[ dine ]
B Y LY N N K A L B E R
Driftwood
I
haven’t had a chance yet, but I want to try everything on Driftwood’s menu. Every dish. And most of the cocktails, too. You haven’t had these dishes before, but you’ll want them again. There are complimentary boiled peanuts, normally part of the Deep South (hint: That’s not where we live). These taste like tiny, soft, slightly zesty potatoes and have been boiled in a mixture of red pepper flakes, coriander, citrus peel, garlic and paprika. This constitutes the start of a Driftwood addiction. The descriptions tug at your appetite and your imagination—no unusual ingredients you can’t pronounce, but combinations you’ve never thought of before. Popcorn sauce? Avocado chocolate ice cream? This is comfort food elevated to a higher level at a nice price. In fact, you can mix a few smaller plates with bigger plates, add an app for the table and still be able to afford a dessert. Or two. You can always take leftovers. Plus, the ingredients are local and often organic, and it all looks terrific. Take a bite of the hand-cut spaghetti ($14) topped with a sunny Holman’s egg yolk, with pecorino and thin shavings of black truffle. “It’s like you’ve never had spaghetti before,” said my guest. After tasting the tender pasta’s smooth, buttery flavor with a sharp pecorino twinge and the truffle tickling your palate, the only rational response is to keep slurping. One of the specials was smoked swordfish ($14) sitting on an Italian crescensa (cow’s cheese) sauce, with avocado chunks, croutons and parsley. The fish tasted like it was cooked over a slow campfire; it was smoked for five
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delray beach magazine
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hours. The mild sauce was a perfect partner; all the components meshed. These flavor meldings spring from the mind of chef/owner Jimmy Everett. He’s a SoFla native and worked at the Atlantis Country Club as a boy. From there, he went to the Culinary Institute of America, then worked for inventive chefs (Daniel Humm, Wylie Dufresne, Michael White) and opened restaurants as executive chef in Hong Kong and Valentino Cucina Italiana in Fort Lauderdale. But he wanted his own place, so he and wife/co-owner Ilia Gonzalez-Colon bought the former Scully’s site in Boynton Beach, and debuted Driftwood in early 2018. The dining room has a rustic paneled accent wall, framed photos, mostly booth spaces and a casual atmosphere—the better to focus on the food. We tried a half-tail of lobster with pickled okra, sliced fingerling potatoes and broccoli rabe in a popcorn beurre blanc sauce (yes, they reduce popcorn down to this sauce, $17). It was a delicate mouthful with lots of pleasant taste surprises: sweet lobster, slightly bitter rabe, tangy okra, light sauce with a faint popcorn taste. The ricotta dumplings with the chicken/dumplings dish ($16) were thin, long and light, the chicken tender and flavorful. The avocado chocolate ice cream sandwiches ($6) were light green and rich—the avocado’s contribution—and sweet with the chocolate. My half was gone in four bites. I’m going back for the burger (gouda, pickled green tomato, smoked onion, $14), the grilled octopus ($17), the local fish ceviche ($14). Also the pastrami’d chicken breast with roasted cabbage, Bob’s potatoes and Swiss fondue ($22). Our server said it’s her favorite and that it “hugs your soul.” I think that describes Driftwood to a T.
AARON BRISTOL
This unassuming restaurant in Boynton Beach is a big hit with local foodies
march/april 2019
1/28/19 4:09 PM