Dinner in Paradise, a monthly series of charity-driven feasts at Paradise Farms in Homestead, inaugurates its third season this Sunday, December 2nd. Paradise proprietor Gabriele Marewski and Michael Schwartz co-founded the event, which is set outdoors on the farm. “There is something very special about eating great food and drinking…
I’m not bragging, but if it weren’t for me, my parents would never try new food. When I first took them to a Japanese restaurant, Dad squirmed at the sight of raw toro; Mom wondered what reason there could be to eat something rolled in seaweed. Five years later, they…
God bless you, Candida, and your tamales Ah, South Florida in November. The air is finally crisp. The Hurricane sword no longer dangles over our collective head. But best of all, it’s nacatamale season, sucka! I didn’t know it either. I actually found out while trying to hitchhike through Little…
A lot of people congregate at Tequila Ranch, the massive Mexican restaurant at Seminole Paradise, but they’re not flocking there for the guacamole and chips. TR is so relentlessly crowded — no, they don’t take reservations; yes, they hand you a beeper at the door — because it appeals to…
Let me start by stating that I am a fan of Whole Foods Market, and a firm believer in paying more for a tomato that tastes like a tomato. During two recent trips to the new South Miami branch, however, I was surprised to find that a number of items…
You could have knocked me over with a feather. If I hadn’t happened across it accidentally while surfing for Il Bellagio’s phone number, it never would have occurred to me that there could actually be an Internet forum devoted to — I’m not kidding you — kvetching about the goings-on…
We don’t mind celebrating the bounty of the fall harvest; we just don’t want to have to raise, chop, pick, gather, butcher, or forage for it. To say nothing of three full days of mashing, roasting, and baking. That’s why God invented takeout. And it’s why she created women like…
David Bouley’s Evolution closed its’ doors “indefinitely” this past Thursday evening. Sources have it that the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, which had leased the space, evicted the restaurant owners due to a back load of overdue rent payments. Some of Evolution’s purveyors and employees are left holding the bag, too. Mr…
A trio of uniquely themed wine dinners are taking place in area restaurants this coming week. On Tuesday night, beginning at 6:30 p.m., Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar hosts Red Rapture: The All-Red 90+ Wine Dinner. The event highlights five red wines from around the globe that have been…
Critics, including this one, raved about Jeffrey Brana’s clean, fresh cuisine at his short-lived Restaurant Brana in the Gables. Now we’ll get another chance to sample his cooking at The Raleigh Hotel on South Beach, as Brana has been named the property’s new executive chef. His menu should be out…
Stone-crab season in Florida opened to great hoopla three weeks ago. We have five months to chow down as many mustard-dipped forkfuls of claw meat as we can pay for. The game-over bell rings May 15: Then it’s a long, hot, stoneyless summer. Our native crab is one of the…
Samoas save the day (again) Finally, finally, finally: Somebody wanted to interview me. Receiving the request via email was a validation of sorts, a late-in-coming but appreciated recognition of my rightful place among Miami’s elite food critics. Admittedly there were colleagues who attempted to denigrate the honor — it’s astonishing…
I must be the last soul in Fort Lauderdale to suck up a strand of spaghetti at Il Mulino. The joint has been around for two decades, providing heaps of homemade pasta as well as explaining why Tuscans and Milanese are getting as fat as New Brunswickians and Lauderdale Lakers…
Say goodbye to the hot dog cart, Fort Lauderdale. Five years ago, downtown was home to a handful of vendors who slung cased beef on the cheap. I remember one cart at Broward and Federal Highway where you could buy two dogs and a can of soda for $3. Now…
Say cheese! Ink-stained media types mingled over glasses of Cypriot wine at “Bin no. 18 – European Bistro & Wine Bar” the other night. The occasion was a Cyprus Halloumi Dinner hosted by visiting dairy producers such as the Cyprus Dairy Association and Cyprus Association for the Promotion of Milk…
Serve with beans — free, if possible In October, 2003 I wrote a review of Arbetter’s Hot Dogs (8747 SW 40th St.; 305-207-0555) in which I mocked their offer of free baked beans to all customers if and when the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. My point was…
Something is definitely afoot here. We stuck our snout in the air, took a long whooof, and smelled a trend. I’d say this funky perfume resembled a glass of French Bordeaux and seared filet mignon laced with the odor of a corporate kitchen’s deep fryer at the end of a…
Fire it up Every Friday and Saturday, things get ridiculously tasty at the intersection of SW 62nd Avenue and SW 64th Street. The vacant lot behind St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Miami fills with the town’s unsung gourmands. In the distance, a yard full of dudes plays…
Sometimes I wonder if, back in the roaring 1990s, all those black families who lived in shanty shacks and cracker houses and cement block apartments just outside downtown West Palm Beach put a hex on the city when they moved out. They’d been relocated, evicted, or strongly encouraged to sell…
“Asturias is known the world over for its mountains, for its coal mines, for its fabada and its cider.” — writer Mario Vargas Llosa The latter two were on hand for Miamians to sample this past Wednesday at the great Spanish cafe/market/bakeryDelicias de la España (4016 S 57th. Ave., Miami;…
Two restaurants, two shrimp dishes. The first is a tiny, chic, chef-driven bistro in Plantation, effusively praised by local dailies and the Zagat guide, open for dinner only on Friday and Saturday nights. The menu changes weekly, and it can veer toward the unexpected: Caribbean jerk-rubbed thresher shark with coconut…
I’m sitting in Taste of Chicago (1406 N. State Rd. 7, Margate, 954-984-5858) trying to get a handle on my Italian beef sandwich. The staple of street carts and sporting events in the Windy City, this baby is as unwieldy as a squirming infant — and just as big. As…
