(Michelle) This week on check Please South Florida a spot with bold flavors and personality in Pompano Beach.

It's loud and fun and boisterous.

They're a modern fairy tale in Fort Lauderdale.

Chicken bacon Ranch Flatbread.

It was awesome.

And a spot in Broward for some of the best Asian fare.

Love the atmosphere of the place one, because if you want a little romantic date or a quiet date, you have that.

(Announcer) Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.

(music) Additional funding for check please.

South Florida is provided by George and Helen Weaver and the Friends of South Florida PBS.

I was like, wait, if Tennessee was a drink, this is it.

Everything was meant to be a certain way and it was beautiful.

It just tasted very light and milky and delicious.

Nice food, spicy food.

And the venues were the best.

Honestly, like the best shot I've ever had.

(music) Hello, I'm Michelle Bernstein and welcome to check please South Florida, the show where regular people from all over South Florida recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So this is how the show works.

Every week we have three guests.

Each recommends his or her favorite spot, and then the other two go to check them out and see what they think.

This week, music teacher Fritz Dorigo guarantees that his picks delicious menu will hit all the right notes with your palate.

Featuring Thai classics and quintessential pan-Asian fare, you'll be left singing the praises of this Fort Lauderdale spot.

Director of Foundation Development Erica Gordon says that you will be enchanted by the classic decor and fresh food of her pick.

She says that this spot is her go to when planning a fun lunchtime gathering with friends.

Get ready for a good time at this Fort Lauderdale spot.

But first, Attorney Derek Lewis wants us to head over to his family owned pick for some of the most flavorful dishes you'll ever have.

He said that this is the place to go to for a delicious Greek style feast.

It's located in Pompano Beach and it's called Kostas Greek Eatery and Pizzeria.

(music) Hello, my name is Kostas, from Kostas Greek eatery and Pizzeria.

My passion for food comes from growing up with my mother and my father and experiencing the cooking, which was tremendous.

Unbelievable.

(music) People come from Jupiter to in here from homestead.

It is a following.

It is a family.

(music) Some of the most popular items on the menu.

Octopus.

Lamb chops.

Spinach pie.

(music) I want people to come and just enjoy and feel comfortable.

This is to a lot of people.

As funny as it sounds, is like a second home.

I mean, people drive here 2 or 3 hours to pick up pizza.

(music) Kostas Greek eatery and pizzeria is as authentic as it can get.

(music) (Michelle) Tell me about Kostas.

I know that there's a lot going on, right?

I heard that there's a lot of personality flying around.

Yeah.

So the food and the decor are one thing.

The open kitchen.

But Kosta himself is a very interesting guy.

And you have to go to meet him and you'll see, I think everyone who's been there will know that you.

(Michelle) All get a little bit of Kosta.

Yes, yes.

Very loud, very boisterous, very happy.

Is he boisterous?

Yes.

He's definitely entertainment in himself.

Correct.

(Michelle) I love that though.

Make sure you enjoy the food and have a good time.

It's like his number one priority.

So.

And it really speaks through the food actually is is awesome.

It's not just you know, a show.

(Michelle) Erica what were your first thoughts.

So you walk in and right away you know you're in a Greek restaurant, but then you get thrown off a little because you see these amazing pizzas there, which you don't expect.

But that was a lovely, lovely surprise.

And it's loud and fun and boisterous there.

And then the food comes and it's just even more phenomenal.

(Michelle) Fritz, tell me about what you thought when you.

You it's very, very boisterous, very casual.

So there's no airs.

You just go in there.

It's like being in Greece, like restaurant in Greece.

And then it's when the plates start throwing.

He comes out and throwing the plates.

Opa!

And he talks.

I like that he just goes up and talks to everyone.

He's very happy.

He's very, you know, welcoming.

This is a great place and the food is really good too.

(Michelle) Okay.

So let's get into it.

Derek you had octopus to start.

(Derek) Oh yeah.

It's so tender.

