Coffee & Treats in Cooper City

Chefs Paul Berger and Scott Fischer met as contestants on Master Chef, and even though neither made it far on the show, they quickly discovered a mutual passion for locally produced foods and unique snacks. It wasn’t long before the duo poured their shared enthusiasm into opening Wicked Awesome Snackbar, a casual neighborhood eatery that uses entirely locally grown and organic ingredients and bakes all its eclectic breads and pastries fresh daily. The menu features casual small plates such as salads sprinkled with blue cheese and craisins, sandwiches laden with vegetables and seasoned meats, and three pizzas named after Boston neighborhoods famous for containing more pizzas than people.

To orchestrate meal finales, Wicked Awesome crafts an ever-evolving snack menu of sweets such as double-chocolate-chip cookies and salted-caramel whoopie pies. More than 30 local and national craft beers complement each dish, a few of which even find their way into the eatery’s breads and desserts. The menu appears etched on a chalkboard behind the bar and, like the giant lazy susan that supports the earth’s mass, rotates daily.

Palm Beach Smoothies’ baristas are known for shaking things up—both literally and figuratively. The colorful shop flouts tradition by blending fresh oranges and pineapples with such unconventional smoothie add-ons as Red Bull, green tea, applesauce, and cinnamon. Aside from fruit-based concoctions, the baristas whip up five varieties of smoothies with creamy almond milk and low-fat yogurt. When ordering an indulgent blend of graham crackers and marshmallows, guests can ask their barista to top off the s’more-style shake with whey protein, wheatgrass, or the fiber-packed pages of a campfire songbook. Each of the more than 25 smoothie varieties pairs nicely with the café’s grilled paninis, turkey wraps, and organic steel-cut oatmeal.

Scott Angelo can tell you the exact sip of coffee that changed his life. He didn’t think he would become a coffee roaster until he had a cup of Sumatra coffee from Indonesia and became obsessed with recreating its richness and complexity on his own. Working first with a popcorn popper and graduating to a grill that he converted into a roaster, Scott started roasting green beans in small batches, teaching himself how to achieve those complicated flavors. Now, Scott and his wife Amy run Oceana Coffee, serving up the caffeinated fruit of their labor right inside the café. They roast each batch to order, including medium Ethiopian batches with notes of blueberry, light roasts from Costa Rica, and rich sultry batches from the dark side of the moon.

Inside curved glass cases at Alice’s Ice Cream Emporium, the colorful crests and waves of gelato tempt the eye with their garnishes of fruit and cookies. The creamy confections, which are made fresh daily, are scooped into either the familiar cups and cones or more elaborate creations, such as brownie sundaes, cookie sandwiches, and scale-model Ferraris made out of cups and cones. The staff serves their treats amid the emporium’s playful décor, characterized by colorful pieces including a long row of purple booths and small chandeliers against one wall. Magenta and green chairs cluster around circular tables, where staffers drop off steamy espresso drinks, hot paninis, and caprese salads.

When Stacey Skinner realized her oldest son had a severe intolerance to gluten, she didn’t want to deprive him of his favorite pizza and pasta meals. Instead, she started whipping up her own renditions of these dishes with gluten-free flours and organic ingredients. Her friends and family marveled at her healthy creations, and Stacey started up her own catering company to distribute the freshly cooked, gluten- and peanut-free meals to households throughout Palm Beach County.

In her expansive kitchen and bakery, the skilled chef folds organic ingredients into dishes ideal for family dinners, children's school lunches, and attempts to make a stolen picnic blanket look used. Her oven spills rippling warmth and aromas that hint at a variety of breads, custom cakes, and desserts. Though the menu rotates, it has included coconut-encrusted flounder, spice-rubbed beef medallions, and fritters made with freshly shredded zucchini. In addition to gluten- and peanut-free options, the chef can also craft selections without dairy, eggs, or casein.

It seems like an inconsequential decision—choosing a frozen yogurt flavor—but it’s not, and YoBelle knows it. There are important distinctions between its 35 flavors that simply can’t be discerned by reading the names. There are subtle differences between Tahitian vanilla and regular vanilla bean, and the hint of sourness in the tart flavors allows taste buds to easily tell them apart from the classic flavors. That’s why customers are encouraged to first sample all the available flavors for free, leaving taste decisions to the tongue and freeing up the mind to figure out how the cup will support the weight of all 50 fresh fruit and candy toppings simultaneously.