dining guide Your resource for Greater DelraY beach’s finest restaurants
review
Diver scallops
THE GROVE
187 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach, 561/266-3750
R
may/june
if You Go price ranGe: Entrées $22–$29 creDit carDs: All major cards hours: Tues.–Thurs. 6–10 p.m., Fri.– Sat. 6–11 p.m. Closed Sun. & Mon.
three’s a companY The trio behind The Grove has some serious bona fides. Chef-partner Michael Haycook is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and is an alum of such highly regarded Miami restaurants as Area 31 and Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne. Partner Paul Strike is a 20-year vet of the restaurant biz, also late of Area 31. Chef de cuisine Meghan O’Neal is another CIA grad, one whose résumé includes stints in such esteemed kitchens as Thomas Keller’s Bouchon and Chicago culinary alchemist Grant Achatz’s Alinea.
CRiSTiNA MORGADO
emember when you went out to eat just for the food? Too often these days, it seems a restaurant isn’t a place that serves food, it’s a “concept” that dishes an “experience,” a threering circus in three courses, the culinary version of the supremely annoying Kardashian Klan, constantly shaking their Botoxed booty in our helpless faces. That’s one reason why The Grove is such sweet relief. There are no dogs or ponies, DJs, light shows or flat-screen TVs. There is, however, excellent food, the kind that gives hope that our part of South Florida can be a culinary destination on par with the best in the country. In addition, The Grove has excellent service and an equally commendable wine list. Credit partners Paul Strike, executive chef Michael Haycook and chef de cuisine Meghan O’Neal. Your first taste that their work will be memorable: complementary house-made brioche rolls adorned with dill and sea salt. The pair’s menu changes biweekly and, like the restaurant, lacks even a crumb of pretension. An octopus appetizer is simply, “Octopus: sundried tomato tapenade, parsley, chorizo.” No ruffles, no flourishes, no place to hide if it isn’t perfect. But it is. The octopus is terrific, tender with just the right amount of chew, braised and seared and dusted with smoky pimentón. A breakfast classic—steak-n-eggs—is presented as a dinner entrée featuring Creekstone Farms flank steak crowned by a sunny-side-up egg. Slices of tender duck grace cauliflower florets a la gratin, set off by a dab of sweet-tart cranberry compote. Desserts don’t quite hit the same high notes. Pineapple braised in muscovado sugar could have used some caramelization, and beignets were more dense than airy. But on balance, The Grove is a winner. As for the Kardashians and pony shows ... ah, who needs ’em? —Bill Citara
Grove owners Paul Strike and Michael Haycook
delray beach magazine
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