June 2011 Restaurant Openings and Closings

Could it really be that there were not notable restaurant closings in June? Maybe we missed something. There were, however, a number of openings. A couple more burger joints opened shop, as did Steven Haas’s City Hall and Micah Edelstein’s Nemesis Urban Bistro. Also two coffee roasters are now officially…

Azul: Joel Huff’s New Haute Cuisine (Pictures)

​We were starting to wonder when the heck Chef Joel Huff was going to be brave enough to invite us to try “his” Azul and finally, thank the heavens, we got our big moment Wednesday night when the Mandarin Oriental, Miami staff extended the invitation. And folks, trust us when…

Maje Café Brightens Downtown Daytime Offerings

Admist the skyscrapers downtown, there are few breakfast and lunch offerings for worker bees. In fact, on a street filled with hotels catering to business clients and crowded with foreign consulates, La Provence has had quite the monopoly. Enter Maje Café, a restaurant that has quietly opened in the bottom…

Food Trucks Offer Light Summer Fare

Summer in Miami is here with the killer combo of tropical heat and high humidity. You know, the kind of days that make you feel like you’re wearing a hot, damp mop on your head. The last thing you want is to eat a heavy, hot, greasy, double cheeseburger or…

Coca-Cola’s New Soda Dispenser Features Touch Screen, 125 Flavors (Video)

The future is upon us. Miami’s own Burger King corporation is testing a high-tech, space-age, and basically just kick ass soda dispensing machine. It was developed by the Coca-Cola company, always on the cutting edge of coolness. (The Simpsons/Coca-Cola commercial during the Super Bowl, anyone?)The apparatus offers 125 different libations,…

Gulp Down Ten Wieners and Party with the Hot Dog Hotties

According to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council (no, we didn’t make that name up), tomorrow kicks off National Hot Dog Month. To celebrate the “Month of the Wien” and Independence Day, the Hot Dog King himself is hosting his fifth annual hot dog eating contest.At noon tomorrow, Louie…

Symcha’s: solid but pricey

Venezuelan restaurateur Symcha Zylberman’s first name means “happiness” in Hebrew. But on a Tuesday night at 7 o’clock, his charmingly landscaped, oversize courtyard across the street from Joe’s Stone Crab in South Beach is empty. He’s at the host stand looking surprised to see us. Though the place opens at…

Where to Eat & Drink on Fourth of July in Miami

We can hardly wait for the long weekend ahead. If you don’t know what you’re doing to celebrate Independence Day, you’ll be glad to know there are several restaurants and parks hosting parties for the occasion. Following are some options around town. Tobacco Road Celebrate early at Tobacco Road’s Red…

Pop Rocks Sushi? Explosive Recipes for July 4

Fourth of July is all fireworks and hot dogs. We were cringing at the prospect of the same, boring foods this year. We wanted foods with some pop…and then it hit us — Pop Rocks. It turns out you can do quite a lot with this popping candy, including making…

The Well, An Aspen Ski Lodge on Mid-Beach, Is Set to Open In July

Shareef Malnik is teaming up with entrepreneur Buzzy Sklar to open The Well at the former Glass space, adjacent to Malnick’s iconic The Forge Restaurant/Wine Bar. It won’t be your typical mid-Beach joint, except for the drink selection and small plates. The decor is modeled after an Aspen ski lodge,…

Win a $120,000 Food Truck! Buy a Ticket and Enter the Raffle

If you’ve been going to some of Miami’s food truck roundups with a wistful gleam in your eye and dreams of being the next big food truck sensation, this could be your lucky day. Burger Beast tipped us off that Tania Ramirez of Food Truck U.S.A. is raffling off a…

Kane Steakhouse Opens Tonight: Sneak Preview (Photos)

Kane Steakhouse is a collaboration between restaurateur Matthew Glazier (the man behind New York’s Michael Jordan’s Steak and Strip House), Roman Jones, and Justin Levine. It opens tonight in the former Tuscan Steak space on South Beach in SoFi. The dining room is a collaboration by Francois Frossard Design and…

Harry Potter’s Pumpkin Pasties Are Just Like Empanadas

Harry Potter is everywhere this summer. An announcement came from J.K. Rowling yesterday about Pottermore, an interactive site, and the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, is just three weeks away. With the end of the Potter-era fast approaching, we decided to cave into the nostalgia…

LoSasso, Wessel, Jorgensen, Zakarian Talk Peanut Butter & White Chocolate

Maybe the most interesting thing about White Chocolate Wonderful — labeled as “peanut butter blended with sweet white chocolate” — is that it contains no white chocolate. Actually, it contains no chocolate at all. The ingredients: Peanuts, evaporated cane juice, vanilla, cocoa butter, palm fruit oil, lecithin, and salt. The…