Sneak Review: Norman’s 180

​A pre-review nibble from next week’s Cafe:While Norman is head honcho, co-chefs are son Justin Van Aken and Philip Bryant, the latter working with the elder Van Aken since 2005. “Globally inspired, seasonally wired,” is their menu motto. The first part is true: This bill of fare is all over…

Sunday Jazz Brunch Returns at the Setai

Photo by Jacob KatelThe bar at the Setai.​If you’re not a subscriber to our weekly Café Bites dining newsletter, here’s a taste of what you’re missing. Click here to subscribe.Champagne, Asian-style tapas, Sunday brunch and all that jazz are part of the five-year anniversary celebration at SoBe’s uber-luxe Setai.After a…

POC Brings New Age Twist to the Buffet in Coral Gables

Courtesy of POC ​A pleasant stroll up Ponce de Leon, from Miracle Mile, brings you to POC American Fusion Buffet & Sushi. The ten-day old restaurant celebrated its grand opening Tuesday evening; a triumph that was more than four years in the making. The festivities began with a ceremonial blessing…

Fairchild’s Edible Garden Festival Teaches Sustainability

October 23 will mark the third year of the Edible Garden Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. The festivities last from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They will continue the same time the following Sunday.”‘Going green’ has become more and more popular each year and our visitors are now interested…

Bistro 1401 Opens on Coral Way

Chef Fabio Pizelman’s Bistro 1401 is barely a month old now and it’s already become a neighborhood favorite. Diners, friends and online reviews all concur. Located on the corner of SW 14th Avenue and Coral Way, the 40-seat eatery serves up traditional Argentinian dishes mixed with Italian inspiration. Fulfilling a…

Ten Weird Vodkas: From Root Beer to Bacon and Bubble Gum

Raspberry, pink grapefruit, bubble gum and now “wild cherri” will be joining the flavored vodka market. Vodka withs something odd mixed in reminds us of the steak and potatoes ice cream we once chowed on in a little mountain place in Venezuela. But that’s a story for another day. When…

Frodnesor Responds to Cobaya Post

Frodnesor, a damn good food blogger whose work I respect, published a lengthy response to a post of ours yesterday. He accused of us of censorship because his comment wasn’t published.Note to Frodnesor: We don’t censor. Never. No how. Unless something is libelous an ad hominem attack, of course. What…

Cheese Plate at The Cheese Course

​There are cheeses galore to choose from at The Cheese Course-some 150 from around the globe. At lunchtime the place fills up indoors and out, as people munch on cheese-adorned sandwiches and salads, or go purist and order a platter of fromage. For $7.95, you can pick any cheese you’d…

Essencia Lounge Makes A Big Deal About Thursday

​The Palms Hotel & Spa is once again touting a basketful of Thursday deals and steals:DEALS: From 6 to 10 p.m., guests at the Essensia Lounge will receive half-off all drinks and cocktails, and half-off all appetizers from chef Frank Jeannetti’s luscious Lounge menu. And from 4 to 9 p.m.,…

Miami’s Vegan Pizza Options Are Limited

​The coolest thing I heard this week is that Bill Clinton is now eating a mainly vegan diet. Not only that but he’s doing it right — vegan protein shakes in the morning and a eating well-balanced, colorful range of foods. You go, Bill, the whole vegan community is rooting…

Columnist Gustavo Arellano Discusses Paletas and Pirateria

David SamayoaThe logo at Paleteria La Michoacana in Homestead​”It’s a chain,” someone told me when I began researching Paleteria La Michoacana for last week’s post.  However, according to the staff, the Homestead store is independently owned by Jesus Miguel Andrades Fernandez.An online search reveals a number of images for Paleterias…

Catch 10: Hooking Into a New SoBe Joint’s Eats

​Catch 10 has been open for a while, but it celebrated its “grand opening” last night, so we checked in early for a complimentary lunch prior at the invitation of someone helping with press relations. (It was pretty obvious our server had no idea who we were, so I suspect…

Wine Depot & Bistro 555 Looks Like A Winner

Yesterday evening my wife and I checked out the brand new Wine Depot & Bistro 555, which opened last week at 555 Jefferson Ave. in South Beach (just up the block from the Meridian Market). The portion is a lofty, industrial space divided into a wine market to the left…

Two Fat Ladies: Recipe For Lobster with Latkas

Yesterday we highlighted the Two Fat Ladies: Full Thottle cookbook that was first published in 1998 by the irrepressible Brits. Today we offer a recipe from the book for Lobster with Latkas — one of Clarissa’s offerings. “I have an unlimited passion for lobsters which I do very well with,…

Marc Vidal Says Goodbye to Solea and Miami (Updated)

​Less than one year since he left Por Fin for Solea at the W Hotel, Spanish chef Marc Vidal is heading to Boqueria, a Spanish tapas restaurant with two locations in New York. Vidal will take the place of chef Seamus Mullen, who left the restaurant in July.Solea’s menu will…

Designer Karelle Levy Downs Salata Mechouia and Chicken Schnitzel

Courtesy of KRELwear​Karelle Levy is the woman behind the KRELwear Knits, a line of eclectic clothing based on what Levy calls “toobular” design. She sells both made to order and custom designs, which are sometimes created right on the spot at her Krel-2-Go events. According to the KRELwear website, toobular…

Cafe Prima Pasta’s $7 Pasta Deal

​It’s getting annoying, this habit of naming days, weeks, and months after foods in order to promote sales. Every week I get some email proclaiming National Popcorn Day or National Fig Newton Month or the one coming up next: National Pasta Week. This will occur the second week in October…

Sunny Anderson Talks About Journalism and Korea

Sunny Anderson​This is part two of our interview with Sunny Anderson from the Food Network’s Cooking for Real. Read the first part of our interview with Sunny Anderson here.Your dad was in the military, right? How did all those moves influence your cooking style?The cool thing about being a military…

Oktoberfest with Fritz & Franz

​Prost! Oktoberfest in Germany came to a close this past weekend but here in Miami we’ve the holiday. The beer keeps flowing at Fritz & Franz Bierhaus right through next weekend in the restaurant and adjacent plaza. This Austrian-run beerhouse located in the heart of Coral Gables continues the tradition…