In the category of current food trends, there are those that are easy to understand — Back to Basics, for instance. Who doesn’t get steak and potatoes? Other trends, like Ferrán Adria’s Deconstructed/Reinvented Food, are considerably harder to grasp; dishes one expects hot come cold and vice versa, with taste…
Perhaps it’s time to start marking Miami restaurants on a curve — this way I could say only nice things about Granny Feelgood’s, because, in relation to other local “health food” establishments, there’s a lot to feel good about. If compared with a real health-conscious eatery like, say, one that…
“Are you Jewish?” the guy behind the counter at Tea for Two asked skeptically. “No,” I admitted, “but I was born in Brooklyn. That’s about the same thing.” “Nah, I can always tell,” he laughed. My non-Jewishness, he went on to explain, was noticeable because it was a novelty; evidently…
The people of Pinecrest and South Miami don’t go for a whole lot of fancy stuff. That’s probably why hoity-toity eateries that open here, often to great fanfare, find themselves turned inside out as quickly as cheap umbrellas in a windstorm. Two Chefs has weathered all sorts of competition by…
There is a big problem with chef/owner Carmen Gonzalez’s new restaurant Carmen. The problem is that there are no problems. Who is going to believe a review that says something like that? Okay — the location could be a problem, judging just from past history. The restaurant is in the…
I don’t deny that the reason I decided to eat lunch at this particular sandwich spot was because of its quacky moniker. I thought: Surely any food shop called the Rubber Duck has to put out a pretty creative product, right? Well, as it turns out, not really, but this…
While in Edinburgh two years ago, I went to buy a city restaurant guide at Cooks Bookshop, owned by Clarissa Dickson Wright, formerly one of the Food Network/BBC’s Two Fat Ladies. They were a notoriously butter- and beer-swilling duo (until partner Jennifer Patterson died in 1999) who roared through the…
Taverna Opa is perfectly named, the word “opa” being a carefree yelp of joy — the Greek version of “yippee!” The place sizzles like lamb on a spit — Middle Eastern music blares, belly dancers jingle, patrons partake of Greek tabletop dancing, fire-grilled foods emit aromatic smoke balls, hundreds of…
Oceanview outdoor restaurants on Miami Beach are like the weather is in the rest of the nation: “Everybody talks about the weather,” as the nineteenth-century saying goes, “but nobody does anything about it.” Of course nobody has to do anything about it down here; perfect beach weather — and lots…
Although Haitian-born, chef Ivan Dorvil’s previous culinary experience has been everywhere but. His formal schooling was in Montreal, supplemented by some informal munching-his-way-around-Europe time. His previous executive chef jobs were at mid-Beach’s Middle Eastern Oasis Café (back when it first opened, to raves, in the mid-1990s), and in a couple…
Some (me) liken it to the Super Bowl, Oscar night, and New Year’s Eve all rolled into one. Others (my editors) see it as a self-indulgent waste of space that could be put to better use — like maybe reviewing a restaurant. Still the Flapjack Flip-Off is steamrolling into its…
Little Italian Tavern used to be housed in front of a Hallandale trailer park, and was critically and popularly acclaimed for solid, home-cooked Italian fare, friendly service, and low, low prices. Ten months ago owners Juan and Diana Rubin transferred Tavern to North Miami Beach, in the space occupied many…
What’s the difference between a “gastropub” and a restaurant? Nothing, as far as I can tell. A recent New York Times restaurant review that described a hot new place’s food as “gastro-pub cuisine” went on to list everything from pasta to lamb chops to cheesecake — which sure doesn’t sound…
The roast chicken of my dreams is sexy, not spartan — bursting with juice, tender yet firm, and very important, served splendidly dressed in its own succulent skin rather than cruelly stripped of this tasty protective covering by cooks whose claims to health consciousness fool only the most gullible or…
Astor Place Bar & Grill, with chef Johnny Vinczencz at the helm, was not too long ago considered one of the Beach’s better dining establishments. Thus it came as something of a surprise when Hotel Astor owner Karim Masri shut the restaurant for extensive renovations, and re-opened it in December…
Cooking is not just about nourishment, or even about taste. It’s about, well, everything: An area’s food is as much a key to understanding a culture as is its history. This is not an original thought, at least not from me. Ever since Food Studies became as chic and serious…
To say that Bali Café is the top Indonesian restaurant in Miami is just as true, and misleading, as lauding Robert De Niro for being the finest actor in Meet the Parents. Both are better than that, and Bali is in fact the best restaurant in downtown Miami. Period. And…
I don’t make a habit of reading press releases or studying menus prior to reviewing, partly in the belief this leads to fresher, less studied perceptions that are closer to those of a typical diner, and partly because of a lifelong aversion to research. Every now and then, though, I…
When a South Beach resident wants just a nice light bite in a stylish setting, there are roughly a zillion places to go; it’s probably harder to find a single South Beach block where one can not get a designer salad — or crêpes, or panini, or whatever meat/fish/veggie carpaccio…
Boats, beaches, bingo, and beer would all make the lengthy list of “Things Floridians Like More Than Books.” Yet while we are not, overall, the most literate of Americans, here and there are signs of intelligent life. For proof you need look no further than Books & Books, both on…
Since sabor is the Spanish word for flavor, one wonders: Why did the owners so name an Italian restaurant? Was sapore taken already? According to a quick look in the Miami area phone books — nope. The Italian word is still up for grabs. But in terms of ethnic identity…
It has become apparent in recent months that Miami restaurants are finally catching on to certain dining trends that have long been established elsewhere around the country — like, for instance, an emphasis on letting foods speak for themselves in clean and sensible fashion. David Bracha, chef/owner of the new…