And you can either get it grilled or pan seared and it's really tender on the inside and kind of crispy on the outside and like a really nice vinaigrette on top.

It's really one of my favorite things to get there.

(Michelle) I think you had Greek lamb chops.

Is that correct?

(Derek) I did and those they have that good char to them and cooked perfectly.

Got them.

I got a medium because I had the kids with me and they like it that way.

And that was great.

They pretty much they take them all and eat them.

I'm lucky if I get one, but yeah, it's fantastic.

(Michelle) Erica, what did you have to start?

(Erica) We started with a margarita pizza and a gorgonzola spinach.

(Michelle) Okay.

(Erica) Pizza and that.

Delicious, delicious.

But it had a little bit of, like, a Greek, like, maybe some Greek seasoning to it.

So it wasn't like a traditional pizza that you thought, you know, that you would expect.

Delicious.

Very flavorful.

Hot.

It was excellent.

(Michelle) And then you had Satsuki Correct.

(Erica) We did, we did, which was loaded with garlic, which in my opinion, if you're going for Greek food, that's what you should have.

And it comes with pita which has delicious, um, like olive oil and seasoning.

Yeah, yeah.

So Greek seasons.

Yes.

Yeah.

Really really good.

(Michelle) Fritz, how did you what did you have?

(Fritz) Well, I've been to Kostas a lot over the years and he had another restaurant prior, so I'm familiar with it.

But this time I went and I like his hummus because I grew up in an Arab Greek family and no restaurant other than Kostas.

Maybe one other can top the hummus that my mother-in-law or my mom makes.

So his hummus is really good and souvlaki his is very good.

It's very good.

He's his food is really good.

The lamb chops I've had before just really good.

(Michelle) And you like the souvlaki a lot?

(Fritz) Yes.

Yeah.

(Michelle) Okay.

(Fritz) It's one of the better ones.

(Michelle) Okay.

Derek, tell me a little bit about the service there.

(Derek) So it's.

You got to get there early.

Parking can be a little tricky, but I think it's like any place that you get really fresh home cooked food.

It may take a little while, but get there, you know, maybe get a glass of wine or a mythos beer and sit down and just kind of stage your dinner, get some appetizers and things rolling, and you have a really good, really good time.

(Michelle) I think you had dessert this last.

Time I did.

(Derek) And so I always recommend sometimes they'll force the dessert on you.

It's really good.

But his I think his wife makes a lot of the pastries.

But I tried the one of the dishes.

It was like a custard dessert.

It was really good.

And then this Greek chocolate cake, which I never had before, it was awesome.

It was layers of different types of chocolate cake and mousse and sponge.

My wife and kids aren't really chocolate people and they finish this thing.

I was surprised I got like, one bite out of it.

(Michelle) Erica, tell me what you thought about prices and value.

(Erica) Oh, prices were very reasonable.

The portions are very, very generous.

Even with us leaving completely full, there was lots left over.

So you definitely get a good value for your money.

(Michelle) Okay, well, Derek Kosta's eatery and pizzeria was your pick.

Sum it up for me, please.

(Derek) All right.

Well, Kostas is a great family owned place with awesome Greek dishes.

Very flavorful, but also an awesome variety of pizzas.

(Michelle) Erica (Erica) a very happy, friendly environment.

Food is fantastic.

Excellent.

Authentic Greek.

(Fritz) Kostas is a very casual affair with good food and it reminds me of being on the water in Greece, one of the Greek restaurants.

(Michelle) I'm coming for.

Big flavors and personality.

You can visit Kostas Greek Eatery and Pizzeria, located at 1940 northeast 49th Street in Pompano Beach.

They're open daily for lunch and dinner.

Reservations are accepted where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $45.

(music) Pannacotta, a delicious Italian custard.

No need for eggs of any kind.

We just need a little bit of gelatin.

I have some powdered gelatin right in here.

Now, with gelatin, you always have to bloom.

Gelatin, allow it to really get going.

And the only way to make gelatin ignite is by not literally, is by adding a little bit of ice cold something.

