tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83601803376482628182012-01-29T00:25:09.228-05:00"How things taste is one of the most difficult things to put into words." - Ferran AdriàFrodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.comBlogger3681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-83698150123149436002012-01-25T07:43:00.000-05:002012-01-25T07:44:26.106-05:00

"Gargouillou" apparently was originally a humble French peasant dish of potatoes and ham. But it was made famous by Chef Michel Bras, who reinvented it as a composition of dozens (really - often 50 to 60 separate components) of various fresh seasonal vegetables, herbs, and flowers, painstakingly assembled onto a riotously colorful plate. It has been much talked about and much imitated; chefs

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-11912724913835105142012-01-21T15:35:00.001-05:002012-01-21T15:38:25.354-05:00

When it comes to pizza, there are many styles. There's your basic Neapolitan. There's your hardcore Verace Pizza Napoletana. There's New York-style pizza. There's your more esoteric thin-crusted Lazio style pizza, Sicilian, grandma pizza, New Haven style apizza, Chicago deep dish ... pizza maven Adam Kuban came up with a list of 21 different regional styles, and surely there were many more

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com223918 N Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33127, USA25.8128796 -80.19554225.8110926 -80.1980095 25.8146666 -80.19307450000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-78821355194570748232012-01-17T07:46:00.002-05:002012-01-17T08:08:20.571-05:00

The lack of posts on this season's CSA crop should not be seen in any way as a reflection on the degree of my happiness with its supplier, Little River Market Garden. Quite to the contrary, we've been getting a wonderful variety of stuff and have been doing our best to use all of it effectively. Sometimes it's really easy. This week brought a gorgeous assortment of tomatoes, fresh arugula,

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-91255176653396087852012-01-16T14:39:00.000-05:002012-01-16T14:43:38.483-05:00

Our experience at é by Jose Andres was the most exceptional of our recent Las Vegas visit, but it certainly wasn't our only good meal. Some like to deride Vegas, including its culinary options, as phony and Disney-esque. And that's understandable: while many big-name chefs have established outposts in the desert - Thomas Keller, Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Pierre Gagnaire, José Andrés, Masa

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0Las Vegas, NV, USA36.114646 -115.17281635.909413 -115.48867299999999 36.319879 -114.856959tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-69821809190213635952012-01-09T00:19:00.000-05:002012-01-09T12:00:08.954-05:00

If Ferran Adrià is thought of by many as the great inventor of contemporary Spanish cuisine, than José Andrés is surely its great ambassador. Where Adrià, chef of the now-closed el Bulli, has dedicated his culinary career to the relentless pursuit of creativity and creation, Andrés (who trained with Adrià at el Bulli) has been equally dedicated to the promotion of both traditional and

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com53708 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109, USA36.1092295 -115.173188336.107625999999996 -115.1756558 36.110833 -115.17072080000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-9757947177267115112012-01-03T00:35:00.001-05:002012-01-05T08:31:56.302-05:00

Geography notwithstanding, Miami really isn't part of "The South." Though Florida as a whole is undoubtedly a Southern state, those who live here know that the South really ends somewhere near Palm Beach County's northern border, and Latin America actually begins in Miami, with Broward and Palm Beach constituting something of a demilitarized zone of transplants from the Northeast. So when

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com211600 Lenox Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139, USA25.789101 -80.14026725.787314 -80.14273449999999 25.790888 -80.1377995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-26857086950478929412012-01-02T19:55:00.000-05:002012-01-02T19:56:24.916-05:00

It seems somehow a bit petulant to start a new year off on a sour note. And yet ... While doing a little archive-diving for an in-the-works review, I stumbled across a New York Times review of Gigi, the Midtown den of pork buns and noodles that opened in the summer of 2010. The NYT review begins: Many restaurants are born when a chef has a concept. Gigi in Miami’s Wynwood district started with

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-70620374161292825422011-12-25T10:54:00.002-05:002011-12-25T11:30:29.479-05:00

This time last year, I was still basking in the reflection of a trip to Spain that included two meals that will probably always be among my most memorable - Asador Etxebarri in the Basque Country, and el Bulli. Not surprisingly, my "Ten Best Bites of 2010" list had a distinctly Iberian tilt. We didn't venture out of the U.S. in 2011, but nonetheless ate well, at home in Miami, on the other side

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-43977561249113958612011-12-19T08:59:00.000-05:002011-12-20T09:03:21.435-05:00

The basic idea behind Cobaya is a simple one: let chefs cook whatever they want, for diners who want to experience it. The execution of that idea can sometimes become very elaborate. It did at Azul earlier this week, where Chef Joel Huff and his crew assembled an eight-course dinner that was often as complex as it was flavorful. Another of the ideas behind Cobaya is to highlight chefs who may

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0500 Brickell Key Dr, Miami, FL 33131, USA25.7659809 -80.18538425.7641934 -80.1878515 25.767768399999998 -80.1829165tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-6790391815561264152011-12-06T01:05:00.000-05:002011-12-06T01:09:46.716-05:00

Uh oh. Only three weeks into the CSA season and I'm already a full week behind in posting. Not an auspicious start. This is no fault of Little River Market Garden, which has been supplying great stuff. Let's see what we can do to get caught up. The Week 2 share brought kale, pei tsai (the unnamed mystery green from Week 1), basil, passionfruit, chinese leeks, long beans, roselle (a/k/a

