I was sitting alone in the spanking-new Rosa Mexicano dining room, finishing up my chicken enchiladita appetizer. Actually I was already done eating the two small, soft corn tortillas wrapped around succulent shreds of pulled chicken, chorizo sausage, and meaty red beans, and at the moment, using the tines of…
“Asturias is known the world over for its mountains, for its coal mines, for its fabada and its cider.” — writer Mario Vargas Llosa The latter two were on hand for Miamians to sample this past Wednesday at the great Spanish cafe/market/bakeryDelicias de la España (4016 S 57th. Ave., Miami;…
It used to be easy to differentiate between a fine-dining establishment and a neighborhood restaurant. The former’s tables would be draped in white linen, the patrons in elegant attire, and the host — referred to as “maitre d'” — would likely be wearing a tuxedo. Further clues might be ascertained…
It’s difficult not to sympathize with business owners along the stretch of Biscayne Boulevard between NE 67th and 87th Streets. Owing to seemingly endless construction, access to shops is greatly reduced and the neighborhood looks like a war zone. Local businesses have failed under similar circumstances; common sense suggests the…
After just four months, Alex Patout has left his postion as executive chef of the popular Christabelle’s Quarter in Coconut Grove. “It was an honest difference of opinion about the direction of the menu,” owner John El-Masry told me, and then quickly added words of respect for the departed Patout…
Incredible, edible, and now a Hallmark holiday The Egg News Media Hotline wants you to know that the ninth annual World Egg Day takes place this Friday, October 12th. Spearheading the festivities will be Howard Helmer, the Guinness World Record holder for “World’s Fastest Omelet Maker”. “There’s no better time…
Miami diners consider certain money-driven variables pluses in deciding where to go on a night out: the flashy swordsmanship show of a Brazilian rodizio restaurant; the lavish steaks of an Argentine parrillada; the cutting-edge East-West fusion creations of a contemporary Peruvian eatery. Not a plus on any occasion would be,…
While traipsing around New York last month, my wife and I seemingly passed one Chipotle Mexican Grill after another — some spaced just blocks apart. It reached a point when I wondered aloud: “Who do they think they are, Starbucks?” Curiosity compelled us to walk into one and take a…
Those of us who have tuned in to watch Top Chef: Miami this season know why: Seeing the sights. And you know that by sights we mean Padma Lakshmi. But seriously, there has been a lot of local action around the production, which wrapped its stint at the Fontainebleu months…
Following my last Whole Foods post I simply HAD to head back there on Friday after work. The last thing I ever want to do is cook dinner after a long work week, and trying to get a dinner reservation at a decent hour on a Friday evening is practically…
Mmm, beets. Publix is pathetic. And Winn-Dixie’s been wack. Even your neighborhood Milam’s will get a disinterested “meh” from local grocery shopping connoisseurs now. The brand spankin’ new Whole Foods in Coral Gables just opened, and the store owners have spared no expense in making it the most ridiculously awesome…
The first Chipotle Mexican Grill opened just weeks ago in North Miami, and now a South Miami branch is being readied to premier in the former Krispy Kreme doughnut shop on South Dixie Highway….Two Chefs is heading the opposite direction, the landmark South Miami restaurant debuting a second shop in…
Sit at the sushi bar. That’s the advice I generally give in regard to eating raw fish at restaurants, but it is especially true at David Bouley Evolution. For one thing, the main dining room is closed until November, so there really isn’t much choice. Those who arrive seeking sushi…
If cooking is an art, the hamburger is a blank canvas. Make it very big or very small. Paint it with ketchup, mustard, mayo, sun-dried tomato aioli. Texture it with lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, coleslaw. Frame it with a sesame seed bun, ciabatta roll, hunk of sourdough, crusty baguette. Whether…
The swank new Regent South Beach hotel, which debuted all of a year ago, is now operating under new management, a group called Vincci Hoteles. Does this mean that the property’s signature restaurant, Table 8, will be deep-sixed? We’ll have to wait and see…….New owners of B.E.D. Miami, which opened…
At famous uptown NYC venues like the Lenox Lounge and the Cotton Club, entertainers such as Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington’s big band were sophisticated, and the soul food was scrumptious. The same has been true of the numerous new Harlem supper clubs that have opened since the neighborhood’s revival…
Pascal Oudin, born in Bourbon-Lancy, France, was working in professional kitchens at age 13. Within a few years he was being recognized as a wunderkind apprentice chef. Then came further training under Alain Ducasse, three-star Michelin masters Roger Vergé and Joseph Rostang, and the late, great Jean-Louis Palladin, who mentored…
Asking for tap water can be touchy when eating at a restaurant that typically exceeds one’s budget. But the waiter at The Restaurant at The Setai on South Beach didn’t even toss us a haughty, “cheapskates” glance when a dining mate asked for “normal water” during our Miami Spice lunch…
Hats off, chef It was standing room only at Starbucks Hear Music Store on Lincoln Road yesterday. Must’ve been 70 or 80 people crowded in to see star chef Marcus Samuelsson and Starbucks’ master coffee blender Andrew Linnemann demonstrate the pleasurable pairing possibilities of coffee and comestibles. Samuelsson is the…
I just recently noticed that Fifty Restaurant on Miami Beach’s Ocean Drive, home of chef Roly Cruz-Taura’s progressive American cuisine, is now 444 Ocean. As evidenced by the menu, it appears to have downgraded into another of that street’s many meccas of mediocrity. But enough naysaying. Local food commentary, mine…
Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, and by the cover of Les Halles, the judgment is: We are sooo French. French as the 35-hour workweek, French as 10,000 handmade cheeses and gloriously crusty baguettes, French as sipping a glass of rustic red wine at a cute little…
Ishq, the contemporary Indian restaurant whose opening at 530 Ocean Drive, South Beach, has been “highly anticipated” (re:long delayed), will finally start cooking this Friday (September 14). Owners Sham and Kavita Kamlani promise “Bombay street fare in an oceanside setting” and a menu of traditional dishes (samosas, masalas, tandooris) complemented…
