I was invited the other night to a “friends and family†tasting of Max’s Harvest, Dennis Max’s new farm-to-table restaurant that is slated to open in June in Pineapple Grove in Delray Beach. Some of the guests were indeed friends of Dennis Max, but the others, like me, were either foodie wannabes or real foodies, like Jan Norris, who kept us educated as the courses came out of the kitchen.
They gave us menus to write on so we could capture our impressions. I filled mine with highly professional observations on the order of “Wow!†or “Yum-Yum†or “Please give me more.†Others worked hard to discern what would make that lamb tandoori even more tandoori. Jan Norris ignored all of us and proceeded to write a helpful novella that the chefs are probably still trying to get through.
But, regardless of our tasting skill, I am here to tell you that Delray is in for a treat when this place opens. In my opinion, we can’t have enough places that showcase local purveyors; add in that Max magic and we may have a winner. Here are some of the things I loved: Free-range deviled eggs made from Heritage Hen eggs with chives and truffle sea salt (Can we just stop here? Who needs anything more than about 17 of these?); a nicely dressed local lettuces salad; the homemade whey butter and burrata cheese made about three minutes ago by a guy in Pompano (I am not kidding) and a pan-roasted chicken that was almost as comforting as Grandpa Walton. But the hands-down favorite was the Cocoa Beach cobia with roasted tomato farro, asparagus salad, lemon and green olive tapenade. It got a standing ovation, which is highly unusual for a dead fish.
Here’s to Chefs Patrick Broadhead and Chris Miracolo for a great tasting. And start marking off the days; Max’s Harvest should be ready for you in a few weeks…
I’ll see you there.
