Hometown News and Views

By Judy Wilson

Deerfield Beach – Owners of two successful South Broward diners were chosen last week to operate the new fishing pier restaurant.  Meeting in special session, commissioners gave Class Act, LLC enough points to easily win the bid. Principals, Toula Amanna and Thomas Bertorelli, operate FlashBack diners in Hallandale Beach and Davie. Apparently, it was their extensive breakfast menu that caused commissioners to rate them higher than an earlier choice made by a staff committee.

It fell to the commissions to rate the top three bidders for the 10-year contract when they reached a stalemate two weeks ago. Mayor Peggy Noland favored Class Act’s more traditional menu items over the staff’s choice, Two Together, a company out of Delray Beach. Both bidders offered to pay $120,000 annually, but Class Act had the higher percentage of profits offering eight percent to be paid to the city.

The restaurant will be operated as the Deerfield Beach Café and be unlike the diners. Instead of a movie poster theme, the Café is being designed as “classy beach” said Bertorelli. “It will be special to the Deerfield Beach environment,” he said.  A Deerfield Beach contractor, RCC Builders, will construct the interior. RCC is well known for building out high-end retail stores. Bertorelli said the restaurant, like the other new buildings on the pier, will conform to LEED [environmentally conscious, energy efficient] standards.

The Café will be open 7 a.m. to midnight and will add a large ‘grab and go’ food section to its menu offerings. “We expect a lot of takeout business from fishermen and beach goers,” Bertorelli said.

He and his partner, Amanna, will also open a diner in Boca Raton next year, but Bertorelli said Deerfield Beach had been in their sights for some time because of its demographic: middle to high income residents, people on fixed incomes, and a strong business community.  According to Bertorelli, they had tried to buy property on Hillsboro Boulevard west of Military Trail for a diner but could not make a deal. “Then this came up and we jumped at it. Being on the beach is a plus, plus,” Bertorelli said.

He plans to have the Café open by Feb. 1.