This week on "Check, Please!

South Florida," a modern whiskey house in Delray Beach.

It just tasted very light, and milky, and delicious.

[Michelle] A hub for South African flavors in Plantation.

It was a great experience.

It was really good.

[Michelle] And a spot mixing the old with the new in Pompano Beach.

I like how they mix the Italian style with some Florida with it.

Those lights that added to it.

[Narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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

[Announcer] 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, project coordinator, Rachel Richardson.

says that her pick is an eclectic oasis that will charm you with its European design and modern finishes.

She says you won't get enough of the delicious food and carefully curated ambiance of this North Broward jewel.

Graphic designer Ras Erasmus guarantees that his pick is an excellent choice for delicious food, friendly service, and rustic flare.

He says you'll be transported to his grandmother's South African kitchen at this unique gourmet hub.

But first, sales representative, Bart Stall, wants you to join his hip crowd at this upscale and modern pick, offering generous portions and superb drink, service, and everything.

He says the good times will keep rolling at this inviting and chic space located in Delray Beach.

It's called Warren American Whiskey Kitchen.

Hi, my name is Wayne Pasik and I'm the General Manager of Warren American Whiskey Kitchen.

We had another concept down south and we also had this awesome whiskey collection and we wanted to see what would happen if we blended five star food with the best whiskey collection in South Florida.

The ambiance and the decor that we try to do, we try to be a sexy, sophisticated, yet approachable, but we also want people to come here and have fun.

So we want them to feel welcomed as they walk in the door and just have a great night.

We wanted to have something for everybody.

That was our goal.

Like as we were putting this menu together, we literally said, "Okay, what if this person comes in and wants this?"

So we just want to make it something for everyone.

Our main thing is I want people to leave here thinking that they just had an amazing experience.

Food was great, service was great, the hospitality was great, but just the whole experience was above expectations.

That's basically our goal when every single person walks in that door.

Warren American Whiskey Kitchen is a place to come.

You wanna have a great experience, you want delicious food, you want an amazing cocktail program, but you also want damn good hospitality.

What I think is the key to our success is we bring that all together under one roof.

This is your happy place.

It is.

It's a very good restaurant.

I call it swanky.

[Michelle] Okay.

That would be a [Michelle] I like swanky.

That'd be a good term for it.

So tell me what it's like when you walk in.

So a lot of dark woods, a lot of people smiling, seems like a lot of happy faces.

There's a full wall, like three walls from floor to ceiling of liquor, tequilas, scotches, bourbons.

I mean they have like everything.

[Michelle] The whiskey collection must be out of control.

Yeah?

[Bart] It's insane.

Yeah, it's actually incredibly impressive.

I remember being in awe when you walk in 'cause it doesn't seem like it would be that type of place 'cause of where it's situated in Delray.

So it feels like it's just like a plaza.

Tell me about where it's situated in Delray a little bit.

I mean it's right off of the turnpike I believe.

Did I come down the turnpike?

[Bart] Yeah, yeah.

Lyons.

Right off of Lyons.

It's I mean in the middle of nowhere it feels like.

And you end up having to make this really weird u-turn into the plaza.

[Bart] Everyone does.

You're not supposed to [Michelle] I'm not supposed to [Bart] No, it's like they say don't turn here because it's so tight.

It's so tight.

So how are you supposed to do?

You gotta go past.

There's like a market in there.

There's a couple markets.

There's a donut shop.

It's like a strip center.

But it's a really great place to eat.

Ras, you were blown away, right?

I was.

If you want to go to a great restaurant, your first thought would be let's go to Atlantic Avenue.

And it was just about 15 minutes from where I live and I was blown away.

The waiters, they came to our table and they kind of gave us a brief history of Warrens and they all seemed very educated and passionate about working there.

I love that.

100%, we had a waiter, his name was Ethan and he was incredible.

I was like absolutely floored by the amount of knowledge he had.

He came to our table, he told us about the Australian Wagyu beef steaks that, you know, that they massage and play music to.

And it was absolutely.

I don't know if that's true.

Well yes, supposedly that is how the Wagyu cow ends his life.

It was incredible.

It's unfortunate, but also I guess a beautiful life, and it makes a beautiful steak.

So tell me a little bit about what you had this last time.

So I wanted to try something totally different that I don't normally get.

