Archive for 2009
It’s beer, believe it or not
I like beer. I like beer a lot. So I was thrilled when Sam Adams invited me to a beer-pairing dinner at Michy’s*. The dinner was to showcase their 2009 Utopias extreme beer, which hits South Florida shelves as early as next week, but we also sampled their winter line of beers.
Utopias are part of [...]
First impressions: Talavera
The arrival of Talavera to Coral Gables is a breath of fresh air. More often than not I want to leave the Gables when looking for food, especially at dinnertime. But Talavera shows promise and I’m happy that there’s a new option in the neighborhood.
My first visit was for lunch with Jackie of Kitchen Interviews. [...]
Ruth Reichl at the Miami Book Fair
Save the date. Former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl will discuss the “new culinary landscape” at the Miami Book Fair, which kicks off next Sunday, Nov. 8. You can hear Reichl, whose latest book Gourmet Today is a compilation of Gourmet’s best recipes, on Monday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. at Miami-Dade College’s Chapman Center. Admission [...]
Dining underground part deux
The ‘communal table’ was recently named one of the worst dining trends in the last 10 years. “… it assumes people who don’t know each other want to sit together,” our own Michael Schwartz was quoted saying. I don’t know; I happen to enjoy dining with strangers — whether it’s at a restaurant or not. [...]
Sneak Peek: The Cape Cod Room
Last Thursday, D and I caught a complimentary sneak peek of Kenneth Lyon’s soon-to-open New England-themed restaurant: The Cape Cod Room. Somewhat hidden inside The Bath Club — a private club along Collins Avenue built in the 1920s — the restaurant channels Lyon’s earlier days and the start of his career as a chef in [...]
Tickets to SoBe Wine & Food Fest on sale next week
Get ready to pull out that credit card next Monday, October 26. Tickets to the 2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival go on sale to the public that day and this year there are no second chances to score tickets for sold-out events. In previous years, a second batch of tickets was released in [...]
Iron Fork 2009: A quick recap
When I arrived at the Bank of America Tower last night for the Miami New Times’s Iron Fork event, I feared I would have to battle crowds to grab a bite. But I was wrong. Despite the crowd, I didn’t have to battle anyone, and with a better venue and larger restaurant presence this year, [...]
A Florida farm dinner
On my recent trip to San Francisco, I was struck by how much importance many of the bloggers I met place on local, sustainable food. Of course, in many of the places they live, that local food seems to be more easily available than here in Miami. That’s why I’m excited about sampling the dishes at Slow Food Miami’s Annual Meeting Dinner on October 28. The [...]
On the road at BlogHer Food ‘09
I’m in San Francisco attending BlogHer Food ‘09 my first ever food blogger conference – actually, my first blogger conference, period. So far, I’m enjoying listening to great tips from well-known food bloggers like Heidi Swanson from 101cookbooks and Matt Armendariz from MattBites.
Follow me on Twitter for updates.
Cupcake store coming to downtown
The girls from 2 Girls and a Cupcake are setting up shop in Downtown Miami and they’re opening up their storefront to the public with a 24-hour cupcake-a-thon that kicks off at midnight on Friday, Sep. 25. Cupcakes will be going for $1.99 each and proceeds go to the Michael J. Fox Parkinson Foundation.
I met Eileen and [...]
A healthy school lunch
Salad bar at St. Patrick School
The students at St. Patrick School in Miami Beach kicked off the school year with a new, healthier lunch program. Gone are the fried, processed foods. In are healthier meals prepared from scratch using grass-fed meats, hormone and antibiotic free milk and eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables, and local products [...]
Recovering …
I spent all of last week – from weekend to weekend – sick at home and mostly in bed with what doctors now think was a severe allergic reaction to … something. It wasn’t fun and I even got to experience my first ever hospital meal, something I hope I won’t have to be subjected [...]
First impressions: Hakkasan
For my first Miami Spice dinner I chose to go to Hakkasan, the Fontainebleau locale of Alan Yau’s London restaurant by the same name. Though its Miami Spice menu wasn’t the most appealing among my choices, I wanted to check it out. Arriving at the restaurant from the hotel lobby takes some walking past shops [...]
Let’s hear it for the mamey
If you grew up in South Florida or have lived here long enough, chances are you’ve seen or tasted a mamey. The brown-skinned, oval-shaped fruit has a bright orange-reddish interior when ripe. Its taste is often described as a mix of vanilla and sweet potato; its texture is somewhat like custard. Yet the fruit is not very well known elsewhere in the United States and even among some South Floridians.
It’s Miami Spice time again [Updated]
It’s that time of year again. Miami Spice 2009 kicks off this Saturday, August 1 with about 100 restaurants offering three-course lunch and/or dinner menus for $22 and $35 plus tax and gratuity.
Once upon a time, I looked forward to this time of year, especially in earlier days when Miami Spice was a chance for me [...]
Touring Erickson Farm
At 8 a.m. this morning, D and I were en route to Canal Point in Palm Beach County to attend a tour of Erickson Farm organized by the Slow Food Glades to Coast convivium. It was our Sunday field trip, I told my poor, half-awake husband who was gracious enough to drive the nearly 100 [...]
Bar bites at Area 31
I first noticed Area31 about three months ago when I attended a work function at the Epic Hotel in downtown Miami. I bought one drink at the bar and truthfully didn’t think much about the place after that. Until some weeks later, when prompted by a tweet from the restaurant’s chef, John Critchley, I dragged [...]
This week, dine for $25
Starting today through Sunday, July 26, you’ll be able to enjoy three-course prix fixe dinners at selected restaurants for $25 (excluding tax and tip) thanks to Yelp! Eats Restaurant Week. You really can’t beat the price. Below is a list of participating restaurants and their menus. I’m definitely taking the opportunity to pay my first visit to [...]
Mango brunch at Fairchild
Yesterday morning, D and I spent our morning at Fairchild Tropical Garden’s 17th Annual International Mango Festival. This year I resolved to splurge on the mango brunch to see what it was all about. We then walked around the festival, which has undergone some improvements since two years ago.
The brunch this year featured chefs Allen [...]
Goodbye MenuPages South Florida blog, hello Grub Street? [Updated]
Not too long ago Carolina Bolado, former editor of the MenuPages South Florida blog, confirmed on SFDB that the blog was no more. No real explanation was given. Yesterday, New York magazine’s food blog Grub Street went national, launching editions that incorporate MenuPages for Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago, in addition to [...]