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-45344642666417397572011-12-02T01:55:00.000-05:002011-12-02T01:55:21.322-05:00

Yesterday, we explored a couple of Miami's less-heralded destinations for those Art Baselites who lack the foresight to have made reservations in South Beach or the Design District / Midtown / Wynwood, and lack the patience to wait for a table at the no-reservations spots. We journeyed through Downtown, then made our way to North Beach and crawled up Collins Avenue. Today, we can pick up

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-20831329203136088302011-12-01T00:44:00.000-05:002011-12-01T00:45:11.762-05:00

This week has seen no end of Art Basel guides: art fair guides, music guides, party guides, and, yes, food guides, some even in handy Q&A format. I got into the act myself last year. And while many of last year's recommendations will still hold up, I thought I'd take a slightly different approach this time, while expanding a bit on some of last year's list. See, here's the thing: if you're

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-47369964639119696672011-11-24T11:24:00.000-05:002011-11-24T11:24:39.494-05:00

I started buying vegetables from a CSA two years ago, and set out with the best of intentions to blog the manner of consumption of each week's vegetable share. In year one, that lasted for about six weeks, with sporadic posts thereafter. In year two, I faded after only two weeks. You can observe, and then mock, my feeble output by searching the "CSA" label. I'm back at it again this year, but

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-2559655334081609362011-11-22T00:36:00.000-05:002011-11-24T11:27:43.839-05:00

It's no secret we're big fans here at FFT of (1) pig and (2) Chef Jeremiah. The two will be coming together for a third reunion on Sunday November 27 for P.I.G. #3. "P.I.G." = "Pork Is Good," Chef Jeremiah's celebration of all things porcine. For a bit of a preview, you can read my takes on P.I.G. #1 and P.I.G. #2, or you can just go and experience it for yourself. The festivities begin at

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0210 NE 65th St, Miami, FL 33138, USA25.8357152 -80.191852625.833928699999998 -80.1943201 25.8375017 -80.18938510000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-43247713749857195742011-11-21T00:17:00.000-05:002011-12-02T01:56:15.242-05:00

When I wrote about my first visit to Naoe shortly after it opened, it felt much like recalling a dream with near-perfect lucidity from the night before. Though I've posted about Naoe since then, I've found it increasingly difficult to capture the experience in words - or new words, anyway. It's not that each meal is any less exceptional than the first; they have all been outstanding. Rather,

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3175 Sunny Isles Blvd, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160, USA25.93051 -80.123823425.928725 -80.1262909 25.932295000000003 -80.12135590000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-12604459738016427632011-11-14T07:52:00.000-05:002011-11-14T07:52:34.866-05:00

When I wrote about Chef Alberto Cabrera's latest venture, The Local Craft Food & Drink, I described him as a "culinary mercenary." That was by no means intended as criticism. Fact is, Chef Cabrera has been through a lot of kitchens. They include some of South Florida's finest: he worked his way up to chef de cuisine at Baleen in its heyday while Robin Haas was there, was with Norman Van Aken at

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com43540 Main Hwy, Miami, FL 33133, USA25.724872 -80.24540725.723084 -80.2478745 25.726660000000003 -80.2429395tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-40073918674097997462011-10-30T13:07:00.000-04:002011-10-30T13:08:32.591-04:00

This was not the pizzeria I expected to be writing about now. With Miami's local hero Michael Schwartz having recently opened a pizzeria of his own (Harry's Pizzeria, named for his son, in the Design District spot that used to be the home of PizzaVolante), I figured that was going to be the subject of my next ode to pizza.[1] But earlier this week I found myself driving back from West Palm Beach

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3201 E Ocean Ave, Lantana, FL 33462, USA26.584658 -80.050783926.582883000000002 -80.0532514 26.586433 -80.0483164tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-992591720753958482011-10-20T00:13:00.001-04:002011-10-20T08:42:55.194-04:00

It had been a while since I had passed any of these along, and now there seems to be a wave of really good looking dinner events coming up. To supplement the list from earlier this week: October 30: The Local + Brooklyn Brewery Coral Gables gastropub The Local Craft Food and Drink pairs up with Brooklyn Brewery for a multi-course beer and wine pairing, and Chef Alberto Cabrera looks like

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-64060313999859846562011-10-18T09:45:00.001-04:002011-10-18T09:48:01.179-04:00

You're in the right place. If you don't like food and wine, well I'm not sure what you're doing here. With Miami Spice season concluded, those of you who do like food and wine may be wondering how to spend your dining dollars. Some local restaurants have a few ideas: as if it to make up for two months of serving $35 three-course dinners, several places are now rolling out some higher-end dining

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-24110106101058807842011-10-10T00:36:00.000-04:002011-10-10T00:45:41.912-04:00

Maybe I'm not the best person to comment on the South Beach Wine and Food Fest. Truth is, I haven't been to an event in years. I still recall going when it was primarily a wine tasting in a tent on the Florida International University campus, but those days were some time ago. My most recent experience was to take my spawn to a "Kidz Cooking" event a few years ago, in which we got to watch

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-37443021449511837512011-10-07T22:45:00.000-04:002011-10-07T23:32:17.567-04:00