And although this may sound like a normal dish, I had the ceviche there, which I never had there.

It was very good, tasty.

[Michelle] Was it fish?

Seafood?

Fish and seafood.

There was some sea bass, there was some shrimp in there, calamari.

[Michelle] Was it spicy?

Was it?

Wasn't that spicy, but it It was very fruity though.

It was very balanced.

Yeah.

A lot of citrus.

It was really tasty.

Rachel, what'd you have?

We started out with the burrata.

I love burrata.

It was incredibly fresh.

It just tasted very light and milky and delicious.

[Michelle] Was it with a salad?

[Rachel] It was plated with arugula and some tomatoes and then it had a drizzle of some sort of like an avocado.

I'm not sure, it's kind of green with balsamic.

So it was a little bit sweet.

[Michelle] How was the octopus?

The octopus was incredible.

We did have the grilled octopus and it was fantastic.

Grilled to perfection.

It had a really grilled char.

But I was also, like you mentioned, the plating and the amount was impressive.

Because we had two octopus legs on our plate, which is a lot for, you usually get like one, so that was really nice.

And then we had some sort of steak.

It was on special that they had.

A hanger steak.

[Michelle] My favorite.

Yeah, we had the hanger steak.

It was fantastic with these fingerling potatoes that were like tossed in like some sort of a honey glaze.

They were delicious.

It was delicious.

We were floored.

Did you have any cocktails?

We did.

We both had whiskeys.

And we initially were given like that huge book of whiskeys, and I was like, I have no idea what I'm doing with this book.

So I ended up picking the Japanese Old Fashioned.

[Michelle] Does that just mean that it's made with Japanese whiskey or are there flavors?

[Rachel] Yes, it's made with Japanese whiskey.

So I believe it's a light clear whiskey.

Ras, what did you have?

We had the Korean fried chicken and was a little spicy to my taste, but it was spicy.

You can't complain about spicy if you ordered Korean fried chicken.

No, but it was delicious, we finished it.

[Michelle] Oh, good.

Was it very, very crunchy?

The outside was crunchy and the inside was nice.

It's supposed to sound like breaking glass when you bite into a Korean fried chicken.

The batter is supposed to be so crunchy that you're supposed to have like this crazy noise in your head.

You're a chicken expert, so.

Fried chicken expert.

I just really like fried chicken.

For main, I had the scallops and curry risotto.

I also had a delicious cocktail, the OG something.

That was great.

It's smoky.

[Michelle] Was it OG what?

The OG old fashioned or?

[Rachel] Yes.

Yeah.

OG, yeah that's what they call it.

And I remember traveling to Tennessee and went to this small town called Leaper's Fork.

And the aromas and the scent and the air there reminded me of that drink.

When I had that drink, I was like, wait, if Tennessee was a drink, this is it.

So it was a nice whiskey that was in there.

It was delicious.

And then for dessert I had, it looked like an upside down ice cream, but it was more of a mousse and [Michelle] I didn't know you could do that.

[Ras] It's a strawberry cone.

That's what it was called.

I had, there was some mousse and some strawberry, obviously, inside of it, which was really delicious.

Rachel, what was your dessert?

We had the bread pudding.

[Michelle] Okay.

How was that?

It was fantastic.

It was a huge portion of bread pudding that was probably like the size of a brick, but it was fantastic.

It had an ice cream glob on top and caramel and everything.

See you've all spoken about the portions.

How was the price compared to the portions of food?

Good, I mean you get what you pay for.

You know, they have good cuts of meat.

Good cuts of fish.

Right in line with everything.

I think it's definitely fair.

Yeah.

Honestly, I was incredibly impressed with the price point to the portions.

I can't think of anywhere I've been to get that type of quality food, Absolutely.

That type of quality plating, that type of quality.

[Ras] Just overall service.

Overall yeah, for that price point, it was very, honestly, it might have been low.

Warren American Whiskey Kitchen was your pick.

Sum it up for me please.

A swanky, happy people place.

Great food, great service.

Try it.

[Michelle] Ras?

I would say the exclusivity of a New York, hard to get to restaurant in South Florida, with southern hospitality and overall friendliness, and great service.

[Michelle] That's beautiful.

[Rachel] That was great.

[Michelle] Rachel?

Can I just second everything that he said?

