Boynton Forum

I am a man who loves variety, so I felt it was time to cover the Taste of Boynton for the column, which took place last week at the Westchester Country Club in Boynton Beach.

No I did not wear a pink polo with a light blue sweater over my shoulders to the country club but I did wear a nice three-button black suit.

Fellow Forum reporter Jason Parsley decided to fill in for Dave, who was out of town covering the war in Iraq. OK, maybe he just took the night off but I wanted to make him look good. Impossible I know.

The venue was perfect. The ballroom was set up with more vendors than I have ever seen. More than 16 of the finest local restaurants came out in full force.

Moe’s Southwest Grill, Shane’s Rib Shack and Slainte Irish Pub were only a few of the favorites. Yeah I know it sounds like I am describing a mall food court, but the food and wine were delicious.

I first tried some pulled pork from Shane’s and washed it down with a glass of Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany. The wine was sweet, light and had no aftertaste. So I had two glasses.

By this time, Jason was on his third serving of tacos from Moe’s. He took his title as food critic and really ran with it.

I was about to get another glass of wine, when Clem, the owner of Slainte brought me over a pint of Guinness.

“We aren’t supposed to have beer in here but I snuck it in,” he said, or so I think. He is Irish, love the guy but sometimes you can’t understand him.

Jip Jip Rocks, a tangy little Shiraz, sounded like it would cap off the evening nicely. I might have also caved and finally gotten a taco from Moe’s, but don’t think I am any less sophisticated.

The night concluded with a little slow dancing to Cricklewood, a local band playing all the classics like the “Twist.”

I would set the scene of me bringing my funky moves to the sounds of Chubby Checker singing “Lets Twist Again,” but I don’t want to torment you. Plus you might be reading this while eating lunch and I am not trying to get anyone sick.

**** Four stars out of five.