Viewed from Collins Avenue Treffpunkt Biergarten might appear intimidating. The year-old German seafood-and-steak house squats in the parking lot of the R.K. Sunny Isles Plaza, framed by an extensive strip mall. A large square building, the restaurant features tinted glass walls, which at night look black as a thundercloud, prohibiting…
As a South Beach resident, I know how it goes: The old hotels and storefronts on a major strip — Ocean Drive, say — are renovated. Rents skyrocket, forcing out the kosher butchers, the shoe repair shops, the family-run drugstores and bodegas that have been there for eons, and bringing…
Like the Honda convertible of similar name, Cafe del Sol has plenty to do with the sun. Opened in early February, the restaurant replaced the Terrace Cafe in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Miami (formerly the Omni) as part of a nine-million-dollar renovation of the hotel. I haven’t seen…
I’ve had a fondness for British pubs ever since I worked in one in California, even though that experience wasn’t wonderful. The hours were long, the tips were horrendous, and the manager, who called me Jenny (a name I’ve always despised), gave out my phone number to customers. I got…
Yvonne Helmick may not have done herself a favor in naming her five-month-old Kendall Plaza (on U.S. 1 south of Dadeland) bistro Food by Trolls. Most Americans, after all, think of trolls as malformed creatures that live under bridges and practice extortion. Or, perhaps, as kewpielike dolls with perpetually surprised…
I wasn’t surprised in the health-conscious Eighties when rich, fattening French cuisine fell out of fashion. Nor am I shocked that with today’s retro fascination with steak and potatoes, French restaurants are popping up all over subtropica. Yet the successes of two new eateries A Brasserie L’Entrecote in Coconut Grove…
The recent decline in formal restaurant service has alarmed many a food connoisseur, including Andy Birsh, whose column in the March issue of Gourmet addresses what the author calls “the unwritten agreement that might be said to exist between present-day restaurateurs and their patrons.” Given that his beat is New…
Leaf through just about any magazine and you’ll likely find at least one article that begins “There is….” As a sometime teacher of composition and literature, I can’t help but be disgusted by the predominance of what New York Times Magazine columnist William Safire calls a “dummy subject.” To paraphrase…
As dining in the Planet Hollywood-dominated Nineties continues to be more about entertainment and less about food, kitschy “theme” restaurants are all the rage. Two such New York City eateries are so hip they’ve drawn national attention: Jekyll & Hyde, whose horror movielike decor includes paintings with eyes that follow…
Diego’s Restaurant ought to be the quintessence of Spanish dining in Coral Gables. The four-month-old restaurant possesses all the elements: a wide-ranging menu highlighting the various regions of Spain; an extensive wine list heavy on the Riojas; a 140-seat dining room handsomely outfitted in earth tones and contrasting textures; and…
Like a cat, a good theater piece enjoys more than one incarnation: Long after the first run has ended, a new director, cast, and crew come along and stage a revival, often with great success. Apply the revival theory to a restaurant and you’ve got Embers, an American-style eatery that…
I’ve become so accustomed to restaurants moving into Miami from elsewhere that when an eatery moves out of our city, I’m surprised. I’m doubly astonished when said business is Billy’s Stone Crab & Seafood Restaurant. Folks around here knew it as the 79th Street Causeway stone crab emporium Billy’s on…
I’ve been lax. It’s taken me a year too long to publicly appreciate the Grand Cafe, the restaurant in the Grand Bay Hotel (the most luxe lodgings in the city). And the reason has been pique, pure and simple: I was offended by an article in last June’s Wine Spectator…
I’m always impressed by a restaurant that has worked its way up from humble roots. Oggi Cafe and Deli, for instance, which started as a handmade pasta distributor, selling to upscale Coral Gables and South Beach trattorias. Then owner Eloi Roy used his noodle and got busy, adding a few…
If the contents of a person’s refrigerator provide a glimpse into his or her culinary mindset — and I believe they do — then it’s also fair to say a restaurant’s decor reveals a lot about its proprietor’s predilections. Perhaps that’s why I felt reassured by the mural painted near…
The restaurants on Ocean Drive still have the capacity to surprise me. Just when I think I know what to expect — mediocre fare, lousy service, wide-eyed tourists — a place like Pane Caldo Ristorante Italiano comes along and quiets my instinctive distaste. Or some of it, anyway. On the…
A typical criticism of postsecondary education is that it proves impractical in the real world: Cramming for a Rocks for Jocks final does little to prepare one for an entry-level position in today’s crowded job market. A compromise for those who seek both idealistic theory and hard-core practicality is the…
This town has a special fondness for the Raleigh, a restored 1940s Art Deco landmark that offers some of the only deluxe accommodations on South Beach. I know people who recommend the hotel to overnight visitors just so they can join them for a cup of coffee in the lobby,…
A review of Katana Japanese Restaurant, which appeared in the January 19-25, 1995, issue of Miami New Times
Every family has its culinary quirks, and mine is no exception. We all like the fruit that fills our apple pies and other pastries to be soft and melty. If we want crisp fruit, we eat it raw. But baked, it should be just the opposite. Otherwise why bother cooking…
At this time last year, in addition to writing this column, I was a staff writer for a company that publishes Caribbean travel and tourism books. One great thing about working during the holidays: the gourmet edibles brought in by colleagues or sent by clients (the golden rum cakes in…
Restaurants in large airport or convention hotels have a virtually unshakable reputation for being mediocre, a taint that makes them unlikely to attract customers beyond the business traveler or tourist. While some restaurants do manage to emerge from the depths of hotel-lobby obscurity and attract local diners, it’s the rare…
