This week on Check, Please!

South Florida, a seafood lover's dream in North Palm Beach.

The service was fantastic.

[Michelle] A wine hub in the Treasure Coast.

I was like, oh yeah, let's get another.

[Michelle] And a cozy Spanish delight in Jupiter.

We had a live guitar player who was fabulous.

[Narrator] Cultural, culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.

[Narrator] Additional funding for Check, Please!

South Florida is provided by George and Helen Weaver, and the Friends of South Florida PBS.

You just wanted to savor every bit of that dessert.

It's delicious.

The best tiramisu I've ever had.

There's nothing else like that in South Florida that I know about.

You'll pull the cheese, and it'll be all the way up to here.

Hello, I'm Michelle Bernstein, and welcome to Check, Please!

South Florida, the show where regular people from all over South Florida recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So this is how the show works, every week we have three guests, each recommends his or her favorite spot, and then the other two go to check them out and see what they think.

This week, telecom consultant Diane Rivera, says that her pick is an excellent destination for delicious tapas - style food, and a cozy atmosphere that you will not want to leave, embodying the culture of its Spanish namesake, you will fall in love with the food and ambience of this Jupiter gem.

Medical sales representative Chris Theodore wants you to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and ample wine selections of his pick.

He says that you'll be greeted by a caring and friendly staff, that is more than glad to offer suggestions, and serve you ample portions.

You'll appreciate the dedication of this Treasure Coast enclave.

But first, cybersecurity sales director Angela Mejia says that her pick has become a staple for her family and friends, offering a solid selection of fresh seafood directly from their market.

She says unique choices will keep you going back time and time again.

It's located in North Palm Beach, and it's called Cod & Capers Seafood Marketplace and Cafe.

My name is Jessica Zabel, and I'm the manager at Cod & Capers Seafood.

Cod & Capers has been in this location for about 10 years, but we've been in business for almost 40 years.

We got our start when my dad decided to leave the commercial lobster diving business, and open a store and start to sell seafood to the public.

Since then, we've grown from a market to a wholesale distribution company, and we now have a restaurant as well.

The location that we're currently in allows us to have the restaurant, the market and the wholesale all under one roof, and we have a lot more room to spread out and have more of a variety available for everybody every day.

The thing that's unique about Cod & is Capers is that we have the market and the restaurant, so you can pick out anything that you want in the market and we'll cook it for you however you like, and serve it to you with two side dishes.

Our goal here is for all of our guests to leave thinking that it was the freshest, best seafood that they've ever had, it's really our goal to let those seafood speak for itself and not to fuss with it too much, and keep all our recipes really simple and just use really good quality seafood.

Cod & Capers is a family owned and operated local business, we just really wanna work hard to bring the best seafood to the community that we can.

So you said you've never waited for a table here, is that true?

It's true, they're really fast and easy, and really eager to serve you, it's a very nice place.

So tell me a little bit about what it's like when you walk in, tell me about the market atmosphere, and of course the restaurant.

Yeah, so, right when you walk in, you're kind of greeted with a big selection of fresh fish and seafood, all on ice up there in the case.

And then, you're at the hostess stand, you ask them for a table, they've got a beautiful patio outside, or indoor seating.

We always prefer indoor, I like to look at the fish while I eat.

And the really cool thing about the menu is that you can kind of, if you don't see something that you like on it, you can get a fresh fish from the case and have them prepare it whatever way you'd like.

Any style you'd like?

Any style you'd like.

[Michelle] I like that.

So Chris, what did you think?

Have you been there?

Of course, yes, I loved Cod & Capers, very fresh seafood, and it's interesting that they have the market on one side, and then right the restaurant on the other side, so you can go there and purchase something if you want to cook it at home, or delicious food inside the restaurant.

Service was fantastic, very friendly staff, exceptionally helpful, I've never had a GM insist on holding our baby while we were eating, and he was just super kind.

And food was very fresh and delicious, and just a very friendly GM and staff.

Diane, how was your experience?

I had the stone crabs, we went on a Wednesday, Thursday, and they do that from four to eight, really delicious, so fresh.

[Michelle] Is it a special price for stone crabs from four to eight, like a happy hour?