I've got some really cold milk.

The rest of this milk happens to be over here in that pan.

And what's happening over here is I am macerating or allowing the flavors to really produce of a little vanilla bean, some sugar and some big pieces of rind of orange and lemon.

It's really up to you.

So once this gelatin has bloomed, which just basically means you have to let it sit for a good like ten minutes and it will absorb the milk and it will expand.

Then you'll put it into the hot liquid, make sure you get it all in there, because you'll need every little bit of gelatin in there once it's a nice warm temperature, pour it into a bowl that has your Greek yogurt in it.

And you're going to strain out those rinds and the vanilla that we talked about earlier.

And any little chunky pieces of, you know, anything that might have curdled, whatever it might be, hopefully nothing curdled.

Now, to top this yogurt panna cotta, I've decided on just a little bit of simple fruit berries that I'm macerating with a little bit of sugar, just a little bit and a little bit of lemon juice.

Go ahead and mix that together.

Okay, so let's unmold a panna cotta.

We have a serving dish.

This is one of the panna cotta that has set with our recipe.

Of course, just using either a paring knife or a little something like this that doesn't have any serrated edges.

Just make sure that your panna cotta comes off the sides.

Go ahead and invert the glass, hoping that I'm a big talker.

You see that?

Hoping that it all comes out of the glass like so.

And there you have it.

This beautiful panna cotta.

Take your berries, put them over the top or around.

Makes it more inviting to the eye, of course, and to the palate.

And there you have it, everybody.

Panna cotta.

(music) (Michelle) Now Director of Foundation Development Erica Gordon is ready to introduce us to her pic.

Featuring a robust selection of fresh fare and drinks, you're sure to find your cozy corner at this spot.

It's located in Fort Lauderdale and it's called The Modern Rose.

(music) I'm Emilio Dominguez, owner of The Modern Rose Fort Lauderdale, the idea of The Modern Rose is a vintage, unique cafe.

My wife and I actually acquired the business in 2019, right before Covid.

When we bought it, it was a little 600 square foot tea room, essentially, that had a couple of vegan pastries and like two dishes when we took it over.

My background's in the restaurant industry.

I kind of saw the opportunity there to create a unique concept based on this vintage and this aesthetic that I love personally.

So it all kind of just worked out at the same time and we ran with it.

We continue to add more dishes, more drinks.

My background in the restaurant industry is in mixology, I started to create new tea drinks and essentially using cocktailing procedures and balancing of the of the palate to make non-alcoholic drinks.

This is a break.

This is an escape.

When they come in for the first time, I can tell they come in and they go, they like this.

They just look around like, oh, first time they go, yeah, yeah, like, wow, I feel like I'm in my grandmother's home or I feel like I'm in Chelsea, New York.

I feel like I feel like I'm in Paris.

We've learned we didn't do this by design, but we've come to learn that what our concept is, is it's destination.

It's destination dining.

(music) (Michelle) So you go a lot with your friends, right?

(Erica) Yes, yes, it's definitely a place you want to go with your girlfriends.

(Michelle) I went with my boyfriends, actually.

(Erica) Or you go with boyfriends.

You want to go with any type of friends you want to be with?

(Michelle) Tell me a little bit about the atmosphere there.

What's it like?

It’s very charming.

Very eclectic.

Um, cozy in there.

Beautiful kind of Victorian decor.

Um.

Very friendly.

Happy.

They're very appreciative that you're there, which I find that very intriguing for a business.

Um, and very inviting.

(Michelle) You liked it, Derek right?

It was great.

It's like you walk into a tea party and there's sort of eclectic features everywhere.

I've been to both locations.

There's one in Deerfield and the just the presentation.

It's hard to use the words to describe it because they make everything so pretty and vibrant.

(Michelle) Fritz, tell me about when.

You walked in.

It's like walking into somebody's living room, eclectic living room.

And, uh, it was good.

Tight, a little tight.

I would say it's more of a grab and go take out, but the food is really good and the coffee is really good.