I've generally done my best to ignore the recent glut of dining "deal" sites. "Groupon" is just a tremendously unappealing-sounding name, and there is usually way too much fine print for me to pay much attention to the various other incarnations. Besides, in food as in life, what sounds like a "too good to be true" deal often is, and many other folks are doing a fine job pointing that out,

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-20772017194833415602011-09-26T01:52:00.000-04:002011-10-02T01:41:47.909-04:00

People of South Florida, I have an important announcement. There is a new dim sum restaurant. In Sunny Isles. And it appears to be quite good. This is not my usual style. I usually will give a place at least a couple of visits, and typically a couple of months after opening, before writing about it. But there is dim sum involved here, people. I love dim sum. Dim sum options in Miami are

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1016850 Collins Ave, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160, USA25.9321867 -80.121974225.930401699999997 -80.12444169999999 25.9339717 -80.1195067tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-72862415502754242092011-09-24T16:45:00.000-04:002011-09-28T23:47:19.752-04:00

Though our Cobaya - Gourmet Guinea Pigs events are sometimes called "underground" dinners, that's probably a bit of a misnomer, since we happily have some events in operating restaurants. But we really do strive for each of them to be an experiment. What we want, very simply, is for both chefs and diners to see it as an opportunity to try something new and different, to take chances. Chef

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-27863780412416484742011-09-15T00:31:00.000-04:002011-10-02T01:39:44.935-04:00

I usually try to give a restaurant at least a couple of visits and a couple of months before writing about it. But with Phuc Yea!, a Vietnamese pop-up restaurant slated to be open only a few months total, that may be too late for the information to be of much use. Phuc Yea! doesn't follow the rules of a normal restaurant, and so my review won't either. Official opening night was last Thursday

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com119 SE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33131, USA25.7738899 -80.190227825.7721024 -80.1926953 25.7756774 -80.18776030000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-48355402255933061232011-09-13T08:52:00.000-04:002011-09-13T09:49:49.632-04:00

A local restaurant recently used Twitter to do a very smart thing: it asked its followers how they thought the restaurant could more effectively use social media like Facebook and Twitter to better serve its customers. My response was perhaps a bit harsh: More tweeting of daily specials, menu updates; less retweeting of every single tweet mentioning you, no matter how inane? But it's a

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-5702834745474502462011-09-07T09:43:00.000-04:002011-09-09T09:45:07.615-04:00

One of the consequences of the immediacy and constancy of social media is that content tends to get buried under the neverending avalanche of information. A blog post that is more than 24 hours old won't even be seen in many peoples' RSS readers. Some good writers have given up on their blogs entirely, finding it more convenient and effective to communicate their thoughts in 140-character Twitter

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-54144882738597205852011-09-06T11:38:00.000-04:002011-09-06T11:42:41.522-04:00

Down the block over at Miami Rankings, there's some concern over the recent announcement that Chef Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink will be taking over the restaurant (and all F&B) at South Beach's Raleigh Hotel. South Beach, with its fancy cars, glitzy hotels, and abundant breast implants, may seem a potentially less than "genuine" move. This, no less, right on the heels of

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-70468335439944793932011-09-05T13:41:00.000-04:002011-09-05T23:18:32.494-04:00

Several weeks ago, I was disappointed to hear that Aniece Meinhold and Cesar Zapata had packed their bags and left Blue Piano. I'd only gotten in once to the pocket-sized wine bar and music lounge just north of the Design District, but was very pleasantly surprised by the well-selected wines and the creative and tasty tapas-style bites while Aniece was running the bar and Cesar was in the

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com119 SE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33131, USA25.7738899 -80.190227825.7721024 -80.1926953 25.7756774 -80.18776030000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-5123585622580905872011-09-03T07:32:00.000-04:002011-09-03T10:51:25.814-04:00

There are times when you are just utterly charmed by a restaurant. It may not be the most breathtaking food, it may not be the most ostentatious decoration, it may not be the most obsequious service, but sometimes a place captures a bit of magic that seems to make every piece of a meal fit together perfectly. That was our experience with Ned Ludd. Ned Ludd the man was a late 18th century

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com23925 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97212, USA45.5511977 -122.661751245.5498077 -122.66421869999999 45.552587700000004 -122.6592837tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-41176400185779649362011-08-31T21:02:00.000-04:002011-09-02T23:48:29.750-04:00

The story of Pok Pok goes as follows: Andy Ricker is a chef who fell in love with Thai food during repeated trips to the country in the 1980s and 1990s, and eventually set out to do it himself. Pok Pok started as a rotisserie grill take-out business in the driveway of a house, and over time expanded, in somewhat haphazard fashion, into an actual restaurant. "Authenticity," a hot-button word

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com13226 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202, USA45.504582 -122.63214545.503191 -122.63461249999999 45.505973 -122.6296775tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-2973384134531170202011-08-27T09:54:00.000-04:002011-08-27T13:30:17.617-04:00

There is no restaurant I have eaten at more often than Hiro's Yakko-San. I literally can not count the times: for the past five years we've been there probably an average of once a month, but often as frequently as weekly, with Sunday dinner at Yakko-San being something of a family tradition. So yeah, I kind of like it. Our kids grew up on their chicken katsu and kurobuta pork sausages, later

