It's an interesting question raised by this article in the Miami Herald. We definitely recommend reading the article.

CHICAGO --
Not long ago, this great Midwestern city's downtown -- the place where the American skyscraper was perfected and first proliferated, no less -- found itself staggering on its once sturdy legs, like some punch-drunk boxer.

The splendid architecture was worn, the Loop a dark ghost town after 6, when thousands of daytime workers decamped for the suburbs. Desolation spread: tumbledown warehouses, industrial carcasses, panhandlers, sagging neighborhoods. Some big projects -- office towers, a massive new public library -- did little to arrest the swoon.

Then something remarkable happened. Chicago squared its Broad Shoulders and got back its swagger.

And therein, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz believes, lies a lesson worth emulating for the city he leads, suspended halfway between decline and revival:

In the past decade and a half, the nation's third-largest city has undergone a resurgence under Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has invested hundreds of millions in bold plans, beautification, parks, culture and hard-core infrastructure as a way to attract business, development and -- most important -- the vital throngs of people, people, people who today make Chicago's streets and neighborhoods among the liveliest in the country.

It's the template that Diaz, who often invokes Chicago and the Daley administration as a model, hopes to put in place in Miami. Here, much like Chicago years ago, downtown largely shuts down after dark even amid an unprecedented, but troubled, high-rise condo boom.

The city of Chicago itself, not counting the suburbs, is also huge; the city limits extend far from the urban core, and it encompasses all of Cook County. While Daley has devoted most of the money to downtown revitalization, he's begun projects all over the city. If Diaz wanted to do something similar, he'd have to deal with the Miami-Dade County mayor and the mayor/city council of whatever municipality he's working with. There's more red tape involved.

And, of course, there's the transportation issue. People need a viable way to get to downtown, and the Metrorail doesn't cut it. Chicago already had the El system in place, and while we cursed the CTA many a time during our four-year stay, especially when it was 15 degrees and the bus was late, the system does a fair job of moving people from one far-flung part of the city to another. The same cannot be said of Metro-Dade's transit. So do you revitalize the urban core before improving transit? Or do you build a proper rail system before fixing up downtown? We doubt there's going to be money for both.

We can't say much more on the issue, as we don't profess to be urban planning specialists. (We'll leave that to the folks at Transit Miami. It's an interesting idea, as the two cities do have a fair amount in common (the rivers, the lake/bay, the grid system with numbered streets, the elevated trains), but it'll likely take four times as long for Miami to accomplish a similar downtown revitalization.

In Chicago's revival, a model for Miami? [Miami Herald]

As of tomorrow, Florida's minimum wage will be $6.79 per hour, up 12 cents from the current wage. Tipped employees are seeing a greater percentage increase; their base hourly pay is also increasing 12 cents, to $3.77.

Florida voters approved a state minimum wage in November 2004. The state minimum wage supersedes the federal minimum wage of $5.85. The federal minimum wage is set to increase to $6.55 in July.

The new state wage is based on an annual consumer price adjustment. The increase for 2008 is significantly less than the 27-cent, or 4.2 percent, increase for 2007.

Florida's minimum wage increases to $6.79/hour [News-Press]
Lawmakers Increase State Minimum Wage, Restaurateurs Yawn [MP: South Florida]

Score one for the Florida citrus industry. We recommend you read this article, as it's very informative, but we'll try to summarize the pertinent information for you here. The Florida citrus industry is afraid of a fungus called Septoria citri, which causes small lesions and can cause the fruit to fall prematurely. This fungus apparently is found in California, so Florida asked that any California citrus be treated with a fungicide before shipping to Florida. This inspection/treatment is expensive, and California citrus growers weren't happy, so they sued Florida citrus growers. Just recently, Circuit Judge William Gary in Tallahassee denied the temporary injunction that the California growers wanted. So for now, Florida wins, although it looks like it's going to be a long battle:

The rule requires California fruit to be inspected and treated with a fungicide before it can be shipped to Florida, which already requires in-state citrus to undergo similar treatment for other diseases.