I like the kitschiness of it.

(Michelle) Let's jump into food and drink.

What did you have this last time?

(Erica) So I was there with some friends, and we decided to order a bunch of different things and share it.

We had an avocado toast that was supposed to be a little bit spicy, and I was a little worried it would be too spicy.

It wasn't.

It hit the note right at the end and it had corn and Mexican cheese on it.

It was really delicious.

We also shared the elevated grilled cheese, which was delicious.

I'm not usually a huge grilled cheese fan.

(Michelle) Why is it elevated?

(Erica) Because I'm telling you, it tastes like you're eating almost like Italian garlic bread.

I think it had some garlic and other just maybe like Italian type seasonings on it.

(Michelle) You had this too.

(Fritz) Oh yeah.

(Michelle) Then tell me what you thought about.

(Fritz) It's three cheeses I think is what's mixed together.

And it's thick bread and thick cheese.

(Michelle) Did you have just what is it, something swimming.

(Fritz) Oh, that's the swimming.

The avocado toast with salmon on it.

My wife had that.

(Michelle) Oh that's cute.

(Fritz) It was delicious actually.

That's next time I go I think that's what I'm going to get.

That's really good.

(Michelle) And you.

Had the flight of the avocado toast I.

(Derek) Think I think it's a really good way to do it because I had four different types.

And there was the regular one.

There was sort of one that had like a lot of seasonings on it, the salmon one, which was amazing.

And then prosciutto.

Wow.

It was a nice way to try all.

(Michelle) Did each one, come on toast or do all these things to put on toast.

(Derek) They're all they're all.

Already made for you.

And they're nice on like a wooden board.

It looks really cool.

Yeah, yeah.

(Michelle) Did you have a was it like a chicken flatbread of some kind?

(Derek) I did, it was chicken bacon ranch flatbread.

It was awesome because the flatbread, it's softer than a pizza.

And with the flavors it was I highly recommend that.

It was really good.

(Michelle) So tell me a little bit about what you had to drink, because I know you wanted to talk about that.

(Erica) So I am a avid coffee drinker.

I had just gotten a basic iced coffee, which really can kind of tell a lot.

It was delicious.

It was perfectly brewed, not too strong, not too weak.

My friends had some of their specialty drinks.

They had the cinnamon latte, which they loved.

It looked delicious.

We all were very happy with our drinks.

(Michelle) Tell me about your lavender latte.

My son's absolute favorite latte in the whole world.

(Fritz) The lavender latte my wife ordered.

She wasn't a fan, but they instantly.

(Michelle) How about the caramel macchiato?

(Fritz) I drink the whole thing at like.

Once Trump done that and my wife ended up getting that too, because she took a taste, I was like, whoa, what's this?

So that that was a great lavender.

(Michelle) Latte is something if you have to love lavender, it's very flowery.

(Fritz) Yes, it's a different taste.

I don't think she was expecting it, but they had no issues.

They just thought, what do you want?

And she's like, I'll take one of those and.

(Michelle) Tell me about your flight.

I love that you had a flight for savory food and then you had a flight of tea.

So tell me about your tea flight.

(Derek) So the tea flight was really interesting.

Sometimes you get things that that look pretty and they taste maybe off.

Everything looked great and it tasted great too.

So that was it was impressive.

And I definitely recommend the flights because they do it for two different types of coffee and tea.

So you can really try out a lot of different things.

(Michelle) Okay, Fritz, tell me a little bit about how the service was for you.

(Fritz) Service was fine.

You know, the biggest issue was there wasn't a lot of space inside.

And it was a Saturday morning.

1030 can't be too bad.

It's Saturday.

It's not a weekday.

(Michelle) Come on.

(Fritz) And it was busiest time.

It was packed.

It was packed.

We did find it known that we did find a table outside, it was fine.

We ate outside, but it was from we got there to when we left it was solid business to packed.

(Michelle) How did you find prices?

(Derek) I thought they were good for what it was.

It was.

