My wife and I were graced with a special dinner guest when we dined at the grandiose new Christabelle’s Quarter in Coconut Grove: Bozhan Arizankovski, our 17-year-old summer visitor from Sköpje, Macedonia, whom we have known since he was a wee lad. He is an extremely smart young man; exhibits…
Miami has a great many things — sun, sand, spectacular ocean views, trolling celebutantes with more plastic parts than an Xbox. One thing Miami doesn’t have much of is great bread. Sure, some of the upscale so-called gourmet markets do a passable variation on the classic baguette, ciabatta, pan au…
A disheartening email arrived at New Times this week, in which a reader informed us that Armando Alfano of Soya & Pomodoro was closing his hip, informal downtown Italian eatery and moving back to Italy. Thankfully the news isn’t true. Mr. Alfano considered doing so for personal reasons, but assures…
Hi Lee: Long time reader, first time writer. Any chance there is a good Korean Fried Chicken place in Miami? I hope you have a suggestion. Thanks and happy eating, Sarah in South Miami Sarah– I called the three Korean places that I know of: Myung Ga Tofu and BBQ,…
Great post on local fruit, but my question is, and it’s one I’ve been asking for a while, how do locals get a hold of local fruit? I’ve heard in other cities they have these things called farmers markets where local farmers gather in an urban setting and sell their…
Lee, Do you know if Crabby’s Smoke House BBQ and Seafood are still open? I have heard conflicting reports Ani Corbett Orlando Florida Ani, I had assumed that Crabby’s was very much still going strong, but after reading your email I tried calling and, sure enough, the phone has been…
In response to my recent blog concerning rumors of trouble at David Bouley’s Evolution, Nicole Eldridge, Director of Special Events there, sent me the following email. I will only add that I believe her, and am more than happy to squelch the rumor once and for all. –Lee Klein Dear…
When One Ninety closed in early 2005, Miami lost much more than a neighborhood restaurant. Located on the bottom floor of an old house in historic residential Buena Vista, just north of the Design District, the funky, friendly food/entertainment spot was hip in a way that was the antithesis of…
Critics mowed down Grass when it opened in the Design District in 2003, if only for the velvet ropes and snobbery encountered at the door. Despite such grumblings, or perhaps because of them, Grass grew quickly as a club destination with a reputation for passable pan-Asian fare. Alas, the scene…
When the summer of ‘07 gets discussed years from now, it may very well be recalled as being the season that set the Miami dining scene back a decade. In January of 2003, the Spanish deconstructionist restaurant La Broche opened on Brickell Avenue, signaling that our town was ready to…
Question: There are 57 peaches hanging from a tree. Four of them are beautiful and ripe; 53 of them are rotten. True or false: All 57 of the peaches on this tree are rotten, so the tree is fruitless. If you answered “true”, a career in journalism may be awaiting…
At age twelve Adrianne Marie Calvo was pulling in $200 a week baking chocolate chip cookies and selling them at school. At sixteen she was voted one of the top ten up-and-coming chefs in Florida. At seventeen she captured the bronze in a national bake-off. Shortly thereafter, Calvo began training…
Are there any two cities more different than Key West and Coral Gables? The self-described “City Beautiful” is as anal-retentive as a bucketful of Imodium AD. There are regulations that tell you what color you can paint your house, what animals you can keep as pets. You have to get…
Santo Restaurant & Lounge has just appointed Cory Smith, former sous chef at Pacific Time, to be their executive chef. The new menu will debut this Saturday, July 7th. The Back Story (maybe):A couple of weeks ago I met John Mariani, longtime food editor for Esquire Magazine, at Santo Restaurant…
Pick a pair Gabriele Marewski’s Paradise Farms, a five-acre organic lot in Homestead, is rarely more paradisiacal than right about now, as summers’ bounty of nectar-laden fruit is coming into bloom. Marewski, who has a BS degree in agronomy from the University of Maryland, drives her farmed goods — which…
Michael McCrossen Saturday – June 23, 2007 2:07 PM To: Subject: Moving to Miami- Any recommendation Hi Lee- My girlfriend and I are relocating to Miami from Philadelphia in about a month. We eat out quite a bit up in Philly, and are completely unfamiliar with the Miami restaurant scene…
Natural disasters — tornadoes, tidal waves, whatever — are hardly unique to our little weather zone. Nor is thumbing one’s nose in the face of Madre Nature’s power-tripping. But hurricane parties are a form of gallows humor that distinguishes the Tropics from our left-coast and plains-states peers. The main reason:…
Take one part Stir Crazy, the choose-your-own-ingredients wok-fry chain located in Boca Raton (and elsewhere). Mix two parts Moon Thai & Japanese Restaurant in Coral Gables (and elsewhere). Stir together briskly and — voilà! — Stir Moon. (If you can properly visualize this, there is really no need to read…
“The One and Only! Nothing But the Best for Less.” What restaurant reviewer specializing in cheap eats could resist such a come-on? Especially when it’s plastered beneath the place’s name — Conch Town USA — even more of an enticement, because good conch is harder to find than a good…
Faced with a stressful week of work, my girlfriend and I decided it was time for a pleasant dinner in the Roads this past Saturday. We had passed Old Lisbon many times. After stepping into the cozy restaurant, the rich aromas of flaming Linguiça and stewing codfish grabbed hold of…
It is an astounding statistic: 99 percent of all new restaurants go out of business within the first six minutes. Or something like that. Still, this doesn’t deter one feckless restaurateur after another from trying their hands at the hazardous game. They all go in confident that they’ve got something…
Our waiter came to the table and began speaking in a foreign tongue. Granted, we were at La Dorada, a Spanish seafood establishment with a predominantly Hispanic clientele. But one would think that when management determines the language to be spoken by employees, a restaurant’s country of residence would take…
