This week on Check Please South Florida, enjoy a quiet and intimate dinner in West Palm Beach.

It's incredible.

And it's exactly what it says.

It's chocolate and it's pudding and it's a pie.

[michelle] Share creative small plates and a bottle of wine in Palm Beach Gardens.

It was absolutely savory and tasty and delicious.

[michelle] And real in some upscale seafood in Boca Raton.

Absolutely the best I've ever had.

And I've had crab cakes all over the U.S. and this is the best.

[narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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

Additional funding for Check Please South Florida is provided by George and Helen Weaver and the friends of South Florida PBS.

You will look at food differently when, when you leave.

One didn't really help the other.

I just know it was the best.

It was just the perfect dish.

Prepared to perfection.

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 retired professor Linda Calderon is teaching us about her go-to spot for tasty small plates and delicious drinks.

Plus their rotating menu always brings something new to the table.

And medical sales person, Danielle Williams is selling us fresh seafood, good service and a modern chic atmosphere.

She says, you must try some of her favorite dishes like the salmon cut Bocho and the homemade Key lime pie.

But first tax lawyer, Ryan Kennedy is presenting his case on where to find a quiet, intimate dinner for two.

He says, it's his favorite neighborhood spot because he knows he'll always be served a high quality meal paired with a nice ambience.

It's located in West Palm Beach and it's called Kitchen.

Hi, my name is Matthew Byrne.

I'm the chef and owner of Kitchen restaurant located in West Palm Beach Florida.

Kitchen opened in 2013.

Um, prior to opening Kitchen, I was a private chef and we always wanted to open our own restaurant.

So my wife Ana lisa opened our restaurant and we just kind of wanted to create the feel of, of, of a like you're eating at someone's home just a really kind of private dining experience.

And we went off to the races.

So we're like an American brasserie.

So I was taught by French people but we don't use as much cream and butter.

We use more acid in lemon.

Our menu changes, evolves, we always have some specials on the menu but I think just American continental with a little bit of French influence.

Kitchen is all about kiss, keep it simple stupid.

So we don't cook food that we don't trust and believe in.

We only buy the best and we kind of get out of its way.

So for our ahi, we buy the best ahi we can buy.

We chop it, and we put it with our little vinegarette and we serve it.

The Bronzino we buy the best we can get.

We buy fish every day.

We buy meat only from Busch brothers.

We really take it seriously about what we put into the dish because if you start with really good quality and you get out of it's way you're going to wind up with a great finished product.

Our charred Bronzino seems to be our most popular dish.

We just take a simple piece of Bronzino filet.

We don't even put anything on it.

We charge it on the grill.

We char a lemon next to it.

We pull it off of the grill.

We garnish it with fresh chopped parsley, sea salt and really good Greek olive oil.

We hope that we've created a sense of a private dinner party in our own home.

We have a small little dining room here so we want it to feel intimate, small, really relaxed.

We have always have just like Madeline Peru, or just like French bistro music on, the lighting's pretty dim.

You're really here to dine and talk to the people you're with.

But we kind of know who's coming on a Monday night who's coming on a Wednesday night.

We kind of know where they want to sit.

We know who their friends and family are.

We know their kids.

We know everything about our guests because we've created that kind of warm family atmosphere which is what we set out to do.

So we're, we're really proud of that.

So Brian, tell us what you love about kitchen.

The most thing that I love about it is just it's always great food and there's very good service.

It's easy to get in and out of, but just you always go home feeling good.

It's a, it's a great spot.

It's easy to get to.

And there's always something, a little different.

It's not a huge menu, but it's always something that's fresh and really, really tasty.

And what did you have this last time you went?

We had the ahi mango avocado appetizer.

It's very light, very tasty.

Soy sauce is really good that they put on it.

Not too much, but most importantly, it doesn't fill you up and leaves room for the entree.

And then you had written down a pin roast pork chop with a cevechi wrapped potato.

What does that mean exactly?

That's a good question.

It's underneath the, the pork chops and I certainly ate all of it.

I ordered it over the pork because of the way I've had it several times.

And it's one of my favorite dishes there.

It's one of the few plates where I kind of eat everything on the plate.

Lovely.

And then of course you finished with chocolate pudding pie.

It's incredible.

And it's exactly what it says.

It's chocolate and it's pudding, and it's a pie and we devoured it very quickly.

It was one of those things where, you know, you're looking at the other person and counting, how much, how many bites they've taken.

Danielle?

What did you think about Kitchen and what did you have?

I loved it.

It was a very comfortable atmosphere almost like you're in someone's kitchen.

And the thing that I love the most is that it's a lot of comfort foods with some kind of a twist to it.