"Our growers are already under siege by citrus greening and canker, and the measures we implemented were designed to ensure Septoria citri is not introduced into this state," said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson.

"It's extremely disappointing," said Joel Nelson, president of the California Citrus Mutual, one of four plaintiffs. "It's unfortunate this action was taken to punish family farmers in California over a pest that most countries worldwide - including the U.S. Department of Agriculture - do not consider to be a major problem."

The USDA has classified the black fungus as being of "minor significance" and only two cases were verified in California last year, according to the lawsuit.

...

The citrus industries in the two states are about equal in size, about $1.1 billion in annual sales each. But most of Florida's oranges are turned into juice while the bulk of California's crop is sold as fresh fruit.

Florida Wins Citrus Case for Now [Forbes]

Photo: Flickr

When we last wrote about the Kobe Club in November, we didn't really know any details about the opening, except that it would happen sometime in 2008. Over the past few days, however, we've received a flurry of e-mails about the restaurant's January 4 opening. So now you have all of the pertinent details and can make reservations and get sliced in half when one of the thousands of samurai swords nailed to the ceiling falls. (Just think of what a Category 4-5 hurricane could do to those things.)

More Steakhouses. Please. We Don't Have Enough [MP: South Florida]
Kobe Club Miami [Official Site]

• MP: San Francisco discusses the difficulty of eating locally in the winter. Which is interesting when down here it's harder to eat locally in the summer, unless, of course, one could live on mangoes alone. Come to think of it, we don't think that sounds too bad.

• Challah french toast at MP: Boston. Yum.

• MP: Philadelphia tells us that chefs in the City of Brotherly Love are crazy over blue foot chickens, green papaya, lentils, duck fat and bacon. Mmmm...bacon.

• MP: Chicago doesn't fare so well on a Christmas food quiz.

• Looks like all of those changes over at Atrio were for the best. [All Purpose Dark]

• Interesting discussion over at Chowhound: Hiro's Yakko-San vs. Matsuri. Let the battle of the chowhounds' favorite Japanese restaurants begin! [Chowhound]

• Yikes. Harsh words for Kefi Restaurant & Lounge. [Chowhound]

• Michy's, Talula , or Sardinia. Which would you pick? [Chowhound]

We've got plenty. We're big fans of staying at home, drinking champagne with a few friends, throwing out a bucket of old water and eating 12 grapes at midnight. But, if you're looking for a party, here's a good place to start.

• There's a dueling piano show (of course) at FunKey Nutz. It's $40 for general seating, $50-$75 for preferred seating, and $49.95 for a three-course dinner available between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

• There are two dinner seatings at Kavanagh & Morrissey's for New Year's Eve, one at 5 p.m. and another at 9 p.m. In addition to the full menu, the chef will prepare specials like blackened bison and a rock lobster trio.

• Six courses for $60 at Le Bistro. We won't recap the whole menu, but it involves truffles, porcinis, beef tenderloin and dark chocolate. Not all in the same dish, of course.

• Casa Juancho will have music and plenty of food for $140-$170 per person. That includes one bottle of cava or wine for every two persons.

• Seating starts at 9 p.m. at China Grill Sobe, where for just $200 (!!!) you get four courses and an open bar.

• The four courses at Tuscan Steak will set you back $125. Also, they made a special note that there's a minimum of two guests per table. How many "table for one" requests do they actually get? Because when you're alone on New Year's Eve the thing you most want to do is go out and eat by yourself and flaunt your solo status amidst a crowd of lovey-dovey couples.

• For you big spenders, you might enjoy the party at Blue Door, where poolside tables are $300, poolside beds (?!) are $500, and poolside cabanas are $1000. We imagine this isn't per person, so it might actually end up being a good deal. Doors open at 8 p.m. for those with reservations, 9 p.m. for the unwashed masses without.

• Shooters gives you four courses for $59.99 per person. There are seven options for the entree, which seems a bit excessive to us, perhaps because we find it difficult to decide when confronted with such choices. The fewer options the better.

