Palm Beach restaurateurs and chefs are inspired by their mothers' cooking and hospitality

Yahoo

06-05-2025

Ask Palm Beach restaurateurs and chefs why they chose their careers and there is a common refrain: Mom.
If not Mom, perhaps Grandma, who might have been called Grand-mère or Nonna, depending on their heritage.
The importance of these women, who hail from the United States and overseas, resonates as Mother's Day approaches.
Here's how Palm Beach chefs and restaurateurs describe the importance of their mothers in their lives.
David Thall
Director of food and beverage
The Breakers' restaurants
'I was raised in a family immersed in Italian culture, where weekends meant gathering to eat, drink, laugh and connect,' Thall told the Daily News. 'My mother was the consummate host, greeting guests with a hug, kiss and the customary question, 'What can I get you to drink?'
'…Our home was always full, especially on Sundays, with family, friends, homemade dishes and savory aromas.'
David Thall, director of food and beverage for The Breakers, was raised in a family immersed in Italian culture. He says his mother greeted guests with a hug and a kiss, always asking what they wanted to drink.
That's why a Sunday pasta special at The Breakers' Henry's restaurant, one of several of the resort's eateries, is one of Thall's personal favorites. (Though The Breakers hotel is at 1 S. County Road, Henry's is located at 229 Royal Poinciana Way).
'The Sunday baked pasta at Henry's brings me right back to cherished dinners (with Mom). This multilayered Italian specialty is prepared with ring-shaped calamarata pasta, which serves as the foundation for the flavorful tomato-based Sunday sauce that is combined with savory meatballs, sausage and pork, and topped with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses…Each bite brings back so many comforting memories for me.'
For Thall, the Sunday baked pasta at Henry's recalls cherished dinners with his mom.
Kent Thurston
Executive chef
Cucina, 257 Royal Poinciana Way
The cuisine at Thurston's Cucina is mostly Italian, although you will find a few dishes — from Ahi tuna tacos to a popular burger — that stem from other influences besides Italy.
But there are no German dishes. Still Bavarian regional cuisine is meaningful to Thurston. Why? Mom.
'My mother is German and was always preparing famous Bavarian regional dishes: sauerbraten, pork chops and sausages braised in sauerkraut, schnitzels, spaetzle…'
It's the kind of home-cooking that's actually 'very similar to the comfort foods we have here in the United States and to comfort foods in other countries,' Thurston said.
'It was special to get to experience my mom Sue's cooking (while growing up) and it definitely inspired me to get in the kitchen. Her food is, of course, my favorite thing to have on any special occasion. Mom's cooking can be replicated, but never duplicated.'
Cucina mostly serves Italian food, but Executive Chef Ken Thurston says its Chicken Sorrentino reminds him of his German mom.
A dish at Cucina that reminds Thurston of his mom? Chicken Sorrentino, which features prosciutto, Italian cheeses and marinara.
Sean Brasel
Executive chef
Meat Market, 191 Bradley Place
If you've ever wondered why Meat Market makes a point of sourcing 'only the finest black caviar' and preparing it with freshly made buttered blinis and 'just a hint' of raw onion and sour cream, the answer may lie here: executive chef Sean Brasel's grandmother.
Meat Market Executive Chef Sean Brasel takes pride in sourcing "only the finest black caviar" because of his grandmother, who often made trout with caviar, a tradition of her family in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
For him, a dish she made that featured caviar is unforgettable: trout with caviar, which she first learned how to make from her family in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
She passed down the tradition to Chef Brasel.
'I loved my Eastern European grandmother's freshly made trout with sturgeon caviar we used to get from the streams and lakes,' Brasel told the Daily News. Even when he eats caviar today, it's 'the ultimate memory trigger for me.'
Caviar service at Meat Market.
Gianni Minervini
Co-owner, Trevini
223 Sunset Ave.
Trevini co-founder Gianni Minervini grew to love cooking by watching his mother cook and trying to define the spices she used that created wonderful aromas.
'My love of cooking started at a young age,' Minervini told the Daily News of his childhood in Bari, Italy. 'Seeing my mother cooking and smelling all those recipes always took my interest to try to define what spices where in the pot that created that wonderful aroma.
'One of the recipes I still love is a Bari traditional dish called `riso patate e cozze' (a layered dish of rice-stuffed mussels surrounded by potato, often baked in a clay pot). It's wonderful,' Minervini said.
A dish of risotto with mussels, onions and a touch of garlic and cherry tomatoes at Trevini is inspired by a traditional dish of rice-stuffed mussels surrounded by potato that co-owner Gianni Minervini recalls from his native Bari, Italy.
'At Trevini, I changed the dish into a risotto with mussels, onions and a touch of garlic and cherry tomatoes.' The dish is accented by Peruvian potato and parmesan.
Benoit Delos
Executive chef
Café L'Europe, 331 S. County Road
Growing up in the Gascony region of southwestern France, springtime always meant his family cooked lamb.
'I remember how my family always bought a whole lamb in spring, when it's still a little cool in France at this time (of year) and we cooked the lamb in the (outdoor) fireplace and would turn the skewer as it cooked. What a nice memory.'
When Cafe L'Europe Executive Chef Benoit Delos and fellow executive chef Alain Krauss make herbed and garlicked lamb, the process and aromas take Delos back to his roots in the Gascony region of France.
'We cooked it with a lot of herbs and garlic. Delicious.'
When Delos and fellow executive chef Alain Krauss make herbed and garlicked lamb as a special for holidays at Café L'Europe, the process and aromas have a tendency to send Delos' thoughts to Gascony.
Nicolas Lebas
Executive chef
The Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach
As a child, Lebas' northern Italian mom's meals always 'felt like a celebration bursting with the vibrant flavors of the Mediterranean.'
Nicolas Lebas, executive chef at The Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, is inspired by the cooking of his northern Italian mother, and by visiting in Italy with his grandparents, where shopping was a lesson in choosing simple and seasonal ingredients.
That 'ignited' his passion for cooking when he was young. So did his visiting in Italy with his grandparents, shopping in local markets in Italy where 'the air was thick with the scent of fresh herbs, ripe produce and artisanal cheeses,' Lebas recalled. 'Each visit was a lesson in seasonality, simplicity and the soul of the farm-to-table philosophy — a connection to the land that nourished both our bodies and traditions.
'To this day, I taste my family's legacy in every bite I create — their love, unity, and creativity. That spirit continues to inspire me in the kitchen, driving me to honor the traditions of my past while sharing them with others in hopes that they, too, might find connection and joy through food."
Daniel Smith
General manager
PB Catch, 251 Sunrise Ave.
'I grew up with a Cordon Bleu (trained) grandmother that not only taught me what makes a great cook, but also encouraged me to help out in the process,' Smith told the Daily News.
After relishing helping his grandmother with cooking, Smith later learned in his college days that 'food quality isn't universal, nor is everyone as good as my Nana.'
PB Catch General Manager Daniel Smith draws on the lessons of his Cordon Blue-trained grandmother, who taught him about the essence of a great cook and how to help in the kitchen.
He switched majors — from mechanical engineering to business and hospitality — and after working at Palm Beach's Cafe L'Europe for years, he knew he'd chosen the correct path.
'Here we are now, almost 40 years after that beginning, with 13 years of PB Catch," Smith said. "I'm so glad that our chef Kevin Sawyer shares my love and passion that translates into an awesome food experience.'
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach restaurateurs, chefs inspired by mothers' cooking