Email Author Bill Citara

2006 Stories by Bill Citara

• Not So Haute Dogs

  published December 28, 2006

  Boring old hot dog — mustard, relish, maybe a little chopped onion. Trendy new haute dog — wasabi mayo, banana chips, avocado.... More >>

• A Smokin' Sanctuary

  published December 14, 2006

  They are the unclean, the defiled. Outcasts. Outlaws. Social pariahs, shunned by the righteous for their apostasy. They're smokers, the only... More >>

• Where Cod Is God

  published November 23, 2006

  It seems Portugal has never quite gotten out of the shadow of its bigger, more renowned, more influential Spanish neighbor. Think Sonoma to Napa,... More >>

• Tasty Crepes

  published November 9, 2006

  The recipe for successful crêpes is easy: eggs, milk, flour, a little butter or oil. Cook in a nonstick skillet or one of those odd-looking... More >>

• Pretty Patties

  published October 26, 2006

  In the beginning, there was the hamburger, a simple round of chopped beef slipped into a soft white bun. And the hamburger begat the cheeseburger,... More >>

• Borderline Mexican

  published October 12, 2006

  It's a corporate world and we just live in it. Art, music, literature, film — not to mention daily minutiae such as toothpaste and... More >>

• Wholesome, Not Horrifying

  published September 21, 2006

  Is there any scarier word on a restaurant menu than healthy? Okay, maybe vegan. "Fat is flavor," chefs say, which is why a... More >>

• Great Bait

  published September 7, 2006

  The first duty of food is to be really delicious." Cindy Pawlcyn, one of my favorite chefs in the Napa Valley, made that statement, and it's... More >>

• Fine Wining

  published August 24, 2006

  We do love our trends here in little old Miami. Unstructured jackets, shoes with no socks? Done that. Velvet ropes, snotty doormen, $300... More >>

• Vin Brule Serves Up a Dilemma

  published August 10, 2006

  So here's my dilemma: I had dinner at Vin Brule the other night. It's a cute little place — cute as a button, in fact — almost at... More >>

• Off the Grille but on the Ball

  published July 20, 2006

  I have seen the future of fast food, and it is in Kendall. Kendall? Are you kidding? Kendall. I am not kidding. The future of fast... More >>

• Think Inside the Box

  published July 6, 2006

  Drive along the turnpike through Homestead and Florida City these days and you cannot help but recall the lyrics to "Little Boxes," Sixties-era... More >>

• Fill 'Er Up on Fine Wine and Tapas

  published June 15, 2006

  Some of the best tapas in Miami can be found at a gas station. "Right," you say. "I want some of what he's been smokin'." My... More >>

• Not So Good Old Days

  published June 8, 2006

  The good old days ain't what they used to be. Take Fox's Sherron Inn. Created in 1946, its scruffy, blue-collar ambiance;... More >>

• The Real Thing

  published May 25, 2006

  If you really want to bitch-slap a restaurateur, taste his food and then say, "It's not authentic." The words should be delivered with an... More >>

• The Bitch of Expectations

  published May 4, 2006

  Expectations are a bitch. Take Creek 28. Before coming to the cozy little restaurant in the off-the-eatin'-path Indian Creek Hotel, chef Kira... More >>

• Love Shak

  published April 20, 2006

  There is something endearing and a little scary about The Bamboo Shak, as if you went to dinner at your neighbor's house and found he had built a... More >>

• Everyone's Favorite

  published March 30, 2006

  Maroosh is the busiest restaurant I've seen that not one person claims to have heard of. On a recent Saturday evening, it was packed tighter... More >>

• Liquid Love

  published March 16, 2006

  You would think a sleek, swank wine bar on South Beach has got to be the House of Pretentious Snobs, with cork dorks noisily proclaiming their... More >>

• Home Cooking

  published March 2, 2006

  The joy associated with home cooking. Picture Mom standing at the stove, stirring a large pot of soup, waiting for Dad's arrival. The kids... More >>

• Old Flame

  published February 9, 2006

  During the era when Og the caveman speared a woolly mammoth, hacked the carcass into chunks, and carried his kill back to Ug and their cave-rats,... More >>

• Minimally Max

  published January 26, 2006

  If great concepts were personified by guacamole, Taco Max would be able to fill Miami City Hall with mashed avocado mixed with cilantro, onions,... More >>

• The Taste of Progress

  published January 5, 2006

  In the old days, prior to the advent of the digital universe and 24/7 shopping, people barely had time after work to run to the store, pick up a... More >>