“Mornin’ General,” my mostly African-American co-workers would say as I’d drag myself through the doors of Bagel World in Queens, New York, at 5:30 a.m. The nickname had nothing to do with any military bearing or bulldog attitude on my part; when I was first introduced one of the guys…
In terms of lunch-hour possibilities, 41st Street is a great place to make a bank withdrawal, but not such a great place to spend same on grub. Not that there aren’t eateries dotted here and there among the ATM machines. It’s just that almost none are appealing; in this neighborhood…
I could blame Zagat for my heading to Caffe Vialetto with visions of haute conch and upscale callaloo in my head, but I’m too big for that. It’s true the dining guide ranks the restaurant number three in the “Top Caribbean” category, yet while I had never been to, or…
Early last spring I got an e-mail from a reader recommending a restaurant I’d actually noticed myself while reviewing another place in the same neighborhood, the increasingly lively area right off Circle Park. The quite overlookable spot (décor, as seen through a plain storefront, is basically beer neon and fishing…
Pita Loca is a place I usually frequent alone, even when my wife comes along. She pretends she doesn’t know me. She’ll stand a few feet away, as if she’s a separate customer, when I order my hummus sandwich to go. It works like this: The man behind the counter…
314 72nd St, Miami Beach;
Good Chinese take-out is a whole different bag from good Chinese food — quite literally. Because aside from needing to be slightly undercooked, to travel from restaurant to home without physical deterioration, great Chinese take-out food must interact with its enclosing porous paper parts (cardboard lids and cartons, et cetera)…
About three months ago I received a press release that began, “If you’re not famous, notorious, or a young, beautiful, unescorted woman, be prepared to wait in line for a table at the new, hip restaurant lounge Barcode.” Okay, I thought: I’m definitely not a, b, or c. Also it’s…
Britto’s paintings are boastfully commercial in nature. Those in the art world can debate whether this quality diminishes his reputation as a serious artist, but there’s no doubt the bold lines and bright colors make for a cheery, even dazzling dining room décor at his namesake restaurant in South Beach…
Let’s start with the basics: There are three types of “eat-out,” as opposed to homemade, burgers. One is the slider, a thin two-biter that slides down the digestive tract so fast even skinny supermodels need to order a six-pack. White Castles (Krystals for Southerners) are the classic sliders. Two is…
So you’re a couple of New York guys who have just relocated. It’s earlier this year. It’s lunchtime. You’ve been doing something-or-other in Miami Shores, and are cruising south past some of the increasingly snazzy neighborhoods bordering Biscayne Boulevard, like Belle Meade and Morningside. You are real hungry. And what…
There are no menus handed out at Macaluso’s, a smart-looking Italian restaurant sitting almost secretly in a ministrip mall off Alton Road in South Beach. Instead most of the ten appetizers and seventeen main courses were rapidly enumerated by our waiter, a practice that I believe unfairly punishes those of…
Since there’s no dance music blaring over this humble luncheonette place, it’s hard to figure why Disco Fish is named that. Perhaps the reference is intended to suggest fish so fresh they’re still party animals boogying direct from boat to plate. However, though the eatery co-bills itself as a fish…
The first time I dined at Gusto’s, with Victoria, was the evening after she’d put the family cat in the clothes dryer. “The cat went in by hisself,” Victoria disagreed, demurely. “Yeah,” grimaced Victoria’s grandmother Marci. “Luckily she couldn’t figure out how to turn the thing on.” Victoria is three,…
In 1975 President Gerald Ford dodged Squeaky Fromme’s bullet, South Vietnam surrendered to the communists, Sonny and Cher called it quits, and House of India opened on Merrick Way in Coral Gables. “I hope they’ve given it a paint job since then,” I said to my wife on the way…
“Little man felt very bad/One meat ball was all he had/And in his dreams he hears that call/’Ya gets no bread with one meat ball.'” –“One Meat Ball,” Depression-era song written by Louis Singer & Hy Zaret. I’m not saying our economy is going to stay down in the dumpster…
When two Indian restaurants in London won Michelin stars (only rarely bestowed upon ethnic eateries) last year, it initiated a spate of stories in American food publications about not just the goat cheese samosas on fresh pear chutney and other modernized neo-Indian dishes featured at the starred spots, but also…
With even Publix serving up subs using premium-brand cold cuts, it’s clear there’s no shortage these days of sources for sandwiches with pretty respectable interiors. What’s almost always a disappointment is the exterior — the bread. That’s what makes year-old Taste Bakery Café’s concept so appealing: Unlike umpteen other cafés,…
When Gary Danko’s eponymous restaurant opened in San Francisco three years ago, it won the James Beard Foundation’s “Best New Restaurant” award and received the first of three Five-Star ratings from Mobil. At the same time Chef Danko, previously selected as one of the ten best new chefs in America…
In Argentina “eat” means meat (per capita consumption is the world’s highest), and “meat” means beef. At least so I’ve heard. I’ve never actually been to Argentina. And actually, before some recent visits to Angus Grill I’d never even been to one of Miami’s growing number of Argentine parrillada restaurants,…
Fritas are Cuban-style hamburgers, a beef patty seasoned with paprika and onions, griddle-fried, and stuck in a bun with a thatch of canned shoestring potatoes. It’s the ultimate Cuban street food, eaten on the go from stands, and wolfed down in lieu of hot dogs at ballparks. It is the…
French doors of mahogany and glass front the big, bistroish 150-seat Orsini, the restaurant’s tables, chairs, and sizable bar crafted from the same dark wood. Rose-shaped milk glass chandeliers hang on decoratively tiled walls, as do large mirrors and hundreds of old photos of famous and semifamous people; the floor…
