Douglas Rodriguez

Hennessy Celebrates Latin Music, Culture With Help From Artist Miguel Paredes and Chef Douglas Rodriguez

Before Miami native Chef Douglas Rodriguez became the "Godfather of nuevo Latino cuisine," he was a young chef working on Lincoln Road looking for a dedicated sous chef. Luckily, an aspiring artist named Miguel Paredes happened to know a thing or two about cooking. The two not only worked together, ... More >>

Best Chefs in America: A Peer Review For Chefs Names Miami's Finest Toques

There's nothing new about peer reviews. Many professions, most notably attorneys, scientists and physicians, frequently evaluate their peers in an effort to maintain a standard level of competence and acknowledge outstanding members of their field. With the publication of Best Chefs America, add che ... More >>

Miami's Best Eats and Drinks This Weekend

Let's face the facts: This is the last weekend to cram everything in before some of us go into "Basel Hibernation" and before some of us turn into Basel Butterflies. Miami's art scene is already beginning to burst at the lady seams all over the Wynwood, Design District and South Beach parts of tow ... More >>

Four Restaurants That Dish for a Cause

Restaurants have always been part of a community's charitable scene, usually by either hosting fundraisers or donating gift certificates to be used in charity auctions. But we've been seeing a new wave of philanthropy in restaurants that we hope to see much more of. Restaurants have been increasingl ... More >>

James Beard Awards Screw Latino Workers

Last night, as many of our loyal readers watched NBC's The Voice, ABC's Dancing with the Stars, and Travel Channel's No Reservations, a bit of virtual battle was taking place on Twitter. Perhaps a few (likely from the culinary industry) tuned into the live webcast of the James Beard Foundation award ... More >>

SoBeWFF: Miami Chefs Talk About Their Favorite Events

​Chefs are busy people. When the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival comes to town, many of them are even busier than usual. Poor, poor chefs: They're either working so hard at the festival or working so hard because of all the extra foodies in town for the festival that they don't g ... More >>

What Bernstein, D-Rod, Reidt, and Other Chefs Want For Christmas

The Gastrovac. David, take note.There are thousands of comestibles and cooking gadgets on the market, but you would think most chefs have just about every conceivable piece of equipment they might possibly want -- and we know they have access to all sorts of foods. But it turns out that there are va ... More >>

Meet The Chefs South Of Fifth at James Beard Scholarship Fund Dinner (Photos)

​More than 100 people at Red The Steakhouse were treated to a six-course meal (not including passed Hors d'oeuvres and Prosecco) at a dinner to benefit The James Beard Scholarship Fund.The theme of the dinner was Meet The Chefs South of Fifth, a tribute to the fact that SoFi has become a central h ... More >>

Eat Red for a Good Cause

Tapas Everywhere

John Richards, Miami Culinary Institute director, talks turkey

Miami Culinary Institute Is New Breeding Ground for Talented Cooks

Photo by Jackie Sayet​The Miami Culinary Institute, the culinary arts school of Miami Dade College, celebrated the opening of its 34,000-square-foot green building April 14. The school, which took its first group of students in January, will try to change culinary education by training students to ... More >>

Special Prix Fixe: Botran Rum Menu at De Rodriguez Cuba on Ocean Through April 15

Florida lobster ceviche with local heirloom tomatoes and avocado, topped with stone crab mustard and Botran Rum ice cream.​Riding the momentum of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, De Rodriguez Cuba on Ocean (inside the Hilton Bentley) and Botran Rum is offering a special rum-tastic prix fi ... More >>

OLA's Polished Staff and Artful Ceviche Shine

John ZurCeviche at OLA.​Tucked away inside the Sanctuary Hotel in Miami Beach, OLA is tidy in name, appearance, and cuisine. Chef and owner Douglas Rodriguez, or "El Jefe" as the menu refers to him, oversees the menu with executive chef Horacio Rivadero, who kindly came out of the kitchen and invi ... More >>

Cornucopia Utopia

De Rodriguez Ocean Grand Opening

David Samayoa​Friday was the grand opening celebration for Douglas Rodriguez's new restaurant at the Hilton Bentley Hotel in South Beach. Party-goers gathered around the poolside terrace. Douglas Rodriguez doppelgangers, clad smartly in beige and black hats, served mojitos and platters of appetize ... More >>

Wine Over Miami, Where Wine Doth Taken Over

​Forget about that full-body cleanse. It seems as though wine has just taken over the city this week. Miami plays host to a number of wino-centric events open to both trade and consumers. If you love Spanish wines, jump on the wine train Wednesday, October 13 at the Great Match at the Biltmore Hot ... More >>

Douglas Rodriguez, Jonathan Eismann, Andrea Randazzo to Compete in Ceviche Throwdown for Gulf Fishermen

Courtesy of Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill and South Florida Foodies​Miami's First Annual Ceviche Throwdown is Sunday, October 17, from 3 to 6 p.m. Participating chefs include Timon Balloo (Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill), Clay Conley (formerly of Azul), Jonathan Eismann (Fin), Douglas Rodriguez (Ocean/De Rodri ... More >>

Short Order Awards 2010 Nominees Are In... Vote Now!

