Interview with Philippe Ruiz of Biltmore’s Palme d’Or, Part Two

Here’s Part Deux of our interview with Philippe Ruiz, executive chef of Palme d’Or at the Biltmore. Read the first part of the interview here. 
You often cook for celebrities and dignitaries. Who was the most impressive or the one who made you the most nervous?I think everybody is important. How…

United Plates of America Now Casting

Do you like television, Top Chef, Project Runway? Skip this post if you do, having an idea might give you a headache.For everybody else — all five of you — here’s your opportunity to embarrass yourself on national TV. United Plates of America, a new show on NBC where one…

Interview with Philippe Ruiz of Biltmore’s Palme d’Or, Part One

While some of the top-name chefs manning kitchens in Miami are busy working on bacon-infused ice creams and three-pound slabs of steak, the Biltmore’s chef Philippe Ruiz continues to focus on making light, classic French dishes with a modern edge, often using just a few natural, high-quality ingredients. Thankfully the critics…

Florida’s Modern-Day Slavery Museum Tours the State

If each slave-picked Florida tomato you ate caused a tooth to fall out, you’d be reduced to bleeding gums in a matter of cheeseburgers.In the winter, most of America’s tomatoes come from Florida, especially the fields of Immokalee, close to Naples, in Collier County, just west of Dade.Unfortunately, the tradition…

Hone Your Culinary Skills with Chef Alan Hughes

Ready for culinary boot camp? Former One Ninety chef Alan Hughes will be teaching eight three-hour classes in his kitchen starting March 14. The classes, limited to five students, will cover a range of topics starting with the basics. In the first class, students will learn knife techniques, kitchen organization…

Rats and Roaches: Top 5 Restaurant Busts This Year

If you’ve eaten in the City of Miami in the past three months you may not want to read any farther.There’s a distinct possibility that ugly little roach legs, and furry little rat claws joined your romantic dinner, business lunch, or casual snack.The following list includes five restaurants who have…

Two New Chilorio’s Very Mexican Joints Now Very Open

Chilorio’s Very Mexican, “a fast-casual fresh Mexican restaurant,” has opened not one, but two new South Florida outposts: At 130 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, and at 8211 South Dixie Highway in South Miami. Both spots offer what Chilorio bills as “dishes made from authentic Mexican recipes, many of which…

Guy Fieri Ties Up South Beach Wine & Food Festival 2010

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival wrapped up last night with a beach party hosted by Guy Fieri at the Gansevoort’s Beach Club, appropriately themed “Moon Over Miami,” since the full, orange moon began to dip just as the party began. At 6 p.m. a line had already started…

Exclusive: The Forge Announces Opening Date

Shareef Malnik, the charismatic owner of The Forge restaurant, was back in action at the BubbleQ on Friday during the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. It was Malnik’s return to the culinary arena, since he shuttered his iconic steakhouse last summer. He also introduced the food world…

SBWFF 2010: Dim Sum & Disco In Photos

Dim Sum & Disco was the best event I attended at this year’s Festival. It was loose, fun, funky, featured fantastic food by great chefs, amazing Ty Ku cocktails by famed mixologist Tony Abu-Ganim, and the gorgeous Setai outdoor area. Truth be told, for much of the night I was…

SBWFF 2010: Lidia & Joe Bastianich at the Barilla Interactive Dinner

Guests who bought $225 tickets to last night’s Barilla Interactive Dinner at the Biltmore hotel probably assumed the word “interactive” meant a chef would be cooking for them at each table. Not so. As hungry diners dressed in everything from jeans to suits entered the room, they found cloth toques…

SBWFF 2010: Scott Conant’s Barilla Interactive Lunch

Female fans rushed Scarpetta’s Scott Conant at yesterday’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival Barilla Interactive Lunch at the Biltmore Hotel. They wanted to snap his picture. “I haven’t gotten this much attention since my wedding,” he told an audience of about 200. Some jumped on stage as Conant prepared…