They definitely give you a lot of food and a lot of the drinks are a good size as well.

(Michelle) Erica, The Martin Rose was your choice.

Please sum it up for me.

(Erica) Modern Rose is a charming little venue to go to, either to dine in or to take out delicious food.

Delicious drinks.

Happy environment.

(Michelle) Derek.

(Derek) Modern Rose is a quaint little tea house.

I would describe it and a really fun place to go and bring the family and little kids too.

(Michelle) Fitz (Fritz) The Modern Rose is an eclectic little living room that's great for coffee and little snacks and little dishes.

If you want to, you're on the run.

Got to go to work or catch an appointment.

It's a great place to stop by.

(Michelle) For an enchanting good time.

You can head on over to The Modern Rose, located at 911 northeast 20th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

Open daily for breakfast and lunch.

Reservations are not accepted.

Average price of lunch without drinks is about $35.

(music) (Michelle) Finally, music teacher Fritz Dorigo is ready to write the score for his popular pic featuring some of the most delicious and authentic Thai food in South Florida.

He says this pic should be the next stop on your foodie tour.

It's located in Fort Lauderdale and it's called Thai Spice.

(Music) Hi, my name is Michael Tatton and I'm the proprietor and chef of Thai Spice in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Thai Spice is located in northeast Fort Lauderdale on Commercial Boulevard.

I started Thai Spice 35 years ago.

I had a passion for cooking Thai food at a very young age, and I'm third generation in the restaurant business.

By age 20, we opened Thai Spice on a very small scale.

We had an Asian gourmet market and we had a very small kitchen, mainly for takeout and delivery for the first two years, and it slowly expanded.

Within Thai Spice, we have four unique dining rooms inside the restaurant beautiful artwork from Thailand, statues and tapestries and saltwater aquariums and freshwater aquariums.

And each room has its own unique lighting.

It's a very intimate, nice experience and when people come to Thai spice, we always see their face again.

They're mesmerized by our food, by our service, by our atmosphere.

As a matter of fact, we have families coming.

For many years now.

I see their children as adults and they're still coming.

Thai Spice is a fine dining immersive experience.

(Michelle) Best.

Best Thai food in South Florida.

(Fritz) Well, the best that I've had.

I don't know if it's the best.

I mean, it's a pretty big.

(Michelle) I like that statement, though.

(Fritz) I've been living here 53 years, so yeah, it's pretty good.

(Michelle) So tell me why you think that.

I just love the atmosphere of the place.

One because if you want a little romantic date or a quiet date, you have that.

If you want to go with friends and sit at the bar and listen to music and have cocktails, you can have that and then have great food on either side.

So okay, so it's.

Pretty much for everyone.

Correct?

(Michelle) That's lovely Derek.

You know, what's interesting is when you walk into Thai Spice, you leave sort of the Plaza South Florida feel and you're in this garden at first and you walk in and it's all this like Thai architecture.

It's really great.

You immerse yourself in it and then the food is awesome too.

It's a great combination.

So first when you walk in, you see all these awards that they have on the wall, which you know is always going to be a good sign.

Um, the food is fantastic.

We were there with my husband and my kids and there was something for everybody there.

(Michelle) Okay, I'm getting hungry.

Fritz, tell me what you had this last time.

(Fritz) We started the night with appetizers, grilled calamari.

It's one of the few places that I get grilled calamari at.

There's always fried there.

Very rarely they serve grilled.

And it tasted fresh.

It came out on time.

We had crab Rangoon, too.

It had real crab in it, you know.

Very good.

And then we had a.

Bang, bang.

Bang, bang steak.

And, uh.

(Michelle)What was that?

(Fritz) It's a it's like a steak cut into strips, kind of fried, I think.

It's not like, not like chicken fried.

I don't know, it tasted good.

(Michelle) Okay.

(Fritz) It came with vegetables, you know, crunchy like broccoli and shoots.

(Michelle) luckily, not everybody describes food the way you do.

This is good.

(Michelle) Tell me a little bit.

About the red curry.

