The Heart of the Gourmet

I’m disappointed. I feel I was misled.
A few years ago I had the good fortune of vacationing in Spain and I stumbled upon what I thought were tapas — small servings of varied cold and hot dishes — or so I was led to believe. At a number of restaurants I was told I was being served tapas, and somewhere between drinking a few too many sangrias and experiencing enough flamenco stomping to last me a long while, I believed I really was having tapas.
And then I went to a tapas tasting at the Heart of the Gourmet and had real tapas: bagged salad — yes, the Dole classic iceberg — and a rice/​chicken combo, which are split into three portions on your plate, all of which are then glazed with a combination of various flavored oils and vinegars.
Where I was misled is that the Spaniards tried to convince me that tapas were fancy, highfalutin dishes called pincho moruno, chopitos, and patatas bravas, and I left feeling no hope that I could ever harangue a date into a tapas dinner date at my place because I couldn’t make such things, let alone pronounce them. My only recourse would be to whisk said date off to faraway lands where they talk and dance funny.
The Heart of the Gourmet showed me that an in-​house tapas tasting is well within reach, as it is nothing more than small servings of microwaved chicken and Rice-​A-​Roni with drizzles from the heart, so you can taste the love: a strawberry-​cilantro vinegar salve combined with garlic-​popcorn olive oil drizzled over chicken and rice, or a mint-​chocolate-​truffle oil combined with razzleberry-​mango vinegar drizzled over chicken and rice, and so on. Before the chicken and rice? Drizzle combinations over the bagged salad. After the chicken and rice? Drizzle combinations over vanilla ice cream. The morning after the chicken and rice? Drizzle combinations over scrambled eggs. Until this enlightening visit to the Heart of the Gourmet, I had a completely errant sense of what tapas actually are. So imagine my embarrassment at having brought a nice rioja to an authentic tapas tasting in Pompano, Florida!
Also, FYI, these flavoured oils and vinegars have healing powers: they clear infections and fluffiness (let’s not call it fatness), and our host at the Heart of the Gourmet is working toward the right combination that will have the peripheral effect of being a South Florida Fly (like Spanish Fly, but realer).
Honestly, I was so taken aback by all of this that our host at the Heart of the Gourmet actually had to initiate an applause for himself, and I’m relieved because I was so entranced that I was fully faux in not initiating the applause myself. [Thank you for that! ;)]
I am commencing a letter-​writing campaign to urge my hosts in Spain to not bandy about the word ‘tapas’ so cavalierly, as their carelessness cheapens the real tapas that we can find right here in South Florida. Authenticity must be defended. I will update this thread with notes on progress.
UPDATE: No responses to my letters to restaurants in Spain as yet, but I won’t quit sending them.

OMG… I went to a tasting class at The Heart of the Gourmet about 2 months ago and absolutely loved it. I learned things that I was completely unaware of. Now my cooking has been tastier, simplified and the best part is that I have very little clean up. Our meals always include at least 2 to 3 bottles of the balsamic and oils, paired together or just by itself. I am eating healthier and enjoying cooking much more since I have been introduced to this way of cooking. I experiment myself now, as I was taught the tools to cook with the infused oils and balsamics.
As a result of my enthusiasm for the tasting class, I decided to try an Art class, which involves more tastings with the products and then when we are finished eating we clear the table, (and of course, I had to buy more products) and we begin painting our own wine glass. The class is so much fun and once again, I surprised myself and painted a wine glass that made me very proud.
I can’t wait to see what is next.
The store itself is so charming, along with the friendly staff, and the products (they also sell some wonderful gourmet items) I would HIGHLY recommend a visit along with a class at «The Heart of the Gourmet»

I bought the Groupon for the wine glass painting and found it to be a fun night out with my friend. I then came back and took the wok demo class which was informative and tasty. This is a cute shop with classes in Pompano, unique and fun to attend with friends. I recommend either of the two classes for a different kind of night out that stresses healthy eating.

Wok is Wonderful! I can’t believe how much I enjoyed this wok class. I learned a lot about oils and balsamics and how they can be used to enhance the flavor of different foods — a real eye opener! The owner, Kevin, has a natural teaching style and a funny, intelligent sense of humor, and that made the class even more fun. This was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had since being in Florida — I’m going to get a group of my girlfriends together and do it again. LOVE THIS PLACE!

This was simply an unexpected delight being introduced to this quaint little shop filled with incredible wines and delicately balanced oils and balsamics.
Nancy was wonderful and walked us through tasting different combinations of the oils and balsamics and also informing us of different ways to pair them with other foods to enhance their flavors.
Yes, the price of each item may be an eye opener but this is the case where a little goes a long way. Meaning that it appeared to me and what I saw was that drizzling the over the food really brought out a powerful flavor in a rather ordinary chicken and rice meal.
I can’t wait to try this on pasta.
The wine glass painting was also a lot of fun. The only challenge was having to adjust my depth perception on the glass against a template for painting on the glass.
Next time I will draw out the template on the glass then paint it rather than paint to the template.
I’m planning to go back again for the Wok Cooking class and another wine glass painting.

Unfortunately I’m going to have to give this experience a poor rating. I found out about it on Groupon and it was presented as a Wok Cooking Class which to me sounded like I’d be doing the cooking while being instructed when in actuality the owner was doing it and us watching. This may work for some but wasn’t what I expected. My huge issue was the lack of sanitation. The gentleman helping me was working with gloves yet used the same gloves that he was touching the extension cords on the floor with to also touch the vegetables that were to be cooked. Further more the whole idea is to get you in there and sell you balsamics and olive oils which were infused with different flavors. It was uncomfortable when my girlfriend told Kevin that she didn’t really like the tastes and he kept pouring different oils and balsamics anyways in hopes that he found one he could sell us. Not a good experience and will not be going back or recommending, EVER.

Great classes and great products. Kevin and Harriet are fun and so knowledgeable.

The Heart of the Gourmet is excellent. Fantastic selection of delicious olive oils, balsamic vinegars, rubs and spices. Also, there is some really interesting décor that’s also for sale. Real gem.