In case you didn't drink enough at last weekend's South Beach Wine & Food Festival, there are two more wine events this weekend. Ready?

• The Boca Bacchanal begins today and continues until Sunday. It's like the South Beach festival but without the celebrities: wine seminars, a grand tasting, vintner dinners and a cooking demonstration. And like the other more well-known festival, these tickets won't come cheap; the grand tasting is $85 at the door, the cooking demonstration is $125, and everything else starts at $250.

• The second annual Dan Marino Weston Wine and Food Festival is a much smaller event. It's only on Sunday, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m., and while they'll take your money ($40 general admission/$50 at the door/$1,000 for VIP access), at least it's going to a good cause; 100 percent of the proceeds go directly to the Dan Marino Foundation.

Photo: Flickr

• MP: Chicago gets up close and personal with some Belgian waffles.

• MP: Boston gives us a photo of the tastiest-looking raw vegan ravioli we've ever seen.

• MP: Philadelphia tells us about gay porn twins who held up a buffalo wing takeout spot.

• MP: San Francisco presents the history of warfare through various food items. In video form.

We were in the process of updating Who's Restaurant & Lounge when we came across the restaurant's MySpace page. Here's the message that greeted us:

Who’s is Closed Due To CHEAP and NON LOYAL people

Who's Lounge [MySpace]
Who's Restaurant & Lounge [MenuPages]
Who's Restaurant & Lounge [Official Site]

Mint Leaf opens today, as we mentioned earlier this week. If you're in the downtown Coral Gables area, you might want to try one of their lunch specials. When we called and were told that the lunch specials run between $13 and $15, we thought that was a little steep. Then we heard what it includes. Your lunch thali comes with a curry (choice of vegetable, lamb, chicken or shrimp), a canapé, two vegetables, a lentil stew, salad, raita, papadums, bread and rice. Even if the portions are tiny, that's still a fairly big lunch.

The lunch specials are only available for sit-down lunch this week; they'll start doing take-out next week.

Opening: The Mint Leaf [MP: South Florida]
Mint Leaf [MenuPages]
Mint Leaf [Official Site]

• Deborah discovers Florida farm-raised clams. They're called 'pasta clams,' because they're the perfect size for tossing with pasta. [From the Test Kitchen]

• Charles Passy offers a few tips for Starbucks to improve matters. [The Hungry Man]

• Paula's having some trouble storing her lettuce. [mango&lime]

• Miami Dish starts a "Man on the Street" feature, the first of which stops at Pinolandia, a fritanga in Little Havana. [miami dish]

• L2M is a bit frustrated with the Miami Herald's food section, which yesterday led with a feature on casseroles. [Spangdish]

• Do you know where to find good cupcakes in Miami? Join the discussion on Chowhound. [Chowhound]

We thought we'd steer you toward some reading material this morning about the only remaining Royal Castle. The article in the Herald is part of its series on 27th Avenue (aka Unity Boulevard), which cuts through a number of very diverse neighborhoods.

William Singer got the idea for Royal Castle in Columbus, Ohio. The only restaurant that stayed afloat there during the Depression, he would say, sold small hamburgers for pennies. It was a quaint chain called White Castle.

Bankrupt and desperate to be an entrepreneur, Singer tinkered with the name and took the idea to Miami in 1938.

By 1958, Royal Castle had grown to 58 stores in South Florida. They thrived in working-class, mostly white areas, where families bought the greasy patties layered in onions, pickles and mustard by the dozen.

Under Lawrence Singer, William's son, the chain blossomed to at least 185 throughout Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. All had strict rules. No more than 10 stools at the counter. No women behind the counter. No blacks sitting in front of it.

The last Royal Castle continues to thrive [Miami Herald]

Photo: Flickr

Our favorite Miami-based fast food chain will be selling new items this year, among them Kraft macaroni and cheese for the kiddies. They're also planning some sort of wrap, called the BK Wrapper, smoothies, and two specialty Whoppers:

The new items discussed Wednesday include an Angry Bacon and Cheese Whopper with spicy, crispy onions, and the Indy Whopper, which will have bacon and pepper jack cheese and will be promoted together with the new Indiana Jones movie this summer. (A regular Whopper with no bacon or cheese has 670 calories and 39 grams of fat, according to Burger King's Web site.)

