MenuPages

Hell's Kitchen: Paula DaSilva, the executive sous chef at 3030 Ocean, has done quite well on Hell's Kitchen — so well, in fact, that she's made it to the final episode. Find out if she wins at the Harbor Beach Marriott's viewing party on Thursday. There will be free mojitos and caipirinhas between 8 and 10 p.m. and complimentary appetizers during the hour-long episode, which begins at 9 p.m. [The Chowfather]

Las Olas Boulevard will be shut down tomorrow for the Las Olas Wine & Food Festival, which begins at 3 p.m. with a demonstration by Chef Eleanor Hoh of Wok Star. Festival goers can sample wines and food from over 60 restaurants from 7:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. Participating restaurants include 3030 Ocean, da Campo Osteria, Lola's on Harrison and YOLO, among others. Tickets are $75, and VIP tickets, which allow early entrance at 6 p.m. and include a gift bag with an Eisch wine glass, a bottle of wine and other goodies, are $225.

Straight from Starr's mouth: The Sun-Sentinel's food blog interviews Stephen Starr, whose Steak 954 opens today. He says the King crab and lobster ceviche is "incredible," and the Australian Tajima Kobe steak is "one of the best things I've ever eaten." Starr also says his restaurants have been re-focusing on hospitality and service since the economy began to go sour. Good policy. [SUP]

The new W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale opens Thursday, April 30 and with it will be Steak 954, Stephen Starr's first foray into the South Florida dining scene. The 224-seat restaurant is the latest spot to offer a "modern interpretation of the classic steakhouse menu." Chef Jason Smith, formerly of Table 8, is in the kitchen. In the dining room you'll find a 15-foot-long reef aquarium with a school of jellyfish. The restaurant opens for lunch and dinner on Thursday and will add breakfast in the coming months.

You can check out the whole dinner menu after the jump. Of note: a Kobe cheesesteak that costs $100. MP: Philadelphia wrote recently about the pricey cheesesteak, also featured in Starr's Philadelphia steakhouse Barclay Prime; it's got foie gras, Kobe steak, truffles, and Taleggio cheese. And according to the restaurant, it seems the recession hasn't stopped people from ordering it.

Continue reading "Steak 954 Opens On Thursday" »

Peanut Island is one step closer to getting a restaurant. Palm Beach County commissioners approved a new zoning designation — public ownership as opposed to conservation and preservation — which would allow the Palm Beach Maritime Museum to pursue a restaurant. It could still take more than a year for that to happen though. [Sun-Sentinel]

Previously: Palm Beach Commissioners Considering Peanut Island Restaurant

Sunday Supper: Beginning this Sunday, da Campo Osteria is offering a family-style Sunday Supper from 3 to 9 p.m. The menu will change each week, but expect dishes like butternut squash agnolotti and seafood frittata. It's $37 for adults and $17 for children under 12 for four courses plus one carafe of wine or sangria per table. [SUP]

If you're looking for some good reading this afternoon, check out this in-depth profile of Steve Martorano, owner of Cafe Martorano in Fort Lauderdale. It's a great story — the nephew of a South Philly mob boss starts by serving sandwiches from his apartment, heads to Florida to start over again, and 15 years later he's the guy explaining to Madonna that if she wants a table, she'll have to wait an hour for it. Here's our favorite among a number of colorful quotes:

"You don't go to a Frank Sinatra concert and tell him what to sing. So don't come to my restaurant and tell me how to cook. Let me do what I do. I tell customers who complain, 'Look, there are 1,200 restaurants in Fort Lauderdale. If you don't like it here, nobody is holding a gun to your head.'

Cupcakes? Fro-yo? Sometimes, it's so hard to pick one over-hyped dessert item over the other. Enter Allegria Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes, which opened recently in Pompano Beach and actually guarantees "happiness in every cup." The shop offers four flavors of yogurt — original, green tea, chocolate and pomegranate — with an array of toppings, in addition to a number of cupcake variations like red velvet, Caribbean coconut, strawberry shortcake, and vegan carrot. They come in mini sizes too for $1.

Talk about cheap: Taverna Opa in Fort Lauderdale is offering $10 dinners between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. every Tuesday. It includes a bowl of avgolemono (Greek lemon, chicken and rice soup); moussaka, pastitsio, gyro platter or souvlaki platter; and a dessert of baklava. Wash it down with two-for-one drinks at the bar.

In other Taverna Opa news, there's a new one opening sometime early next year at Dolphin Mall.

Photo: BarnyardBBS/flickr

The recession is claiming Laffing Matterz, downtown Fort Lauderdale's comedy venue/dinner theater. The restaurant just announced that Sunday, April 19 will be its last day, so you still have time to get in a comedy show. Seating for the very last show is at 8 p.m. and will be $31 per person.

Elevation Burger, the Virginia-based chain that prides itself on making burgers with organic grass-fed beef and other environmentally-friendly ingredients, is coming to South Florida this year. The company has signed a franchise agreement with two entrepreneurs who plan to open at least three units in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

The menu is concise: there are beef or vegetarian patties, which you can even mix together in a double stack burger. Sides are fries (fried in olive oil), salads, mandarin oranges and cookies. Add a shake or malt and that sounds like a good meal.

Elevation Burger to enter South Fla. [Fast Casual]

Show up at Mai-Kai between 5 and 7 p.m. and you can get your Shanghai chicken or crab rangoon for half off the regular menu price. That goes for drinks too. This might be a good way to experiment with some of the more interesting drinks — "Shrunken Skull" anyone? — on the long list. Two exceptions to the half-priced deal: the Sidewinder's Fang (which serves two!) and the Mystery Drink.

Half-price appetizers & drinks at Mai-Kai [SUP]

Beef O'Brady's in Sunrise is giving a free meal — and unlimited alcoholic drinks — to anyone who's been laid off recently. Make a reservation, bring your pink slip, and enjoy. Any friends who accompany you get 15 percent off food and non-alcoholic drinks.

What's new in restaurants from Miami Beach to Palm Beach County [Sun-Sentinel]
Beef O'Brady's [MenuPages]
Beef O'Brady's [Official Site]

If you too are a fan of the butter chicken at Royal India, now you can make it at home. The Sun-Sentinel asked chef/owner Robert Solomon for the recipe, and he obliged. Check out the recipe here. The dish certainly lives up to its name; the recipe given is supposed to be for one (albeit rather large) serving, and it calls for a whole stick of butter.

Royal India Butter Chicken [Sun-Sentinel]
Royal India [MenuPages]

Photo: Sun-Sentinel

TooJay's chocolate cake coupon [Official Site]
Coupon for free chocolate cake slice at Toojay's [Sun-Sentinel]
TooJay's [Official Site]

Looks like Guy Fieri wasn't just down here for the parties — he was spotted filming a segment for his Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show at Whale's Rib in Deerfield Beach. No word yet on when the episode will air.

First Rachael Ray, Then Guy Fieri, Wonder Who’s Next? [Blair Candy Blog]
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives [Official Site]
Whale's Rib [Official Site]

SouthFloridaDines.com, the source for half-off dining coupons for restaurants in Broward and Palm Beach counties, is offering a half-off sale on its remaining inventory of certificates today only. So, for example, you would like a certificate for Mythos Greek Taverna. Normally, you'd pay $10 for a $20 dining certificate. Today, however, you'll pay just $5. Sounds like a pretty good deal. Just enter the word "SALE" in the promotional code box at checkout. You've got until midnight to place your order.

South Florida Dines [Official Site]
Mythos Greek Taverna [MenuPages]
Mythos Greek Taverna [Official Site]

New Times is asking readers to vote for its Best of Broward and Palm Beach issue, and this year, the magazine promises to count your votes. In the food categories, vote for your favorite bar, restaurant, hamburger and pizza. Vote here!

"Best of" Readers' Poll [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

Need ideas for Valentine's Day? We're here to help. Check out these prix fixe deals offered by local Broward restaurants on that special night. Reservations are required for all of them, so make sure you call beforehand.

• At Cantina Laredo, the full dinner menu will be available, as well as a three-course $35 pre-fixe meal. Get a tequila cocktail pairing for an extra $15.

• You could save a bit of money by eating early at Trina; from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., the "Lovebirds" special is $39 per person. After 6:30 p.m., the "Menu of Love" is available (with additional offerings) for $59 per person.

• Morton's, The Steakhouse will be offering dinner for two for $99.99. The three-course menu includes a salad, a seafood dish, and a dessert. Want steak? Then the price is $55 per person.

• For those who want a meatless meal on Valentine's Day, there's Sublime's four course menu for $75 per person.

• Tequila Sunrise starts celebrating the holiday early; the lovebird specials begin tomorrow night and continue through the weekend. There's filet mignon with chocolate sauce, lobster tail enchiladas, and a skillet grill combo for two which comes with skirt steak, mahi-mahi, shrimp and scallops in a poblano chile sauce.

Maybe I should make this a regular feature, don't you think? Here's some information on steakhouse that just showed up on my radar and an update on another one:

• Stephen Starr, owner of several restaurants in Philadelphia, New York and Atlantic City including Buddakan and Morimoto, is opening his first South Florida venture in Fort Lauderdale called Steak 954, a "modern boutique steakhouse." A spokesperson for the restaurant said that it's a new concept and won't be modeled after any of the other restaurants in the Starr empire. There's no confirmed opening date, but it should be open by early spring. Oh, and they're currently hiring for every position.

• BLT Steak, which I've written about before, is finally opening in the Betsy Hotel on March 5.

• A cousin recently had his wedding reception at Heidi's Gasthaus, and it was pretty awesome. The food was good, and the beer was great.

• In Fort Lauderdale, Old Heidelberg's menu is very extensive and in addition to the usual items (bratwurst, knockwurst, schnitzel), it also has a few interesting Bavarian dishes like roast goose and roast suckling pig with dumplings.

• Pair your bratwurst with a cup of goulash and one of the fresh-baked strudels at Old Vienna Bierhaus in Coral Springs, which according to a MP reviewer, has a great selection of beer.

• You've got one option on Miami Beach: Hofbrau Beerhall, which happens to have a pretty great happy hour deal on Wednesdays. Buy one half-liter beer and get another one free. I'll drink to that!

Downtown Hollywood has a new pub: Mickey Byrne's, which promises corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips, and shepherd's pie, along with 18 beers on tap and plenty of Irish whiskey. And, of course, there will be typical American sports bar favorites, like chicken wings and burgers. And televisions.

The restaurant, at 1921 Hollywood Blvd, has been up and running since November 26 and is open daily from 11 a.m. until 2 a.m. A menu is on its way, so as soon as we get that, we'll add it to the site.

Mickey Byrne's [Official Site]

Michael Wagner, the chef and owner of Lola's on Harrison, has been named one of three "Turkey Trendsetters" for 2008 by the National Turkey Federation. His winning recipe: pan-roasted turkey tenderloins with caramelized brussels sprouts, creamy polenta and pomegranate-sun-dried cherry gravy. So now you know where to go for Thanksgiving.

