South Florida Sun Sentinel
Mar 16, 2022 2:53 PM
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Calvin Dumplings, now open as a takeout-only restaurant at 1315 Kitchen at the Jack and Jill Children’s Center in Fort Lauderdale, features six varieties of dumplings (including pork, chicken and shitake mushroom) along with scallion-based dumpling sauces. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
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Calvin and Shirley Shea of Calvin Dumplings demonstrate how they make their dumplings at 1315 Kitchen, the Jack and Jill Children’s Center’s repurposed kitchen on their Fort Lauderdale campus. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
When Fort Lauderdale’s Calvin Shea started an Instagram dumpling shop with his mother, Shirley, at the height of pandemic quarantines, 80,000 followers fell in love with his tantalizing tapestries of potstickers – and his 80-year-old mom. Now, two years later, the duo have opened this takeout-only restaurant in an unusual place, a commercial kitchen called 1315 Kitchen at Jack & Jill Children’s Center. The shop, which opened this month and accepts pickup orders only, serves six types of dumplings (including pork, chicken, shrimp, shitake mushroom), along with scallion-based dumpling sauces. 1315 Kitchen at Jack & Jill Children’s Center, 1315 W. Broward Blvd.; Instagram.com/CalvinDumplings
Niran’s Kitchen and Sushi Bar, Deerfield Beach
A hub of Laotian cuisine – which is practically nonexistent in South Florida – this restaurant from owner Vatsana Nirandone opened in March on Federal Highway, a block south of East Hillsboro Boulevard. The menu features fried meatballs (with fish sauce and chili dip), larb (a Laotian minced meat salad), stir-fry noodles, curried dishes, fried rice and lettuce wraps such as sakoo yat sai, peanut-stuffed tapioca dumplings with fried garlic. 61 S. Federal Highway; 954-708-2169
The Gringo Empanadas and More, Delray Beach
This takeout-only Tex-Mex eatery opened this month and replaces the old Surf Shack Subs Smoothies & Bowls, which permanently closed last December after struggling with staff shortages. Along with acai and pitaya bowls, the Gringo specializes in seven empanadas stuffed with trendy beef birria, lobster mac and cheese, Buffalo chicken, fajita veggie – and even dulce de leche. 916 SE Fifth Ave.; 561-455-2533, TheGringoDelray.com
Casa Monarca Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar, Fort Lauderdale
This Mexican restaurant and spirits hub replaces the short-lived TooJay’s Deli along a busy stretch of North Federal Highway. Casa Monarca is owned by Cristian Mejia and four New Hampshire-based partners, and leans on a fusion of trendy Mexican (birria tacos, fried ice cream) and traditional dishes, including molcajetes and chori pollo (layers of chicken, grilled onions and chorizo topped with cheese). 2980 N. Federal Highway; 954-765-6864, CasaMonarcaFL.com
HoneyBelle, Palm Beach Gardens
James Beard Award-semifinalist Lindsay Autry (The Regional in West Palm Beach) brings this all-day Mediterranean-meets-Southern kitchen to PGA National Resort and Spa. Along with wood-fired pizzas and breakfast buffets, entrees include lemon and rosemary-brined fried chicken, butter-poached lobster and trofie pasta, and Berkshire pork chop with stone-ground grits and cider gastrique. Autry’s restaurant joins the recently opened Butcher’s Club steakhouse from Jeremy Ford – another chef with James Beard bona fides – as part of PGA’s $100 million makeover. 400 Ave of the Champions; 561-627-2000, PGAResort.com
Phat Boy Sushi and Kitchen, Davie
The trendy Japanese mini-chain from chef-owner John Maser, which has been on a roll recently, opened its newest location in Davie on March 7, replacing the former Burger 21 on University Drive. The new location will features shoyu ramen bowls, yakitori skewers, katsu sliders, a full-liquor bar with craft cocktails, and sushi staples including toro and Hamachi. 2451 University Drive, Davie; PhatBoySushi.com