Also in the works are a BK Wrapper, three new flavors for its iced coffee line, a steakhouse burger, smoothies and even Kraft macaroni and cheese.

Burger King unveils new items [Forbes]
Burger King [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

At MenuPages, our legions of users submit reviews regularly for their favorite (and often least favorite) restaurants. Some make it onto the website, others don't. Here, we'll go over the week's best and worst reviews.

Best week yet so far, we think. Only five reviews didn't pass muster. Here's one of them, for Amazonia Churrascaria:

I was thoroughly satisfied with my dining experience. I recommend this place to all who have not tried it. The meat was so flavorful and satisfying. The service came with a smile and warmth that made me feel as though I was a guest in someone's home who was trying to impress me. I can't wait to bring my wife next!

This restaurant instantly became my new favorite place on South Beach. The food is outstanding, the service is amazing, and the atmosphere is wonderful. First went with some friends and have been back repeatedly. The food is delicous, starting with the mac n cheese, spiced nuts and endive appetizers!! I can't say which is my favorite because they are all sooo good!! For dinner the burger....yummy :) Definitely the best burger I've had since I moved to Florida. the pumpkin salad, the filet and the cod...all of which are equally delicous...the grilled cheese is heaven sent!! Love that the food is fresh and tastes as good as it looks. The waitstaff is delightful and very attentive. The perfect place to go for good music and a warm atmosphere. I will certainly be back on a regular basis for lunch and dinner!

Now here's a nomination review that left us scratching our head. It's for DeVito South Beach:

I have been to DeVitto's three times... the tomato and mozzarella salad is to die for. So is the spinach gnudi. Great pasta choices for vegetarians.

Nice place with great food.
Some of my favorites are:
- Fig Crostini
- Croque Monsieur
-Grilled beef tenderloin
-Cheese plate

..Oh and the full bar!

Only warning is that the Uva green salad can be ordered with Shrimp Tempura... This isn't Japanese style thin and flaky breading it’s thicker - like Chinese breading

• Enrique Fernandez gives Marinheiro two-and-a-half stars, although he says the Portuguese restaurant needs a focused identity. [Miami Herald]

• The steaks at Bourbon Steak are poached in butter. The lamb in olive oil. The pork in bacon lard. Oh yeah, and the fries in duck fat. We're not sure we could handle so much decadence. Actually, we probably could. [Miami New Times]

• Fork on the Road visits L'Arte Bianco Bakery, which specializes in Peruvian and French confections, in addition to a few Persian breads. That's because the owners are a Peruvian husband and Persian wife team who took classes in French baking as undergrads in Los Angeles. [Miami Herald]

• The celebrity chefs who were here for the festival mentioned San Loco Taqueria, Joe's Stone Crab, Prime One Twelve and Casa Tua as go-to spots, but Table 8 was the consensus favorite. [Miami Herald]

• Rochelle Koff finds The Jib Room to be a fun place. We're thinking of stopping by just for a slice of that pistachio pound cake, which sounds heavenly. [Miami Herald]

• Stick to the basics at Macchiato Boutique Restaurant, which is trying hard but still feels amateurish. [Miami New Times]

• Gail Shepherd celebrates Fidel's stepping down with a meal at Little Havana. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

Photo, duck-fat fries at Bourbon Steak in Detroit: Flickr

Sure it's totally kitschy now, but did you that in its height, Mai-Kai was one of the top-grossing restaurants in the country and the largest consumer of rum in Florida? That's what this Sun-Sentinel article about the death of Mai-Kai co-founder Jack Thornton says:

The location now sits along a noisy, traffic-clogged artery, just north and across the street from a Target-anchored shopping center. But at the time it was on a two-lane road with no other development or street lights.

Ex-wife Diane Thornton described the novelty of driving up to the restaurant upon her first visit. It looked like a torch-lit island in the dark.

"If there was no moon, you felt like you were in black hole. Then you saw a light ahead," she said.

"It got brighter and brighter and — remember in those days there was no Disney World, no theme parks — you were suddenly in these lush exotic gardens and there were rushing waterfalls and sumptuous dishes that only world travelers had ever tasted."