That was perfect.

It was excellent all around.

Well you can have a glass of bourbon and a good time at Warren American Whiskey Kitchen, located at 15084 Lyons Road Bay 350 in Delray Beach.

Open daily for dinner with lunch offered Tuesday to Saturday and brunch on Sundays.

Reservations are accepted where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $60.

I have decided to celebrate today.

And to do so, I am going to use an old fashioned.

So for the OG, the original, the authentic old fashioned, we are gonna mix about two ounces of rye or bourbon into some ice.

Then we're gonna take about a quarter ounce of simple syrup, which is just equal parts of sugar and water cooked down until the sugar dissolves and then cooled completely.

This one is nice and cold because your old fashioned has to be cold.

Very good.

And then lastly, you're gonna wanna do about two dashes, if you can open your bitter bottle, of bitters.

Oh three, what the heck?

All right, then we are going to stir, do not shake.

So you want this to be ice cold.

You wanna make sure that everything has combined really well.

Just before I pour and strain that, we're gonna go ahead and take the peel, a little piece of peel from an orange.

So let's try to make this curl by wrapping it around our spoon.

So go ahead and strain your drink into a glass cup.

Beautiful, we made little round ice cubes.

Thank you Amanda for that.

And pour your old fashioned right into your glass.

Lovely.

Let's add our little rind of orange right on top.

And we are cheering to the 20th season, can't believe it, of "Check, Please!

South Florida".

I am thrilled to be here and to still be part of this magic.

Thank you everybody at PBS.

Thank you everybody at "Check, Please!"

and thank all of you for watching, I adore you.

Now graphic designer, Ras Erasmus, is ready to deliver a presentation for his unique pick, offering plenty of charm and authentic South African flavors.

He says you're gonna want to make this spot a repeat destination.

It is located in Plantation and it's called Dutchy's Gourmet Sausages.

I'm Natasha De Wet and I'm the owner of Dutchy's Gourmet Sausages.

The idea for Dutchy's came about initially we started a small little place right up the road just producing meats and South African products.

And we outgrow that space.

So many people told us that they would like to have the full experience of South African food, as well.

So that's how we incorporated the restaurant into this location.

There are a very large South African constituency in South Florida, especially in the surrounding areas.

So there's a great need for the taste of home.

And not only have we brought that taste of home to them and the South African experience, but we've also given the South African experience to our American friends.

Our customers loves the Durban Bunny Chow, The Gatsby with our homemade gourmet sausage on it, and also the Monkey Business burger we produce.

We also get the imported products from South Africa that you won't find in the local Publix.

And then you can just sit, drink your wine, have a beer and shop as you eat.

We wanted our customers to feel like they're at home in their grandma's kitchen to relax and enjoy a great atmosphere.

Dutchy's Gourmet Sausages is the full South African experience.

Our hearts are as big as a South African taxi and we always have room for more.

Ras, I have to tell you, I'm so excited you brought this to us.

We never do South African.

I don't even know if there's more than one South African restaurant in South Florida.

So thank you, first of all.

So tell me a little bit about this because you say it's a bit like home.

It is.

I would say the interior and also the people play a huge role in that.

It's just a whole feeling of that.

And what I like is the kitchen is open.

It's a farm style interior.

So if you grew up in South Africa and you're sitting in your grandmother's kitchen, that's kind of the setting it would be like.

Everyone at the table just having a good time while someone's in the kitchen making delicious authentic foods.

I love that.

Bart, you went with your wife.

What did you feel when you walked in?

I did, exactly what it is.

They have a store there where you could buy South African foods.

They brought us right to the table.

There's a couple tables there.

It was very cozy and it's a neat place.

It's someplace I would probably never go or find, but it was a great experience, it was really good.

Rachel, did you eat in or did you take out?

So I went ahead and I placed an order.

I got the Monkey Business burger.

But yeah, when I went to pick it up, it was very charming.

It was very nice.

The customer service was nice.

I liked seeing the open kitchen and the little bit of the store was really cool too.

And they also have the beef jerky, kind of the soap one.

Correct because biltong is, I won't say it's beef jerky because it's different, it's just prepared different, but it's pure beef dried meats.

So if you love jerky, beef jerky, this will become your favorite thing.

