Eating and Drinking Our Way Through Jupiter
The annual Friends of Jupiter Beach Food & Wine Fest was this past Saturday, and we barely made it out without a few freshly adopted dogs in tow. We blame the doggy kissing both.
Like years past, the Food & Wine Fest was a chance to sample signature cuisine from restaurants in the area while also discovering names that may have been overlooked. Sure, each vendor only offers one or two items, but it’s often a cult-favorite dish that you’d have to talk yourself into splurging on if you were dining at a restaurant.
Take, for example, Café Chardonnay’s Macademia Crusted Yellowtail Snapper that came topped with tropical fruit salsa. While pricey, now we know it’s worth it after savoring our sample at the Fest. A few more stand out dishes were NiMo’s Mediterranean Spiced Steak Sandwich with saffron pickled fennel and tzatziki and Nevs Barbecue’s Smoked Pork Shoulder with kale and cabbage slaw finished with Nevs Original sauce and cornbread crumble. Little Moir’s ran out of food within a couple hours — no surprise there — and their Sweet Potato Crusted Fish wrapped in mini coconut flour buns was so good we wouldn’t be surprised if they ran out because people were going back for seconds.
The wine tasting and alcohol vendors kept us refreshed while we sampled dishes. Los Cayos beer has become a new favorite, Mom Water was dangerously good, and Chido is a classic good choice. For those not imbibing, Sunset Slush was a perfect treat to cut the heat of the day.
The event raised money for Friends of Jupiter Beach (FJB) to fund beach clean-ups and dog waste stations at Jupiter beach accesses, but it also encourages frequenting locally owned businesses after the event by sending attendees home with coupons offered by some of the vendors. Bolay and Pura Vida were two we made sure to snag.
Of course, we have to touch on the mushy community feel that the event inspires. Whether it was vendors trading wares, attendees greeting dogs in search of homes, or strangers becoming friends on the dance floor to The Future Buds’ tunes, the camaraderie was evident.
A dish discovery for those new to town and a cuisine celebration for those with deep Jupiter roots, the FJB Food & Wine Fest is a must-attend event for us every year. Our only recommendation (if we could be so bold as to give one) is that next time we get unlimited tokens, as choosing just one winner in each category is nearly impossible.