Yeah, it's like a happy hour thing.

And my husband likes the shrimp scampi, he loves it, he's like, "There's so much garlic," and I go, "Too much?," he goes, "Oh no, not too much."

And he gets that every time, I try different things, but he's like the standard guy.

Angela, what did you have?

I usually have the fresh stone crabs, I mean, I love stoneys, I'm a South Florida girl, but they also have this really great dish called hogfish Meuniere, and it's like a lightly breaded egg washed hogfish, panfried in like this buttery lemon sauce, ugh, it's delicious.

And what did you have this last time you went?

I had started with their clam chowder, which was delicious, it was a very nice clam chowder.

New England?

New England clam chowder.

And then my son had the grouper, which according to him, it was the best grouper of his life, he loved the grouper, and it was delicious, I can't disagree.

Do you know how they cooked it?

It had light breading, I don't know if it was panko or...

The way kids usually like fish, breaded.

Yeah, he's a little picky.

But it was delicious, I can't disagree.

And I went with the stone crabs as well, now that we're in stone crabs season, so stone crabs were excellent as well.

Did anybody have dessert?

I didn't have dessert.

I just had some really good beer, some Sailfish, 'cause it's a local brewery, and it's so cold and delicious, and who doesn't like a beer with some stoneys?

I mean, come on, y'all get them stoneys.

How do you find prices there.

For the quality food, I thought they were very reasonable.

You know, it's a very good restaurant, and the food quality was definitely there, and I don't mind paying for quality.

[Michelle] Especially with seafood.

Yeah, yeah.

No doubt.

Parking's easy?

Parking's easy, it's a huge strip mall, there's other things in there, and parking is very plentiful, yeah.

So Angela, you wanna sum up Cod & Capers for me?

If you're looking for great fresh seafood, also bring a cooler, because after you eat and you go to the market, you're gonna be sad if you don't have one.

A hundred percent.

Chris?

Cod & Capers, great spot for lunch, if you're in the area, it was about a 45minute drive for us, and we would do it again and would definitely go back.

Diane?

Lots of great choices, you don't have to get crab, they have beautiful seafood, everything is delicious, day or evening.

Well for the freshest catch of the day, you can head on over to Cod & Capers Seafood Marketplace and Cafe, located at 1201 U.S. Highway 1 in North Palm Beach.

They're open Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, reservations are accepted, where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $50.

Now medical sales representative Chris Theodore is ready to make a toast for his pick, it's located in Hobe Sound, and it's called The Grove Cucina and Wine.

My name is Luis Reyneri, I am the owner along with my wife Jennifer of The Grove Cucina and Wine Bar in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Hi, I'm Jen Reyneri, I'm the co-owner of the Grove Cucina and Wine.

We've been told by many guests, customers and friends that we sort of created a culinary renaissance in our community, there were not too many places to eat, other than for some great Florida fried fish and burgers in our little tiny sleepy beach town, until we came to open here March, 2019.

I'm proud to say that we run a fresh scratch kitchen, we produce everything either every day, or about every other day, in small batches, we like it tasty, we like it fresh.

We're blessed with Chef Ian, who's our head of culinary, he's a graduate of the Johnson & Wales program in Rhode Island, and we discuss menus all the time, from our monthly wine tastings, our monthly wine dinners, as well as seasonal changes, and generally we switch it every six months, you know, in the spring, and then towards the fall after the summer.

I hope that when someone gets here and sees our experience, and how we share fellowship and hospitality, they'll be so excited that they'll want to not only come back, but also invite their friends.

The Grove Cucina and Wine is a place where we serve every glass and every plate with a heart of hospitality and love.

Tell me a little bit about Hobe Sound, about the location, and of course, why it's called Hobe Sound.

Well, it's definitely a drive from where we are, it's about an hour north of, from where we're located in Deerfield Beach [Michelle] But you go.

But it's a fantastic little spot, you know, once you passed Jupiter and you get into Hobe Sound, it's kind of a remote location until you get all the way east to U.S. 1, I don't think I've ever been.

Isn't that funny?

It's a cool drive, it's a really long terrain highway.

It must be very pretty.

