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We hate to leave you, but we could really use a vacation. So we're taking one. Posting will be spotty over the next 10 days, while we fly to the Pacific coast for a few days of relaxation. We'll be without computers and cell phones, and if all goes well, the view outside our cabin will resemble this photo.

See you on Tuesday, October 9.

Photo: Flickr

• MP: Philadelphia gives us the lowdown on the battle against foie gras in Philly; the folks at City Hall are looking at a bill that would ban the delicious stuff. Restaurants are fighting back with t-shirts, events, and inexpensive foie gras dishes.

• MP: Chicago tells us about a cakemaker, trufflista, and ice cream maker working together under one roof called "Sweet Collective."

• Oh man. Chocolate Television. All chocolate, all the time. Thank you, MP: San Francisco.

• In honor of the new season of America's Next Top Model, MP: Boston gives us Boston's Next Top Salad. Enjoy.

• St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach is hosting its annual International Food Fest tomorrow from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The food should be very Caribbean; think conch fritters, roti, jerk pork, coconut bread and pigeon peas and rice. For $25, you can sample as much food as you like. St. Patrick's is located at 418 N Sapodilla Ave in West Palm Beach. For more information, call 561-833-1903.

• After the festival at St. Patrick's, head over to restaurant row on Mizner Blvd in Boca Raton for the San Gennaro festival, featuring plenty of sausage and peppers and zeppole and a cannoli-eating contest.

• Remember when we wrote about Taste America? Yep, that's this weekend. Check the website for event information.

• The Hollywood Beach Clambake festival is this weekend, featuring fresh seafood and free concerts on the broadwalk. Tonight, there's a classic car show, a chowder contest, and a beach bonfire. For the rest of the weekend's activities, check the festival's website.

• How many ice cream samples are too many? The consensus seems to be two; any more than that, and the customers behind you get annoyed. [Hungry Man]

• Why don't reviewers usually write more than a passing sentence about a restaurant's wine list? Good question. [Daily Cocaine]

• The verdict on the new Whole Foods: awesome. [Riptide 2.0]

• This man finds barbecued ribs and chicken in the parking lot of a thrift store. Wow. [Daily Cocaine]

• You only have a couple more days to get the Miami Spice menu at Cacao Restaurant, and judging from this review, you'll want to. [FoodTastic!]

The Miami Beach planning board has moved to close a loophole in the restaurant and bar restrictions in the South of Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach, according to the Miami SunPost. The proposed move would limit bar and restaurant seats to one per hotel room in the area. Currently, bars and restaurants are allowed to be half as large as the hotels they're in. According to the SunPost:

“This is an issue about noise,” testified Carter McDowell, an attorney representing such developers as Zedek Associates, whose proposed Bijou Hotel was recently approved by the historic preservation board, a ruling being challenged by activist Frank Del Vecchio. “I don’t think further regulation is needed.”

But board members disagreed and, instead, backed member Richard Kuper after he suggested the one-seat-to-one-room ratio.

The area that would be affected if the revised ordinance becomes law is a nine-square- block historic district along Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive below Fourth Street. Restaurants in hotels in this area are only supposed to serve hotel guests. But some area residents argue that a loophole in the code permits accessory use restaurants to be as large as 49 percent of the floor area ratio of the hotel, which threatens to destroy the tranquility of the neighborhood.

Miami Beach planning board moves to shut down bar and restaurant loophole [Miami SunPost]
Prime One Twelve [MenuPages]
DeVito South Beach [MenuPages]

• The dim sum and dumplings sound delicious (we're feeling alliterative today) at China Dumpling in Boynton Beach. (Note: The restaurant owners are on vacation this week; they'll re-open tomorrow.) [Sun-Sentinel]

• This week's Watering Holes feature is at Bamboo Room in Lake Worth, more about the beer and the music than the food. We still enjoyed it. [Palm Beach Post]

• Cafe Frankie's in Boynton Beach is small, but it serves great comforting Italian food and good thin-crust pizza. [Palm Beach Post]

• Lots of options for late-night dining in Broward. [Miami Herald]

• Rochelle Koff tracks down some excellent Korean food in Lauderhill at Gabose. [Miami Herald]

• Gail Shepherd rediscovers her love of ceviche at Las Totoritas in Pembroke Pines. How she lost it in the first place is beyond us. [New Times]

• The roast pork, fajitas, sangria and tortilla soup are hits at Pancho's Backyard in Dania Beach. [Sun-Sentinel]

• We'll start off with the Herald's guide to where to find good food when you're done partying late into the night. They send readers to Fox's Sherron Inn, which is open until 1:30 a.m. and serves $25 pan-seared snapper. Not sure that's what a drunken partier is going for; then again, the typical SoFla drunken partier likely isn't anywhere near done drinking/partying at 1:30 a.m. Next up? Jumbo's, open 24 hours, which serves exactly what drunken partiers want: fried food. The catch? You have to go to Liberty City to get it. The other three suggestions are all excellent ones: Hiro's Yakko-San, La Sandwicherie, and Montes de Oca Original Pizza Cubana. [Miami Herald]

• Linda Bladholm visits Ichi Sushi Bar & Grill, which blends Japanese, Nepalese, Indian and Peruvian cuisines, and somehow makes it work. [Miami Herald]

• We'd been wondering where Victoria Pesce Elliott had been these past two weeks. Perhaps on vacation? But she's back now with a review for Casablanca Seafood Bar & Grill in Miami where the "fantastically fresh" grouper fillet and the paella are definitely worth trying. [Miami Herald]

• Lee Klein loves the sushi at Bouley's Evolution. Chowhounds have a few issues with the article. [New Times]

• A visit to Twenty-One Toppings in North Miami Beach, where one gets a blank slate — a burger — and 21 toppings to choose from. [New Times]

Matsuri, the popular suburban Miami sushi spot, was supposed to re-open in early September after month-long renovations, but for the past few weeks, the phone hasn't been answered, and the front of the restaurant has been boarded up. But finally, we've got some news, thanks to Auger at Chowhound:

Matsuri will re-open soon. I passed by on Wed. This time I got out of my car. The place was still boarded up, but the construction guys had the door opened. And it looks great! They were just finishing the outside. I only took 2 quick peeks thru the door. 1st, Theres lots of wood, and lighting looks better. Also it looked as if the bar is closer to the door, so they may have increased the kitchen area, But then it could be just that I could see the bar better because of the light. Also even though the place wasn't open. There were 2 sushi chefs behind the bar in full uniform. They were probably doing a test run. I could see Matsuri opening this weekend, at latest, next week, either way its going to open soon.

Matsuri Japanese Restaurant
5759 Bird Rd, in Miami
305-663-1615

Matsuri in South Miami [Chowhound]

Most of the wine tastings we post here involve regional themes, which, while we're sure is interesting, doesn't sound nearly as fun as a blind tasting. Think of the great surprises! Think of watching some pretentious know-it-all mix up his wines! Great fun.

Do you have what it takes, you may be surprised! No outside stimuli, no labels, no prices, no vintages, JUST YOU AND THE JUICE! Everything we taste this night will be covered, as not to sway you impressions before you sample these goodies. Many of the wines will surprise you; the quality, vintage and price points.

The event starts at 6:30 tomorrow night, and RSVPs are necessary. For $10, you get to taste the wines and take home a glass.

Wolfe's Wine Shop
124 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables
305-445-4567

Blind Tasting for Wolfe's "Cubs" [Local Wine Events]
Wolfe's Wine Shoppe [Official Site]

We thought it finished tonight, but we were just informed that we were incorrect. Tonight is the pre-filmed segment of the finale, which takes place in Aspen, and as we learned from the clip above, involves a hot-air balloon ride about which Casey was very apprehensive. The season concludes next week with a live finale in Chicago, where the next season is currently being filmed. Enjoy!

Clip: Bravo

The Sun-Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel are patting themselves on the backs, now that they've gotten the state's attention. We're not sure if this whole preoccupation with restaurant inspections began before or after the infamous survey deeming Florida's restaurants the least clean, but at any rate, state officials are listening. They're conducting an internal review to figure out how to make the inspection reports more clear and accessible to the public. State officials also plan to ask legislators for more money to hire extra restaurant inspectors.

"Our goal is to make our information more useful to everyone we serve," said Holly Benson, Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees the state's restaurant inspection operation.

She said her department would not call for a letter-grading system on eatery inspection reports, which is used by some other states ... Benson said the state is in the midst of overhauling its Web site so consumers can easily find a restaurant's latest inspection report and history.

