Reports of Turks’ death are greatly premature. The South Beach restaurant was reported closed in the November issue of the South Florida Gourmet magazine, which owner Orhan Yegen says is printing a retraction this month. Meanwhile Turkish cuisine just might be Miami’s newest ethnic fare. Joining Turks and Efesus, also…

About five years ago, Norman Van Aken called me and asked if I wanted to write a cookbook. Absolutely, I said instantly. On what? Turns out Van Aken wanted me to collect recipes from the restaurants of Miami’s original Mango Gang: Allen Susser (Chef Allen’s), Mark Militello (Mark’s Place), Douglas…

Curious ad in the Herald’s “Weekend” section a few weeks ago: “We are pleased to announce the association of Linda Brandino, formerly known as Linda B., into our organization.” Signed: Stefano’s of Key Biscayne. Forget that the ad reads like dialogue from a B-movie crime caper, but do remember that…

I was sitting with my folks, my husband, and my daughter the other night at Caffe Sambuca on Lincoln Road, awaiting my sister and her family from New York. When they arrived, quite naturally there was a little hullabaloo involving the exchange of hugs and kisses. But everyone settled down…

Long before the Loews captured the collective unconscious of conventiongoers, the Hotel Inter-Continental in downtown Miami had garnered the dubious honor of being considered the premier housing for unwitting out-of-towners. Guests were tapped not only for luxury beds but for the handsome Oak Room, pretty much the power-meal staple in…

Unlike the events of the past few weeks, I remember my first winemaker’s dinner in detail. That’s because I was working it. I was a waitress at a tiny pasta joint called Ricco’s in Southern California, and, except for my husband who was a busboy, I was the only one…

In San José State University’s seventeenth annual contest for the worst opening lines to an imaginary novel, Bob Perry took first place in the detective category for this gem: “The corpse exuded the irresistible aroma of piquant, ancho-chili glaze enticingly enhanced with a hint of fresh cilantro as it lay…

Allen’s 2 Go gourmet market in Aventura is going, going … gone. But not really. The shop that Chef Allen Susser had set up next door to his signature restaurant is merely moving — into cyberspace. Within six months, he says, customers will be able to log on to www.comfortfood2go.com…

I hear it all the time, from friends, from family, from virtual strangers. “I’d like to own a restaurant.” “I dream of running a bar.” “I could package this [insert special dish] and sell it.” And then the inevitable: “What do you think?” What can I say? Even with experience…

Trading one landmark for another, the Clevelander’s Kent Karpawich sold the hotel, built in 1938, to Herb Meistrich and his San Diego-based company, and bought into the 1800 Club a few months ago. Now called the 1800 Bar and Grill, the eatery has regained some of its supper-club glamour. Karpawich…

The baguettes are painted like coral snakes. Bagels feature laminated pictures of toothily grinning children. A puffed-up pita bread poses as a comet, with pretzel sticks forming the tail. No this isn’t some psychedelic bakery courtesy of Lewis Carroll. It is the House of Bread, part of the newest temporary…

So have you caught the new Miami Herald “Weekend” section, er, Street? The debut issue of Street coincidentally features the same dining review as “Weekend,” titled “Nexxt has great atmosphere and, er, leisurely service,” and concludes that “The verdict in this court is that, hmm, maybe Nexxt drew some inspiration…

Seven years ago, while reading Miami New Times for the first time, I spotted an advertisement seeking a restaurant critic. Aside from qualifications it asked, “Do you have the stomach for this job?” Ambitious, hungry, and more than a little naïve, I thought I surely had both the background and…

Miami chefs seem to have the trajectories of hurricanes these days. Take for example Guillermo Veloso, who earned his chops at Restaurant St. Michel before becoming executive chef at Yuca on South Beach several years ago. After leaving Yuca he bounced around among restaurants, including a couple of Italian joints…

Friday, October 15, 12:01 a.m. Stone crab season officially begins. Crabbers are now allowed by law to pull up the traps they set days ago. But Hurricane Irene nibbles her lip in the Florida Straits — where to turn? Her storm-force winds exceed 50 miles per hour — too dangerous…

The Albion Hotel, owned by the Rubell family, has finally taken the plywood off the windows of Mayya, the boutique hotel’s signature Mexican restaurant. TV talk show host Cristina Saralegui handled the ribbon-cutting duties during its recent opening. Fortunately, despite the heat of 400 bodies packed into the two-story eatery…

Suddenly I seem to be in the gratis restaurant-consulting business. The only two messages on my voice mail this week were from folks who craved advice. And both centered around that evergreen puzzler: how to succeed on the Beach. The first plea I received was from Sonia Lyn, owner of…

The House of Rémy Martin might want to stick this little skeleton in a closet: The Cognac King and the James Beard Foundation recently introduced the Louis XIII Ultimate Dinners, a program designed to benefit aspiring chefs. Twenty-eight of the nation’s “most acclaimed restaurants” were chosen to participate. Each restaurant…

Although it has negative connotations, “petty” isn’t necessarily a bad adjective. (It’s derived from the French word petit, which means small.) There’s a petty officer, which is an officer appointed from enlisted personnel. Petty cash is kept on hand to pay for minor items. And petty larceny carries less of…