For example, the, for an appetizer had the spring rolls that were Philly cheese steak, and they were amazing because you dipped them in truffle ketchup.

So that was, that was amazing.

Danielle, tell me about those diver scallops.

They were lightly seared and they were served on top of brussel sprouts that were roasted and sauteed with a little bit of bacon and a very light buttery lemon cream reduction, super light.

It was delicious.

Very well done.

Linda, tell me about your experience.

What did you think of Kitchen and what did you have?

Well, we asked our server, who was a lovely young lady to help us get through the menu.

We had never been there and there was so many things that we thought would be interesting.

I took fettuccine bolognese and my husband took the veal chop on a bed of risotto and corn.

And I was digging in his dish quite a bit.

The veal chop was succulent and delicious and perfectly seasoned and it was quite large and the risotto was delicious.

My fettuccine bolognese was a little bit of Italy in a bowl.

It was wonderful.

Tell me about those crispy eggplant that you had.

I love crispy eggplant.

How were they done?

I shared with my husband and I wish I hadn't.

I wish I had them for myself.

They were layers of breaded eggplant.

And then on top there was a Parmesan disc and we probably finished that in a few seconds flat.

It was that tasty.

Very, very good.

That sounds delicious.

Brian, it is really just a mom and pop little place right?

Yeah.

Again, I think that's one of the great things about it.

It, it seems like you're kind of, you know walking into somebody's house, the rooms are small.

It's not overboard.

It's very comfortable.

It seems like a place where you could sit and have a drink or have a full meal.

And it's, it's a great little spot.

Well, Brian Kitchen was your pick.

Can you sum it up for us, please?

Kitchen is just a great spot.

If you really, really like food and you like having a great meal in a great environment with really, really good service Kitchen is really the a great place to go.

Danielle?

It's very comforting.

The environment is very warm and friendly and the food is absolutely delicious.

I can't wait to go back.

Linda, sum it up for us please.

It was just very comforting and you know it just felt like you was sitting in someone's home and, you know, sharing a meal.

It was very nice.

For a quiet intimate night out head on over to Kitchen located at 319 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach with an additional location in Palm Beach Gardens.

Open for dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, reservations are accepted and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $50.

We are going to make beautiful seared ahi tuna avocado and mango salad.

Nice and tropical, beautifully refreshing for this time of year.

I can't think of anything better.

So you really, most important just find really good tuna.

It doesn't matter what kind, just make sure it's fresh.

So I've already put just a tiny drizzle of extra Virgin olive oil on it because you really don't have to put any fat in the pan.

All we're going to do is season it with a little bit of salt and some black pepper place the tuna right down on the pan.

So let's go ahead and jump right into the vinegarette first.

So for the vinegarette, I've decided to take a little bit of ginger and use a micro plane.

Just kind of give me a little bit of grated fresh ginger.

To that fresh ginger I'm going to add a little bit of Serrano.

Let's go ahead and flip our tuna.

Make sure you're not cooking it too much on one side.

We want it nice and even sears.

Jumping back into the vinegarette.

We're going to go ahead and put a little bit of lime.

I'm going to add the tiniest bit of honey, soy sauce.

I try to use reduce sodium.

Finally a little bit of extra Virgin olive oil, and there you have it a really lovely light soy lime vinegarette.

All right.

Tuna is done.

How pretty.

We're going to set that aside for just a moment.

Let's go ahead and slice up both the avocado and the mango.

Finally, we're going to slice up the tuna.

I'm going to go ahead and slice this on a bias.

Let's go ahead and put everything together on a plate.

I love butter lettuce and I think it would make a beautiful salad for this because it's such soft leaves.

We've got our tuna.

Let me show you how beautiful that is.

You see that it has equal sear all the way around.

That's really what you're looking for.

So let's go ahead and put the tuna all around the lettuce some of this beautiful avocado, and then finally the mango.

And I'm going to use a little bit more mango than anything because I just love how it is with tuna.

I also love some fresh herbs with this dish.

I just think that a little bit of mint, basil, and cilantro would just be delicious on here.

Finally, of course we've got our soy, ginger, and chili vinegarette and of course the Sesame seeds that are already toasted which you can buy that way by the way it and a lot of Asian markets.

And look how beautiful, this beautifully fresh tuna salad with mango, avocado, sesame.

I could go on forever.

You can try this delicious seared tuna salad at CheckPleasefl.com Now retired professor Linda Calderon is giving her pick an A plus.

She brings all her friends and family here to experience tasty small plates, entrees, and crafty cocktails.

And the rotating menu always gives her something to look forward to.

It's located in Palm Beach Gardens and it's called Salute Market.

I'm Michelle Lefkowitz.

And I am one of the owners of salute market with my husband, Rob.