Buoy One Seafood, Fort Lauderdale
After a year and change of dishing salty-sweet New England eats out of its distinctive seafood shack on Commercial Boulevard, Buoy Bites picked up anchor and reopened March 15 as the rebranded Buoy One Seafood on North Federal Highway, in the space formerly occupied by Phat Boy Sushi & Kitchen. Buoy One shares its name with founding chef Dave Girard’s seafood markets on Long Island, and Buoy’s menu is filled with fresh catches, clam chowder, clam fritters, clambakes and fish-fry baskets. 4391 N. Federal Highway; BuoyBites.com
Mister 01 Extraordinary Pizza, Boca Raton
Chef Renato Viola’s fast-growing pizzeria chain debuted its latest storefront on March 1 inside the former Smoke BBQ space, less than a month after opening in Pembroke Pines. Mister 01, which began its life in a sign-less, nondescript office building in Miami Beach, specializes in sharable, 13-inch star-shaped pies with a pouch of ricotta in each of the eight points. Its next location will open this spring in Aventura. 555 N. Federal Highway, Suite 5-6, Boca Raton; 786-677-2903, Mister01.com
Hive Bakery and Café, West Palm Beach
High-end breakfasts and lunches are abuzz at this new storefront across the street from the Norton Museum of Art, an offshoot of Palm Beach interior designer Sara McCann’s nearby cluster of Hive home-décor showrooms. The bakery café, which debuted March 8, is helmed by married chefs Jay and Amber Felton, who serve veggie frittatas and smoked salmon, deviled egg salad on grilled sourdough, confections and artisanal breads. 1603 S. Dixie Highway; 561-360-2196, HiveBakeryCafe.com
Subculture Coffee, Boca Raton
This hipsterfied java joint from Palm Beach restaurateur Rodney Mayo (Dada, Respectable Street, Dubliner) debuted March 3 inside Mizner Park. The 1,150-square-foot café – like its Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Jupiter locations – serves breakfast sandwiches, acai bowls and smoothies. 437 Plaza Real, Boca Raton; 561-430-4341, SubcultureCoffee.com
Blue Steel Pizza, Fort Lauderdale
Leaves & Roots Lounge, Fort Lauderdale
Clean Juice, West Palm Beach
This family-run juicery franchise from owners Flavia, Tate and Martin Lehtio opened in late January and offers cold-pressed juices packed with superfood add-ons, along with açaí bowls, smoothies, avocado toasts, wraps, salads and sandwiches. 1900 Okeechobee Blvd.; 561-944-6189, CleanJuice.com
The Hungry Pelican, Deerfield Beach
When owner William Sakowski took over the old Antonio’s Ristorante pizzeria in the Cove Shopping Center, he rebranded – to Cove Pizza – and added this sister barbecue spot at the same storefront. The Pelican, which opened in late February, turns out slow-roasted beef brisket, burnt ends, St. Louis-style pork ribs, Philly-style cheesesteaks and Angus hamburgers. 1636 SE Third Court; 954-573-7454, HungryPelicanFlorida.com
Broad Shoulders Sandwiches, Fort Lauderdale
Chicago native and chef-owner Tom Azar (Emeril Lagasse’s NOLA restaurant) is behind this gourmet sandwich shop and deli steeped in New Orleans flavors, which debuted Feb. 22 in the former Eduardo de San Angel space on Commercial Boulevard. The sandwicherie will feature Reubens with scratch-made corned beef on seeded rye, shrimp po’boys, Italian beef, chicken and andouille gumbo soup and creamy creole coleslaw. 2822 E. Commercial Blvd.; 754-779-7220, BroadShouldersSandwiches.com
Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, Deerfield Beach
The latest South Florida location of this national frozen treat franchise is owned by dad and son dynamic duo Daryl and Anthony Cappiello (Daryl decided to sign on with Jeremiah’s the same day he was to retire after 20 years in the food industry). The brand Jeremiah’s — with a motto of “Live life to the coolest” — offers more than 40 flavors of Italian ice as well as house-made soft ice cream. 3849 West Hillsboro Blvd.; 954-420-9895, JeremiahsIce.com.
