The Center for Science in the Public Interest has just released its report “Xtreme Eating 2009” detailing the nine worst restaurant foods, and three of them, a full one-third, come straight from The Cheesecake Factory. By “worst,” I mean those “appetizers” and entrees that pack the equivalent or more of…
You OK grilling burgers and steaks but still afraid to toast that $22 fillet of fish over open coals? I suffer this complaint myself: My fillets routinely get stuck to the grill and fall into fragments when I try to pry them up; or I get nervous and undercook my…
“A good cup of Creole Coffee! Is there anything in the whole range of food substances to be compared with it? And is there any city in the world where coffee is so delightfully concocted as in New Orleans?” — The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book (1901)…
It’s been nearly a week since I put that bitter melon in my mouth, and I swear I can still taste the damn thing once in a while. Either that or my taste buds are still having nightmares from which I fear they’ll never awake. Seeing that today I have…
I usually don’t pay much attention to anything at Publix. If there are two kinds of people in the world, the glassy-eyed ones that stumble about in grocery stores for hours, and the itchy ones who think five minutes is way too long to spend among shelves of Spaghetti-O’s, class…
We rolled into town like birds of prey and had to be rolled out like over-stuffed roasters. Three friends and myself spent last week devouring our way through the vibrant culinary city of New Orleans. And what a trip it was: we must have ravaged whole sea beds, made scarce…
We’ve all heard a lot lately about “change you can believe in,” but Max’s Grille is delivering spare change you can believe in.The longtime Mizner Park standby, which still dishes better food than 90 percent of its local competition, is offering a three-course meal for only $18 to $26 –…
I had to skip last week’s Cucina Verite because it took me a full 10 days to get through the entirety of Marco Ferreri’s La Grande Bouffe, and frankly, I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. When the film was first shown at Cannes in 1973, Catherine…
“Vegetables are not food. Vegetables are what food eats.” — ? (Not sure who said this)…
As you may have heard, Elwood’s Dixie Bar-B-Q in Delray Beach, the long-running biker-bar/barbecue joint, where Elvis sightings were about as common as the tramp stamps on the shapely behinds of the female patrons — is closing. There are a lot of heartbroken funkabilly and hot sauce lovers wandering around…
Here’s a case where one plus one equals a wine too good to pass up. We’re talking the 2008 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier, a marriage of two under-appreciated grapes made in the Napa Valley and consummated in your mouth. Unlike most marriages, though, it will only set you back 12…
It’s not exactly hard to find a cheap place for breakfast. There are hundreds of chains offering the typical eggs, pig product, and fried potato for a couple of bucks, but they normally come with a much bigger cost. Try eating at a big-time chain or fast-food restaurant for breakfast…
A recent NPR story on regional foods during the Great Depression and the uncompleted WPA “America Eats” project reference Mark Kurlansky’s recently published Food of a Younger Land (“a marvelous goulash of gastronomical oddities and antiques”). Kurlansky has cataloged food-related slang by region, one of which is “New York Soda…
via Will Jog For Food Although Clean Plate Charlie is the only food blog you really need to read daily, some people just can’t get enough. Here are some highlights other food blogs: Summer is just around the corner, and that means unbearable heat. Sounds like a good time to…
Dear Exalted Know it All:A native Floridian told me once that most of the alligator tail sold in Florida restaurants is the throwaway meat from the outsides of the tail. It’s the center tenderloin that the natives eat, he said. So is there anywhere in South Florida that makes an…
Ever notice how restaurant menus are beginning to resemble a politician’s campaign speeches? Lots of buzzwords, catch phrases, empty platitudes — a steaming pile of verbal roughage signifying very little.”Insipid Farms baby greens, picked by virgins at the first breath of springtime, lovingly dressed with balsamic vinegar drawn from ancient…
I’m embarrassed to admit how much I love the silly Polynesian theme park known as Mai-Kai. Thank god they’re finally open again. Not that their oversized tiki cocktails and lobster pango-pango are anything to write home about (although the Mai-Kai’s daily happy hour in the bar, with half price food…
Honestly, you should be all caught up on this by now. It’s been a whole month, plenty of time to read the single greatest food blog in South Florida. But just in case you haven’t been a super-faithful reader, here’s some of the best blogging of May on Clean Plate…
We’re all familiar with the four primary tastes we experience on our tongues: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. Food scientists and restaurant critics desperate for novel terms have also added two more semi-tastes: astringent, and spicy. But a century ago the Japanese identified a fifth primary taste — “umami” –…
