3 July, 2018 0 Comments

Things We Liked & Happy Birthday America

July 3, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Life has been such a whirlwind that we forgot our list of things we liked in May.

So this post will include a round up for May and June, while wishing you a safe and happy Independence Day.

Dinner at Baciami, a great spot in Boynton, owned by a Delray resident with two great Boca/Delray people Perry and Diana Don Francisco. Great food, great service, awesome atmosphere. We went back with more friends in June. Highly recommended.

Delray Craft Beer Fest—especially the grapefruit beer. Some of my less evolved friends poke fun at my appreciation for “fruity” flavored beers. I say, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Catching the movie “Tully” starring the immensely talented Charlize Theron in a decidedly non glamorous part. Well written, a nice way to spend a rainy spring day. We also saw “Book Club” at Cinemark Boca. As we move well into our AARP years it is nice to see mature romance portrayed on the big screen. Diane Keaton remains as charming as she was in Annie Hall.

Bob Costin got a smart phone. The legendary former Delray Beach City Commissioner who avoided email and the Internet for decades finally gave in. Now if only he would text us.

Breakfast at Christina’s…it’s not just the Tabanero hot sauce, it’s the omelets. The best around.

Attending the FAU Sandler College of Social Work’s 2018 induction ceremony. To see 110 social workers honored brought tears to our eyes. They are heroes.

Happiness is being able to talk to Fran Marincola about something other than parking. Especially when that something is Springsteen on Broadway. Make sure you stop by Caffe Luna Rosa to see the Springsteen signed guitar we were able to snag on Touch of Modern.

Lunch at Mario’s on Glades. Just plain good.

Leadership Florida…it’s always inspiring.

Lunch with Andrew Duffel of the FAU Research Park. Always informative and always thought provoking. Not to mention the sublime food at Cuban Cafe.

The Joe Cotton Band Live At the Crest. Original songs. Great performances. Good crowd. A tambourine. Long live rock. Catch them when you can.

True Kitchen and Fresh Kitchen. Both in Boca. Both really good. And healthy too. Bolay too..delish.

Dinner at Domus in Boca. So good. Fresh pasta, an exuberant chef and a nice atmosphere.

Meeting Tony, Val and Maks of Dancing With the Stars Fame at their new dance studio at the Town Center Mall. Thanks to the Kaye’s for the invite.
Now if only The Bachelor would relocate here.

The Front Porch—this historic Delray spot is a great place for a summer salad, parmesan dumplings and great specialty cocktails. Check it out.

As summer heats up, we urge you to shop and dine local. In the past few weeks, we enjoyed visiting Vintage Tap, Harvest, 5th Avenue Grill, La Cigale, Oleo, Boheme, Brule, Papas Tapas and Deli on Rye. It’s nice to walk in and grab a table, even nicer to keep our local businesses successful during the slow months.

Finally, on a sad note we mourn the loss of two terrific Delray people: Dr. Fred Love and Pasqual Ranich.

Dr. Love was a wonderful guy who was a big part of an historic Delray family. We enjoyed a very nice relationship. I spent some time this month reading old emails he sent. He was always a gentleman and we had some wonderful discussions about Delray. A true gentleman.

Pasqual was a sweet man. We met when he was working at Boston’s on the Beach and I was privileged to help when he opened the Hurricane which he quickly built into a favorite local spot.
I will miss his smile and we will all miss his kindness. Just a wonderful guy.

Have a safe and enjoyable 4th. See you next week.

30 April, 2018 0 Comments

Things We Loved In April

April 30, 2018 By Leave a Comment

True Food Kitchen at the Town Center Mall is a welcome addition.

Things We Loved In April…
The Bombay Café—there’s a reward for trying new cuisine. And I received one when I tagged along for dinner with friends and discovered Indian cuisine. I didn’t go spicy, but I did try a whole bunch of new things, and greatly enjoyed the new flavors. Bombay Café in Boca is terrific.

Grand Luxe blood orange soda. –Grand Luxe is a Town Center staple, but I had never tried their craft soda until recently. Highly recommended.

Springsteen on Broadway—see past blogs— but if you can– don’t miss this show. It would play well at the Crest Theatre, just saying.

Delray Affair, great weather, great times.

The double clucker at Caffe Luna Rosa. Simply the best chicken sandwich imaginable.

White chocolate samples at the Godiva store At Town Center.  Yes, Godiva chocolate makes ice cream and it’s really good.