We love food and wine and cocktails from all over the world.

So our menu is truly a globally inspired menu but kind of Americanized and kind of, you know things that we just love to eat.

When we talk about the antipasto platter that came because growing up my mom used to always create an antipasto of whatever sort.

And that didn't necessarily mean one platter.

It was the corner of our counter where you would put out all kinds of different meats and cheeses and olives and all those different components of the antipasto platter come together and you get to make all these different bites.

So it's something that's kind of core to just getting started and have something to pick out.

We have cultivated a collection of wine that we're really passionate about.

One of the things that makes us special is that any drink you have behind our bar any wine you enjoy here at the restaurant you can take that home with you.

You can purchase what you need to recreate the cocktail and we'll teach you how or you can purchase the bottle of wine by the case.

We'll give you a case discount and you earn your loyalty points.

So the people that come here come here more than once a week.

They're just part of our family and they all love to eat and drink.

We always say in our tagline from day one has always been "Without you, there is no us" period.

And we mean that to both our customers and our staff but what we're really about what Salute Market is about, is enjoying good food, enjoying fantastic cocktails, enjoying wine that you've never had before that knocks your socks off and being with people that you love.

And that creates an experience when you enjoy food and you enjoy wine and you enjoy the company that you're with, then you're creating memories.

And I think that's kind of what life's all about.

So Linda, what stands out to you most about Salute Market?

Like the last restaurant, it's a husband and wife ownership, and I think take real particular care in watching over what their customers like, and always making it inventive and different and offering some wonderful things.

This last time we had a real assortment of appetizers.

We tried the pretzel breadsticks.

We had the orc deli with the waffles, which I had never tried and it was absolutely savory and tasty and delicious.

It really was, you know, you put it in your mouth and it just melted.

It was wonderful.

And I love the two desserts you ordered, tell us about them.

We ordered truffles, they're homemade chocolate truffles and it put a little whipped cream in between.

And we also had the coffee cake.

And I have to tell you for a group of people that didn't want dessert, plates were empty in no time.

So everyone really enjoyed it very well done.

Brian, tell me about your experience at Salute Market.

We had a great night.

It was, we got there kind of early.

It was about 5:00, 5:30, and it was the place was happening.

They have this rotating menu that they do on monthly and it was Asian fusion when I was there.

And so I said you know what, I'm going to try the chicken lo mein.

Just cause I hadn't had it in awhile.

And it was really good.

I was very, the noodles were fantastic.

The chicken was good, the sauce was really tasty and it was just a, a good experience all around.

Danielle, tell me about your experience.

I loved it, from the moment we walked up there is just a vibe of happy people everywhere, outside, inside.

When we went in, it felt like I was actually in a Napa valley wine tasting room.

It was amazing.

And loved the fact that it's it's market to table, where you could actually get a bottle of wine and have it at your table and they open it and then you can take it home if you don't finish it.

So love that.

Danielle, tell us about the antipasto plate.

[danielle] Yes.

The charcuterie tray was amazing.

It had different cheeses, it had smoked meats.

It had a delicious pesto fig and a spicy mustard that you could, you know use with the cheeses and the meats with cristines and it was delicious.

It was done very well.

Okay.

And then finally, please explain to me what a filet relay is.

It was amazing.

It started out with some creamy whipped potatoes at the bottom.

It had a filet minion and then it had a grilled tomato that was roasted, sauteed spinach and then a little burrata cheese on top and it had a balsamic glaze.

And when you just bit into it all the flavors blended together and it was delicious.

And Linda, tell me a little bit about the service.

I always find the service to be wonderful.

It's in fact, we have a young lady named Emma who helped us and she's helped us many times before.

It was just delightful.

Michelle the owner comes around and makes sure that everyone is happy that the dishes are good and always asked for your opinion.

So they always really are concerned about their customers and whether or not they're happy, which is a nice thing.

That's a really, really nice thing.

Well, Linda Salute Market was your pick, sum it up for us.

You can have brunch there.

You can have cocktails there.

Top is you can have dinner there always something different.

And it really is a unique menu.

So it really satisfies a lot of different tastes.

Danielle?

Like I said, I, I felt like I was in a Napa valley tasting room.

It's delicious.

The atmosphere is very lively.

Everybody is very welcoming and the food is delicious.

Love it.

Brian?

It's a great location.

Easy to get to, super fun.

I had such a great time and most importantly, great food.

[michelle] Well, you can enjoy creative, small plates and drinks when you visit Salude Market, located at 5530 PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens.

Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday and brunch on the weekends.

Reservations are accepted and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $40.

Finally, medical sales person Danielle Williams, is all business when it comes to seafood.

