Food Editor: What’s hot? New BBQ joint, best restaurant of 2022 + coquito cookies
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Nevs Barbecue has revved up a north county Publix plaza. Maybe it’s the smoky aroma coming from the smoker out back. Maybe it’s the excitement about a rare barbecue joint making a debut in Palm Beach Gardens. But former fine-dining chef Tommy Nevill’s new spot has been busy since it opened Nov. 28.
There’s another reason for the buzz: the barbecued meats are on point, pleasantly smoky and tender, served in ample portions and affordable. I’ll have more tasting notes on this counter-service, eat-in, takeout restaurant soon. Meantime, here’s the backstory on Nevs Barbecue.
Speaking of former fine-dining chefs…
Nevill – who was executive chef and partner at III Forks Prime Steakhouse before opening Nevs – is not the only white-linen restaurant chef to venture out on his own down a more comfort-food path.
In late 2020, former Café Boulud executive chef Rick Mace left his Palm Beach kitchen to create a casual, “come as you are,” restaurant with a focus on Florida barbecue. His Tropical Smokehouse, now a drive-worthy spot in West Palm Beach, has turned him into a respected pitmaster.
And there’s Mace’s Antique Row neighbor, chef Clay Carnes, the former Palm Beach chef de cuisine (Cucina Dell’Arte) and executive chef at The Grille steakhouse (now closed) in Wellington. Carnes opened a tiny, street-food eatery called Cholo Soy in September 2016. The cozy spot serves what Carnes calls “neo-Andean, Ecuadorean” bites inspired by his time as a hotel chef in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Did I miss any of your favorites? Email me at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com and let me know!
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My favorite new restaurant of 2022
Deciding on a favorite new restaurant gets harder each year as the county’s dining scene expands and elevates. But in many ways, it wasn’t too difficult to choose Pushkar Marathe's new Ela Curry Kitchen as my favorite of 2022.
The tandoori chicken alone is a great selling point. But there’s so much more behind this place and its chef’s mission in a growing and diversifying community.
Here’s the secret sauce behind Ela in Palm Beach Gardens.
My mini gift guide
I wrote what turned out to be a mini gift guide in last week’s column. My list of December temptations included jumbo chocolate chip cookies, Christmas tamales, Florida hot sauce and a groovy reindeer cake.
Allow me to add a few more tempting bites to that list.
Hive Bakery and Café’s Bûche de Noël. Executive pastry chef Amber Felton has created a lineup of refined pastries, cookies, cakes and breads to go with executive chef (and her husband) Jay Felton’s menu of holiday specials at the 9-month-old West Palm Beach restaurant and bakery.
Her chocolate-caramel Bûche de Noël (yule log, $85) cake is a work of art that’s draped in chocolate and adorned with whimsical red mushrooms. The special menu is available through the holidays, but items must be pre-ordered. Orders must be placed before Dec. 16. For information and orders, call 561-373-3477 or email info@hivebakeryandcafe.com.
La Gringuita’s coquito cookies. If your holidays are not complete without dreamy sips of coquito, rum-kissed Puerto Rican eggnog, you may consider coquito in cookie form. That’s what indie baker Caroline McGinley of La Gringuita cookies had in mind when she made her new coquito cookies. It’s an overstuffed (her trademark) vanilla cookie filled with a coquito-inspired custard that’s made of coconut cream, nutmeg and cinnamon. The cookie is then rolled in toasted coconut.
Like most of La Gringuita’s cookies, the coquitos are sold frozen in packs of four ($15). Like all of her cookies, these are huge, more than a quarter pound each. They can be purchased online at Gringuita-Cookies.com and picked up at her market stands at the West Palm Beach GreenMarket and Swank Farm market on Saturdays or at the Palm Beach Gardens GreenMarket on Sundays.
McGinley does have freshly baked cookies at the local green markets as well, but ordering ahead ensures your favorite pick.
Speaking of coquito…
If it’s a classic coquito you seek, try the authentic recipe that’s my go-to each year.
Have a delicious weekend!
Read recent columns by Liz Balmaseda
◾ Best bites and events of a delicious December
◾ Holiday pies, restaurant picks, Oprah-approved charcuterie, doughnuts we love
◾ What I’m craving, loving, ordering. Plus pizza obsessions + a new high tea
◾ Stone crabs, fancy Frito pies, new restaurants and other October finds.
◾ Best reasons to visit Florida's oldest steakhouse in Palm Beach County.
◾ I'll miss this neighborhood gem, but there's some "joy" in its closing.
◾ Goodbye to a beloved and iconic pizzeria's final location.
Liz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She oversees The Post's daily food and dining coverage. Follow her on Instagram and Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hot BBQ spot, best new restaurant 2022 in Palm Beach County, cookies
