12 New Experiences in Palm Beach

With the new year comes new experiences. For 2015, we are offering 12 new things to do and experience around Palm Beach County.

Early 2015

Perched along the Intracoastal along Jupiter’s Indiantown Road Bridge sits the newest gem of the bustling city’s to-do list is open and ready for business. Harbouside Place is hard to miss: it’s the gigantic luxury shopping, dining, entertainment hub taking up resident along the Riverwalk District. With nine restaurants and 13 retail shops set to call Harbourside Place home in 2015, many already open and ready for business, including the fabulous Wyndham Grand Jupiter with its chic cocktail bar in the lobby and rooftop pool bar (a must this spring for sure), these are just half the reasons to come for a visit. Every week, Thursday through Sunday both day and night, the amphitheater plays host to a number of bands, while on Saturday mornings, Agape Healing Arts leads Tai Chi classes (9-10 a.m.) for those looking for their center. Come Sundays through April (9 a.m.-2 p.m.), Harbourside plays home to the Jupiter Farmer’s Market.

• To see what’s happening, and what’s to come at Harbourside Place, visit harboursideplace.com.

Come February 9-16, the sleepy town of Tequesta is garnering some international attention when the Tibetan Monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery visit Lighthouse ArtCenter. Renowned for the sacred art of sand mandala construction, eight monks will create a large, colorful mandala in the museum gallery to be later swept up and poured into the Indian River Lagoon to carry heeling energy and blessings to the ailing ecosystem. The public is welcome to come watch as the monks meticulously create this “sandpainting,” one grain of sand at a time, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

   A series of events will lead up to, and happen during the mandala-making process:

• On January 24 and February 7, Rose Shaw will lead two workshops, Flowers of Life Mandalas and Mandalas of Light respectively, introducing the art of mandalas and the spiritual and ritualistic connection to the universe.  Admission to each is $50.
• On February 10, join the monks of the Drepung Gomang Monastery for a special Tibetan culinary lesson, as they make traditional momo (duplings) and naan (flatbread), followed by dinner. Admission is $50.
• On February 14, bring the kids for a chance to create their own mandalas. Children (along with an adult) will work alongside the monks as they create their own mandalas. $25 per person, children under 12 are free.
• For more info and to register for a workshop, click here.

On February 20-22, the Palm Beach Opera is not just bringing a new experience to Palm Beach County, but to the world at large with the world premiere of Ben Moore’s opera, Enemies, A Love Story. Doubling down on the new, Enemies is not only is a world premiere, it is also the first opera Moore has ever written.

   Based on the Isaac Bashevis Singer novel of the same name, Enemies revolves around Herman Broder in 1948 Brooklyn. This complicated story of love and deception—it’s a “love square”—is not all “enemies” but uplifting, and sure not to be missed.

• For a look behind the opera with Palm Beach Opera’s General Director, Daniel Biaggi, click here.
• Interested in tickets? Enter our contest for chance to win two, here.

New Eats

While restaurants tend to come and go around Palm Beach County at a pretty fast clip, there are three on the horizon that we are especially excited about:

Chef Clay Conley is a busy guy. The mind behind Buccan and Imoto, Conley has two new projects we can not wait to try. First is The Sandwich Shop. An offshoot of Buccan, is a small spot to grab hand-crafted sandwiches on the go (there is a four-seat counter, but those are coveted). The baguette-style sandwiches are a huge hit and a much needed quick-bite spot for Palm Beachers.

   Also on the Conley horizon, an Italian restaurant in West Palm Beach. The restaurant is set to serve lunch and dinner—pizza—in the Flamingo Park district this upcoming spring. Get ready.

Dennis Max is known for his seasonal, farm-to-fork style of fare. Which is why we can’t wait to try Max’s Social House, or SoHo, which just opened in Delray Beach. The cocktail menu boasts plenty of concoctions using small-batch spirits, seasonal ingredients and infused juices, while dining selections are filled with foodie fare, complete with seasonal, locally sourced goods. We can’t wait.

Roy Villacrusis is a nomad. He bounces from one restaurant to the next, leaving his inventive mark allover the place before ducking out for something different. For the past year, he has changed Jupiter’s dining scene with Aah Loi, a small sushi and Thai joint, where the dishes are dictated by what’s freshest. Now, Villacrusis is sticking to Jupiter with his newest concept, Nitrogen Bar, Grill and Sushi, an Asian-style gastropub with sushi bar. The build-out is happening at the Indiantown Road location now, with hopes to open in mid to late 2015. Once open, the Jupiter dining scene will never be the same.

