R.I.P. “Pepe” Ortega Founder of Sazon Goya

Sazon Goya is to everyday cooking in Miami as water is to the ocean. Give thanks and Rest In Peace to Jose Antonio Ortega Bonet for teaming up with the Unanues family, founders of the Goya food company, for bringing the world a line of products that find daily use…

Sneak Review: Mr. Yum Asian Cuisine

A teeny sneak preview of the New Times restaurant review for next week — Mr. Yum Asian Cuisine on Calle Ocho.Pad Thai, the dish that launched a million lovers of this cuisine, validates its’ popularity via a flawlessly balanced tangle of flat rice noodles, tender chicken, scallions, sprouts, ground peanuts,…

La Estancia’s Excellent Empanada

Went to renew my drivers license at the Coral Gables DMV the other day. The office is located right by Village of Merrick Park, and so is a branch of La Estancia Argentina. The lunch menu looked tempting, with some decent deals on hand — grilled skirt or flank steak…

Behind the Line at Oceanaire Seafood Room in Brickell

The Oceanaire Seafood Room is a classy joint in Brickell with a partytime atmosphere. It’s not at all stuck up, lame, pretentious, or boring. At high velocity the kitchen operates like a well oiled machine. At least that was the case when Short Order stepped in last Thursday night for…

Critchley, Bodini Finalists for New Times’ Iron Fork in October

Last night, New Times held the pre-chef challenge for its Iron Fork event at La Cuisine Gourmet in Coral Gables. Four chefs competed: executive chef Maria Manso of the Blue Door at the Delano, executive chef John Critchley of Area 31, executive chef Sean Brasel of Meat Market, and executive…

Andes Wagyu from Chile Coming Soon to America Through Miami

It was the end of June in New York City. The gourmet industry gathering that was the 2009 Fancy Food Show had run its course. Founder Francisco Pinto and partner Damien Claire, of luxury foodstuffs importer and distributor South Pacific Specialties, were boarding an evening American Airlines flight home to…

Behind the Scenes With Ingrid Hoffmann for “Got Milk?” Photo Shoot

Watch the above video and you’ll notice that Miami-based international culinary personality Ingrid Hoffmann has more than milk stuck to her lips. According to a spokesperson for the Got Milk? campaign, “the milk mustache is a combination of low-fat milk and other low-fat dairy products.” Pressed as to what…

Harmony Vegetarian Meats: Fake Fish, Chicken, Beef, Pork, and Shrimp

Hippies, peaceniks, and pothead philosophy majors, rejoice! It’s OK to kill and eat plants. They won’t scream, they don’t cry, and “they don’t have a soul, they don’t have a spirit, they live within us, they like to live within us.” That’s according to Julio Maza, president of Harmony Vegetarian…

Six Things to Eat Other than Ceviche at Peruvian Restaurants

Sure, ceviche comes in all shapes, tastes, and sizes worth sampling regularly… But living on the edge during recent Peruvian restaurant outings, we shifted from automatic to manual ordering and tried some different menu items.Surprise! There are dishes for which it’s worth kicking the ceviche habit. Well, temporarily, at least. …

This Week’s NT Review: Sang’s Chinese Food

Every evening, thousands of local foodies head up to their respective rooftops and issue a plaintive wail that resounds and echoes forth into the dark and balmy Miami sky: God is great, but the same can’t be said for our Chinese restaurants! Actually, most of these people are obnoxious New…

Labor Day in Immokalee, Migrant Farm Workers Wait For The Work Bus

Whether you’re in school, work, or prison, if you bite into a tomato in America it may very well come from the fields of Immokalee, Florida. That’s because major corporations like Aramark and Sodexo are huge buyers of Immokalee product and distributors with contracts for school and prison cafeterias. Immokalee…

The Big Messy: Ahnvee Closed

BGM Management, run by Al Boatright and partners Brionne Gillion and Kareem Memarian, tore down Templo, Club Deep, and Ruby Lounge, at 619, 621 and 623 Washington Avenue respectively, in order to build out the 9,000 square foot Ahnvee Restaurant & Lounge. Tom Azar was lured as executive chef from…

The Quiet Palate

The Quiet Palate: Much of Indian Palate’s cuisine warrants praise. Will it be enough to fill seats at the Coral Gables eatery?

Jerry’s Famous Deli Gets Slammed In Upcoming Book on Delicatessens

Thou shalt not eat at any establishment calling itself a “New York deli” where the following is also served: sushi, Thai food, pizza, pasta, lobster.This is one of the Ten Commandments of Jewish Deli according to journalist David Sax, author of the forthcoming Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect…