Important things to remember during this flu season: Cover your mouth when you cough. Wash your hands often and well. And, as Hippocrates said, “Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal the patient with food.” Clearly, given the violent nature of this year’s virus, that last…
I was attending a Rutz Cellars Chardonnay and Pinot Noir tasting at Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach the other day when talk turned to Palm Beach. Another guest had asked winery owner Keith Rutz where he planned to display his signature wares next, and he mentioned heading to West…
Even in South Florida, it’s possible to have a snowball effect in late fall. Just after Thanksgiving, bunches of family members — a veritable My Big Fat Greek Wedding’s worth — were clamoring for a place to eat. It started with just one or two people, and then the ball…
Selling a specialty item and hoping to make a profit is iffy business. Whether it’s empanadas or egg rolls, Jamaican patties or arepas, chicken wings or gyros, establishing a successful restaurant that revolves around a single dish requires a client base large enough to fill seats every day of the…
If Harpoon Harry’s were a television pilot script and I had to write a tag line to sell it, I’d sum it up with something like this: Mel’s Diner meets the CIA. The CIA, as in the Culinary Institute of America. And Mel’s Diner, of Alice fame. In fact, the…
Yup, it’s the real thing. And it’s really, really good. I was a bit skeptical when I heard that the 18-month-old Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza on South Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale used an authentic coal-burning brick oven to bake its pies. Not too long ago, I learned that in…
The first thing you notice when you pull off North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale into the arched entranceway of Sublime restaurant might not be the enormous spotlighted marquee announcing the place. It might not be the stationary sign, a towering green monstrosity that advertises the restaurant’s “world vegetarian cuisine”…
You think you’ve got job stress? Try this on for size: You work at a Fort Lauderdale sports bar that oozes old South Florida from every warped piece of paneling, it’s game six of the World Series, and your hometown team, conveniently named after the stuffed billfish that is the…
You might be confused about Gotham City. To comic book aficionados, it’s home to Batman; Yankees believe it to be modeled after and therefore a nickname for greater New York City. Shoppers on eBay, however, have bookmarked “Gotham City” as a dependable site for trendy stuff, where proceeds from the…
When I made a reservation for dinner at the Japanese Village Steak House on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, the hostess asked me a question that struck me as peculiar. “Is it a special occasion?” she wanted to know. “Why?” I thought but didn’t say, in return. “Does it…
Jai alai was invented by a bunch of mountain-dwelling Basques back in the 15th century. Though derived from handball, it has more in common with modern-day racquetball — the racquet in this case being a cesta, or curved wicker basket attached to the player’s right arm (this is not a…
Since opening in Aventura’s Loehmann’s Plaza 18 years ago, Chef Allen’s Restaurant has raked in prestigious dining awards the way most of us accumulate bills: rated “best restaurant in South Florida” by Gourmet magazine, voted “best food in Miami” in the 2003 Zagat Guide, winner of Wine Spectator’s Award of…
When creating poetry, scribes often dabble in a technique called “writing off the subject.” This means simply that a poet starts a piece musing about one topic and ends it philosophizing about another. But it’s not deliberately misguiding; it’s a way of freeing the mind. For the truest barometer of…
South Florida has long been considered the test market for the initial models of theme-oriented chain-gang eateries. I’m not sure why — perhaps because land has been traditionally cheaper and more abundant here, giving rise to the large generic shopping plazas that cater to the discretionary funds of the chain…
During my teenage years, I waited on patrons at a gourmet grocery store. The shop featured then-exotic products like caviars, cheeses, and mustards — and was attached to a popular local restaurant. It was the first of its kind in the area. Since then, I have tended to judge every…
In restaurants, mistakes are common. If, as George Eliot noted in the 19th Century, “One can say everything best over a meal,” humble apologies should be graciously accepted at the dinner table. The rule applies not only to diners but to servers, be they family members or waiters in public…
So you think you know all there is to know about Sushi Blues Café? After all, it’s a downtown Hollywood institution. For years, it’s both served the raw fish-loving community and provided soul food — of the live blues and jazz type — to local music buffs. In short, it’s…
One by one, each of my dining companions illuminated the same point: Every entrée we ordered at the seven-month-old Maison Carlos, perched on the eastern end of Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, was plated with identical architecturally composed vegetable and starch. Clearly, they all thought this was something I…
A craving for a good hamburger can be satisfied only by a good hamburger. Window dressing — or garnishes, condiments, and buns — aside, it’s a truth that should be self-evident. In much the same way a dirty pane of chipped glass can hardly provide a picturesque view, a tough…
I had an extremely visceral reaction when I read “Chinese modern: Traditional fare stylish again,” one of the latest stories in Nation’s Restaurant News — I got really, really hungry. I’ve never made a secret out of my love for familiar Chinese dishes such as egg foo yung and lemon…
Thanks to my best friend, the chef at Bizcaya Grill in the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, and my past positions as a waitress in formal dining rooms, this is what I know to be true concerning high-end hotel restaurants: They are part and parcel of a much larger corporation. As such,…
Summertime, and the lobster is easy. Homarus americanus, belonging to the family Nephropidae and commonly called Maine lobster, can be effortlessly found these days in restaurants all over South Florida in sizes ranging from one to ten pounds. And they’re a snap to afford: Market prices reflect a sudden glut…
