By S. I. Wells
USA

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There are television programs that search the nation for diners. There are guidebooks that rate restaurants far and wide. There are newspaper columns devoted to finding the newest, hottest, trendiest and most visited restaurants all over the country. It is almost an obsession amongst foodies to discover that one spot that resonates with anyone in need of that ol' shoe, comfort food experience to salve away the troubles of the day.

All well and good, but is that the litmus test that we should be using? A place that makes us feel as safe as a baby in a crib or back in mama's kitchen in the 1950s? Or is it time to evolve beyond the comfort food metric and find diners that speak to us with authenticity and in tones that pulsate with the emotions of the people behind them? Aren't we all in need of drinking in that special energy that only an original, non-chain, hole-in-the-strip-mall diner can bring to our day?

I vote yes. In fact, I will vote yes early and often or at least as long as my pants continue to button and my belt does not run out of holes. And that brings me to a special category of diners seldom delineated in the common vernacular and possibly overlooked entirely by the mass media of diner explorers - the tropical diner.

To make my case I offer two examples. Both are in Palm Beach County, Florida - South Florida to those who need a more generic GPS. The first is the Tropical Bakery Cafe & Restaurant just off Forest Hill Boulevard in West Palm Beach. It's Cuban. It's authentic - most of the patrons are of Cuban heritage. Its originality, however, is not in the décor, it's in the cuisine. Want to see the kitchen in full throttle? Visit the restrooms which are accessible only by walking through an intensely busy kitchen with a dedicated staff baking cakes, rolls, roasting pork shoulders for Cuban sandwiches and decorating wedding cakes. English is not spoken often, but delicious is.

I sat at a table, read the menu, stood up and eyed the pastry case of homemade delights, including a Three Milks Cake, returned to my table and ordered. The waitress asked if I wanted coffee. I said black. She looked at me quizzically. I asked if it was strong. She said it was…very. How should I order it? With milk and sugar. So I did and it was outstanding.

To fully disclose, I actually went to the Tropical Bakery twice. Once for breakfast and once for lunch. Breakfast was a Cuban coffee (outstanding as I mentioned) with a guava pastry - heated up. Very hard to stop at one.

For lunch, on my second visit, the Cuban sandwich on a homemade roll. Had to be authentic as I watched a never-ending stream of construction workers, high school teenagers, grandparents with their grandchildren in hand and dignified older men and women order the same. Little English, but an energy, a sincerity and a warmth that can only be found in a truly neighborhood place that is an outpost of a distant time and culture. I was the only non-Hispanic customer and yet I was treated with the same smiles, pride and genuine welcome as if I had been coming to the Tropical Bakery for decades. Recommend this diner? YES in all capital letters. You leave the Tropical Bakery feeling reinvigorated in spirit, stride and of course, very satisfied.

And that leads me to my second tropical diner experience, Captain Charlie's - A Tropical Diner in Juno Beach, Florida, about thirty minutes north of the Tropical Bakery. Totally different experience. Not Cuban, but energized by a buzz of activity, Caribbean flavors and packed with local customers.

Captain Charlie's looks like a hole-in-the-wall in a small, undistinguished strip mall that can hardly been seen from a busy U.S. Highway 1. If you didn't know about this place, you would never stumble upon it.

Outfitted with a long counter that goes almost the entire train-car length of the diner and jammed with non-descript tables and chairs, it is an amazing place that custom-makes over 125 meals during a normal weekday lunchtime - that's about one individually prepared and cooked-to-order lunch per minute.

Again, I went twice. Two lunches. Two times sitting at the counter. Both times seated right in front of Chef Krista's grill, stove and prep area. I have never seen someone so innately talented as Krista, work so fast, prepare some many complex dishes to order as she did during my tenures. Coconut tempura yellowtail snapper, fresh grouper with yellow rice or grilled dolphin reuben. The tropical part came in the Islands influence in some of the dishes. Jamaica…the Caribbean soft ocean breeze…the Key Lime pie… yes, the homemade Key Lime pie. Miss that and you will never complete your bucket list.

What makes Captain Charlie's so special? Well, its energy, clearly the cuisine that is at a level so unexpected in such a pedestrian, nearly invisible location, the word-of-mouth and the high-comradery atmosphere of those in the know, who know how to dine at lunch with a five-star meal while in shorts and flip-flops. Turn off the daylight and do it at night in their Reef Grill - "3 DOORS UP." But for me, rubbing shoulders with the locals, sitting almost atop the hot grill, watching Krista and her highly trained staff turnout one dish of perfection after the next, well, that's the point of this column.

Now, for those not convinced that I have found two slices of today's "Americana," how much more authentic can you get than a few doors down from the Tropical Bakery and from Captain Charlie's, in two different strip malls, in two different towns, what do they have in common? A barbershop…but of course. The one near the Tropical Bakery seemed to be more contemporary for the hipper client. The one next door to Captain Charlie's was right out of the 1950s where you could still get "WILDROOT" hair tonic on your locks. WILDROOT…really!

So, what to do when you are hungry for an uplift in your day and you happen to be in Palm Beach County, Florida? Need I say? Reservations not required or possible in these tropical gems.

 

 

Link:

S. I. Wells' Profile at Stay Thirsty Publishing

 

 

All opinions expressed by S. I. Wells are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of Stay Thirsty Media, Inc.