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com43881 NE 163rd St, North Miami Beach, FL, USA25.9312407 -80.131343325.9294557 -80.13381079999999 25.9330257 -80.1288758tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-23812563051085368012011-08-24T20:11:00.000-04:002011-08-26T23:53:19.968-04:00

I love breakfast. For some, the first meal of the day is more about sustenance than savor, but I firmly believe that breakfast is every bit as deserving of attention, every bit as capable of greatness, as any other meal. Generally I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so I don't get overexcited about pancakes or waffles drenched in syrup, but you can stick an egg on just about anything and I'll

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com03808 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227, USA45.5503447 -122.666584545.548954699999996 -122.669052 45.5517347 -122.664117tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-82940560022970367632011-08-21T08:35:00.000-04:002011-09-04T16:06:01.773-04:00

"New Alpine Cuisine" - is that a "thing" yet? If it's not, maybe it should be.[1] With the meteoric rise of Noma to prominence among most lists of the world's greatest restaurants, there has been plenty of talk of the "New Nordic Cuisine." No doubt, the ultra-local and ultra-seasonal cooking at Noma is far more radical and ambitious than what's going on at Grüner, Chef Christopher Israel's

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2527 SW 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97205, USA45.5215161 -122.683652345.5201256 -122.6861198 45.5229066 -122.68118480000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-19625914650187382732011-08-19T11:15:00.000-04:002011-08-19T14:21:10.213-04:00

Portland has such prodigious natural bounty available to it that creating a fine meal need not be difficult work. With its proximity to both river and sea, there's abundant fresh seafood, and nearby farmlands supply excellent produce. Perhaps as a result, Portland has long been a good food town, but creativity has not generally been its calling card; who needs to be creative when you can so

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0738 E Burnside St, Portland, OR 97214, USA45.5228433 -122.657802145.5214528 -122.66026959999999 45.5242338 -122.6553346tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-16297481489335325502011-08-18T09:41:00.002-04:002011-10-01T00:27:16.926-04:00

Richard Hales, chef/owner of Sakaya Kitchen, was not in pole position when the Miami food truck trend started. But when he unveiled his Dim Ssam a Gogo truck about a year ago, it quickly rolled to among the front of the pack, mobilizing Sakaya's offerings with some street-friendly contemporary Asian dishes and expanding them with some truck-only items. A few months ago Hales added a second truck,

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-79133167701852649372011-08-04T01:21:00.002-04:002011-08-19T15:44:56.544-04:00

Next week we're off to Portland, Oregon and surrounds. We've been a couple times before, but the last visit was roughly five years ago and it will be interesting to see what's new. Many old stalwarts are still around, like Higgins, Paley's Place, and The Heathman. But a couple places that impressed the most when we were last there - ClarkLewis and Gotham Building Tavern - have undergone multiple

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-86676538004261796832011-07-30T13:09:00.001-04:002011-07-30T13:12:40.863-04:00

With Miami Spice season starting on Monday, we've likewise begun our annual tradition here of looking for the most interesting, best value Spice menus local restaurants have put together. A few days ago we did South Beach. Here we'll do the Mainland. Perhaps the most interesting Spice news to some is that Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, probably the most popular restaurant in town, is back on

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-21707752924650509452011-07-28T00:38:00.003-04:002011-07-28T00:44:11.552-04:00

It's that season again: Miami Spice season. For the next two months, diners go hunting for $35 dinner bargains, restaurateurs squeeze every bit of fat out of their food costs, line cooks go quietly crazy cranking out the same three items over and over again, and servers look forward to the generosity of their penny-pinching customers. Ah, what fun. We've been over this before here, but to

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-39774212829471476692011-07-24T00:09:00.001-04:002011-08-20T00:27:06.442-04:00

It's always interesting to me to see the different approaches chefs take to putting on one of our Cobaya dinners. Some treat the group as true guinea pigs (that is what it means, after all), trying out dishes that may or may not end up on a restaurant menu one day in order to gauge the group's reaction.[1] Others see it as an opportunity to do something different from their usual routine. When

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com21580 SE 17th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316, USA26.1003886 -80.1259342000000226.1003781 -80.12593470000002 26.100399099999997 -80.12593370000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-5118768665153944682011-07-09T01:13:00.004-04:002011-11-12T18:37:04.880-05:00

Miami may only occasionally be a true culinary innovator, but lately it has proven at least to be an increasingly adept early adopter. Small plates, food trucks, contemporary Asian, locavorism, pork obsessiveness; all are trends that Miami quickly embraced. Yet some others seem to have largely passed Miami by. The gastropub is one of them. The idea of the gastropub originated in London in the

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1150 Giralda Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134, USA25.751116 -80.257768-11.504513999999997 -140.023393 63.00674599999999 -20.492143tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-79780467963219196372011-07-04T15:31:00.007-04:002011-07-05T08:13:04.317-04:00

It would have been easy to dismiss 1500°, which opened last October in the Eden Roc Hotel. Its combination of steakhouse and farm-to-table themes could easily seem a cynical effort to simultaneously play both the lowest common demoninator and the latest trendy fashion of restaurant buzzwords. Its chef, Paula DaSilva, was perhaps better known for a stint on the culinary torture porn that is the