Much of the rest of the article is spent discussing why the letter system isn't being considered — Benson says there are "fundamental limitations" to the system — and why it's good or bad, according to industry officials, restaurant owners, and former health inspectors. Are there no other ways of making inspection reports accessible to the public besides slapping grades in restaurant windows? We imagine that state officials revealed little about possible changes (they've just started their internal review, after all), but we also are thinking the Sentinel reporters pressed the grades issue a bit too hard. We already know that the paper is in favor of adopting the system.

But enough of the journalistic commentary. We're on the fence about the grades issue; it's definitely the easiest way for a customer to gauge a restaurant's cleanliness, but it can also be overly simplistic and really hurt a restaurant that just happened to be having a bad day. There have got to be other alternatives. Any suggestions?

Florida wants to improve access to restaurant inspections [Sun-Sentinel]
The Sun-Sentinel Wants You To Know About Rodent Activity At Your Favorite Restaurants [MP: South Florida]
Food Poisoning To Overtake Sharks As Most Popular Irrational Fear About Florida [MP: South Florida]
Orlando Sentinel Makes It Really Easy To Learn If Your Favorite Chef Washes His Hands Regularly [MP: South Florida]

Catfish seems like an unorthodox choice at Tom Jenkins Bar-B-Q, a place known for its delicious smoked meats. But we have to say, that plate of food looks good. And we could so use some of that mac 'n' cheese right now.

Tom Jenkins Bar-B-Q [MenuPages]
Tom Jenkins Bar-B-Q [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Amid all of the excitement about Whole Foods coming to the Gables, we've neglected the organic and natural foods store opening a bit farther north: Publix's first GreenWise Market. The store opens its doors tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Palm Beach Gardens and will feature a healthier, more environmentally friendly selection of products. Publix has also taken a cue from Whole Foods and added a lot of prepared, healthful foods that busy customers can take home.

Because those private labels are typically more affordable, GreenWise is poised to take on competitors, said Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst with Chicago-based market research firm Mintel International Group.

"Prices really draw in consumers. Most consumers can't go out and spend their whole paycheck on natural products," she said.

The 39,000 square-foot Palm Beach Gardens store carries meats with no added hormones and a produce section that has 50 percent organic products compared with roughly 10 percent in conventional stores. It will also have hundreds of other products not available in conventional Publix locations.

Publix also hopes to appeal to health food buffs and gourmands with prepared foods like Italian stuffed shrimp, low carb mashed cauliflower and Japanese-style tempeh. The prepared fare also includes an Asian fusion hot bar with vegetarian options, cold salad bar, a gelato and organic coffee bar, a Mediterranean pizza oven and a grill and carving station.

Did you catch that "whole paycheck" dig at the store's biggest competitor, which has a location in Palm Beach Gardens? The new GreenWise Market is located at 11231 Legacy Avenue; a GreenWise makeover is planned for the Boca Raton Publix at 21230 St. Andrews Blvd, although there's no set opening date yet.

Publix opening organic store [BusinessWeek]
Publix [Official Site]
Whole Foods [Official Site]

Another day, another steakhouse. At least this one isn't in downtown Miami or South Beach. No, this time Broward County is picking up the steakhouse slack. Deborah Hartz tells us that Federal Grille opened recently in Lighthouse Point and features the typical meat, meat, more meat, and creamed spinach offerings. There is also a barbecued pork belly appetizer, which we must admit sounds delicious. We're working on procuring a menu; it should be online in another day or two.

Federal Grille
3150 N Federal Hwy in Lighthouse Point
954-786-3113

Federal Grille opens -- a new steakhouse [From The Test Kitchen]

The Whole Foods in Coral Gables will open its doors tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. with a bread breaking ceremony attended by Don Slesnick, the mayor of Coral Gables. But if you get there sometime after 8 a.m. and before the bread breaking ceremony, you'll be treated to a free breakfast on the store patio.

Throughout the rest of the day there'll be music, kids activities like face painting, and more than 40 demos throughout the store. And the first 100 customers get a free Whole Foods reusable shopping bag. If you can't make it tomorrow, the first 100 customers on Saturday and Sunday will also get free bags.

For now, take a detailed look at the inside of the store (with photos!) thanks to Tere, who got to go on one of the sneak peek tours.

Whole Foods Sneak Peek [Coral Gables Blog]
Whole Foods [Official Site]
Whole Foods [Coral Gables Site]

Due to those technical difficulties last week, we didn't get to doing our usual roundup of restaurant reviews/articles in the local papers. So we're condensing the most interesting ones into a single post today.

• Lee Klein re-visits Pascal's in Coral Gables and finds the food "bloomed and unblemished." We took that way out of context, we know. Suffice it to say that the food is excellent. [Miami New Times]

• Some mild disappointments at Blacktip Reef, but overall, there's great, innovative food, says Gail Shepherd, who has quickly become a huge fan. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Linda Bladholm discovers a six-month-old vegan restaurant in Hollywood that sounds lovely, despite the lack of meat on the menu. [Miami Herald]

• A Fort Lauderdale guide to brunch. How about an NFL brunch? [Miami Herald]

• We weren't quite so excited about The Beer Guy's trip to Rooney's Public House. Perhaps it was the emptiness of the bar. We like to see bars full; it makes us think that lots of people like going there. However, we must say that the Irish bartender is a plus. [Palm Beach Post]

• Alesh finds lots of style and a good amount of substance at Sushi Samba. [Critical Miami]

• Whisk Gourmet Food & Catering transforms an onion-hater into an onion-devourer. [Blind Mind]

• Paula mentions us in a list of local food bloggers. Aw, shucks. Thanks Paula! She also introduces us to a few new names we didn't yet know about. [Mango&Lime]

• To whoever is behind Daily Cocaine: we would happily accept any lunch invitations you might throw our way. We know of no one else with the same knack for ferreting out good food. [Daily Cocaine]

• Charles Passy loves the TropiChops at Pollo Tropical. We do too. [Hungry Man]

• Support your local sub shop. Find out how here. [MenuPirate]

Well, at least at some restaurants. Specifically the China Grill Management restaurants, which include Tuscan Steak, China Grill, Social Miami at Sagamore and Blue Door at Delano. They'll continue to offer the discount menus until November 18, so you still have a bit more time to get a bargain dinner at the four restaurants.

Know of any other restaurants extending their Spice menus? Let us know!

China Grill Management [Official Site]
Miami Spice [Official Site]

Soon, South Floridians can sample the same mediocre pizza that the rest of the country (or at least large parts of it) enjoys at Uno Chicago Grill! So we're not big deep-dish fans. We spent four cold years in Chicago, and we avoided deep dish as much as one could in that city. But we ate enough to know that the pizza at Uno Chicago Grill is a not-so-great imitation of the real stuff. But, then again, we can't think of anyplace else that serves Chicago-style pizza — probably because of the large number of New Yorkers in the area — so if you've got a hankering for deep dish, it'll do to satisfy a craving.

The new restaurant is headed to Royal Palm Beach, where the chain paid $1.7 million for a two-acre parcel of land at the corner of US 441 and Okeechobee Road. Expect a restaurant in the spot by the first quarter of 2008.

Uno Chicago Grill Developing Restaurant in Royal Palm Beach [CoStar Group]
Uno Chicago Grill [Official Site]

Ever dreamed of buying your favorite watering hole? Two men did just that last week when they bought RJ Gators for $2.02 million to pull it out of bankruptcy. Kevin Dalton and Timothy Jeffrey, two friends who used to be regulars at one of the restaurant's locations, have taken it upon themselves to turn the franchise around.
According to the Palm Beach Post, all of the restaurants currently open will stay that way. The two friends also plan to re-open the Palm Beach Gardens location. They even hope to expand very slowly in a few years, but the priority right now will be updating the menu.

R.J. Gators brings $2 million [Palm Beach Post]
R J Gator's [Official Site]

Perhaps we should dub 2007 "the year of the steakhouse." Yep, we're getting another one: BLT Steak, which stands for "Bistro Laurent Tourondel," not the tasty bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich. We learned about it from lax2mia on Chowhound, who is understandably frustrated at the proliferation of steakhouses in the area:

What ticks me off is not that Tourandel is opening a steakhouse (well yes, it does tick me off), but that he has a successful seafood restaurant in NYC (BLT Fish). You're coming to Miami. Florida is surrounded by water. You don't see happy cows grazing around (and we know happy cows come from California) but you stick your hand in the bay and pop! there's a snapper!