The inspiration for the Mai-Kai came from the brothers' favorite restaurant, Don the Beachcomber, an island-style eatery they visited with their father during their childhood in Chicago. Their mother put up everything she owned to secure the loans to help her sons open the restaurant.

It became a runaway hit.

Co-founder of famed Mai-Kai restaurant dies at 78 [Sun-Sentinel]
Mai-Kai [MenuPages]
Mai-Kai [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

We get so few good hot chocolate days. Not that we're complaining -- we like our winters nice and warm. But it's nice to have an excuse, at least a couple times a year, to indulge in a wonderfully thick hot chocolate. If you're thinking the same thing this morning, here are a few places you might want to try:

• Jimmie's Chocolates and Cafe bills itself as Florida's oldest chocolatier, so we're sure they've learned a thing or two about making hot chocolate in the 60 years they've been open.

• La Palma Restaurant (6091 SW 8th St in West Miami) has some of the best churros around. And as you all know, churros are perfect for dunking in hot chocolate.

• A La Folie Cafe offers a regular hot chocolate plus three other varieties: a 'chocolat parisien' with cream and vanilla, a 'chocolat viennois' with whipped cream, and a 'chocolat fou' with grand marnier. Pair with a croissant for a perfect breakfast.

• Romanico's mostly sells boxed chocolates, but you can go in there and ask for a hot chocolate.

Photo: Flickr

We'd recommend you head to Rascal House for a final pastrami sandwich -- they're closing:

Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House Restaurant in Miami Beach is to close in April.

The restaurant, at 17190 Collins Ave., notified the state that it would lay off 97 employees between April 4 and April 16.

A spokeswoman for Jerry's Famous Deli, the Studio City, Calif.-based company that owns Rascal House, Epicure Market and Bakery and its namesake restaurant, said the company has notified employees and would absorb as many into its other restaurants as it could.

There's not much time. Seriously -- go get your pastrami!

Rascal House to Close in April (for real) [Save the Deli]
Rascal House to close [South Florida Business Journal]
Rascal House [MenuPages]
Rascal House [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Oh man, we love beignets, and these from Grand Lux Cafe in Sunrise. The menu lists only that they're served warm with three sauces, but we called and learned that the red one is raspberry, the dark one is chocolate, and the lighter one is a Jack Daniels whiskey sauce. Add a nice espresso to the mix, and we're set.

Grand Lux Cafe [MenuPages]
Grand Lux Cafe [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

L'Anjou in Lake Worth offers a $20 dinner every day of the week during the season, but you've only got a 45-minute window to get it. Show up between 5 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. and make sure to bring cash; no cards are accepted for the early dinner. Here are your options (choose one for each course):

First Course
• soupe du jour
• vichysoisse
• onion soupe gratinee
• pate de canard
• rillettes de canard
• tomato and blue cheese tart
• fresh fruit cup
• house salad

Second Course
• pasta of the day
• veal francaise
• veal cordon bleu
• sole meuniere
• tilapia a l'estragon
• seafood crepe
• snapper and seafood en croute
• beef bourguignon
• chicken basquaise
• veal liver lyonnaise
• NY bordelaise ($24)
• duck a l'orange ($26)

Third Course
• house dessert with coffee or tea

We're pretty impressed by the number of options. Even if the portions are on the smallish side, if you order correctly (i.e. don't get the house salad or the pasta of the day), it could be a really great deal.

L'Anjou [MenuPages]

As far as we know, Las Olas is a typically gay-friendly area, so we were surprised to hear of a hate crime right outside the door of The Floridian, the popular 24-hour diner at 14th and Las Olas. Here's the story:

According to the police report, Melbourne Brunner, his partner Mitchell Mart and a friend visiting from out of town sat down to breakfast about 3 a.m. at an outdoor table. They ordered sandwiches, tea and juices.

Police said a man got out of his pickup truck, walked by them and promptly began yelling slurs at the three.

''He was yelling, `Were you looking at me, if you were, I'm going to come back there and break your neck. . . . And then he twisted his hands together,'' Mart recalled.

Words were exchanged, and the man repeatedly used a derogatory term aimed at gays.

The men decided to cancel their order.

They told the waiter to call the police, Mart said. 'He said, `What are they going to do?' ''

The men started to get into their car, which was parked two feet from the table.