Michael Wagner, chef and owner of Lola's on Harrison, named a “turkey trendsetter” by the NTF [Examiner.com]
National Turkey Federation [Official Site]
Lola's on Harrison [MenuPages]
Lola's on Harrison [Official Site]

Chef Johnny Vinczencz of Johnny V is responding to the economic crisis by opening a casual and inexpensive restaurant in the old Louie Louie Italian Bistro spot on Las Olas, according to the Sun-Sentinel's food blog. No item on the American comfort food menu will cost more than $20. The opening date is set for November 12.

Johnny V to open second restaurant [Sup]
Johnny V [MenuPages]
Johnny V [Official Site]

The menu editing process is mostly pretty monotonous, but every once in a while, something intriguing catches the eye. Take the 76-ounce steak challenge at US Steakhouse Bar & Grill. If you finish the steak by yourself in one hour — keep in mind that this is almost five pounds of beef — you get the meal for free. If you don't, it'll cost you $70. Oh yeah, and there are sides that must be eaten too: a salad, garlic bread, and a potato. A quick phone call to the restaurant revealed that only two people in its five-and-a-half-year history have ever completed the challenge. No kidding. That's like a week's worth of meals.

So, have any of you out there ever tried it?

U S Steakhouse Bar & Grill [MenuPages]
U S Steakhouse Bar & Grill [Official Site]

Photo, of a different 76-oz steak challenge: revengingangel/flickr

Despite the tanking economy, quite a few restaurateurs are taking their chances and opening new spots in the next couple of months. Here's the roundup:

• The really big news came earlier this week, when Lee Klein learned that Michelle Bernstein had taken over the Domo Japones spot in the Design District. Bernstein and her husband are planning a tapas restaurant for the space. [Short Order]

• Au Pied de Cochon, a French 24-hour brasserie, is opening on South Beach. This will be the third location on this side of the Atlantic; the other two are in Mexico City and Atlanta. [Miami Herald]

• Todd English is expanding his Boston restaurant empire south with a Northern Italian restaurant called Da Campo Osteria at the Il Lugano hotel in Fort Lauderdale. [Miami Herald]

• A La Folie Cafe has a new location at 1701 Purdy Ave in Miami Beach. According to Chowhound, it has the benefit of being mosquito-free. [Chowhound]

• The Cheese Course is planning a Miami location for sometime early next year. [Miami Herald]

•Sage French Cafe is also opening a second location in the old Michael's Kitchen spot in Hollywood. It should be open around mid-November. [Chowhound]

• Coral Springs is getting a new Benihana in the old Macaroni Grill location. [Short Order]

In Fort Lauderdale and feeling left out of Miami Spice? Don't. From October 1 through November 14, a selection of Greater Fort Lauderdale restaurants will offer three-course menus, priced at $35, in celebration of Dine Out Fort Lauderdale. Get a sneak peek during this preview at The Atlantic Resort & Spa.

Need a lunch spot in Deerfield Beach? We've got you covered. Here are a few ideas with a more international bent:

• You can't go wrong with one of the lunch specials at Masamune, which MP users claim has great fish. The sushi deals aren't bad, but it's sushi, so it can get pricey quickly. The lunch box deals seem like a great value: teriyaki chicken or salmon plus a California roll or three pieces of sushi, plus miso soup, salad, gyoza, and steamed rice or noodles.

• Want something with a kick? Try Sir Winston Jamaican Restaurant's jerk chicken or pork or curry goat, all of which are under $10 for a large entree.

• There are tons of lunch specials to choose from at Yucatan Mexican Grill, even some that lean more Cuban (although I'd stick to the Mexican dishes). How about a mahi-mahi taco? Or a chile relleno? Or a half rack of baby back ribs? And almost all of the lunch specials fall into the "budget category."

If your Saturday is free, you might want to check out the Taste of South Florida in Pompano Beach, which will spotlight local farms:

The show has sparked an outpouring of interest from its 4,000 members, who include farmers, ranchers and plant nursery owners. The 50 spots reserved for vendors quickly filled and there is a waiting list, Segal said.

"I expected to have 20," he said. "It's very surprising. We're trying to create more space."

Coffee beans, cheese, vegetables, fruits, fish and native plants are among the items to be sold at an open market. The festival also will highlight green lifestyles, with landscaping lectures by university professors, booths staffed by environmental groups and displays by companies offering alternative forms of energy such as biofuels.

The event, at the Pompano Citi Centre (1955 N Federal Hwy in Pompano Beach) from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., is free.

Pompano site for Taste of South Florida [Sun-Sentinel]
Taste of South Florida [Official Site]

And we thought we had a lot of menus. CBS4 has a story about Broward resident Dan Barlow who has been collecting menus from all over the world for the past half century:

Free time on a vacation can often be spent shopping for a collectible or memento from your trip. One South Florida man decided to collect something as he went around the world that may leave your mouth watering and your wallet remembering a cheaper time, restaurant menus.

"When we traveled around the world, it was part of my travels to bring back interesting things such as menus," Dan Barlow, also known as the "Menu Man" said.

His collection dates as far back as 1948 and features over 4,000 menus from restaurants from Paris and Egypt, to the menu for the very first TGI Fridays.

South Florida man serves up his menu collection [CBS4]
Photo: CBS

Fans of Creolina's rejoice! John Tanasychuk at the Sun-Sentinel reports that the restaurant is definitely re-opening in Davie in September.

His new restaurant, Creolina’s Dixie Take Out, will be located at 13150 W. State Rd. 84 in the Randal Plaza. There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts and a McDonald's in the same plaza.

...

The house specialties—étouffée, jambalaya, beans and rice—will remain. But prices will be lower. Jambalaya was $8.95 a lunch and $12.95 at dinner. It will be $6.95 all day at the new Creolina’s.

The chef will also add classic Southern dishes, many of which he’s offered as specials. Look for country fried steak, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork and country-style ribs. Sides will includes corn bread, greens, black-eyed peas as well macaroni and cheese.

We got word today that Creolina's in Fort Lauderdale is closed. The restaurant, open since 1991, served Louisiana-style Cajun food for 17 years and now is likely another casualty of the recession. It seemed popular, and it's not like there's much competition on the Cajun food front.

There's no answer at the restaurant, and an attempt to reach owner Mark Sulzinski was rebuffed, so we're not quite sure what's going on, but if you have any information, let us know!

UPDATE: Thanks to Pete and Mike, who left comments below, we learned that the building's owners didn't renew Creolina's lease so that they could expand their bar next door. But there's hope: apparently Sulzinski is looking for some space to re-open in one of the western suburbs.

Creolina's [MenuPages]

Looks like Try My Thai in Hollywood is closed less than two years after the city government funded a new kitchen for the restaurant:

Owner Tai Vaz said the 15-year-old business "was not for me anymore."

"I didn't want to punish my customers for having lost my passion," she said, adding that tough economic times eased her decision.

For years, the restaurant was popular with critics, police officers, residents, tourists and many of the city's movers and shakers.

The family business first opened at 2003Harrison St., but in 2006 asked commissioners for an $80,000 grant to help move a block east. A number of influential people, including lobbyist Alan Koslow, took turns vouching for the owners.

...

Try My Thai is the latest in a string of businesses that have vanished from downtown despite financial help from the city. In March, the city hired a law firm to start collection proceedings against the owners of nationally acclaimed restaurant Michael's Kitchen and baby boutique The Casa Collection. The downtown redevelopment agency gave the two businesses a combined $175,000 in incentive grants, but they later closed.

Hollywood restaurant that got $65,655 from city is now closed [Sun-Sentinel]

I still love dating my husband. Recently, we had a date at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. We began the night with dinner at Tatu Asian Bar & Grill. I fell in love with the decor immediately. It's a mix of deep red meets IKEA meets funky with old kung-fu movies projected on one wall.

We started off with their signature cocktail, the lychee-tini, a perfect blend of peach vodka, white cranberry juice, and lychee fruit. The wild mushroom potstickers paired nicely with the drinks.For dinner, we shared assorted sushi rolls (fresh and fabulous) and the Shanghai beef which was cooked perfectly and came with tempura fried onion slivers that melted in our mouths. Our waitress brought us a huge cone of sour-apple cotton candy and two fake tattoos with our bill — which somehow eased the pain of putting down the credit card. After dinner we caught an hysterical comedy show at The Improv, which was luckily just a few steps away from the lychee-tinis . . . I mean, Tatu. We topped off the night with a trip to the Casino — if only we'd had the sour-apple cotton candy and tattoos then. . .

Tatu Asian Bar & Grill [MenuPages]
Tatu Asian Bar & Grill [Official Site]

Photo: KTP Design Group

There are two things that I love to do — eat and sing. Give me a way to put those two together and I'm in heaven — which is why I'm a karaoke junkie. Am I a good singer? I've been told "NO," but singing karaoke fulfills my need to be on stage performing in front of a live audience, whether they like it or not. If you're like me and want to enjoy some good food in between belting out power ballads, then head to one of your local eateries for "Karaoke Night." Here are a few ideas for every night of the week:

Mondays: Neighborhood Sports Grill, from 8:55 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Tuesdays: Bru's Room Sports Grill from 8:55 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Wednesdays: Quarterdeck Seafood Bar from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Thursdays: Duffy's Sports Grill from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Fridays: Upper Deck Ale & Sports Grill from 9 p.m. to midnight
Saturdays: Landlubber's Raw Bar & Grill starting at 8 p.m.
Sundays: The Coffee Scene (15955 Pines Blvd in Pembroke Pines, (954) 441-2364) from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Always call the night of to confirm. Fill your bellies and sing your hearts out!

Photo: Suzanne Gaudet Benefit

This Friday, Bruce Springsteen and the world-famous E Street Band finally returned to Fort Lauderdale for their tragically deferred, but well-worth-the-wait concert. Getting another chance at a tail-gate, we decided to upgrade our fare with soup, salad, and sandwiches from 1909 Café. The savory chicken bayou sandwich on crusty French bread paired nicely with the soups of the day: lobster bisque and creamy carrot. The carrot was our favorite, nice and buttery with lots of beta-carotene, essential for belting out vibes at the concert. We also enjoyed a lovely pasta salad with artichoke and sun-dried tomatoes, perfect with the lemony-ness of our Blue Moon beer. The culinary adventure didn’t stop at the parking lot, but continued at the Bank Atlantic Center (background). It was our first visit to the BAC, and we were sufficiently awed by the posh-setting. Its array of concert/arena fare well exceeds the usual pretzels, pizza, and popcorn found at other venues. These favorites are there to, but the BAC boasts a dessert bar with chocolate cake, cheesecake and key lime pie, as well as several swanky bars featuring premium drinks. The leather seats are just the place to enjoy your concert goodies as you sit back to enjoy the show.

