Food is Love

A Recipe for Life

“The Meaning of Life is to find your gift. The purpose of Life is to give it away.”

—Pablo Picasso

I once told Chef Nikhil Abuvala, the owner/chef/proprietor of three restaurants along Scenic Highway 30-A in Northwest Florida, that food is love and that I could feel and taste the love in his cooking while dining in his speakeasy-like hideaway, Roux 30a. I had never thought about food like that before, but every bite was so delicious—course by course, it made me so happy— and this epiphany has never left me. Food is love. When someone prepares a meal for you at home or in a restaurant, making the food with the best ingredients available and with love, it makes all the difference in the world. It goes back to the proverbial adage, “Do the absolute best you can with excellence and passion,” but it goes a step further than that because, for food to taste out-of-this-world good, the main ingredient is always love.

We have the great privilege of living and working in an area where good food reigns supreme, in our beachside hamlet in and around VIE’s HQ in Grayton Beach, Florida. Our area has been dubbed “the Hamptons of the South” by the Wall Street Journal with an article by Libertina Brandt, “A Once Unpaved Stretch of Highway Became One of Florida’s Hottest Rental Markets.” The story starts with the highly lauded New Urbanism community known as the Town of Seaside, founded by developers Robert and Daryl Davis and planned by Andrés Duany and his wife, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, of DPZ CoDesign. They embarked on a forty-year journey to build the town of their dreams along the unpaved road referenced above—now known as Scenic Highway 30-A—and the area continually evolves.

Photo by Hunter Burgtorf

Several noteworthy Seaside restaurants, proprietors, and chefs are featured in VIE’s second luxury coffee-table book, COOK: Cocktails. Cuisine. Culture. They include my longtime friend and restaurateur Dave Rauschkolb, who owns the landmark restaurant Bud & Alley’s overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, plus Bud & Alley’s Taco Bar, Pizza Bar, and the beloved Black Bear Bread Co. with co-owner Chef Phil McDonald. The book also spotlights legendary Chef Jim Shirley, who owns Great Southern Café, The C-Bar, The Meltdown on 30A, b.f.f., and the newly opened 87 Central Square wine bar in Seaside and three other restaurants in town. (He will also grace our next cover with the special May 2024 Bon Appétit Issue!) Chef Nikhil also opened a new concept in Seaside named The Daytrader, a whimsical take on a beachside tiki bar experience that is truly unique.

After spending over two years in the making, COOK graced the shelves of bookstores, boutiques, and restaurants last month. It features recipes from many other chefs in our area along Northwest Florida’s beautiful beaches, including celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse and his son, EJ Lagasse, and stories about event planners, architects, and interior designers showcasing residential kitchens and restaurants. This book, the sequel to HOME—Inspirations for Home and Life by VIE—is of heirloom quality and also published by our parent company, The Idea Boutique. It is our second love letter to the area authored by VIE’s editor, Jordan Staggs, as she weaves delicious stories and recipes curated into an exceptional showcase of the best-in-class cuisine found here. You can buy it on our website at VIEmagazine.com/shop-vie, pick up a copy from Great Southern Café in Seaside, Raw & Juicy in Grayton Beach, and Fonville Press in Alys Beach, or contact us for more shopping locations.

When you sift through the pages of COOK (some of which are shared in this issue), we hope you smile and feel overflowing joy—not only the joy of cooking but also the joy of love.

To Life!

Lisa Marie Burwell

CEO/Editor-in-Chief/Creative Director

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