She says her pick is serving up the freshest fish and offers all kinds of dishes.

Ranging from their famous petite crab cakes to a whole yellow tail snapper.

It's located in Boca Raton and it's called Copperfish Kitchen.

Hi, my name's Manuel Anagnostou I'm one of the owners here at Copperfish Kitchen.

We're a brand new restaurant here in Boca Raton, we've been open just about a year now.

We're a seafood restaurant.

We specialize in globally inspired flavors with sustainable, traceable, seafood from all over the world.

For someone trying this out for the first time they'll get to see different regions from the Mediterranean, the U.S., South America, even all the way over to Asia.

We, we put those flavors into our seafood specifically.

Number one, something very special to me is the Maryland crab cakes.

We're from Baltimore Maryland, born and raised, they're the best in Florida.

There are jumbo lump, blue crab, old bay seasoned.

Very, very little filler.

They're absolutely amazing.

And they're a must try.

Another one of my favorites is the Mediterranean Bronzino.

We whole roast the fish.

We butterfly it, de-bone it, and serve it with a green olive relish, lemon oil and Maldon salt.

It's a delicious fish, that is also a must try.

Around the restaurant you'll see different features of the ocean.

One of our main features, the hanging fish that when you look up, you can see the ceiling move almost like you're underwater.

Copperfish Kitchen is all about sustainable, traceable, seafood and marrying them with globally inspired flavors.

We love sharing that with our new guests that come in and we hope that someday soon you'll be hearing that as well.

So Danielle tell us about Copperfish Kitchen and why you love it so much.

There's so many fish houses in the area.

Copperfish has very unique fishes that you would not find, along with local fish but it is prepared in such a unique manner where you still taste the unique and wonderful flavor of the fish without being overwhelmed with some of the different accompaniments or spices that they put on it.

I started with the salmon carpaccio and I have to tell you, it was amazing.

It was prepared with a like a coriander vinegarette, pepper's, jalapeno, pickled cabbage, and it was so light.

It was delicious, full of flavor.

Love, love, loved.

And I also, as an appetizer, I had the crab cakes and I have to tell you, they were like little poofs of air but it was all full, like a souffle of crab.

Absolutely the best I've ever had.

And I've had crab cakes all over the U.S. and this is the best.

So tell me a little bit about the last time you were there what fish you chose.

Cause there's so many to choose from.

I actually had new England halibut steak and it was seared on the outside, very light on the inside, but it was prepared again with a really unique coriander vinegarette, which was delicious.

Halibut is a really clean fish.

So it's good to know they don't put too much on it because the beauty of, of the fresh is really what shines.

Brian, tell me about your experience at Copperfish.

What'd you think?

So beautiful restaurant, very modern.

You walk into the, the service is impeccable.

Everybody was really, really nice.

I had the whole fried yellow snapper which was just absolutely delicious.

I don't mind the fish coming out, you know with the head-on it was really a great experience.

It was seasoned perfectly, it was fried perfectly, it was flakey.

It's just, I ate the whole thing.

Wonderful, wonderful.

Linda, tell me about your experience.

Again, first time visiting, we went to Boca thinking, oh we're not going to find parking, not true, plenty parking in the city, town center, we walked into the restaurant thinking we might eat outside, but after looking inside and seeing the beautiful grays and the upholstered booths that was so comfortable and while the decks there we decided to eat inside.

And we had brunch, I ordered the shrimp and crab club which had a yummy Hawaiian bread, a little bit of sweet really offset the crab cake and the shrimp salad that was in it, really yummy.

Linda, you did have a key lime pie.

How was that?

We did, our server recommended it.

She said it's made in house.

Best key lime pie.

Living in Florida I've heard that many times, but I have to say they make an excellent key lime pie.

It was creamy, it was tart.

It had this great little crust, not a lot, but just enough gram cracker to offset the key lime.

It was absolutely delicious.

Danielle Copperfish Kitchen was your pick, sum it up for us.

Definitely an upscale fish house, where you can have a very a wide variety of fish from all over the United States even Canada and it's prepared in a very unique way.

And it's full of flavor.

Definitely recommend.

Lovely.

Brian?

Very modern, great food, great service, perfect for a night out.

Linda?

Great seafood restaurants, fresh fish lovely resort style environment, really really modern and comfortable.

Lovely.

Reel in some tasty seafood.

When you visit Copperfish kitchen located at 5250 Town Center Circle in Boca Raton.

They're open for lunch and dinner daily, as well as brunch on the weekends.

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

We've had a wonderful time and I want to thank my guests.

Brian Kennedy, Linda Calderon and Danielle Williams.

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 CheckPleasefl.com and remember to find us on Facebook and follow us on 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 cheers everybody.

[narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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