Florida isn’t all old people (just mostly). It is however, filled with copious amounts of Publix. I’ve seriously never seen so many grocery stores in a 5 mile radius. It was mind boggling. Are there THAT many people in Florida and are they THAT desperate a giant grocery store to be situated in every strip mall (also something Florida seems to be a fan of)?
Grocery stores aside, I was pleasantly surprised by the food I ate while there this past weekend. The first night I was there, my friend and I hit up the Jupiter Italian festival. Since I am half Italian, I do have high standards on my food. After walking through the fair (twice) we settled on a booth set up by Joseph’s Classic Market. The lasagna was decent, nothing to really shout from the rooftops about though, as was the eggplant bread. The absolute home run of the meal was the Prosciutto Bread….drool. It was bits of meat twisted throughout a sweeter bread which was served piping hot. It reminded me (almost) of what my family refers to as “garbage bread,” which is basically Italian meats and cheese baked into bread. I can see how this place would do well in Florida, it is similar to a NY style deli, but with more prepared foods and grocery items.
The second night, I was a bit more skeptical on where we were having dinner. My friend brought me to a strip mall (see above comment) restaurant that he had been to previously. I ordered red snapper with a squash and macadamia nut crust. It was very fresh and surprisingly not overly heavy. The mashed potatoes were a bit questionable though, so they went untouched.
After dinner we returned to the Italian Festival for zeppole! They had sold out the night prior and I was determined to get some. It’s not the easiest thing to find fresh and hot, so I had to take advantage of the festival. I’m glad I did because we snagged the last two bags. They were great (not the best I’ve ever had), but still good and I think I ended up wearing most of the powdered sugar.
Overall my trip to Florida was excellent. Lots of sleep, lots of sun (maybe a bit more sunscreen would have been a good idea) and lots of food! I’m glad my friend bought a condo, I will be going back soon (need to escape this Boston winter!).