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com14525 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33140, USA25.819636 -80.12241900000004-11.420045500000004 -139.88804400000004 63.059317500000006 -20.356794000000036tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-27609349006033393382011-07-01T00:03:00.001-04:002011-07-01T00:07:01.875-04:00

Looking for a way to extend the holiday weekend a little longer? This ought be cool. One night only, Thursday July 7, 8pm, $33 for 3 cocktails (and where it says "Very Special Guest Mixologist," I know of what is spoken here and it is true), and some fine bites from Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog. If you're interested, click above or here. Speaking of Loaded ... var gaJsHost = (("https:" ==

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-24046528988476296782011-06-27T00:24:00.003-04:002011-06-27T00:56:50.055-04:00

I am nothing if not omnivorous. And so you may be wondering why it is that I elected to sign up for a vegetarian dinner hosted by chef Jeffrey Brana and his wife Anna, who are running a Saturday night Private Dining Club with a different theme for every dinner. The answer lies in that very omnivorism. While I eat everything - really, truly, just about everything - that certainly includes

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-16153432620889640212011-06-23T00:09:00.003-04:002011-06-23T00:20:31.234-04:00

Some people ask me why there aren't more negative reviews here at Food For Thought. Or, to put it another way, they give me grief because I like most of the places I write about. I think most of my commentary is balanced: I'm not a cheerleader, and even most positive write-ups will offer some criticism too. But it's true that I don't often outright pan restaurants here, even though those kind of

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com8232 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, FL 33134, USA25.7494244 -80.25937829999998-11.506599099999999 -140.02500329999998 63.00544789999999 -20.49375329999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-6750336331895586392011-06-15T15:43:00.000-04:002011-06-15T15:43:40.503-04:00

When word broke last week that Chef Zach Bell of Café Boulud in Palm Beach would be leaving, speculation immediately turned to the question of who would replace him. That question has now been answered: Jim Leiken. Leiken will be heading south from New York, where for the past two years he's been executive chef of Daniel Boulud's DBGB Kitchen and Bar. Leiken's resumé is the kind that should warm

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-81575021729976536032011-06-15T11:57:00.004-04:002011-06-15T12:03:12.376-04:00

It's always exciting when we have the chance to get a nationally recognized chef like Michelle Bernstein to cook for Cobaya, like we did last month. But for me it's equally exciting when we can find someone who may not be on everyone's radar screen already. From the number of our diners who weren't familiar with Chef E. Michael Reidt, or hadn't been to Area 31 at all, our dinner this past Monday

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-42839845082928835162011-05-31T01:09:00.004-04:002011-05-31T01:38:25.199-04:00

Over the past couple months we've done a bit of traveling and, as we always try to do, some good eating along the way. Memory, notes, and photos are not necessarily as good as might be hoped, and so instead of full recaps of meals, here are some quick thoughts on some of the places we visited. I don't begin to pretend that a brief few days can begin to capture the dining zeitgeist of a city;

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-36624156138613591222011-05-23T09:51:00.004-04:002011-06-22T23:49:19.131-04:00

If I were opening a new restaurant in Bal Harbour, I'm not sure it would be a Japanese place. I say that primarily because Bal Harbour is situated almost exactly in the middle of what are already some of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Miami: Naoe and Yakko-San to the north, and Sushi Deli to the south. Of course, Stephen Starr, the restaurateur behind Makoto, has opened plenty more

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com09700 Collins Ave, Bal Harbour, FL 33154, USA25.88857 -80.12492199999997-11.335019500000001 -139.89054699999997 63.112159500000004 -20.35929699999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-41418381564055916282011-05-20T15:30:00.006-04:002011-05-21T23:12:08.389-04:00

Sometimes, with her radiant smile, former-ballerina perfect posture, and national (Top Chef judge) and local (Check Please host) television presence, it's easy to forget. But let there be no doubt about it: Michelle Bernstein is a badass chef. Yes, it's the quality of her cooking that cemented her national reputation and led to those TV gigs, and her namesake restaurant Michy's on Biscayne

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-64129125377781623542011-05-10T08:01:00.005-04:002011-06-22T23:49:48.681-04:00

On a certain level, I think we all agree with Beavis and Butthead: fire is cool. But fire - in the form of table-top charcoal BBQ - is just one of the many things that are cool about Gabose, a Korean restaurant in Lauderhill. I won't pretend to have "discovered" Gabose. Though it has no website and does little advertising, the place is not exactly a secret - it's been around for about ten

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com34991 N University Dr, Lauderhill, FL 33351, USA26.18783 -80.25253599999996-10.9653575 -140.01816099999996 63.34101750000001 -20.486910999999964tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-48689205474343007702011-05-07T10:04:00.003-04:002011-05-07T10:13:05.366-04:00

It was almost exactly a year ago that we did our "Cobaya in the Night Kitchen" midnight dinner at Sakaya Kitchen. At that point, Sakaya had only been open a few months. The late-night diners who came out for that event got a good sampling of what was going on there, with Chef Richard Hales mixing in some standard menu items (his Filipino egg rolls and pork buns) and some more adventurous twists (

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-3375421052378714082011-04-28T14:19:00.001-04:002011-04-28T14:25:24.290-04:00

