Tap Tap Sunday

This Sunday evening, recording artist Farah Juste will be at Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant on South Beach for “a CD signing and celebration”. Ms. Juste’s career as a passionate singer of Haitian folk songs took off with her debut solo album in 1977, and since then she has performed from…

The Audacity of Enso

“Enso is an evolutionary solutions workshop which creates the scientific study of deliciousness.” So begins the insanely inventive, thoroughly audacious menu at this new sushi/hibachi/Mediterranean deconstructionist establishment on Lincoln Road. I don’t mean to suggest the public isn’t ready for this, but when I told my wife we would be…

Lemoni Cafe – Little Haiti Upstarts

                                                                                                         Jacob Katel Assia Dahrouch and Eugenia Pelati opened the doors of Lemoni Cafe (4600 NE 2nd Ave), a  “fresh-Mediterranean-style” joint just nine months ago. They met at a restaurant on the beach where they worked together for four years. Assia, who worked there for 11 years before quitting said, “I’m…

Mix Your Own Damn Granola

People can talk all they want about the economy falling apart, but when you see an upstart Miami based company stackin paper off selling cereal on the internet (talk about grippin’ grain), you gotta say “hell, America’s back.” Check out this exclusive interview with one of three local cereal pioneers…

Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink

Get ready as Short Order takes you behind the line and into the kitchens of some of Miami’s top restaurants. Today we visit Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink in the Design District. Listen for the random quotes from the kitchen in this exclusive photodocumentary that gives you a one hour…

Revisiting Marumi Sushi

A couple months back, we reviewed Marumi Sushi, a small but very authentic Japanese restaurant hiding in the western wilds of Plantation. I loved it then: nowhere else in Broward can you get this kind of unfiltered, unapologetic view of the food that Japanese folks actually dig into, and nowhere…

Miami’s Dining Scene Goes Big League

This was the year Miami finally joined the big league of American food cities. A flurry of activity burst across our local restaurant world, delivering bistros, cafés, star-chef driven establishments, humble neighborhood hideaways, midscale chains, upscale chains, burger joints, sushi bars, wine bars, wine fairs, food fests, farmers’ markets, Whole…

Naked Sushi – Smells Like Fish

Nyotaimori, aka naked sushi, refers to the Japanese art of sushi served on a human body. Talk about your food looking at you while you eat — but hey, rich people gotta find some way to liven up their dinner parties. I recently set out on a mission to find…

Joey’s In The Wood

Joey’s is a modern Italian cafe that opened December 1 at 2506 NW Second Ave. It is the first restaurant in the Wynwood Cafe District, a 14-square-block area that city commissioners approved in July. Miami leaders hope it will transform the arts district into something much more. I spoke to…

Ebony, Ivory, and Plantain-Crusted Grouper…

 …is the answer to: What might you find at a Puerto Rican-owned piano bar/café? Merly Velazquez, niece of the late fashion designer David Fernandez, has partnered with Raymond Klein in opening Miami Arts Café across the street from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (255 NE 14 Street)…

2009: Food Network Says the Year is Greener

I Predict:You will recycle many BaggiesThis time of year we’re all clairvoyant: Everybody is summing up the past and predicting the foodie future, including moi (look for my column next Wednesday here). My inbox is full of this kind of hocus pocus and mumbo jumbo, most recently the Food Network’s top 10 predictions…

Strip Club Dining Guide

South Florida is Babylon, strip club paradise, the lap dance capital, champagne room headquarters. And you can get a steak with that shake. Here’s Short Order’s first-ever strip club dining guide. Tell us what you think and what you think is missing.Cheetah Hallandale Beach100 Ansin Blvd, Hallandale, FL – (954)…

Thai Churos Thais Up Downtown

There are five tables in this tiny downtown venue, room for 16 seats in all. Asian appointments adorn the entrance, and an enlarged black-and-white photo of New York City’s Flatiron Building graces one of the walls — I’m not sure why. A waitress does busy work behind a counter in…

The Inspector – Tumi Tells Fish Stories and Lies Too

On December 5th, 2008 Tumi Restaurant in Margate (7926 W Sample Road) underwent a routine food inspection that resulted in 18 code violations, 7 of them deemed “critical.” They were mostly run of the mill grease accumulations and food debris pile-ups, but one violation stood out. The willful deception of…

And Another…

Executive chef is Garrette Gray, whose eclectic menu includes starters ($6-$17) such as pan roasted scallops with smoked duck, shiitake mushrooms, poached pears and natural thyme jus; fish entrees ($24-$34) like grouper with braised callaloo, potato conch fritter, roasted red pepper and lemongrass broth; and meats ($24-$56) like grilled veal…

Another Day, Another Restaurant Debut…

Miami DJ Cedric Gervais and partner Juan Carlos Dominguez are opening their Hed Kandi Lounge tonight. Located in the former Afterglo space (1200 Washington Avenue), this “gastro-lounge” will showcase molecular gastronomy. For those who aren’t sure what this means, let’s just say that the photo above is of flying bacon…

Sauced at Tijuana

Apparently, the Tijuana Flats Burrito Co. has finally opened up a location in South Florida. It’s about time. Tijuana Flats is a Floridian company, after all, straight out of Winter Haven, and they’ve got branches in four states already. We ordinarily wouldn’t get so excited about a chain restaurant, but…

La Champa – Rat Shit Restaurant

A recent routine food inspection report for La Champa Sport Grill (2001 NW 36th St., Miami) turned up some interesting results. According to the report “Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.”Here are my favorite 2 violations- Observed hole in wall.- Observed rodent activity…

The Inspector: Ver Daddy’s Taco Shop

Yesterday we received this comment to a post about roaches at a North Miami Quizno’s: Paul says, “They should check out Ver Daddy’s taco shop on Biscayne too.” The Inspector is here to give the people what they want, “the truth” as a matter of public record as reported by…

Ted Allen Tonight at Nectar

A reminder to all you forgetful foodies out there: Tonight and tomorrow, Queer Eye For the Straight Guy and Iron Chef America alum Ted Allen will be at Nectar Lounge in  Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, signing copies of his latest cookbook, The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple…

The SoBe Wine & Food Fest Stocking Stuffer

Starting this morning at 9:00 a.m., the South Beach Wine & Food Festival  is offering a week-long 10% discount on all ticket orders (before tax and service fees). The deal closes Friday, December 19, at 5:00 p.m., and all orders placed by this time are guaranteed delivery before Christmas Day…

Free #$%*! Ice Cream!!!

The “Ice Cream Man” a.k.a. Matt Allen is a dude who rolls around the country in an old van named Mitch giving away free ice cream. We caught up with him at O.H.W.O.W Gallery (Our House West of Wynwood) on NW 7th Ave and 32 Street during a Basel week…