After several disappointing experiences, some of which I’ve recounted here, I confess: I’m giving up. I no longer expect food to comfort me. I don’t believe ultra-rich ice cream will soothe me. I can’t see how mashed potatoes will magically make everything all right. Hamburgers the size of my head?…
If there were a checklist for a prototypical raw-bar-and-wings joint, it would probably include all the important elements: TV, domestic beers, giveaways, happy-hour prices. In that regard the four-month-old eatery Planet Krypton Wings and Grille, located on Stirling Road in Davie, fulfills expectations. TV tuned to Monday Night Football? Check…
I suppose it was bound to happen: sushi, sushi everywhere. First it was in Thai restaurants. Then Chinese eateries. Then Vietnamese and Korean places. In the name of appealing to the public, cultures that have traditionally been at odds with the Japanese (such as the Chinese and Korean) as well…
My sister called me the other day with a dilemma. “I don’t know whether to be thin or fat,” she complained. I know it looks funny on paper, but I understood her problem right away. See, my sister lives in Manhattan, and naturally, like every other New Yorker, she’s feeling…
By now it’s a fact of culinary life that South Florida restaurants open in strip malls. None of us really minds anymore. Although locating an eatery in a recessed shopping plaza can be somewhat frustrating when your stomach is growling, we in the culinary community understand that, unless restaurateurs are…
I’ve often been called a proponent of taking kids to restaurants, casual or otherwise, and I suppose I am something of an advocate for teaching our children to become good citizens of the dining community. That said, I have finally found a place where my wee ones will never be…
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t judge a restaurant by its glitches. I judge a restaurant by how it responds to or tries to correct its glitches. Indulge me in a for-instance or two. Several years ago at a popular fine-dining restaurant in southwestern Broward County, my husband and I…
As animals we know instinctively that eating is vital to our existence. Hunger is a primal urge. Without food our bodies can’t sustain themselves. As human beings, however, we may suspect that dining out, as well as writing and reading about it, is somewhat less important. And in the wake…
When I met the man who would become my husband, I gave him the lowdown right off the bat. “I’m always right,” I told him. “If I’m not right, my sister is. And if my sister’s not right, my mother is.” He got the picture: I don’t like to be…
I used to go to Weston the way a tourist goes to Miami. I would stare at the static landscape of this planned city, where phone lines and other technological detritus are buried in order to avoid marring the singular view. I’d marvel at the customs of the locals, especially…
In my next life, I want to be a bigtime football coach in South Florida. Sure, the job has its challenges, but if I can tough out the two-a-days, the media scrutiny, and my players’ nigh-inevitable encounters with the criminal justice system for a couple decades, I’ll get my own…
Ask any restaurateur what the business is really like and you’ll be treated to a litany of common complaints: picky health inspectors, unreliable purveyors, incompetent staff. Query Robert Nguyen and you’ll get a more up-close-and-personal, not to mention illicit, point of view: officials who require payoffs in return for doing…
Imagine walking into a hardware store, asking a clerk to point you in the direction of the hammers, and having him say something like, “Well, I’m not really into hammers. Can I show you something in a wrench?” Or fancy, when shopping for a car, a sales associate who confesses…
The advantages of escaping to resort islands such as Captiva and Sanibel during the unbearable mugginess of summer are numerous. Despite a certain similarity in climate to South Florida, these islands off our state’s southwest coast are home to breezier, easier days and slightly cooler nights. Shelling on the mica-strewn…
It’s about time. Sick of hearing complaints about the poor treatment visitors to South Florida receive everywhere from cabs to cafés, the government of Broward County has teamed up with the hospitality industry to raise the bar. The program, called “SUNsational Service,” employs experts in the field to set standards…
The message was short and to the point: A former colleague, one who had subbed for me while I was on maternity leave, had written to my editor about a great sidewalk pasta place he had found on the Broadwalk at Hollywood beach. He was astonished that I hadn’t yet…
Walt Disney was wrong: It ain’t a small world after all; it’s a supersize one, where you can get anything from a fast-food hamburger to a cup of java to a dry-goods store exaggerated to Honey I Blew Up the Kids proportions. Frankly I like my services scaled down. I’m…
In honor of this stars-and-stripes time of year, I state unequivocally that I often feel lucky to be an American. When I look at the political situation in places like Cuba, I’m thankful that I was born in a country where we get to elect our own morons. When I…
When it comes to receiving even the most constructive criticism from people like me, most restaurateurs have the rule of the three Ds: decry, deny, defend. First vilify the reviewer to anyone who will listen: Oh, that critic has a lousy attitude. I hear she’s a lonely and miserable person…
I’ve always operated on the assumption that it’s easier to dine in the summertime than the winter. After all, high season is over. The tourists are gone, and we locals get to reclaim our restaurants, which means reservations are not a necessity, waits for tables are shorter even in the…
In February, Restaurants & Institutions published a report about the growing popularity of drive-thru dining. “More than eighteen percent of all restaurant dining occasions (both quick- and full-service) involved a drive-thru window in 2000, up four percentage points from 1990, according to NPD Foodservice Information Group, Rosemont, Illinois,” editor Deborah…
This summer is going to be a test of survival for our restaurants. Labor costs have gone up. Food costs have gone up. Utility costs have gone way, way up. What has gone down? Disposable income. So smart restaurateurs, those who have eateries that will make it in the long…