• For $125 at Frankie's Pier 5 you'll get a pre-fixe menu, live music, dancing, noise makers, hats and champagne toasts.

• Vino Miami is having a party, although we don't know the details. But you can reserve a table that includes fancy platters of food and a choice of champagne or sparkling French wine.

• There'll be live music at Tobacco Road, where open bar from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. is $30 and a table reservation is $10 per person.

And you'll want to check out the dining options that the New Times' Lee Klein researched here. He did a good job, so there's no point in rewriting all of that stuff.

We love pork belly. In fact, we buy it regularly and cure it in our refrigerator to make our own bacon. (We highly recommend this; you will never go back to supermarket bacon again. For a good primer, check out Charcuterie. We cure it with a mix of salt, black pepper, juniper berries, smashed garlic and bay leaves. But we digress.) When we saw pork belly on the menu at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, we had to order it. And it was scrumptious. Tender pork belly that fell apart easily on top of some kimchi. Oh so tasty. We took photos, but they're still stuck in our boyfriend's camera, so in the meantime, here's a Flickr shot.

Michael's Genuine Food & Drink [MenuPages]
Michael's Genuine Food & Drink [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

We kind of have an inside source when it comes to Gables dining. We won't tell you outright, but it's pretty obvious from the name. At any rate, we learned a good amount the other day about what's coming to the Mile in the next year, and we were going to post about it, but it looks like the Herald beat us to the punch. Fatburger will be opening next to Benihana, Morton's and Chili's are coming to Ponce, and Por Fin Restaurant & Lounge will finally open.

We were going to add another restaurant to that list, but our source just told us that it is still tentative and blurting it out to the world might cause some problems. But, suffice it to say that we think that if chain restaurants must dominate the Mile, at least this is a good one, and we're excited.

Look for more tables in the Gables in 2008 [Miami Herald]
Fatburger [Official Site]
Por Fin Restaurant & Lounge [Official Site]
Morton's [Official Site]
Chili's [Official Site]

• The Herald put together a pretty interesting section of the "best bites of 2007" from the food columnists and critics. Victoria Pesce Elliott loves the gumbo at Maia's Creole Cafe, Linda Bladholm prefers deep-fried Japanese eggplant at Hiro's Yakko-San, Enrique Fernandez craves Bin No. 18's Cuban sandwich, Rochelle Koff likes the butternut squash purses at Himmarshee Bar & Grille, and Charles Buhman is a fan of the guacamole at Cantina Laredo. [Miami Herald]

• Lee Klein thinks that 2007 was a pretty good year for Miami gastronomy. [Miami New Times]

• Five Guys Famous Burgers is like In-N-Out, but for the east coast. [Miami New Times]

• A glowing review for Adriana, the new Peruvian restaurant in Surfside. We would have the menu online if the restaurant owners ever answered the phone. So Adriana and Mark, if you're reading this, pick up your phone. Please. [Miami Herald]

• We just drove by Taverna Yiamas last night (didn't eat there -- we were on the way to a 13-ounce sirloin burger at Le Tub*), and today it's reviewed in the Herald. Which is a completely useless piece of information for you, but, you know, we're amused by the coincidence. [Miami Herald]

• First the Beer Guy went and raved about the wings at Hurricane Grill & Wings. Now Gail Shepherd visits and loves the place. We really must visit. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• The Beer Guy visits Dave's Last Resort & Raw Bar and enjoys it. [Palm Beach Post]

*This concluded three days of continuous, gut-busting eating. We learned that an enormous burger is not the best way to top off a two-day lechon feast. We are now feeling so fat that we're considering a juice fast for the next week. Wait, but then there's New Year's...

We've put a few new menus on the website. Here's a sampling of what's new:

• Coola Fish Bar, 11340 Legacy Ave in Palm Beach Gardens, 561-622-2227

• Cravings Coffee Tea & Chocolate, 4802 NW Boca Raton Blvd in Boca Raton, 561-999-0499

• Latitude Zero Restaurant, 36 SW 1st St in Miami, 305-372-5205

• Pita Pit, 5454 N University Dr in Lauderhill, 954-652-0444

We scour the want ads so you don't have to.

