Best spots for croissants, pastries, and bread in Broward County.

Parisian sister and brother Emilie and Julien Van Steenwinckel own a chocolate shop and French bakery in Hollywood.

Paletas have gotten much attention in Miami over the years. The once-humble Mexican ice pop has been boozed up, given the gourmet treatment, and even mixed into margaritas. Gilbert Arismendi, however, thought the paleta hadn’t reached its full potential. The former software project manager and his partners kicked it up a notch when they created their own versions of the treat and opened Morelia Gourmet Paletas in Coral Gables.

While people line up for hours at trending places such as the Salty Donut and Mojo Donuts, Bake Shack (238 S. Federal Hwy., Dania Beach) has been quietly garnering a steady fan base. The little 22-seat eatery serves breakfast and lunch, but the specialties of the house are the doughnuts…

It’s last call for the 2017 South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Today, it’s back to reality after spending five days eating and drinking.  And, while most of us are slightly hungover and hoarse from shouting, “rose all day”, it’s time to look back at the winners and losers of the festival.

Katie Button and Vivian Howard never imagined they’d end up in the spotlight of North Carolina’s culinary revolution. But fierce determination and passion landed them there. “I come from a generation of wonderful women cooks,” Button admits. “My great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mom were the first to do it…

Executive sous-chef Brooke Mallory may be working alongside Chopped champion executive chef Adrienne Grenier to create exquisite new dishes at the heralded restaurant 3030 Ocean, but that hasn’t stopped the self-described “drink nerd” from letting her creativity run free behind the bar.

Long before Cesar Gonzales opened Bocas House (10200 NW 25th St., #101, Doral), his culinary creations had a strong following on social media. “I didn’t have a restaurant, but I cooked at home and uploaded images of what I made on Instagram. People gave me great support.” Gonzalez has amassed more than 750,000 followers on Instagram, who clamor for the chef’s food porn.

CREAM, which stands for “Cookies Rule Everything Around Me,” has opened its second South Florida location, in Weston at 4448 Weston Rd. CREAM, based in Berkeley, California, figures everyone loves warm homemade cookies and premium ice cream, so why not offer them together in one jumbo sandwich?

Some people know better than to quit celebrating after the ball drops in Times Square, and pastry chef Jérôme Maure at Miami’s chic DB Bistro Moderne is one of them. Maure is gearing up for the celebration of Epiphany, also known as Three Kings’ Day, which is observed yearly on January 6, with the preparation of the traditional galette des rois, or kings’ cake.

If you’re looking for a dish that’s sweet, savory, rich, and piquant, look no further than the hallaca. Hallacas are the Venezuelan equivalent of tamales. A smoked banana leaf is filled with a mixture of ingredients to form a filling meal. Cornmeal dough is stuffed with meat, chicken, or pork, but hallacas add European-inspired flavors of capers, olives, and raisins. Also, the ratio of dough to meat differs: Hallacas go all out with filling, whereas tamales have more dough.