Blue Martini Lounge Set to Stir Up Kendall

Right on the heels of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza comes another new entry in Kendall. On July 30, an 8,500-square-foot Blue Martini Lounge will premiere at the newly renovated Palms at Town & Country Shopping Center. You might be familiar with the martini-lounge-cum-restaurant-cum-live-entertainment-venue if you live in  Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Las…

Casa Toscana Shuts Its Doors

Beloved neighborhood Italian eatery Casa Toscana has just announced that it will shut its doors immediately. Owner Sandra Stefani sent out an e-mail thanking her customers for their patronage and friendship over the last six years. Blame it on the economy, or Miami’s obsession with the newest, latest on the…

Anthony’s Pizza Fires Up Kendall

“Well-done pizzas” have landed in Kendall. It happened this past weekend, when Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza opened its fifth Miami-Dade location (and 23rd nationwide) at 12502 N. Kendall Dr., a half-mile west of the turnpike.ACFP’s anthracite-burning ovens heat up to 800 degrees, a beautifully blistering blast of fire that chars…

Chimichanga at Aguacates

The chimichanga at Aguacates starts with a choice: Shredded beef, chicken pastor, or steak carnitas. Try the last, cubes of well-seasoned steak wrapped in a large flour tortilla with refried beans and Monterey Jack cheese, the whole shebangachanga then deep-fried to crisp splendor. Have the friendly counterperson add some dabs…

Jackson’s Soul Food Serves Soulful Breakfasts

Jackson’s has been serving soul food in Overtown, at one location or another, since 1946. Its current incarnation is as a large, bright, 100-plus seat breakfast joint on a redeveloped stretch of NW Third Ave. (open from 6 a.m. until 1 p.m.).The menu includes pancakes, waffles, and the like, as…

Flavor Exploration at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

On a visit to Columbus, Ohio, this ice cream lover found the holy grail of all things frozen. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams shops is a small family owned business with big flavors. Using local fresh ingredients the seasonal flavors and toppings are a tribute to the Ohio countryside. Our favorites…

Sneak Review: The Villa by Barton G

A quick bite from next weeks Cafe review of The Villa:Seared ahi tuna and beef carpaccio were each strikingly presented upon stunning plateware. Four purplish slices of the former were arranged upon a velvety red pepper puree (the peppers juiced, thickened, frozen, and placed on plate like a rectangle of…

RA Sushi Bar & Restaurant’s Most Ordered Dish

RA Sushi Bar of South Miami claims its Viva Las Vegas Roll as its most ordered plate. With such a variety of colors, textures, and tastes (Kani Kama Crab, Sliced Lotus Root), RA Sushi Bar is able to deliver the Strip’s flashy vitality in a sushi roll. RA Sushi Bar…

Barton G’s Most Ordered Dish

Have you ever dreamed of swimming in a tub of melted chocolate? While Barton G doesn’t provide a life-size chocolate spa for patrons to bathe in, it gets close to this with its Chocolate “G”-Cuzzi, a dark chocolate fondue into which diners can dip ice cream bites, fresh fruit, and…

Area 31 Hosts Ice Cream Social for Charity

Ice cream socials mostly invoke thoughts of church gatherings and neighborhood get-togethers, but not when you’re eating your ice cream overlooking Biscayne Bay at Area 31. The restaurant will celebrate National Ice Cream Month by hosting Scoops for Success tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Choose from one of…

Michael’s Genuine Doughnuts

Ode To Hedy Goldsmith’s Orange Creamsicle Pot d’Creme Doughnuts at Michael’s ($9):Giving in to Hedy’s doughnutsIs like surrendering to lust.You just must.Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink130 NE 40th St., Miami305-573-5550…

El Pimiento’s Most Ordered Dish

In light of Spain’s victory in the World Cup, now is the ideal time to revel in Spanish culture. For such an experience, try tapas bar El Pimiento’s garbanzos fritos. This dish features fried garbanzo beans garnished with chorrizo Cantimpalo and parsley. Owner Mylo Gonzalez humbly declared to Short Order…

Can Anybody in This Town Make a Real Freakin’ Iced Coffee?

An iced coffee should consist of two things: (1) ice and (2) refrigerated coffee. Not hot coffee, because that melts the ice and invariably turns the drink into a watered-down, 2 Girls 1 Cup-style gag-inducing experience within 15 minutes.It’s simple, you would think. I’m not even asking for the ice…

Michael Psilakis’s Bistro E Debuts Today

It’s not often you get to enjoy a three-course lunch conceptualized by a Michelin-starred chef, in a drop-dead gorgeous dining room with a 15th-floor vista of the city, along with a pint of beer, for $15! Usually it costs about ten times that much. But beginning today, at the spanking-new…

Tap Tap Wheels Out New Snow-Cone Cart

When Gary Sanon-Jules was growing up in Port-au-Prince, he and his classmates would stream out of school at 3 p.m. and run to the fresco tap-tap — better known here as a snow-cone cart.This past Friday, Gary wheeled out a fresco tap-tap in front of Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant, on…

Chicken Yakitori at Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill

Sugarcane’s chicken yakitori works equally well as a palate-prickling starter to stimulate the appetite or as a bar accompaniment come cocktail hour. What’s not to like? Plump pieces of juicy breast meat, interspersed with snippets of leek-like Tokyo scallions, get lightly charred in a robata grill and glazed with a…