Christopher's Kitchen doesn't try to imitate meat flavor in its tacos, instead going for a delicious blend of vegetables and nuts. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

Try a light, healthy and completely meat-free version of the traditional taco at Christopher’s Kitchen in Palm Beach Gardens. Two handmade organic corn tortillas are stuffed full of a sweet and spicy taco mix made from sun-dried tomatoes, sprouted walnuts and spices, topped with a plethora of fresh veggies like lettuce and cabbage, guacamole, pico de gallo and sweet almonds, served with a side portion of homemade hot sauce.

Unlike many veggie renditions of meat-based dishes, this one isn’t trying to mimic the meat flavor, and the result is a dish that is both unique and delicious.

"This dish definitely complements what the whole lifestyle is about," says chef/owner Christopher Slawson, "You can do so much with plant-based food, create dishes that are so flavorful. This dish shows people that you can have fun with the food and it’s not just celery and carrot sticks."

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'Chernobyl Diaries' opens Friday.

The film: Chernobyl Diaries, opening Friday, in which six young tourists visit Pripyat, the town abandoned by those who once worked at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. They think they’re alone, but of course, they aren’t, bwahaha!

The food: Only the bravest palates should venture near a basket of Duffy’s jumbo wings drenched in Atomic sauce, and then only if armed with a cold beer or the chain’s Home Run ’Rita, a margarita made with Cuervo Gold.

Duffy’s Sports Grill has multiple South Florida locations.

OPENINGS
NEW ON CLEMATIS STREET

The Tin Fish, a casual seafood chain with 13 locations across the country, has opened its fifth Florida location on Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach, in the space formerly occupied by Luigi’s. The logline: “A great little neighborhood fish joint.” The principals are a trio of experienced fishermen, Ray Noonan and sons Andy and Bobby Noonan.

The menu includes chowders, grilled fish, crab cakes, and Noonan specialties like clams, mussels and chorizo with oven-roasted tomatoes and preserved lemon.

The Tin Fish: 118 S. Clematis Street, West Palm Beach; (561) 223-2497; TinFishClematis.com
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Chef Michelle Bernstein’s popular Check, Please! series, which just launched its eighth season Monday, features three Palm Beach County restaurants in next week’s episode. The guest-reviewer show visits Hog Snappers in Tequesta, Jade Kitchen in West Palm, and Talia’s Tuscan Table in Boca.

Check, Please: The Palm Beach County episode airs Monday at 7:30 p.m. on WPBT2. The episode repeats on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Interior of Umi in Palm Beach Gardens, now Carmine's. (Richard Graulich / Palm Beach Post)

Restaurateur Carmine Giardini has renamed and revamped his Umi Fishbar, the Palm Beach Gardens eatery that sits adjacently to Carmine’s Gourmet Market. He’s named it Carmine’s Original Ocean Grill & Sushi Bar.

It’s not exactly a new name — the seafood spot with an Asian undertow takes the name of Carmine’s former Ocean Grill, which was located across PGA Boulevard until it closed a couple of years ago.

Why the name change? “Because you kept asking for it,” says the e-mailed announcement that went to Umi newsletter subscribers.

The new menu features summer specials like a steamed 1-pound Maine lobster ($12), a 12-ounce sirloin steak from Carmine’s butcher shop ($12) and a $20 surf and turf.

Carmine’s Original Ocean Grill & Sushi Bar: 2401 PGA Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens; (561) 472-7900

Beer-battered zucchini flowers from D'Angelo Trattoria. (Brandon Kruse / Palm Beach Post)

D’Angelo Trattoria, a 9-month-old restaurant with a cozy, vintage feel, serves the most delicious fiori di zucca, or stuffed zucchini flowers.

A signature dish in Rome, they’re a rare find in these parts. But luckily for us, restaurateur and chef Angelo Elia serves them at his Roman-style trattoria in Delray.

The beer-battered zucchini flowers ($13) are stuffed with imported Italian mozzarella and somehow manage to retain a tender snap inside of the ever-so-light batter that’s whipped up by restaurant chef Miguel Faged. They’re fried and served over a bed of baby arugula, with a side of subtle lemon aioli.

Like the other inspired appetizers at the trattoria, the zucchini flowers are delicious paired with one of D’Angelo’s rotating wine flights ($14 for three 3-ounce servings).