L2M's got a point. We were told by our fellow editors that steakhouses have become increasingly popular in recent years in their respective cities, so it's not that restaurateurs are looking just at Miami and thinking "Steakhouse. Yes." They're doing this all over the country. But we can't imagine that the steakhouse boom has taken such a strong hold as it has in South Florida. If only it would pop, just like the condo market...

BLT Steak [Official Site]
BLT Steak [Chowhound]
BLT Steak is hiring a Chef de Cuisine [Craig's List]

• MP: Chicago rants about a McD's ad that suggests eating a Big Mac before engaging in, um, late-night activity in the bedroom.

• There's a Starbucks in Goa. And MP: Philadelphia's got a photo of it.

• MP: San Francisco gives some good restaurant recommendations for visitors.

• MP: Boston finds out the reason for the proliferation of "Sinatra Nights" in Boston restaurants: a New England-based Sinatra impersonator.

Wow, that looks good. This is dinner at Michael's Genuine: pan roasted chicken with wood grilled asparagus and frites. Yum!

Michael's Genuine Food & Drink [MenuPages]
Photo: Flickr

• Just a few more Miami Spice reviews, this one for Ortanique. [consumableJoy]

• Is the Miami dining scene a disaster? One man's thoughts. [Daily Cocaine]

• Churrasco with chimichurri. Yum! [Babalu Blog]

• Some tips on where to get great fresh produce in South Florida. [Chowhound]

We got worried when we called A recently and learned that the phone was disconnected. The funky BYOB Design District spot had only been around for a few months, and now it was seemingly out of business. So we managed to get in touch with Marc Solomon, who owns the restaurant with his wife Blue, on his cell phone in New York, where they own the original A and a restaurant called Ivo &Lulu.
Solomon needs room to expand the 40-seat restaurant and couldn't find a reasonably priced place in the same neighborhood. "I love the Design District, but it's gotten pricey for a big space," he said.
The plan is to move to South Beach, where the rents aren't cheap either, but the foot traffic is far greater, making it easier to earn the rent. The new location will feature a similar menu, but they also plan to have a wine license. They'll keep the no-corkage-fee policy for those who want to bring their own bottles though.
We'll keep bringing you updates, but keep an eye out for the new A sometime in December.

A [MenuPages]

Forgive us, dear readers. We've had some major technical difficulties over at MenuPages Headquarters. We'll be back to our regular blogging schedule tomorrow.

So Top Chef has left the posh apartment at the Fontainebleau, and our beloved CJ has departed, but by now we're thoroughly engrossed in the show. Here, in the clip, are the first three minutes of tonight's show, although the first two minutes consist of a recap and the credits. So we get one minute of the cheftestants getting food from a street cart in New York City, Dale calling himself a "big gay chef" who's going to "outcook your ass," and Casey doing just a little bit of well-deserved gloating. Just don't let it get to your head Casey.

• The highly anticipated Por Fin Restaurant is looking for both front of house and kitchen staff, so a grand opening must be soon! Also, no experience necessary; they're willing to train. [Craigslist]

• Maxine's at the Catalina Hotel needs people to fill all positions, most involving shuttling drinks from the bar to the models who frequent the place. [Craigslist]

• Prime Blue Grille needs line cooks, prep cooks, servers, hostesses, bussers, food runners — basically every position in the restaurant. You get the idea. [Craigslist]

• No shortage of steakhouse jobs around here! Remember the Michael Mina restaurant we wrote about that's set to open in Aventura? Yep, they need help. Check out the all-day job fair this Friday. [Craigslist]

Seems like people are using Facebook for everything these days. (We're culpable as well. Just finished sending a message to a friend through Facebook. Maybe it really is killing e-mail.) Today, we learned on Chowhound of an upcoming Miami restaurant that's been posting updates on its Facebook group. Seems fairly popular too: 424 members so far. From the group's description:

Only for the people that are looking forward for the best restaurant in Miami to open. Ran by the Craziest Chef in Miami: Chef Duly and His brother Tony. This restaurant promises to be one a of a kind dining experience in an Avante Garde atmosphere. This club will keep you posted on estimated opening dates and progress the restaurant makes. Menu's, tastings, pics etc. etc...

They started interior buildout for ANDU Restaurant Lounge at 690 SW 1st Ct on April 16. (We imagine the photo above was taken around that time.) On that day, estimated time of project completion was five months, which means that with delays, general contractor issues, and the mess of getting permits, the project will actually be completed sometime in December. They did, however, manage to already score a liquor license that will allow them to serve alcohol until 5 a.m.

Anything new or coming to Dade? [Chowhound]

Another steakhouse. Yes, we know you must be jumping up and down with excitement. This one comes from Cleveland, which has sent Miami many great gifts before. Construction starts near Joe's Stone Crab in January:

Brad Friedlander, creator of Red, the Steakhouse and Moxie (side by side in Beachwood) is opening a second steakhouse about half a block from the acclaimed Joe’s Stone Crab on South Beach. Also called Red, it’ll offer the same look and menu, but twice be the size of the original with 180 seats plus private dining rooms to accommodate the star-studded nightlife scene.

Developers in other cities came calling after Red was recognized by Playboy and Esquire magazines as one of the top steakhouses in the country. Friedlander chose Miami after seeing patrons lined up outside South Beach's hottest restaurants at 11 p.m. on a Monday night. "In Cleveland, on a Saturday night, they're in bed by 11," he said. Construction is tentatively set for January with hopes of opening mid-next year. The team is in place: his local chef partners Jonathan Bennett and Peter Vauthy, his Cleveland architect Rick Lally and other area contractors and such financial backers as home-grown retired NBA standout Charles Oakley. A top modeling agency and some showbiz folks in California he wouldn't identify are also involved.

McCormick & Schmick's opens with serious seafood in Beachwood [The Plain Dealer]
Red, the Steakhouse [Official Site]

Yes, the pizza is talking. Anyone else find that a little weird? Also, the whole thing is cute, but really, Elmo can't be that cuddly with that pizza on his arm. Although I guess people aren't buying this for the cuddle factor anyway.

• This Thursday at Premier Wine Club: a tasting of seven new wines from California, Chile, France, Argentina and Italy. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. and costs $20 per person ($10 of that is credited to the purchase of any wine).

• Also on Thursday: a Spanish wine tasting at Casa Toscana. Wines featured will be from Vierso, Rioja, Ribera del Duero, and Toro. The event starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. For reservations, call 305-757-4454.

• The first wine dinner at La Sirena is tomorrow, Sept. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Six courses, six wines, all for $79 per person, plus tax and tip. For reservations, call 561-585-3128.

We just confirmed that favorite downtown Miami lunch spot Raja's is open again after a month-and-a-half-long summer break. The rumors were that the restaurant was going to be opening in a new location due to the impending demolition of the building. But we spoke to someone there today who said that the building is not coming down, they are not moving, and they are open for business. Indian-food-loving downtown workers rejoice!

Raja's Indian Cuisine [MenuPages]

Lisa Petrillo of CBS4 recently did a segment, aptly named "Cheap Eats," on where to find 10 good meals under $10. It's going to be a recurring thing (you can actually suggest places for her to visit), but this list was her first try. And it's not a bad one:

• Little Saigon in North Miami Beach
• Zona Fresca in Fort Lauderdale
• Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop in Miami
• John The Baker in Cooper City and Pembroke Pines
• S&S Diner in Miami
• LaSpada's Original Hoagies in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
• Good Eats Deli in Miami
• Jack's Old Fashion Hamburger House in Fort Lauderdale
• Dogma Grill in Miami
• Tom Jenkins Bar-B-Q in Fort Lauderdale

The best bang-for-your-buck deals here are Little Saigon (which looked fantastic in the video), Enriqueta's (which is not "smack in the heart of Little Havana," as she claims), and Tom Jenkins. Of course you can always get a sub or a hot dog for under $10, but how often can you get ribs and sides for so little? Regardless, good selections all. We would add Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, Daily Bread Marketplace, Maia's Creole Cafe, and Las Totoritas.

Any other suggestions? Let us know!

South Florida's Cheap Eats: How To Dine On A Dime [CBS4]

• A short primer on a few traditional Haitian meals, with photos. [Daily Cocaine]

• You can't get authentic dim sum at Miss Yip Chinese Cafe, but you can still get an excellent meal. [consumable Joy]

• Have you made your reservation at The Restaurant At The Setai yet? Only a couple more weeks of Miami Spice left. And the reviews are great. [FoodTastic!]

