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.