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; Facebook.com/NewRiverCafeBakery