Taverna Pizzeria and Risotteria: conceptually genius or excessively ambitious? Although pizza and risotto are two pillars of Italian cuisine, they don’t have a whole lot in common. Pizza is essentially street food, a quick and inexpensive meal consumed by the slice at modest sidewalk cafés. Risotto is far more elegant,…
Bay Harbor’s new Asia Bay Bistro & Sushi Bar boasts nouvelle Asian cuisine, but apart from the sushi, it’s really a traditional Japanese restaurant with some token Thai tossed in for good measure. There’s nothing bistro-ish about the food; I suppose the word as it’s used here refers to the…
In the early Nineties, before South Beach rents became terminally stratospheric, there was no lack of fun-fueled, reasonably priced neighborhood eateries — like Lulu’s, a Southern truck stop on acid whose entire second floor was designed as a shrine to Elvis Presley. Then there was the Strand (the original one,…
The first Chinese restaurants in this country were opened with the intent to serve immigrants from China working during California’s gold rush. When American miners took an unexpected shine to the food, a new dining phenomenon was born. By the Twenties, Cantonese chop suey houses had become part of our…
If the road to hell is paved solely with good intentions, the road to heck is paved with good intentions and imperfect execution. Take Bella Cuba. The intentions of chef-owners Juan Carlos and Larisa Jimenez are clear: Serve contemporary Cuban-Caribbean food — inventive but not off-the-wall — stylishly presented in…
The idea of organic, nutritional, sustainable cuisine, first replanted in this country by Alice Waters, has since sprouted into a whole-food movement that has widely affected the American diet. Anyone who doubts this observation need only note the crowds strolling through the gargantuan Whole Foods Market. In recent years, raw…
If a restaurant closes at 8:30 p.m., one counts on being able to walk in and order food until 8:30 p.m. At Miami Juice, diners with such expectations will be disappointed. Arriving one recent evening at 8:14 p.m. with a hankering for MJ’s “Special Rice,” temptingly described on a menu…
It came down to the bottle from Gleneagle Estate, described as being “slightly tart” and “fantastic with seafood, particularly shellfish,” or the one from Germany, “perfect for bold dishes as well as foods from the grill or rotisserie.” We settled on the latter for an affordable $12, and after we…
Ambrosia is variously defined as the food of the gods and a salad of oranges, bananas, pineapple, and shredded coconut. I don’t know about you, but if I were a god, I’d be eating my weight in foie gras, slathering my body with fresh truffles, bathing in Cristal, and snorting…
A repetitious restaurant scene can only lead to repetitious reviews. I repeat: No, I’ll clarify: From the exterior it looks like a corner coffee shop, just the sort of humble, low-key space that hints at unpretentious home-cooked food — in this case, Vietnamese-style. Indeed that’s just what the friendly folks…
In a town where sushi bars are as common as crooked politicians, it’s hard to get excited about another one. This is especially true when the sushi operation is tacked onto a Thai restaurant, an almost sure sign that commerce, not quality, provided the motivation. A Thai/Malaysian combination would make…
Consider the crêpe a universal food delivery system. In Italy it’s called crespelle; in China, pok pang. In Mexico it’s the tortilla; in Vietnam, banh tranh. In India it’s chapati; in Ethiopia, injera. No matter what you call it, this humble mixture of flour and liquid — sometimes with yeast…
Editor’s note: Periodically we will publish capsule reviews like those below in addition to our weekly full reviews. This installment, dedicated to the Florida Keys, was written by Bill Citara. More than 530 capsule reviews of local restaurants can be found in our online listings. Calypso’s Seafood Grill, 1 Seagate…
The first Tango Grill, a fast-food kiosk serving grilled Argentine-style steaks, waltzed its way into the Aventura Mall in 1999. The corporate group behind it, however, was no newcomer, having already placed quick service operations in 300 shopping centers, spanning 29 states and 9 countries. It had the food-court groove…
Editor’s note: Periodically we will publish capsule reviews like those below in addition to our weekly full reviews. This installment, dedicated to the Florida Keys, was written by Bill Citara. More than 530 capsule reviews of local restaurants can be found in our online dining listings. Blue Heaven, 729 Thomas…
Legendary chef Auguste Escoffier and César Ritz, “the king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings,” first teamed up in 1890 at the London Savoy. Eight years later César was managing his new namesake hotel, Hôtel Ritz, in Paris, as well as the esteemed Carlton Hotel in London, with Auguste lending…
Until early this year, Café One Ninety was a blissful little bohemian eatery on the northern fringe of the Design District. Owners Alan and Donna Lee Hughes offered appealing food at affordable prices in an amiable ambiance. Add to the mix an expired lease and a greedy landlord, and it’s…
I don’t mean to put any pressure on it or anything, but the future of Miami as a serious restaurant town rests on Bistro Bisou. Okay, so maybe that is a little pressure. And maybe a bit overstated too. But the point is still a good one. See, just about…
When Manuel Martinez, a Cervantes scholar, opened the Spanish restaurant Don Quixote in Coconut Grove five years ago, he expended considerable money and effort on transforming the dining room into a semblance of the town of La Mancha. If the food had been re-created with the same passion, I probably…
This is the motto at Giardino Gourmet Salads: “Real, simple food.” That, however, makes the place sound a lot simpler than it is. With the exception of a soup of the day, a stuffed baked potato, several desserts (including some fabulous seasonal fruit mousses), and some nonalcoholic beverages, salads are…
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that you’re not familiar with Preston’s, even if it has been situated in the high-profile Loews Miami Beach Hotel since 1998. It’s the fate one might expect to befall a property’s number two dining option, especially when the signature restaurant is named Emeril’s. Preston’s…
Now I know what my car feels like when I take it in for an oil change. It’s been days since my dinner at Jumbo Chinese Restaurant, a depressing little dim sum joint in North Miami Beach, and I can still taste the grease from just about everything I ate…