Matchbox and Big Buns Damn Good Burgers, Fort Lauderdale
Two Thompson Hospitality restaurants are opening side-by-side at Society Las Olas along the New River. Big Buns Damn Good Burgers debuted Feb. 24 with 40 indoor and 75 outdoor seats, and offers all types of stacked burgers or burger bowls with side options like fried Brussels sprouts and milkshakes that can be boozy or not. Matchbox, the other restaurant scheduled to open March 21, will take on a larger space with 90 indoor and 124 outdoor seats, serving items like the “ginormous meatball” and “hangover burrito.” 301 SW First Ave., South Tower; eatbigbuns.com, matchboxrestaurants.com
Bodega Taqueria y Tequila, West Palm Beach
Pagoda Kitchen, Delray Beach
Decorated restaurateur Burt Rapoport (Max’s Grille, Deck 84, Prezzo) is behind this new restaurant that opened Feb. 17 at Delray Marketplace. Billed as “home-style Chinese cuisine,” and inspired by the pan-Asian travels of chef Bryan S. Emperor (one of Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs in America), the menu features Peking duck, bao buns, glazed Chinese barbecue spare ribs and shaved ribeye with shishito peppers. 14817 Lyons Road, Suite 100; PagodaKitchen.com
North South Grill, Pembroke Pines
Juicy hamburgers smashed to oblivion on brioche buns, Greek gyros, buttermilk chicken tenders, American Wagyu steak hoagies and grilled chicken sandwiches are all on the menu at this comfort-food hangout across the street from C.B. Smith Park. The grill, which opened in late December and is registered to owner Theodore Maniatis, also serves Canadian poutine (albeit with shredded cheese) and salads. 154 S. Flamingo Road; 954-404-8308, NorthSouthGrill.com
Spud’s Coffee, Fort Lauderdale
Owner Megan Wilson originally wanted to open Spud’s, a coffeehouse and brunch café named after her grandfather, in mid 2020. That was until the pandemic delayed her opening nearly two years. While she waited, she sold sweet potato, pecan and apple pies out of another pandemic pop-up, Drinking Pig BBQ in North Miami. Spud’s, which opened Feb. 20 in Fort Lauderdale’s North Beach Shoppes, serves house-smoked pork belly eggs benedict, burrata toast and fluffy, sticky cinnamon buns, among other caffeinated creations. 3301 NE 32nd St.; 754-212-3732, SpudsCoffee.com
Restaurateur Ron Rosa (of New York’s Campagnola and Ecco) and his wife, Dominique, are behind this outpost of Rosa’s Greenwich, Conn., Italian restaurant, which debuted Feb. 1 inside the Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa. The 140-seat eatery – which drew the likes of Bill Clinton and Judge Judy Sheindlin at its flagship – serves breakfast fare such as Panettone French toast, as well as baked clams oreganata, beef carpaccio and grilled octopus. 100 S. Ocean Blvd.; 561-533-6000, EauPalmBeach.com
Coyo Taco, Fort Lauderdale
This clubby high-end taqueria from Wynwood is migrating north to Las Olas debuted Feb. 14 in the former SuViche on the ground floor of the Bank of America building. The 2,905-square-foot restaurant won’t feature a speakeasy lounge like its Miami counterparts, co-owner Sven Vogtland says, but the taqueria will serve hand-pressed corn tortillas filled with cochinita pibil, alambre, pollo al carbon and crispy duck, plus salads and burrito bowls. 401 E. Las Olas Blvd.; Coyo-Taco.com
The first South Florida offshoot of this Virginia-born Korean fried chicken chain roosted in Davie on Feb. 10 under local owner Daven Sawh. Choongman’s deep-fried birds – served in tender, drumstick, wing and whole-chicken forms – are crispy and tossed in soy-garlic glaze and spicy gochujang sauce (a kind of red chili paste). There is also tikkudak, in which Korean fried chicken is fried then baked in charcoal ovens for extra crunch. 4900 S. University Drive, #100; 954-999-0235, CMChickenFL.com
