CheeseMe is Obsessively Good, Try This Truck in Pembroke Pines Saturday

CheeseMe’s owner, Andrew Kaplan, loves cheese. In a conversation with Clean Plate Charlie the other day, all roads led to cheese – what cheese shops are good in south Florida (Cheese Course is Kaplan-approved), what possible new cheesy items might make good menu additions (still in the talking stages, dear…

Meet The New New Times Food Critic, Melissa McCart

After going six-plus months without a food critic in-house, New Times has hired a gem: Melissa McCart, who will be leaving Washington, DC to join us. Her resume is nothing shabby. She began her career as a high school English teacher working in New York, Virginia, and even Berlin. Eventually…

Miami Culinary Institute’s New Garden

Looking for a cooking school where you grow what you make? Well, you don’t have to look very far. The grand opening for Miami Culinary Institute’s Culinary Garden will be this Saturday at 10:00 am and is free and open to the public. The garden is situated at the Miami…

Mia’s Grille Makes Boca Debut

Healthy, inexpensive lunch and dinner fare cooked on an oak-fired grill is the deal at the newly opened Mia’s Grille (2399 N. Federal Highway; 561-338-6388) in Boca Raton.  Though it’s the first eatery for chef-owner Mia Cabrera, she’s a 16-year vet of the local restaurant business, last gee emming in…

5 Gummy Worm Cocktails to Celebrate National Gummy Worm Day

You have a secret, a skeleton in your your closet. Brace yourself, you are about to be exposed. You! yes you, love “vintage” candy. What is vintage candy? Like you don’t know! Let’s face it, you’re not getting any younger but we’ll indulge you…just for today. Vintage candy is that…

Five Customers Whom Restaurant Owners Should Ban

Last week, a Clearwater Skyline Chili made headlines when the owner tapped into the post-Casey Anthony verdict fury by banning Pinellas County jurors from his establishment. This week, the Huffington Post reported on McDain’s Restaurant in Monroeville, Pennsylvania,  for banning children younger than 6 from the dining room. If banning…

Maxim Gives Props to Rock n Roll Ribs

Maxim recently loved on the Coral Springs strip-mall destination Rock n Roll Ribs, owned by Iron Maiden drummer Michael Henry “Nicko” McBrain. The 57-year-old rocker from London apparently toured enough in the States that he learned to make a mean barbecue…

Kids in Restaurants: No Problem or No Way?

OK, so maybe you heard about the restaurant in the thriving metropolis of Monroeville, Penn., that beginning yesterday has banned kids younger than age six. For the record, the place is called McDain’s, and it bills itself as a place for “cocktails and casual fine dining.” After looking over the…

Boca’s Piñon Grill: Some of the Dishes Veer into WTF Territory

I have to admit, I’m a huge fan of director David Lynch. His films, from the all-American discomfort of Blue Velvet to the schizophrenic murder mystery Mulholland Dr., are so strange and moody, they’re like nothing else out there. Don’t even get me started on Twin Peaks — his early-’90s…

English Tap & Beer Garden, Part II

The remaking of Todd English’s Wild Olives into the English Tap & Beer Garden (5050 Town Center Circle, 561-544-8000) will be unveiled for all to see this Friday when the upscale, quasi-German “biergarten” opens its doors in the tony Shops at Boca Center.  Taking over the next-door space (the original…

Allen West Serves Burgers at Five Guys on Saturday

Congressman Allen West has done a lot of crazy things in his short political career (and we’re not even talking about policies). He’s been to oh-so-many tea party rallies, went diving with the flag, and has been photographed with both Donald Trump and his hair. But we haven’t seen West flip burgers…..

California Sexist Ad Campaign Says Milk Relieves Demon PMS Symptoms

For centuries, boyfriends have been searching for a cure to rid their nice girlfriends of their PMS-induced demon tendencies every month.Thank goodness the California Milk Processor Board has stepped in to solve the problem! Forget chocolate, back rubs, and bubble baths. If your lady unleashes her inner Diablo when you…

Melting Pot Hosts St. Jude Fondue-raiser at Galleria Dillard’s

Fondue restaurant the Melting Pot is holding a fundraiser this weekend at Dillard’s at the Galleria Mall — and there’s absolutely no cheese involved! The Melting Pot will hold its fifth-annual Really, Really Big Chinese Auction and Really, Really Small, Quiet Auction Fondue-raiser to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital…