Subject: Eating Out

• Brunch Bonanza

  August 27, 2009

• Books & Books Cafe On Lincoln Road in Miami Beach Celebrates 5 Years

  publicity shotBernie Matz with fish and crew.​Books are like glasses, people think they make them look smart. South Beach's version of reading is eating at a book store on Lincoln Road, hence the success of Books & Books Cafe (927 Lincoln Road), now in its fifth year.To celebrate they're offering specials on lunch for $18.09 and dinner for $28.09 through September. Is that special? Sounds expensive to someone who considers sardines and Doritos to be fish-and-chips.The restaurant was probab

  August 26, 2009

• Dinner for 2 at Ariston: $34.95

  Ariston Restaurant, New Times' 2009 winner for Best Greek Restaurant, has just premiered a new set menu that makes it the Least Expensive Greek Restaurant as well. Deal is $34.95 -- for two! -- for a three course meal that includes: Choice of Greek salad, dip of the day with pita bread, or soup; grilled chicken or lamb shish kebab or moussaka or shrimp casserole over rice pilaf; and baklava or tart of the day. Add a glass of beer or house wine for $3.95. Deal is good Monday through Thursday star

  August 27, 2009

• Casale Pizzeria: Only The Privileged May Park Here

  ​Casale Pizzeria is the new, rustic, informal pizza/mozzarella bar/enoteca-type place next door to and owned by the Sardinia folks. Drove over there the other day and shared a lunch of margherita pie and "Argentinean chorizo with three beans salad". The latter was actually a cassoulet of warm, long-cooked beans and a mild chorizo sausage cut in thirds -- not great, and didn't come close to satisfying expectations of a "salad". Pizza was good, the sauce, cheese, and basil nicely proportione

  August 27, 2009

• Get Caught in Charlotte's Web: Chef Elida Villaroel Dishes on Her New Bistro and the Beauty of Imperfection

  Jackie SayetMarie Antoinette's gaze beholds the dining room. Behold, Villaroel's muse?​The question is not, is three Michelin star restaurant-experienced Chef Elida Villaroel ready for Coral Gables, but rather, is Coral Gables ready for her?Pensive and profound, yet uncomplicated.  Calculated with a penchant for impulse. The mother of two and a half year old Andrea at home, whom she refused to name Charlotte (despite a love for the name) since it sounded "too snobby," is a lover of contr

  August 27, 2009

• Urbanite Bistro Opens Downtown in Arts & Entertainment District September 10th

  Adam LarkeyLobster Mousse (click for full size)​ Downtown Miami's Arts & Entertainment District is getting another notch in its belt.The Urbanite Bistro (62 NE 14 St, across the street from The Vagabond), serving what a press release calls "eclectic bistro fare" is scheduled to open to the public September 10th.The press release says it's an 83 seat restaurant (52 dining, 38 bar), but somebody needs to check their math because 52 38 = 90.The proprietors are Elliott Alexander and Eskander

  August 27, 2009

• Sunday Night Dining in Brickell at Piola, Rosinella, The Oceanaire, and Balans

  Jacob Katel Outside Rosinella - 1040 S. Miami Ave.​ Sunday night around 8:30 p.m. Short Order was driving on South Miami Ave with a window down, banging Misfits on a hot Summer night. Our journey started at a memorial dinner for the "Cocoplum Thug," Jonathan "Shank" Daniels. Happy birthday, R.I.P. Next, the car skated up Ingraham Highway, slid through a sleepy Grove, headed up Bayshore, and caught up with a crowd on South Miami Ave.Our northbound route got interesting around Piola (1250

  August 31, 2009

• 10 Reasons Why We're Flipping Out about Dolphin Mall's First Ever Restaurant Week

  Jackie SayetHeeeere Flipper, Flipper...​Yesterday the Dolphin Mall announced a new restaurant week promotion, running September 11 - 20.  Here are 10 reasons to dig right in!10. There's nothing quite like spending 9/11 shopping and stuffing your face at the mall.9. They so generously squeezed in an extra weekend just in case you didn't get enough during the week.8. For once, bargains are available at T.G.I Friday's and Johnny Rockets!

  September 1, 2009

• The Quiet Palate

  September 3, 2009

• The Kitchen Sink: Lifefood Gourmet, Konexpress, Seafood and Summer Soirees, Monday Delights, and Mango Cafe

  Michael Schott It's not a burger, it's piece of mind on a plate (that tastes good, too)​Fresh from our inbox to your computing devices, we're serving up some local food news you can chew.  Digest these restaurant announcements and offers as you make Labor Day plans:Lifefood Gourmet now open Sundays: The place that put an end to second guessing vegan is now open from noon to 6 p.m. on the day of rest. To celebrate its inaugural Sunday service, Lifefood Gourmet is slashing your bill

  September 2, 2009

• Dinner at Côté Gourmet: $23.95

  The summer prix fixe menu at Côté Gourmet has been as easy to miss as Côté Gourmet. In case you have indeed missed both: Côté opened a couple of years ago as a lunch spot tucked into a Miami Shores office building. Afterwards an outdoor patio was added, which opens up the space and makes it more viable as a cafe. Then a dinner menu came along, and the food -- at least that which I've dined on -- is quite good. Through the month of September, it's very well-priced too: Thursdays through Sun

  September 3, 2009

• Sang's Chinese Food Delivers

  September 10, 2009

• Weekly Wrap Up: The Friday Inevitable

  Jacob KatelStay tuned. Next week Short Order goes Behind The Line at MIA at Biscayne.​Did you know that there's a Miami Police Department Café...and that back in 08' they caught a restaurant inspection violation for "identity of food product misrepresented?". According to WPLG10 it was for mislabeled fish. Something funny about that. Here's what you might have missed this week:Jackie Sayet goes in on the Kobe controversy. Are restaurants violating "truth in menu" for the sake of designer meat

  September 11, 2009

• Rosa Mexicano Celebrates Mex Independence Day

  Mexican Independence Day takes place this Wednesday, September 16, and Rosa Mexicano is celebrating all week. Starting today and running through Sunday, September 20th, the Mary Brickell restaurant will be offering a three-course prix-fixe dinner menu "inspired by the patriotic holiday celebrated in plazas throughout Mexico and by Mexicans all over the world". Chef David Sloane's menu looks mighty tempting. Patrons get to choose one of each:Appetizers: Guacamole en Molcajete; Chicken Raviolis wi

  September 14, 2009

• Van Aken Offers Nibbles of Norman's 180 Menu and Its New "Broadly American" Inspiration

  Norman Van Aken Staying on his game in Orlando (here with "Cuba Libre" Pork Belly Biscuit for its Taste of the Nation,) things are looking mighty tasty.​Norman Van Aken and his '180' team, including Chefs Philip Bryant and Justin Van Aken, are operating under a three-word mantra when it comes to their goals for the new restaurant slated to open in Coral Gables before the end of the year: "Desirability, Sustainability, Community."  Poised to re-enter the South Florida restaurant sc

  September 15, 2009

• Critchley, Bodini Finalists for New Times' Iron Fork in October

  Executive chef and Iron Fork finalist John Critchley of Area 31.​Last night, New Times held the pre-chef challenge for its Iron Fork event at La Cuisine Gourmet in Coral Gables. Four chefs competed: executive chef Maria Manso of the Blue Door at the Delano, executive chef John Critchley of Area 31, executive chef Sean Brasel of Meat Market, and executive chef Giancarla Bodini of Escopazzo. In the end Critchley and Bodini came out on top. Both will face off at the actual Iron Fork on October 15

  September 15, 2009

• Charlotte Bistro's Enchanting Web

  September 17, 2009

• Mr. Yum serves fresh Thai and Japanese on Calle Ocho

  September 24, 2009

• Solea at the W South Beach serves tasty but uneven fare

  October 1, 2009

• Friday Food Funnies: Waiters

  Waiter: "Tea or coffee, gentlemen?"1st customer: "I'll have tea."2nd customer: "Me, too - and be sure the cup is clean!"                 (Waiter exits, returns)Waiter: "OK, I've got two teas. Which of you asked for the clean cup?"How many waitresses does it take to change a light bulb?Three. Two to stand around bitching about it and one to go get the manager.Sid and Sy were sitting in a Mexican restaurant. "Sid," ask

  October 2, 2009

• A $30 Hamburger? If It Says Kobe, Don't Buy It

  Jackie SayetWhere's the boeuf? Gordon Biersch's new "German Kobe Burger" is one tasty number, but it's neither from Germany nor Japan.​Twenty-five dollar hot dogs? $30 hamburgers? That's what Prime 112 charges for what it calls Kobe beef.The problem is, the high buck meat isn't always what is advertised. It's not the product of cattle raised in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan that in some cases drink beer and receive sake massages, but instead originates thousands of miles away, on an American

  October 2, 2009

• Ken Lyon To Open Cape Cod Room

  The Bath Club on Miami Beach (59th St. and Collins Ave.) has long been a private, membership-only establishment with its' own intimate, members-only restaurant. But starting Sunday, November 1st, the fully restored 1920s Mediterranean-style clubhouse restaurant will be open to the public. It will be known as The Cape Cod Room, operated by Ken Lyon, longtime caterer now best known as owner of Fratelli Lyon.Lyon describes The Cape Cod Room as "a retro-classic restaurant featuring upscale East Coas

  October 5, 2009

• Oldies But Goodies: A Duo of Favorite European-Inspired Soup and Sandwich Spots

  Jackie SayetOpen wide: The "Boiled Egg & Tomato" under construction at Pommes & Pane.​Keep it simple, stupid.  Words to live by when it comes to food, especially the classic lunch combo of a soup and sandwich.  This pair of places answers the question "What should I have for lunch?", serving up bread with fix-ins and blends in bowls in their finest forms.  Try one, or if you're hungry, scarf both.   

  October 6, 2009

• Archive Diver: Luigis Cafe Bistro Free Beer Ad from 1988

  Miami New Times archives week of October 5 - 11, 1988Click For Full Size​Free beer!That rallying cry is a valued, age-old method to draw a crowd. Like:"Dude, my little sister's hamster passed away and she's having a funeral and burial ceremony for it. Do you wanna go?""Uhhm, nah that sounds lame I'll pass""There's gonna be free beer.""Right. I'm in. And I'm telling everybody."So it is with an eye toward our current economic plight that I suggest restaurants engage their value cannons and fire

  October 6, 2009

• The Biltmore's Palme d'Or soars

  October 8, 2009

• Luna Returns, Shing Wang Retreats, Maitardi Opens, Bancroft Stumbles

  ​Luna Rises Again"Back by Popular Demand" declares the banner across the re-rechristened Luna Cafe at 4770 Biscayne Boulevard. Short Order had reported in July that Luna had changed its name to L'artista Restaurant and tweaked the menu towards a more fine dining experience. We noted that it "Seems a curious move at this time," but expressed our faith in owner Tom Billante's business savvy. Sure enough, he was savvy enough to realize the mistake and bring back the moderately priced Luna Cafe. U

  October 7, 2009

• Area 31 Makes Esquire Best of 2009

  adam larkeywas mariani bowled over by this bolognese?​Area 31, in the Epic Hotel downtown, has been named as one of the Best New Restaurants of 2009 in the November issue of Esquire magazine. When food and travel critic John Mariani dined at Area 31 this summer, he asked executive chef John Critchley to send out his favorite dishes. Mariani's menu entailed Yellowfin Tuna Crudo, Grilled Red Drum, Salt-Crusted Dorade, and Ricotta Gnocchi with Tuna Bolognese (in photo -- and the recipe is here).

  October 8, 2009

• Florida Stone Crabs, Florida Vodka, BLT Brunch and Location, Location, Location

  ​Stone Crab Season BeginsDolphins shmolphins -- the season we really care about kicks off at Joe's Stone Crabs next Thursday, October 15th. Stone crabs are always winners.11 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-0365.Florida In A Bottle4 Orange Premium Vodka is the world's first and only vodka distilled from pure Florida oranges -- four varieties, in fact, culled from Florida's Peace River Basin. The 80-proof, super-premium vodka is being launched by Imperial Brands, Inc., which also produces

  October 8, 2009

• Sneak Review: Botequim Carioca Brazilian Bar & Grill

  A teeny sneak preview of the New Times restaurant review for next week. Prices are as inviting as a Brazilian bikini. A bowl of black bean stew is $3; soup du jour, onion rings and croquettes are $5 to $6; and the rest of the appetizers mostly range from $8 to $14. The grilled meat starters, for two, run $13 to $25. Main courses are $16 to $28, the high number representing filet mignon and the feijoada for two. Portions are generous, the fare is bulky, the number of plates needed to sate is few.

  October 9, 2009

• Organic Wine at Pied, LoSasso at The Forge, Bleeding Eardrums at SeaRock, and, um, Jessica Simpson

  ​Columbus Day Brunch, Kamen Wine DinnerBrunch is this morning at 10:00 a.m. and runs to 4:00 p.m. at Au Pied de Cochon. And on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m., the French brasserie presents a five course dinner featuring the wines of Kamen Winery, a Sonoma County vineyard owned by Hollywood screenwriter Robert Kamen. Pioneers in organic farming, the winery produces a very limited quantity of highly rated reds, with an emphasis on top quality Cabernet Sauvignon. Chef de cuisine Didier Lailhe

  October 12, 2009

• Tonight at Urbanite Bistro - Wine, Dine, and Gator Meat

  via urbanitebistro.com​ Fourteenth street between Overtown and the Arsht is full of wild game: zombified crackheads, worse for wear working-girls, artists, musicians, promoters, creatives, thugs, drugs, and po nine.Now, with Urbanite Bistro in the mix, we can add the literal interpretation: animals hunted for food, not domestication, according to Wikipedia.Urbanite Bistro (62 NE 14 St) is a new restaurant in the heart of Downtown Miami's late night district, blocks from Space and a stone's thr

  October 12, 2009

• Botequim Carioca brings gutsy, affordable Brazilian fare to downtown Miami

  October 15, 2009

• Talula & Rigatoni, Oceanaire & Caymus, Gonzalo & Olé, the FTC & Me

  ​Talula turns ItalianTalula restaurant recently launched Buon Appetito!, also known as Wednesday pasta night.  "We wanted to give our diners a special taste of the type of food we love cooking at home for our families," says Andrea Curto-Randazzo, the Italian chef/co-owner who opened Talula in 2003 with her Italian chef/co-owner/husband Frank Randazzo. The deal is this:$29 per person (excluding tax and gratuity) for a bottomless bowl of rigatoni dressed with Andrea's "Sunday Sauce", plus

  October 15, 2009

• Surprise! New Favorite Takeout Salad Resides at Wok Town

  Jackie SayetThe "Stir Fry Miso Beef Salad" ($8.95) is a fresh and crisp unexpected find at an Asian takeout place​Forget everything you expect from and dislike about Chinese takeout. If you're having trouble, let us shed some light...  Greasy, saucy, gloopy, wilted, and one-note flavor. Now imagine a menu with light options like crisp salads, low oil stir fries, noodle soups, finger-licking edamame tossed in a creative selection of light sauces, and house-made -- I repeat -- house-made du

  October 20, 2009

• Barton G. Warehouse Fire: A Bad Time for Everybody (Updated)

  ​The state fire marshal and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms officers were in Miami this morning investigating a fire last night at the Barton G. warehouse at 400 NE 67th St. on the Upper Eastside. The blaze destroyed thousands of dollars' worth of linens and tables after the roof caved in. It was "one of the largest fires that we have had this year," says Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll. No one was hurt in the blaze, but it might have done serious damage to one of the area's best restaurat

  October 20, 2009

• Casale in Miami Beach is a pizzeria with hearth!

  October 22, 2009

• Sneak Review: Grateful Bread

  Photo by Lee KleinSancocho at Grateful Bread​First, the answer: The sancocho pictured above and in last weeks' Where It At? is taken from the specials menu at Grateful Bread.And now, the abbreviated sneak preview of the New Times restaurant review for next week:Our strongest recommendation from Grateful Bread's regular menu is chicken Veracuzano, the tender breast meat bathed in a sauté of tomatoes, peppers, onions, olives, capers, and parsley -- accompanied by rice, beans, and steamy corn to

  October 23, 2009

• Worst Dining Trends Of The Past Decade (According to Chicago Tribune, Michael Schwartz, and Short Order)

  Courtesy of SoBe Wine & FoodDon't invite this man to your commune.​The Chicago Tribune website last week printed a list of the ten worst dining trends of the past decade, as decided by various movers and shakers in the American food world. Miami's own Michael Schwartz weighed in, his pet peeve being the communal table, which "assumes people who don't know each other want to sit together."  (Gee Michael, didn't know you were so cynical; it will  serve you well in your new blogging

  October 26, 2009

• Dean Max New "Concept Chef" at Renovated Cheeca Lodge

  Dean James Max will bring bite to the Edge​When Cheeca Lodge & Spa reopens in Islamorada this December 15th, its landmark Atlantic's Edge restaurant will be under the creative direction of newly hired "Concept Chef" Dean James Max -- who is known closer to home for his 3030 Ocean at the Marriott Harbor Beach in Ft. Lauderdale.The Edge menu will remain focused on "modern American seafood" and prime steaks, but the renovated restaurant will feature a new glassed-in wine cellar with over 150

