Best restaurants: Cheers to my 5 favorite food moments of 2023

I like to connect the dots of a passing year with food memories. That’s because they usually involve times spent with loved ones. And it is a much better way to review 2023 than dwelling on the unexpected aches and expenses. (My air conditioner died on the hottest weekend of summer? Who wants to ruminate on that?)

So I prefer to remember the good-food moments. Here are my five favorite culinary highlights of the past 12 months:

1. Meeting the tortilla queen of Lake Worth Beach.

When Claudia Monroy told me the story of how she came to open an organic corn tortilla mill and shop, her words transported me to the Mexican town where she was born. Although she was too young to remember the tortilla factory her grandfather owned in Guerrero State and how her parents worked there while she slept in a bassinet nearby, Claudia found her path to her own tortilla shop would be paved in her Mexican roots.

Hers was one of the most poetic pandemic pivots I’ve heard about. A stay-at-home mom with a degree in public administration explores the vintage craft of tortilla-making. When she opened Sierra Madre Tortilla Factory in Lake Worth Beach last year, she opened a new door not only for herself and her family but also for an entire community.

Sierra Madre is at 2402 N. Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth Beach, 561-306-9605. Find them on Instagram @SierraMadre.co. Pre-orders are accepted at CashDrop.com/SierraMadre. 

2. Lunching with the James Beard Award semifinalists.

When the semifinalists for the 2023 James Beard Awards were announced in late January, five Palm Beach County chefs were among them. It was the first time the county led the way among Florida chefs in the semifinals for the prestigious “Best Chef” in the South award.

Those five — Jeremy and Cindy Bearman of Oceano Kitchen, Rick Mace of Tropical Smokehouse, Pushkar Marathe of Stage Kitchen and Lojo Washington of Queen of Sheeba Ethiopian restaurant — gathered in Marathe’s restaurant kitchen on a March afternoon to make a five-course lunch for a sold-out crowd.

Their dishes showcased the breadth of the county’s emerging dining scene: a Nantucket bay scallop crudo by Jeremy Bearman, a traditional Ethiopian kitfo (beef tartare) by Washington, smoked cobia wings in tamarind glaze by Mace, Duroc pork collar with jerk spices by Marathe and a chocolate-banana-walnut cake by Cindy Bearman that popped with tahini crunch and malted ganache.

3. Shopping the Swank Farmers Market.

Farmers Jodi and Darrin Swank have brought to life a gem of a Saturday food market beneath the soaring pole barn at their Swank Farm in Loxahatchee Groves. The vendors there offer a tempting variety of goods — produce, coffee, pastries, spices, wine, dairy products and more.

The most fragrant vendor stand of all, Pork-etta, beckons with the aroma of rosemary, garlic and roasted meat. It is operated by the Italian chef Tiziano Fioretti, who brings his freshly roasted porchetta to the market each week.

The Rome native cures the pork with rosemary, fennel, garlic and Mediterranean sea salt, then rolls and wraps it in pork belly before roasting. The result is an herb-swirled pork roll that’s juicy and aromatic. It’s street-food magic.

Swank Market is open every Saturday through May from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 14311 North Road, Loxahatchee Groves, 561-202-5648, SwankSpecialtyProduce.com.

4. Dining at Palm Beach County's tiniest steakhouse.

In a world where big, snazzy steakhouses appear to be the norm, chef/butcher James Muir created a jewel box of one in Boynton Beach. Nicholson Muir Distinguished Meats is a cozy, modern steakhouse that grew out of a gourmet meat market in September, thanks to customer requests.

The result: a great little steakhouse that’s Palm Beach County’s best new restaurant. Inside the cozy spot, wood-fired steaks and seafood are as stellar as the service and twinkly ambiance.

Muir, who has worked with culinary stars such as Alain Ducasse, hails from Argentina, land of excellent steaks and communal cookouts. Many of his dishes tell this story. Meats —  a range of prime Angus, American wagyu and Japanese wagyu cuts, all dry-aged onsite — are cooked on a Japanese konro grill “adjusted for Argentine grilling”, says Muir, who uses all-natural Argentine charcoal and Argentine quebracho wood for steaks that are tender and lightly smoky. Appetizers are creative and shareable. Fish is freshly caught and local. Pastas are handmade. Muir’s attention to detail is outstanding.

I’m still dreaming about the house-made fettuccine with seared shrimp, Parmigiano and crushed red pepper. I loved the Me-So-Crispy appetizer, which pairs a buttery American Wagyu steak tartare with a spicy tuna tartare. And the wood-fired American Wagyu strip steak I sampled was tender, juicy and so flavorful.

Nicholson Muir is at 480 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach, 561-336-3977, NicholsonMuir.com.

5. My last supper at The Regional.

This one is bittersweet. Saying goodbye to one of my favorite restaurants isn’t easy. When the talented, acclaimed chef Lindsay Autry and her business partner Thierry Beaud announced the closing of The Regional Kitchen restaurant in mid-October, it was a blow to West Palm Beach’s rising dining scene. The restaurant had defied so many odds, from location to a long pandemic closing. In the end, it was the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising costs of labor, food and taxes that led to its demise, they said.

I dined at the restaurant on Oct. 7, before heading to the Kravis to see jazz greats Sammy Figueroa, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Aymée Nuviola in concert. It was the double feature of my dreams: a soul-stirring show and a dinner by one of the best chefs in South Florida. It would be my final meal at The Regional, which closed Oct. 21.

But what a feast it was.

I ordered the Kurobuta pork loin Milanese, a dish I had wanted to try for a long time and one of Autry’s personal favorites. She gave it a panko-Parmesan crust and topped it with shaved fennel, tender kale and thin slices of Honeycrisp apples tossed in Dijonnaise sweetened with local honey.

Outstanding in its flavor contrasts and quality ingredients, it was a soulful dish for a soulful night, one I will not soon forget.

Did you miss the Palm Beach Food & Wine Fest?

I did my best to narrow down some of the highlights, sights, bites and stars of the 2023 Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival, which ran from Dec. 7-10 across the country.

Here's the photo gallery I put together. Did we see you there?

Cheers for the New Year!

As this year comes to a close, I thank you for reading and following our food-and-dining stories, columns and photo galleries. I am so grateful for you, our avid readers. You continue to inspire me!

Welcome 2024: Best way to ring in the New Year in Palm Beach County dining, dance and more

Here’s to a new year filled with good health, love and a million good-food moments!

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 Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Best 2023 restaurant, food near West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Gardens