• The Lighthouse Cafe, inside the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, needs bilingual food runners, prep cooks, and servers for the open-air beachfront restaurant. That certainly sounds picturesque. [Craigslist]

• Uh-oh. Trouble at Chakra. [Craigslist]

• Two Chefs Too needs some help! [Craigslist]

• Mmmm...Peruvian. You too can serve the excellent fare at El Gran Inka[Craigslist]

• Table 8 gets a glowing review. [All Purpose Dark]

• King Trumpet mushrooms look tasty! [Daily Cocaine]

• A new spot for dim sum: Jasmine Gardens. [From the Test Kitchen]

• The restaurant was busy, but the pastry chef still managed to make a gluten-free apple tart for Restaurant Gal. [Restaurant Gal]

Looks like the Iron Chef may be opening a new place in Miami sometime soon:

And now, we hear Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto is scouting the town for a location to open his own eatery. Morimoto was in South Beach last week checking out new restaurants Brosia and Domo Japones and sampling their wares. A source said, "He is very excited about a Miami restaurant."

Iron in Miami [NY Post]

We're back, about 10 pounds heavier. Seriously, so much food, from Nochebuena to Christmas evening. We need a few days to recover from the nonstop cooking/baking/eating. We have photos that we'll share soon, once we get them onto the computer. We're especially proud of our gingerbread cookies on sticks that were arranged in flower pots.

We hope everyone had a good holiday!

Looks like we're going to get a lot more of them. They signed a deal with Wal-Mart to operate 500 of the in-store restaurants through 2012.

Wal-Mart greets Latin American restaurant t [Bradenton Herald]
Pollo Campero Finally Comes To South Florida [MP: South Florida]

• Charles Passy weighs in on the Whopper Freakout. [The Hungry Man]

• Deborah Hartz-Seeley writes about a press dinner at Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak. "For example, fries are cooked in duck fat and served in three portions each flavored differently: one with smoked paprika, one with herbs and one with truffles. Then there are three sauces: truffle aioli, onion ketchup and barbecue for dipping." Oh man. [From the Test Kitchen]

• Greg Graham checks out Sardinia and loves it. [The Greg Graham Guide]

• Still finishing that Christmas shopping? Here are some last-minute gift ideas for the food lover. [mango&lime]

• And finally, a few options for a tasty lunch that won't make a huge dent on your wallet. [Tasting Serendipity]

We're really not big fans of wordy menus. Maybe it comes from our background as a newspaper reporter. The fewer words, the better. And some of these menus are in dire need of a good editor who can not only fix spelling and grammatical errors, but also tighten up the prose.

Anyway, we got a laugh from a recent blog post by Frank Bruni about the menu from Tequila's in Philadelphia:

For example, a $20.95 entrée of Carne a la Trenza was described in terms of much, much more than its ingredients or cooking method. Reading about the dish, you could easily wonder if what you have in your hands is a menu or an essay on follicular anthropology.

“Trenza (braids) are par excellence the most fashionable style for the country woman,” the description begins, continuing: “Nothing is more beautiful than an imposing and timid country woman, adorned with the complex knots that crown her head. Our chef gives this rich dish . . . the look of the trenza worn by our Mexican heroines.”

Not the coiffure for you? Then try the main course listed just below it, a $19.95 Filete Grito.

“ ‘Grito’ means shout,” the menu illuminates. “This dish brings out a cry of joy when tasted, confirming the high degree of culinary creativity that exists in Mexico.”

The lowdown on the Filete Grito then becomes more food-specific, but it also becomes more oddly and grimly metaphoric.

“The cactus leaf is a bed with the tropical tamarindo sauce inviting the chile chipotle to participate as a witness in the lynching of the fabulous filet mignon, along with the chiles serranos.”

Lynching? Yikes. I’m not feeling so hungry anymore.