​Last month, we revealed that at this year's Iron Fork event on October 21 we'd be handing out our first ever Short Order awards. While Best of Miami is picked by an ominous "editorial board," the blog awards work a little differently. We asked a group of local chefs, food bloggers, and our own Sh ... More >>

Steve Roitstein from Palo! Seen Eating... A Juban Sandwich

Trina SargalskiPalo! at Fall for the Arts festival in September 2010​Scene Eating is a new Short Order interview column. We'll provide a glimpse into the food habits of our community, focusing on people who make living in Miami more interesting, sane, and worthwhile. If you're curious about the fo ... More >>

New Times Iron Fork Returns October 21 at Grand Central

​The first  two years were sell-outs. This year, Iron Fork will be bigger and better. New Times' massive culinary event returns for a third time, taking over the downtown event space/nightclub Grand Central on October 21. Last year's winner John Critchley (Area 31) will fight to hold onto his ... More >>

Cookbook: Nuevo Latino

​I received this copy of Nuevo Latino, which was first published in 1995, when I visited Douglas Rodriguez's former Aqualina restaurant in the San Juan Hotel, Puerto Rico. It was a press junket, and I got the book for free -- price says $29.95. The 168-pager has lots of Rodriguez's signature recip ... More >>

Oil Spill Reactions From Miami Seafood Chefs and Owners

via U.S. Coast Guard​A shark can smell a single drop of blood in one million drops of water.Twenty-nine days later, and oil continues to flow from a hole 5,000 feet below the ocean's surface. BP's actions continue to threaten the Gulf and maybe the Atlantic's commercial fishing industry. Today, th ... More >>

D. Rodriguez Cuba opens at Hotel Astor

Interview: Chef Doug Rodriguez Gets The 10

Chef Doug Rodriguez​Oft labeled the "Godfather of Nuevo Latino," bestselling author and Chef Douglas Rodriguez has also been heaped with praise by Newsweek and Zagat, among others. But folks 'round here mostly just know him as "That guy who takes the flavors of Latin America and whips them up into ... More >>

Chef Douglas Rodriguez Speaks: Will Return to His Roots with New Upscale Cuban Restaurant at the Hotel Astor

Marsha TalianoffBack in the day is coming back. That's Rodriguez on the far left.​Although he calls Miami his home, we don't often hear much about what Chef Douglas Rodriguez is up to locally.  Sure, he still owns and operates OLA in the Sanctuary Hotel (among other restaurants in Philadelph ... More >>

James Beard Award Winners

Miami didn't bring home any Beards this year. The award for best new restaurant went to Momofuku Ko  in New York, not Miami's Sra. Martinez, edged out by comic value points for the name Momofuku.Best Chef South went to John Currence from City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi. One of the dis ... More >>

OLA At Sanctuary Sommelier Albert Omahen Talks Wine & Food 2009

I cold-called OLA at Sanctuary to find out if they got anything going on for the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival 2009. I spoke to a real cool dude, sommelier Albert Omahen about fish tacos, wine, and the smoker's palette. Here's what he had to say:

James Beard Nominations Confirm Our Secret Crushes

The James Beard Foundation has announced its nominees for the best chefs around the country, and two of our hunky, homegrown hubbas are among this year's picks: Chef Dean James Max (pictured left) of 3030 Ocean, in Fort Lauderdale; and Chef Zach Bell of Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach. It seems as th ... More >>

Rodriguez Steaks His Turf

BEST CHEF

Norman Van Aken

Acropolis Now

Hog Days

Locals love hot pig

More Dancing Than Dining

Mambo 5 gets a little mushy

BEST CEVICHE

OLA

OLA, Que Pasa?

Doug Rodriguez and his brand of Nuevo Latino return to Miami

Side Dish

Douglas Rodriguez to helm at the old 5061 space

Wine Song

Sip among the feathers at the new Parrot Jungle on Watson Island

Recipes for Success III

Finger-Food Good

La Rosa Bakery

Something Nuevo at Yuca

Yuca

Side Dish

Aura's grand opening, again, and a kvetch about bigots

Dish

Cooked Up in Miami

Dish

What's That on Your Plate?

Med Fly in the Ointment

An Embarrassment of Riches

Yuca Look It Up

Nuevo Cuban, Old Faithful

Swelter 26

Maybe the South Beach restaurant boom reflects this region's rich cuisine. Or maybe it's just another get-rich-quick scheme.