1909 Cafe [MenuPages]
1909 Cafe [Official Site]
Bank Atlantic Center [Official Site]

It's Cinco de Mayo. We hear it's not a huge holiday in Mexico, but on this side of the border, you're pretty much obligated to consume Mexican fare and drink as much beer as possible on this day. It's a Monday this year, so it's probably best to not overdo it on the beer front, since the office is not the best place to nurse a hangover. Here, we offer a few good places to get your fill of Mexican food tonight:

• Don Burrito in Kendall serves up some great taquitos and fajitas, and tonight they've got mariachis after 8:30 p.m. and a special on the Coronas: six for $15.

• Rosa Mexicano in Palm Beach Gardens is doing a special Cinco de Mayo menu that will have eight choices of appetizers, 10 entrees and a handful of desserts, all a la carte. The regular margaritas will be available, but tonight you can get them prepared tableside, just like the guacamole.

• The party starts at 5 p.m. at Cantina Laredo in Plantation. There will be a tent, a deejay, lots of food and plenty of drinks: $7 margaritas and $2 beers.

• Cheen Huaye is also hosting a party outside with a mariachi band after 8 p.m. and plenty of beer. They're also featuring a special menu with tuna shrimp ceviche, homemade chicken tamales and carne asada, among other things.

Photo, of the pomegranate margarita at Rosa Mexicano: yummyinthetummyblog [Flickr]

Something is very, very wrong in the Mark Militello South Florida empire. Three weeks ago, his restaurants on South Beach and in West Palm Beach closed, and yesterday the Las Olas location unexpectedly shuttered:

The mood among employees at Mark's Las Olas on Thursday was somber.

"We're all heartbroken. It's really a shame," said John Marron, a Mark's Las Olas server for 14 years.

Marron said a manager notified him of the closure Thursday but offered no explanation for the decision. "Everyone's kept in the dark," he said by phone, noting that employees had been fearing the announcement since the other locations closed.

Militello on Thursday downplayed the newsworthiness of the closing. "This whole thing is so unimportant," he said, when asked about the string of restaurant closures.

Your last option in the area for Militello's cuisine is Mark's Mizner Park in Boca Raton.

Las Olas restaurant becomes third in Mark's group to close in recent weeks [Sun-Sentinel]
Afternoon Roundup: Mark's South Beach Closing Tonight [MP: South Florida]
Mark's Las Olas [MenuPages]
Mark's Mizner Park [MenuPages]
Mark's Las Olas [Official Site]

Photo: Babyfro [Flickr]

That's pretty much all of you, no? Does anyone really dislike olive oil? Perhaps not everyone is so fanatic about it that they'd go to the International Olive Oil Fest this weekend in Fort Lauderdale. We're not sure how large the event is, but we imagine that it's a good opportunity to sample some interesting olive oils from small producers around the world. The website also promises wine tastings and food samples.

In terms of entertainment, it sounds like there will be plenty, from flamenco guitars to belly dancers to opera singers. If you prefer dancing, the Havana Soul Orchestra will be there also to play some mambo, salsa and big band. Several movies will also be shown as part of the event inside Cinema Paradiso. We're intrigued by the olive pit spitting contest, in which Italian rules apply. If anyone can shed light on what exactly these Italian rules are, we'd very much appreciate it.

Tickets are $15 per day in advance or $20 on the day of the event. Children under 12 are free; teenagers will cost you $5.

International Olive Oil Fest [Official Site]

Photo: sweaty photos [Flickr]

We were first introduced to lomo saltado by a Peruvian-Japanese woman who gave us a wonderful recipe for it. The dish, popular all over Peru, is a stir fry of beef, garlic, onions and peppers topped with French fries. The particular version of the dish featured above is from Aromas del Peru. Here are a few other places where you can try it:

• Chalan on the Beach comes well-recommended by MenuPages users. The menu is very seafood-heavy, but the restaurant features a $10 lomo saltado entree. Pair that with a ceviche, and that could be a pretty satisfying meal.

• Las Totoritas on NW 36th St serves a $8.85 lomo saltado. They also have an appetizer of "leche de tigre," which is described as a glass of ceviche juice. We're intrigued.

• At La Granja Parrilla in Hollywood, you can get a single portion of lomo saltado for $11.95 or a family-sized portion for $29.

Aromas del Peru [Official Site]
Chalan on the Beach [MenuPages]
Las Totoritas [MenuPages]
La Granja Parrilla [MenuPages]

Photo: Masala Cha [Flickr]

• Tonight's the last night for Chef Mark Militello on South Beach; his restaurant in the Nash Hotel is closing its doors. Is this a case of a chef spreading himself too thin? (Militello has three other restaurants in Boca, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm.) The restaurant has a great reputation, but as one chowhound put it, people often forget about it when making reservations or giving recommendations.

• How do you pronounce RA Sushi? We always thought it was "R-A," but when we called today to ask about new locations, we were corrected. It's "rah." At any rate, South Florida is getting two more "Rah" Sushis in the coming months: one in Pembroke Pines, which is already hiring and should be open by early May, and another in South Miami. The latter is taking a bit longer, and we were told the company is hoping for a July opening.

Mark's South Beach [MenuPages]
Mark's South Beach [Official Site]
RA is set to open our 2nd Florida location!! (Pembroke Pines) [Craigslist]
RA Sushi [MenuPages]
RA Sushi [Official Site]

Photo of the lobster pasta at Mark's South Beach: The Blissful Glutton [Flickr]

Look at the color on that thing. All sorts of seafood and rice in a gorgeous broth. You'll find this moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew, at Sushi Samba Dromo on Miami Beach, where it comes with shrimp, squid, cod, crayfish, coconut milk, cashews, dende (palm) oil and chimichurri rice. The restaurant offers a lunch portion of the stew for $20 (it's $24 at dinner time). Cacao Restaurant in Coral Gables also features a lunchtime moqueca for $15. And for $14, you can get the catch of the day cooked moqueca-style at Oba Oba in Coconut Creek.

Moqueca [Wikipedia]
Sushi Samba Dromo [MenuPages]
Cacao Restaurant [MenuPages]
Oba Oba [MenuPages]

Photo: Masala Cha [Flickr]

Jeffrey Chodorow opens his second South Florida branch of China Grill in Fort Lauderdale today. The menu is much like the one at China Grill Sobe. Here are a few of the more intriguing items:

• Thai shrimp cakes with cactus-mango salsa and black mole vinaigrette
• Plum- and sesame-glazed lamb spare ribs (pictured above)
• Duck two ways: pan-seared breast, confit of leg, caramelized Asian fruit salsa, and lychee black vinegar reduction
• Sake-marinated "drunken" chicken with ponzu sauce, sweet crispy onions, and Asian slaw

Dinner service starts at 6 p.m. tonight, and lunch won't begin for another couple of weeks. But, unlike other China Grills, this location will start serving breakfast on Monday, since it's inside the Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel.

China Grill [MenuPages]
China Grill Sobe [MenuPages]
China Grill [Official Site]

Photo: Kat n Kim [Flickr]

We just stumbled upon this photo of the coconut creme brulee at Dolores, but you can call me Lolita, and we were reminded of just how much we adore creme brulee and its Spanish cousin crema catalana. Most of the creme brulees at restaurants are pretty standard versions, but we looked around and found a few interesting takes on it:

• Max's Grille in Palm Beach Gardens serves a mixed berry creme brulee in pie form. We're not quite sure how that works.

• At Prime One Twelve in Miami Beach, the Tahitian vanilla creme brulee comes with a stack of peppermint brownies.

• Talula in Miami Beach serves a sweet potato creme brulee with burnt marshmallows.

• And if dessert isn't quite your thing, Le Bistro serves a dinner entree of sea bass creme brulee that's caramelized on top with champagne cream underneath.

Dolores, but you can call me Lolita [MenuPages]
Max's Grille [MenuPages]
Prime One Twelve [MenuPages]
Talula [MenuPages]
Le Bistro [MenuPages]

Photo: Flickr

If you have a valid voter registration card, Hurricane Grill & Wings has some free wings for you. Five free wings, in fact. The restaurant's Florida locations are serving registered voters a free appetizer portion of wings in support of re-holding the Democratic presidential primary in this state.

"We just want to do our part to show our fellow Floridians that their vote counts with us," Lori Cuonze, a spokesperson for the company, told the Jacksonville Business Journal. Which is a noble idea, really, but ... this isn't the general election, right? If the Democratic Party wants to re-hold the Florida primary, that's the party's prerogative; there is, unfortunately, no inalienable right to vote for a party's nominee. The whole idea behind this promotion strikes us as odd.

Anyway, hooray for free wings!

Hurricane Grill offers free wings to voters [Jacksonville Business Journal]
Hurricane Grill & Wings [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

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

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

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]

It's one of our favorite times of the year, when pitchers and catchers report to ball fields across Arizona and Florida, and the promise of another baseball season is on the horizon. Spring training has arrived, and very shortly, the games will begin. And for Marlins fans, given the sheer number of rookies on the roster, it's going to feel like spring training all season long!

We're fortunate enough to have two stadiums, which host three teams, right here in South Florida. The Baltimore Orioles train at the Fort Lauderdale Stadium, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins split time at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. Of course, if you're going to the game, you'll have to eat, and while a fourth-inning hot dog is great, sometimes you just need a bit more than that. If you're headed to see the Orioles play in Ft. Lauderdale, here are a few ideas for pre- or post-game grub:

• Frog & Toad Pub uses categories like "pond water," "little leaps," and "the whole lily pad" to separate its menu items. We find it quite charming. In addition to staples like spinach dip, quesadillas and chicken fingers, they've also got a number of traditional British items on the menu. Think bangers 'n' mash, sheperds pie, and Guinness-marinated beef.

• If it's pizza you're craving, Gino's Italian Ristorante isn't too far away. There's pizza, with all the usual toppings, pasta, and meat and seafood dishes. Gino's also makes a number of hot and cold subs that we're thinking could fit easily into a purse or other bag to take into the stadium.

• Where there's a stadium, there's a Hooters not far away. Wings, beer, cleavage, short shorts -- you know what to expect here.

• Head to the Moonlite Diner for burgers, melts, egg creams and or one of the 29 different milkshakes. We can't think of a better way to end an afternoon of baseball than to indulge in typical Americana diner food. The fare can get a bit greasy here, but the burgers and shakes are solid.

Tomorrow, we'll go over some restaurants closer to the Marlins' and Cardinals' spring home: Roger Dean Stadium.

Marlins pitchers and catchers start workouts [Miami Herald]
Frog & Toad Pub [MenuPages]
Gino's Italian Ristorante [MenuPages]
Hooters [MenuPages]
Moonlite Diner [MenuPages]

Photo: Flickr

These buttery crabs are making us swoon right now. So the Rustic Inn isn't exactly the typical romantic date place, but it's definitely fun, and that is some good-looking shellfish. A to-go order for a candlelit dinner at home might be a good idea.

