Manjunath Pendakur, dean of Florida Atlantic Universityís Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, at the site of a new multi purpose building at FAU in Boca Raton. (Bill Ingram /The Palm Beach Post)

For decades, Boca Raton has been something of a cultural second-stringer to West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The pink-hued city could tout its abundance of pricey stores and restaurants, but it fell far short in arts venues.

That may no longer be the case.

With the opening last month of a 750-seat performing arts center at Lynn University and a multiuse cultural facility at Mizner Park, and the slated opening this year of a four-screen movie theater complex for foreign and indie cinema at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton is poised to become a cultural hub unto itself.

These newer facilities join established ones, including the Mizner Park Amphitheater and FAU Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium, making Boca suddenly a destination for everything from symphonic concerts to full-scale Broadway shows. And that’s not factoring in such attractions as the Boca Raton Museum of Art and Caldwell Theatre.

“It’s a natural evolution,” said Charlie Siemon, a longtime Boca attorney and cultural booster who was behind the plans for the Mizner Park Amphitheater and serves as president of the new multiuse Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, located in the former space of Mort Walker’s International Museum of Cartoon Art.

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Restaurant info: Directions, reviews, more

If there’s a question I am asked most often as a restaurant critic, it’s probably this: “Where do you like to eat — on your own dime?” And an interesting question it is: As a critic, I get to dine at my employer’s expense at any number of places, from takeout joints in Tequesta to delis in Delray Beach. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy many of those meals — it’s a job that anyone with a passion for food would be thrilled to have.

But it is a job nonetheless — one that requires me to eat dishes I may not particularly desire in places that may be too loud and flashy (or conversely, too hopelessly out-of-date) to suit my taste. So, when I dine outside the constraints of work, I don’t necessarily want to revisit a restaurant I’ve reviewed. In fact, I suspect I’m no different from most folks: I like neighborhood places that deliver a consistent product and that value a steady customer’s business. If they specialize in a particular cuisine (I’m big on all things Asian) and if they can show a degree of creativity in the kitchen, all the better. Read the full story

If you’re in the mood for Mexican food, my best advice these days would be to head to Palm Beach Gardens.

In recent weeks, two Mexican eateries have set up shop in the city, each offering an interesting approach to the south-of-the-border cuisine. First up: Cabo Flats Cantina & Tequila Bar (11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Ave. in Downtown at the Gardens, 561-624-0024, caboflats.com ). Situated in the space formerly belonging to Rosa Mexicano, this is a concept far removed that eatery’s upscale, regional-minded take on all things Mexican. Instead, Cabo Flats is Mexican-meets-rock ’n’ roll — a kind of juke joint in a Tex-Mex (or California-Mex) vein that also happens to serve very good but fairly basic (and reasonably priced) Mexican fare. Read the full story

Of Italian wines and Memphis-style barbecue …

It’s been a busy month of chowing down at a range of noteworthy food and wine events throughout Palm Beach County. Here are two worth mentioning:

• A wine dinner at Forte (225 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; 561-833-3330 ) showcasing the latest offerings from the Livernano and Casalvento wineries: This was very much a family-and-friends-style affair, since the owners of the Italian wineries and Forte are one and the same — longtime Palm Beachers Bob and Gudrun Cuillo. The Cuillos got into the wine biz as something of a hobby, but their first-class slate of reds and whites, including the Livernano "L’Anima" chadonnay (yes, an Italian chardonnay) and Casalvento Classico Chianti, are garnering serious attention among oenophiles.

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The Elderflower Gimlet at O Bar is herbaceous, and its where sweet meets sour. (Gary Coronado / The Post)

This week’s bar: O Bar at The Omphoy

The scene: Palm Beach’s newest resort is also one of its sexiest nightspots. Think the three C’s of design: cool, clean and contemporary. Fittingly, the crowd is on the younger, more fashionable side. But the bar also attracts a fair share of everyday hotel guests who just want a nightcap. Oh, and some come to play pool as well — there’s a table to the side.

