The din of our dynamic new wave of dining establishments has diverted attention from some solid stalwarts of Miami’s restaurant scene. These veteran eateries keep their rooms packed with that portion of the public that hasn’t forgotten, but one hardly ever sees their names in print anymore; the media has…
A call to Abokado, the sushi-ceviche restaurant located in downtown Miami’s Mary Brickell Village, yields a message saying “We are temporarily closed”. Their website adds this: “We look forward to bringing you additional information on re-openings and new locations in the new year.” This first restaurant casualty of 2009 is…
Alejandro (Alex) Pinero has just been named chef de cuisine at Fratelli Lyon, the great regional Italian bistro that opened last May in Miami’s Design DIstrict. Pinero, 35, is a Miami native who graduated Johnson & Wales University with honors. Between 1996 and 2004 he worked his way through the…
This Sunday evening, recording artist Farah Juste will be at Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant on South Beach for “a CD signing and celebration”. Ms. Juste’s career as a passionate singer of Haitian folk songs took off with her debut solo album in 1977, and since then she has performed from…
“Enso is an evolutionary solutions workshop which creates the scientific study of deliciousness.” So begins the insanely inventive, thoroughly audacious menu at this new sushi/hibachi/Mediterranean deconstructionist establishment on Lincoln Road. I don’t mean to suggest the public isn’t ready for this, but when I told my wife we would be…
For those procrastinators yet to nail down New Years Eve dinner plans, may we suggest dialing 305-893-4211 and making reservations at chef Dewey LoSasso’s wonderful North One 10? There are still seats available, and the cost is a more-than-reasonable $60 ($75 with champagne toast) — especially considering how enticing the…
The three most important considerations when opening a restaurant are “location doesn’t matter, location doesn’t matter, location doesn’t matter”. Or at least that seems to be the operating principle of the folks behind Angelo & Maxie’s Steakhouse, who selected the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Coconut Grove as the site…
Criteria is simple:A great chef who made his or her mark in Miami and then moved on. David Bouley doesn’t qualify, as he wasn’t actually doing the cooking at Evolution. Carmen Gonzalez of the departed Carmen’s might make my top ten, but I don’t think of her as being in…
This was the year Miami finally joined the big league of American food cities. A flurry of activity burst across our local restaurant world, delivering bistros, cafés, star-chef driven establishments, humble neighborhood hideaways, midscale chains, upscale chains, burger joints, sushi bars, wine bars, wine fairs, food fests, farmers’ markets, Whole…
This poem by Calvin Trillin doesn’t have much to do with food — although there is a reference to reindeer cacciatore. We just like to include rhyme from time to time to make the blog seem classy.Christmas In QatarVerse:The shopping starts, and every store’s a zooI’m frantic, too: I haven’t…
Restaurateur Brad Friedlander, owner of Red, The Steakhouse and Moxie, The Restaurant in the fashionable Beachwood, the Suburb, of Cleveland, the City — along with partners Peter Vauthy and Jonathan Bennett — premiered the second Red this week at 119 Washington Avenue in South Beach. What to expect: “A unique…
There are bad ideas, very bad ideas, unspeakably horrible ideas — and then there is Burger King’s Flame, a men’s cologne being touted as “the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat”. The fragrance is currently being sold in New York and online for $3.99, and though the…
…is the answer to: What might you find at a Puerto Rican-owned piano bar/café? Merly Velazquez, niece of the late fashion designer David Fernandez, has partnered with Raymond Klein in opening Miami Arts Café across the street from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (255 NE 14 Street)…
This time of year brings all manner of helpful hints, like how to truss a turkey, or how to make your gingerbread men look like Scarlett Johansson (I made that second one up, but you know what I mean). Tips on avoiding food-borne illness are especially prevalent, as they should…
There are five tables in this tiny downtown venue, room for 16 seats in all. Asian appointments adorn the entrance, and an enlarged black-and-white photo of New York City’s Flatiron Building graces one of the walls — I’m not sure why. A waitress does busy work behind a counter in…
Two of our favorites, Sheba Ethiopian restaurant in the Design District, and Le Bon on Lincoln Road, called it quits last week. Prime Italian, from the Prime One Twelve folks, opened its’ doors across the street from its’ sister steakhouse. Barton G secured the concessions at the Adrienne Arscht Center…
Executive chef is Garrette Gray, whose eclectic menu includes starters ($6-$17) such as pan roasted scallops with smoked duck, shiitake mushrooms, poached pears and natural thyme jus; fish entrees ($24-$34) like grouper with braised callaloo, potato conch fritter, roasted red pepper and lemongrass broth; and meats ($24-$56) like grilled veal…
Miami DJ Cedric Gervais and partner Juan Carlos Dominguez are opening their Hed Kandi Lounge tonight. Located in the former Afterglo space (1200 Washington Avenue), this “gastro-lounge” will showcase molecular gastronomy. For those who aren’t sure what this means, let’s just say that the photo above is of flying bacon…
The Market Company has started a Fresh Market at their Market Company Warehouse in Wynwood (4127 NW 2nd Ave., just west of the Design District). Local produce, honeys, cut flowers and more will be sold on Tuesdays and Thursdays, excepting holidays, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Market Company…
Area 31 makes its’ debut tonight on the 16th floor of Brickell Avenue’s Epic Hotel. Executive chef is John Critchley, who trained under Boston’s renowned chef Ken Oringer (Clio) and was known to make a mean morcilla at his own Beantown tapas bar. The sommelier is Emily Wines (from San…
Starting this morning at 9:00 a.m., the South Beach Wine & Food Festival is offering a week-long 10% discount on all ticket orders (before tax and service fees). The deal closes Friday, December 19, at 5:00 p.m., and all orders placed by this time are guaranteed delivery before Christmas Day…
Another day, another restaurant debut. After a soft opening in November, Canyon Ranch Grill in Canyon Ranch Miami Beach (6900 Collins Ave.) is set to go public. Chef Alex Asteinza oversees the Canyon canon of healthful foods that fit with the spa’s “wellness lifestyle”. Starters, $9 to $16, include: Pumpkin…
