I’m Eating What?! Brown Raisin Bread in a Can

We’ve learned to swallow juice from a pouch, wine from a box, and even yogurt from a bag, but is there really any reason to get our bread from a can?B&M’s Brown Bread — we tried the raisin variety — undoubtedly can outlast the shelf life of any loaf sheathed…

Michelle Bernstein on Top Chef Last Night

South Florida’s own Michelle Bernstein made an appearance as guest judge on Top Chef last night in what turned out to be an interesting episode. The program may have also revealed a little bit of a chef rivalry between Miami-based chef-testant Andrea Curto Randazzo and Bernstein herself.It all started with…

Squat-N-Gobble on the Paul and Young Ron Show

Jamie, chef/owner of underground restaurant Squat-N-Gobble, appeared Wednesday and Thursday morning on the Paul and Young Ron Show. The show brought me on a few weeks ago to talk about the phenomenon of rogue restaurants after I wrote this article.For the unfamiliar, a rogue restaurant is a word-of-mouth eatery typically…

What’s Your Ideal Hamburger?

One of my friends — we’ll call him the esteemed Dr. Niles — recently posted a question on Facebook that had a bunch of people talking. The question goes, “your ideal hamburger… what’s on it? how’s it cooked? bun type?… go!!”Naturally, few can resist this type of inquiry. What is…

Via Luna in Fort Lauderdale: Order Up

This week in Dish, we review Via Luna, the high-end Italian joint in the Ritz-Carlton on Fort Lauderdale beach. Via Luna replaced the much-loved Cero after the Ritz bought the place. The hotel chain brought in a classically trained chef, which sounds promising, but saddled him with an Italian menu…

Alternative Eating With Wild Alaskan Salmon Burgers

The life of a restaurant critic isn’t always healthy. And lately, I’ve been feeling the effects of a rather luxurious diet. A couple of weeks ago, I came down with a case of food poisoning so severe it knocked me flat out for four days. And just a week before…

Woes Continue at the Village at Gulfstream Park

The Village at Gulfstream Park, a massive, billion-dollar outdoor shopping mall adjoined to the Gulfstream Race Track, is struggling in the summer heat, at least according to this article from the Sun-Sentinel. The story, which cites intense heat and the economy as contributing factors in the mall’s troubles, comes hot…

$10 Lunch: Cielito Lindo

The deal: This long-standing restaurant serves Tex-Mex-inspired dishes in a quaint setting that looks like a Mexican cottage. It’s named after a classic Mexican tune played by Mariachi bands and not the famous Los Angeles restaurant. The Lighthouse Point location is now closed, but this Cielito Lindo on 44th St…

Guess Where I’m Eating?

Here’s a clue — this shot was taken at a restaurant located in a strip mall. Does that narrow it down a bit? It’s in Broward County. From the photo, it’s pretty obvious what kind of food is served here.  Click on the jump to see a larger image. …

Hot Dogs! Getcher Haute Dogs!

When is a hot dog a haute dog?   When it’s a Snake River Farms Kobe hot dog, that’s when.  This ain’t your granddaddy’s tube of vigorously emulsified petroleum binding polymers but a big, thick cylinder of rich and meaty-tasting beef. Now, Kobe beef has been the recipient of more hype…

Lightlife Gimme Lean Fake Sausage: A Taste Test

We understand that eating meat is one of the badder things you can do for the planet, what with trees being cut to make way for pastures, cows chewing cud where soybeans could otherwise flourish, and heifer poop emitting methane into the air. While Mama and I haven’t exactly committed…

I’m Eating What?! New Pretzel M&Ms

​They’re a little salty, a little sweet, very crunchy, and just the right size. Yep, the new pretzel M&Ms are winners in our book.Despite the cute illustration of the orange M&M holding an x-ray showing he has a pretzel twist inside, the shape of the core is only a tiny…

Durian: A Fruit So Stinky, It’s Illegal

Over on our sister blog, the Juice, Jeff Stratton recounts how Ahmad Lai Bujang, a 61-year-old Malaysian Parliament member, “was taken to a hospital after he complained of breathlessness and dizziness from gorging himself on durian, a spiky green fruit resembling jackfruit (or a green hedgehog).”As Stratton reports, the politician…

Whole Foods Offers Sustainable Swordfish for Summer

It was less than six months ago that national retailer Target completely ditched farm-raised salmon in favor of the environmentally conscious wild-caught variety. Now Whole Foods is getting in on the action. The national retailer has announced it will carry only Marine Stewardship Council-certified sustainable swordfish from Nova Scotia this…

Tonino Lamborghini Caffe Corsa Closes in Gulfstream Park

Tonino Lamborghini Caffe Corsa, the restaurant named after the son of auto industry icon Ferruccio Lamborghini, has closed its doors for good. The restaurant located in the new, outdoor shopping mall the Village at Gulfstream Park married authentic Italian food with the kind of sleek design the younger Lamborghini is…

Mama Asian Noodle Bar: Awesome Thai Food in Coconut Creek

The menu at Mama Asian Noodle Bar in the Coconut Creek Promenade doesn’t stop at noodles. In fact, the list of Thai-, Chinese-, Japanese-, and Vietnamese-inspired dishes is so extensive that it can be difficult to decide what to order. A recent visit proved as much. I had brought my…

Zed451 Steps Up Its Game

Usually when we bash a restaurant, as we did with a review of Zed451 in November 2008, the place fades into restaurant obscurity and eventually quietly closes. It’s not that restaurant critics have a crystal ball — it’s just that bad restaurants tend to die early deaths. Not so with…

Wine List on an iPad

Diners can search databases of 500-plus bottle list several ways to match wine with meals and avoid intimidation of sommelier.

Mike Testa III, Palm Beach Restaurateur, Dies at 60

Mike (born Michele) Testa III, 60, died July 9 at his home in Bar Harbor, Maine. He was a member of the Testa family whose namesake restaurants have served the Palm Beach and Bar Harbor crowds since 1921. Testa’s, a landmark eatery in Palm Beach, is among the oldest restaurants…