All posts by wellingtonINSIDER

Brady Walter Of Century 21 WC Realty Enjoys Working In The Wellington Market Perfect Fit

Brady Walter Of Century 21 WC Realty Enjoys Working In The Wellington Market

Perfect Fit

Two years ago, Brady Walter was in Maryland, attending college with the hopes of developing a career in the fashion industry. Today, he is an up-and-coming sales associate with Century 21 WC Realty, located in the original Wellington Mall at Forest Hill Blvd. and Wellington Trace.

This just goes to show how quickly life can change.

“I was working as a personal stylist for a men’s custom clothier in Maryland and several other states,” Walter recalled. “I would help men achieve the best versions of themselves, often by asking what motivates and inspires them. I found that I honestly enjoyed helping people.”

It was that caring attitude that led him to Florida.

“I had been doing some market research on the Palm Beach County area, and what I saw was a lot of potential in Wellington and the surrounding areas,” he said.

Soon, Walter had packed his bags and relocated.

When his girlfriend Tayler got her real estate license, Walter realized that helping people find the perfect home — the “perfect fit,” if you will — was very similar to his previous career in fashion. It was a challenge that he wanted to take on. Soon, he too, had his real estate license.

Timothy Watts, the head broker at Century 21 WC Realty, welcomed Walter and aided in his career transition.

“Tim has been nothing short of incredible,” Walter said. “He has met with me one-on-one on several occasions, showed me the ropes and walked me through what a Realtor should be doing on a daily basis.”

As for the Wellington area, Walter continues to be impressed by the local market.

“I see a lot of potential in Wellington, and in the real estate market in general for the West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens area,” he said. “There’s value in those homes and those communities, and that helps me help people.”

Because he is hyper-focused on matching people to their “best life,” Walter also takes note of the feel of a neighborhood.

“I lived in New York for a while, and I would have to say that the people here are much friendlier than in large cities like New York or Miami,” Walter said. “There’s a sense of community in Wellington that speaks to the growth of the area. With or without memberships involved, the sense of community is what makes people want to buy homes rather than rent. Once they do buy, their family is going to develop here and establish roots, and they are going to be happy they bought instead of rented.”

Walter noted that growth outside the Wellington community is also drawing more people here.

“There is a lot of new construction,” Walter said. “Not so much in Wellington, but in Loxahatchee, The Acreage, Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach. That activity has drawn people to Wellington as well.”

Walter continues to match every buyer with the proper home for them in the proper neighborhood, while also helping every seller move forward as they follow their dreams. But that’s not all. Walter added that, if asked, he may throw in some complimentary fashion advice as a bonus.

Call (301) 452-6832 or e-mail brady@wcrealtygroup.com to contact Brady Walter. For additional information, visit www.wcrealtygroup.com/bradywalter.

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It’s All About Quality Ingredients And Great Presentation At India Grill & Bar Imported Spices

It’s All About Quality Ingredients And Great Presentation At India Grill & Bar

Imported Spices

For nearly a decade, India Grill & Bar has been serving authentic old and modern Indian cuisine in Royal Palm Beach. The restaurant has developed a loyal following of customers from all over the region, happily welcoming new patrons as well.

The restaurant is designed to look like an Indian palace with hues of gold and a circular 400-gallon saltwater fish aquarium as the centerpiece. That ambiance, mixed with fresh, imported spices, is what restaurant manager and owner Soye Thomas said it’s all about.

“I’m from the land of spices! That’s one primary thing for us. Much of it we import straight from India. We never use powder,” he said. “We get the cardamom and organic cumin. We have dried cumin straight from India. We roast and grind all our spices right here. The flavor and aroma is so fresh and real. It’s amazing. Next, we focus on getting the best produce. Once we have that, the rest is easy.”

One of his favorite spices — cloves. “It has a spark to it,” he said. “A burst of flavor.”

The daily lunch buffet is a great way to get a taste of it all.

For starters, try the Sambar lentil soup, Tandoori chicken and vegetable samosa.

Buffet entrees include chicken tikka masala, lamb roganjosh, chicken biryani on the bone and daal makhni. For sweets, you can enjoy galab jamun and Punjabi phirni. The entire buffet is offered daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., all for $9.95.

A wide selection of light and fluffy naan is extremely popular with guests. Flavors include cheese naan that’s mildly spiced, there’s also garlic with cilantro and Kashmiri naan, which is mildly sweet with cashew and pine nuts, coconut, saffron, honey and raisins.

When it comes to dinner entrees, there are a number of Tandoori specialties to choose from — all made to order. The most popular is the mixed grill platter. It’s a combination of tandoori grilled shrimp, seasoned lamb chops and tandoori grilled chicken tikka. “We use an all-charcoal grill,” Thomas explained. “It sears all the juices inside.”

