Good food! A chef's life-changing commute brings clarity, reward

Local chefs are in the spotlight this week. They’re earning national honors, creating pop-up dinners and headlining farm feasts, among other feats and endeavors.

Yes, it’s the height of season, the time of year when local culinary talent shines brightest. Here are some timely examples.

Game-changing chef makes ‘Oscars of Food’ semifinals

Buccan Palm Beach chef/partner Clay Conley made headlines this week when he landed on this year’s semifinals list for a prestigious James Beard Award for “Best Chef” in the South. Back on the Gainesville-area farm he calls part-time home, roosters crowed and piglets squealed in delight, even though they have no clue that this is Conley’s seventh Beard semifinals honor since 2012.

The repeated recognition is warranted for a chef whose modern, small-plates restaurant shook up the dining scene on the island in the best of ways. Buccan continues to thrill diners as a destination-worthy bistro.

How does Conley stay fresh and relevant in a business that often overwhelms even the most talented? The 49-year-old chef has made some dramatic lifestyle changes through the years, most notably in August 2022, when he and his family sold their Lake Clarke Shores home and moved to a farm near Gainesville.

Each week, Conley commutes to Palm Beach, where he remains active in Buccan’s kitchen. He doesn’t simply commute between a country farmhouse and his buzzy, big-city bistro. He commutes between experiences. The distance between creating refined dishes on the island and chopping up a fallen tree out in the country has fortified his spirit, he says.

Each time he goes to the farm, he told me, “it’s almost like a switch going off.”

The new work/life balance has afforded the busy chef more quality time with his family. It has also given Buccan diners a newly refreshed chef, one full of inspiration.

Speaking of James Beard Award semifinalists…

This time last year, we were talking about the five Palm Beach County chefs who earned semifinalist nods in the “Best Chef” in the South category. This year, Conley is the only chef in the county to make the list.

Those of us who follow the local dining scene know this does not mean last year’s — or any of our previously honored chefs — are no longer relevant. Luckily for Palm Beach County diners, it is the indie restaurant chefs who continue to build what I feel is Florida’s new dining destination.

Buccan is at 350 S. County Rd., Palm Beach, 561-833-3450, BuccanPalmBeach.com.

Pop-up venue introduces new chef

Perhaps the best way to meet the new executive chef at Palm Beach Meats wagyu market and culinary event space is to experience his cooking. You can do just that Saturday night, when chef Tim Chase introduces himself in four courses.

The Connecticut-born chef, whose culinary experience includes time in the kitchen with acclaimed chefs such as Isaac Toups and Justin Devillier in New Orleans, describes himself as an “anti-tweezer” chef.

This is what he is making for Saturday’s “Symphony of Savory” dinner:

◾ A Japanese scallop with guanciale, corn, pickled Fresno chili and African blue basil.

◾ Butternut squash gnudi with leek and citrus cream, brown butter and hazelnut crumble.

◾ Heritage chicken cassoulet with wagyu beef, mushrooms, beans, tarragon, thyme, tarragon and citrus.

◾ And sticky toffee pudding enriched with wagyu tallow and served with vanilla ice cream, toffee sauce and nuts.

The Jan. 27 dinner begins at 7:30 p.m. at Palm Beach Meats, 4812 S. Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, 561-623-7471. Tickets are $98 per person and can be reserved at this link.

Palm Beach chef headlines global farm series

One of the chefs who founded the seasonally inspired Almond Palm Beach bistro will once again headline a Loxahatchee Groves farm feast organized by the globe-trotting “Outstanding in the Field” series. It’s the 17th time chef Jason Weiner takes part in the farm series, which spotlights innovative farms, chefs and food purveyors.

The sold-out lunch takes place Saturday at the family-owned Holman’s Harvest farm, which has hosted the roving event three previous times.

No worries if you didn’t get a ticket to the rural feast. You can always sample the chef’s farm-inspired cooking at Almond.

The bistro is located at 207 Royal Poinciana Way in Palm Beach, 561-355-5080. The bistro is open Tuesday through Sunday and serves dinner nightly as well as weekday lunch, weekend brunch and a daily “Inbetweenskies” menu at happy hour, offered at the bar from 3 to 6 p.m.

Dinner and a show

One of my favorite Cuban jazz musicians, pianist and Quincy Jones protégé Alfredo Rodríguez, is playing the Kravis Center Thursday (Feb. 1) night. Which begs the question: where to go for dinner and/or drinks before or after the show?

One nearby, quite stylish option is Harry’s, the New York-rooted restaurant and bar with a cosmopolitan vibe, at The Square. I say this not only because the menu offers a nice range of small and larger plates and a large selection of wines, cocktails and mocktails, but also because the twinkly outdoor dining patio is now open.

But take note: reservations are a must, even for the bar/lounge area. I dropped in without one on a recent weeknight, only to find the place booked and bustling. Luckily, Harry’s more casual sibling restaurant Adrienne’s Pizzabar, which serves a mean thin-crust pie it calls the Original Sicilian, is just steps away.

Harry’s is at 384 S. Rosemary Ave. (across from Publix), West Palm Beach, 561-834-5010; reservations at HarrysBarRestaurant.com.

The Alfredo Rodríguez Trio show at the Kravis’ Rinker Playhouse is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets start at $45 and can be purchased at Kravis.org.

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Liz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She covers the local food and dining beat. Follow her on Instagram and Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Best restaurants: Palm Beach chefs make headlines at Buccan, Almond