I was roaming through the open forum (a chat room) at Epicurious.com, a Website for foodies sponsored by Condé Nast publications, where the majority of messages were predictably upbeat and enthusiastic. Then I came across what I thought was a pretty valid question: “Doesn’t anyone here ever get a bad…

Well, you could have fooled me. In fact you did. I believed the recent countywide proliferation of parrilladas — Argentine steak houses — was a natural outgrowth owing to several factors. First, fresh, uncooked Argentine beef, which had been banned for import since 1930 because of an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth…

As it turns out, former Astor Place chef Johnny Vinczencz isn’t only a terrific chef, he’s a good sport. His response to my “Where’s Johnny V?” bulletin in “Side Dish” led to an Internet correspondence. In exchange for a brewski at the fashionably unglamorous Abbey Brewing Co. on South Beach…

Okay, relax, this is not a public-service announcement. But imagine, just for a minute, having AIDS. The weakness, the fatigue, the constant infections — you own them. What you don’t own is what’s necessary for an immune-deficient body to fight the myriad opportunistic illnesses: proper nutrition. In fact you can’t…

I’m not the only one drenched in bad feelings about Bambú, apparently. A source told me that Bambú owner Karim Masri sent consulting chef Norman Van Aken an e-mail saying Masri wasn’t going to pay Van Aken, who has placed his personally trained protégés in Masri’s restaurants, for his services…

It may not be as elemental as the chicken-or-egg controversy, but it still ranks, in some neighborhoods, as an age-old question: Do you want to be a restaurant or a club? Judging from opening night, Cameron Diaz’s new eatery, Bambú, doesn’t know the answer. The party was called for 10:00…

Wheeeere’s Johnny V? Looks as though I’m not the only one searching. Jonathan Eismann, who took over the erstwhile Johnny V’s Kitchen, needs him bad. Apparently Johnny V is the only one who knows the combination of the safe on the premises. But Jonny E shouldn’t fret: The big V…

In the process of learning about wine, I have discovered I am a woman. A woman among men. Among many men. In fact it’s not unusual for me to supply the only burst of estrogen during a testosterone-dominated winemaker’s luncheon. Every once in a while I’m joined by Simone Zarmat…

“Is it you?” Sheila Lukins asked, smiling hugely, as she trotted into Bal Harbour Beach House’s Nantucket-style screened-in porch for an interview. “It’s me,” I acknowledged, standing up somewhat uncertainly to greet her. “Is it you?” In truth I didn’t know what the cookbook author and chef at the Beach…

Lincoln Road is a fertile ground for rumors, but I gotta tell you, few have panned out. First there was the story that Red Lobster was replacing South Beach Brasserie. Uh-uh. Then I heard Cheesecake Factory was coming to haunt the Road. Still no final word on that little tidbit…

Years ago, on Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables, I used to wander into an eclectic shop called the Culinary Bazaar. Located next to Caffe Baci, it was the ideal place to wile away a wait for your table (and there was always a wait at Baci). Culinary Bazaar…

“Regardless of nationality or culture, everyone has an attachment to soup…. You rarely hear anyone emphatically say, ‘I don’t like soup,’ and the person who does cannot be trusted.” Indeed. Those are words from the recently published, wonderfully irreverent culinary bible called The Daily Soup Cookbook, stemming from a restaurant…

You know Lincoln Road has been given over to the tourists when the outdoor cafes like Pekko’s Steakhouse and South Beach Stone Crabs break out space heaters to warm the visitors’ precious buns. Only two years ago we locals would shiver our asses off during our “cold” snaps. Quite an…

If there were any doubt basketball is a sport for the poor-born to play and the wealthy to watch, the AmericanAirlines Arena (AAA) will put it to rest. And if you didn’t know, the AAA is so new that if you wander by during daylight hours, you’ll see ongoing construction,…

Prepare yourself. The drama you are about to read is one of passion, and one of heartbreak. It is a tale of love, of betrayal, and loss. It is a story about pizza delivery. Long ago, lost in the liberal ideals of my youth, I boycotted Domino’s. I had heard…

Now I know where humor columnist Dave Barry gets his zest for life: at my favorite Indian restaurant Anokha in Coconut Grove, where I dined at the table next to him last week. He’s as full of fun-‘n’-games in person as he is in print: When my daughter wandered over…

‘Tis the season for top-ten lists and I’m a sucker for compilations, so I’ll contribute to the masses of rated information. But I want you to know going in that this isn’t just a list of the year’s best whatever. It’s a record of my most memorable Miami food moments…

When is an opening not an opening? When it’s Aura. I went to the Lincoln Road restaurant to dine there the day after it had officially opened and guess what: It was closed. Now the Morris Lapidus/Deborah Desilets-designed eatery is having a second “official grand opening” to, as they put…

Picture this: You’re waiting at the bar in a hip, crowded restaurant. You’ve just left your car for the valet and have yet to be seated. Before the host can call your reservation, however, a valet (not the one who changed the driver’s seat setting in your late-model SUV but…

In a effort to protect his reputation — or seal his fate, I guess — Michael Bennett, ex-executive chef of the SouthSide Café in South Miami sent out this letter to the press: “After a rough period of construction delays, logistics problems and some financial constraints, I have been release[d]…

I admit, Y2K has me a little freaked. Not because I’m afraid my computer is going to crash, or because I think the world is going to end, or because champagne apparently is endangered (though this last one does give me pause). But I am a bit concerned that the…