In a piece that will be appearing in this Sunday's New York Times magazine (apologies to anyone shut out by the new paywall), former NYT restaurant critic Frank Bruni writes of the latest obsession of the New York trendsetters, Torrisi Italian Specialties. I've heard very good things about Torrisi, and I'm intrigued by the thesis of the piece, which is that Torrisi's unorthodox grab-bag approach

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-72527728240721731202011-04-27T00:02:00.004-04:002011-06-22T23:50:19.128-04:00

It seems I've already had a good bit to say about Route 9 without actually giving my own opinion. After New Times came out with a mostly negative review (subsequently corrected for several factual errors), and the Miami Herald gave it a three star review the same day, some people asked which I thought was "right." To which I initially responded, "I actually can get where both are coming from. I

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com41915 Ponce De Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, FL 33134, USA25.7548342 -80.25865550000003-11.499931799999995 -140.02428050000003 63.009600199999994 -20.49303050000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-40848670040347612292011-04-22T01:34:00.001-04:002011-04-22T10:40:23.764-04:00

There has been a lot more eating than writing going on over here lately, for which I feel somewhat guilty. Also, more traveling than local dining. Here - if for no other reason than to assemble something of a to-do list - are some of the places I've been lately, and hope to write about eventually: Miami Jeffrey Brana Common Threads Benefit Dinner Washington, DC Café Atlantico (Nuevo Latino

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-78072282872851555732011-04-11T00:06:00.007-04:002011-04-12T00:04:30.299-04:00

I suspect when you're around Chef Will Goldfarb, you often feel like you're playing catch-up. He always seems to be about three steps ahead - he thinks fast, he moves fast, he works fast. Last week, he made a quick stop in Miami for a one day pop-up, dubbed "Room 4 Dessert 2." The name, anyway, is a spin-off from his well-regarded if brief-lived New York dessert-and-drinks place from about five

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-18033626616865544822011-04-04T00:27:00.001-04:002011-04-04T11:50:47.405-04:00

The short version of the Route 9 / Miami New Times review kerfuffle, now that all the facts anyone is willing to disclose (and some they maybe didn't want to disclose) appear to be out: Miami New Times posts a fairly harsh review of a two-month old restaurant to its website; owners complain and note several factual errors, express concern that critic never actually visited or relied on

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-5647409604774931082011-03-31T14:59:00.000-04:002011-03-31T15:01:17.850-04:00

Yesterday must have been something of a roller coaster for Paola and Jeremy Goldberg, the young proprietors of Route 9, a humble neighborhood restaurant that opened up in Coral Gables almost exactly two months ago. The Goldbergs, who met while at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York (hence the name of the restaurant, for the area's main thoroughfare) woke up to find a fairly

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-74335161032046770822011-03-27T11:31:00.008-04:002011-03-27T12:41:35.742-04:00

A year ago, Miami had only barely caught on to the food truck trend that already was sweeping New York, Los Angeles, Portland and several other cities. It was late 2009 when the trucks started rolling here - first Latin Burger, then very shortly after, the gastroPod. Now, only a bit more than a year later, there are more than 50 trucks on the road or about to launch (you can follow all of them

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-42117039723923622092011-03-05T09:02:00.000-05:002011-03-05T09:09:59.270-05:00

A few upcoming events that may be of interest to discriminating eaters: March 23, 2011: "Celebrate the Florida Tomato," a Slow Food Miami event at Sustain Restaurant + Bar. Sustain will be putting together a 4-course menu featuring local heirloom tomatoes from Teena's Pride Farm. Starts at 7:30pm, $90pp including cocktails, four courses and wine. Click the link or the invitation below to reserve

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-81046655464794113792011-03-04T01:44:00.003-05:002011-03-04T07:38:25.052-05:00

While the teeming hordes invaded the sands of Miami Beach for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival last week, fifty intrepid souls ventured to the Wynwood Arts District for a very different dining experience. When we heard that Chef Alex Talbot of Ideas in Food was interested in coming in to town to do a dinner, we jumped on the opportunity. The names of Alex Talbot and his wife and partner

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-41778755729226835312011-02-24T08:42:00.002-05:002011-02-25T08:01:10.162-05:00

It's time! Time for the culinary clusterfuck that is the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, as chefs, pseudo-celebrity-chefs, and their stalkers invade Miami for four days of food festivities. I'm not completely knocking the thing: there are in fact some great chefs coming to town, some of the events provide an opportunity for the local talent to show off, and, well, I can't speak from personal

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-30173330101726354052011-02-18T09:27:00.003-05:002011-02-18T09:41:38.377-05:00

I thought I'd written everything I could possibly have to say about Michael's Genuine Food & Drink when I devoted nearly 5,000 words to describing my many experiences dining there. But now I've got some new material: Michael's written a book. It's called Michael's Genuine Food, and the subtitle - "Down-to-Earth Cooking for People Who Love to Eat" - nails the underlying theme of both Michael's

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-14683968616690307612011-02-15T15:07:00.001-05:002011-02-15T15:10:02.865-05:00

You will periodically see reports here from our Cobaya Gourmet Guinea Pigs dinners. The "mission statement" of the Cobaya group is a simple one: "to get talented chefs to cook great, interesting, creative meals for an audience of adventurous, open-minded diners." I usually don't draw much attention to Cobaya over here at FFT, but I think we've got a particularly exciting one in store at the end

