Ask Virginia Philip what wine she most resembles and she’s got the answer almost before the question is asked. She’s Gevrey-Chambertin – a red Burgundy made from pinot noir. Or, as Philip puts it, "elegant, powerful, but knows exactly what I want."

It’s the perfect description for a woman who seems to know herself even better than what she wants, and loves the challenge as much as the accomplishment.

In 2002, Philip became the 10th woman in the world to earn the title of Master Sommelier, one of the industry’s most prestigious accreditations. Less than a month later, she won the national title of "Best Sommelier in the United States" from the American Sommelier Association, which she says is one of her most rewarding accomplishments, considering the timing of the event and caliber of her competitors. And just last week, Philip was named a semifinalist for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional. Read the full story

Great Wraps' buffalo chicken wrap is $7.25. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

THE DISH: Buffalo chicken wrap, $7.25

THE RESTAURANT: Great Wraps

Your choice of crispy fried or grilled chicken doused in a homemade buffalo sauce make this wrap a great wrap. Add shredded provolone cheese, lettuce and your choice of bleu cheese or ranch dressing. A soft flour tortilla — your choice of tomato, spinach or wheat — holds the sandwich intact. There’s a lingering heat on the chicken tempered by the creaminess of the dressing and cheese.

“It’s one of our most popular wraps,” says Great Wraps store manager, Christopher Cauley. “The flavors just all come together — the hot sauce and the dressing — it’s just a delicious wrap.”

THE INFO: Great Wraps is open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Friday and Saturday until 9 p.m. and on Sunday until 6 p.m. at 2409 South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach. Phone: (561)-832-2940. | Directions, invite a friend

Cabana Nuevo Latino's Chilean sea bass is $26.95.

A moist and flaky filet of Chilean sea bass is pan seared with a touch of salt and pepper, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. It’s perched on a bed of sautéed spinach, over a most decadent mash of yuca and Manchego cheese, surrounded by a creamy saffron beurre blanc.

“This is a very popular dish, people just love it,” says Roberto Aguilar, the Peruvian-born executive chef for the Cabana group. “Chilean sea bass is a fish that everybody loves and the combination of flavors here is very successful.”

The rich and luxurious dish would be perfect for a special date-night meal.

THE INFO: Cabana, at 533 Clematis St. in West Palm Beach, is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday noon to 10 p.m. Phone: (561) 833-4773. (The restaurant has another location at 105 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. Phone: (561) 274-9090.) | Directions, invite a friend

The root vegetable-crusted black grouper, with fire-roasted peppers, fried yuca and a mango and lobster sugarcane gastrique is $30 at Verdea. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

From the deliciously crunchy root vegetable breadcrumbs to the soft, local black grouper, the fish is definitely the main attraction on this plate, served on a tower of fried yuca and surrounded by a sweet sugarcane broth with large chunks of meaty lobster, ripe mango and a hint of red pepper spice.

Verdea’s new executive chef, David Welch, who took over for chef James King in December, has drawn upon his years working in Miami kitchens and his Puerto Rican and Jamaican roots.

“If I have a signature dish, this is it, “he says, “There are so many different techniques in the dish, it can’t be classified in one cuisine. In Miami, all the different cultures fuse. I wanted to make something really unusual and it just works.”
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The kimchi-glazed Chilean sea bass at the Buddha Sky Bar is $34. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

Executive chef Tony Torres has hit the mark with this simple but delicious dish. Part of Buddha Sky Bar’s new winter menu, the 8-ounce Chilean sea bass is seared in a hot pan for a crisp exterior and a moist, flaky interior, lightly touched with a sweet and salty kimchi glaze with a hint of spice.

“I’ve always loved the kimchi flavor,” says Torres, a Palm Beach County native who studied at Florida Culinary Institute (now Lincoln Culinary Institute), “but I wanted to mix it up with Italian and French ingredients.”

The Italian influence comes in the form of a deliciously creamy edamame risotto made with a hint of saffron and Boursin cheese. Then there are the haricots verts, or French green beans, that are wok-fried with a Chinese-style sauce of preserved mustard and pickled turnips. “The flavor of that sauce goes so well with the risotto,” says Torres. “The flavors were all made separately first and then I put them together.”

THE INFO: Buddha Sky Bar, at 217 East Atlantic Ave. in Delray Beach, serves dinner nightly from 5 to 11 p.m. and a late-night sushi menu until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. There’s also a half-price happy hour menu from 5 to 6 p.m. nightly. (561) 450-7557. buddhaskybar.com | Directions, invite a friend

The finished product: Tandoori-grilled shrimp over tabouli with fresh vegetables. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

THE INFO: Located on the corner of State Road A1A and Lake Avenue in Lake Worth, the market is open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Website: lakeworth-farmersmarket.com

THE FIND: Indian tandoori spice blend

Delicious homemade spice blends add the perfect touch of the exotic to an otherwise simple meal. Spice-maven Kathy Canestrini of Spice up your World tickled our noses with a bunch of different blends like an espresso rub for steaks, a slightly-sweet Moroccan blend for sweet potatoes, and a lighter tandoori for chicken or fish.

Individual blends sell for $5, two blends for $9 or three for $12. Each spice blend is sold with at least one recipe card to steer you in the right direction.

I was wooed by Canestrini’s tandoori shrimp recipe, so I grabbed some fresh shrimp from the Independent Seafood stand ($12.95 a pound for 15 pieces) and fresh organic veggies from Ms. V’s Organics. I prepared the tandoori shrimp on the grill, served over tabbouleh. Fragrant with the tandoori spice blend, our meal was light, fresh and delicious.

THE VENDOR: Spice up your World

Bellagio's Salmone A Letto is $23.95 for the dinner portion and $15.95 for the lunch portion (which is called Salmon alla Florentina). (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

Sometimes the simplest dishes are the best. A fresh filet of salmon, thin-sliced and expertly seared, dressed with an Italian first cold press extra-virgin olive oil, crispy, fragrant garlic and fresh herbs, served over a bed of sautéed spinach with sliced potato and crisp green beans. It’s simple and it’s delicious.

The key to the dish is getting that perfect sear on the fish so that the exterior is crisp while the interior stays moist. In his 26 years with the Billante family restaurant group, Il Bellagio executive chef Pauli Johnston has perfected that technique.

“To make good food you have to have good ingredients,” says Johnston. “It’s a dish that’s done quick in a searing hot pan with extra-virgin olive oil. We have a range with 48 burners and there’s always a hot skillet.”

THE INFO: Il Bellagio serves breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and dinner from 4 to 11 p.m. seven days a week at 600 S. Rosemary Ave. (CityPlace) in downtown West Palm Beach. Phone: (561) 659-6160.

Fajitas made with ingredients from the Delray Beach GreenMarket. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

THE MARKET: Delray Beach GreenMarket

THE INFO: Located along Southeast Fourth Avenue, just south of Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach, the market is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Directions, invite a friend

THE FIND: I was so excited to find Florida pasture-raised, grass-fed beef at the Delray GreenMarket. The beef comes from a co-op of family farms in the Florida panhandle that allow their Parthenais cows a more natural roaming herd lifestyle, without use of hormones or antibiotics.

On the recent day of my visit, Truman Montgomery was selling a few different cuts of meat, including filet mignon, rib-eye steaks and lean ground beef.

I settled on a package of lean strip steak cut for fajitas ($10 for a 1-pound package of pre-cut meat), then visited other stands in the market to buy fresh veggies and guacamole. Orale!

Market-goers can also pre-order meat for delivery or green market pickup at www.floridagrassfed.com.

THE VENDOR: Arrowhead Beef of Chipley

Cafe Boulud's red venison dish is $42. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

The dish: Roasted New Zealand red venison with poached quince, butternut squash fondant, brussels sprouts, and a chesnut and venison tourte with a “Grand Veneur” sauce, $42

The restaurant: Café Boulud, Palm Beach

Executive Chef Jim Leiken shows off his New England roots with this cornucopia of winter flavors. The veteran chef worked in Boulud’s New York restaurants for the past 10 years before taking over Boulud Palm Beach in June. 

Leiken says the inspiration for this dish came from the winter season in New York. “Now you can get a lot of great wild game. When that’s available, I like to show it off. This is a very classic fall dish with venison, root vegetables and quince. Growing up in New England, we had a quince bush in the back yard. I never knew what to do with it, but now I know.”
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The Wine Dive's 'Kick Ass' Cupcake is $8. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

It’s dark heavenly chocolate with a kick of spice in this yummy dessert offering at the newly opened Wine Dive just next to Roxy’s on Clematis Street.

An espresso and chocolate molten cake is cooked at a high heat so the exterior is crisp while the interior of the cake stays soft and delightfully gooey, topped with a homemade Godiva chocolate and caramel ice cream and a Marcona almond tuile. The kick is in a swath of dark chocolate and chipotle pepper ganache that anchors the plate – deep and rich with a warm tingle on the finish. The plate is decorated with espresso jelly squares, cocoa whipped cream and fresh fruit. The combination of flavors and textures is truly a party on the palate.

“I originally created it a few years ago as a Valentine’s Day dessert to spice things up for the evening,” says executive chef Curtis Hillard, originally from Ohio and more recently the chef/partner at Meritage NuVo in Atlanta. For the wine lover, Hillard suggests pairing the dessert with a red zinfandel, the juicy fruit and spicy notes in the wine is a perfect complement to his spicy chocolate creation.

THE INFO: The Wine Dive, at 319 Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, serves lunch from 11:30 to 3 p.m. Monday to Saturday and dinner nightly from 4 to 10:30 p.m. There’s also a late night menu from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly and a Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Phone: (561) 318-8821. | Directions, invite a friend