First Taste of Tacontento — Opening Today?

The Guatemalan-based tacqueria chain Tacontento had hoped to open on Friday, but alas, a new communal table placed in the dining room necessitated new seating plans (so while the unemployment crisis continues, some 40 workers are sitting around because of Miami Beach’s picayune permitting demands). When they were given late…

Gran Sierpe Pisco Punch Recipe

In keeping with our quest to help quench the desperate thirsts of a sun-soaked Miami populace, we drunkenly — I mean proudly present this recipe for a sprightly pisco punch. Pisco is a 300-year-old spirit distilled from grapes and hailed as a national drink in Chile and Peru. Granted, most…

Farmers Market on 11th Floor of Miami Tower

It’s not often that you encounter a farmers market on the 11th floor of a downtown office building, but there it was at the entrance to the Miami Tower’s Sky Grille. Granted, it is just one table and there are no farmers standing behind it. Most of the stuff probably…

Irish Salmon Recipe For Father’s Day

Sean O’Connell, Corporate Executive Chef and Vice President of Culinary Operations for the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, has a Father’s Day recipe to share, along with a quick backstory about life with his father. The recipe is for Seared Irish Salmon with Creamy Mustard Cabbage; perhaps it is stating the obvious…

America’s Food Critics Critique Cit-Crit Sites Like Yelp

This week, on Bon Appetit’s excellent Foodist blog, the magazine’s restaurant editor and foodist himself, Andrew Knowlton, takes a look at what the nation’s old-guard dining critics think about Yelp — and other such citizen criticism, or cit-crit. Knowlton culls viewpoints from 17 of the country’s top restaurant reviewers, including…

Talavera Shakes Up Happy Hour With Master Mixologist Merino

This coming Wednesday, June 23, Talavera Restaurant will be introducing a new happy hour menu with a cocktail party led by master mixologist Junior Merino — aka the “Liquid Chef”. Festivities begin at 5:00 p.m., and will feature signature elixirs such as the Koki’o, with 100% Agave Tequila, Hibiscus Syrup,…

Shake Shack: Five Guys Meyer-ized

Some years ago, when my wife and I were visiting New York, we decided to do what the natives do — which at the time meant standing in a lengthy line for 30 minutes in order to purchase cupcakes. They weren’t bad, but I recall turning to my wife afterward…

Eismann Talks ‘Bout the Pacific Time/Q/El Scorpion Deal

The first thing restaurant genius Jonathan Eismann wants you to know is that Pacific Time will remain open throughout the summer. Some folks thought otherwise because of the big news that dropped in recent days: Jeffrey Chodorow and Eismann will perform a switcheroo with a couple of their dining establishments…

Trying To Explain the Finer Points of Best Of (Again)

That magical moment is fast approaching: Our new, improved Best Of Miami 2010 edition is all set to hit the newsstands and online newsstand. Each year, when selections are released, it angers everybody from advertisers to food bloggers to regular folks who hold strong opinions on matters such as these…

Bready Is Ready: Good News For Gluten Intolerants

If you’re one of the 1-in-130 people who suffer from Celiac disease, or know someone who does, this is a positive development: The newly launched Bready Home Baking System produces tasty breads and cakes for those who cannot tolerate wheat, barley, rye or oats in their diet. Bready breads contain…

Miami Is Hot, Campari Is Cool: Summer Cocktail Recipes

The forecast calls for temperatures to reach 300F today, with occasional heat strokes and heart attacks towards evening and heavy sweating overnight. Summer has hardly begun. Campari and soda has been the European salve to a punishing sun ever since Gaspare Campari created the herb-and-bitters-based aperitíf in Italy precisely 150…

Another Batch Of Suggested Restaurant Mottos

From time to time, we at Short Order like to offer a helping hand to our friends in the restaurant business by coming up with snappy new slogans for them to use — free of charge! Flip Burger Bar: For when the other 35 burger joints are just too darn…

New Soy Chicken Is Just Like Chicken

In this week’s Time magazine, John Cloud reports on a soy product that not only tastes like chicken, but shares textural similarities to a real bird too (Tastes Like Chicken: The Quest for Fake Meat). Scientists at the University of Missouri are behind the new food; it was announced this…

A Good Tomato Isn’t Hard To Find

I perform very occasional part-time work as a private chef, and the folks I cook for just love tomatoes. I generally purchase the tomatoes at Fresh Market; it’s got the best variety, and perfectly ripe specimens in each category. Granted, sometimes I’ll pay $3.99 or $4.99 per pound, but they…