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]