An Eco-Friendly Cocktail Menu

The Mandarin Oriental, in tandem with  TRU Organic Spirits, has launched the first “all-organic cocktail menu” in Miami. Two of the tastiest-sounding tipplers are the Mandarin: TRU Organic Vanilla Vodka, organic tangerine juice, brown sugar and a splash of heavy cream (pictured above). And the Basil Melon: TRU Organic Lemon…

Valentine’s Recap in Pictures

Many of you probably spent a romantic Valentine’s Evening at a fine restaurant, supping on foie gras and fine wine. And that’s all good. But here’s an alternate view of Valentine’s Day – a less expensive option for leaner times. This simple meal of salad, cheeses, good olives, fresh bread,…

Slow Booze at Lola’s

To celebrate their recent Golden Spoon Award for Best Place for a Cocktail, Lola’s on Harrison is teaming up with the Glades to Coast Slow Food Chapter on February 17th for a night of locavore mixology and finger foods. Cost is $25*** for cocktails and canapes. Join them for a…

Get Naked with Georgie on Valentine’s Day

I’ve gone too long without giving a plug to my favorite little wine bar in Wilton Manors, the Naked Grape, a place where cozy hipness meets an imaginative selection of wines, a tapas menu, and the kind of lighting that makes everybody look good. And, our favorite bartender, Georgie, who turns…

Wrapping Up the Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival

John LinnCheck out the full slideshow here. The Third Annual Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival took place on Saturday, and in case you missed out on what was a perfect day of beer sampling and cavorting, check out our slide show here. What made the fest so “gee, shucks” great? For…

Booze Hound – DiLido Beach Club

After a hard day of filing my nails, receiving deep tissue massages, and ordering Manolo Blahniks from Neiman Marcus’s online store (THANK GOD for the plummeting economy – sales are faaaabulous), there’s nothing that I like more than grabbing my komodo dragon and baby panda-fur lined purse, driving my Hummer…

What Will You Cook in 2009?

A friend just sent me a copy of Julie and Julia, the true story of one woman’s quest to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the space of a single year. Julie Powell’s incredibly ambitious project, which became a blog, which became a book, which became a movie starring Meryl Streep…

Put a Burka on that Gin Bottle!

Here’s one for my “Oh for fuck’s sake!” files:Legislators in Utah are pushing to restrict restaurants that make mixed drinks in full view of minors, arguing that all those pretty, glittering bottles and delicious-looking garnishes behind the bar constitute a sore temptation, one that could lead youngsters to an unquenchable craving…

Football & Margaritas

Football and margaritas. There is less than one month left of football season; less than one month to transform your culturally bankrupt, Dorito- and Budweiser-filled Sundays on the couch into something genuinely awesome. And for that purpose, we suggest Moquila the classy nu-Mexican joint in Mizner Park, Boca Raton. An…

Post Holiday Depression Diet

If you’re like me after the holidays, a person who routinely has trouble pushing herself away from the table**, you’re feeling fat and broke. So I looked up some traditional Depression Era recipes, hearkening back to the days when everybody was skinny because they ate so much cabbage, noodles, beans,…

Everything But The Squeal

Pigging Out for the Holidays.Pictured above: The 35 pounds of pork I got in the mail from Heritage Foods USA this week, fully one quarter of a Six Spotted Berkshire hog. Price: $235. I’m determined to cook most of it to feed the extended family over the holidays, beginning of course with…

Bakin’ & Boozin’: Karen’s Cranberry Loaf, etc.

One of my favorite holiday breads comes from my friend Karen Horan in Key West — handed down from her grandmother. She finally took pity on me and gave me the recipe last year; I guess she got sick of having to bake me a loaf every time I came…

Christine’s and New Times Hosts Artisan Brands Pairing Tonight

Tonight, New Times and Christine’s Restaurant  are presenting a complimentary tasting and pairing for Artisan Brands, a distributor of small batch, artisan spirits that’s just moved into South Florida. Christine’s chefs  Bill Bruening and Tom Repetti will be throwing down a spread of passed hors d’oeuvres that with flavors complimentary…

Last Night: The Ritz Carlton’s Wine Room and Scotch Bar

New Times was graciously invited to an evening of pampering and boozing last night courtesy of the Ritz-Cartlon Fort Lauderdale’s (semi) new and much improved wine bar. And it went…. well, how do you think it went? We were pampered. We were boozed. It was an all around lovely evening,…

Return of the Ball Jar: Middle Class Anxiety Files

The Ball jar: Preserving our Illusions.The New York Times reported last week that sales of Ball jars are up 92 percent from the same month last year. That’s because the upper middle class is getting jittery about the economy, and when we get jittery, you know what we do? Just to take myself as an…

Recession Era Chow: Ultimate Vegetarian Chili

I’ll put up my vegetarian chili against any meat-based recipe  — this one is insanely flavor- and color-full, and it’s so spicy it’ll make you weep. It’s ideal post-Thanksgiving eats, since it’s cheap, criminally healthy from all the folic acid, B vitamins and lycopene, and loaded with fiber if you’re…

Single Malts At Two Chefs

Art Basel brings so much cool stuff to Miami each year, but also throngs of people and a whole lot of hype. Tonight, however, far from the madding crowd, Two Chefs in South Miami will be offering a single malt sampling that is eminently reasonable in price: Twenty dollars will…

Upgrading the Ol’ Grill

I’ve used and abuse my poor Weber (Thermos make) grill over the years — slow cooking pork for hours on end, roasting peppers for bold salsas, and grilling hundreds of steaks, chops, and burgers has taken its toll on the big hunk of metal. So when I set out to…

New Brew: Beer Events and the Fresh Beer Times

I was just reading the latest installment of the Fresh Beer Times newsletter, put out bi-monthly by Fort Lauderdale’s own distributor of fine, hopped products Fresh Beer, Inc, and I have to say that it kicks ass. It comes out on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, and…

More Turkey-Shaped Objects to Drool Over

Every so often, Robbin Slocum, wife of our Managing Editor Ed Newton, treats the editorial department to one of her delicious rum cakes. These things are no joke. First off, they’re doused in enough tasty, fermented cane that if you had a post gustatory smoke after eating a slice you’d…

Last Minute Thanksgivings

I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for you schmucks who haven’t given one second’s thought to what you’re doing for MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY — since personally my 2008 Thanksgiving has been in planning and development since last May. I’ve ordered (and received) my absurdly expensive Heritage turkey, I’ve…

2008 Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrive!

Lee Klein I had to take precious time from my Thursday afternoon in order to make it first-hand-official for loyal readers of Short Order (and I mean both of you): The 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived. First I had to mill about, just outside the gates of Casa Casuarina (on…