Behind The Scenes For SoBe Food Fest Prep

It is early Wednesday morning, and I am standing in a kitchen area in the Miami-Beach Convention Center, watching some 50 FIU students getting to work on food prep for Friday nights’ Perrier-Jouët BubbleQ event at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. I am not the only one looking…

Not-So-High Society

It has been exactly ten years since Sforza Ristorante threw open its big glass doors for the first time at 223 Clematis St. The day Sforza debuted its Italian menu was a milestone in West Palm Beach history — it looked like the sun was finally rising again on a…

Soda Robots To Conquer Beverage Universe

Behold, the future of robotic beverage delivery — Coca-Cola machines that may be able to serve up to 120 different drinks. The technology is being showcased this week at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference in Boca Raton. The machines would replace those 6-8 valve machines that mix…

South Florida Mom Wins Dream Dinners Recipe Contest

Dream Dinners, “the original dinner assembly store,” is a company with franchises in 31 states that has appeared on the Dr. Phil show, in the pages of the New York Times, on Forbes.com and in more momazines than you can shake a spatula at. Dream Dinners provides you with the…

Feeling Slightly Less Welcome at Moe’s

One of the great joys of my otherwise joyless life is to stride through the front door of a certain local franchise of an Atlanta-based Mexican fast food restaurant chain and be showered with warm greetings: “Welcome to Moe’s!” they ring out in near-unison.And it’s not because I’m special. The…

Wood Burning Grill at YOLO in Downtown Ft. Lauderdale

The YOLO Grill from Miami New Times on Vimeo.I recently spent a couple hours shooting the kitchen at YOLO (You Only Live Once) in downtown Ft, Lauderdale. It’s a real classy joint serving simple American food cooked in a high quality manner using fine ingredients. Check out this grill video…

Two Slow Food Event Reminders

Tonight (Tuesday Feb. 17) from 5:30 to 7:30, Chef Michael Wagner and Slow Foods Glades to Coast team up for A Slow Winter’s Night at Lola’s on Harrison, where they’ll be hosting a mini mixology workshop (and yes, you get to drink the exhibits). Wagner and his team will be…

How Sweet It Isn’t: The Splenda Controversy

If you’re one of the ten bazilion Americans currently spending your free time glued to this season of The Biggest Loser (I confess! I’m right there with you!) and planning to diet your way through 2009 along with Tara and Filipe (my personal faves), chances are you’ve considered using sugar-free products as…

Best Pizza? Best Burger? Don’t Get Disenfranchised!

We can’t do this alone. This Spring, when we publish our Broward-Palm Beach Best Of issue, we’re going to put our reputation on the line: What’s the most delicious damn burger in Palm Beach and Broward counties? Who twirls the finest pizza crust? Which restaurant just blows all its competition…

An Eco-Friendly Cocktail Menu

The Mandarin Oriental, in tandem with  TRU Organic Spirits, has launched the first “all-organic cocktail menu” in Miami. Two of the tastiest-sounding tipplers are the Mandarin: TRU Organic Vanilla Vodka, organic tangerine juice, brown sugar and a splash of heavy cream (pictured above). And the Basil Melon: TRU Organic Lemon…

Valentine’s Recap in Pictures

Many of you probably spent a romantic Valentine’s Evening at a fine restaurant, supping on foie gras and fine wine. And that’s all good. But here’s an alternate view of Valentine’s Day – a less expensive option for leaner times. This simple meal of salad, cheeses, good olives, fresh bread,…

Impressions of the Delray Beach Garlic Festival

I decided to spend Valentine’s Day – at least the day part of it – at the Delray Beach Garlic Festival, a weekend-long ode to the clove going down at Old School Square. The fest had a lot going on: there were vendors aplenty, hocking garlic-based sauces, dips, spreads, and…

Best Of Readers’ Poll: Best Restaurant in Broward

We need some help here, folks. So many great restaurants, so little time. From the tiny corner bistro where you’ve been a regular for years to the splashy newcomer cheffed by a big name, Broward County can grapple with the big guys when it comes to fine dining. So what’s…

Best Of Readers’ Poll: Best Restaurant in Palm Beach

Palm Beach County has gone through one of the biggest restaurant booms in the U.S. lately: We’re finally on the culinary map. From the tiny corner bistro where you’ve been a regular for years to the splashy newcomer cheffed by a big name, Palm Beach has enough good restaurants to…

Buffalo Wild Wings Giveaway – Free Wings For A Year

Chicken Wings are to food what guitars are to rock and roll, essential; and there’s no shortage of eateries serving up these fine morsels of fried poultry flesh in South Florida, but there is definitely a shortage of establishments giving them away free of charge…

Office Food Thieves Beware the Anti-Theft Lunch Bag

Long-time readers of Short Order may remember that the New Times offices weren’t always a safe and happy place. There was a time long ago when terror stalked our cubicles — when unsuspecting men and women fell pray to evil. I’m talking, of course, about the Shrimp Bandit: a fishy…

Valentine’s Elixir

Expecting oysters, foie gras, and caviar to carry you to Valentine’s Day ecstasy is like waiting for Santa to come down the chimney on Christmas Eve. Worse: If you’re not used to eating these rich, luxe comestibles, you may find them working their way through your gastrointestinal tract faster than…

Best Of Readers’ Poll: Best Pizza

No single foodstuff has been fought over with the fervor of of the simple tomato pie. Everybody’s got an opinion, and our guess is you’re no exception. Whether you like the fat, doughy Chicago pie, the New York-style thin crust (soft enough to fold in the middle), one of the…

Behind the Line at Chef Allen’s

Chef Allen Susser of Chef Allen’s restaurant is a culinary pioneer, a renowned restaurateur and a cool dude. I recently spent several hours in the kitchen of Chef Allen’s restaurant in Aventura. I arrived at four, was provided with a chef jacket and promptly put to work. This was a…

Culinary Convenience South Florida’s Mobile Restaurant Supplier

I met Aaron J. Michaels in the back alley behind Pacific Time when his Culinary Convenience truck showed up, parked and invited the kitchen staff in to sample his wares. Culinary Convenience offers a truly mobile shopping experience. Let me reiterate, this guy has an uncramped, walk-in store built in…

Sage Bistro in Hollywood pulls off two concepts at once.

Island Creek. Barron Point. Fanny Bay. The names sound like marine vistas framed by picture windows: cold, fresh waterscapes that have never seen an oil spill or a toxic dump. But they’re real places — in Massachusetts, in Washington State, in British Columbia. And the oysters harvested there share their…

Introducing Meghan “The Forager” Tanner, Organics Dealer

Meghan “The Forager” Tanner is a South Florida organics dealer. She provides the freshest produce and ingredients, local, exotic and otherwise, to forward thinking, quality-minded chefs. She’s an Allapattah-market mainstay, a Homestead hustler, a Redland raider, a South Dade trafficker pushing heavy weight up the interstate. I recently rode out…