Many restaurants are like adolescents — they suffer from identity crises. Who am I? Do others see the “real” me or just what I present outwardly? And while we’re at it, who am I going to be when I grow up?Nevis, in these terms, is clearly a budding teen. The…
Curses on the foodie(s) who came up with the term Mediterranean cuisine. The tag sounds specific, as if this type of fare could be neatly identified and pigeonholed. But the label is actually nebulous, since it takes into account all the regions of southern Europe, northern Africa, and various other…
The jungle is one of those settings that’s easy to romanticize. Huge shade trees, filtered light, mysterious but musical animal calls — sounds appealing, right? And we have plenty of examples to aid us in our rose-colored visions. There’s the jungle in Romancing the Stone, where Kathleen Turner and Michael…
In the ’80s and early ’90s, when restaurants finally acknowledged that food-savvy diners were as interested in process as in product, many fine establishments did something about it: They installed a table in the kitchen. This way patrons could stare fascinated at the chef even as they supped on his…
A few weeks ago, the proprietors of a restaurant that I had negatively reviewed published their displeasure in our Letters to the Editor section. That’s fine with me — everyone should be able to express his opinion, not just me, and besides, I had the chance to respond formally to…
Zemi. 5050 Town Center Cir., Boca Raton, 561-391-7177. Lunch daily from 11:30 a.m. till 2:30 p.m. Dinner nightly from 6 till 11 p.m.
Readers with ravenous appetites, fair warning: This article is about crepes. By definition crepes are lacy pancakes, sometimes stuffed with savory or sweet fillings, sometimes left mostly plain and just sprinkled with sugar. They can be a good snack — in France, in fact, crepes are considered street food, much…
Take it from me: Never, ever treat a two-year-old to dinner in a restaurant. Amid the whining, the curiosity about the surroundings, and the shouts of “I do it!” as the glass of milk tumbles to the floor, you’re lucky if you get a bite in edgewise. Of course, if…
I recently had an interesting conversation about Mexican vino with wine guru Fred Tasker of The Miami Herald. He told me that, up in the Sierra Madre mountains, a group of winemakers is beginning to turn out some very drinkable vintages. The vintners, who are of Spanish descent, have the…
A great restaurant, like love and immortality, is one of those things that money just can’t buy. Then again, witnessing the winter/spring couples cooing around Palm Beach leads me to believe that maybe money can buy love, but I’m still pretty sure it can’t buy a great restaurant. That doesn’t…
You won’t find anything resembling a hobo’s fish joint at Hobo’s Fish Joint in Coral Springs. For one thing, hoboes traditionally hang out around railroad depots, not strip malls. They have also, throughout their colorful history, tended to avoid handsomely designed restaurants with cherry-wood floors, warm mahogany highlights, and two…
If you’re thinking about opening (a) an Italian restaurant or (b) a steak house, you’d better come up with an original idea. These days we’re so overrun with both kinds of eateries that neither is appealing, either to the restaurant critics who have to describe them or to the dining…
When I was a waitress, I used to look for fast-paced, exciting restaurants in which to work. I wanted lots of tables, quick turnovers, and plenty of action. In short I wanted to be busy all the time so I could feel pleasantly exhausted at the end of the night…
Like cooking styles and ethnic cuisines, meals tend to go in and out of fashion. In the ’70s, ladies did lunch. In the ’80s, power breakfasts were the all-important yuppie thing. And the ’90s saw a return to fine, late-night dining. So what can we expect from the new millennium?…
As a restaurant critic for both New Times Broward•Palm Beach (BPB) and Miami New Times, I’m often asked how the restaurants in the two territories compare, and which I like better. I used to be able to sum it up easily. It all came down to service. Both regions had…
If you’ve been reading the newspapers, you’ve probably assumed that restaurateur Dennis Max has been taking a beating. His private life looks to be a shambles — wife Patty departed after catching him cheating on her one too many times. Word is Patty got a hefty settlement because of a…
My parents, who love Italian food, went to try a new place they’d heard about in New Jersey, close to where they live. The pasta and meat dishes were fantastic, they were told, and best of all, the place was often featured in HBO’s Mob soap opera The Sopranos. My…
Aside from left to right and up to down, when it comes to reading menus and deciding what you want to eat in a restaurant, you have two choices. You can set your mind before you even glance at the bill of fare, going on what type of cuisine the…
I write a lot about what diners should and can expect from restaurants. Most of the qualifications are givens: decent fare at reasonable prices in inviting surroundings. And when an eatery fails to live up to my, and subsequently your, expectations, I make sure to let readers (and restaurateurs) know…
Years ago I used to wander into an eclectic shop called the Culinary Bazaar, on Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables. Located next to Caffe Baci, it was the ideal place to wile away a wait for your table (and there was always a wait at Baci). Culinary Bazaar…
When it comes to steak houses, one fact is immutable: The primary focus is beef. Every restaurant has its own way of serving it (à la carte or accompanied by side dishes), its own methods of pricing (inexpensive to horrifyingly exorbitant), and its own ethnic accents (American to French to…
A couple of years ago, the Japanese girl-group Shonen Knife put out a CD called Happy Hour. The disc has several songs about food on it, including “Gyoza,” “Banana Chips,” and “Hot Chocolate,” so of course I bought it. I figured at the least it’d be an amusing dinner-party piece…