Several vegetarian and vegan-friendly options are available on the menu, as are gluten-free choices.

The restaurant also offers a banquet hall for up to 200 people. It includes a separate entrance, private bar and reception area, suited for private parties or corporate events.

There’s also a tasting room for as many as 20 people, also privately set with its own bar. In addition to the restaurant as home base, Thomas also runs a nationwide catering company known as Madras Catering & Event Production.

“We are very big into catering weddings and large events. We’ve done events at the Breakers, Boca Resort, Fontainebleau and Four Seasons,” Thomas said.

It’s at Four Seasons, JW Marriott and Hyatt where Thomas worked in management after coming to the United States from India in 1997. He used that experience and added his own twist, with now 17 years of catering under his belt. He has catered an average of 40 weddings a year, often with 300 people or more per event.

“For me, it’s very personal,” Thomas said. “The food, presentation, food culture, spices, quality of ingredients. I get to know the clients.”

It’s that same personal touch that makes India Grill & Bar a success. “Guests come here and say, ‘Wow! The food is amazing.’ But they don’t realize the chefs cooking for those weddings are the same ones cooking for them,” he said. “There are no shortcuts, anywhere.”

There are also no shortcuts when it comes to a great Sunday brunch. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., a culinary experience is topped with bottomless mimosas.

“We bring a grill to the table, a live station, dosa of all varieties,” Thomas said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for people to come and taste everything.”

For Sunday brunch, adults are $16.95, while children are $6.95.

The cuisine for both the restaurant and catering covers all areas of India with four chefs, each from a different region. “We have a south Indian chef, a north Indian chef, one from Bombay for the snacks and one from the east side to cover all the seafood,” Thomas explained.

A huge selection fills the bar, including exotic cocktails, a variety of spirits, and a large beer and wine menu.

New plans are also on the horizon for Sunday evenings, which are big in the equestrian community. Coming soon will be dinner specials, a lounge and live DJ until midnight.

Meantime, Thomas and his crew are always looking for new infusions by going on tours to India, checking out new flavors. It’s that deep passion for people and love of food and flavor that keeps them going, to the delight of many happy customers and their taste buds.

The restaurant is open seven days a week with lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Delivery is available through DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats and Delivery Dudes.

India Grill & Bar is located in the Royal Plaza at 650 Royal Palm Beach Blvd. at the northeast corner of Southern Blvd. For additional information, visit www.indiagrillandbar.com or call (561) 249-7168. Learn more about the catering end of the business at www.madrascatering.com.

 

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Faces of WEF

Faces of WEF

The Winter Equestrian Festival is back in action at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Once again, riders have come to Wellington from all corners of the globe to compete at the longest horse show series in the world with more prize money than ever on the line. Horse and rider pairs will soar over fences, navigate complicated sequences and make hairpin turns — all to the delight of the crowd. While WEF attracts the world’s top riders, it’s not all about jumping at its highest levels. WEF is home to riders of all ages and abilities, from Short Stirrup all the way up to Grand Prix. While junior and amateur riders aim to get crucial show experience, the world’s top riders have returned to Wellington with an eye on this year’s 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. As we do each year, Wellington The Magazine once again presents our annual Faces of WEF section, offering a glimpse at just a handful of the amazing riders competing this season at the Winter Equestrian Festival.

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Jordan Allen

Jordan Allen

A native of Michigan, up-and-coming rider Jordan Allen took her first lesson at a local barn as a birthday present when she was 7 years old. Allen began taking one lesson a week with a trainer until she sustained an injury at age 8. After healing, Allen’s love for horses won out and she returned to riding, moving from ‘C’ rated shows to the ‘A’ circuit with her horse Avedon. Trainer Kim Carey recognized both Allen’s talent and desire to reach the highest levels of the sport, introducing her in 2015 to Ken and Emily Smith of Ashland Farms, where she is currently a working student. When not studying at the University of South Carolina, she trains at Ashland’s Lexington, Kentucky, base during the summer and calls Wellington home during the winter season. She has found success at WEF, finishing third in last year’s $100,000 WCHR Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular with the 7-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Kind Of Blue.

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Liza Towell Boyd

Liza Towell Boyd

Liza Towell Boyd is one of the country’s top hunter riders and trainers. As a junior, Boyd was named Overall World Champion Hunter Rider three times, was second at the Washington International Equitation Finals and won the Best Child Rider Award there four times, setting a record that remains untouched. After completing her junior career, she graduated from the College of Charleston and returned to the family business. Since then, Boyd has had an extremely successful career as both a trainer and rider. To date, she has won more than 25 USHJA international and national hunter derbies, and she rode Brunello to victory in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships. She’s the only rider to have won the WCHR Pony, Junior and Professional titles. She also won the WCHR Professional Finals again in 2017 and 2018.