That's what was my appetizer, I had the biltong platter which was dried biltong, spicy dried biltong, droewors.

It had a biltong pate and then some crackers.

And I shared that.

But I mean if you're South African or you like your dried meats, I think that's a good portion.

So what did you have?

All right, so I wanted to try the sausage platter I guess.

It was an entree, but my wife and I split that, so I could kind of taste some of the food they had.

[Michelle] Just wurst?

[Bart] Just wurst, yes, yes.

Right.

A little spicy.

[Michelle] Okay.

How many sausages?

[Bart] Two.

Two.

And then they had a salady type thing on the side.

[Michelle] It was an onion relish.

Right.

It was good.

But the thing I want to tell more about was the entree.

It was a [Ras] Bunny chow.

[Bart] Lamb Bunny Chow.

So there's a curry and it's also in their house-made bowl.

It's a bread bowl, full top on it.

So it was very good, very tender.

Ras, tell me what your main course was.

I had the Gatsby, which is kind of a spinoff of the authentic Boerewors roll, and Boerewors means "farmer sausage," which is beef and pork in a casing.

And it really is a type of hot dog.

And I had that with fries.

They mix that with chutney and mayonnaise for the sauce with jalapenos, candied.

So it was a sweet taste to it.

Did you have South African wines?

[Ras] I had the KWV Chardonnay.

I love Chardonnay and it was tasty.

Anything sweet from anyone?

Yes.

I had, I don't remember what it's called, but it's like a cheesecake.

[Michelle] Malva.

[Bart] Malva.

Yeah.

[Ras] You had the Malva.

Yeah, me too.

I wanted to try again trying something different, you know, totally outta my wheelhouse.

I asked her, "What's authentic?"

It was very good.

It was really good, tasty.

Malva's delicious.

[Bart] Yeah.

I didn't know it was South African.

'Cause we make malva too.

No way.

I didn't know about it.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Okay, well Ras' Dutchy Gourmet Sausages was your pick.

Sum it up for us please.

It is a family-owned, family-style restaurant for anyone to go to.

Bart?

Authentic South African restaurant that I probably wouldn't pick, but it's a great place to go.

Excellent food, great market, great people.

Rachel, sum it up for us.

I would say it's an authentic South African restaurant that has a delicate charm and kind atmosphere.

For authentic South African faire, you can head over to Dutchy's Gourmet Sausages located at 401 South State Road 7 in Plantation.

Open Monday to Saturday for lunch.

Reservations aren't accepted where the average price for lunch without drinks is about $35.

Finally, project coordinator, Rachel Richardson, is ready to report all of the details of her eclectic pick.

She says you'll be won over by the mood setting playlist, villastyle vibe.

It's located in Pompano Beach and it's called La Veranda.

Hello, my name is Giuseppe Latona.

I am the owner of La Veranda in Pompano Beach.

My family has been in hospitality for five generations.

I lost my dad at 13, and I kind of felt like I needed to continue his dream.

I was doing other things, but I always found myself thinking about the restaurant.

I bought La Veranda, it was completely different.

And I just revamped it.

I love music and I kind of decided I wanted to do something that everyone could just come and have fun.

The restaurants been there since 1976.

The building was built in '83.

It's 2121 East Atlantic Boulevard.

It's a staple in Pompano Beach.

I created this atmosphere where people, if they want to really be close to the music, they're here.

So I wanted everyone to feel comfortable and to be a multi-genre type of place.

My menu, I would say, it's unique because it's old school with new items.

Chef Giovanni Costanzo is a creator.

He'll just, on the whim, create something and 99.9% of the time is very, very successful.

I want my guests to feel like they were in their own living room having a fantastic meal.

La Veranda restaurant is a family vibe.

So what makes it so unique?

I definitely have to say that La Veranda is unique because of its placement.

It's pretty much headed down towards the beach off of Atlantic in Pompano, and it almost gives you a hole in the wall type of vibe.

You don't know that you're gonna end up in this kind of Italianesque place.

But you walk through this kind of hallway into this open air restaurant and then you go inside and it gives you kind of like dark old bar feeling.

Okay.

But honestly, it's so interesting because the restaurant feels like it's like four restaurants in one because of all the different atmospheres that you can get from it.

So it's hard to guess what you're walking into.

Yeah.

I sat in what I call the record room.

