July 4 Cocktail Plea: Give Me LiberTea or Give Me the Recipe

All sorts of recipes seem to come our way, including lots of cocktail ideas. Concerning the latter, we try to pass on only those that are distinctive in some way, or at the very least those that offer sparkling refreshment for Miami heat. The LiberTea, a Fourth of July marketing moniker cooked…

Graeter’s Ice Cream Available at SoBe Scoops

The ice-cream industry is really pushing the National Ice Cream Month promo this year, but in South Florida, every month is ice-cream month. That’s probably why local hotels are finally getting into the act with a new focus on inventive ice-cream offerings. (Riki “off-my-cleanse-diet” Altman featured La Marea’s selection yesterday.) A…

Top Chef Season 7: Intern Picnic Par-tay, Episode 3 Recap

Another episode of Top Chef, another episode of the same: Angelo and Kenny continue to whoop everyone’s ass, and homegirl Andrea floats around in contestant purgatory, which isn’t a good place to be. Her food is passable for now, but how long will it be before the judges start calling…

Denny’s Late Night — Still Hungry

Denny’s website says, “We’re morning people. All day. Every day. Since 1953.” Apparently, the individuals working at the Denny’s on Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami Beach got up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday. Or maybe not at all.Close to 1 a.m. on a recent early morning, my husband and I ventured…

A Rub, a Marinade, and an Herb Cure for July 4

Meat Market chef/owner Sean Brasel shares his secrets for great rubs, marinades, and cures for home cooks. Among them is a chili-espresso rub: “I’ve always found that bold spicing can bring out amazing flavors in even the most unexciting cuts of beef,” Brasel says. “I use this rub with buffalo…

Pizza Ice Cream Served Via Sommelier at La Marea

Today marks the official start of National Ice Cream Month (thank you, President Reagan, for acknowledging this frozen treat deserves not just a day, but four weeks’ worth of celebration), and the folks at La Marea gave us the chance to sample not one, not two, but more than two…

Publix Coming to Edgewater/Omni

Miami Today reports this week that Southeast supermarket giant Publix is planning to open a new store in the Edgewater/Omni area at 1776 Biscayne Blvd. This is perhaps one of the most needed grocery stores in all of Miami-Dade. While the grocer has opened an excessive amount of stores in…

A July 4th Cookbook, Culinaria: The United States

This is the first of what will be an ongoing series that looks at interesting cookbooks. Some will be new and familiar, chosen because we think they’re really good. Others will be highlighted as a means of introducing you to cookbooks you might not know about — due to being…

Crazee Olive’s Late Night Falafel On South Beach

How can it be that a new falafel joint opened almost a year ago and nobody told me? I had to sniff it out myself while riding by last night on Washington Avenue. Crazee Olive Mediterranean Grill is actually more than just a falafel joint — it offers a pretty…

La Crema de las Empanadas: Real Latin cooking

Most foodies turn up their noses when asked about dining in shopping centers. But every once in a while, when something is really worth it, they suck up their gourmet pride and dine within reach of Subways and dollar stores. La Crema de las Empanadas (7800 NW 25th St., Doral;…