• Charles Passy plugs his AAA card, which gets him 10 to 15 percent off at certain restaurants. [Hungry Man]

• So far, so good at the new Rosa Mexicano. [Stuck on the Palmetto]

What is this seagull eating? A chunk of pizza? A beakful of beef jerky? We doubt it's anything that actually came from the sea; everyone knows that seagulls have evolved into the most expert scavengers of human foods. This tasty morsel likely came from a beachgoer's lunch. We imagine that the gull didn't want to drop the food even for a second, for fear that its fellow winged friends might fly off with the meal. Apparently, the bird actually did swallow that thing whole.
Photo: Flickr

Calling all aspiring chefs! NBC6 has caught the Top Chef fever and is holding a challenge of its own: the aptly named NBC6 Chef Challenge. All you have to do is send in your resume and the recipe for an entree that can be prepared in five minutes (ha!). Four finalists are chosen from the entries to prepare their entrees on the South Florida Today Show live. The winner receives a two-week internship in the Little Palm Island's resort's kitchen. You've got until 11:59 p.m. on September 22, so get to it!

NBC6 Chef Challenge
Become South Florida's top chef [Mango&Lime]

The Beach Theatre, built in 1941, once stood at 420 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. In a few months, a Buddha just like this one will be there. The statue is a trademark of TAO, a two-restaurant chain with locations in New York City and Las Vegas. Next up? Miami Beach, of course. We love the description of the restaurant from southbeach-usa.com:

With staff members that are often compared to runway models, TAO restaurants have been characterized as glamorous nightclubs with extensive appetizer menus.

Yes, TAO Restaurant should fit in very nicely in SoBe.

TAO Restaurant coming to Lincoln Road in Miami Beach [South Beach USA]
TAO Restaurant New York [Official Site]
TAO Restaurant Las Vegas [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Uva 69 [MenuPages]
Uva 69 [Official Site]
Photo: Flickr

It's Wine Week at Smith & Wollensky restaurants nationwide (including our Miami Beach location), which means you can taste 10 different wines for an extra $10 with lunch beginning today and ending Friday, Sept. 21. The wine selection changes each day, but all come from American vineyards, from California to Long Island. And some of the extra money will be going to a good cause; the last Wine Week, in March, raised $10,000 for The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis.

The event seems to be pretty popular, so reservations for your lunch date during this week might be a good idea. And don't forget, Smith & Wollensky is participating in Miami Spice for lunch too.

National Wine Week [Official Site]
Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis [Official Site]
Miami Spice [Official Site]
Smith & Wollensky [MenuPages]
Smith & Wollensky [Official Site]

• MP: Chicago finds a recipe for mojito popsicles.

• Mmm...profiteroles, courtesy of MP: Boston.

• MP: San Francisco tells us about a victory against Starbucks over on the west coast.

• MP: Philadelphia writes about Philly college students puking in restaurants. Gross.

• If you're looking for interesting ways to blow $175, here's an idea: head to Azul for a class with chef Clay Conley on how to put together a cocktail party. Class starts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Call 305-913-8358 for reservations.

• Your weekly Cooking at the Cellar report: In the Aventura Macy's, Michele Mazza of Il Mulino New York and in Dadeland, Roberto Ferrer of Cohiba Brasserie. You know the drill; both are free, and they start at 1 p.m.

• It's Mexican Independence Day weekend! Head to Santo Restaurant on Saturday night for the party. There will be mariachis, DJs, and lots of tequila. Doors open at 10 p.m.

Maybe we should just make a "Versailles" category over there on the right, what with the upcoming presidential campaign and all of the rumors of a certain dictator's death. Because where do the candidates and television cameras go? Yep, Versailles.

Today, it was Fred Thompson, a presidential dark horse and the man best known (at least to us) as the district attorney on Law & Order. He stopped by Versailles during a brief visit to Miami for the requisite photos of him drinking a cafecito, which he apparently gulped down "like a tequila shot." For more reports of the event, check the Herald and Babalu Blog.

Versailles [MenuPages]
Thompson Visits Little Havana [The Caucus at New York Times]
Thompson: Don't blame guns in cop killing [Miami Herald]
The Versailles Fred Thompson Report [Babalu Blog]
Fred Thompson [IMDB]

The same people who brought you Ouzo's Greek Taverna & Bar are venturing south on Miami Beach with Ouzo's Mediterranean Bistro, which opens today for dinner at 6 p.m. We've been told it's dinner only for now, but lunch will be added soon.

Ouzo's Greek Taverna & Bar [MenuPages]
Ouzo's Mediterranean Bistro [Official Site]
Photo: Ouzo's Mediterranean Bistro

• The Filipino food truck at the Port of Miami is going to be overwhelmed very soon with chowhounds. [Chowhound]

• More Filipino food truck, this time with photos. [Daily Cocaine]

• DeVito's gets panned on the boards. [Chowhound]

• Howie from Top Chef tells the Herald's Top Chef blog that he hopes to open a NYC restaurant in the next six months. Also, he refuses to set foot in Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. [Top Chef Miami]

• Tere is a Cheesecake Factory convert after seeing how well they treat kids and families. [FoodTastic!]

• Bacchus Wine Bar: wine is reasonably priced and good, food is pricey but high-quality, owner is knowledgeable and friendly. [Blind Mind]

Last week, we wrote about Alta Cocina, the new South Miami restaurant with the mysterious and confusing website. We finally got our paws on a copy of the menu; it turns out that the menus listed on that jumbled-up website are correct. We've got the dinner menu posted now, and we'll have lunch on the site by Monday.

So let's take a look at this menu. It's all over the map cuisine-wise, but it does have some tropical underpinnings. The appetizers are mostly a familiar mix of ceviche, salads, and shrimp cocktail; we're intrigued by the last one, curry conch with fried roti. We'd love to see the presentation on that dish. (We've imagined a cigar of deep-fried thin rolled roti, but we're probably way off base with that one.)The main dishes don't seem incredibly innovative, but they sound tasty, and if prepared well could be excellent.

Planning to visit sometime soon? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Opening: Alta Cocina [MP: South Florida]
Alta Cocina [MenuPages]
Alta Cocina [Official Site]

Tere over at the Coral Gables blog alerted us to the sneak peek offered by the new Whole Foods that's opening up at the end of the month. The official grand opening is on Sept. 26, but you can get in two days earlier if you make a reservation. We don't think you'll be able to buy any groceries yet, but you'll get to taste your way through the store and check out all the fancy new stuff.

According to Tere, you can only reserve for two people, and no open-toed shoes allowed.

Get a Sneak Peek at the New Whole Foods [Coral Gables]
Whole Foods [Official Site]
Whole Foods RSVP

• Tiki Time! The Sun-Sentinel staff list the top six tiki bars in Broward and Palm Beach counties. [Sun-Sentinel]

• Chef Michael Wagner takes care of his diners at Lola's on Harrison. [New Times]

• Looks like the Herald also went to Lola's. The cuisine is described as "kicky." Given the three-star rating, we're going to assume that's a good thing. [Miami Herald]

• The sea bass is perfect and the veal is freshly cut at Big Anthony & Guido's in Coral Springs. [Sun-Sentinel]

• Boteco and Le Petit Resto both have a knack for making diners happy. [New Times]

• It's hit or miss at Hoja Nueva in Coral Gables. [Miami Herald]

• Brasserie Les Halles "positively exudes Frenchness." [New Times]

• Linda Bladholm finds a little corner of Peru in Hialeah. [Miami Herald]

• Did you dream about recreating the red velvet cupcakes from Michy's? Here's the recipe. [Miami Herald]

Sniffle. Sob. Goodbye CJ.

We had a feeling when we saw CJ narrating so much during the first half of the episode that this was it for him. And it was, much to our chagrin. But oh well. On to the episode...

We're usually very early risers, but even we would not want to be wakened by a shrieking and giggling Padma jumping on our bed at 6 a.m. The cheftestants took that a lot better than we would have. And lucky them, they got to make her breakfast! Using just a small burner and a blender! Despite the difficulties, and spilled truffle oil on the floor (was no one else mourning the loss of expensive truffle oil?), the cheftestants did really well on the Quickfire. We thought Hung was nuts to serve a heavy breakfast like steak and eggs to a thin model who was raised a vegetarian, but then he won, so clearly we don't know what we're talking about.

(Aside: We LOVE condensed milk. Seriously. We always have at least one or two cans in the pantry, and we have been known to develop such serious cravings that we just stick a spoon into the can and have a taste. But it had never occurred to us to put it in a smoothie, as Hung did on last night's episode. In our minds, smoothie = healthy yogurt-and-fruit filled food. Well, we're not afraid of adding some extra sugar to our diet, so this morning we dumped mango, strawberries, half a banana, half a can of condensed milk, and mango juice into a blender. Delicious. Our only regret is that we did not spike it as Hung did.)