It's kind of dimly blue lit, so it's got kind of that mood lighting to it.

Purples and blues, velvet seats that are deep, easy to kind of relax in.

They have pillows in the seats, which I always feel like make you feel very comfortable, like you're in like kind of a home.

But it's filled with these records and musicians all across the walls.

Okay.

Bart, what stood out for you?

Seventies.

Nostalgic seventies.

Like restaurant.

It's older decor.

But the food was fantastic.

I've never been to Italy and I can only imagine.

That archway, I really thought that was neat.

And I like how they mixed the Italian style with some Florida with it.

Those lights they added to it.

So I really liked that.

So tell me what you had this last time.

So this last time we did start off with the octopus 'cause it's my favorite.

The grilled octopus is very nice.

It comes over a bit of salad with some celery, which I feel like kind of gives it a different flavor.

And then we moved on to the ravioli that was on special, the mushroom ravioli, and it was delicious.

And then my partner had the lobster ravioli, which was also delicious.

[Michelle] Do they make their own pasta there?

Do you think?

They do.

They do make their pasta there.

Which, I love.

[Michelle] Bart, what did you have.

Again, something I know there were a lot of food probably at the table.

There was a lot of different stuff.

Yeah.

But I wanted, again, something different.

I had the Frutti di Mare.

[Michelle] Frutti di Mare.

That too.

It was really good.

The risotto, which I don't normally order 'cause I'm not a big truffle guy.

I don't like the taste a lot.

[Michelle] Not all risotto has truffle.

But a lot of risotto, a lot of restaurants I go to have truffle in it.

Not if it's seafood.

Really, oh.

All right.

Well, anyway.

It wasn't in there, so I had it.

It was really good.

The risotto was very creamy and tasty.

and the seafood was great.

You had the octopus as well?

I did.

I mean, that's my normal go-to, but I wanted to try it there.

It's, for some reason, it seems like the Italian restaurants really do octopus well.

It was a nice outside, not burnt outside.

And the inside was very soft.

It was really good.

And I liked the salad.

I liked the salad.

It was, it broke things up a little bit and get a little bit of greens.

[Michelle] Nice.

Ras?

We had the margarita flatbread to start with, and we shared that.

I kind of wish we shared the main course as well, because the portions were enormous.

[Rachel And Bart] Mm hmm.

I thought I ordered Alfredo pasta with shrimp and that's not even on the menu, but somehow I thought I ordered that.

It might be from the drink I had, the Amy Winehouse rehab drink I had.

And then.

[Michelle] What is happening?

Yes, it was like a sangria.

But then I received a spicy pasta with shrimp.

It was still delicious.

It was just a lot of food.

Yes.

So maybe when you read fettuccine with jumbo shrimp, you thought it said fettuccine alfredo Maybe that's it, because usually when I do fettuccine [Michelle] Well, when you see fettuccine.

Alfredo just appears next to it.

always.

So I think it's, it was my fault.

But it was still delicious.

[Michelle] In your dreams.

Possibly.

Yeah.

Okay.

So dessert.

Anyone?

[Ras] Yes.

Yes?

Tell me.

We had tiramisu.

We could probably share that too.

We didn't get to finish it, but it was delicious.

And I don't think it, maybe, but it didn't taste like it was taken out of the, just a refrigerator.

It felt like it was made fresh and it was delicious.

The pasta also tastes very fresh, I have to say that.

Tell me a little bit about prices.

You said the food was in abundance.

But how were the prices to go with those?

I don't think it was ridiculous at all.

I mean, you get what you pay for.

Well, Rachel.

La Veranda was your choice.

Sum it up for us please.

A jewel.

A jewel in Pompano Beach.

Bart?

Seventies atmosphere, great food, nostalgic, awesome.

It's fresh food.

[Michelle] Ras?

A little piece of Italy right in South Florida.

Well, you can enjoy some jazz and traditional Italian food at La Veranda.

Located at 2121 East Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach.

Open Tuesday to Sunday for dinner.

Reservations are accepted where their average price for dinner without drinks is about $65.

We've had a wonderful time.

I wanna thank my guests, Bart Stall, Rachel Richardson, and Russ Erasmus.

For more about the restaurants and recipes featured in the show, or 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 will see you all then.

Thank you, everybody.

Salud.

[Narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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