Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, a national chain with a local branch in Coral Gables, has come up with an innovative idea: A Web site that takes viewers on a virtual tour of five esteemed vineyards that provide the restaurant with some of its exceptional wines. The voyage is…
Most of us will put up with a lot so long as we’re well entertained. And reasonably fed. Just give us our bread and circuses — and “Mitt Romney” could be the name of an exotic entrée for all we care. It wasn’t only the Roman hoi polloi who were…
You think it’s all fun and games being a food critic, dontcha? “Oooooh, you’re so luuucky,” perfect strangers purr when they hear what I do. “I wish I had your job.” I have news: If you had my job, you’d be 15 pounds fatter and your cholesterol would be off…
Who ever heard of a vegetable oil-aholic? “We have a saying in our company: “Our competitors are our friends. Our customers are the enemy.” — A comment made in the early 1990s by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)’s then-president James Randall, as quoted in Fast Food Nation The Archer Daniels Midland…
Kevin McCarthy is sautéing chocolate-coated scallops. It sounds as if one of our favorite chefs has wandered into some gustatory la-la land, a Ferran Adrià/Wylie Dufresne-inspired nightmare territory where oyster sorbets topped with mudwort foams are already passé. Or maybe he’s working on something more sinister: a killer aphrodisiac? Not…
Perhaps you’ve read recent announcements concerning Paula Deen’s Poker Party, Emeril’s Sugar Shack Dessert Party, and other attractions that have been scheduled for this season’s Southern Wine and Spirits and FIU’s 2008 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. New Times has uncovered some other, as yet unconfirmed events…
Let’s begin with an easy question: A triangular-shaped sheath of pink-tinted plexiglas arrives in the mail. It is an invitation bearing engraved party details that trumpet an extravagant opening night party honoring the arrival of the latest, greatest restaurant: Cocktail reception at 7:30 p.m. (spirits provided by the latest, greatest…
Looks like they had it right. The French. About Iraq, that is. Notwithstanding their new President Sarkozy, who seems to have all the rigorous intellectual sophistication of George Bush the Younger (Work harder! Think less! Speak English!), it appears that a culture built upon centuries of deep rumination and political-social-philosophical…
Looks good. What are the other customers going to eat? Dear Krispy Kreme, When we first met, I was still so young. My metabolism posed no threat to our hot and steamy trysts. Everything was all so fresh and new. I admit, I got a little obsessed. Not in a…
Who you callin’ Fatburger? A contemporary Asian fusion restaurant is going to debut down the street from Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District. Chef will be Timon Balloo, who has worked locally at Chef Allen’s, Azul at the Mandarin Oriental, and La Broche (in fact he spent…
Pieter and Ineke Both of Indomania, which only started up on the Beach a few months ago, will be closing shop and taking August off so they can return to Amsterdam — jeez, these Dutch people are lazier than the French! They say it’s to see family and look for…
In every critic’s life a moment emerges when she realizes that her carefully refined opinions — judicious and elegant as they may be — aren’t worth doo-doo. The revelation hits with the force of a piano shoved off a third-floor balcony; you look down at those shiny, grand preconceptions in…
The sixth annual Miami Spice restaurant promotion deal kicks in on August 1st and continues through September. This season brings more than eighty participants, each of which will be offering special three-course prixe fixe lunch menus for $22, dinners for $35. Be discriminating with your selections — my guess is…
John Lucente, chef de cuisine at Touch Restaurant and Lounge for the past three years, has been battling cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. To help, Touch is hosting a fundraising dinner, “Touched By John,” on Sunday, July 29th, at 7:00 p.m. All profits will go to…
It’s between the Pringles and the Hawaiian Punch How else to interpret the sight of sushi being sold at Walgreen’s? For those who think this signals the raw fish craze has jumped the shark — sorry, but that happened years ago, when Publix and Costco started hawking it. Like the…
I’m not the kind of customer — being half-blind and chronically underdressed — that the St. Regis Resort would cultivate if it had a choice. The new Starwood Hotels enterprise has been open for business a couple of months now on Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, a monument of swank that…
A disheartening email arrived at New Times this week, in which a reader informed us that Armando Alfano of Soya & Pomodoro was closing his hip, informal downtown Italian eatery and moving back to Italy. Thankfully the news isn’t true. Mr. Alfano considered doing so for personal reasons, but assures…
Hi Lee: Long time reader, first time writer. Any chance there is a good Korean Fried Chicken place in Miami? I hope you have a suggestion. Thanks and happy eating, Sarah in South Miami Sarah– I called the three Korean places that I know of: Myung Ga Tofu and BBQ,…
Great post on local fruit, but my question is, and it’s one I’ve been asking for a while, how do locals get a hold of local fruit? I’ve heard in other cities they have these things called farmers markets where local farmers gather in an urban setting and sell their…
Lee, Do you know if Crabby’s Smoke House BBQ and Seafood are still open? I have heard conflicting reports Ani Corbett Orlando Florida Ani, I had assumed that Crabby’s was very much still going strong, but after reading your email I tried calling and, sure enough, the phone has been…
In response to my recent blog concerning rumors of trouble at David Bouley’s Evolution, Nicole Eldridge, Director of Special Events there, sent me the following email. I will only add that I believe her, and am more than happy to squelch the rumor once and for all. –Lee Klein Dear…
I grew up with a good friend, Frank, whose family was from Iran. We were inseparable. Whenever we had time off from school I´d spend entire days at his house listening to Cobain and Hendrix, playing Nintendo, and eating the incredible Persian food his mother prepared. When you´re young just…