You could drive right past it, because like it's just right there and nothing else is there.

How interesting, okay.

Things tend to shut down earlier up there in that area.

[Michelle] Yeah, I would think so.

[Chris] It's just a little more quiet, it's a easier pace.

How did you find it?

It was recommended by friend.

And it's a nice spot if you love great Italian, fresh, homemade style Italian.

And if you're a wine lover, the owner's a master sommelier, very well trained in some of the finest establishments all over the US.

[Michelle] Is the list mainly Italian?

It's mostly Italian, but he's got wines from all over, so if you're a wine lover, it's a great spot.

Tell me a little bit about the ambiance of it.

I thought it was really cute, you walk in, and it feels like you're in someone's living room or something, you know, the paint on the wall is like this really pretty teal, it's just different, a lot of pictures.

And then you walk through and it's a whole nother room, you're like, holy cow, where'd all this come from?

So it's happening place, we went on a Wednesday, which was 50% wine day, any bottle, and we really enjoyed that.

Tell me what you had this last time you went.

I kind of left it up to our waitress, and I just said, "Surprise me, give me your favorite items off the menu," and she brought out the meatballs.

[Michelle] Do they come, obviously in tomato sauce, right?

[Chris] Mm, delicious.

[Michelle] Any ricotta or anything on the top of it, or just on their own?

[Angela] I think that you can add ricotta, and you can also add spicy peppers, which I did both and I would suggest you do both.

Fantastic.

You have to.

I think you and I have the same palette.

Okay, what else did you have?

So we started with meatballs, then we had the prosciutto burrata salad after that, and also the fried mozzarella.

Both?

Both.

We were a little ambitious in our ordering, and like I said, the waitress just started bringing out everything that she loved from Well you did have an hour to drive back home, so Exactly, you know, if you're driving that far, you know, you're gonna make it worth it.

The only caveat, I would say, is the portions are very large, and you know, after the salad there was no room for a main entree.

[Michelle] You never had a main course?

We got one just to share, but it was just, [Michelle] What did you have?

For the main we got the lamb... Bolognese?

Bolognese.

And that was really a nice take on a bolognese.

It gives it a nice bounce of flavor.

[Michelle] It's a little more edgy.

Yeah, it's a little more bite than your typical, which I love lamb, so if you like lamb, I thought it was a great take on on a bolognese, so it was really nice.

[Michelle] Oh, that sounds really delicious.

[Chris] Yeah, it's really nice.

What did you have?

We had the meatballs, that were to die for, and we also shared the shrimp francese with the pasta, and the shrimps were beautifully sized, and I really, really liked that.

We didn't go for anything else, but we did have dessert, they had chocolate pasta that they make.

So it's real crispy Pasta?

Yeah, they make it and they fry it, and then they serve it between like a fluffy cream, it was really good, chocolate shavings on the top, I was like, oh yeah, let's get another.

[Michelle] And did you?

No, my husband is the sense of reason.

Oh, that's a shame.

How about you?

Another person with the meatballs, love the meatballs, we added the spicy, like vinegary jardiniere-type peppers on them, which were delicious, and the ricotta.

And then we also shared a pesto chicken pizza, it's a pretty large pizza, really thin crust.

[Michelle] Oh, so they have pizzas too?

[Angela] Yeah, they have nice pizza, and it's a really thin crust, which I like, I don't like a lot of bread in my pizza.

And then we also had that beautiful bottle of wine, and we shared chocolate lasagna as well, the chocolate lasagna was there.

Oh, so it was comped to you?

Yeah.

Tell me about the prices, it sounds like they use pretty great ingredients, so.

Yeah, and this is a high-quality restaurant with great ingredients, and I thought the prices were very fair for the quality that you're getting.

Is it easy to find, easy to park?

Yeah, I thought so, they have their own parkings, and there's nothing else there, so.

Well Chris, The Grove Cucina and Wine was your pick, sum it up for me please.

I think The Grove is a great spot if you're a wine lover, if you love delicious Italian food.

I would definitely recommend The Grove, it's a bit of a drive, but it's something different, and I would recommend it.

[Michelle] Nice.

Angela?

Halfoff wine, how can you beat that?