More slurs were yelled.

As Brunner tried to climb into the passenger seat, the man punched him several times, pushing the car door on him, police said. Brunner fell to the ground, striking his head.

''I came around and he was bleeding,'' Mart said.

Mart helped Brunner into the car and then attempted to get the pickup driver's tag number.

The man ripped off his shirt and threw it over the plate as he yelled, ``I'll kill you before you get my tag number!''

The pair dropped their dismayed friend, who represents an agency that caters to GLBT travelers, off at his hotel.

They then drove to Broward General Medical Center.

Brunner suffered severe bruising but no broken bones. ''His jaw is out of whack,'' said Mart, a retired dentist.

According to the Herald article, the restaurant has called to apologize to the couple. Could they have done more? The attacker began yelling insults to the men as they were sitting down eating at an outdoor table. There's no mention of anyone requesting that the man leave or calling the police at that point. Instead, Mart, Brunner and their friend felt the need to cancel their order and leave. While the restaurant shouldn't have to be completely responsible for the safety of its patrons, one might think they could have done something a little earlier before it escalated to the physical level.

Beating was a hate crime, couple says [Miami Herald]
The Floridian [MenuPages]

The accolades keep pouring in for Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. This time, it's from New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, who recently did some restaurant research across the country. Michael's is on his top 10 list, although we won't know exactly how it'll rank for another couple of weeks since it's a four-part series. But here's what he had to say about it on his blog:

I can’t imagine Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink anywhere but Miami, and that’s not just because there are scattered palm fronds around the tables in its spacious outdoor area, usable even on an early February night.

It’s because of the prevalence and quality of the citrus in dishes, the freshness of the whole red snapper, and the adulatory attention servers draw to this fish.

Coast to Coast, Restaurants That Count [New York Times]
What New Yorkers Are Missing [Diner's Journal]
Michael's Genuine Food & Drink [MenuPages]
Michael's Genuine Food & Drink [Official Site]

There were spit cups everywhere. Did we use them? Of course not. Why waste perfectly good wine, right? We also made the mistake of not availing ourselves of enough food samples. Sure, we had a few good bites, but it was so hot, and we felt sticky and the last thing we wanted to do was eat. So let's review: lots of wine + not enough food + hot sun = one very drunk blogger. Our only consolation is that almost everyone else at the festival was in a similarly tipsy state.

OK, we'll start from the beginning. We had a ticket to "He Says, She Says: The Sexes on Wine" at 11 a.m. So yes, we got an early start on the drinking. When we first got the ticket, we hadn't really paid attention to the name on it: Andrea Robinson. Only when we got there did we realize that it was Andrea Immer; Robinson is her married name. That's when we got all excited -- we were going to a class given by a Master Sommelier!

We initially thought the class would discuss any differences in how men and women taste wine. That definitely wasn't the case, although we did learn that women, on average, tend to be better tasters than men. There was a reason given, although that's one of the many details that we cannot remember. (Did we mention we drank a lot?) The seminar was actually a competition between Andrea and her husband John. We loved both of them. They were fun, witty and incredibly down to earth. And she's not the only wine expert in the family -- he can hold his own pretty well.

Each seat was set with eight wine glasses, four on each side, and a plate of food: manchego, pesto, smoked salmon, tapenade, and Humboldt Fog cheese. (An aside: that cheese was excellent. Ugly-looking, but really tasty.) Andrea and John had divided up the winemaking regions of the world -- John took Burgundy, Spain, South America and California, while Andrea had the rest of France and Italy -- and chose four wines each that they thought would pair well with each food on the plate. After trying their suggestions, we all voted on whose pairing we preferred.

We didn't stick to just two pairings per food item though; Andrea kept suggesting different combinations beyond the straightforward ones, and many of them worked. And most votes were pretty close, so it really goes to show how subjective pairings can be. In the end, John won 3-2. They were tied heading into the vote on the manchego, which he nailed with an excellent Rioja.

Our two favorite wines happened to be the least and most expensive ones in the bunch, oddly enough. We loved the 2006 Zolo Torrontes, an Argentinian white that retails for $14 and was a heavenly match for the Humboldt Fog. We also could not get enough of the $85 Romitorio de Santedame Ruffino 2003. In fact, we asked for a little extra pour on that one and were indulged.

