Small Plates, Miami Spice, and Let’s Switch Fin With Dragon

*Miami Spice is gearing up for another run. As always, there will be restaurants where the Spice price represents real value, and restaurants where you’d be better off dining à la carte. It will run from August 1 through the end of September, and tickets have just gone on sale…

Fin Is In

With all the hubbub over the Norman’s 180 debut, perhaps you missed the news that Fin, Jonathan Eismann’s local, sustainable seafood restaurant in the Design District, opened its doors last night. Last December, Short Order sampled some of Fin’s dishes, including a delectable Palm Beach Spanish mackerel with broccoli rabe (in photo)…

Sushi House Adds Late-Night Menu, Couches, and Mist

Sushi House in North Miami Beach has introduced a new “twilight” menu with reduced pricing on many of its appetizers, the full sushi menu, and several of the entrées. Late-night bites will include the spicy tuna tower, crispy honey shrimp, and purple plum barbecue ribs. A free glass of hot sake…

Flapjack Flip-Off X: Bagel Emporium

The decade has seemingly flipped by faster than a griddlecake in midair: The Tenth Annual Mrs. Beeton Flapjack Flip-Off is just around the corner (Mrs. B. being our patron saint for her prescient in-print assertion, made 101 years ago, that pancakes “must be regarded as somewhat beyond the capabilities of…

Norman Who?

Seems this fella named Norman Van Aken is debuting a restaurant in Coral Gables tonight. It’ll be called Norman’s 180. Lord knows Coral Gables can use a boost. Too bad Van Aken didn’t try this a decade ago, when the neighborhood was one of the best around for dining. Would…

Drexel Irish Pub Coming to South Beach

It’s been a success on South Miami Avenue, and now Brickell Irish Pub, which was voted Best New Bar/South in our recent Best of Miami 2010, is getting set to debut a sister spot by Española Way in South Beach. The actual address is on Drexel Ave., so the new…

Flapjack Flip-Off X: Picnic

As part of our annual competition to determine the best pancakes in town, we visited Picnic Miami, which picked up the coveted On Second Thought, Maybe I’ll Have Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack Award. Its boom-boom soundtrack at 11 a.m. proved only slightly less distracting than the ESPN sports highlights…

Win A Free Kitchen Makeover!

Panda Kitchen & Bath, in cahoots with Whole Foods Market (and Miami New Times, among others), is offering a total kitchen makeover plus one year of free groceries — the two worth over $14,000 combined! Here’s how it works:You visit this place HERE, upload a photo of your miserably ugly…

We’re Auctioning Off Talula! (Updated)

Andrea Curto-Randazzo, who with husband Frank forms the chef/ownership team of Talula, mentioned in an interview published over the weekend that they are trying to sell their South Beach restaurant. We’re sorry, if not surprised, to hear the news, and thought we’d try to help the culinary couple by seeing if…

Soyka Restaurant Brings in New Chef

Soyka Restaurant has hired a new executive chef and a new pastry chef. The new top toque is “Chef Paul” (I don’t know why, but it sort of creeps me out when chefs go by first name only) — or Paul Soriel, who worked at Orso in New York and…

Flapjack Flip-Off X: Morgans Restaurant

The decade has seemingly flipped by faster than a griddlecake in midair: The Tenth Annual Mrs. Beeton Flapjack Flip-Off is just around the corner (Mrs. B. being our patron saint for her prescient in-print assertion, made 101 years ago, that pancakes “must be regarded as somewhat beyond the capabilities of…

Flapjack Flip-Off X: Uva 69

The decade has seemingly flipped by faster than a griddlecake in midair: The 10th Annual Mrs. Beeton Flapjack Flip-Off is just around the corner (Mrs. B. being our patron saint for her prescient in-print assertion, made 101 years ago, that pancakes “must be regarded as somewhat beyond the capabilities of…

Michael’s Duck Hash & Poached Egg

So you see I ate brunch at Michael’s last weekend in order to snap a shot of the kimchi benedict for our 100 Favorites feature, and while I was at it I tried a few other dishes and snapped a few other photos. Hate to see them go to waste.This…

New Happy Hour at the Grill on the Alley

Raspberri Tart (Absolut Raspberri, raspberry purée, and fresh lemonade); Frozen Summer Peach (Belvedere vodka, DeKuyper Peachtree schnapps, fresh citrus juices, and peach purée); and the Grill 75 (Grand Marnier and fresh-squeezed lemon juice topped with sparkling wine) are just a few of the new cocktails at the Grill on the…

New Chef at A Fish Called Avalon

The veteran Ocean Drive seafood establishment has hired Kal Abdalla as new executive chef. Abdalla, who replaces longtime Avalon chef Brian Cantrell, is best known for his lengthy stint as top toque of the Forge; he also helmed the kitchen at Prezzo Restaurant & Martini Bar for awhile. The new menu will…