The Sizzle

NEW CHEF AT PGA NATIONAL: It may feel like déjà vu, but there’s a new new chef at the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens. Chef Gordon Maybury comes to PGA’s Ironwood Grille just two months after the departure of Top Chef contender Kenny Gilbert, who put in a six-week stint at the AAA Four Diamond resort.

The Dublin-born Maybury has racked up experience at restaurants in New York and Miami, including Manhattan’s Peninsula Hotel and the Loews South Beach, where he served as executive chef.

His cuisine is decidedly South Florida fusion. If the dishes Maybury served at the James Beard House in New York earlier this year are any indication of his culinary leanings, he’s clearly a disciple of the Mango Gang movement.

Among the starters for his showcase meal at the prestigious Greenwich Village venue: sugarcane-glazed figs with Redlands goat cheese and toasted pecans, blackened tuna tartare with mango, key lime, and jalapeño and Miami Beach mojitos.

Entrees included pan-seared Everglades striped bass with heirloom tomatoes, Malabar spinach and grapefruit—pink peppercorn gastrique and roast calabaza and chorizo risotto with a poached Bee Haven Farm egg.

The chef who speaks with an Irish lilt cooks like a homegrown Florida boy.

The Ironwood Grille at the PGA National Resort & Spa is at 400 Avenue of Champions, Palm Beach Gardens; (561) 627-4852.

BEST OF BOCA: Boca Raton Magazine toasts the winners of its Best of Boca & Beyond Awards Thursday night at the Shops at Boca Center with fine wine, cocktails, appetizers and desserts from 30 top area restaurants. Tickets for the party, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m., go for $40 online at BocaMag.com.

SAVOR THE MOMENT: A decade ago, the Junior League of Boca Raton published a sumptuously photographed 287-page cookbook that would go on to win a prestigious James Beard Award.

On Friday night, the League will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Savor the Moment: Entertaining Without Reservations, a book that has transcended its pages to become a living culinary bible of sorts, an oft-consulted guidebook for many a South County soiree.

The sold-out anniversary bash, at the Seagate Beach Club in Delray Beach, features hors d’oeuvres and desserts inspired by the book. We’ll bring you some of those recipes and at-home entertaining tips from the book’s creators in the following weeks. The cookbook sells for $29.95 online at www.jlbr.org or by calling (561) 620-2553.

DUFFY’S HONORS VETERANS: Duffy’s Sports Grill invites veterans and active duty military to enjoy a free meal Thursday, Veterans Day. Each vet or active duty soldier can dine free of charge when accompanied by a diner who orders a regularly priced meal of an equal or higher value.

The offer, valid at all 22 Duffy’s South Florida locations, extends to all items on the menu – from steaks to baby back ribs to signature half-pound Angus burgers – as long as they are of equal or lesser value than the regular-priced meal. Visit www.DuffysMVP.com for details and the complete menu.

HOLIDAY ORDERS: Whole Foods Market locations in Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington and Boca Raton are taking orders for holiday meals.

Catering specialists will be on hand at the store’s designated "Holiday Table" to help you select fresh turkeys, spiral-cut hams, seafood platters, roasted root vegetables and classic pies.

Or you can order online at WholeFoodsMarket.com/shop. Check the website for locations and hours.

Sample a taste of the holidays tonight at the Boca Raton Whole Foods, where each department will offer nibbles from the store’s Thanksgiving menu. The holiday tasting goes from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the store, 1400 Glades Road, Boca Raton; (561) 447-0000.

Openings

KUBO Asiatic Cuisine is open for business in the Crystal Tree Plaza, at 1201 U.S. Highway 1, North Palm Beach; (561) 776-7248.

The restaurant pays homage to executive chef/owner Roy Villacrusis’ pan-Asian culinary fancies.

Born and raised in the Philippines, Villacrusis – formerly of the MGM Grand and, before that, Mark’s CityPlace – conducts a symphony of flavor profiles that range from Japan to Vietnam.

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