A few tips we learned:
• Pair country to country. A region's wines are often developed to match its foods.
• Manchego is "magic for any wine." It'll pair well with pretty much anything.
• When tasting, make sure to exhale. You get some taste reverberations in your nose.
• '05 vintages are all the rage now. It was a good year for grapes, so keep an eye out for those.
• For a good bargain, look to Spain. The wines are excellent and the prices are reasonable.

Oh my God. What a mess. If you're home, we'd advise you to stay put. Traffic lights are out everywhere due to the crazy power outage that's affecting millions in the area. FPL has managed to restore power to most places, but we heard that much of downtown Miami is still without light. And more importantly, without a/c on a hot day. We'd suggest getting out of the building, and if your office is anything like ours (i.e., nothing gets done when there's no power), heading to the nearest watering hole for a cold beer. We made a few phone calls and found a handful of places in downtown Miami/Brickell that have got power:

• The lights at Hooters in Bayside flickered on and off a few times, but they never really lost power.
• Gordon Biersch lost power, but it's back now, so the beer is cold and it's flowing. The kitchen's still recuperating though, so food selection may be limited.
• Andu Restaurant & Lounge lost power for about an hour and a half, but they're back up and running now.
• The Bar at Level 25 also lost power, but it's back.

About 680,000 without power in Florida [Miami Herald]

Photo: CBS4

You know that frozen yogurt craze that's sweeping certain parts of the country? (OK, so mostly just California.) We'd been wondering when it would hit Miami, which just seems like a perfect market for fat-free fruit-topped yogurt. Enter That Cool Yogurt Place, which is opening in three weeks on 10th Street and West Avenue in Miami Beach. This will be the first location; a second one is slated to open in Aventura in two to three months. We're excited about the variety of flavors offered, much more than Pinkberry's plain and green tea. These guys are going to offer plain cool, green apple, pistachio, white raspberry and mango, in addition to some rotating special flavors like chai tea, hazelnut, pineapple and blackberry. Then there are the toppings: lots of different fruits, granola, cereals, nuts, chocolate sprinkles, coconut flakes, honey and maple syrup.

The Miami Beach location will be having a soft opening sometime soon, although the owners haven't settled on a date yet. Of course, we'll fill you in when they do.

That Cool Yogurt Place [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Blog content this week was very South Beach Wine & Food Festival-heavy. Not surprising. We promise to have our own account of the events we attended later today. Here's what everyone else has to say about it:

• Sara was everywhere this weekend. Check out her accounts of the Best of the Best event and Emeril's Sugar Shack. [All Purpose Dark]

• Charles Passy gives us 10 observations about the food festival. Among them: it's become the Sundance of the food world. [The Hungry Man]

• Paula gives her thoughts on the Best of the Best event. [mango&lime]

Looks like Dunkin' Donuts is taking advantage of the fact that the competition is closing down for a few hours today. From 1 p.m. until 10 p.m., Dunkin' Donuts stores will be offering 99-cent lattes. It could save you a couple bucks on that regular 4 o'clock pick-me-up.

Starbucks Closing For Three Hours On Feb. 26 [MP: South Florida]
Get Dunkin Donuts latte for 99 cents on Tuesday February 26 [Slashfood]

LaBelle is a world away from the Florida with which we're familiar, which is perhaps why we were so intrigued by the Swamp Cabbage Festival. We've also got a soft spot for country festivals replete with interesting foods, and this certainly fit the bill.

Never heard of swamp cabbage? Neither had we. It's the heart of the sabal palm, which also happens to be the state tree of Florida. This designation means that you can't just cut down a sabal palm to cut out the heart; there are all sorts of permissions to get and administrative hoops to go through. It's nice that the festival organizers took care of all of that stuff for us.

A full account, with photos, is after the jump.

