Perhaps it’s time to start marking Miami restaurants on a curve — this way I could say only nice things about Granny Feelgood’s, because, in relation to other local “health food” establishments, there’s a lot to feel good about. If compared with a real health-conscious eatery like, say, one that…
Dave Jay Gerstein, a musician friend who fronts a band in New York City called the Sound of Monday, recently noted in an e-mail that “EVERYBODY needs a theme song.” Which is why he penned, along with “a whole horn arrangement idea too — lots of brass,” the following lines:…
“Are you Jewish?” the guy behind the counter at Tea for Two asked skeptically. “No,” I admitted, “but I was born in Brooklyn. That’s about the same thing.” “Nah, I can always tell,” he laughed. My non-Jewishness, he went on to explain, was noticeable because it was a novelty; evidently…
The people of Pinecrest and South Miami don’t go for a whole lot of fancy stuff. That’s probably why hoity-toity eateries that open here, often to great fanfare, find themselves turned inside out as quickly as cheap umbrellas in a windstorm. Two Chefs has weathered all sorts of competition by…
The mangoes are falling, the temperature is rising, and the tourists are leaving. What does it all mean? The obvious and inevitable, of course — summer, with all its vacation implications, is upon us. The bad news is that this is going to be a very domestic summer. Wars and…
If I could make the newsprint glow neon and blink on and off for the following phrase, I would: Feast Among the Grapes to Be Held at Parrot Jungle Island. Why the hoopla? Feast Among the Grapes, which benefits the Diabetes Research Institute, is not a debut event; in 2003,…
There is a big problem with chef/owner Carmen Gonzalez’s new restaurant Carmen. The problem is that there are no problems. Who is going to believe a review that says something like that? Okay — the location could be a problem, judging just from past history. The restaurant is in the…
I don’t deny that the reason I decided to eat lunch at this particular sandwich spot was because of its quacky moniker. I thought: Surely any food shop called the Rubber Duck has to put out a pretty creative product, right? Well, as it turns out, not really, but this…
While in Edinburgh two years ago, I went to buy a city restaurant guide at Cooks Bookshop, owned by Clarissa Dickson Wright, formerly one of the Food Network/BBC’s Two Fat Ladies. They were a notoriously butter- and beer-swilling duo (until partner Jennifer Patterson died in 1999) who roared through the…
I admit I was put up to it. While judging the third annual “Iron Chef” competition for Zeta’s (WZTA-FM 94.9) Paul and Young Ron morning show, which was held for the occasion at the Johnson & Wales campus in North Miami, Chef Allen Susser (sitting to my right) and I…
Taverna Opa is perfectly named, the word “opa” being a carefree yelp of joy — the Greek version of “yippee!” The place sizzles like lamb on a spit — Middle Eastern music blares, belly dancers jingle, patrons partake of Greek tabletop dancing, fire-grilled foods emit aromatic smoke balls, hundreds of…
sergio sigala CASA TUA 1700 James Avenue Miami Beach 305-673-1010 In the few months it’s been operating, Casa Tua in Miami Beach has cultivated a mystique that has made a weekend dinner reservation the most sought-after ticket in town. The understated refinement of its home (a former private residence) and…
Oceanview outdoor restaurants on Miami Beach are like the weather is in the rest of the nation: “Everybody talks about the weather,” as the nineteenth-century saying goes, “but nobody does anything about it.” Of course nobody has to do anything about it down here; perfect beach weather — and lots…
As I watch TV, I hear the familiar commercial jingle: “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony” and see the trademark-red Coca-Cola logo before it even flashes on the screen. In my heart, I feel the swell of so much goodwill toward my fellow human beings…
Although Haitian-born, chef Ivan Dorvil’s previous culinary experience has been everywhere but. His formal schooling was in Montreal, supplemented by some informal munching-his-way-around-Europe time. His previous executive chef jobs were at mid-Beach’s Middle Eastern Oasis Café (back when it first opened, to raves, in the mid-1990s), and in a couple…
Some (me) liken it to the Super Bowl, Oscar night, and New Year’s Eve all rolled into one. Others (my editors) see it as a self-indulgent waste of space that could be put to better use — like maybe reviewing a restaurant. Still the Flapjack Flip-Off is steamrolling into its…
Little Italian Tavern used to be housed in front of a Hallandale trailer park, and was critically and popularly acclaimed for solid, home-cooked Italian fare, friendly service, and low, low prices. Ten months ago owners Juan and Diana Rubin transferred Tavern to North Miami Beach, in the space occupied many…
When you enter the lobby of a Ritz-Carlton hotel, you expect to experience several ineluctable elements that give the chain its platinum reputation: liveried doormen greeting you with the respect accorded to royalty, superb floral arrangements with flowers that appear to have been flown by Lear jet from Holland’s finest…
What’s the difference between a “gastropub” and a restaurant? Nothing, as far as I can tell. A recent New York Times restaurant review that described a hot new place’s food as “gastro-pub cuisine” went on to list everything from pasta to lamb chops to cheesecake — which sure doesn’t sound…
Talk about making the best of underutilized space. The Delano Hotel has initiated “Cabana Dining,” an option for the shy celebrity — yeah, that’s an oxymoron — to take advantage of the private, poolside cabanas. For $190, which actually isn’t all that pricey, you get a candle-strewn cabana from 7:00…
The roast chicken of my dreams is sexy, not spartan — bursting with juice, tender yet firm, and very important, served splendidly dressed in its own succulent skin rather than cruelly stripped of this tasty protective covering by cooks whose claims to health consciousness fool only the most gullible or…
Astor Place Bar & Grill, with chef Johnny Vinczencz at the helm, was not too long ago considered one of the Beach’s better dining establishments. Thus it came as something of a surprise when Hotel Astor owner Karim Masri shut the restaurant for extensive renovations, and re-opened it in December…