On to the Elimination Challenge, which took the cheftestants to lovely Newark Liberty International Airport, where we have spent many an hour drinking with fellow Miami-bound passengers during very long weather-related delays. The food may not be so good on the planes, but the airport dining options are better than most; you're at least assured a good burger and a steady supply of liquor during that four-hour delay.

But we keep digressing. The cheftestants get to prepare in-flight first class meals for Continental Airlines. As Anthony Bourdain points out in his blog, this task is very much like off-site catering, where chefs have to do most of the cooking beforehand and prepare for the worst when it comes to on-site cooking equipment. In this case, a tiny airplane oven that must be set to at least 10 minutes would qualify as "the worst," but at least the cheftestants knew beforehand exactly what they were getting into.

Again, we were skeptical when Hung went with fish, and again he proved us wrong, as his sea bass dish was in the top three. Dale, with his filet mignon, and Casey, with her veal medallions, joined him, and Casey came out on top with the win and an awesome prize: two round-trip tickets to anywhere Continental flies. Now that CJ's gone, we may have to jump on the Casey bandwagon. Sure, she's not that exciting a character, and she can't chop an onion to save her life, but she is very quietly just getting the job done. And it'd be really cool to see a woman win this thing.

So then we come to the bottom three: Sara, CJ and Brian. All three served overcooked fish. What can we learn kids? Don't order fish on an airplane, because it's way more likely to be overcooked than the beef. Maybe if CJ hadn't served his cooked-to-death broccolini... Oh well. It's done. We'll miss you CJ.

8 Miles High [Anthony Bourdain]
Photo: Bravo

In case you missed the Miami International Wine Fair, Plum has a three-minute video with man-on-the-street type interviews and some interesting information from the manager of the fair. Also, Miss Miami Beach loves the exact same wines we don't like. (Actually, pinot grigio is useful for making white sangria. Riesling? Well, we're just not fans at all.) Who knew there was even a Miss Miami Beach? We are so out of the pageant loop.

Miami International Wine Fair [Official Site]
Miami International Wine Fair [Plum]
Photo: Plum

Yesterday we suggested FAU students check out Red Rock Coal Fired Pizza in Boca Raton. We based this on some research from some trusted sources; try as we might, we simply can't get to every restaurant in the area. But after seeing this photo, we are moving Red Rock higher up on the "to dine" list. From the char on the crust (just the right amount) to the proportions of cheese and sauce, that looks like an excellent pie. Next time a New Yorker tells you there's no good pizza down here, just point him or her in the direction of Boca Raton.

Red Rock Coal Fired Pizza [MenuPages]

Photo: Flickr

Miami sucks at service. Or so says the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (yep, the Miami Spice folks again). From a Michael Lewis column in Miami Today:

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau last month decided that the fault, at least in part, is internal. It plans to hire a national firm to repaint the image of customer service inside our own hospitality industry.
There's a great starting point. A bureau-commissioned survey of taxis, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and Miami International Airport found service levels that flunked visitors' expectations — as bureau CEO Bill Talbert said, "nowhere near where we need them to be for a world-class destination."

Waiter, skip the steak — just give me some service please [Miami Today]

Burger King's finally getting on the healthy bandwagon. Today the company announced that BK restaurants will be rolling out healthier options for Kids Meals in 2008: flame-broiled (as opposed to fried) chicken tenders, low-fat milk instead of soda, and apple slices cut like fries to replace french fries. Total for the meal: 305 calories, 8.5 grams of fat. Not too bad. The company also said it will not advertise Kids Meals that contain more than 560 calories, more than 30 percent of calories from fat, and more than 10 percent of calories from sugar.

Nutritionists quoted for the AP article said this is good news, of course, but parents are still going to have to teach healthy habits and limit fast food. It's going to be tough convincing children to choose milk over soda at the BK counter, and if dad sits down with a Whopper and fries, the kid's not going to want apple slices.

Burger King Unveils Healthier Kids Menu [Associated Press]

Juan Canales, a waiter at 84 Thai Food in Fort Lauderdale, responded to a woman's call for help, fought a knife-wielding carjacker, and with the help of three other men, restrained him until the police arrived. Here's the story, from the Sun-Sentinel:

At about 11:30 a.m. Monday, Massiel Marquardt, 22, walked out of a Subway restaurant at the Southland Shopping Center in the 900 block of State Road 84. A man approached her from behind and pointed a 4-inch pocketknife at her left side, she said.
"He said, 'Give me your car keys or you're gonna die,'" said Marquardt, who moved to South Florida from Georgia two weeks ago. "Honestly, I don't know where he came from."
Marquardt said she handed over the keys to her 2007 Honda and ran back toward the shops, screaming, "Help me!"
Canales, 42, who was opening up 84 Thai Food for the lunch crowd, sprang into action. He said he caught up to the suspect, Albert Means, 46, and told him, "You're not leaving with this truck."
Canales said the suspect pulled out the knife to stab him but Canales grabbed a two-by-four piece of woodfrom a nearby truck. Canales said he swung at Means and threatened to hit him with the wood if he tried to get into Marquardt's Honda.
The man lowered his knife, and Canales brought him to the ground. Three other men in the crowd that had formed rushed forward to hold Means down until police arrived.

Great story, right? Clearly the guy did something good and should be awarded, or at the very least thanked, for his role in the effort. But his only award was a pink slip right after the lunch service. Yep, it's true. The restaurant's owner wasn't too happy with the hour Canales spent outside being questioned by the police or with the extra attention the incident caused.

But there is a silver lining. Today, the Sun-Sentinel reports that job offers have been pouring in after business owners read about the hero's firing. Canales, a former electrician, has gotten at least two offers from electrical repair businesses and one from a roofing business willing to work with him despite his lack of experience in the field. One door closes, another one opens, right?

Now, the question is what will happen to 84 Thai? There's been no comment from the owner, Sathaporn Yosagrai. Is this story going to turn people away? If Yosagrai thought the attention from a scuffle outside of his restaurant was bad, he's going to really hate the attention he'll get now that he's known as the guy who fired the hero.

UPDATE: As we were writing this post, Alex at Stuck on the Palmetto was covering the same topic. Check the post and the comments; the calls to boycott 84 Thai have already begun. It's beginning to look bleak for the restaurant.

Fort Lauderdale waiter foils carjacking...then gets fired [Sun-Sentinel]
Business owners offer to hire waiter fired after he thwarted carjacking [Sun-Sentinel]
84 Thai Food [MenuPages]

Miami native Josie Smith-Malave, from last season's Top Chef, was beaten and harassed outside of a Long Island bar over the Labor Day weekend. The news is just coming out now, because her lawyer wants the incident investigated as a hate crime.

[Attorney Yetta Kurland] said the trouble started when the women went to Partners bar in Sea Cliff over the Labor Day weekend for a drink and began dancing together. Smith-Malave's sister is straight.

Bar employees escorted the women out a side door after other patrons began making nasty remarks and the mood started getting ugly, Kurland said.

Kurland said as many as 10 "young adults" followed the women out, circled them, screamed anti-gay slurs, spit on them and then punched and kicked them. A camera belonging to one of them was stolen, she said. Nassau police said they were investigating, but had made no arrests.

Yikes! How anyone could beat up on Josie is beyond us. Sure, she's loud, but she was the friendliest and nicest of the cast members last season. Here's hoping those bruises have healed now and that the cops start making some arrests soon.

'Top Chef' contestant in bias attack [New York Daily News]

• Check out the next stop of the "Coffee is Culinary" tour tomorrow at the Starbucks on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. Marcus Samuelsson will be on hand to give a free cooking demonstration at noon.

• Sample more than 70 wines from around the world tomorrow (make sure you get someone sober to drive you home!) at ABC Fine Wines & Spirits (15051 S Dixie Hwy in Miami, 305-971-2773). For $10, you get entrance to the event from 6 to 8 p.m., when food and wine pairing stations will be set up.

• Chef Dean James Max's next cooking class isn't until Sept. 23, but you should sign up now if you're interested. He'll be making such autumn-themed dishes as skate wing with pumpkin risotto, roast chicken, and fall pear cake. Call 954-765-3129 for reservations.

Students returned to South Florida campuses recently, so we thought we'd help the freshmen out with a little guide to where to go to escape dining hall food. This is the final post in a series of six that cover each local university. This time: Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

Pizza: If proximity is a priority, check out Ruby's, which offers your basic salads, subs, and pizza, both by the slice and whole pie. If you've got a bit more time, Red Rock Coal Fired Pizza is a short drive from campus and offers some of the best pizza in the county. There's not much besides pizza, and it's pricier than your average pizza joint, but they've offer more than your standard toppings to layer on that thin crust.