Rustic Inn [MenuPages]
Rustic Inn [Official Site]

Photo: Flickr

Miami Beach is getting another steakhouse. This time, it's Morton's, which announced today that it signed a lease for a space at The Crown on 40th and Collins. From the press release:

With a total indoor seating capacity of approximately 240, the new Miami Beach Morton's will seat 135 guests in the main dining room, 65 in Morton's exclusive private boardrooms and 40 in Bar 12*21, Morton's new bar dining concept, the place for specialty cocktails and Morton's appetizing Bar Bites menu. The restaurant will also feature a 1,000 square-foot outdoor patio with seating for 36 guests. The new Morton's is expected to open in late 2008/ early 2009. It will be the third Morton's The Steakhouse in the Miami/Miami Beach market and the eighth in Florida.

Morton's to Open New Steakhouse in Miami Beach [Sun-Herald]
Morton's, The Steakhouse [Official Site]
Downtown Coral Gables Restaurant Gossip [MP: South Florida]

We prefer to stay home on Valentine's Day and cook a lovely meal for our sweetie (on the menu this year: coffee-marinated bison short ribs). But if you prefer to head out on the town, here are a few good options for treating your valentine:

• Blue Door at Delano is having a four-course dinner for $95 per person between 7 and 11 p.m.

• If you're going the vegan route, there's Sublime of course. Their dinner is $59 per person and includes three courses; for the entree, you can choose between artichoke tofu quiche or seitan steak wellington. There's also a champagne and sea caviar supplement for an extra $20.

• At Kavanagh & Morrissey's, they'll be serving fresh oysters, three special entrees, and a special dessert of a frozen heart-shaped mousse topped with cherries and white chocolate truffle. YUM.

• If you're in the mood for steak, Morton's has a $69 per person menu that includes a salad and an entree of filet mignon and Alaskan king crab or filet mignon and Australian lobster tail.

• The price is a little higher, $150 per person, at 3030 Ocean, but the menu looks really good. Oh, and that includes one glass of champagne. You get oysters or shrimp, bison tenderloin carpaccio or Maryland crab, Tasmanian salmon or Hawaiian mero, grilled beef tenderloin or roasted rack of lamb, and if you're still not full, you can choose a cheese plate, a winter lemon tart or chocolate fondue.

• If you'd rather stay at home but not cook, L & L Market Bistro will do the cooking for you for $50 per person. You get beef, lamb chops or Chilean sea bass with polenta 'hearts' (awww) and chocolate-covered strawberries.

• Social Miami at Sagamore is offering a special tasting menu in addition to its regular menu for $75 per person. That gets you three courses; the entree options include pan-seared duck breast with candied pecans and butter poached rock lobster tail with jumbo lump crab gremolata.

• And finally, Andu Restaurant & Lounge, which just opened yesterday, will also be offering a Valentine's Day menu that will include four courses, an amuse and a glass of champagne, all for $80 per person. The goat-cheese crusted lamb loin caught our eye. Sounds good.

We know food isn't miami fever's specialty, but his food photos still manage to make us salivate and make us crave whatever it is in the photo. In this case, it's fajitas from Tijuana Taxi Co. According to the menu description, the meat in that skillet is skirt steak cooked with onions, bell peppers and tomatoes and served with cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole and tortillas. Yum.

Tijuana Taxi Co [MenuPages]
Tijuana Taxi Co [Official Site]

Photo: miami fever's Flickr

Stories like this one make us thankful that we toted our own lunch to school and rarely ever had to eat whatever the cafeteria was providing. (And especially thankful to our dad, who made excellent lunches for us every morning for many, many years.) It seems there was a bit of a problem with one of the beef suppliers for a good number of Broward schools:

Students at Fort Lauderdale High School were mostly shocked to learn Thursday morning that their cafeteria beef will not be served because the meat had come from a company where food inspectors found "egregious violations of humane handling regulations."

In response to those reports of extreme animal abuse, the federal government closed a California slaughterhouse that supplies meat to many of the nation's schools, including hundreds across South Florida. The suspect beef was pulled this week from the schools' cafeteria menus.

"That's kind of nasty," said Neville Smith, 18. Students enjoy burritos, double cheeseburgers, and tacos on a daily basis, he said.

"I wish they let us know what exactly we're eating," he said. "Maybe we would try to eat healthier, like a salad."

...

Investigators say they have yet to uncover evidence that shows tainted meat has entered the country's food supply. But because the investigation is ongoing, federal authorities told school officials to yank Westland's products just in case.

"It's strictly precautionary," said Lori Dornbusch, operations manager for Palm Beach County food services. "The meat has not been declared dangerous."

Dornbusch and her counterparts in Broward and Miami-Dade counties were told to place beef "on hold," immediately after the federal government started its investigation on Jan. 30. That set off a flurry of e-mails to food managers with product codes and packing numbers.

"We told everybody not to serve them. But have we? Yes," said Broward's nutrition manager Barbara Leslie. "We've been receiving these products for over a year."

Broward has received more than 40,000 pounds of Westland beef since January 2007. The most recent delivery arrived a week before the federal investigation began, Leslie said, adding that no students or employees have reported any illnesses as a result of their meals.

And now her staff, along with campuses in all three districts are scrambling to rewrite lunch menus, replacing meatballs with chicken tenders and cheeseburgers with ham and cheese sandwiches. Principals will post the substitutions in classrooms and mentioned during morning announcements.

Last year, more than 27 million pounds of Westland's beef found its way to lunch trays in 36 states, including Florida, through the National School Lunch Program, according to the Humane Society of United States. The group released a video on Jan. 30 showing workers dragging and pushing cows with bulldozers as the animals squeal in pain.

At least four sick animals were slaughtered for food, the organization said.

...

Slaughterhouses are prohibited from butchering "downer" cows, or those that can't walk because their leges are broken, tendons severed or nerves paralyzed because they tend to have a higher incidence of what's known as mad cow disease, an illness that devastates the brains and nervous system of the animals.

Suspect beef pulled from South Florida schools [Sun-Sentinel]

The Pier Coffee Shop, which has sat on Anglin's Fishing Pier in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea for 46 years, closed its doors yesterday after a whole lot of drama between the restaurant's manager and the landlords.

Nancy Pisarzewski, 62, the diner's longtime manager, had been battling with the building's owners over extending its hours past 3 p.m. and other issues. The last straw was their dispute over who had to pay a $3,515.25 water bill in December.

''I thought, that's it -- I'm not going to take it anymore,'' Pisarzewski said.

Its closing will end a long chapter in the pier's history at the end of Commercial Boulevard.

Once known as Tony Calderone's Pier Coffee Shop, it brought in snowbirds as well as regular locals. Calderone, the original owner, died in 2001, leaving the business to his son.

During high season, snowbirds migrated to the five outdoor booths or took a seat at one of the 10 bar stools or three booths inside.

''How good is life when you can sit on a pier, stare at the ocean and eat a wonderful breakfast?'' said Judy Swaggerty, executive director of the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Chamber of Commerce. 'Everybody now is like, `What are we going to do?' ''

Pisarzewski said her decision to close comes after three tense years with the landlords, who recently added $1,000 to her $3,000-a-month rent.

Brothers Spiro and Louis Marchelos, the diner's landlords who also own the nearby Athena-by-the-Sea restaurant, said Pisarzewski went three years without a rent increase and that they have done their best to accommodate her.

They wanted her to extend the diner's hours past 3 p.m., to see the place use its potential.

The Marchelos brothers were passing out fliers outside the restaurant on Thursday, giving their side of the story.

''Rather than accept the increase or even discuss it, the Pier Coffee Shop has, with great drama and angst, and with the spreading of much misinformation, elected to leave the pier,'' the flier read. ``We regret their leaving but we cannot be held hostage by their failure to adapt to changing time and to take advantage of new opportunities.''

Landmark diner in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is shutting down [Miami Herald]

We apologize for being a bit slow on the blogging front; we've been doing lots and lots of work on the site, updating menus, and adding new ones. Here are a few that we've added just recently:

• Good Eats Deli, 645 NE 79th St in Miami, 305-757-2731

• Metronome, 5090 PGA Blvd in Palm Beach Gardens, 561-775-1919

• Foxy's Ice Cream & Dessert Cafe, 12 SE 5th Ave in Delray Beach, 561-276-9379

• Five Guys, 7268 W Atlantic Blvd in Margate, 954-975-4818

• Cafe Le Glacier, 7295 Biscayne Blvd in Miami, 305-754-6551

Hey! That's our waiter! We recently went to Le Tub, and we were happy to see the same man who brought us our cheeseburgers and fries in this Plum video. Those burgers are huge. We tried valiantly to finish, but couldn't. About two-thirds of the way through, we dumped the bun and focused just on the ground sirloin, but even then, we couldn't finish those last few bites. Next time, we might share. But, we definitely agree that it was tasty.

Get in Le Tub [Plum]
Le Tub [MenuPages]

Miami Fever answered the call. Here we have a lovely photograph of Taqueria Doña Raquel's menu, which has now been updated online.

Taqueria Dona Raquel [MenuPages]

We Need More Menu Photos. Please [MP: South Florida]

Photo: miami fever

The party will be shutting down early in Sunrise from now on. In order to keep alcohol-related violence in check, the city has decided to require that bars shut down by midnight, effective immediately. But businesses will have six months to apply for permits that would allow them to stay open a few hours more:

SUNRISE - Hoping to curb alcohol-related violence, the city's bars and nightclubs are now required to shut by midnight unless they receive a special city permit to close later, according to new rules.

Sunrise Commissioners on Tuesday Jan. 22 gave final approval to an ordinance that will require businesses serving alcohol to close by 12 a.m.

Businesses wishing to stay open later may apply for a special exception from the city to close at 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 3 a.m. on weekends-the last calls permitted prior to the new rules.

...

Among the factors city officials will consider in granting special exception permits are how often police responded to emergency calls at a given business.

Bars and nightclubs where police have responded three times in a given year will be required to hire off-duty police detail to patrol their property.

"It gives the city the leverage to offer the special exception," said Commissioner Joseph Scuotto. "If we do have someone that had a lot of police calls responding to fighting and violence, now we have the ability to pull their special exception license.

New rules require bars in Sunrise to close by midnight [Sun-Sentinel]

No, we don't mean the presidential election. We mean the decisions entrusted to you regarding the menu items at Hi-Life Cafe. Chef Carlos Fernandez (yes, the guy from Top Chef Season 2) has come up with a new menu and is asking diners to vote on which dishes should stay and which should go. They can use comment cards or head to the website and vote there (although there doesn't seem to be any page devoted specifically to that). Let's hear from Fernandez himself (via press release):

“Hi-Life Café’s new menu will be tailored to its diners,” Fernandez notes. “With each New Year come new challenges and, in 2008, Hi-Life wants to demonstrate true democracy. Customers will cast their vote to decide which new dishes remain on our menu and which ones should be retired.”

