Darrel Broek

No matter how brilliant the chef, every outstanding restaurant needs a guiding force and welcoming voice. At Cafe Maxx, Darrel Broek has been setting the tone for this highly successful establishment for twenty-three years.

Beloved by his patrons, Broek's outgoing and warm demeanor has turned clients into family. He has an innate sense of what his patrons' desires are, and the ability to fill that need night after night. Keeping long-term restaurant goers satisfied, while constantly attracting new visitors, is not an easy task, but his extensive background has served him well.

Broek began working in restaurants while he was in high school in his native Iowa . After earning an academic degree in hospitality and food service from Weaver Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, he moved to Florida in 1974 and began working at The Sea Ranch Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Broek went on to work at several top-drawer South Florida restaurants, including La Vielle Maison in Boca Raton and The Down Under in Fort Lauderdale . After several years at two distinctive restaurants in Asheville, North Carolina, he returned to Florida in 1984 and joined Cafe Max as manager.

At Cafe Max, Broek and Saucy developed a singular stylistic vision and purchased the operation in 1988, re-christening the locale by adding their first names and an additional “x” to become "Cafe Maxx".