Wednesday, December 30, 2015

From Liz Balmaseda: The Year's Best Food & Dining (or. . .the Best Of "humble", "from-the-soul dishes"?)

Liz Balmaseda has her Best Food & Dining 2015 and she focuses her list on the "unfussy" and "humble" dishes. So, Lake Worth took home one of the 18 awards from Best Charcuterie Plate or Best Deviled Eggs? No. Our little City of Lake Worth got the big goose egg: 0. Here are two short excerpts from the article that appears today (12/30) in the print edition, page spread D6–D7:
     I just may remember 2015 as the year of the down-home, comfort food fix. I’ve indulged in the year’s winding buffet of humble, local-meets-global offerings, from Southern deviled eggs to South American empanadas, chicken fried steak to crispy fried chicken, Dominican mofongo to Indian chickpea curry.
     Yes, I’ve had my share of “fancy” multi-course feasts, leisurely voyages into the sublime, including one featuring four James Beard Award-winning chefs.
[and. . .]
     I’ve scarfed up charcuterie and brunched like nobody’s business. But what lingers most deliciously at this year’s end are the unfussy, from-the-soul dishes.
Here are how the 18 categories (awards) break down by city:
  • Palm Beach: 5
  • West Palm Beach: 5
  • Jupiter: 3
  • Delray Beach: 2
  • Boca Raton: 1
  • Palm Beach Gardens: 1
  • Wellington: 1
So. . .72% of the Best Of are from just 3 cities in Palm Beach County? Maybe next year the Post can add one or two runner-ups or expand the list to include "The Best Seafood Paella" which would have to be Chef Hanlon at Benny's on the Beach. Anyhow, all you excellent, top-notch restaurants in Lake Worth will just have to keep working away and maybe one of you will make the list next year, or consider the unfathomable: moving across the bridge to Palm Beach or across the canal to West Palm Beach to get noticed: