Weekend Blog Wrap: Recipe Edition

Although Clean Plate Charlie is the only food blog you really need to read daily, some people just can’t get enough. Here are some highlights other food blogs, this time with a focus on recipe-focused blogs:Looking for something to bring to the upcoming Fourth of July party? Try this recipe…

Cue the ‘Cue: The Gardens Hosts Pit Masters

If you’ve made the rounds of all the local barbecue joints and decided you’d rather eat dirt than one more rack of dry, smokeless ribs, desiccated chicken or tough, taste-free brisket, well, for two days at least, you’re in luck.  No, it’s not a dirt cook-off. It’s Grillin’ in the…

City Fish Market Rides the Fresh Fish Wave in Boca

Fish has become the food issue of the decade, as contentious and controversial as farm-raised chicken or foie gras was in the ’90s. The doomsayers claim world fisheries are collapsing; environmentalists wring their hands over the damage done to both the Earth and local economies by shrimp and salmon farms;…

Latin Conga!

El Autentico Sabor de la Comida Dominicana,” reads the menu at this Pompano Beach hole-in-the-wall. And it’s authentic Dominican Republic fare, all right. Homemade specials at Latin Conga! change daily, but once they run out, forget your craving for fried chicken chunks or seafood soup. It pays to show up…

I’m Eating What?! The Wrath of the Chili Raddish

I’m hoping that whole “you can’t judge a book by the cover” thing pans out in this situation, because if it doesn’t, I’ll certainly be sick. As I type, there is a bright-orange package sitting on my desk with a clear window running down the middle. The package has been…

The Office Comes to Delray

The latest episode of The Office doesn’t star Steve Carell but David Manero.  Let me explain. There are actually two Offices: one a TV show that reveals Life In a Cubicle as the mind-numbing, soul-sucking vampire it really is. The other is a coming restaurant from one of South Florida’s…

Weekend Blog Wrap

Although Clean Plate Charlie is the only food blog you really need to read daily, some people just can’t get enough. Here are some highlights other food blogs, this time with a focus on dessert blogs:It’s hard to tell what’s more delicious on Cannelle et Vanille: the recipes or the…

I’m Eating What?!

“It might have some kind of fish in it, but I’m not sure.” Those were the first words out of the boss’ grinning mouth as he handed me a shrink-wrapped styrofoam plate. I’m not exactly an adventurous eater. For instance, I don’t eat things that swim. I’ve always said when…

Where to Buy Local Seafood

In response to last week’s article comparing the dining scenes in Florida and New Orleans – and in particular, the relative lack of fresh, local seafood at affordable restaurants – Clean Plate Charlie received a comment pointing us in the direction of FL-seafood.com, a website created by the “Bureau of…

One Minute Review: Joy Noodles & Rice, West Palm Beach

The well-heeled boomers who live in the swank Mizner mansions behind the new Joy Noodles & Rice are already steering their Benzes and Beemers into Joy’s cramped parking lot for carry-out cartons of Thai noodle soups and Philippine egg rolls; and they probably don’t demand a whole lot in the…

Meals to Get Laid By

I just ran across a whole website devoted to great meals to seduce somebody with, seductionmeals.com. And whaddaya know, there’s a recipe for oyster po’ boy sliders right on the first page (po’ boys are also known as “the peacemaker,” a factoid I’d never heard before. But makes sense, right?…

One Minute Review: Istanbul, Hollywood

Hollywood’s oldest Turkish restaurant, Istanbul, has been in this same dinky location for 19 years, a small room that opens to ocean breezes and classic views of kids flying kites on the beach. And they haven’t changed a thing from the plastic chairs to a menu of kebabs and Turkish…

Weekend Blog Watch

via Cook To Bang… mmmm PoonchiladasAlthough Clean Plate Charlie is the only food blog you really need to read daily, some people just can’t get enough. Here are some highlights other food blogs, this time with a focus on less-local blogs:Serious Eats is a… well a serious food blog. Professional…

A Culinary Tour of New Orleans, Part 2

Picking right back up from yesterday’s post on my weeklong eating adventure in New Orleans, I’m going to talk a little bit about sammiches, a foodstuff that’s well-respected and well-represented in the Crescent City. While some cities can claim to have contributed one sandwich to the national culinary landscape –…

Shining Starr

Here’s what I get for being a snarky little bitch. I get to eat my words, one at a time, sandwiched between rounds of buttery brioche and a layer of juicy Kobe beef, washed down with a designer “Las Olas” martini made of gin, agave, and elderflower liqueur. This all…

Le Petit Pain

Pissed off at Publix? Think you just can’t choke down one more slice of gummy, supermarket-nuked bread? Le Petit Pain in Lantana, run by Gaelle and Thomas Tcherniavsky, a gorgeous, elegant young Parisian couple, turns out a French baguette ($2.25 for a long, thin loaf) unrivaled in all details: a…

CSPI Releases GorgeFest Report

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has just released its report “Xtreme Eating 2009” detailing the nine worst restaurant foods, and three of them, a full one-third, come straight from The Cheesecake Factory. By “worst,” I mean those “appetizers” and entrees that pack the equivalent or more of…

How to Flame a Fish, at City Fish Market, Answered?

You OK grilling burgers and steaks but still afraid to toast that $22 fillet of fish over open coals? I suffer this complaint myself: My fillets routinely get stuck to the grill and fall into fragments when I try to pry them up; or I get nervous and undercook my…