Boca restaurants | Your Delray Boca

Rex Baron: The New Era of Experiential Dining

Rex Baron opened in Boca last week and it’s an experience.

Last week, we had a chance to attend the opening of “Rex Baron”, a new restaurant concept at the Town Center Mall.

Aside from getting to hang out with former Giants running back Rashad Jennings (he’s terrific and an investor in the business) which was cool, I can honestly say I’ve never seen a place quite like Rex Baron.

It’s an experiential restaurant with great food (and many healthy options) and a vast array of virtual reality experiences that allow you to experience everything from Jurassic Park and NASCAR to a post-apocalyptic Boca Raton. I think I’m decent with words, but I can’t quite describe the place. You have to see for yourself and you really must. It’s amazing.

Spread out over 8,200 square feet including beautiful outdoor space, a private room with a golf simulator and a magnificent bar/dining area Rex Baron is an exciting new concept.

We asked Mr. Jennings what attracted him to Rex Baron because we figured a former football star and “Dancing with the Stars” champ must be offered a slew of investment opportunities. While he was impressed with the VR component and the uniqueness of the design, he was really taken with the quality food options as someone who eats healthy but also fancies himself a chicken wing connoisseur.

“They are the best wings I’ve ever had,” said the LA based Jennings. “The best.”

By the time my friend Marisa Herman and I were done with Rashad, we had him considering a move to Boca and a job at the newspaper we run. He is after all a New York Times best-selling author who says he loves to write.

But I digress.

Let’s just say Rex Baron is a welcome and extremely unique addition to the Boca landscape.

The new restaurant is located near Nordstrom’s and Sachs adjacent to California Pizza Kitchen.

The opening of Rex Baron got me thinking about the marvel that is Town Center.

In a world where malls are closing or distressed, Town Center continues to thrive.

Why?
Because it evolves with the times. The mall still looks fresh and modern and feels vibrant and alive. It’s hard to imagine the mall will turn 40 in 2020.

They have added some great food options—including a soon to open French Bakery that is said to be out of this world.

It manages to stay busy year-round and seems to combine the perfect blend of shopping and dining.

Town Center’s tenants are also community focused hosting special events that benefit local charities.

I remember coming to Florida for a job interview in the 80s and visiting the mall. I was blown away way back then. Town Center was so much different than the drab northeast malls I was used too. It had palm trees, natural light, a strong retail mix and was the place to people watch.

Thirty years later it is still evolving and still relevant.

Rex Baron is the latest example.

Check it out…it’s spectacular.

In Praise Of The Local Food Scene

Caffe Luna Rosa has thrived for decades by keeping pace with trends and sticking to the classics.

So I have this theory that I thought I would share.
My theory has to do with food—in particular restaurants—and my feeling is that we are experiencing a golden age of culinary talent.
We live in a community that seemingly has an endless array of truly unique and wonderful restaurants.
It wasn’t always this way.

When I moved to South Florida 31 years ago it was not uncommon for us to travel to Miami and Fort Lauderdale to find a good restaurant.
These days, Delray and Boca offers a dizzying array of special restaurants that not only serve great food but also take their design seriously. Dining has become an experience. And when done well it’s really something to behold.

I’m writing this a few days after finally experiencing The Grove, a highly touted restaurant in Delray’s Pineapple Grove neighborhood.
I’ve been hearing friends rave about The Grove for quite some time so I was curious to see if what they were saying was true.
It was.

The food was sensational, so was the service and the interior design.

The menu was small but offered some really inventive dishes that were spectacularly prepared.
My friends ordered pasta—that was perfectly cooked, short ribs that looked magnificent and I had crusted chicken that was so flavorful and unique that I find it hard to describe.
Even the bread was extraordinary.

The night before I had dinner with another friend at one of my favorite neighborhood spots—Papas Tapas where I never fail to have a great meal.

Brule, Caffe Luna Rosa, City Oyster, Tramonti—the list of Delray delights just goes on and on.

Boca also has so many wonderful spots: Domus, Abe and Louie’s, New York Prime etc.
In an age where chefs have become celebrities and dining out has become a cultural experience I’m surprised that Delray-Boca doesn’t have a bigger reputation as a foodie destination.
Sure, Atlantic Avenue and places like Mizner Park are popular attractions but I think we have the potential to be a national food destination.

So what’s holding us back?

We have many great restaurants and more than a few talented chefs, but there’s a few holes to fill and opportunities to seize.
First, we can use a little more diversity in our repertoire.
More ethnic offerings—like you’d see in a bigger city. And I’m not just talking niche food offerings, there’s a puzzling lack of great Chinese restaurants in our local market. Southern cuisine would be another great hit and seems to be somewhat lacking in our marketplace.

We can also use more culinary education to develop and nurture talent for the industry.
In addition, the industry can use some good old fashioned PR.
There’s no reason we can’t be known and branded as a great culinary destination like Charleston, Traverse City and Asheville which would drive more innovation, jobs and tourism.
We’ve come a long way since the 80s—it will be interesting to see what comes next for our local food industry.