Email Author Pamela Robin Brandt

2005 Stories by Pamela Robin Brandt

• As Italian as a Caesar Salad

  published December 22, 2005

  When in Rome, fourth-century Italian Saint Ambrose advised Saint Augustine, do as the Romans do. In terms of food, that would mean eating... More >>

• When Worlds Collide

  published December 8, 2005

  "Ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself" — at least according to the lyrics of Rick Nelson's 1972 song "Garden Party."... More >>

• This Kosher Carrot Kicks Ass

  published November 17, 2005

  Have you ever eaten at a restaurant where a new convert to healthy eating plunks an unadorned ear of corn on your plate, raving about how much... More >>

• Oriental Treasure Trove

  published November 3, 2005

  Northeast 167th Street may not be a walkable strip like New York's Mott Street, but with more than a dozen Asian restaurants and grocery stores,... More >>

• Authentically Average

  published October 20, 2005

  No average diner would ever mistake the traditional dishes of Denmark for those of France, or confuse Japanese cuisine with Indian. Much more... More >>

• Reinventing a Classic

  published October 6, 2005

  In the early Nineties, before South Beach rents became terminally stratospheric, there was no lack of fun-fueled, reasonably priced neighborhood... More >>

• A Meal Any Which Way -- Except Late

  published September 22, 2005

  If a restaurant closes at 8:30 p.m., one counts on being able to walk in and order food until 8:30 p.m. At Miami Juice, diners with such... More >>

• Moshi Moshi, Oishi

  published September 8, 2005

  In a town where sushi bars are as common as crooked politicians, it's hard to get excited about another one. This is especially true when the... More >>

• Where the Green Things Are

  published August 11, 2005

  This is the motto at Giardino Gourmet Salads: "Real, simple food." That, however, makes the place sound a lot simpler than it is. With the... More >>

• Swamp Chomp

  published July 28, 2005

  It's more than just a little bit unusual for a restaurant's grand opening to be announced by a banner that trumpets not only the date it commences... More >>

• The Freshest of Fish

  published July 14, 2005

  If I had to choose one nation as my favorite food source, it would be China. Over the years and around the world, I've found a reliable indicator... More >>

• In Wine There Is Truth

  published June 30, 2005

  A house alone is not a home, according to the saying. For that transformation to happen, a building needs life. And for the same reason, neither... More >>

• When Being in the Dawg House Is a Treat

  published June 16, 2005

  Our life is frittered away by detail ... simplify, simplify,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden. But that was more than 150 years ago, a tim... More >>

• Flavors of France

  published June 9, 2005

  Since biblical times, bread has been referred to as the staff of life. According to Psalm 104, bread "strengthens man's heart." Although my... More >>

• At Home on the Boulevard

  published May 5, 2005

  To someone accustomed to urban walking neighborhoods like Manhattan or South Beach, the prospect of living in Miami's Upper Eastside has... More >>

• Dreaming of Diners

  published April 28, 2005

  Among life's eternal mysteries is this: Why are turkey dinners served only twice annually, at two holidays not even a month apart? Another is... More >>

• Fancying Filipino

  published April 14, 2005

  Of all Asian cuisines, one of the most difficult to find well represented in the U.S. -- to find at all, actually -- is that of the Philippines.... More >>

• The Cuban Conundrum

  published April 7, 2005

  No one should know more about preparing great seafood than people who live surrounded by the sea, on an island, like Cuba. And in fact I've had... More >>

• Mixed Asian, Mixed Results

  published March 17, 2005

  It's only a block west of Brickell Avenue's glitzy skyscrapers, but the strip of old-fashioned storefronts that houses Indochine has,... More >>

• Fresh Seafood Minus the Sea

  published March 10, 2005

  There are a few types of restaurants that are virtually impossible to find here in Miami-Dade County, including: (1) a Chinese restaurant... More >>

• Bavaria Beckons

  published March 3, 2005

  The problem with Christmas, it has always seemed to me, is that once it's over people seem compelled to take down the decorations. Is it some... More >>

• Surviving the Jinx

  published February 17, 2005

  It was literally only days after Lime Fresh opened last spring that people began asking me what I knew about it. This was surprising for a number... More >>

• Masterful Thai

  published February 10, 2005

  For lovers of authentic Southeast Asian cooking, discovering that Vatcharin Bhumichtir is chef at a neighborhood Thai restaurant in North Beach is... More >>

• The Taste of Lebanon

  published February 3, 2005

  For people born toward the end of Twentieth Century, who are familiar with Lebanon mainly through horrific photographs of wartime Beirut's... More >>

• Time Wasted

  published January 27, 2005

  Most restaurant reviews take no more than a couple of weeks to complete, even here at New Times, where the (responsible) policy is for... More >>