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-7128473647454325062011-02-14T00:58:00.004-05:002011-02-14T12:22:59.416-05:00

I know, I know. Not exactly a title I ever expected to write. I hate the infantilistic word "foodie," am often less than enamored by those who self-identify as such, and don't particularly relish having it applied to me either. And yet, a recent, bilious polemic in the Atlantic monthly, "The Moral Crusade Against Foodies," has done the unthinkable: it has inspired me to come to the foodies'

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-49521189867871605092011-02-08T08:41:00.001-05:002011-02-08T08:46:39.776-05:00

Just for the sake of something different, I've added a new little "gadget" to the blog. Up in the top right corner, there's a section called "Where Should I Eat Now?" What is it? Well, it hopefully is at least somewhat self-explanatory: it's some suggestions in answer to that perennial question. But it's also sort of a hodge-podge of at least a couple different ideas. On one hand, the

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-24676255364940162112011-01-29T12:18:00.004-05:002011-06-22T23:50:57.505-04:00

I've already repeatedly mentioned here how the contemporary Asian trope has taken hold here in Miami. But that isn't the only trend afoot. If restaurants weren't turning Japanese (or Chinese, or Korean) this past year, they were going green. "Farm to table," "sustainable," "eco-" this or that appeared in every other press release announcing a new opening. De Rodriguez Ocean pitched itself as a "

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com73252 NE 1st Ave, Miami, FL 33127, USA25.8076192 -80.19311110000001-11.434862800000001 -139.9587361 63.0501012 -20.42748610000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-81661829461577216822011-01-22T11:36:00.003-05:002011-06-22T23:51:26.429-04:00

Orlando is not exactly perceived as a dining destination. But we ate exceptionally well during our quick visit before the New Year. After finally making our first trip to The Ravenous Pig, we went the following night to BlueZoo in the Swan and Dolphin Resort. BlueZoo is nominally a Todd English restaurant, but given that there are more of those than you can count on all your fingers and toes, I'm

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com21500 Epcot Resorts Blvd, Orlando, FL 32836, USA28.372152 -81.56105589999999-8.240196500000003 -141.32668089999999 64.9845005 -21.795430899999985tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-81282454188001146822011-01-16T14:43:00.003-05:002011-06-22T23:52:04.884-04:00

It's always an interesting experience planning these Cobaya - Gourmet Guinea Pigs dinners. The mission statement for the chefs is a simple one: cook exactly what you want, without limits, so long as it's on off-the-menu experience that diners won't find in a restaurant. That leaves much room for interpretation. The particular dishes, the menu format, pretty much everything is up to the chef.

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com09517 Harding Ave, Surfside, FL 33154, USA25.8855756 -80.123534725.885574599999998 -80.12354619999999 25.8855766 -80.1235232tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-43408205512283280182011-01-11T08:51:00.001-05:002011-06-22T23:52:43.634-04:00

Ever since rave reviews began appearing a couple years ago on Chowhound, I've been meaning to get to The Ravenous Pig in Winter Park, just outside of Orlando, Florida. It sounded like my kind of place: it's got "Pig" in the name, it styles itself as an "American Gastropub," its menu shows a strong focus on locally sourced product and in-house charcuterie - what's not to like? It took a while for

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3Winter Park, FL, USA28.5880571 -81.362409728.5557431 -81.4017087 28.6203711 -81.3231107tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-10149544436469599142011-01-05T14:02:00.004-05:002011-06-22T23:53:21.422-04:00

PubBelly styles itself an "Asian inspired gastropub," but I'm not convinced that's entirely on the mark.  With its semi-open kitchen, a menu dominated by small plates, and an overt pork-centricism, PubBelly's Western influences seem much more Iberian than Anglican in derivation. If anything, PubBelly strikes me less like an English gastropub, and more like a well-mixed mashup of a Spanish tapas

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0Bayshore, Miami Beach, FL, USA25.7955072 -80.1441581999999925.7843077 -80.1554587 25.8067067 -80.13285769999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-81548073860689260422011-01-01T17:14:00.004-05:002011-01-02T16:23:16.165-05:00

I remember, back when I used to have more functioning brain cells than I do now, how much I used to enjoy reading the "Harper's Index" that was in every issue of the lefty-leaning Harper's magazine. As a final sendoff to 2010, here's my take on the year just past in the same format, except I may have made up at least 50% of the statistics in this list (including that one): Food For Thought's

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-2195317677230729102010-12-26T00:02:00.003-05:002011-12-24T10:16:37.255-05:00

As the year winds its way to a close, we all partake in various traditions: it may be latkes and sufganiyot for Channukah, a Christmas ham or a feast of seven fishes (or the Jewish custom of going out for Chinese on Christmas), perhaps the New Years' traditions of cotechino and lentils or Hoppin' John. Here in the blogosphere, the traditional way to recognize the end of the year is to make lists.