D’Angelo Trattoria: 9 S.E. Seventh Ave., Delray Beach; (561) 330-1237

Chef Matteo Vicinanza and his wife Tami run Matteo's Garden Club, which opened in January on Palm Beach. (Thomas Cordy/Palm Beach Post)

From the outside, one might think the place with the five bright yellow umbrellas on the terrace is a no-name café.

And there’s a good reason for this: there’s no sign outside the modular white restaurant with great vertical windows, the palm-framed spot that sits on Sunrise Avenue, Palm Beach, less than a block from the ocean.

There’s no sign because of the island’s zoning restrictions. The restaurant, Matteo’s Garden Club, sits on property that’s zoned residential.

But Matteo’s, a five-month eatery, is very much open for business. This is where the first rays of morning sunlight find veteran chef Matteo Vicinanza baking loaves of crusty Italian bread, making pasta from scratch, whipping up fresh desserts and prepping garden-grown ingredients for a menu that’s rooted in his native Italian cuisine but sweeps across the globe.

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Schooners Chef Joe Ruddy turned what was once a gas station into a restaurant that prides itself on its fresh seafood. (Richard Graulich / Palm Beach Post)

THE FOOD: Schooners serves some of the freshest local seafood in town. You won’t find swanked up fish here, just delicious, fresh fish that’s filleted in-house and grilled, blackened, broiled, or fried to your liking. Yes, the place offers more complex dishes, like the macadamia-crusted grouper or the sweet potato and crab-crusted snapper, but I’m quite content with an order of crisp grouper fingers ($22.99), perfectly flaky inside and served with a choice of two sides.

THE AMBIANCE: The place has an airy, Old Florida feel to it, offering an ample terrace for alfresco dining. Located on the Jupiter Inlet, in the gaze of the iconic red lighthouse, this is the only landlocked restaurant in the popular dining district. But the vibe here is so relaxed, you can sense the water’s somewhere nearby.

THE BACKSTORY: Schooners opened in 1984 as a fresh seafood market — before that, the place was a gas station — and later morphed into a restaurant, where chef/owner Joe Ruddy delivers consistently fresh dishes to a loyal clientele.

GOOD BITES: Apart from the aforementioned grouper fingers, I loved the New England clam chowder ($4.75). It’s a heady rendition of the classic, thick with potatoes, bacon and onions, as is the fisherman’s stew ($12), which is loaded with fresh seafood and veggies in a creamy broth. And you can’t go wrong with a simple fillet of yellowtail snapper ($24.99), grilled.
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SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW HOW JUPITER’S JOSH LYONS FARED ON THE PREMIERE OF “NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR.”

OK. So our local boy survives to charm and cook another day. But it was close there for a while.

Lyons, an Asian chef/caterer/rock star, made such an initially strong impression with his goofy exhuberant “Rawk and Rolllllllll!” entrance in front of the judges that judge Susie Fogelson was like “Well, hello!” But that confidence went bye-bye over the course of his first challenge, which involved presenting his team’s pop-up restaurant and making a nori soup. He seemed awkward and tentative in his presentations, conflicting with his initial bravado, and nobody much liked his soup.

Is Josh Lyons the next ‘Food Network Star’?

I was getting worried there a little – I always like it when the local guys do well, and also, he’s cute. There is nothing wrong with cute, particularly when you’re expecting them to hand you a television show at some point. When I talked to him on the phone two weeks ago, Josh was incredibly funny and confident, and told me that he went out of his way to play up the Rawker thing, because he wanted to stand out. I was hoping he wasn’t standing out for the wrong reasons, ya know?

Fortunately, he triumphed with his final dish, a frittata so fresh and juicy-looking that I started to get up off the couch and try to make one myself, before I remembered that I don’t have any eggs, and that I was way out of Weight Watchers points. My hope is that the near-elimination was a wake-up call for Josh, and that it slapped his outward confidence into high gear, and that he doesn’t make any other soup that nobody likes. Obviously, he has some charms and skills, or he wouldn’t be there. And he told me that his performance chops were a plus. I’m hoping that pans out, because PBC could use a win. And there’s no one like him on that network right now.

Now, to buy some eggs.