The festival was packed. This is obviously a big deal in the area. There were classic cars, motorcycles, a bluegrass band, a roaming Swamp Cabbage festival beauty queen and lots of arts and crafts, particularly Seminole jewelry. There were armadillo races and a rodeo, but unfortunately we missed both events. And of course, there was food. Lots and lots of food. Our first taste of swamp cabbage came from a huge pot of simmering hearts of palm and pork. We expected it to taste something like the hearts of palm that we buy in jars at the store, but this stuff is different, mainly because it hasn't been brined like the store-bought kind. And despite the greyish unappealing color, this dish was actually quite tasty. We definitely preferred it to the swamp cabbage fritters, which we thought were mediocre.
Really, anything battered and fried can't be that bad, and these fritters had little bits of pork inside working to their advantage. But the batter needed something else, like a nice hot chili pepper, and the swamp cabbage's texture was a bit too ... leafy. It definitely needed a bit more softening before hitting the deep fryer.

Other culinary highlights of the festival included boiled peanuts (we made a beeline for that cart as soon as we saw the sign), alligator fritters (didn't get a chance to try those) and tacos. We had read about Indian fry bread before the festival and were hoping to try some there; sure enough, we found a booth whose sign proudly proclaimed "Iona's Fry Bread." The line was long, which was a good sign. This woman clearly had a following.

The woman on the right was kneading the flour dough and forming it into discs, while the one on the left took the discs and dropped them into hot oil, where they almost immediately puffed. When they were golden brown, she'd lift them out. You could get the fry bread by itself, with a fruit filling, as a taco, or with sausage. We had a hankering for some sweets, so we asked for it stuffed with cherries. The bread was bursting with them; it was huge, and we couldn't finish, but that bread was great. Wonderfully chewy and surprisingly light, given the fact that it had been fried in lots of oil. Next time, we're skipping the fillings.

We made one more food stop, inside a store that had a sign outside that just said "HONEY." That's all the advertisement we need. It's the retail store for LaBelle-based Harold P. Curtis Honey Co., which gets honey from bees that pollinate plants like mangroves, seagrapes, palmetto trees, orange blossoms, and wildflowers. We were initially drawn to the dark mangrove honey, but when we tried it, we found it resembled molasses a bit too much for our taste. The palmetto honey, our favorite, was the lightest and smoothest, while the seagrape tasted a bit like a cross between the two.

Oh yeah, and we almost forgot: we took home some pickled swamp cabbage. It's soaking in vinegar and a bit of jalapeno. That should last us until next year's festival.

The Swamp Cabbage Festival [Official Site]
Cabbage, Swamp [University of Florida IFAS Extension]

Did you know that Le Bon on Lincoln Road has a "Beat the Clock" special? Show up between 5:30 and 7 p.m., and all of the half-kilogram mussel pots are $9.50. And that's with fries. It's not a bad deal; the regular mussel pot prices can be almost double that.

Le Bon [MenuPages]
Le Bon [Official Site]

Photo: Le Bon Restaurant

We read consumable Joy's review of The Smoking Rabbit with interest, since we'd visited there recently and had a similar experience. The restaurant was also totally empty when we went, which is really not a good sign on a Friday night at 9 p.m. There were people all over Ocean Drive, but only two others were seated inside the gastropub. And while we liked it overall, we agree with cJ that a few things were disappointing, in particular the lack of beer on tap and the crust-less mac & cheese. (The crust is our favorite part!)

As we enjoyed our meal, we tried to figure out why it was so depressingly empty on what should have been a busy Friday night. We decided the location was the problem. One would think an Ocean Drive location would be excellent, but that's not necessarily the case when trying to attract a local crowd. Not one of the four of us (two of whom live on South Beach) could remember the last time we'd eaten at an Ocean Drive restaurant. It's tourist central. Most tourists aren't going to end up in a place like The Smoking Rabbit, and most locals are going to avoid that stretch entirely.

We were thinking that ISHQ, on the same block as the gastropub, might be suffering a similar fate. Has anyone been there recently and seen how full/empty the dining room is? We're curious to hear how they're doing.

One final thing: We cannot fully convey how much we loved the shoestring fries at The Smoking Rabbit. Thankfully, they came in a very large bowl, which we shared with our dinner companions. (Next time, we might not be so generous with our fries.) The chef told us they were fried in oil with sage before being tossed with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. Totally addictive.

