Jimmy Mills and Jimmy's Bistro

Chef Mills, the blackboard, and a Stella.

This article originally appeared in the 2010 edition of “Taste,” the guide to fine dining in Broward and the Palm Beaches published annually by New Times for which I wrote all the editorial. To read the rest of my pieces in the 2010 edition, select the Taste category at the top or bottom of this article.

Chef’s Recipe Available: Simple Tomato Sauce

The menu is written in chalk on the blackboard paint-covered section of one wall.  A few items, among them the Colorado lamb chops, grilled mahi, and lobster risotto, have large 86s chalked in red next to them, indicating that they’re sold out for the evening.

Chef/owner Jimmy Mills is splitting time between the kitchen and chatting with customers about the best way to cook fresh food simply, what they’d like to see on the menu, or explaining with a smile that the mahi isn’t actually $86.

Couples that have just met while dining at the bar are chatting with each other, comparing dishes, talking about how they found the restaurant.  Jimmy’s Bistro in Delray Beach is the kind of place where things like that just seem to happen naturally.

“This is my life’s dream,” says Mills, as he looks around the room with a smile.

Mills has been cooking for close to twenty years.  He’s cooked at Le Chantilly and Auerole in New York City and spent a year cooking in France, but the goal was always to open his own place.  Something he achieved late last year at age 35, when he decided that Delray was the perfect place to open this small, friendly bistro.

The menu at Jimmy’s Bistro is broad and eclectic, but Mills keeps it small enough that he can pay close attention to every dish that leaves the kitchen, keeping the quality high.  Dishes change fairly regularly, but are always based on whatever fresh ingredients, quality meats, and local seafood Mills and his sous chef, introduced simply as Aldo, have available to them.

“There are some standard items,” says Mills, “like pasta, because we make it fresh right here every day.  We also make our own mozzarella and our own ice cream.  But the kinds of pasta we offer, or the meats we put on the menu, or the style of seafood we cook, that evolves. ”

Mills doesn’t seem able to stop smiling when he talks about food and what he’d like to achieve with his restaurant.

“I still have such a passion for cooking.  And I’m always learning, always finding out new techniques.  If I can, I want to master every style before I die.”

He pauses for a moment before continuing, “You know, Anthony Bourdain asks this question about what people would like to eat for their last meal – one thing that they’d love, that would make them feel good.  The point is to get at what they really want to eat once you get past the overly fancy stuff.  And it always seems to come down to something pretty basic and comforting.  That’s what I want to offer here.  I want to keep it simple, use great ingredients, and cook food that make makes people happy.”

Funny thing how a chef’s attitude can make its way into their food: break open the huge puff pastry that caps a bowl of tomato bisque, bite into a fresh chicken and poblano empanada, or dig into a bowl of the handmade sausage ravioli (the entire bowl of which is made fresh from the ground up, including the sausage, the pasta, the mozzarella, and the sauce) and you do get the vibe that Mills loves what he’s doing.  Of course it may just be that he’s always nearby to answer questions or chat about his food.

“I’m always excited to come into work,” he says. “I love cooking, customers are enjoying themselves, and we’re turning out great food.  What more could I want?”

On a recent Friday night Mills, his staff, and seven or eight customers that had just met that evening stayed past closing, until well after midnight in fact, talking, sharing a few beers, listening to music and laughing.  When at last they all began to leave, it resembled a dinner party breaking up more than a restaurant closing for the night.  Numbers and email addresses were exchanged as people said good night.  Before leaving, one self-proclaimed “new regular” wandered back to the blackboard menu to tag it in big, puffy, 12-year-old girl writing, while Mills watched with a grin.

“I love that everyone feels comfortable here,” he said after asking around to make sure that no one wanted to sit for a last beer or glass of wine. “I’d be really happy if it were like this every night.”

Jimmy’s Bistro is located at 9 South Swinton Avenue, in Delray Beach and is open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner.  Call 561-865-5774 for more information.

Grab chef Mills’ recipe for a simple tomato sauce (I’ve had it – it’s great).