dining guide
Inside Josef’s Table
review josef’s table
5030 Champion Blvd., Boca Raton, 561/353-2700
170
[ bocamag.com ]
cristina Morgado
G
ather ’round, kids, and let Daddy tell you about dining out in the old days. Did you know we had to walk 10 miles in the snow to get to our favorite restaurant?” “Really, Daddy?” “Well, not really. But we did have to drive 10 minutes in a tropical downpour. We had to dress up too—by South Florida standards, anyway. No flips, no shorts.” “Wow.” “Wow is right. And the restaurant didn’t have a DJ or a hundred flat-screen TVs or a light the food, the room and the service without show or a waterfall. And we didn’t have smart burying the experience in someone else’s phones, so we actually had to concentrate on memories. the food and talk to each other. ...” So the obligatory lump crabmeat appeThe old days seem pretty good about now, tizer comes crowning a tall cylinder of diced don’t they? tomato, cucumber and mango, a light and But you don’t have to go back in time for a refreshing combo heightened by a tangy quiet, civilized dining experience, one sans lime-herb dressing. A pair of double-cut lamb bells, whistles, dancing bears and the kind of chops show off their rosy-red centers atop a loud, annoying music that makes your ears pool of mint-accented port wine sauce, whose bleed. sweet richness is tamed All you have to do is go to Josef’s by a square of denseTable. It’s a restaurant that touts textured polenta and IF YOU GO itself as offering “the slightest dash spears of faintly bitter PrIce ranGe: of nostalgia,” just enough to season broccoli rabe. Odd, though, was the chef’s Entrées $24–$48 take on the classic HOUrs: Daily 5–10 p.m. Austrian apple strudel, weBsITe: josefstable.net an overly sweet and cinnamon-y mélange of apples and phyllo that worked neither as strudel nor as a deconstruction. A more complete look at Josef’s menu comes with the chef’s five-course tasting menu. It starts one night with melty salmon tartare on a crunchy baguette smeared with whipped crème fraîche, then moves on to a simply perfect diver scallop with the texture of seafaring foie gras, a mouthful of luxury with a contrasting tart-sweet orange-port sauce. Orange gets teamed with butter in the Chef de cuisine Anthony Rodriguez and beurre blanc gracing an impeccably fresh filgeneral manager Krista McCracken let of pan-seared hog snapper. If there’s any
Behind the Table
Yes, there is a Josef at Josef’s Table. Austrian native Josef Schibanetz ran the original Josef’s in Plantation for many years before picking up and moving to Boca Raton. His new restaurant has plenty of Old World charm, with dark wood floors, delicate wrought-iron chandeliers, and soothing colors of taupe and cream. The dining room is calm and quiet, the wine list thoughtfully chosen to complement the food. There’s a hint of formality that hearkens back to a time when fine dining meant just that.
quibble with the food, it’s not the careful and precise execution; rather, it’s with the timidity when it comes to sauces and seasonings. Perhaps it’s a nod to the older, more nostalgic clientele, but a more assertive hand with both would benefit both kitchen and diner. This does not, however, apply to the tasting menu’s two final courses. A hunk of braised short rib ate like filet mignon and cut like butter, equaled by a silken potato puree topped with fine strands of crispy leek. Half-moon chocolate tart was a full nelson of pure, dense, intense chocolate, perked up with vanillascented gelato and a drizzle of smoky caramel. You could tell your kids about it. If you can get them away from their smart phones. —Bill Citara
december/january 2014