Good food: My favorite recent restaurant bites. Plus, superstar foodies on the town.

How much did I enjoy the final days of December? Let me count the bites.

My year-end time off was sprinkled with great pops of flavor and leisurely meals shared with family and friends at home as well as at local restaurants that were bustling with seasonal crowds.

I’ve listed a sampling of my favorite dishes, which include fresh seafood, decadent sweets, a hearty steak, fragrant corn tortillas and one homemade savory Christmas pie with French-Canadian roots.

That list is below, just before we close the week’s column with a buzzy topic that may spark your interest (if you’re a celebrity watcher).

Fresh-caught snapper sandwich at Brulé Bistro.

As it always happens at Delray Beach’s favorite bistro, I couldn’t decide what to order from executive chef/owner Suzanne Perrotto’s tempting midday menu when I met a friend for lunch on a recent day. Brulé Bistro is one of those places where your inner voice repeats “yes, please” at every menu item.

I chose the Crispy Dayboat Fish Sandwich that featured freshly caught snapper dressed with a spicy pickled salad, lettuce and Old Bay aioli, served on a house-baked brioche bun. Fries on the side, of course. It was every bit as tasty as I expected.

My friend’s Brulé Burger looked equally tasty, and I made a note-to-self to order it next time. The short-rib-blend patty topped with roasted mushrooms, cheddar, tomato, arugula and tarragon aioli was as statuesque as it sounds.

Brulé Bistro: 200 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach, 561-274-2046, BruleBistro.com

Chocolate-y sandwich cookies at The Pantry.

Chef Perrotto’s other Delray Beach restaurant, Rose’s Daughter, introduced a next-door bakery called The Pantry in late November. The tiny space houses everything you could want in a neighborhood bakery: freshly baked breads and pastries, a variety of breakfast handhelds, baguette sandwiches for lunch, gluten-free and vegan items, plus coffees sweetened with house-made syrups.

This is where I recently enjoyed a crispy, marbled chocolate sandwich cookie, a homemade rugelach bite and a dreamy, caramel-sweetened cup of coffee. The Pantry has a few bistro tables out front for those who want to dig into their pastries right away.

Perrotto, who worked with executive pastry chef Megan Robson for two years to bring The Pantry to life, says Robson “gets the accolades for this project”.

The Pantry by Rose’s Daughter: 177 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach, 561-271-9423, on Instagram @ThePantryDelray

Delmonico steak at Lewis Steakhouse.

When I asked my brother what he’d like for his birthday dinner in late December, he didn’t hesitate. “I’ll never turn down a good steak,” he said.

A few hours later, we were seated in a booth at Lewis Steakhouse in Jupiter, before two boneless Delmonico rib-eye steaks, potatoes (his mashed, mine fried) and a heap of roasted Brussels sprouts. The restaurant’s classic decor, standout service and throw-back touches — like the tray of demo desserts that comes around at the end of your meal — reinforced the vintage-steakhouse concept.

The steaks were not only birthday-worthy but beautifully unadorned, perfect in temperature and so flavorful.

Lewis Steakhouse: 6390 W. Indiantown Road (at Central Boulevard), Jupiter, 561-277-9188, LewisSteakhouse.com

Fresh tortillas and chips from Sierra Madre.

Corn tortilla lovers know they’ve found the real deal even before they take a bite of one of the organic tortillas freshly made at the Sierra Madre Tortilla Factory in Lake Worth Beach. The fragrance of stone-ground organic corn announces the flavor.

It’s easy to see why Claudia and Mounir Monroy’s small shop and factory brings in discerning chefs and locals seeking authentic, sturdy tortillas. I’ve found that even one small stack of their tortillas adds earthiness to tacos, breakfast flautas and migas. The chips are delicious for everything from dipping to making chilaquiles.

Sierra Madre: 2402 N. Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth Beach, 561-306-9605, CashDrop.com/SierraMadre

Christmas tourtière.

A friend made this classic French-Canadian pork pie, a tradition from her childhood, and she invited me to share it with her family. The family recipe calls for a filling of ground, roasted pork, mashed potatoes and a dash of cinnamon in a double pie crust. The flaky crust offered a lovely, flaky vessel for the rich, lightly spiced pork filling. A light gravy pulls the dish together. We enjoyed it with a freshly tossed salad. It was the first time I tried the pork pie but it is now one of my favorite Christmas bites.

I didn’t snap a photo of my tourtière slice, but here’s a good recipe for one from The New York Times’ Cooking files.

Fresh stone crabs from Outclaws Seafood.

My New Year’s Eve splurge was a batch of fresh stone crab claws from the popular neighborhood seafood shop Outclaws. I also enjoyed the shop’s delicious smoked fish spread, which we zhuzhed up with pickled jalapeños and sweet-hot pickles and scooped up with those Sierra Madre chips I mentioned above. We added hash browns and a Caesar salad to the table, but the meaty, sweet claws with classic mustard sauce and lemon took center-stage.

Outclaws: 640 Northlake Blvd., North Palm Beach, 561-517-8707, OutclawsSeafood.com

Martha goes to Swank

Lifestyle doyenne Martha Stewart did quite the foodie thing on a visit to Loxahatchee Groves on Saturday. She stopped by Swank Farm’s weekly farmer’s market, which gathers an eclectic group of food and drink vendors under the farm’s soaring pole barn.

“Very, very, special guest toured and shopped the farm today. Thank you, Martha and friends, for visiting Swank Farm,” farmers Jodi and Darrin Swank posted on their Swank Specialty Produce Facebook page on Dec. 30.

Jodi Swank, who organizes the farm’s popular market, dinner series, cooking classes and other events and has hosted a constellation of food stars, was still aglow this week.

“Having Martha visit us was pretty cool,” she said in a text message.

Stewart also made a recent visit to Havana Cuban restaurant, where she was photographed with owner Rafael Perez.

Swank Farmers’ Market: Saturdays through May from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 14311 North Road, Loxahatchee Groves, 561-202-5648, SwankSpecialtyProduce.com

Stars and pizzerias

Two Palm Beach County pizzerias got recent visits from a couple of Florida-loving celebrities.

Food Network star Guy Fieri stopped in at Venezia Italian Pizza and Ristorante on Northlake Boulevard in North Palm Beach some weeks ago. Check out my colleague Eddie Ritz’s story on that visit.

In late December, the folks at West Palm Beach’s City Pizza announced a lunchtime visit by rock star Jon Bon Jovi on the pizzeria’s Instagram page.

“The stars have landed in West Palm Beach to have lunch! An unforgettable moment with the legendary @bonjovi and our incredible staff at City Pizza Italian Cuisine!” said the post.

Have a delicious weekend!

Liz Balmaseda   

Hungry for more restaurant news?

Here's how to stay up-to-date with your local dining scene: follow our food & dining writer, Liz Balmaseda on Twitter @LizBalmaseda, Instagram at @silkpalm or sign up for our free weekly foodie newsletter, At the Table.

Read recent columns by Liz Balmaseda

◾ Cheers to my 5 favorite food moments of 2023

◾ OpenTable’s ‘Top 100' list names popular Palm Beach County restaurant

◾ Destination restaurant finds new home in Palm Beach County

◾ Afternoon tea, served with a French twist

◾ A porchetta sandwich that spirits you to Italy

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 restaurant dishes near Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Delray Beach, Lake Worth, Martha Stewart, Guy Fieri, Bon Jovi