The top sixty Beatles rock songs on Sirius XM. Hosted by Beatles fan extraordinaire Robin Zander of Cheap Trick the list was welcome background music as we cruised Delray and Boca. The number one song: Helter Skelter.

Honor Bar veggie sandwich. The Honor Bar is in Palm Beach, a nice ride up the coast.

Rediscovering “Feelin Satisfied” by 70s rockers Boston. Great great great song.

Reading Aaron Renn’s views on cities and regions. Always smart, always interesting. If you love cities subscribe to his “Urbanophile” blog.

Eating at the bar at the Gazebo. Great service, wonderful food and a great place for conversation.

Seeing my stepson’s best friend land a dream job with the Boca Police Department.

True Food Kitchen, a welcome addition to the Town Center Mall.  Healthy offerings—don’t miss the charred cauliflower and the Havana Lager.

Seeing the Animal Rescue Force at Pet Supplies Plus on Linton Boulevard. We got Randy, our feisty chihuahua, 13 years ago from ARF at the Delray Affair. They really do rescue us.
It was fun to introduce Randy to his “alma mater” and the volunteers were happy to see a “graduate”.
We hope you consider a rescue.

Wishing you a safe and great May.

28 July, 2014 1 Comment

Dreaming of Tesla

July 28, 2014 By 1 Comment
Boca's Town Center Mall has a Tesla "dealership".

Boca’s Town Center Mall has a Tesla “dealership”.

Sure, I’m turning 50 in a few weeks and the thought of a mid-life crisis has crossed my mind, but the truth is I have had a yen for beautiful cars since I was a teenager. I don’t think I’m alone.
Back then  I fell in love with old Mustangs, the 1964-67 variety and later acquired a desire for 1968-69 Chevy Camaro’s.
I scratched both those itches before the age of 21 and since then I have had a steady diet of practical cars from Ford Explorers and Dodge Caravans to Honda’s and Toyota Corollas with one exception– a BMW 528I that was so complicated that it took me a month to figure out the radio.
So I thought I was over my car obsession when I wandered into the Tesla dealership at the Mall at Town Center over the weekend.
It was there that I saw the two Tesla’s sitting side by side, sleek, beautiful, sophisticated, sexy. I was instantly smitten.
The red one retailed in the high $80s and the white one was a cool $125k, each more expensive than my first two homes in Delray Beach.
The “dealership” in Boca is also sleekly designed with panels on the walls explaining the amazing technology behind the gorgeous exteriors.
You can even buy Tesla clothing  and in my imagination I did as I day dreamed of driving on A1A and through Big Sur.
For those who may not know, Tesla was founded about 11 years ago by uber entrepreneur Elon Musk and a team of Silicon Valley engineers who dreamed that electric cars could be awesome.
They are.
Not only are they beautiful, but they perform. One model can go 0-60 in 3.7 seconds. It has been said that when you accelerate in a Tesla, you feel like you’ve been shot out of a silent cannon.
Depending on the model,  a Tesla can drive about 275 miles on a single charge, an impressive feat.
The goal of the company is a huge one. To break our dependence on fossil burning fuels and usher in an era of high performance, safe, electric mobility.
The Tesla has been given a 5 star safety rating by the government and has won accolades while turning heads all over the world.
Tesla owners charge for free at strategic locations, enabling long distance road trips in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Of course, in order to gain mass acceptance, the price of the Tesla is going to have to come down with models that will be more accessible to…well….to folks like me.
Friends have told me that Tesla is working on a $45,000 model, which would be much less expensive than the gorgeous Kia we saw parked at the other end of the mall.
The visionary behind the company, Elon Musk, is one of the world’s premier entrepreneurs.
While he’s revolutionizing Electric Vehicles, he’s also disrupting space travel with his company Space-X and solar power with his company SolarCity.
Oh and before that he co-founded Pay Pal and Zip 2.
He just turned 43. Sigh.
But I digress.
A few years ago, I had a chance to visit a nascent car company on Florida’s Space Coast. There I got to meet and talk with a group of MIT engineers, some recently laid off from NASA, who were designing a car I think they called the Rivian, also ultra-efficient and beautiful. Their dream was to build something stylish and environmentally friendly that wouldn’t break the bank.
It is incredibly daunting to compete against well-funded legacy car companies with global supply chains, thousands and thousands of talented employees and oodles of cash.
But as I wandered through the Boca Tesla dealership and thought of the guys at Rivian, I couldn’t help but feel pride in the mentality of the dreamer/entrepreneur.
They make you want to stick around for another 50 years to see what they will cook up.