About three years ago, Miami’s midtown so-called “Arts District” was trumpeted, in a CNN real estate survey, as the most rapidly appreciating area in the country. National media hype that followed pictured Biscayne Boulevard as the gracious promenade it was to be, possibly within minutes — lined with cute cafes…
“We’re paying for their exorbitant rent!” my uncle Al bellows whenever I take him to dine in a pricey South Beach restaurant. Obnoxious, yes, but he’s got a point. The Ghetto Gourmet is a counterpoint. The Oakland-based group is, in essence, an underground supper club, meaning they find hip spaces…
Producers pf the uber-popular reality TV show Top Chef were in town recently looking for a few good cooks to compete for a $100,000 grand prize in their next season. And one local chef looks like he could be a prime candidate. Mike Sabin, 36, executive chef of South Beach’s…
It’s all Starbucks’ fault. Coffee used to be the equivalent of regular leaded. It was cheap, strong, and uncomplicated; you poured it in your tank, revved up your motor, and were good to go. Then some boy genius got his fancy knickers in a twist and all of a sudden…
Rocky Aoki didn’t invent teppanyaki dining, but he did introduce the Japanese tabletop cooking concept to the States in 1964, when he opened his first Benihana in New York City. Rocky can also claim credit for revving up the crowd-pleasing antics of his hibachi chefs way before Emeril. Aoki so…
Come back, Jeffrey! “It was a small dog, a Japanese breed. His name was Lulu. He was allowed to sleep in the Emperor’s great bed. During various ceremonies, he would run away from the Emperor’s lap and pee on dignitaries’ shoes. The august gentlemen were not allowed to flinch or…
What’s the difference between a Valentine’s Day restaurant meal and the same dinner on a normal night? About $50 to $200. Something is clearly wrong with this discrepancy, yet the heart-shape box of Russell Stover candies doesn’t quite cut it as a romantic expression, either. Leave it to a French…
Chef Govind Armstrong is the Zelig of contemporary California cuisine. He started out spending summers working with Wolfgang Puck at L.A.’s legendary Spago, beginning in that restaurant’s inaugural year — when it was the seminal spot for modern American gastronomy. Govind was thirteen years old at the time. The prodigal…
That stuff will kill you If there is anything worse for a restaurant than having one of its customers contract food poisoning, it is having that stricken diner be in the process of reviewing the establishment. The good news for Rotelli Pizza Pasta Perfect, at 501 E. Atlantic Avenue in…
Some words are just natural red flags. When a politician says, “Honestly,” it means he’s getting ready to spew a load of horse effluent. When an insurance company talks about its “good hands,” it means you’re about to get the big finger. When an actor whines about “exhaustion,” it means…
Chéen-huyae is the sort of feel-good, fail-safe restaurant that timid American tourists visiting the Yucatan might approach with enthusiasm. A glass storefront façade lends an airy ambiance to the neat and petite 30-seater, even if it offers only the lackluster vista of a parking lot. Beige walls bedecked with sepia-tone…
“You’ve reached what was previously known as Madiba Miami,” says the recorded voice on the telephone. “We are now open for private parties and catering only.” And so we bid farewell to this hip import from Brooklyn, which had seemingly settled in comfortably on the west side of South Beach…
Keep Out! Someone recently regaled me with too many details concerning a bout of food poisoning she suspected having caught at the raw bar of a waterfront seafood restaurant in Coconut Grove. I hear such tales quite often, and as one who dines out multiple times weekly, can sympathize with…
The lentils are chilled, bits of red bell pepper flecked within, baby greens beneath. Aged sherry vinaigrette joins the cool salad tangle, plus three warm, tiny discs of octopus, all served in a white bowl with a high back — which it seems everyone is using these days. Nobody, though,…
Considering Miami’s predominance of Cuban immigrants, it’s astonishing that truly wonderful, home-style, traditional Cuban meals are rare here. One theory as to why this is so: These days the chefs in the kitchens are mostly from other Latin American countries. To an experienced food professional, this statement is not objective…
In 1984, Rudy “Butch” Stanko was sentenced to six years in prison for violating the Federal Meat Inspection Act. Court papers show that his Cattle King Packing Company was not only riddled with rats and cockroaches, but also workers at the facility routinely processed animals that were dead before arrival,…
Karma is the Buddhist principle that says what a person does in this life will determine his destiny in the next. If that’s the case, then the folks behind Karma, a très moderne pan-Asian restaurant just off the eatin’ path in downtown Coral Gables, should be raking in some serious…
Lots of restaurant deaths to report in the Miami dining world these days. For those keeping score: SouthWest NY didn’t last a New York minute in the Dolphin Mall. Maybe it’s because the menu read like a fast food Tex-Mex joint (“with French and Latin influences”) — which is not…
Tommy Pooch, Alan Roth, and Eric Levin are seasoned party promoters and entrepreneurs, and as such boast more of a background in bouncers, booze, bimbos, and blasting music than in proffering fine cuisine. Excepting Rumi, which started out with excellent fare, Pucci’s Pizza (since sold) and SoBe Wraps are about…
When Deco Sandwiches, originally advertised as a 24-hour gourmet deli, opened just more than a year ago, the first thought that came to mind was the management must have a death wish. What other explanation could there be for opening another sandwich joint barely a block from La Sandwicherie? The…
Always hungry Barton G. Weiss of Barton G. The Restaurant is South Florida’s most ambitious restauranteur, constantly working with his chefs to develop outrageously clever menus and eye-popping presentations, only to revamp and start again the next season with newly brilliant concepts and concoctions. So it seemed like a perfect…
Many years ago I found myself sitting on the outdoor patio at Joe’s Seafood Restaurant — a photogenic vista of the Miami River on the horizon, a piece of depressingly overdressed fish on the plate. It was agonizing to think, as I slowly poked at the sorry specimen with my…