Maxwell’s Plum, Wellington
Owner Jenny “Oz” LeRoy is behind the revival of this famed, flamboyant Manhattan singles bar that symbolized two 1960s revolutions – food and sex – and courted celebrities from Barbra Streisand to Warren Beatty before closing in the ‘80s. LeRoy is the daughter of Maxwell’s founder Warner LeRoy and granddaughter of famed Hollywood film producer Mervyn LeRoy (“The Wizard of Oz”). The restaurant, which opened in late January, features American fare such as rigatoni all’ amatriciana and dry-aged New York strips, chilled Maine lobster and oyster towers. 12300 South Shore Blvd.; 561-793-2110, MaxwellsPlum.com
The Salty Donut will open its seventh location in West Palm Beach’s Rosemary Square this spring. (Courtesy of The Salty Donut via Yelp)
The Salty Donut, West Palm Beach
Started in 2015 in Wynwood by Amanda Pizarro and Andy Rodriguez, with recipes from itinerant pastry chef Max Santiago, the Salty Donut will open its seventh location this summer at trendy Rosemary Square. The Salty specializes in over-the-top, brioche-raised treats such as horchata, prickly pear margarita, brown butter and “churro + dulce de leche.” The shop, dubbed one of the “31 best donut shops in America” if you ask Thrillist, has been teasing its presence in West Palm Beach since October, with a camper pop-up parked in the square. 700 S. Rosemary Ave., Suite 200; SaltyDonut.com
Rossano’s Pizza, Delray Beach
When Delray Beach pizzamaker Marcelo Rossano lost his vintage pizza camper in a car wreck last spring, the Delray community he served fundraised over $13,000 to help him buy another one. After spending the past year turning that new trailer into Rossano’s Pizza 2.0, his mobile pizzeria will be back to slinging 900-degree-fired Neapolitan-style pies in early spring. The pizza truck is parked outside Eclectic Eats, a caterer on North Federal Highway north of downtown Delray Beach. 1731 N. Federal Highway; 561-406-0101, Facebook.com/Rossanospizzas
Tacocraft Taqueria & Tequila Bar, Plantation
On Friday, March 18 Tacocraft will be the first restaurant to open in the shiny new shopping/restaurant/entertainment/residential/hotel center Plantation Walk. There are other Tacocrafts in Fort Lauderdale, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and South Miami, but the latest location in Plantation will be the largest and the first to have both indoor and outdoor bars, as well as two patios. The concept is owned by Handcrafted Hospitality and has A-list partners, including gridiron great Dan Marino, radio star Paul Castronovo and restaurateurs Anthony Bruno, Pat Marzano and Marc Falsetto. 321 North University Drive. Tacocraft.com.
Carousel Club at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach
Described as an “open-air gathering spot” for food, cocktails and entertainment, this dining destination had a celeb-filled sneak peek at the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 30. But plans to open at Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino in February were delayed and now Carousel Club expects to debut on Friday, April 1. So named because of the antique carousel bar at its center, the trackside venue will have pop-ups by Spris Artisan Pizza, Los Altos Taqueria and Ms. Cheezious with more to be announced. Carousel Club will be open noon until late evening (with DJs spinning) Fridays-Sundays. 901 S. Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach; 954-228-3378, CarouselClub.com.