  October 26, 2009

• Dirty Dining at Miami Police Café

  Breakfast at Timoney's? No thanks.​City of Miami cops want you to think they're clean. Clean arrests. Clean records. Clean city. But if you believe the State of Florida, the place where they eat is dirty, dirty, dirty.This past June, state inspectors cited a tiny café in police headquarters on NW Second Avenue with 23 "critical" violations. Among them: "encrusted" and "soiled" material on a slicer, no soap in the men's room, and reuse of dirty gloves.That's not the only problem at the homey c

  October 27, 2009

• Miami Cops Eat Dirty Meals Done Dirt Cheap, So Says Inspector

  Order up. Pork Chops, Side of Bacon.​City of Miami cops want you to think they're clean. Clean arrests. Clean records. Clean city. But if you believe the State of Florida, the place where they eat is dirty, dirty, dirty. This past June, state inspectors cited a tiny café in police headquarters on NW Second Avenue with 23 "critical" violations. Among them: "encrusted" and "soiled" material on a slicer, no soap in the men's room, and reuse of dirty gloves. That's not the only problem a

  October 27, 2009

• Breakfast at Timoney's: This Miami Police eatery breaks the law

  October 29, 2009

• Grateful Bread and Moises Bakery: One serves hearty fare, the other tasty empanadas

  October 29, 2009

• Deals & Squeals: Salsa Fiesta, Sushi Maki, Coral Gables Thursdays

  ​Salsa Fiesta Debuts TodayOwners Cesar Olivo and Adriana Pérez Benatar are hosting the grand opening of their Salsa Fiesta Urban Mexican Grill today. The fast casual eatery is located on 29th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, just a block north of the New Times offices. The modern industrial-style restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating and "a mostly muted color scheme differentiating this innovative eatery from the traditional Mexican greasy spoon". Other differentiating factors might include

  October 28, 2009

• Party Like a Salsa: Venezuelan Import, Salsa Fiesta, Opens on Biscayne Corridor

  Jackie SayetService with a sonrisa​American mall food court fare leaves some -- er, many -- things to be desired.  But venture across the border or overseas, and as cultures change, so does the fast food game, usually for the better.So when we first heard that young entrepreneurs and husband-wife pair Cesar Olivo and Adriana Perez Benatar were taking Benatar's family business stateside from its Venezuelan courtesan roots, we were mostly curious.  We were also somewhat hopeful that Sa

  October 29, 2009

• Brickell's Blu Pizza e Cucina Closed For Good

  ​Mary Brickell Village's Blu Pizza e Cucina is closed "for renovation." Yeah, we know what that typically means in restaurant speak.Calls to the restaurant's listed phone number yielded a 'temporarily out of service' message. So we dialed Blu Restaurant Group's offices, where office manager Maggie Nabut confirmed that the Brickell restaurant is permanently closed due to lower than expected sales.So there. Never trust those "closed for renovation" signs. Oh, yes, the group's two other resta

  October 29, 2009

• Hell's Kitchen Alum Joshua Wahler Now Executive Chef of Kung Fu Kitchen at Catalina

  David LisznaThe new executive, without donkey, at the Catalina on Halloween. A clever nod to Ramsay's favorite curse word?​Being shown the door by Gordon Ramsay is like facing the martial arts whoopass of Jackie Chan in Brett Ratner's Rush Hour series, only a bit more brutal.Josh Wahler, a former contestant of Hell's Kitchen 3 (quite possibly its best season on record,) survived one such exit rather elegantly, and has now samboed his way from Doral's 5300 Chop House into the role of executiv

  November 3, 2009

• Mark Militello Leaves 1 Bleu for The Office

  Photo by Jacob KatelChef Mark Militello​Chef Mark Militello has left 1 Bleu at the One Resort and Spa (formerly The Regent Bal Harbour) to join The Office, a gastropub in Delray said to be opening in late November. Last December Militello took the reigns as executive chef of culinary operations at The Regent Bal Harbour. That was only six months after the last of his four namesake restaurants, Mark's in Boca Raton's Mizner Park, closed. The Regent Bal Harbour was sold in June. The Office is

  November 3, 2009

• Balans has good food, cocktails, and ambiance but lacks character

  November 5, 2009

• 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 Philadelphia and New York City,) but you probably saw him most recently on the boob tube, during his brief and unsuccessful stint on Bravo's chef competition reality show spin-off, Top Chef Masters.  So, l

  November 4, 2009