Growing up, I was always a fan of those ubiquitous “best of the year” stories that news outlets put together every December, so I thought it fitting that I give a little something back this year to the thing that has given so much to me through the two-thousand-aughts. Of…
I remember the low point well. Just a few months ago now, it was a slow summer in a notoriously seasonal dining town. But almost every restaurant seemed to be operating in a dimension entirely separate from one crucial element: customers. After tucking in alone to so many plates of…
The most important thing about the holidays next to family? What’s on the table, of course. My family usually starts preparing their holiday meal a day in advance, and this year is no different. We’re going to be doing an Italian-themed Christmas with lasagna, slow-cooked gravy, chicken rollatini stuffed with…
When it comes down to deciding where to go for lunch, I always forget about Fernanda’s International Market on Oakland Park Blvd. and Federal Hwy. But after grabbing this muffuletta sandwich there a week ago, I’ll be sure to keep the place in my rotation from now on. As far…
When I first saw an Idaho Spud bar in a convenience store in Grand Junction, Colorado, I had to try one. The concept was just so old-timey, so quirky and kitschy-cute that I had to have one. On the side of the brown wrapper a tag line was written in…
This week in Dish we walk down memory lane and revisit the crazy year that was 2009. Our year-end wrap up answers the following: What notable newcomers made their way onto South Florida’s eager palates? What restaurants fell victim to the stagnant economy? In 2009, restaurateurs turned to trends to…
If you’re not a subscriber to our weekly Café Bites dining newsletter for Broward and Palm Beach counties, here’s a taste of what you missed this week. Click here to subscribe. One of Broward’s largest and most ambitious dining and entertainment complexes made its debut last week in, yes, Wilton…
About 30 minutes into the challenge, my mouth simply refused to chew any more. The taste of ground beef had become nauseating; the smell of sulfurous eggs and fatty bacon debilitating. Trying to gnaw through the tough, crusty bread was like eating a mildewed sponge. Simply put, my mind –…
Now that we’re enjoying one of our rare cold fronts, you may as well make the most of it by making some wintry, homemade soup. This pumpkin spice soup takes canned pumpkin puree and turns it into an easy, cheap, and tasty meal that will warm you up in this…
What went down on the blog this week:This is what America is all about: Liberty and cheap wine for all.How to bake halibut so delicious and easy, a caveman could do it (damn you, Geico). Lindburger’s is like a family cookout in the backyard, without your dad yelling obscenities at…
UPDATE: These listings are for NYE 2009/2010. To see New Year’s events for NYE 2010/2011see here (Broward) and here (Palm Beach County) I don’t know about you, but I want to ring in the new year in style, guzzling champagne and slurping down caviar like a 19th-century robber baron. Preferably…
A couple of years ago, I went to a Christmas party in New York City. It wasn’t a dinner party, but more of a “stand around and chat while you swirl wine in a glass and look fancy” kind of deal. I prefer sitting, preferably with my legs up and…
I just couldn’t resist: Since my partner-in-crime is a graduate of the University of Florida and I’m a Seminole to the core, I had to buy Buffalo Bob’s Alligator with Beef stick so I could maw it right before his very eyes. (By some stroke of luck, I found it…
Despite an economy that has many local restaurateurs down to seeds and stems, a second Mustard Seed Bistro has sprouted up in Broward. Tim and Lara Boyd’s original Cooper City Seed now has a sibling in Plantation, taking over the former Grapevine Gourmet space. This new Seed is a more…
Scott Rothstein’s own restaurant ventures with the Bova Group — Bova Prime, the late Bova Ristorante, and what was to be Bova Smoke and Bova @ Casa Casuarina — have to be feeling the sting of the prominent attorney’s downfall. But other restaurants are being affected by the fallout as…
Walk into the men’s room at this South Florida restaurant, and you’ll find a cadre of scantily-dressed women hanging out by the urinals. Some will even by trying to sneak a peek at your naughty bits as you do your business. Talk about an invasion of privacy. This mural is…
Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it’s all about the love of the brew. If you…
• You may have to be Jay-Z to afford a bottle of Cristal, but if you’re one of the lucky guests at the Ireland’s Steakhouse-Roederer Estate dinner at Weston’s Hyatt Regency Bonaventure, you may win a bottle of the 2002 vintage of this acclaimed champagne. The Tuesday, Dec. 22, dinner…
My friends Mike and Tara and I were parked in front of a big bowl of Beachside Grill’s Sunday gravy, each trying to determine how it stacked up against our own version. We worked small bites of the thickly coated rigatoni around our mouths with an almost scientific precision. The…
This Italian coffee shop along Commercial Boulevard serves freshly made panini, tramezzini (tea sandwiches), and salads in addition to a host of daily-baked cookies and confections. The modern space, with white and orange walls and blue tiled countertop, is run by brother-and-sister team Anna and Leo DeVincentis and Anna’s husband,…
Cook your way around the country without ever leaving Hollywood at the “regional American cooking series” at Michael Wagner’s witty contemporary American Lola’s on Harrison.The third in the six-part series features the cuisines of the Gulf Coast–Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi (Florida will get its own session later)–and takes place at…
