But first, food writer, podcaster and returning champ, please guest Mike Mayo is ready to share with us why his pick should be at the top of your list.

He said that this spot features a menu that has been influenced by a delicious medley of international flavors.

Your taste buds will be blown away by this cozy, chef driven pick.

It's located in Fort Lauderdale and it's called the Katherine.

Hi, I'm Tim from the cafe in Fort Lauderdale.

My name is Marissa Ballou from the Katherine Fort Lauderdale.

The background and story of the Katherine is an ode to my wife and partner, Marissa Katherine Ballou, who I met over 28 years ago, not too far off of this street, Broward Boulevard.

And as high school sweethearts, I was on my road to pursue a career in Wall Street.

But she convinced me to follow my dream to become a chef.

So after many years of having restaurants all over the country and cooking all over the world, we decided to bring back the flavors that we fell in love with in our travels to the city where we fell in love.

Along with my front of the house team, I run fronts.

This is my first restaurant venture that my husband brought me into.

I think we're doing a pretty good job.

My family is Chinese, Indian, black from Trinidad and Marissa's parents are from Thailand and Colombia.

So you'll see a lot of that energy instilled in our food program.

But we're not one or the other.

Our food is very rich and soulful, and we have dishes from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia, from Thailand to Japan.

I want guests to say that was bleeping delicious.

The Katherine is a love story.

Mikey, welcome back.

First of all, it's so good.

To see you, Michel.

Thank you.

Always a pleasure.

We love having you here.

You're so awesome.

Well, I love eating and talking about it, so I'm in the right place.

Tell me about the Katherine.

Not so much food yet.

Let's just jump into the restaurant itself, driving up to it and what you find when you walk in.

Well, he opened it.

I've lost track of time with the whole pandemic, but it was a couple of years ago.

It came.

The space came open.

It used to be another restaurant called Foxy Brown.

They moved and it's perfect for that small, independent, chef driven place.

It's in Victoria Park neighborhood.

Have you been there before, Michelle?

No.

First time.

First time I.

Had.

What did you think walking in.

So when you drive past it, you can miss it.

You might not know that there is a restaurant there.

It was completely unassuming.

We were really not sure what to expect with my husband, but as soon as we walked in we were really impressed with the dim lighting, the romantic atmosphere, the beautiful bar, very minimalist decor, but really gorgeous.

And we got a beautiful table by the window.

It was a Saturday night, perfect date night and we were impressed already walking in.

Tymon has really interesting background and it shows in his food.

He's a Trinidadian and Chinese.

So let's talk about what you had this last time you went.

Last time I started with the hamachi crudo with a black garlic and then a dashi that they poured over it.

And it was just one of these, like beautiful South Florida dishes that well composed, gorgeous, Instagrammable, but better yet, more delicious.

I ate it all up.

Then you had a red snapper.

I think it was like a curry.

Yeah, it was his red snapper in a red curry sauce.

Flavorful.

That's using some of the, you know, the island and the Southeast Asian influences has flavor, but not too spicy, but just enough to keep things interesting.

It's delicious.

It really knows how to work his magic around so many spices that other people wouldn't know.

And mainly because, I mean, that's what he grew up in.

So what did you have, Michelle?

So as soon as we walked in, we were greeted by the wonderful aromas of the two dishes of the people that were sitting next to us.

The first one was the charred Indian style corn with a masala aioli sauce.

The corn was delicious.

I love charred corn.

What's not to love?

Oh, no.

On the cup.

Okay.

It came with this really beautiful sauce.

It was an aioli with masala.

It was very delicately drizzled, and I really wish there would have been more of it, because we could have.

Delicious.

And I know next time I will order it again and ask for more of it, because I thought that that really elevated the dish.

And then we got the charred Thai style cabbage salad, which I thought would be just a light way to start the meal.

It was a hearty salad.

It was absolutely delicious.

Very surprising.

Absolutely.

For me.

Yes.

And then the short rib orecchiette.

Tell me about.

That.

Yes.

So we were driving there and we're already dreaming about the orecchiette.

I had read so much about it, it was perfectly executed.

Tell me about your dessert.

You both had dessert.

The chocolate pudding.

Again.

Very nice.

And the other thing they do is like a brioche.

Like a kind of like a French toast.

That's like a bread pudding.

And that's something that's always wonderful.

You had the torrijas, right?

Yes.

Tell me.

About that.

So my husband and I were completely full by the time we ended our main course, but we had to have some dessert and we ordered the torrijas, which are a Spanish take or Mexican take on the classic French toast.

They were absolutely divine and we wished we each would have gotten our own.

We were fighting over the last bite and my husband is a gentleman, so he let me have it.

It was seared in, I believe, olive oil, and it was crispy on the outside and custardy on the inside.

It was served with a scoop of homemade cinnamon ice cream and caramelized.

It was divine.

Probably one of the best desserts I've had in a while.

Let's talk service a little bit.

Tell me about.

It.

Oh, fine.

It was.

You know, this is a place where he they're serving, you know, some more ambitious food and flavors.

And the servers are familiar with the menu and the ingredients.

They try to guide you through it.

They'll talk about what your tastes and preferences are.

So yeah, it's good.

Good Polish service, but not overbearing at all.

How did you find the prices compared to the food?

Is there value in it?

Yes, I think so.

I thought it was very fair.

Uh, the high quality of the dishes, of the flavors, of the ingredients, the service is service was impeccable.

The ambiance, the entire package, I thought was just worked.

And I was surprised.

I thought we would be paying more, so I thought it was fair and actually a good value.

All right.

Mike, well, the Catherine was your pick.

Sum it up for me, please.

This is the kind of restaurant that Broward and Fort Lauderdale needs more of.

Beautiful, interesting, innovative, perfect.

Michelle.

I think that the Catherine is worth the drive to Fort Lauderdale.

It's perfect for a date night.

Perfectly executed food, beautiful ambiance, top notch service.

What's not to love?

Well, for a unique dining experience, you can make your way to the Katherine.

Located at 723 East Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

They're open Wednesday to Sunday for dinner.

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