Hi-Life Cafe [MenuPages]
Hi-Life Cafe [Official Site]

We've been busy collecting menus and adding them to the site, so here are a few that have gone live this week:

• Sushi Club, 6542 Collins Ave in Miami Beach, 305-868-7760

• The Village Chalet Restaurant, 12312 SW 224th St in Miami, 305-258-8900

• Yard House, 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens, 561-691-6901

• Casimir Bistro, 416 Via de Palmas in Boca Raton, 561-955-6001

• Taqueria Dona Raquel, 793 S Dixie Hwy W in Pompano Beach, 954-946-4490

Well, actually, it was in the parking lot of the Wendy's, but that doesn't make it any less scary or terrible.

A 47-year-old man was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest Friday moments after picking up a late-night snack at a Plantation Wendy's drive-through.

The apparent motive was robbery, according to Detective Robert Rettig, a Plantation police spokesman. It was not immediately clear what, if anything, was taken.

The shooting, which police are treating as a homicide, happened at 3801 W. Broward Blvd. sometime after midnight.

No one inside the fast-food restaurant heard the gunfire, but a pedestrian walked by the victim's dark blue Mercedes sedan in the parking lot on the east side of the Wendy's and saw the body slumped over the steering wheel.

Plantation police were called. They found the man lifeless.

Man shot dead at Plantation Wendy's [Miami Herald]

We must admit, when we first read the headline to this story, we chuckled and thought to ourselves, 'oh, maybe they can stay open until midnight now.' Turns out that the Village Council is extending Sunday closing time/alcohol serving time from 2 a.m. until 3 a.m., which...is way past our bedtime. So we apologize to Wellington for assuming it's sleepier than it actually is.

The new hours can begin this weekend.

Neil Hirsch, owner of the Players Club, a popular drinking spot and restaurant, approached the council in November and asked for the extra hour. He said equestrians have Monday off, so Sunday is their night to kick back and they rarely are ready to stop drinking at 2 a.m.

"They work on Sunday, so Sunday night is actually their Saturday night," Hirsch said.

Wellington extends Sunday hours for bars and restaurants [Sun-Sentinel]
Players Club Restaurant [MenuPages]
Players Club Restaurant [Official Site]

Florida Trend released its 20 best new restaurants in the state. Here are the South Florida ones that made the cut:

• Boca Raton: Cafe Joley, Chops Lobster Bar, Nick's Fishmarket of Hawaii

• Coconut Grove: Christabelle's Quarter

• Hollywood: Lola's on Harrison

• Miami: Bourbon Steak, Casablanca Seafood Bar & Grill, DeVito South Beach, Grimpa Steakhouse, Michael's Genuine Food & Drink

• Palm Beach Gardens: Amazonia Churrascaria, III Forks

Wow. That's a lot of steak. We see a few interesting restaurants (Michael's, Cafe Joley, Lola's, Casablanca), but really, the rest of the list just seems so...boring.

20 Best New Restaurants [Florida Trend]

Cooper City residents might soon see the end of the days when waiters would set down a glass of water along with the menu. City commissioners are voting tonight on a law that would force the 57 restaurants in the city to serve water only when it's requested:

Commissioner Elliot Kleiman, who proposed the idea, said he doesn't expect the city's effort will put a dent in water conservation efforts.

''But it does send a message to the community that water is a scarce commodity and we need to conserve wherever we can,'' Kleiman said.

At least one restaurant owner said the law, if it's passed, wouldn't affect him.

Sal Valente, 65, owner of the Italian eatery Luv'n Oven in the 9400 block of Griffin Road, said his staff has been instructed not to offer water unless a customer asks for it.

''We've been doing that for years,'' Valente said. ``Half the time they don't drink it anyway.''

South Florida water managers say there are thirstier culprits.

''The three big areas include lawn irrigation, agriculture and golf courses,'' said Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District.

He said that on Jan. 15 new regulations will require those consumers to reduce water use by 45 percent or face financial penalties.

Restaurants in Cooper City may turn off water tap [Miami Herald]

We used to hate tacos. Our mom made them one time for dinner when we were young -- you know, the hard corn store-bought tortillas, with plate set out of ground beef, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, cheese and a few other toppings that everyone could assemble on their own. We thought it tasted OK, but then we spent the rest of the night leaning over the toilet, so that soured us on tacos for a while. But we've come around since then, especially when we tried some good, authentic tacos. Like the ones pictured above from Taqueria Doña Raquel (793 S Dixie Hwy W in Pompano Beach, 954-946-4490).

Photo: Flickr

• 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.

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]

• Head to Vino Miami for a mix of soul, Latin, funk and jazz music tonight at 10 p.m. No cover.

• It's soca night at Piola in Hallandale tomorrow night, from midnight until 4 a.m. There will be a full bar, although it is unclear what, if any, discounts on alcohol will be provided.

• If you're going to be in Key West this weekend, you might want to check out the Bahama Village Cooking Class series. The next installment is this Sunday at noon with chef Nancy Nelson, who will present recipes for holiday entertaining at the Restaurant Store's demonstration kitchen. Cost is $100, and all proceeds benefit kids in the Bahama Village Music Program. For more information, call 305-292-9628.

• Dolores, but you can call me Lolita is apparently the Ikea of the restaurant world: high fashion, low prices. Good food too. [Miami Herald]

• Alta Cocina, unfortunately, disappoints. [Miami New Times]

• Go to Lemon Fizz Cafe for the fruit shakes, stay for the great wraps. [Miami New Times]

• I scream, you scream... get your ice cream at Grandma's French Cafe in Fort Lauderdale. [Miami Herald]

• Gail Shepherd visits The India Palace, and now we've got a serious Indian food craving. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Italy, by way of Brazil, at Deco Gourmet. We must admit, we're intrigued. [Miami Herald]

• We are oohing and aahing over Christmas cookies. Those cookies with the cream-cheese dough and chocolate-nut filling look good. [Palm Beach Post]

• Maison D'Azur gets a great three-and-a-half stars from Victoria Pesce Elliott, who really enjoyed the top-notch French cuisine there. Also, we should mention the $76 Dover sole. Just because, wow, that's a boatload of money for a fish we don't find all that exciting. [Miami Herald]

• Lee Klein visits the new Ouzo's Mediterranean Bistro and finds that compared to the old Ouzo's, quality has dipped and prices have increased. Not a good combination. [Miami New Times]

• Not only does Larry Buffington use organic flours, butters, sugars, etc. in his cakes, but he also makes his own vanilla by steeping beans in vodka. Mmmmm... [Miami Herald]

• The portions at Graziano's "run from enormous to 'Oh, God, I think I hurt myself.'" Heh. [Miami New Times]

• Dear Rochelle Koff: We understand that the food is the main point of the review, of course, and your descriptions of the South Indian fare at Woodlands sound lovely. But when your first sentence mentions a local American Idol-based live concert somehow sponsored by the restaurant's owner, the very least you could do is throw another sentence in about it, for those of us who are a little bit curious and a bit confused as to why you dropped the entire subject with no explanation. Also it was in the lede. [Miami Herald]

• Gail Shepherd opened her review of Canyon Southwest Cafe with a description of our favorite pizzeria ever, which is awesome. Whenever in New York, a visit is necessary. Anyway, Canyon is like DiFara's in that sense, because both involve long waits and both reward the patient with an excellent meal. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Normally, we love the Watering Holes features, but this one, on the Lantana Ale & Sports Bar, bored us a little. [Palm Beach Post]

• Back in Lantana, at Riggin's Crabhouse , where blue crab is king. Don't bother with a steak or chicken or any other fish. Just go for the crabs.[Palm Beach Post]

This story is just a teensy bit old, as in it came out in late November, but we've been so preoccupied that we forgot to write about it. And it's a fairly big deal, we think. Florida will get its first LEED-certified restaurants when two branches of Pizza Fusion open in Palm Beach Gardens and Weston this month. The Fort-Lauderdale-based eco-friendly company is also planning additional new restaurants in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and northern New Jersey; each of these will also be the first LEED-certified restaurants in their respective states.

For those of you who don't know what all this LEED certification business is all about (don't feel badly; we had to look it up), we'll give you a quick summary: it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The program provides an independent third party verification that the building does, in fact, comply with "green" standards. It all goes hand-in-hand with Pizza Fusion's motto of "Saving the earth, one pizza at a time."

Pizza Fusion Addresses Organic Demand with LEED Expansion into South and Northeast Markets [Franchising.com]
Pizza Fusion [MenuPages]
Pizza Fusion [Official Site]

Frank Lopez, the owner of Antonino's Pizzeria & Restaurant in Sunrise, couldn't handle the fact that his wife had filed for divorce, so he did the worst possible thing he could in the situation: he shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself, leaving their two children (a teen-aged girl and a younger boy) without parents. Those poor, poor kids. We can't imagine how any child is supposed to get over that.

Despite the owner's death, the restaurant staff has decided to keep the pizzeria running:

At Antonino's, which Lopez owned for several years, the staff described Frank Lopez as a boss who cared about his employees -- even serving salads and clearing tables himself if they got busy.

''He was like one of us,'' said Aaron Lauderdale, a teenage waiter who started as a busboy three years ago.

Badalamenti said Frank Lopez's two sisters visited him after Julie Lopez filed for divorce, but they left a few weeks ago.

Despite the sudden tragedy, Badalamenti said they still consider the Lopez family their owners, and the entire staff will keep working hard for the pizzeria.

''We respect them,'' Badalamenti said, ``and will keep on working for them.''

Pizzeria owner recalled as caring employer [Miami Herald]
Antonino's Pizzeria & Restaurant [MenuPages]
Antonino's Pizzeria & Restaurant [Official Site]

For years, Michael's Kitchen was a mainstay in downtown Hollywood; now executive chef Michael Blum has crossed the county line and moved south.The second incarnation of Michael's Kitchen is opening up tonight at the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort. It took a while, but they'll finally start serving dinner tonight at 5 p.m. We're working on getting the menu online, but in the meantime, check out the options here.

Michael's Kitchen [Official Site]
Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort [Official Site]

• The Herald leads with an interesting roundup of wine tastings at different wine shops and restaurants/bars in the area. And for once, the few comments left on the article are actually helpful, in that they offer additional places to taste wine and refrain from devolving into racist/ignorant/idiotic drivel. [Miami Herald]

• Linda Bladholm visits Sushi Cafe, which is actually a Korean restaurant known as Shilla. Oh, and they serve hot pot! Yum! [Miami Herald]

• Victoria Pesce Elliott is at Moonchine Asian Bistro this week, and she gives the Thai-sushi spot two-and-a-half stars. Sushi is creative, although not necessarily authentic, and the garlic stir fry is excellent. [Miami Herald]

• Not everything on the Upper Crust Cafe menu is great, but if you stick to the recommended dishes (Cap'n Crunch mahi mahi, ravioli, osso buco), you'll have an excellent meal. [Miami Herald]

• The only things you really need to avoid at Maison D'Azur are the dinner rolls. That should be easy enough. [Miami New Times]

• So few Korean restaurants in South Florida, yet two are reviewed on the same day. John Linn visits New Soul Korean Restaurant in Lake Worth and has to practically drag his parents in to try it. They left singing the praises of Korean cuisine. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Watering Holes time! Go take a peek inside Little Munich in Lake Worth, where the food and beer are both decidedly German. [Palm Beach Post]

• From Charles Passy's review of III Forks: "Yup, another steakhouse. It's hard to believe there's enough demand to support so many of these local shrines to sirloin." We don't understand it either. Anyway, at this particular steakhouse, the steak is excellent, but the menu is "traditional to the point of tedious" (isn't that the case with most steakhouses?) and the non-steak items are fairly lackluster. [Palm Beach Post]

Just a few suggestions for Thanksgiving dinner, if you're planning on eating out. Make your reservation soon, as time is running out!