I would say go on a Wednesday for halfoff wine, and don't forget to get the meatballs and add spicy peppers.

It's really good, like you said, you know, wine Wednesday, who could beat that?

And delicious food.

So I'm in.

You can enjoy a glass of wine and a pizza at the Grove Cucina & Wine, located at 8815 SE Bridge Road in Hobe Sound.

They're open Tuesday to Saturday for dinner, reservations are accepted, where the average price of dinner without drinks is about $45.

So if you ever have been to Spain, you might have tried something called a montadito, which basically just means like a crisp piece of bread with something on top of it.

It could also be fully sandwich, you know, two pieces of bread, but a montadito usually is something right on top of the bread.

So what we've done is taken a large baguette and cut it on a nice like bias slice, olive oil, salt and pepper, threw it in the oven for a few minutes just until it's nice and golden brown.

In this pan, I'm already caramelizing some fennel, fennel is one of my favorite vegetables, and I just chunked it up, caramelizing it, and a little bit of butter and olive oil with salt, that's it.

This is some beautiful fresh tuna, sushi grade A tuna, and all I'm gonna do is season that tuna up with a little bit of kosher salt and smoked paprika for a little flavor, not too much, but a little bit.

All right, since this pan is already hot because of the fennel, I'm gonna go ahead and add the tuna to the pan, and I'm only gonna sear it nice and rare.

Let's go ahead and season the other side of the tuna, a little bit more paprika, smoked paprika, and a little bit of crushed black pepper.

I'm gonna go ahead and scoop the fennel onto this plate, 'cause this is going to be one of our toppers.

So like I said, I'm just gonna sear these rare, one side is already nice and seared, go ahead and flip it over.

All right, shut off your heat, bring your tuna over here, slice the tuna really nice and thin.

So let's go with nice thin, this is probably about a quarter of an inch thick slice of beautifully rare seared tuna.

So I'm going to just top my bread with a few slices of this beautifully rare seared tuna, and another one like so.

Top it with a little bit of the piquillo pepper, you could also do roast bell peppers, it's whatever you have around is really what makes a montadito very special, just like so.

And then of course that caramelized fennel that is just so delicious, right on the top.

And finally a little bit of fennel tops for a little bit of green.

And of course we are talking Spanish food from Spain, so we would not be complete without a drizzle of extra virgin oil right over the top.

And there you have it, my version of tuna montadito.

Finally, telecom consultant Diane Rivera is ready for you to try her Spanish inspired pick, it's located in Jupiter, and it's called Andalucia Tapas Bar & Restaurant.

So I hear that you say that this like transports you to Spain, is that right, Diane?

It does, you go there and they have a beautiful dining room, because they have flamenco shows, like on the weekends, and how do you beat that?

Or you could eat in their bar area, which has a real pretty hearth, and they surrounded it with lit candles because it's too warm.

But it's a beautiful bar, you can sit there, it's a little more quiet.

And I just love the ambiance, you know, the people that work there are so nice, so helpful, you can't go wrong, it's like a date night, but you could go any night.

Angela, you went on a Saturday night.

I did.

How was it?

It was amazing, we had a live guitar player, he was fabulous.

He was in the bar section and we were in the dining room, but we could still hear it.

Service was wonderful.

And honestly, I think I may have liked this pick better than my own pick.

Wow.

Chris, first impressions?

I'd have to echo her sentiments, I mean, it was really a great restaurant.

If you love tapas and delicious Spanish wines, and great mixed drinks as well, great little spot.

Diane, what did you have this last time you went?

Well, there's so many things to try, they have a million things.

We tried the garlic shrimp, which were fantastic, really nice sized shrimp, cooked perfectly with the garlic.

[Angela] I think you had al ajillo.

[Diane] Yeah, al ajillo, that's it.

And we had the Iberico ham, which melts in your mouth.

And they have the cutest little bread sticks.

[Michelle] You can actually buy them, they're almost like a corkscrew kind of thing, yeah, they're beautiful.

They're really good.

And then we had, you know, we're on a ham thing, so we did like a bruschetta, which was like tomato, chopped tomato.

Pan con tomate.

Yeah.