Signature cocktail: Joshua Liberman is Omphoy’s sommelier and master mixologist, and he crafts some of the cleverest cocktails you’ll find in town. But the drink that’s starting to garner him the most attention at The Omphoy is a simple one — the Elderflower Gimlet ($14), a herbaceous, sweet-meets-sour mix of St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, Hendrick’s gin and lime juice.

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The B.B. King All-Stars, led by guitarist Gary King (center), the house band of B.B. King's Blues Club in CityPlace. (Brandon Kruse / The Post)

More: B.B. King’s at CityPlace more than the sum of its parts

Blues fans who come to B.B. King’s at CityPlace expecting the legend himself may be in for a disappointment. The blues great is expected to make only a visit or two each year.

But a king of another sort is regularly on stage. Literally.

Meet Gary King, the South Florida music mainstay who now heads the house band at the club. And who put together the nine-piece band that rocks the crowd most night with a Southern-flavored mix of blues, rhythm and blues, rock, pop and more.

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Dancing is all part of the fun at B.B. King's, which also includes some great food. (Brandon Kruse / The Post)

More: Directions, user reviews | House band rocks at B.B. King’s

There’s a part of me that greets an outfit like the recently opened B.B. King’s Blues Club in CityPlace with more than a healthy share of skepticism.

On the surface, this is the blues turned into McBlues. The idea is to take one of America’s true art forms and making it into something resembling a theme-park ride, replete with all the Southern touches and a predictable menu of gumbo, barbecue, cobbler and other down-home favorites.

But once I find myself actually sitting in the West Palm Beach club, the reality suggests otherwise. The nine-piece band is riffing on a B.B. King classic, “The Thrill Is Gone”, as if it were a piece of molasses-flavored taffy — curiously sweet and plenty pliable. And I’m keeping time to the music while sipping on a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon draft, a retro beer that goes so right with the setting. Oh, and that bowl of gumbo? Not bad, not bad at all.

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Rabbi Michael Singer is a 'foodie' and is commonly asked about good passover meals. (Richard Graulich / The Post)

The Dish video: Matzo ball soup, made by the chef at David’s East Side Deli

Many Jews look to their rabbis for sage advice. But the congregants in Rabbi Michael Singer’s synagogue also look to him for a good recipe for General Tso’s Chicken.

"I’m a foodie," said Singer, who’s the rabbi at Temple Beth David in Palm Beach Gardens.

In Singer’s case, that love of all things gourmet has translated into a variety of synagogue programs, from a "Welcome Back" barbecue he hosts in the late summer to a series of cooking classes he conducts throughout the year.

And with Passover just around the corner — the eight-day holiday that commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt begins on Monday night — that also means more than a few congregants are bound to be asking Singer for his holiday brisket recipe.

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Richard Harteis relaxes at home with his dog, Daisy. (Lannis Waters / The Post)

For most of the past three decades, Richard Harteis spent his life in the care of another. Now, he’s getting to tell his story, literally.

An acclaimed writer who calls West Palm Beach home for half the year, Harteis, 63, was also partner to William Meredith, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who passed away in 2007 at the age of 88. For the last 24 years of his life, Meredith was partly incapacitated due to a stroke, leaving Harteis to serve as both soul mate and caregiver. And just as important, as the inspiration for Meredith to return to publishing his poetry.

During that time, Harteis often had to forget about his own promising career as a writer. But he did manage to find the time to publish "Marathon," a moving account of Harteis’ efforts to help Meredith recover while Harteis also trained to run his first marathon. Today, that book is the subject of a feature film, also called "Marathon," that will receive its local debut next month at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. (The festival, set for April 22-26 at various locations around Palm Beach County, will announce its full lineup of films later this week.)

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The Delray Beach Film Festival will get going for its fifth year on Monday with a myriad of events that span from celebrating the independent filmmaker to surf lessons and yoga classes.

Of course, there will be plenty of films.

The festival showcases films that might not otherwise be released theatrically in the United States and features workshops led by such industry leaders as Ellen Jacoby of Ellen Jacoby Casting International and Adam Montgomery, programming manager of the Sundance Institute.

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