Houston’s, the Cheesecake Factory, and other popular dining chains manage to attract packs of hungry Aventura residents by offering comfortable settings and consistent fare that challenges neither palate nor pocketbook. So when Scott Fredel, former co-chef of Rumi, decided to enter this neighborhood with his own dining establishment, he charted…
Forget BAM — Emeril’s looks to be a veritable SLAM dunk. The buzz-driven gastrognoscenti are descending in droves, overwhelming the restaurant formerly known as the Gaucho Room. Indeed the polished dining room, dominated by wine refrigeration units that could make any half-knowledgeable enophile drool with envy, has completely evolved from…
It has always seemed to me, to paraphrase an old sentiment, that Kendall is a nice place to live but I wouldn’t want to visit there. Then I somehow find myself in one of the more terminally suburban parts, and realize I’m not so sure about living there, either. Whoa,…
In 1995 China Grill opened to both raves and rabidly raving rants, and it’s been that way ever since. It may take diners arriving after 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. half an hour to get seated (still), but once seated, they are never on the fence; no one, it seems, has…
I wish to retract the following statements: “Hardly anyone has come out of [Miami’s] noted kitchens and opened, to either local or nationwide acclaim, an innovative restaurant. Yes, many of the chef-proprietors have ‘placed’ their people in high-profile positions or been on the hiring end…. But it still appears that…
My wife has long accused me of getting carried away with my work, her latest repetition of this charge brought on by my decision to attend our friends’ Halloween party dressed as an arepa con queso. She seemed skeptical of my claim that the masquerade had nothing to do with…
I have spoken with residents of the Miami Design District and can report that they are not high on Grass, the new restaurant/lounge on NE 40th Street. “We’re just starting to develop a nice, easygoing neighborhood vibe here,” said one disgruntled homeowner. “The last thing we need is this pretentious…
Grinders are what I call ’em, due to many formative years living in New England, but elsewhere in the country monster meat/cheese/veg sandwiches go by other names, most easy to understand: submarine, torpedo, and zeppelin for the blimp-shaped roll; hero for the formidable size. Some, though, were more of a…
Our October is the rest of the nation’s March — a month of transition, a medium for change, and a means for projection. It may be less scientifically precise than the National Hurricane Center, but what happens in October is frequently a more fundamentally accurate reading of the culinary currents…
Consider the gift basket. Stuffed with incredibly edible comestibles ranging from fresh fruits straight out of boutique orchards to artisan cheeses cured at dairies that exist in determinedly rural communities, it serves a multitude of occasions. The basket celebrates births and other Hallmark holidays, commiserates deaths, brings in money for…
For the 43rd consecutive year, Arbetter’s Hot Dogs will not be serving free baked beans “the day after the Boston Red Sox win the World Series.” The Sox are an undeniably fine baseball team, and as of this writing have just steamrolled into the American League Championship Series, but anyone…
Around this prostitution-trafficky stretch of Biscayne Boulevard, the term “hot” has traditionally been more associated with the word “pants” than with “food.” That changed last year with the opening of Renaisa, in the rather dilapidated building long occupied by the Bimini, a basic bar/fried fish joint on Little River that…
It’s official — and it’s Esquire: Food critic John Mariani named Carmen the Restaurant one of 2003’s “Best New Restaurants in America” in the magazine’s 22nd annual survey. About the eatery in the David William Hotel, the only one that Mariani recognizes in the state of Florida, he writes that…
Since opening in Loehmann’s Plaza eighteen years ago, Chef Allen’s Restaurant has raked in prestigious dining awards the way most of us accumulate bills: rated “best restaurant in South Florida” by Gourmet magazine, voted “best food in Miami” in the 2003 Zagat, winner of Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence, recipient…
There’s (arguably) more argument in America about what constitutes real barbecue than about what constitutes justification for declaring war — unless the war is between differing ‘cue factions, in which case just about any difference of opinion is reason enough to start shooting. Some purist pit-fired wood barbecuers even go…
Since virtually all of the regulars on what it amuses me to refer to as my “Restaurant Review Victims List” (food criticism is one of the world’s most interesting jobs, but it’d shock you to learn how often reviewers end up with job-related ailments ranging from food poisoning to just…
Perhaps you’ve noticed the large murals and conspicuous neon lights of Taquerias El Mexicano while driving through Little Havana toward downtown. Located at Fifth Avenue and Calle Ocho, that neon conspires with a thickly gated exterior to give the place a forbidding, down-and-out appearance. Lurking behind those gates, however, is…
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, stumping in Philadelphia, stopped by the landmark Pat’s King of Steaks for a “common folk” photo-op, and proceeded to place an order for their famous Philly cheese steak sandwich — “with Swiss cheese.” Philadelphians cringed at the faux pas, as did, I’m sure, Kerry’s campaign…
Driving past you’d never notice this bar/restaurant in the Argentine enclave around 71st Street and Normandy Drive; indeed the first three times I cruised by deliberately looking, I missed it. But I wasn’t surprised to think the eight-month-old spot had already folded. I’d become aware of Il Romanaccio Caffe through…
After too many years of all-you-can-eat buffets, comfort foods, and huge portions in à la carte restaurants, Miami, meet the new gimmick in town: tapas — what you and I already know as Spanish appetizer-size items like tortillas (omelets), fried calamari, and white anchovies, and what Katrin Naelapaa, director of…
What do you get when you take Browns — a two-story building with seven-foot ceilings built in 1915 with the now-prohibited, nearly extinct first-growth Dade County pine — lift it up four feet and move it back fifteen feet, and drop it on cinder blocks? A Myles Chefetz establishment, of…
I should start by stating my general disdain for fast-food chains, which I believe exist mainly to provide pseudonutrition for those who don’t like to put a lot of thought into what’s going into their stomach. Still it’s only proper that I keep abreast of national dining trends, and I…