March and April

In March, the hits keep on coming with an array of firsts for Palm Beach.

The Norton Museum of Art is taking a deeper look at the Florida landscape and the indomitable Everglades through the eyes of River of Grass virgins. The exhibition “Imaging Eden: Photographers Discover the Everglades,” on display from March 19 th June 24, the Norton asked five internationally acclaimed photographers (Gerald Slota of the U.S., Jungjin Lee of Korea, Bert Teunissen from the Netherlands, and Jim Goldberg and Jordan Stein U.S.) to visit the Everglades for the first time, and capture their impressions. Their photographs will join a historic overview of the Everglades through image, as well as join the museum’s permanent collection.

• A special cocktail party celebrating the premiere of “Imaging Eden” will be held on Wednesday, March 18. For tickets, call 561-832-5196, ext. 1118.

Explore the depths—or shallows—this March and join Loggerhead Marinelife Center for a special underwater eco-tour at the Phil Foster Park Artificial Reef and Snorkel Trail. Joining the organization’s lineup of Eco-Tours, the Snorkel Eco-Tour is the perfect place for fledgling divers to get, well, their feet wet. Led by a CPR-certified instructor, snorkelers will explore the 800-foot-long artificial reef tract that sits at the border of two diverse marine habitats—the Lake Worth Lagoon and Lake Worth Inlet, the gateway to the Gulfstream—and is one of the most dynamic and prolific marine environments in all of Palm Beach County. Witness hundreds of fish species, from colorful wrasses and juvenile reef fish like grouper and snapper, to the exotically odd trumpetfish or scrawled filefish, not to mention invertebrates like lobster and candy cane shrimp, to manatees, rays and more.

   For true beginners, LMC is also offering a fish ID presentation before the dive at its Juno Beach headquarters. Guests will learn about the diverse range of fish calling these waters home, as well as their morphology and behavior patterns to properly identify any fish in question.

• The March Snorkel Eco-Tour will embark on March 26 at 1 p.m. Limited to 12 people per dive, ages 12 and up (under 16 must be accompanied by an adult). Admission costs $10 for just the dive, $12 for the fish ID seminar and dive, $5 for just the fish ID seminar. To register, call Hannah Campbell at 561-627-8280, ext. 105.

March is also a time to celebrate two of some of the most important B’s in the culinary world: bacon and bourbon. On March 28 and 29, Delray Beach will be home to the inaugural Bacon and Bourbon Festival!

   Now this is not just a “stuff your face” type of event, there will be a, ahem, healthy dose of learning to be had. For the culinary inclined, the festival is packed with tastings and seminars with some of the areas best chefs and mixologists, giving guests a chance to experience some of the best small-batch barrels in the business while dining on some expertly prepared swine—20-year Pappy Van Winkle anyone? As for tunes, it’s all about the blues. The main stage will be stacked with acts belting their hearts out, including McGowan’s Chair, Andy Childs, Jay Blues Band, the Nucklbusters, Victor Wainwright, and Mac Arnold and Plate Full O’Blues.

• General admission for this Blues, Bourbon and Bacon-fueled party is $25. For those looking to brunch on some bacon and bourbon, admission is $60. Tasting seminars cost $100 per, with the Pappy Van Winkle tasting coming in at $200. For a true culinary treat, a special four-course bacon and bourbon dinner can be had at $150. To purchase tickets, which will sell out, visit delraybaconandbourbonfest.com/tickets.

For those missing their football come April, give lacrosse a try. Returning for its second season, Florida Launch Lacrosse will once again make its home at FAU Stadium in Boca. This fast-paced, full contact sport is one heck of a spectator sport—much like hockey, this is a game to be seen live.

   As Florida’s only Major League Lacrosse team, Boca Raton has become the South’s lacrosse headquarters, playing host to at least seven home games (if the Launch make the playoffs, maybe more) over the span of the four-month season. The Launch’s run for the Steinfeld Cup begins on April 19 in Maryland, with their first home stand on April 26 against the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Join the hard-hitting fun this season and support the local Launch.

• For schedule and ticket information, visit floridalaunchlacrosse.com.

This Summer

In the sporting world, summer belongs to b