Burger Bash Sneak Peek at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach

As the host chef of South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash, Thomas Connell has a leg up on the competition. Not only are all of the 27 burgers in contention prepared on-site at his kitchen at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, but he also helps the contestants with their…

Morena Restaurant Lets You Name Your Own Price

Partners Hernan Caporasohe and Alejandro Maya (also from Lincoln Road’s Maya Tapas and Grill) last week opened their new Morena Restaurant & Lounge. Morena brings Maya chef Hector Diaz, an Argentine/Spanish menu, Argentine/Italian wines, and — get this — a “name your own price” promo through February 28. Mention the…

Baru Urbano Up and Running

Colombian partners Nicolas Hoyos and Juan Carlos Pardo proudly introduce Baru Urbano, “an experience that will seduce the senses through art, décor, music and cuisine.” The Brickell neighborhood restaurant/club touts an eco-conscious bill of fare with locally sourced ingredients. According to the press release, the menu “has been created with…

Looking to Attend the SoBe Wine & Food Fest? You Still Can

Food Network personalities, high-profile chefs, and food fans from all over the world will descend over Miami next week for the 2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival from February 25 to 28. You locals should consider yourself lucky: In years past, you’d be hard pressed to find a ticket…

Ariston Greek Restaurant Is Closed

Drove past Normandy Isles’ Ariston Restaurant on 71st Street the other night and noticed that it is no more. Don’t know when this happened, but it’s a shame — we liked the place enough to name it our Best Greek Restaurant last year.From the website:Regretfully, Ariston has closed it’s doors…

Café Barcelona Goes Bohemian on Wednesdays

Yes, all the info you need is in this ad. No, we are not getting paid to run it. I’m just posting it because I like Café Barcelona — it’s a cozy, local spot that works hard to provide a good time for its patrons. I like Bohemians, too. Honestly,…

Top 10 Hypothetical South Beach Wine & Food Fest Media Disasters

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival is almost here, and that means an orgiastic horde of mostly out-of-town drunks on the shores of Miami Beach concerned with nothing but food, drink, sex, celebrity, their cell phone cameras, and Twitter.With that in mind, here’s our Top 10 list of hypothetical disasters…

Interview: Chef Brian Cantrell Gets the 10

Ever met Brian Cantrell, A Fish Called Avalon’s executive chef and general manager? He’s no stranger to South Florida, though he grew up hunting and fishing in the Blue Ridge Mountains near his farm home in Hendersonville, North Carolina. [Editor’s Note: He still claims Lexington barbecue is the bomb diggety.]
At…

Burger & Beer Joint Expands to Brickell

The burger craze is heading south, with the expansion of the wildly popular Burger & Beer Joint to Mary Brickell Village. Although B&B has been open for less than a year on Miami Beach, they are on the move. Co-owners Buzzy Sklar and Ron Garcia just signed the lease on…

Q&A with AltaMare Executive Chef Simon Stojanovic

For the past three months, executive chef Simon Stojanovic, has been working in the kitchen of longtime local favorite AltaMar developing dishes for the restaurant’s sister, AltaMare, expected to open next week. Claudio Giordano’s AltaMar will close its doors the day AltaMare’s doors open, just half a block from the…

Meatless in Miami: Adventures in Urban Gardening

The last apartment I lived in for several years had no outdoor space to call my own. So when I started getting the itch to garden, I made sure that the next move would bring a bit of sunlit space I could grow some plants in. A year and a half later…

Sneak Review: Fish Shack & Market

A whole, fried yellowtail snapper, hooked from local waters, came posed on the plate as though battered and flash-fried while swimming, like something found at Mount Vesuvius. The white flakes of snapper sounded nothing but pristine, oceanic notes and were accompanied by three fluffy tostones. We also liked a thick,…

Exclusive Interview With Katie Lee

One of the stars of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Katie Lee is heading to Miami in two weeks to start whipping up some of her signature Southern-flavored recipes. The gorgeous cookbook author (she has two tomes out) and former wife of crooner Billy Joel, Katie Lee is…