Menus As Literature [Diner's Journal]
Tequila's [MenuPages]
Tequila's [Official Site]

To the right are hallacas, the Venezuelan Christmas specialty that often shows up at our table on Nochebuena. They're made of a corn-and-meat filling (you might also find raisins, nuts, olives and hard-boiled eggs) wrapped tightly in a banana leaf. Our mom is a huge fan. See, her aunt and uncle moved to Caracas after Castro's takeover of Cuba, and their housekeeper, who left with them to Venezuela, learned how to make hallacas better than anyone else. Or so says our mother, who has since searched far and wide for hallacas that could meet that standard. (Unsuccessful so far.)

Hallacas are incredibly labor intensive, so it's rare to find someone who goes the homemade route. Our mom usually orders from a friend of a friend who spends the weeks before Christmas carefully making hallacas. At this time of year, almost every Venezuelan bakery will have some. We went ahead and did some of the legwork for you:

• Don Pan Every branch of this bakery will have hallacas for $5.99 each. They've got plenty now, but there's no guarantee there will be any left on the 24th. If you need a big order, it's best to call ahead and reserve some.

• La Crema de las Empanadas (10674 SW 24th St in Miami; 305-485-9360) The hallacas are $6 each here, and the same rule applies -- if you've got a big order, reserve some.

• European Corner They're $8 each here. The bakery is open until 8 p.m. on Dec. 23 and until 3 p.m. on Dec. 24.

• Moises Bakery (7310 Collins Ave in Miami Beach; 305-868-0548) Hallacas are $6, and you should really order them now, we're told. They've got a limited supply. If you order now, you can pick up on Christmas Eve.

Photo: Flickr

No more South Beach Diet products for you! Kraft decided the word 'diet' carried too much of a negative connotation (we tend to agree), so the company is changing all of its South Beach Diet products to 'South Beach Living.'

It's a one-word name change, but "diet" always has had powerful and not necessarily positive connotations among consumers, bringing to mind older folks struggling, and often failing, to lose weight.

"Living" on the other hand suggests vibrant youth pursuing a healthy, natural lifestyle.

...

Coca-Cola Co., for instance, developed its Coke Zero, a no-calorie version of its flagship product, partly because young male consumers responded poorly to beverages labeled "diet."

After all, no one has ever successfully marketed a "diet" beer. The makers of everything from mayonnaise to hot dogs long ago settled on "light" as a healthy, positive-sounding euphemism.

For Kraft, "diet" seemed to limit South Beach to those who wanted to lose weight, not the wider and growing category of consumers who want to eat healthy.

"We think [the name change] is going to broaden the appeal of the brand and fuel its growth trajectory," said Howard Brandeisky, Kraft's vice president for strategic marketing initiatives.

Kraft scraps Diet in favor of South Beach Living [Chicago Tribune]

All Purpose Dark has the lowdown on the Domo Japones opening party last night. Four sushi chefs, flowing champagne...we need to get ourselves invited to these things.

Opening Party @ Domo Japones [All Purpose Dark]
Domo Japones [Official Site]

Photo: All Purpose Dark

If you enjoyed the Whopper Freakout, you might be interested in reading this, an interview with the man who directed it. Here's an excerpt:

HAR: It was by far the most logistically complex shoot I've ever been on. It wasn't just reality TV, it was tricking real customers with fake BK employees who we had to train to use the machines and how to work the systems. There's a whole complex assembly line of people back there and (actors) had to integrate into a real working bk staff making chicken sandwiches and fries. There was one woman (a BK employee) who was so deadpan we ended up hiring her as part of our fake bk staff. She delivered the line so well. All the other real staff would tend to giggle and I'd demote them to the back.

Meanwhile we were trying to bring the really interesting customers into play. You'd get some great characters—there'd be a guy who would come in and it would look like he's been up all night and he's wearing a velvet fedora and then he steps up and he just wants a chicken filet. Then there were certain people you wanted to avoid who looked too crazy and you knew they wouldn't take the joke too well. The manager knew a lot of the customers and knew who were locals and knew who had good sense of humor and who didn't–I was getting live commentary from the manager. I was also dressed up as manager in training. I would stand around the front a lot to pick out the people who would maybe be OK on camera.

Via A Hamburger Today

• Bartenders are needed on South Beach. (Aren't they always?) Chakra, in particular, needs some help in that department. [Craigslist]

• Calling all managers and chefs! There's a new upscale restaurant in the Aventura area. Not too many details about the restaurant, but they do want someone with two years' experience. [Craigslist]

• The Tides is reopening, and they need help filling all sorts of different positions, including some in La Marea, so they're holding job fairs every Friday between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. [Craigslist]

• Oh, and here's our favorite. It's not a want ad; it was posted by a "freelance menu writer" looking for work. So someone can actually make this a career? Seriously? Because we could totally do that. [Craigslist]

Finding a whole pig around here at this time of year isn't that tough. But figuring out how to cook it properly without messing up 80 pounds of pork (perish the thought!) might be a bit more difficult. We've never done it*, so we can't offer any tips, but we will direct you to the 3 Guys From Miami, who give you step-by-step directions on how to build the roaster and what to do with the pig. There are helpful photos too! If you're not up for building your own spit, you can always spring for one of these, which take a bit of the guesswork out of the process.

*Yes, we have a big, loud Cuban family, but the kind that isn't up for spending a whole day roasting a pig. We usually do just a leg for Nochebuena, in the oven on low heat. We've even (gasp!) ordered the lechón from a restaurant before. Our uncle, who usually hosts the Nochebuena festivities, has talked of roasting a whole pig for the past two years, but each year, something comes up. Instead, he's taken to frying turkeys. Go figure.

Roast a Pig Like a Pro! [3 Guys From Miami]
La Caja China [Official Site]
Photo: Flickr

There are outlets in California, Chicago, New York, Texas and DC and its suburbs. So now, finally, the most popular chicken chain in Central America is expanding to South Florida; Guatemala-based Pollo Campero will be opening a branch in Boynton Beach sometime this month. After that, the chain is planning to open at least four more restaurants in the area: three in Dade (Little Havana, Cutler Ridge, and near Dolphin Stadium) and one in an unspecified Broward location.

Campero has been making headlines with restaurant openings in Los Angeles and other U.S. areas with large Central American communities, drawing crowds and posting record sales from immigrants seeking a taste of home.

But debuts in Boynton Beach and South Florida could be different, as the chain appeals more to a crossover market including Cubans, Puerto Ricans and many non-Latin Americans who don't know the brand, Denegri said.

Already, Campero has adjusted its menu to reach out.

The South Florida locales will offer black beans popular among Cubans, not just pinto beans popular in Central America. And the U.S. outlets will highlight grilled chicken for the first time — partly to take on Pollo Tropical, the Miami-based chain known for its grilled dishes.

"We knew we needed grilled chicken to compete in Florida," Denegri said.

Central American chicken chain comes to South Florida [Sun-Sentinel]
Pollo Campero [Official Site]

• Lola's on Harrison is hosting a holiday beer dinner on Thursday during regular dinner hours. The special four-course $50 prix fixe menu includes pairings with holiday micro brews. And if you want the regular dinner menu, that will also be available on Thursday.

• Also on Thursday: Casa Toscana is hosting a wine tasting at 7 p.m. This time, they're featuring the wines of Paolo Valle in Friuli. It's $15 per person, which includes appetizers. All featured wines will be discounted 10 percent.

• And on Friday, at Bongo's, the food will be Cuban, but the music will be Colombian at the Parranda Vallenata Navideña (Vallenato Christmas Party) with Juan Jose Meza.

Miami will soon be home to the largest biodiesel plant in the Southeast. Oilsource Holding and Greenline Industries are working together to open a 60 million-gallon-per-year plant that "is expected to be commissioned by the first quarter of 2009," which we are taking to mean that it will be at least somewhat operational by then.