And then they had the ham, and the Manchego with a really nice olive oil, that was really good.

So we had a lot of that.

That bread will fill you up too.

Oh my gosh, it does.

And we had, of course, the churros.

I mean, how do you not?

You didn't have a main course?

No.

Okay.

No, no.

I guess you don't really have to.

This is tapas.

It is tapas.

How about you, what did you have?

We had the croquetas de jamon.

How were they?

Delicious.

Like very creamy?

They were really good.

I love ham croquettes, and we've moved from Broward and Miami area up to the Treasure Coast, and it's one of the things we missed, so I saw them on the menu, I said, "We're getting those."

And we also had the Iberico ham plate, which was amazing, it was absolutely worth it, it's expensive, but absolutely worth it.

Can you see them slicing it?

No.

They bring it out already sliced on like a little board, and then they have those little crackers.

I would probably eat that plate weekly if I could.

Anything else?

Yeah, we also had some beautiful Ahi tuna, it's like a montadito de atun, they called it, and it was like Ahi tuna on top of this beautiful little garlicy bread, really delicious.

And then we also had a tortilla, beautiful A tortilla espanola.

Yes, beautiful.

Was it potato?

It was potato, delicious.

[Michelle] How'd you do, Chris?

We started out with the cheese platter, and it came out with olives and delicious Spanish cheeses, great Spanish Rioja wine to compliment it.

I love Rioja.

So nice, it was delicious.

So good, right?

It was fantastic.

And then, again, I left it up to the waiters, I said, "Please," you know, "bring me some of your best dishes," and they brought out a fried eggplant that was delicious.

[Michelle] Was it thin?

Thin and lightly fried, however they prepared it, it was just really fantastic.

And then we also had the steak, they had a steak special that evening.

I think it was flank.

A flank steak.

And their octopus was just delicately sliced.

[Michelle] So pulpo gallego, which is a traditional Spanish octopus dish, it's so simple, it's just about the olive oil, maybe some paprika.

Yeah.

[Michelle] But it's about the cooking, the coccion, the cooking of the octopus.

Really good?

Yeah, it just came out, I think that was the best thing we had there.

Really?

It was just so good.

I'm getting that next time.

Me too.

Yeah, I loved the octopus, it was delicious.

Their bartenders and their mixed drinks as well, just brought out some very unique [Michelle] Really?

Do you remember any of the cocktails you had?

Had a smoked Negroni.

Ooh, that sounds yummy.

Smoked Negroni, which was, you know, really interesting to infuse smoke into their drinks like they did.

And you know what, that would go really well with Spanish food, I bet.

[Chris] It was great.

Dessert, either one of you?

We were so full, but we had to get something, so we got the dates stuffed with cheese.

which was kind of, it was on the top of [Michelle] Was it wrapped in bacon as well?

It was, yeah.

That's a good dessert, I like your style.

That's so funny.

Well, they are sweet, dates are sweet.

Yeah, that's right.

It wasn't overly sweet, but it was a nice balanced dessert.

Well Diane, Andalucia was your pick, sum it up for us please.

You know, for an exciting date night, someplace romantic, totally different out of the norm, that's the place to go.

Angela?

I think it's a really great place, great for a date night, like she said.

It's really intimate, and they have that live music, so I highly recommend to go on a weekend.

Nice.

Chris?

I love this restaurant, I would definitely go back.

Great spot for tapas, if you love tapas.

If you love great drinks, great Spanish wines, I would highly recommend it.

You can enjoy authentic Spanish flavors at Andalucia Tapas Bar & Restaurant, located at 187 Tequesta Drive in Jupiter.

They're open daily for dinner, with lunch being served Friday to Sunday.

Reservations are accepted, the average prize for dinner without drinks is about $40.

We've had a wonderful time, I wanna thank my guests, Angela Mejia, Diane Rivera, and Chris Theodore.

For more about the restaurants and recipes featured in the show, if you'd like to apply to be a guest reviewer, visit us at checkpleasefl.com, and as always, find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending three of their favorite restaurants right here on Check, Please!

South Florida.

I'm Michelle Bernstein, and I'll see y'all then.

Thank you everybody.

Gracias.

[Narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.