• Hyatt Regency in Weston: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey, ham and key lime pie, all available for $28 or $15 for kids 12 and under. The Thanksgiving dinner will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and again between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

• Le Bistro: three courses of pumpkin soup, turkey with stuffing, and pumpkin pie for $30 ($12 for kids 12 and under). Reservations available between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

• Shula's on the Beach: butternut squash soup, turkey, salmon fillet, and your choice of a pie (pumpkin, pecan or apple) for dessert. $38.95 per person between noon and 10 p.m.

• Taverna Opa: A five-course meal will be available after noon for $19-23 depending on the choice of main course. You get hot appetizers, cold appetizers, a Greek salad, a choice of turkey, spit-roasted lamb or pork, and dessert. The regular menu will also be available.

• Giorgios Grill: Here, the seating begins early, at 11 a.m. Again, the prices vary by choice of main course, from $19 (traditional turkey dinner) to $53 (surf 'n' turf), almost most are in the $20s. Lots of options, from pork to lamb to salmon or sunfish. Dinner comes with a Caesar salad or New England clam chowder and a pumpkin pie or tiramisu for dessert.

• Kavanagh & Morrissey's: For $25.95 ($14.95 for kids 12 and under), you get butternut squash soup or Caesar salad; herb-rubbed free-range turkey with andouille cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce or Colorado rack of lamb; mashed potatoes and baby vegetables; and apple or pumpkin pie. The Thanksgiving dinner starts at 3 p.m.; the regular menu will also be available.

We were in Chicago when Cereality opened there several years ago, and we thought it was a genius idea, in that it would regularly separate idiotic college students from large sums of their parents' cash. We really, really cannot understand the need to pay $4 to $7 for a bowl of cereal.*

Down here in South Florida, we have The Cereal Bowl, which is pretty much the same thing. (We're sure the company executives would disagree, although they wouldn't have much of a case given that they're all serving the exact same products. The same ones you can buy in a supermarket, by the way.) So, where were we? Yes, The Cereal Bowl. There's one conveniently located close to the University of Miami.

But now there's a new player in the game: The Cereal Connection (so. over. it.) in Plantation, which, according to the Sun-Sentinel, has been a big hit since it opened in August. The Cereal Connection also professes to "save the Earth one bowl at a time;" in fact, that's the first thing that pops up on the website. But there isn't really any explanation as to how they're going about saving the world one overpriced bowl of cereal at a time. Not that we're all that invested into it.

Cereal eatery opens in Plantation [Sun-Sentinel]
Cereal Connection Opens in Broward [Stuck on the Palmetto]

Cereality [Official Site]
The Cereal Bowl [Official Site]
The Cereal Connection [Official Site]

* We just checked the list of Cereality stores and saw that they just opened a branch in Newark Airport. Now that's not a bad idea, given the nature of air travel and delays and being stuck at the airport, etc. If stuck at said airport at an odd hour and surrounded by greasy airport food, we might at that point consider parting with $4 for a bowl of cereal.

• Victoria Pesce Elliott finds some hits and misses in the cozy and lovely Macchiato Boutique Restaurant, located in the not-so-cozy-or-lovely Dadeland Station. The desserts, she says, are magical, and the wine list is eclectic. So after fighting the crowds at nearby Dadeland Mall (the holiday season is almost here, God help us), a lovely dessert and glass of wine might be a nice way to de-stress. It'll help later, when you have to deal with the three cars blocking your exit because each one demands your parking spot. [Miami Herald]

• Lee Klein muses aloud about why, with ocean all around, there are so few good fish eateries on Miami Beach. (We'll hazard a guess: everyone's eating steak nowadays. Overpriced steak.) But he finds excellent fish at Fusion 41, which also happens to be kosher. It's only been open two months though, so they're still working out some problems, but with some patience, it might be very good. [Miami New Times]

• Stick to the buffet at House of India. It's the best value, and you'll avoid any disputes over the check with your waiter. [Miami New Times]

• The Skordilis family moves up from a take-out restaurant to the sit-down Greek Place Restaurant in Surfside, where they serve Greek staples. [Miami Herald]

• Scallops dusted with cocoa powder? That sounds really good. Unfortunately, they seemed to have been a temporary menu item at Armadillo Beach. But there's also slow-cooked duck cured with sugar and chiles. We're drooling over here. [Miami Herald]

• The fettucine Alfredo at Il Bellagio is "spun silk swaddled in cream." Quite possibly the best description of a pasta dish ever. The food was so good that it moved Gail Shepherd, an avowed CityPlace avoider, to write "I (heart) CityPlace!" [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Alice Waters, the most influential person in American cooking after Julia Child, will be at Books & Books in the Gables tonight to discuss her latest book, The Art of Simple Food. The event starts at 8 p.m.

• Hallandale Beach is hosting its second Taste of the Town tomorrow, an event where local restaurants set up booths and visitors get to walk around sampling specialties. If you just want to browse and not taste (yeah, right), entry is free. But if you're up for grazing, it's $10 for adults and $5 for kids. It starts at 5 p.m., ends at 9 p.m. and is located in the parking lot of the Memorial Outpatient Center, 1750 E Hallandale Beach Blvd.

We've got two contradictory stories today. First, an article from the Associated Press claiming that the weak U.S. dollar will attract more Canadians than usual to sunny Florida for the season:

During the next six weeks about 450,000 Canadian visitors are expected to visit Broward, a second home during the winter for many. Attracted by South Florida's warm weather and beaches, they will pour about $1 billion into the local economy, said Nicki Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitor's Bureau.

"We expect record numbers from our good friends in the north this year," Grossman said. "Greater Fort Lauderdale will be high on the travel list for Canadian snowbirds."

The Canadian dollar has risen almost 20 percent in value against the U.S. dollar this year, achieving one-to-one parity for the first time since 1976. On Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was worth $1.1039, its highest level in the post-1950 era of Canadian floating exchange rates.

"I haven't met one person this year that wants to stay in Florida," said Boynton Beach resident Dory Kilburn, who heads the Boynton Intracoastal Group, a Canadian advocacy organization. "They all say they are getting out."

Lopsided property taxes favoring year-round residents are a major culprit, and proposed property tax cuts are getting a cool reception north of the border. Still, talk of leaving might be saber rattling - except that it comes as Arizona, the Carolinas and other states are stepping up efforts to lure the flock.

In the last few months, [Gary] Brissenden said, the majority of people he has talked to say they are planning to leave Florida. It's not a small number.

"We have held meetings throughout Ontario. I have had perhaps 5,000 people at meetings," he said. "Of those coming to Florida, about 70 percent are saying, 'We are going to sell our place.'"

Weakness of U.S. dollar may bring more Canadians to Florida [Associated Press]
Canadians may give Florida cold shoulder [Palm Beach Post]

Just yesterday, we managed to get menus for a few more new (new to the site, that is) restaurants onto the site:

• Kefi Restaurant & Lounge, 18851 NE 29th Ave in Aventura, 305-466-1115

• Surf Road Taco, 101 NE 3rd St in Hallandale, 954-239-0128

• Tavern-n-Town (just the Tavern menu; Town opens in December), 500 Simonton St in Key West, 305-296-8100

• Pilikia by the Pool, 1751 Collins Ave in Miami Beach, 305-538-1411

• Hot Shots Bar, 3868 N University Dr in Sunrise, 954-748-4232

It's Book Fair Time!

• Padma, apparently, is not actually the ice princess she appears to be on television. Also, her cookbook sounds like it's got some tasty recipes. And avoid the article's comments section; any mention of Padma brings the sleazeballs out of the woodworks. [Miami Herald]

• More books! This time: poems about cooking. Sometimes they're recipes, sometimes they're not. [Miami Herald]

• Wait, more books! A profile of Molly O'Neill, who will also be at the book fair this weekend. [Miami New Times]

• Two-and-a-half stars from Victoria Pesce Elliott for Barchetta on the Bay. The food is "pretty good" and the view is "stunning." Also, she saw a dolphin just a few feet from her table! [Miami Herald]

• Vito's on Key Biscayne is deemed a great neighborhood Italian restaurant. We now have a sudden craving for tiramisu. [Miami New Times]

• Gail Shepherd extols the virtues of stone crab, as both an environmentally-friendly and delicious product. And the stone crabs at Nick's Fishmarket of Hawaii are particularly delicious. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• The Whale Raw Bar & Fish House, opened up by the same people who owned the now-defunct Whale's Rib in Deerfield Beach, earns two-and-a-half stars. [Miami Herald]

• Watering Hole time! McCarthy's Restaurant & Pub in Tequesta re-opened with new owners, but the same Irish spirit. [Palm Beach Post]

• French Corner Bistro & Rotisserie in West Palm Beach wins over Charles Passy. [Palm Beach Post]

Except we don't know the name yet. But we do know they plan to open next week on Johnson Street, although they're still lacking cooks and waitresses. We've left a message and are waiting for information about it, but if you've driven by or know anything about the place, let us know!

NEW Cuban Restaurant on The Beach [Craigslist]

We really can't get into football; baseball is more our thing. So we were focused on the postseason, and then the next thing we knew, the Dolphins were halfway to a perfect losing season. Not good. And to add insult to injury, the Patriots are 8-0. (Small consolation: at least the Jets are sucking it up too.)

But we thought that this must really be affecting sports bars in the area: either people aren't going to the bars to watch the games, or they're drinking heavily to escape their sorrow. Clearly, we overestimated the Dolphins' influence. Thanks to the many South Florida transplants who root for their home teams, bars are doing just fine on Sunday nights. And apparently Dolfans aren't the type to use large quantities of beer to drown out the sting of an 0-8 record — at least not publicly. Here's what we learned:

Joey's Sports Bar in Pompano Beach: Rob Lugo, a manager there, laughed and said "It hurts everybody," although he said they get lots of fans of other teams: the Patriots, Steelers, Browns, Cowboys and Giants. "I don't think Dolphins fans care about the Dolphins anymore," he said. "If they were 6-2 or 5-3, yeah, there'd be more Dolphin fans."