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Laura Chapot

Laura Chapot

Laura Chapot comes from one of the nation’s most prominent equestrian families. Daughter of famed Olympic equestrians Frank and Mary Chapot, she is based out of Chado Farms in New Jersey. Chapot has an extensive list of accomplishments and can often be found high on the Rolex/USEF Show Jumping Ranking List. She had a spectacular season last year at the Winter Equestrian Festival, particularly with mount Chandon Blue. The pair took six top-three finishes, including the $50,000 Puissance America Grand Prix CSI 2* on Sunday, March 31, to claim the final FEI Grand Prix victory of the 2019 circuit. It was the pair’s fourth win in the final five weeks of WEF. It didn’t take Chapot long to make her mark at this year’s festival, claiming the top two spots in the $6,000 Bainbridge 1.40m Speed Challenge aboard Thornhill Kate and Out of Ireland during the opening week of WEF.

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Lorenzo de Luca

Lorenzo de Luca

Lorenzo de Luca started riding horses when he was 9 years old. He grew up in a little town called Lecce in the south of Italy, where he first started competing. When he was 11 years old, he had his first show jumping competition with a horse called Eponi Constelina. When de Luca was 18 years old, he started riding professionally. He worked for the Neil Jones trading stables in Belgium before joining the highly regarded Stephex Stables, also in Belgium, in 2015. Nowadays, de Luca is a regular on the Italian national team, where he has participated in Nations Cup events and at the World Equestrian Games. Back in Wellington for the 2020 season, de Luca can be seen competing in his Italian Air Force military uniform and hopes to represent his home country at the Olympic Games. started riding horses when he was 9 years old. He grew up in a little town called Lecce in the south of Italy, where he first started competing. When he was 11 years old, he had his first show jumping competition with a horse called Eponi Constelina. When de Luca was 18 years old, he started riding professionally. He worked for the Neil Jones trading stables in Belgium before joining the highly regarded Stephex Stables, also in Belgium, in 2015. Nowadays, de Luca is a regular on the Italian national team, where he has participated in Nations Cup events and at the World Equestrian Games. Back in Wellington for the 2020 season, de Luca can be seen competing in his Italian Air Force military uniform and hopes to represent his home country at the Olympic Games.

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Martin Fuchs

Martin Fuchs

After a string of great performances in 2019, Swiss Olympian Martin Fuchs, 27, began 2020 by moving to the top of the Longines rankings for the first time in his career. Fuchs’ first major victory was team gold at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, and he went on to make his senior Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio with his gray gelding Clooney 51. Fuchs has achieved podium finishes at the last three major championships, including individual silver at the FEI World Equestrian Games 2018 in Tryon and helping the Swiss team to fourth, earning a team quota place at the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo. Fuchs finished as runner-up at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Gothenburg last April and was crowned European Champion together with Clooney 51 at the Longines FEI Jumping European Championships in Rotterdam in August

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Hunter Holloway

Hunter Holloway

Hunter Holloway is an accomplished rider and trainer with numerous major victories under her belt. She was riding horses with her mother Brandie Holloway before she could walk. Holloway rode to win the coveted 2016 ASPCA Maclay Championship and the 2016 Washington International Equitation Championships after winning all three phases of the competition. Holloway also won the U25 Jumper Championship at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show the same year. She is one of the winningest young riders, earning respect in national and international competitions on both hunters and jumpers. More recent victories include a CSI5* win in Spruce Meadows and numerous victories at WEF, Tryon and Omaha. Now 22 years old, she splits her time between Wellington and her hometown of Topeka, Kansas, where she is deeply involved in her family’s business.

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Lillie Keenan

Lillie Keenan

Lillie Keenan rose to prominence as one of the country’s top junior riders, who swept the championships in the 2007 and 2008 USEF Pony Finals. At age 13, she won the 2010 Washington International Horse Show Equitation Finals. The next year, Keenan took home the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals, defeating some of the sport’s top professionals. Now 23, she has continued her winning ways. In 2018, Keenan was named to the Short List for the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon before heading to Europe to compete in the Global Champions Tour. In 2019, Keenan earned a string of top placings at the Devon Horse Show, where she rode Chaccolette to third place in the $72,000 Idle Dice Open Jumper Stake and fourth in the $36,000 Devon International Speed Stake. At Hickstead, Keenan and Fasther finished eighth in the Bunn Leisure International Stakes and 12th in the famed Longines BHS King George V Gold Cup.

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