The Smoking Rabbit [consumable Joy]
The Smoking Rabbit [MenuPages]
The Smoking Rabbit [Official Site]
ISHQ [MenuPages]
ISHQ [Official Site]

No, really. We're serious this time. They're opening. But there's a catch: it's reservation-only, and there are just two seatings, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. We were told that it'll likely stay reservation-only for another one to two weeks. These guys clearly aren't big on setting firm deadlines for anything.

We're in the process of getting our hands on a menu. It has been difficult, but as soon as we get it, we'll post more about the fare.

Por Fin Restaurant [Official Site]

It was a long, fun weekend for us. We spent Saturday at the Swamp Cabbage Festival in LaBelle, and Sunday at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. We regret not buying more mangrove honey at the former, and we regret drinking all of the wine, instead of just tasting it, at the latter festival.

We're working on posts with lots of details and photos; expect them over the next two days or so. In the meantime, check out some other posts about the South Beach festival:

• Sara at All Purpose Dark got to go on trade day. We've got to figure out how to get in on that.
• A chowhound was not happy with Tyler Florence and his Kidz Kitchen event.
• Danny at Daily Cocaine reports that Anthony Bourdain appeared very tanned and rested at the festival. He provides video evidence as well.

• The South Beach Wine & Food Festival. But you already knew about that.

• If you're up for a drive, there's the annual Swamp Cabbage Festival over in LaBelle on Saturday and Sunday. There will be fried gator tails, swamp cabbage salsa (swamp cabbage is the heart of the sabal palmetto), arts and crafts and armadillo races. For those of us who can't afford the Food Network-sponsored bash on the beach.

• And on Saturday, if you happen to have $90 burning a hole in your pocket, you might want to use it towards the Wish Culinary Night of Magic, a rooftop pool party with dinner prepared by Wish chef Michael Bloise. There will be sausage, Thai basil crostini, paella and beer-barbecue chicken.

• MP: Boston gives a few suggestions for throwing an Oscar party this Sunday.

• MP: Philadelphia tells us that Anthony Bourdain suggests dinner at Masa as a good first-date litmus test. That kind of policy could make a guy broke very, very quickly.

• MP: San Francisco comments about the city's planning commission's new measure that would seriously restrict alcohol sales.

• MP: Chicago brings us a lovely looking photo of a dessert called "Tunnel of Fudge."

We had heard lots of rumors about The Mint Leaf, a London Indian restaurant that was supposedly opening up in the Gables. We tried investigating a while back, but that led nowhere. But recent reports of actual construction at the site gave us hope. And we were happy when we called up and were told the restaurant will be opening on February 29 for lunch and dinner.

We've got to say, these people are organized. The website is up and running with copies of the complete menu and wine list a full week before opening. That's pretty unheard of around here.

So, on to the menu. There are two pages of text explaining that the cuisine hails from both north and south India, what the tandoor is, etc. There are tons of appetizers, half vegetarian, half meat. In fact, there are a ton of vegetarian options throughout the menu; that's not uncommon for Indian restaurants, but this place seems to go above and beyond. We see a lot of standard dishes on the menu, which isn't a bad thing, since we're lacking a really solid upscale Indian restaurant in the area. If they execute well, this could be pretty exciting.

The Mint Leaf [Official Site]

• Sara points out a few of the latest trends that have been popping up on Miami menus: rabbit, polenta, fancy mac & cheese and figs. [All Purpose Dark]

• Danny really digs Boteco, the new-ish neighborhood Brazilian spot on NE 79th Street. Might be a good way to avoid the hordes that will be invading South Beach this weekend. [Daily Cocaine]

• Charles Passy is sad to learn that Iron Chef America is mostly a sham. [The Hungry Man]

• L2M skipped town last weekend for a short offal-themed trip to New York City. [Spangdish]

You're probably sick of hearing/reading constantly about the South Beach Wine & Food Festival already. (Did we mention it's on? This weekend?) It's especially difficult to read about all of this when prices for the different events start at around $150. That's a lot of money, and it won't even get you into the big parties.

We managed to get tickets to two events on Sunday, so we'll be sure to give you all a detailed account. In the meantime, check out Paula's take on the 2004 and 2006 festivals over at mango&lime. And the Miami Herald has a pretty good guide to the festival.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival [Official Site]
Should I stay or should I go? [mango&lime]
Insiders' guide to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival [Miami Herald]