In the spirit of this pugnacious presidential primary season, we proudly present a special Kitchen Sink Edition of the eighth annual Flapjack Flip-Off. “Anything Goes” is the theme this year, as our quartet of unwitting restaurant contestants will be permitted to sling apples, chocolate chips, flag lapel pins, or any…
Philippe Ruiz, from Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France, began his stint at the Biltmore Hotel in 1999. Few local chefs can match Ruiz’s resumé of Michelin-star establishments, and fewer still possess his prodigious culinary talent. While most closely associated with the property’s exalted Palme d’Or, Ruiz was recently named executive chef of all…
Ristorante Fratelli Milano’s umbrella-shaded tables are tightly clustered together on pinched, pedestrian-clogged SE First Street. Two dozen indoor seats are just as closely cramped in the windowless aisle of a room, where harried waiters squeeze through impossible spaces with oversize white bowls of pasta in their hands. This ain’t exactly…
Lots of cookbooks get written on the fly by chefs who have grown star wings seemingly overnight. Nino Pernetti’s opus has been 20 years in the making; that’s how long his northern Italian recipes and European charm have been romancing diners at the great Caffé Abbracci (318 Aragon Ave., Coral…
The new Andú’s retro-futuristic design dares to depart from the restaurant world’s recent tilt toward timid, if tasteful, taupe-toned settings. Tables shine in white Plexiglas, banquettes are silver-gray, and globular white sculptural murals hang on the walls not taken up by floor-to-ceiling windows. Hand-blown glass bubbles form a circular curtain…
The landmark Pacific Time shuttered its Lincoln Road digs last August, but chef/owner Jonathan Eismann is just a couple of weeks away, final permits permitting, from opening his new Pacific Time in the Design District, at 35 NE 40th St. New Times: So I have five questions to ask —…
A cacophony of chatter and clatter greets diners as they enter Mint Leaf, which has sprouted in the spot once occupied by Darbar Indian Restaurant and, most recently, by Restaurant Brana. The din seems surprisingly strong for such a modestly sized room and betrays a tranquil décor defined by dark…
Chef/owner of Shing Wang, Sing Kelly, moved to Miami from Taiwain 36 years ago. She operated a Chinese restaurant here for 18 years, was out of the business for the past 15 years, and returned to open Shing Wang (meaning “lucky” in Chinese) a month ago. 1. Why did you…
Food is fashion: Halter tops and haute French one day, bling and sushi the next. American-Chinese restaurants began to fall from favor about the time men started wearing earrings, and nowadays the dark, stodgy interiors and tired, predictable cuisine are like mutton chop sideburns to the alluringly clean face of…
“De sus amigos de ‘Taco Loco,'” reads the sign over the storefront window at Maya Grill. The Mexican restaurant opened six months ago on West Palm Drive in Florida City, but residents here have long been relishing Maya’s tacos, which were formerly sold from a Taco Loco trailer in various…
Miamians in the mood for Mexican in other corners of the county might consider these solid south-of-the-border joints: Burritos Grill Café 899 NE 125th St., North Miami; 305-891-1041; $15 or less per person, excluding tip and alcohol This quaint and immaculate 30-seat café has obligatory sombreros and ponchos hanging on…
Mediterranean cuisine is the toast of South Beach. Over the past few years, more than a half-dozen hoity-toity restaurants have opened, serving bright, clean, simple Med fare forged from fresh, high-quality ingredients. Here are two catches that focus on seafood: La Marea at The Tides South Beach 1220 Ocean Dr.,…
When a couple dined at a high-end establishment in the chivalrous days of yore, it was not unusual for the gentleman to be handed a menu with prices and the lady to be given one without. The idea was that because he was paying, she needn’t let numbers get in…
Eleven years ago, a pair of Danish chefs, Jan Jorgensen and Soren Bredahl, opened Two Chefs restaurant in South Miami. Bredahl returned to his homeland quite awhile back, but Two Chefs’ popularity has never waned — in part because Jorgensen has been a fixture there, making sure food and service…
North Miami isn’t exactly a hotbed of cuisine, but a short ride up the Biscayne corridor does yield a couple of gems: North One 10 Cream-colored brick walls conspire with blond woods, amber-colored glass, a very low ceiling, and little else to form a refreshingly unpretentious ambiance. Anyone acquainted with…
Elvis Ramirez Where: Mi Peru, 1760 Miami Gardens Drive, Aventura, (305) 940 9404. What $15 Gets You: A big plate of chaufa with meat and a drink. For those who lump Latin cuisine into a category consisting of rice, beans and some sort of meat, Mi Peru in Aventura is…
Mark’s, which New Times cited as one of Miami’s few “solid, serious venues” for dining, is shutting its doors on South Beach and in West Palm Beach. “I’m sorry to inform you that we have closed this location,” says a recording at the former South Beach restauarant, located at the…
Another one, but not just any one. Mark’s South Beach, in the Hotel Nash, is no more. Perhaps not surprising, as The Nash was a curiously low-profile address for so high-profile a chef. It was out of sight from the street and, as far as locals were concerned, pretty much…
Michelle Bernstein and Doug Rodriguez were recently announced as nominees for the James Beard Foundation’s best chef in the south award. The first name is no surprise, for Bernstein is one of South Florida’s most notable chefs. (She nabbed a nod last year but didn’t win.) The recognition for Rodriguez…
If you feel funny about plunking down big bucks for oxtail and plantains gussied up in the guise of Nuevo Latino, here are a couple of viejo Latino spots to consider: Islas Canarias 285 NW 27th Ave., Miami; 305-649-0440; $15 to $25 per person, excluding tip and alcohol This tiny…
Something seemed amiss as soon as we entered Jason’s at the Harrison. The vaguely Vegas room, with black-and-white tiger-skin motif and thumping club music, didn’t gel with the Mediterranean/Asian/American comfort cuisine of chef Jason McClain — who just a couple of months ago, and with much fanfare, had taken over…
No details yet, other than that earlier this week Michael Bloise, one of Miami’s star chefs, left his position at Wish restaurant in The Hotel on South Beach. Bloise’ menus at Wish were as provocative, whimsical, and innovative — not to mention tasty — as any in town. Who else…
