Best restaurants: Day of the Dead treats and rising star chefs
I’ve noticed a common thread in some of my recent story interviews. A theme of cultural traditions, legacy cooking and food from the soul have come up in conversations with chefs, restaurateurs and food shop owners.
Recently I chatted with chef Boris Seymore, who pays tribute to his late grandmother’s soul food dishes at his new Southern takeout restaurant, Georgia Mae’s. I also spoke to chef Lindsay Autry, who told me she “leaned into being Southern” at her restaurant The Regional Kitchen, inspired by her North Carolina roots. Sadly, the aftershocks of a pandemic closure forced her to permanently shut the restaurant on Oct. 21.
From entrepreneur Claudia Monroy, who owns a gem of a Mexican tortilla shop in Lake Worth Beach, I heard about how one’s love of family traditions can power a culinary dream. That story is coming soon.
Food, the essential that can bring us together, also gives us ways to explore the nuances of our families and cultures.
Day of the Dead
I bring this up just a few days before Día de los Muertos, the Mexican celebration that follows Halloween. The holiday honors our departed loved ones, but it does not dwell on the macabre. It celebrates lives, not deaths.
Locally, there are some events devoted to the day. Here are some Día de los Muertos happenings to know about.
Mexican chocolate and tamales
Sierra Madre Tortilla Company, the neighborhood-gem shop I mentioned, is celebrating the holidays with Mexican hot chocolate and special mole tamales, offered from Saturday through Thursday (Nov. 2).
On Thursday, the tortilla shop will offer pozole verde, a traditional hominy stew inspired by the owner’s native Guerrero state in Mexico.
◾ The shop is at 2402 N. Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth Beach, 561-306-9605, on Instagram @SierraMadre.co. It’s open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pumpkin-spiced postre
Rocco’s Tacos will celebrate an expanded Day of the Dead/Halloween holiday, kicking it off Monday, Oct. 30, and wrapping it up Sunday, Nov. 5. The Mexican-themed restaurant will be pouring $10 spicy margaritas and serving a special dessert (postre), a pumpkin-spiced flan baked atop chocolate cake and served with caramel sauce for drizzling ($9).
On Thursday, the restaurant brand will host Dia de los Muertos parties at all four of its Palm Beach County locations. (Expect tequila samples, music, face painting and such.)
◾ Rocco’s Tacos has locations in Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton. To find one, visit RoccosTacos.com.
Mexican Halloween party
Avocado Cantina in Palm Beach Gardens will host a Halloween bash Saturday (Oct. 28), starting at 7:30 p.m. Chef/owner Julien Gremaud encourages revelers to come in costume. Expect special cocktails, live DJ entertainment and the restaurant’s full menu.
◾ Avocado Cantina is at 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Ave. in the Downtown Palm Beach Gardens plaza.
Annual fiesta
Lake Worth Beach’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration happens Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m. The free festival kicks off with a procession, starting at Hatch 1121 (1121 Lucerne Ave.), moving west along Lake Avenue to B Street, north to Lucerne, then back to the starting point.
The festival includes food vendors, a variety of live music and dance (think mariachi, marimba, flamenco, Gipsy Kings cover band), a costume contest for adults, kids and pups, a car show, mechanical bull, plenty of children’s activities and a Day of the Dead exhibit.
◾ For more information, visit LakeWorthArts.com.
Speaking of celebrating traditions…
Next Gen Dinner
I also thought of cultural traditions when I heard about a special collab dinner by two of the county’s up-and-coming chefs who are part of James Beard Award semifinalist chef Pushkar Marathe’s talented team.
Palm Beach Gardens chefs Anthony Moses of Stage Kitchen and Isael Alvarez of Ela Curry Kitchen will showcase their Latino roots when they team up on Sunday, Nov. 5, for an event called “Flavor Builders Next Gen Dinner.”
The five-course dinner will feature dishes inspired by Moses’ Peruvian roots and Alvarez’s Mexican heritage.
The evening’s menu is downright poetic:
◾ To start, a beet tartlet with coconut, carrot, chili and crispy ginger. Then comes a tostada topped with mushrooms, huitlacoche crema and quesillo.
◾ Next up is trout aguachile with cucumber, jalapeño and lemon balm. That’s followed by fish steamed in banana leaf and served with black-eyed pea guiso (stew), Peruvian huacatay herb and crispy quinoa. Then a Mom-inspired Mexican mole with pork belly, chiles, peanuts, sesame and tortillas.
◾ For postre, a Mexican chocolate tamal with pasilla chile, coconut and corn ice cream wraps up the experience on a sweet note.
The dinner, priced at $125 per person (plus tax and tip), takes place at Ela Curry Kitchen, 4650 Donald Ross Rd. Event tickets can be purchased via this OpenTable.com link.
Have a delicious weekend!
Liz Balmaseda
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Liz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She covers the local food and dining beat. Follow her on Instagram and on Threads @Silkpalm and Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Best Day of the Dead restaurants in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca, Gardens