Hot Shots Bar & Billiards in Sunrise: From Pete Olsson, a bartender: "Nobody really gives a crap. Everybody here is from somewhere else. Cowboy fans, Eagles, Pittsburgh, New England. Pretty much everybody except for the Dolphins. If they were winning every single game, it wouldn't make any difference."

The Ale House in Davie: This place is right next to the Dolphins training facility, so manager Ted Lynch said that lots of Dolfans do come to watch the games, although he also sees a good amount of Steelers fans. (Are there really that many Pittsburgh natives in South Florida?) The Dolfans are still showing up, but they're not staying quite as long. Once the game seems hopeless, they wrap up their tabs and head home, likely to do something that takes their minds off of football.

Shula's Steak 2 in Miami Lakes: Even at Shula's, they're not feeling too much of a sting, according to Dave Gergely, the director of sports entertainment. "We’ve always been a bar that’s served all different teams, but like any sports bar in South Florida, when the home team is doing well, business is better," Gergely said. Still, they show every game and get lots of customers who root for other teams, so in the end, an 0-8 record doesn't hurt too much. At least not financially.

We're doing something a little different today, as we're bored with the old review roundup formula of going by county. Instead, we're just going to run down Thursday's best restaurant-related reviews/features for you in one concise post:

• Enrique Fernandez gives a rundown of classic Cuban restaurants that have stood the test of time and that haven't watered down the food. All good choices, although we wondered at the absence of Las Culebrinas; it wasn't even in the newcomers list. He's got a list of standard Cuban restaurant menu items, with descriptions, for those unfamiliar with the cuisine.

• Lee Klein is also in roundup mode, as he writes a review about three restaurants that serve very different, although equally delicious, food: the student-run restaurant at FIU's School of Hospitality & Management, Lula Kebab House, and Orale Taqueria Mexicana, otherwise known as the taco truck that sets up in Douglas Park.

• Gail Shepherd goes to Il Mulino in Fort Lauderdale and gets stuffed. The two things you must eat there: burrata and the walnut-encrusted sea bass with risotto.

• Two-and-a-half stars to Pancho's Backyard in Dania Beach, one of the few Mexican-Cuban restaurants that actually work, apparently.

• The Post has an interesting price comparison [pdf] between Whole Foods and the new Publix GreenWise; we didn't count, but we think GreenWise won by just a bit. Mostly, it's a wash -- the prices tend to be pretty even.

• And of course, we have to mention the Beer Guy's Watering Holes feature: Harry's Banana Farm in Lake Worth, which has been there since 1954. It used to be named Harry's Open Door, but it became Harry's Banana Farm in order to sponsor a Little League team that couldn't take money from a bar. So, now it's the oddest banana farm in Florida.

Photo: A pan con bistec at Islas Canarias. By Donna E Natale Planas, Miami Herald.

We love this man, Jordi Panisello, the pastry chef at Cero Restaurant in the St Regis Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Nutella-filled beignets, plus hot chocolate, plus chocolate ice cream cookie sandwiches? Yum. And that creme brulee looks unbelievable; I'm really curious how he makes that ball-shaped crust. The apple confit looks lovely too, although we'd take the other two desserts in a heartbeat.

Dessert Masterpieces at the St. Regis Hotel [YouTube]
Cero Restaurant [MenuPages]
Cero Restaurant [Official Site]

Er, excuse us. We meant a new "upscale Lifestyle Center." At least that's what they're calling it at The Shops at Pembroke Gardens website. We guess that's because it's not enclosed, like a traditional mall. Instead, there will be pedestrian walkways and street parking to make it look like a downtown center. (Will these parking spots on the streets have meters, to further duplicate the urban experience? Because that could get annoying really quickly. One of the pleasures of shopping in the 'burbs is not dealing with parallel parking and meter maids.)

Most of the stores at The Shops at Pembroke Gardens open tomorrow, but the six restaurants — Brio Tuscan Grille, Village Tavern, Stir Crazy, RA Sushi, Brimstone Woodfire Grill, and The Pub Pembroke — won't be open until year's end.

Also, we just realized that the open-air mall is opening on the exact same day that Tropical Storm Noel should be bringing some adverse weather to South Florida. Excellent.

The Shops at Pembroke Gardens [Official Site]
New shopping mall in Pembroke Pines debuts as 'lifestyle center' [Sun-Sentinel]

• Ten years later, Himmarshee Bar & Grille is still going strong. That whole fried yellowtail snapper sounds really good. This is the problem with reading so many reviews; now we're hungry. [Miami Herald]

• Emerald Thai in Davie is a good neighborhood place with great curries. [Sun-Sentinel]

• It appears that karaoke had once left the FunKey Nutz, but it has now returned. On Tuesdays (that's tonight!) at 8:30 at the dueling piano bar in Boca Raton, you too can sing loudly and poorly into a microphone.

• Costume party! Naturally, as it's getting close to Halloween. The Falcon House in Delray Beach is hosting its sixth annual costume party on Saturday. The best costume wins a $100 gift certificate.

• There will be another costume party at Nicole's Village Tavern in Wellington on Saturday as well, with drinks and dinner specials, dancing and, of course, a costume contest. Prizes are unclear. Oh, and the appetizers are free after midnight!

We thought there was more of this article when we first noticed it on Friday afternoon, but apparently it's available only for subscribers. Oh well. We gleaned enough out of it to learn that the six current Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza locations will expand to 15 in South Florida by the end of 2009. Three are currently under construction in Palm Beach County, but we don't know where the other six locations will be.

Once Anthony's reaches its goal of 15 South Florida stores by the end of 2009, founder Anthony Bruno says his pizza will be unaltered by expansion. The ovens will continue to burn coal, the menu will stay simple and, hopefully, the customers will stay satisfied.

"It's the pizza. It's all about putting out a good pizza," Bruno said.

It's the norm for chains to begin to deteriorate after too much expansion, but let's hope this isn't the case with Anthony's.

Entrepreneur plans 15 South Florida restaurants [South Florida Business Journal]
Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza [Official Site]

How did we miss the story of Miami's current favorite basketball player partnering with a local restaurant? Yes, Dwyane Wade apparently enjoyed his meal at Bucky's so much that he has decided to invest and help the two-restaurant chain expand in South Florida and Chicago, Wade's hometown.

The two are working together to open a restaurant in Key Largo, but it's going to be called D. Wade's. According to a Craigslist ad for a general manager, they're going to open in 2007. That seems a bit ambitious, given that there isn't much of 2007 left. But hey, maybe they'll be able to pull it together. Let's hope the restaurant business doesn't distract him from his on-court duties.

Bucky's Bar-B-Que LLC Partners with Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade [PR Newswire]
D. Wade's Hiring General Manager [Craigslist]
Dwyane Wade [Official Site]
Bucky's Bar-B-Que [Official Site]

• Maddy Marr talks to Steve Martorano, the man behind Cafe Martorano in Fort Lauderdale, who's just opened a second restaurant in Las Vegas. It's a good fit for Martorano's restaurant/nightclub style, but it's a heck of a commute. [Miami Herald]

• The Herald sure is moving in on Sun-Sentinel territory this week: this Plantation roundup mixes Cuban, Mexican and Japanese foods. [Miami Herald]

• Another Broward restaurant: check out a "Micro Rave" on Chinatopia in Hollywood. [Miami Herald]

• The cornbread, jumbo shrimp and Carolina pulled pork are tasty at Bucky's Grill in Fort Lauderdale. [Sun-Sentinel]

Wow. We can't think of much more to say about the people who camped out for up to 48 hours in front of the IKEA that opens today in Sunrise. Two days for a store that sells cheap, disposable, trendy furniture. Seriously?

IKEA [Official Site]
The Line is Forming for Big IKEA Opening [CBS4]

We may not know when all those other restaurants are opening, but we do know one thing's for sure: IKEA is opening in Sunrise on Wednesday, and 25,000 people are expected to be there for the event. Which is absolutely insane.

As everyone knows, IKEA sells inexpensive trendy furniture in those great big blue box buildings, but each store also has a restaurant where people take breaks from the madness and scarf down cheap Swedish meatballs. And when the Sunrise IKEA opens, it will be the only place (that we know of) in South Florida where one will be able to find Swedish meatballs. Using the handy Find-a-Food Search tool on South Florida MenuPages, we searched in each area for Swedish meatballs and came up empty.

If you're anxious to try these delicacies (we ourselves have never tried the ones at IKEA, so we cannot vouch for their quality), we'd advise you to wait a few months, until the craziness has passed. We wouldn't want to lose any of our readers to a fatal IKEA stampede; there are so few of you as it is!

IKEA [Official Site]
Sunrise police, firefighters prepare for crowd of 25,000 at IKEA opening [Sun-Sentinel]

Photo: Flickr

• Linda Bladholm discovers a Vietnamese-style tea lounge in Wilton Manors. [Miami Herald]

• Gail Shepherd surprisingly prefers a big chain to a small, chef-driven bistro. The end is nigh. [New Times]

• A rundown of the best deals to be had during Dine Out Lauderdale. [Miami Herald]

• Steak, steak everywhere, including Weston. [Sun-Sentinel]

We just finished up with Miami Spice, so now it's on to Dine Out Lauderdale! Will these restaurant promotions never cease? We imagine they will, once the tourists arrive for the season. But anyway, Dine Out Lauderdale is a six-week restaurant promotion for Broward County restaurants, from October 1 until November 15, sponsored by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. They're using all sorts of cutesy names (Greater "Fork" Lauderdale, LauderLicious, etc.) to get people's attention. Thirty-five restaurants in Greater "Fork" Lauderdale will be serving up three-course prix fixe dinners for $35.

The lineup: 35 restaurants total, including Mark's Las Olas, Mark's Las Olas, Food Amongst The Flowers, Aizia at the Westin Diplomat, and Himmarshee Bar & Grille. For a complete list, check out the bureau's website.

Ah, but there's fine print. The offer is valid only on Sundays through Thursdays, and it's not valid during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, October 25-29. We find it a little annoying that the promotion isn't good on Friday and Saturday nights. If you're going to do this big promotion, why not go all the way with it? They seem to be trying to copy the success of Miami Spice, but the whole reason Miami Spice is successful is because it includes a ton of restaurants with both lunch and dinner Spice menus and doesn't place limitations on weekend dinners. We'll see how this turns out. Any Dine Out Lauderdale reviews? Tell us!

Your entree into Greater Fort Lauderdale's gourmet scene [Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau]

• 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.