Late Night: Not too many options nearby, but there is Nippers Restaurant & Lounge (21069 S Military Trl, 561-338-4111), where you can get subs, pizza and bar food until 5 a.m. And they deliver until 3:30 a.m.

Cheap Eats: Señor Burrito is nearby, cheap and filling. Oh, and it's tasty. Yeah, that's important. There are also 50 different varieties of burgers for under $7 at Lindburgers.

Chinese: Gary Woo Asian Bistro comes highly recommended, and while the prices are reasonable, it's definitely not the type of place you'd go to looking for take-out. For that you've got House of Cheung and Mai-Mai.

On Mom & Dad's Dime: You get seven delectable courses for $90 at Six Tables, where, naturally, there are just six tables, there's only one dinner seating each night, and it's reservation only. Or try Positano for some good Italian.

Pinecrest residents, your search for multigrain pizza is over; Power Pizza is finally opening its Pinecrest location on Thursday. The website had promised a Spring 2007 opening. Clearly, that did not happen. They promise low-carb, low-fat, healthful pizzas. We cannot vouch for the taste of said pizzas, but given the popularity of the two other locations (South Miami and Kendall), perhaps low-fat, low-carb pizza can taste good.

In the opposite part of the county, the pizzas are now coming out of oven at the new Mario the Baker in Bay Harbor Island. The restaurant held a soft opening yesterday and should be in full swing today.

Power Pizza [MenuPages]
Power Pizza [Official Site]
Mario the Baker [MenuPages]
Mario the Baker [Official Site]
New pizzeria opens Monday [Miami Herald]

• Paula discovers a new Thai/sushi spot, Bays Inn Cafe, on Biscayne Blvd. [Mango&Lime]

• The best buffet in America? That honor goes to Sweet Tomatoes. [The Hungry Man]

• And finally, this isn't food related, but Val posted a poem about 9/11 from a 14-year-old that is making us cry. A lot. We keep re-reading it, knowing full well we're going to have to keep getting more tissues. [Babalu Blog]

We've just learned of another local food blog called MenuPirate: Miami. We're big fans of the whole menu theme, in case you haven't noticed. The author describes the site as:

...an effort to catalog, analyze and report on the ever expanding culinary landscape of South Florida. Join us as we pillage and plunder the tables and menus of eateries from Krome to Collins searching for good eats and weeding out the losers in Miami’s much hyped and sometimes bloated food jungle.

MenuPirate: Miami

Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor [MenuPages]
Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Ever since we topped the list of food poisoning cases in the country, health inspection reports have been on everyone's mind. This weekend, the Orlando Sentinel unveiled a nifty restaurant inspection database that makes it incredibly easy to get inspection reports for restaurants in Central Florida. Just search by restaurant name, zip code, or city name. Of course, the state already runs a pretty good website that does much the same thing, although perhaps not in quite as clear a manner.

Scott Joseph, the Sentinel's restaurant critic, offers some helpful advice for sifting through inspections:

The inspection reports, much like a restaurant review, are snapshots of conditions present at the time of the inspector's visit.

And what the reports don't tell you is that most infractions are corrected on the spot. If they weren't corrected then and there, they would be corrected soon, followed by another inspection. If not, the restaurant would not be allowed to continue operating. As Joe Friedman, spokesman for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, told me, if the restaurant is open, it has been deemed safe for the public to dine in.

And with the safety and sanitary inspections, you don't get the restaurant's side of the story.

For example, the report for a certain restaurant in downtown Orlando, which will remain unnamed because the inspection was nearly a year ago, lists 39 violations, 26 critical. The details for one of those violations states "chef washed hands on top of calamari." The manager, reached at the restaurant last week, said that wasn't really the case. Instead, he said, the calamari was in a sink designated for hand washing but that no one washed his or her hands while the squid was in the sink.

Basically, don't patronize serious repeat offenders, and cut the other restaurants some slack. Although we tend to draw the line at "rodent activity." Yikes.

Restaurant Inspection Database [Orlando Sentinel]
Our critic has tips for sifting through reports [Orlando Sentinel]
Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation
Food Poisoning To Overtake Sharks As Most Popular Irrational Fear About Florida [MP: South Florida]

Chipotle's been a bit slow to move into Dade County. The company already has four restaurants in South Florida (Weston, Coral Springs, Boynton Beach and Boca Raton) but, oddly enough, had never moved into Miami. Perhaps there was an orange blossom package sent to convince them of the merits of extending the franchise farther south.

At any rate, burritophiles can rejoice very soon; the first Chipotle in the county is opening this Friday, Sept. 14 in North Miami Beach. But we suggest showing up on Thursday for the soft opening. We hear everything will be free, except the beer, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Pile on all the extra guacamole you want — it's gratis.

Chipotle (14776 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami Beach, 305-947-2779)
Chipotle [Official Site]
Chipotle opens Friday [Mango&Lime]
L2M> Fourteen days til the big burrito! [Chowhound]

Enough steakhouses for you yet? No? Good, because we've got another one coming this winter, this time from Michael Mina, who has four restaurants in Vegas, three in California, and one in Atlantic City. The new restaurant, BOURBON Steak, will be modeled after Stripsteak in Las Vegas, which offers "modern American fare with a focus on all natural Certified Angus Beef and American Wagyu cuts of beef cooked over wood." Pioneering stuff indeed.

It's all part of a huge renovation project at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Aventura; in addition to remodeling the pool, spa and guest rooms, they also cleared out a bit of room for the 250-seat steakhouse. It'll be the first restaurant at the resort that will be open to the public.

We recently learned of a few dishes that will grace the menu once the restaurant opens in December, and as we're not ones to hoard information, we thought we'd pass it along. A few samplings from the menu are included after the jump. Warning: Simply reading these items may have adverse effects on your cholesterol level.

Appetizers ($14-27):
Trio of tuna tartare poppers with ponzu sauce
Shabu shabu with mushroom consomme
American Kobe beef carpaccio with Thai tomato salad
Lobster corn dogs with mustard creme fraiche

Beef ($36-150):
Rib eye, filet mignon, skirt steak, porterhouse and flatiron, poached in butter and cooked over wood-fueled flames.

Modern American Classics ($18-46):
Whole-fried organic chicken with truffled macaroni and cheese
Butter poached all natural angus beef ribs with horseradish-peppercorn gremolata
Barbecue Kurobuta pork short ribs served with bacon braised collard greens and a white bean puree

Sides ($7-11):
Duck fat fries
Bacon creamed spinach
Mushroom pot pie with Gruyere cheese
Potato puree trio

Michael Mina [Official Site]
Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club [Official Site]

• Delta already has Michelle Bernstein; now MP: Boston tells us that they've asked Todd English to create a menu for the airline too.

• How much would you pay for a meal put together by a "dream team" of chefs? MP: San Francisco gives us the lowdown on an October 7 dinner at Charlie Trotter's that's going for $5,000 a plate.

• MP: Chicago gives us a photo that makes us wish we were in Chicago to try some Turkish raw meatballs.

• MP: Philadelphia explains why Korean fried chicken is so popular.

We stumbled upon a great photoset on Flickr called Florida Postcards, a collection of old postcards from the Sunshine State. Here we share a shot of Leon & Eddie's, a restaurant/nightclub with locations in New York and Palm Beach. A Google search turned up several mentions of the New York location, but not much about the Palm Beach one. The address listed is now home to a law firm. Anyone know anything about this place? We're intrigued.

Photo: Flickr

• There's that wine fair we wrote about earlier this week. Yes, you should go to that.

• Two Cooking at the Cellar events this Saturday, as always. In Aventura, watch Philippe Pinon of Blue Door at the Delano prepare a Miami Spice dish, and at Dadeland, catch Paul LeBlanc of The Cove Restaurant at the Miami Airport Hilton. Both events are free and start at 1 p.m.

• We like the sound of a Cook-Along Champagne Lunch. Yum. You too can join in the fun on Saturday with Chef Gaetano Ascione as he pairs food with Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne at noon at the Courtyard Grill at the Biltmore Hotel. Cost is $60 or $48 for club members. Call 305-913-3203 for more information.

But what does it taste like? Sara of All Purpose Dark has this to say:

In that span of time I managed to suck down two flutes of the sweet liquor, which reminded me of a melted pack of lemon-drops spiked with alcohol.