(Fritz) Crazy food was great.

It's just a big bowl with scallops, shrimp, grouper, calamari in it.

And we got a medium.

So it's not too hot a little spicy.

But yeah, medium is.

(Michelle) Spicy to me.

It can be a little spicy.

(Fritz) It's fine.

They're not over the top medium.

(Michelle) Derek tell me about your your meal.

Derek) So I took my mom there for lunch and we both had the lunch special.

We each got a different type of curry.

She got the green curry and I had the panang curry.

The green curry.

She's a really stickler about green curry.

She wants to have a lot of vegetables.

And it did.

It had a lot.

I was impressed with it.

(Michelle) Tell me a little bit about the appetizers that you all had.

(Derek) Yeah.

We started off with the spring rolls.

And the spring rolls were great.

They were really crispy on the outside, and they didn't have that mushy thing that you get sometimes.

It was nicely steamed and the sauce was great because it was a little bit it was a spicy chili sauce, but it wasn't too spicy.

It was sweet and it was good.

And then we had the hot and sour soup was great.

I had a little bit of crunch on top with some green onions, and then the salad was great.

It had a peanut dressing and it was phenomenal.

It was so I could just get the peanut dressing.

(Michelle) Erica, tell me about what you had.

(Erica) So we started with a few appetizers as well.

I started with the spring rolls and I agree with what Derek said.

They were delicious, very crispy on the outside and nice fresh vegetables on the inside with a really, really good dipping sauce.

And my husband and my son both had soup.

My husband had a seafood soup and my son had wonton soup, both with some fresh vegetables in it as well.

And then for entrees we shared a few different things.

The portions are tremendous.

So we had shared a chicken with garlic and pepper which was very, very flavorful.

Came with rice, nice fresh crunchy vegetables.

My son had gotten chicken fried rice, which a lot of times when you get chicken fried rice, it's very little chicken and mostly rice.

I would say this if anything was the opposite.

It was very, very generous.

(Michelle) Fritz, tell me a little bit about your fried.

You had a donut, (Fritz) the Thai donuts, yes.

It’s a little round donuts they come with like a vanilla gelato.

Gelato?

They're great.

They come nice and hot with the cold gelato.

(Michelle) Usually it comes.

With, like, a condensed milk (Fritz) Yes, it's like a condensed milk type thing.

Yes.

But you know, it's not on the menu.

You get if you don't know, you have to ask it.

(Michelle) See, that's why we do this.

I think you had a martini.

(Fritz) My wife did.

Yes.

I had white wine.

She had a martini.

And it was good.

(Michelle) What did you think of service?

(Erica) Service was fantastic.

I have some picky eaters in my family.

And we had to make a little a few little adjustments.

No problem whatsoever.

(Michelle) What do you.

Think of prices, Derek?

(Derek) I thought it was really fair, especially for lunch.

We actually ended up taking some food home even at lunchtime, so that was great.

(Michelle) Okay, well Fritz Thai Spice is your pick.

Sum it up for me, please.

(Fritz) If you want a little party night with your friends at the bar or a romantic date night, it's the place to go and get great Thai food along with it.

Nice.

(Derek) Thais place is an excellent choice for authentic Thai food as well as a really great atmosphere.

(Erica) Thai Spice is a wonderful place to go.

Enjoy a nice dinner with some live music.

(Michelle) For Thai classics and pan-Asian fare.

You can visit Thai Spice, located at 1514 East Commercial Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

They're open daily for lunch.

Dinner reservations are accepted where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $50.

(music) (Michelle) We've had a wonderful time.

I want to thank my guest, Derek Louis, Fritz Dorigo and Erika Gordon for more about the restaurants and recipes featured in the show, or if you'd like to apply to be a guest reviewer, visit us at check please FL.com And as always, you can find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending three of their favorite restaurants right here on check Please South Florida.

I'm Michelle Bernstein and I'll see you then.

Thank you everybody.

Thank you.

(music) (Announcer) Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.

(music) (upbeat music)