• 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]

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

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]

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]

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

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

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

Any other suggestions? Let us know!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo: Flickr

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

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

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

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

Other Subway employees said the robberies are getting increasingly worse.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Three-and-a-half stars for Cafe Sharaku in Fort Lauderdale. The restaurant blends French and Asian styles for a "stellar" meal. [Miami Herald]

• There is no way you're going to find out how the jerk chicken is cooked at Betty's Place in Hollywood; all employees are tight-lipped, for fear of punishment from Betty. And judging from the reviewer's reaction, you might not want to order it extra hot. [New Times]

• What is there to do at an Argentine restaurant but gorge on meat? Actually, we can think of several other things to eat, but at Che, Pibe in Miramar, it's meat you want. [Sun-Sentinel]

We've got four brand-spanking new menus for your enjoyment today:

• Boteco, 916 NE 79th St in Miami, 305-757-7735

• Bangkok Palace, 4345 N State Rd 7 in Lauderdale Lakes, 954-733-0069

• Taverna Eros, 8 E Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach, 561-272-8220

• The Lunch Room, 7957 NE 2nd Ave in Miami, 305-722-0759

• Gail Shepherd thinks Taverna Kyma in Boca is the only one of the new Greek restaurants that will be able to challenge Taverna Opa, at least in the food department. Taverna Eros and Avra Taverna, on the other hand...well, just don't go for the food. [New Times]

• Three new places in Broward for pizza, burgers, and wings. First there's New River Pizza Cafe (1970 Sawgrass Mills Circle in Sunrise), the third branch — and the first sit-down one — of the original New River Pizza in Fort Lauderdale. Five Guys (1818 Cordova Rd in Fort Lauderdale, with six more locations planned in South Florida) serves up tasty burgers and fries. And Hurricane Grill & Wings, visited by the Beer Guy last week, just opened a new branch in Plantation. [Miami Herald]

Continue reading "Review Digest: Broward & Palm Beach" »

We leave you this evening with dinner at Johnny V. That is sage-grilled Florida dolphin (also known as mahi-mahi) with rock shrimp plantain stuffing (yum!), lobster pan gravy, cranberry-mango chutney and baby green beans and carrots.

Johnny V [MenuPages]
Johnny V [Official Site]
Photo: Flickr

• For those of you who want to be food critics, Gail Shepherd has this to say:

I have news: If you had my job, you'd be 15 pounds fatter and your cholesterol would be off the charts. This gig is like living a version of Super Size Me that doesn't end after 30 days; you don't go back to your "real" life and your sensible diet; you just keep gorging. Even the sunniest and most vigorous among you would find, after a year or two of professional gluttony, that you'd developed the dour temperament of Eugene O'Neill embedded in the ample bosom of Mama Cass.
You see, your girth expands in inverse proportion to your happiness — because you've gotten very, very picky. Somebody hands you a deliciously caramelized New York strip with a melting, rose-colored center, and afterward no gray and flaccid slab will ever again hold your attention. It's like porn; you have to keep upping the ante.

Continue reading "Review Digest: Broward" »

Just a few new menus added to the site yesterday:

• Six Tables, 112 NE 2nd St in Boca Raton, 561-347-6260

• Myung Ga Tofu & BBQ, 1944 Weston Rd in Weston, 954-349-7337

• El Gran Inka, 606 Crandon Blvd in Key Biscayne, 305-365-7883

• Ouzo's Greek Taverna & Bar, 940 71st St in Miami Beach, 305-864-9848

• A La Folie Cafe, 516 Espanola Way in Miami Beach, 305-538-4484

Sometimes, we'll look at dishes and think, what on earth was the chef thinking? We had another similar moment today when we glanced at Chef Dean James Max's newsletter (he of Fort Lauderdale's 3030 Ocean) in our e-mail inbox. It wasn't the "savory cupcakes" or the "avocado" that caught our eyes. No, it was the "lobster icing." Yes, you read correctly. Lobster icing.

There's the cake part, with the usual ingredients — flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, heavy cream — but instead of oil, you add avocado puree. We like the idea of treating the avocado as the fruit it actually is and using it in sweet dishes. But then there's lobster and creme fraiche and chives, and we're not quite sure what to make of this. The recipe, for those who are curious, is after the jump.

Continue reading "Lobster Icing, Or How To Take The Cupcake Craze A Bit Too Far" »

Because we're having a bit of a red meat craving today. Here we present the sirloin burger at Le Tub in Hollywood, dubbed the best burger in America by GQ two years ago. Since then, it's gotten so much press that there are more newspaper clippings on the walls than tubs, the bar's signature accessories. Well, we're not entirely sure that's true, but it sure seemed like it. Note the waterfront setting in the background of the photo; add a beer, and it's paradise. Just make sure not to go during prime lunch or dinner times; we hear the wait can be long, and the crowds would likely disrupt your reverie as you lazily watched the yachts go by.

Le Tub [MenuPages]
The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die [GQ]
Photo: Flickr

• Paula learns that she too can be a wok star. [Mango&Lime]

• There's a birthday party at Paula's house! [Mango&Lime]

• The Chowhounders discuss dim sum options in Miami. Kon Chau seems to be a favorite. [Chowhound]

• Deborah explores Broward food options: Pomperdale's and the newly reopened Lox Haven in Margate. [From the Test Kitchen]

First, there was Christine Lee's in Sunny Isles. Then, the restaurant moved to Jupiter. Now, there's a second branch open in Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, a much shorter drive for North Dade fans of the restaurants. The menu is much the same as that of the Jupiter restaurant, except for the addition of a sushi bar. It appears that the prices went up a bit as well; we imagine the high rollers at the casino and racetrack won't notice.

Christine Lee's [MenuPages]
Christine Lee's [MenuPages]
Christine Lee's [Official Site]
Gulfstream Park [Official Site]

Here's a business proposition: how about buying a restaurant chain that's mired in debt? If that sounds like your cup of tea, you should know that RJ Gator's will be up for auction on August 31.

On Thursday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach set the chain restaurant's auction date for Aug. 31, with closing expected for mid-September.

Bidding for the assets of the company's eight restaurants and its Jupiter headquarters will begin at $1.65 million, the amount offered last week by Golden Restaurants Inc.

According to Robert Charbonneau, counsel for the creditor's committee, Gator's has $1.5 million in secured debt, such as bank loans and an additional $3 million to $4 million in unsecured debt, such as bills from vendors and suppliers.

RJ Gator's auction date set: Aug. 31 [TCPalm]

In the Herald, Rochelle Koff checks out the Tamarac branch of the California-based Vietnamese chain Pho Hoa. And it sounds tasty. There aren't a lot of good places to get pho in South Florida, so we're always happy to hear of a good one, although the August heat definitely does not induce any sort of hot soup cravings.

We're not sure what's up with the Broward-Palm Beach New Times site, so we'll skip them and move on to the Sun-Sentinel. Judith Stocks cannot get enough of Y Ole! in Sunrise, where diners can choose from 45 tapas, from the traditional to the innovative.

A yen for Vietnamese pho knows no season [Miami Herald]
Y Ole!/Sunrise [Sun-Sentinel]

Taverna Yiamas in Hollywood has been open for a couple of weeks, but its grand opening is tonight. You have until 8 p.m. to get complimentary hors d'oeuvres. There will be wine and beer also, although we can't guarantee that'll be free as well.

Taverna Yiamas [Official Site]

We just learned that Michael's Kitchen in Hollywood has closed. But, fear not: a new location on Sunny Isles Beach is in the works, and should be open sometime in November. From today's Herald article about the closing:

''The rising rent and the property taxes and the rising insurance make it difficult to stay in business, much like Jonathan Eismann at Pacific Time and Norman Van Aken at Norman's,'' Jennie Blum said.

The couple had intended to make the Newport restaurant a second site, she said, but costs ''became unbearable,'' particularly this year's rent increases. The Hollywood Michael's Kitchen served its last meals Saturday.

Michael's Kitchen in Hollywood closes [Miami Herald]
Michael's Kitchen [MenuPages]
Michael's Kitchen [Official Site]

• There's a free wine tasting tonight at Sage French Cafe in Fort Lauderdale from 5 to 7 p.m. Don't worry if you miss this one; there's one on the first Tuesday of every month.

• Yep, more wine: this Thursday, take a "Trip Around Italy" in a wine tasting at Casa Toscana in Miami Shores. They'll be serving wine from Sardinia, Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto. Cost is $10 per person, and the featured wines will be 10 percent off. The event starts at 7 p.m.; call 305-757-4454 to RSVP.

• If you were planning to attend the Uniquey Boutiquey Wine Dinner at Vino Miami on Thursday, you should know that there's been a change of plans. It's been rescheduled for sometime in mid-September. Looks like they've got 15 spots available, so if you're interested, you can get in touch with them at vino@vinomiami.com.

• Things we know: RJ Gator's is bankrupt. A company called Golden Restaurants has offered to buy RJ Gator's for $1.65 million, which is $180,000 less than what RJ Gator's owes to creditors. What we don't know: anything about Golden Restaurants. [TC Palm]

• As of today, Frank Crupi of Frankie's Big City Grill is the managing partner of Andiamo Pizza. Soon, Andiamo will be adding some cheesesteaks and other popular menu items from Frankie's. [Miami Herald]

• There's a pretty little feature on Dogma Grill in the Herald, which mentions that there will be a new location in North Miami opening soon. But what really interested us were the comments, none of which was positive towards either the article or the restaurant chain. [Miami Herald]

We remember vividly the rapid manner in which Don Pan International Bakery extended its influence over the Miami-Dade bakery market in the early part of this decade. In what seemed like a matter of months, purple roofs and "coming soon!" signs were everywhere. Clearly, the demand for pan campesino was high.

Now, Don Pan has saturated the Miami market and moved into Broward, Boca Raton, and even Tampa. But the chain isn't done yet. Next up: Don Kiosk, which appears to be very well suited for mall food courts. Soon, maybe even local airports will have Don Kiosks to supply weary travelers with sustenance. We have no confirmation for any of this; the only thing we know, after a brief conversation with a company representative, is that they hope to close on a lease in the next 45 days. The location, according to the website, is somewhere in Broward. Any guesses as to where it might be? Sawgrass Mills perhaps? We're inclined to think that a cachito and a mango shake (no milk) might be the perfect quick snack to provide energy for a long day of shopping.

Don Pan International Bakery [MenuPages]
Don Pan International Bakery [Official Site]

Dear Sun-Sentinel: We don't quite understand what's going on with your restaurant reviews. Your food and recipes section is robust, but your dining section is anemic. Yes, we know that there's the whole restaurant guide, but that doesn't help us very well. We want reviews, and we want them now. Unfortunately, it appears you have no reviews this week, or if you do, you've hidden them quite well on the website. Instead, we'll link to your excellent article about local fish and where to buy it. We now intend to find some hog snapper and pretend we were one of those "in the know" before the article came out.

The Miami Herald's Rochelle Koff visited Cero, the grown-up restaurant inside the St. Regis Resort on Fort Lauderdale's strip. The verdict: high-priced, but worth it. And in the New Times, Gail Shepherd suggests you to restore the Francophile in you at Rendezvous Bakery & Bistro in Oakland Park.

The Dish on Local Fish [Sun-Sentinel]
Cero offers big spenders sophisticated seaside fare [Miami Herald]
How to Eat a Freedom Fry [New Times]