Calvin Godfrey at the New Times, recounts stories of growing up with DeVito's kids in his post:

Their family made a big deal about sticking together, throwing large parties and being nice to everybody. No scandals to report. DeVito managed to always have fun in Hollywood –to explore his own projects, to be friendly with everyone and put money into smart things. He always has fun where he is, it seems.

His house was always full of dogs and children and pleasant older ladies who would sit around the breakfast table, chatting and preparing big meals.

So it was weird to visit his ritzy restaurant on Ocean Drive.

Danny DeVito's premium limoncello [Official Site]
DeVito Limoncello Tasting [All Purpose Dark]
The Real DeVito [Riptide 2.0]
DeVito South Beach [MenuPages]
DeVito South Beach [Official Site]

Photo: Sara from All Purpose Dark

• Paula had an awkward experience at The River Oyster Bar, but says she's going to give it a second chance. [Mango&Lime]

• The service is lovely, but the food isn't spicy enough at the newly opened ISHQ. [Chowhound]

• Vote for your favorite BBQ restaurant at this week's SotP's poll. [Stuck on the Palmetto]

• Marta assembles some delicious-looking Cuban sandwiches, and she's got instructions for making them at home. [Babalu Blog]

South Florida Subways, specifically those in Broward, have had a rough summer security-wise. There was the mid-June incident when two unmasked men locked a Subway employee in the bathroom while they stole $2,000. Then, later in June, two men made the mistake of attempting to rob a Plantation Subway where a legally armed former Marine was enjoying his sandwich. Then there was the late-July incident in Hialeah involving a man who apologized profusely to a pregnant Subway employee while removing $86 from the cash register.

Yesterday, NBC6 tried to look at the big picture and examine why these restaurants are targeted. One poor woman said her Subway restaurant had been robbed three times in the last two months. Each time, it seems, they've shed a bit more of their polite demeanors and become more brazen:

[Hollywood Subway employee Andrea] Lindsey said the robber at her restaurant was very polite.

"Too polite," she said. "I kept telling him, 'Please don't hurt me; I have kids.' And he's like, 'Ma'am, I'm not going to hurt you.' He wasn't rude or anything, and that was strange for a robber."

Other Subway employees said the robberies are getting increasingly worse.

"The first time, he was so nice with me. He didn't touch me," [Subway employee Jessell] Medina said. "But the last time, no, it was different. Maybe they were more aggressive."

The difference, police said, may be in the lack of surveillance cameras; other sub chains with surveillance cameras haven't been targeted. Then again, they still haven't arrested the guys in ski masks who robbed a surveillance camera-equipped Tamarac Subway in July.

Unmasked Men Rob More Than $2,000 From Hollywood Subway [NBC6]
Subway Customer Shoots, Kills Robbery Suspect [NBC6]
Man Apologizes As He Robs Subway Restaurant [NBC6]
Robbers Target So. Fla. Subway Restaurants [NBC6]

• Gail Shepherd had the waiter from hell at Tulio's Italian Fusion in Boca and still managed to enjoy her meal. [New Times]

• Jan Norris chats with one of the partners at the new Palm Beach Gardens steakhouse III Forks, open just two weeks after two-and-a-half years of work. [Palm Beach Post]

• At Vic & Angelos in Palm Beach Gardens (not far from III Forks actually), bottles of New York City tap water line the window to the kitchen. We don't know if it's that or the other ingredients that make the pizza great, but regardless, it is good. [Sun-Sentinel]

• Yum! Recipes from Emunah for the upcoming Jewish High Holy Days. [Sun-Sentinel]

• More Kosher food, this time from Mazal's Glatt Kosher Deli, a new restaurant in Hallandale run by an Israeli couple and a Cuban Jew. From Linda Bladholm's description, it sounds like they've got each corner of the diaspora covered somehow on the menu. [Miami Herald]

• The description of The Jib Room, a four-month-old spot in Fort Lauderdale, is making our mouth water. Conch fritters, mini Kobe beef burgers, crispy duck bathed in passion fruit, and bread pudding with homemade guava sauce. We can't wait to see the whole menu. (It's coming.) [Sun-Sentinel]

• We'll start with Enrique Fernandez (who now has a blog!) and his eating tour through Hialeah. There he finds some excellent Latin home-style cooking; he suggests Yoyito (Cuban), Pollo Brasa y Sazón (Colombian), and Rinconcito Peruano (Peruvian, of course). [Miami Herald]

• Lee Klein on Indomania: "Dinner here is like eating at the home of a lovable but absent-minded relative with a knack for good cooking — the orchestration might be shaky, but the hospitality and fare will be fine, and a good time will be had by all." We think that about sums it up nicely. [New Times]

• Taste of Bombay has Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian and Filipino food on the menu. But what will be available depends on which chef is in the kitchen, and which chef has decided to take a vacation. Food quality is spotty, but the chicken makhani is a winner. [New Times]

This elimination was a long time coming. One could say it's been coming since the first episode, when Howie failed to plate the second half of his dish. Everyone knew that Howie wasn't going to win the competition; at this point, it was just a matter of how long they'd keep him in for entertainment value. We can only hope that Hung will now step up and fill the role of villain.

So, on to the episode. Let's count the number of awesome things that the Quickfire produced:
• The bizarre, psychedelic "Smurf village," as Dale called it, that Hung produced with his $10 in the cereal aisle. So Michael Schwartz wasn't a huge fan. We probably wouldn't be either if we'd had to eat it, but from a strictly visual standpoint, that thing kicked ass. And we enjoyed watching Hung embrace his inner kindergartner.
• Brian's explanation for choosing Spam when he drew the canned seafood aisle. He made Spam look so appealing.
• Howie's empty martini glasses. We really just can't stand the guy, and when we saw him place two empty martini glasses on the table with 20 seconds left, we knew he was going home, barring some unbelievably huge screw up on the part of another contestant.

Yes, we really enjoyed that Quickfire. And we liked the idea of the Elimination Challenge, but were pretty bored by the results. The cheftestants really didn't seem to budget very well at all. And we totally would've chosen Sara as executive chef; she really rocked that role in the last challenge. Then again, Brian likely didn't get a chance to witness Sara in action in Quatre's kitchen, so he probably didn't know the extent of her awesomeness.

Speaking of Sara, it was great to see the two women come out on top this time around. Sara's and Casey's dishes were the only ones that really looked vibrant and attractive. The others just looked so...fuddy-duddy. (The image of Howie's mushroom duxelles is seared into our brains. We'd like it to leave quickly.) And we know most people dismiss Casey as eye candy, but she's really come up with some great dishes; she's got talent, and we think she might be around for a while longer yet. Provided there are no onion-chopping Elimination Challenges.

Photo: Bravo

You no doubt have heard about the dangers of microwave popcorn by now (and if you haven't, read this). It seems that butter-flavored microwaveable popcorn contains something called diacetyl, which, when heated, can cause "bronchiolitis obliterans," a possibly fatal lung disease common among popcorn workers. But now doctors have found a case of the disease in a consumer; granted, it's a consumer who's eaten at least two bags of popcorn each day for the past decade, but it's still raising some alarm among casual microwave popcorn eaters.

The good news is that foodies (who've stayed away from the bagged stuff for years because, well, it just doesn't taste as good) are answering the call to help those who now find themselves yearning for puffed kernels of corn without any added chemicals. First up, Mark Bittman, who guest blogs over at Diner's Journal, gives a clear step-by-step process on how to pop your own corn using some kernels, oil, salt and butter. (We do it much the same way, except after watching an episode of Good Eats, we've now taken to salting the oil and kernels before popping so that the salt is evenly distributed.) And if you absolutely must go the bag-and-microwave route, here's a guide to making popcorn in a brown paper bag. It looks pretty simple: place kernels in bag, add butter to one side of bag if desired, place butter-side up in microwave for four minutes. And that's it.

Doctor Links a Man's Illness to Microwave Popcorn Habit [New York Times]
Popcorn, The Old-Fashioned Way [Diner's Journal]
Brownbag Popcorn [Instructables]
Photo: Flickr

Students return to South Florida campuses this week, so we thought we'd help the freshmen out with a little guide to where to go to escape dining hall food. This is the fifth in a series of six posts that will cover each local university. This time: Nova Southeastern University, the main campus.

Pizza: Definitely check out Pizza Loft on University Drive, along the western border of campus. It's the best pizza in the area, barring perhaps the Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza in Plantation.

Late Night: Not far from Pizza Loft on University Drive is Luke's Place, where you can get sandwiches (think roast beef, tuna melt and burgers) and bar food like wings and mozzarella sticks until 4 a.m. Not late enough for you? There's a 24-hour Steak 'n Shake a short drive away.

