Local gems: Dishes, drinks and an unusual bargain spot for foodies
I found Puerto Rican soul in a bowl in a small Greenacres restaurant, and I’m so glad I did. It was Good Friday and I was looking for a good fish/seafood dish and found a winner on the menu at Isla del Coqui restaurant: asopao de camarones (Puerto Rican brothy rice with shrimp, $11.25).
The place is tucked into a suburban strip mall. Few tables were filled on this particular afternoon, but takeout business was bustling. When the stew arrived at my table, I could see why the place was popular.
It arrived in a small metal pot, a heady, flavorful broth swimming with plenty of plump, tender, tail-on shrimp and delicious rice that had soaked up all the nutty achiote and herby cilantro accents of the broth. Surrounding this hot pot of goodness, a halfdozen large, crispy tostones (smashed, twice-fried green plantains) beamed Palm Beach’s most addictive bar snack: Chef David Valencia’s mini-falafel bites at Costa Palm Beach.
in salute.
I don’t always think of a restaurant in terms of its full menu, its building or even its concept. Most times I think of restaurants as moments or singular dishes. That particular fish sandwich, that decadent dessert, that dish forever tied to my memory of the place.
Thanks to this soulful spot, I will always think of my Good Friday lunch as that time I found a perfectly delicious asopao a world away from Puerto Rico.
What’s better than digging your spoon into a bowl of creamy, cinnamon-y rice pudding? The homemade horchata at Taco Chula.
Close your eyes and take a sip – it’s the essence of rice pudding, but in liquid
form. You get the richness, the touch of cinnamon, the round notes we love in rice pudding. That’s because the drink is made from, yes, rice.
It’s soaked in water with cinnamon sticks, then strained, sweetened and chilled. They serve it on tap at the Palm Beach Gardens taco shop alongside homemade hibiscus tea and tamarind agua fresca.
It makes a perfect, cool pairing for any of Taco Chula’s spicier meats. And, honestly, I could drink it by the gallon.
Sometimes the essence of a neighborhood gem rises and arcs in the time it takes for an old standard to play: Tidbits of light gossip exchanged on the
later side of dinner service dissolve across redclothed tables. Older couple yields the floor to the Sinatra soundtrack as it comes into focus. Could there be a more beautiful Gershwin tune?
Softly, a woman’s voice floats atop the melody, a reverie across empty dinner plates.
Nothing else matters in the moment here at Giovanni’s Ristorante in Palm Beach Gardens, not the lady devouring a slice of salami-and-cheese pizza, not the two-for-one Chianti that’s served at once, not the strip-plaza realities unfolding outside. These are fleeting, as the tune goes.
Soon it will be over, the weeknight dinner, the song. Their check will arrive. Their waitress will say the usual, “See ya guys next week!” But that lady working on her second slice of salami/cheese pizza, she’ll remember the song and the sweetness of the moment.
I love a good food bargain. The sight of fresh tortillas for pennies per pound or bold espresso for under two bucks or gorgeous, nice-price produce makes my Cuban refugee soul leap for joy.
So when a friend told me about the deals at the Neighbors Market on Northlake Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens, I ventured into the charming, family-owned market that’s tucked into the strip plaza behind a Mobile gas station.
Within minutes, my cart was filled with blueberries, papaya, radicchio, mixed lettuces, parsley, cilantro, basil, thick carrots, onions, potatoes, Roma tomatoes (on the bargain table, at eight for a dollar) and bell peppers. The bill: 16 bucks and change.
The haul brought three words to mind:
Good, pretty and cheap. Words that make my bargain-loving soul sing.
ON THE COVER: Isla Del Coqui Restaurant’s asopao de camarones is on point.