When four local chefs opened the Florida Keys History & Discovery Center's lecture season in October, the panel went from fish to the old question of how to finish a Key lime pie. As the Florida Keys Free Press reported, the chefs split between meringue and whipped cream. The question stayed open, and that suits the exhibition behind the talk. "From Soil to Sea" is on view at the Center at Mile Marker 82 through February 28, 2027, and it is still accepting recipes from the people who cook in the Keys today.
The museum's own calendar this season gives Islamorada residents several chances to add to that record. Contributions can go in at the exhibit itself, over coffee with the curator, and at a Key lime bake-off three days after the village's biggest holiday night.
An Exhibition That Starts With Community Cookbooks
The Center describes "From Soil to Sea" as an exhibition of historic recipes, archival materials, paintings, photography, ceramics and present-day stories about food that is grown, caught, traded and shared in the Keys. Dr. Heather Gonyeau, the Center's Curator of Collections and Public History, researched old local cookbooks for it. In the Center's October newsletter she explains that those books record family recipes along with the restaurants, churches, clubs and businesses that produced them, and they show how ingredients changed over time. Menus, photographs, artifacts and artwork fill in the rest.
The Center calls this a public history of food. A community cookbook was one of the few places a household recipe ever got written down beside the name of the person who made it. The opening panel carried the title "From Soil to Sea: A Florida Keys Community Cookbook," and the Center's cookbook page asks for fresh-catch recipes built on conch, snapper, lobster or bonefish. Its illustrations show Key limes, pineapples, bananas, lionfish ceviche and a catch from off Knights Key.
What the Chefs Added to the Record
The panel, held October 14, gave the exhibition its restaurant history. Kate DeLoach moderated. The panelists were Amy Mixon, executive chef at the Islander Resort; Bobby Stoky, from the Key Largo family whose restaurants run from Miami to Islamorada; Dante Schillinger, co-owner of Exclusive Personal Chef Events; and John DeLoach, who also works with Exclusive Personal Chef Events.
According to the Free Press account, Schillinger spoke about the "cook your catch" custom, where diners bring their own fresh fish to a restaurant to be prepared. He said that, as far as he knew, nowhere else offers it the way the Keys do. The panel also went through the fish that turn up in Keys kitchens: mutton snapper, triggerfish, cobia, yellowtail and mahi, along with lobster and crab.
One Islamorada address came up with its full history. Schillinger credited the Baxters with starting Marker 88 Restaurant. Bill Baxter and Doris Lidell opened and ran it, Andre Mueller owned it later, and it was then sold to the Stoky family. Stoky dated his own family's Keys restaurant story to 1982, the year his parents took over Señor Frijoles in Key Largo. That is three sets of owners for a single Islamorada dining room.
The Curator's Definition of a Keys Recipe
Restaurant histories account for only part of what the Keys cook. In the Center's November newsletter, Gonyeau says the exhibition has shown her that a single "Keys recipe" does not exist:
"Florida Keys food has always been an amalgamation of different influences. Caribbean flavors are an important part of that story, but so are the traditions brought here by later waves of immigrants, snowbirds, visitors, and new residents who made the islands home."
She lists two kinds of dishes. Some depend on what is local, such as freshly caught fish, lobster, stone crab and tropical fruit. Others came from somewhere else and settled in. She gives specific examples of what she would take: a casserole brought down from the Midwest, a grandmother's New England dessert, a Cuban dish passed between neighbors, or the comfort food someone makes for friends after a long day on the water.
That definition makes the exhibition a participatory one. Recipes can be dropped off in person at "From Soil to Sea" or emailed to the curator at curator@keysdiscovery.com, along with the stories behind them. A household that has made the same holiday dish in Islamorada for years has the kind of material she is asking for.
Four Dates at the Center Between Now and December 9
The Center's calendar from mid-November into December keeps returning to the same themes of food, family and the islands' working past. These dates come after this post's publication:
- Wednesday, November 18, 10:30 a.m.: Coffee with the Curator, "Flavor and Family." Gonyeau leads a talk about family recipes and food memories. The series meets on the third Wednesday of each month, and it is open to members and non-members.
- Thursday, November 19, 5:30 p.m.: Book Club. The November book is Rina Bousalis's The Florida Sponge War: Conflict Between Key West and the Gulf Towns. Register with Tara Khan at membership@keysdiscovery.com.
- Monday, December 7, 6–8 p.m.: Holiday Baking Party. This is a Key lime bake-off, described below.
- Wednesday, December 9: Rina Bousalis on the Florida sponge war. The author from the November book club gives a talk in the Center's 2026–27 lecture series. Tickets are $10 and free for members. Lecture nights open the doors at 5 p.m. and start the talk at 6 p.m., with a cash bar and light appetizers. The Islander Resort sponsors the season, with support from Tackle Center of Islamorada.
December 4 on the Great Lawn, Then December 7 at the Center
In early December, the village's main holiday night and the museum's bake-off fall three days apart.
The Islamorada Chamber of Commerce's 22nd Annual Holiday Fest runs Friday, December 4, from 4 to 10 p.m. on the Great Lawn at Founders Park. Chamber President Rob Stober called it "one of the most exciting community events on the calendar." The program on the Chamber's page:
- Snow. Snow blows from a 35-foot holiday tree. Snow Mountain, with 30 tons of snow, is back for its 22nd year, and Snowflake Mountain, made of bubbles for the youngest children, is new this year.
- The parade at 7:30 p.m. Floats, the CSHS Marching Band, antique cars and Santa on the last float circle the Great Lawn. State Representative Jim Mooney, a lifelong Keys resident and former Islamorada mayor, leads as Grand Marshal. Entry is free, and awards go to first, second and third place.
- Stage events. Photos with Santa, live holiday performances, the Mister Gingerbread Man and Miss Sugarplum Fairy contests and the Santa Paws Pet Parade.
- The Holiday Bazaar. More than 60 local artists each turn a blank ceramic mold into an ornament for an online auction. Bidding runs from November 29 at 12:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. on festival night, and part of the proceeds goes to the local arts community.
- Food. The Publix Holiday Sweet Shoppe returns, and local vendors sell savory food through the evening.
Parade entries and volunteers can contact the Chamber at 305-664-4503 or stop by the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center at MM 87, bayside.
Three days later, the Center holds its Holiday Baking Party. The call is for Key lime desserts of any kind: a well-made meringue, a new version of the classic, cookies, bars, cupcakes or something new. Entering a recipe costs $10, and attending is free. That puts the October panel's meringue-versus-whipped-cream argument in front of a room of home bakers, at the museum that is collecting the recipes. For details, contact Gonyeau at curator@keysdiscovery.com or Tara at membership@keysdiscovery.com.
Visiting the Exhibition
The Florida Keys History & Discovery Center is at 82100 Overseas Highway, on the Islander Resort property. According to the Center's visit page, it is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed Mondays. General admission is $15. Visitors 55 and older pay $12.50, students pay $6, and Museums for All cardholders pay $3. Active military, Center members and NARM members get in free. "From Soil to Sea" stays up through February 28, 2027, so there is time after the holidays to see what other households contributed.
At Ocean Sotheby's International Realty, we follow Islamorada through events like these, when residents add their own history to the village's record. If your home has hosted holiday dinners and Key lime pies for years and you're wondering what it's worth now, we'll start with a conversation and a thoughtful Home Valuation.