Cheap Eats: Char-Hut. So it's about a 10-minute drive away. It's a Broward institution. Stick to the burgers, all-beef hot dogs and fries, and you'll have a full meal for less than $10.

Chinese: Nearby Orient Chef has gone the trendy route and added sushi to the menu, but you should probably stick to the Chinese offerings. For Chinese in a slightly nicer setting, there's Wings Chinese Restaurant just a mile from campus. And they deliver anywhere in a three-mile radius.

On Mom & Dad's Dime: We've heard excellent things about Vienna Cafe & Wine Bar, which offers an interesting mix of northern European cuisine.

We've been a little spaced out today, so Amuse-Biatch had to bring this Herald story, about tourism bureaus and reality TV shows, to our attention. There's a lot of stuff about shows we don't watch (Beach Patrol, Miami Ink, etc.), but there is some interesting information about the economics behind Top Chef. The first nugget of information, about the Fontainebleau:

The supporting role didn't come cheap for the resort. Fontainebleau executives traded six weeks of free stays at both the $8,000-a-night suite and roughly 100 rooms for producers and support staff.
''We think the value of the publicity more than offset our costs,'' said general manager David Feder. ``Shows like that are much more believable than running a 30-second ad during the program.''

Tourism bureaus try to wedge into popular TV shows [Miami Herald]
Amuse-Biatch Digs the Digs [Amuse-Biatch]
Fontainebleau Miami Beach [Official Site]
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau [Official Site]

Photo: Bravo, via Miami Herald

We saw Alta Cocina on the Miami International Wine Fair's list of participating restaurants* and thought, wait, it's open? We've been keeping an eye on this one for a while and have been trying to piece little bits of information that have come our way. From Chowhound, we learned that the restaurant is owned by a husband-and-wife team who used to work at Michy's. On Craig's List, we saw ad after ad looking for cooks and "expirienced waiters." Somewhere along the line, we also found an address (5837 Sunset Dr, South Miami, 33143) and a phone number (305-662-7435). Not that anyone answers it yet.

Today, however, we finally got in touch with Juan Mario Maza, the husband half of the team, on what we think is his cell phone, and he informed us that the restaurant will indeed be opening sometime this weekend. We couldn't get much more information; the phone cut out, unfortunately. Either that, or he hung up on us after we asked for a menu. (We're going to believe the former explanation.) We do know that the words "fusion," "fine casual dining," and "New American" have been tossed around to describe the menu.

* The wine fair's website also lists a link to what is supposed to be Alta Cocina's website, but actually is written mostly in what appears to be Latin, has a gallery of photos of what looks like a hotel and lists contact information for Glasgow. The menus listed on the site (in English), however, could fit the bill for the restaurant. Maybe the site's not finished yet and still has a bunch of default text and photos? It's all very confusing.

Anything new or coming to Dade? [Chowhound]
Alta Cocina ads [Craig's List]
Alta Cocina [Official Site?]
Michy's [MenuPages]

The 6th Annual Miami International Wine Fair is coming to the Miami Beach Convention Center this weekend, expected to bring in 5,000 visitors. It's basically a big trade show, which we generally tend to find a bit dull if one is just visiting and isn't actually involved in the business. This one, however, features some interesting seminars on Saturday and Sunday on topics like climate change, finding good French wines under $20, and mastering the art of blind tasting. They don't come cheap though; each seminar will cost $15-75, although you can buy a one-day seminar pass for $100 to save money if you plan to sit in on multiple ones. And there's a basic Introduction to Wine Appreciation on Sunday at 4 p.m. that is completely free.

The public won't be allowed on the main floor of the trade show during the morning and early afternoon, but you can purchase tickets for the Grand Tasting on both Saturday and Sunday evenings for $75 or $120 (VIP — you get an extra hour and a few special wines). If you do splurge for the Grand Tasting, we suggest doing it on Sunday, when a bunch of local restaurants will participate in a wine and food pairing competition. It's kind of like a Top Chef Quickfire challenge: chefs get 30 minutes to prepare their signature dishes, while their sommeliers scour the main floor of the trade show to find wines to pair with each course. We'd keep an eye on Cacao, Talula and Johnny V.

Miami International Wine Fair [Official Site]

Boy, could we go for one of these right now. That is a guava and cheese cupcake from Sticky Fingers Cupcakes in Miami, a small place run by a Johnson & Wales grad. We recommend checking out the rest of their Flickr photostream, sure to induce sugar cravings.

Sticky Fingers Cupcakes [Blogspot]
Photo: Flickr

• You have until tomorrow to sign up for "A Sunday at Sublime " in Fort Lauderdale, which will feature vegan hors d'oeuvres and wine for $10 per person. Call 954-539-9000 for reservations.

• Frankie's Pier 5 is hosting the second annual "Dinner for Fallen Heroes" on Sept. 11. The money will go to the Broward County Council of Professional Firefighters, who will in turn donate it to the IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial. All wines will come from Marchiese Antinori in Tuscany and will be paired with southern Italian dishes. Dinner starts at 7 p.m. and costs $125.

• Vino Miami hosts its next Bordeaux class tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. The class is $50, and all six featured wines will be discounted. For reservations, call 786-207-8466.

The shuttered restaurant doors in Palm Beach County are opening up again, now that the oppressive heat has passed. La Sirena, which closes each offseason, will open again tomorrow night for dinner for the first time since May. The menu is much the same, with a few tweaks — an extra veal dish here, an altered clam dish there. For reservations, call 561-585-3128.

And Miami Beach welcomed a new Indian restaurant this past weekend, the much-anticipated ISHQ (530 Ocean Dr, 305-532-4747). Rumors are that the restaurant boasts two tandoori ovens. The menu is forthcoming and should be online shortly.

La Sirena [MenuPages]
La Sirena [Official Site]
Best Indian in Miami or So Flo in general? [Chowhound]

The last time we wrote about grouper, we passed along tips from the Florida Department of Agriculture to tell if the grouper at your favorite restaurant is a fake. We didn't quite realize how bad the problem is, however, until an article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune gave us a rundown of the industry.

There are five species of Gulf Coast fish now being overfished, including the wildly popular gag grouper.

Three years ago, a grouper sandwich was priced at about $8.95. Now, it can run you $13 or more, with restaurant owners paying $11 to $13 per pound for fillets.

Just in the last two years, the price has risen nearly $3 per pound, says Wil Stutzman, the general manager at the Dry Dock Waterfront Grill on Longboat Key.

The price of whole grouper -- what fish houses pay to fishermen -- rose about 20 percent from 2003 to 2006, to $2.91 per pound, the Florida Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing reports.

This year, area fish house operators say they are paying about $3.20 per pound, representing another 10 percent increase in the last year.

It appears that the prices are only going to go up. There's a bit of blame to go around everywhere: increased regulation (some of it necessary to keep maintain fish populations), waterfront development that's destroyed habitats, an increase in the number of recreational fishermen, and, let's not forget, a few bad hurricanes. The commercial fishermen blame the recreational anglers, and vice versa. All we know for sure is that grouper prices are only going to go up, so much so that the fish may be priced out of most restaurant menus. And if you do find it on a menu for what looks like a really great deal, it's frozen, foreign or not even grouper at all.

Grouper Crisis [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Grouper, And The Fish That Want To Emulate It [MP: South Florida]
Photo: Flickr

• Tere visits 1909 Cafe, asks about the proposed Gables location, and is given a curt reply. What's up with that place? We've been calling too, with the same results. We're beginning to doubt that this second location is ever going to open. [Coral Gables]

• Twenty-One Toppings, the new burger guys in town, gets good reviews. [Stuck on the Palmetto]

• Lee Klein reports that Market Grill, a new upscale Argentine meat market, is opening soon on Alton Rd in Miami Beach. [Riptide 2.0]

• Sara checked out the Miami Spice menu at Santo and has a "lovely time." [All Purpose Dark]

• Pork chocolate and fried squid at a Filipino food truck at the Port of Miami. [Mango&Lime]

• The Grill at the Setai's Miami Spice menu wins big points. And they have a $20 wine pairing menu to go with it! [Mango&Lime]

• MP: San Francisco wonders what will happen to the Big Mac as fast food across the nation changes, while MP: Boston gives you McD's flack's answers to such excellent questions as why Big Macs cause excessive gas and explosive diarrhea.

• MP: Philadelphia directs us to a food blogger carefully developing his son's palate through high-end ice cream.

• MP: Chicago explains why vegetarianism will never be mainstream.