While biodiesel is great (80 percent fewer emissions! decreased dependence on foreign oil!), we don't like the idea of replacing fields of edible crops with lots of corn or soybeans grown for the express purpose of making ethanol. But these two companies seem to have the right idea:

Biodiesel reduces greenhouse gases emissions by almost 80% and has lower level of emissions of several air pollutants compared to traditional diesel, without compromising engine efficiency or durability. Nevertheless, biofuels made from vegetable oil often competes with food security in some regions; such is the case of biodiesel from soybeans or ethanol from corn. Oilsource will use vegetable oil from non-food crops (like jatropha and waste oil from restaurants) or those with less impact on the food chain (like palm or coconut oil). These true "energy-crops" will enable us to achieve sustainable growth without compromising the wealth of the communities or the environment.

Oilsource Holdings and Greenline Industries to Build Major Florida Biodiesel Production Facility [South Florida Business Journal]
Greenline Industries [Official Site]
Oilsource Holding [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

• Tere shares exactly what goes into her Noche Buena meal. Funny, but it looks a lot like the menu at our family's Noche Buena, except our uncle has taken to frying a turkey the past couple of years. This does not, in any way, replace the pork; it's merely a secondary meat. [FoodTastic!]

• We're familiar with Stew Leonard's in Connecticut (so we like to visit food stores when we travel), but we didn't realize that Penn Dutch (in Hollywood and Margate) is a clone of the northeastern grocery chain. The owners have even made trips up north to get merchandising ideas! [From the Test Kitchen]

• La Marea gets a lukewarm review. Good food, but it can be better. [Chowhound]

We have to admit, we found this pretty funny. (And don't worry, BK didn't actually discontinue the Whopper. Corporate just 'punked' the customers at a particular Burger King.)

No Whopper for You! Burger King 'Discontinues' Its Signature Sandwich [A Hamburger Today]
Whopper Freakout [Burger King]

There's a great article in today's Sun-Sentinel about different Caribbean holiday specialties in South Florida. Think Venezuelan hallacas, Haitian gateau renverse (pineapple upside down cake), Trini black cake and the Cuban caja china. So if you're looking for any one of those items, particularly in Broward County, check out the story.

Also of interest: an interview with Gail Shepherd, the food critic at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. It's pretty great; apparently she knew very little about food when she got the job, and she had to learn a lot along the way.

South Florida's ethnic communities celebrate a traditional Christmas [Sun-Sentinel]
Eating for a living [South Florida Media Jobs]

If you're a fan of the South Miami Two Chefs, you'll be happy to know that the much-anticipated second location in North Miami is opening tonight at 5:30. We couldn't get our hands on a menu yet, but we're told that it will be very similar to that of the South Miami restaurant.

Two Chefs Too: 2286 NE 123rd St in North Miami, 305-895-5155

Two Chefs [MenuPages]

You know all of those food displays that crowd the sidewalks outside of restaurants on Ocean Drive and Lincoln Road? Well, take a good look at them now, because after December 22, they'll be gone:

''Nearly everyone that comes here to eat looks at the display,'' manager Marvin Silverman said outside his Lincoln Road eatery. ``The food stops them in their tracks.''

But Silverman has a bad taste in his mouth now, after learning that Miami Beach commissioners decided this week to ban outdoor food displays on sidewalks throughout the city. The kibosh goes into effect Dec. 22, when Christmas tourist season is in full swing.

''I'm very upset,'' Silverman said. ``A lot of restaurants will lose business if they can't show their food. It's like telling clothing boutiques you can't show a mannequin with clothes on it.''

City Manager Jorge Gonzalez, who suggested the change to the city's sidewalk ordinance, said City Hall had heard from many businesses and residents who wanted the food displays gone because they created a tacky image. Now, food displays are limited to restaurant interiors.

We don't usually inspect food displays closely, because as soon as you show even the slightest interest, the hostess outside will begin to tell you about specials and ask how many there are in your party. So we keep away. And we generally stick to the rule that if the restaurant has its food shrink-wrapped on display outside, it's probably best that we look elsewhere for lunch. But really, is it necessary for the city commissioners to ban the food-display practice outright? Seems a bit excessive.

Tasteless? Cafes can't show off the food [Miami Herald]

- Via Critical Miami

Photo: Flickr