This new gastropub replacing the former Mellow Mushroom off Atlantic Avenue will debut this spring. In a testament to how fast Delray Beach’s dining scene moves these days, Bar 25 owners Nick Laudano and Anthony Giovanniello – who operate Boca Raton’s Nick’s New Haven Style Pizzeria & Bar – snapped up the lease last summer, just five days after Mellow Mushroom closed. No menu is available yet. 25 SE Sixth Ave.; Bar25.com
Planta Queen, Fort Lauderdale
This Asian-inspired offshoot of South Beach vegan hotspot Planta will bloom on Las Olas Boulevard during the first week of April. The upscale menu, from restaurateur Steven Salm, will feature spinach shiitake, potato truffle and crab Rangoon dumplings without a trace of meat or fish, along with plant-based sushi, cauliflower tots and dan dan noodles tossed with szechuan kamut, cilantro and coconut milk. 1201 E. Las Olas Blvd.; PlantaRestaurants.com
Santiago’s Bodega, Fort Lauderdale
The Key West stalwart for the last 17 years will open a fourth location in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s booming Flagler Village sometime in March. Founder and operator Jason Dugan says, “Flagler Village is a neighborhood on the move — art, restaurants, music, great energy and walkable, everything one can ask for in a neighborhood. We are excited to be a part of the growth.” The latest Santiago’s Bodega can handle 160 people inside and another 30 on the patio. There will also be a full bar, weekend brunch service. two happy hours daily and the kitchen will remain open until 1 a.m. 445 NE 4th St., Fort Lauderdale. SantiagosBodega.com.
Damn Good Sweets, West Delray Beach
Well, maybe not exactly soon. But this bakery is already promising eye-popping, over-the-top desserts when it opens sometime this summer west of Florida’s Turnpike at the intersection of West Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road. Already planned showstoppers by chef Morgan “The Danish King” Larsson include a towering mango sundae and something he calls a “Pizzookie” (a pizza-meets-cookie mashup). The owners are Damn Good Hospitality with a stable of concepts that include Revolution Live, Stache Drinking Den, Green Bar & Kitchen, Backyard and Warren American Whiskey Kitchen. Plaza Delray, 8728 W. Atlantic Ave. Delray Beach (suite B).
Monster Subs, Fort Lauderdale
After 26 years in Fort Lauderdale’s Gateway Plaza, this hub for hoagies, salads and wraps permanently closed on Feb. 22, owners John and Kindia Robinson posted on the Monster Subs website. Like kitschy clothing shop Jezebel a few doors down, the owners cited surging rent increases in the strip mall as their reason for closing, writing, “We will miss our loyal customers very much […] and it was a pleasure feeding you all these years.” 1978 E. Sunrise Blvd.; 954-463-7997, MonsterSubsFL.com
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Grapes Wine Cafe & Market
Chef Lenore Nolan-Ryan’s boutique-y boîte had to shut down due to the pandemic, just a little over a year after opening on Galt Ocean Mile. The space has now reverted back to a catering business as well as Nolan-Ryan’s ongoing cooking classes with occasional pop-up dinners and brunches. Grapes may be no more, but the Lenore Nolan-Ryan Catering & Cooking School lives again. 3311 North Ocean Blvd., (or A1A), in the Galt Ocean Plaza, Fort Lauderdale. 954-491-2340. Facebook.com/LenoreNolanRyanCookingSchoolandCatering.
PAC Pastries, Wilton Manors
Owned by Shelbey Chiavari, this vegan and gluten-free bakery on Wilton Drive shuttered Feb. 19 after three years in business, the shop announced on social media. Her funky shop – where pink playground swings were suspended from the ceiling – served creations such as slutty brownies, vanilla-matcha doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, blueberry pop tarts and Black Forest cookie bars. 2348 Wilton Drive; 954-530-9783, PACPastries.com
Corner Bakery Café, Boca Raton
This Chicago-spun neighborhood bakery chain has shuttered its Boca Raton spot – the last in South Florida – after 10 years inside Glades Plaza, and its location has been scrubbed from Corner Bakery’s website. Corner Bakery, which closed in late January, dished all-day breakfast sandwiches, muffins and coffee, along with soup-and-sandwich combos, salads and pasta bowls. The last remaining Corner Bakery in Florida is in Brandon, near Tampa. 2240 NW 19th St., Suite 800; CornerBakeryCafe.com