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-842962960234995032010-12-20T00:53:00.011-05:002010-12-27T00:29:19.637-05:00

Another year is nearly gone, but before it's over, there are Christmas and New Years Eve to celebrate. And for many of us, that means a night - and a dinner - out on the town. I confess that I usually try to avoid holiday fixed menu "deals," on the belief that more often than not, prices go up while quality and choices go down, plus customers often tend to behave like asshats. (Though I should

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-91793912503635414282010-12-19T10:51:00.002-05:002010-12-19T10:58:59.863-05:00

I am honored (and relieved, given my less than prodigious output lately) to bring you a guest post today - and also fairly bursting with pride. You see, as we were going over my 10-year old daughter's school projects for the past quarter, I came across an assignment her class did on the five senses. The project was to write descriptive passages, in various styles (poem, newspaper article, essay,

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-68431952626994334352010-12-16T09:18:00.002-05:002010-12-16T09:35:42.298-05:00

One of the guiding principles of the Cobaya - Gourmet Guinea Pigs group is that it's intended as an opportunity for chefs to do things that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to do in their regular settings. We organize events both in restaurants and out, but one of the rules is that it has to be an off-the-menu experience, a chance for the chefs to show something different from their

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-74794579162683807452010-12-13T01:35:00.001-05:002010-12-13T01:46:11.202-05:00

So it turns out that a two-part series on homemade kimchi is not nearly as popular as writing about where to eat during Art Basel week. This does not come as a surprise to me. And yet here I am, persisting in writing about my humble efforts to dispose of my weekly CSA share yet again. (If the truth must be known, I'm also still only on Round 1 of my visits to several of the new places to open

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-15712640531980227812010-12-10T10:13:00.003-05:002010-12-10T10:48:42.645-05:00

OK, so I've got some home-made kimchi that's been getting funky in the fridge for a few days. And I've decided that its mission in life is to ultimately become kimchi ramen. So far so good - except we need a lot more fixings for that ramen. Since I started with the Momofuku kimchi recipe, I decided to plow on ahead and make a version of the Momofuku ramen, and add some kimchi for extra punch.

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-8255174778222659632010-12-07T09:32:00.001-05:002010-12-07T09:36:48.743-05:00

Here in South Florida, as winter descends on the rest of the country, we enter our prime growing season, and the CSA I've joined (through Bee Heaven Farm) started up the week before last. My first experience with a CSA was last year, and I started the season with the ambitious goal of documenting my use of everything in each CSA box (you can see how that ended up). I've learned my lesson: often

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-24738233331630749682010-11-29T00:41:00.008-05:002010-12-02T00:29:03.763-05:00

It's that time of year, when culturati from all over the world, like the swallows of Capistrano, descend upon Miami for Art Basel. There will be plenty of sources for information on art installations, events and parties: New Times has a comprehensive list of Art Basel events as well as a guide to the satellite art fairs, and the New York Times just published a more curated list. And though we've

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-25502588276440080382010-11-22T08:48:00.003-05:002010-11-22T14:57:59.756-05:00

It's hard for me to believe it's been a year since the inaugeral "P.I.G." (Pork Is Good) event, a celebration of all things porcine by Chef Jeremiah, pilot of the gastroPod. Indeed, a year ago, there wasn't even a gastroPod yet: just a hard-working chef with the slightly crazy-sounding idea of retrofitting a vintage Airstream trailer with a 21st century kitchen, and bringing Miami some creative

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-719759863775579992010-11-20T10:23:00.000-05:002010-11-20T10:26:42.683-05:00

You may have noticed that the pace here at FFT has slowed up lately. It's certainly not for lack of subject matter, but rather lack of time. In fact, despite the still-sluggish economy, these seem to be relative boom times for Miami restaurants, and not only for casual, modern Asian fare (though there is plenty of that to go around). Just the past couple months have seen a number of intriguing

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-89548649266102163072010-11-16T00:17:00.006-05:002010-11-16T09:23:54.029-05:00

Fish is the new steak, and Asian is the new burger. Consider: the past couple years brought us the openings of a multitude of high-end steakhouses - Meat Market, BLT Steak, Gotham Steak, Red the Steakhouse, STK, the reopened Forge. Yet the construction of shrines to carnivorism seems to have slowed (the recently opened 1500° notwithstanding), and instead Douglas Rodriguez opens De Rodriguez Ocean

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-83686965498326654862010-11-06T00:01:00.010-04:002011-09-26T02:09:11.251-04:00

[Sorry, this restaurant has closed "for remodeling"] I drive down Biscayne Boulevard to work every morning. As a result, I have been a spectator, on a daily basis, to the drawn-out opening of American Noodle Bar. In fact, I recall when the first sign went up on a small space in one of the dodgy, 1950's era "MiMo" style hotels along Biscayne, it was for something that was going to be called "

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-76383033308358056282010-11-03T00:29:00.004-04:002010-11-20T09:22:46.093-05:00

Spaniards are fiercely proud of and loyal to the culinary traditions of their native country, and for good reason: I think it's some of the greatest food on earth too. Yet with that loyalty comes a certain - parochialism may be too strong a word, so let's just say that Spain doesn't often seem to take much interest in other countries' cuisines. You won't find many notable Italian restaurants in

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-50075386097309529722010-10-25T00:28:00.005-04:002010-11-03T00:36:09.921-04:00

Last month was our second visit to San Sebastian and likewise our second visit to Restaurante Arzak. Our first Arzak meal was about a year and a half ago, and the timing proved to be just about right. Though the format of the tasting menu was pretty much identical, roughly 3/4 of the actual menu items had been changed, so the experience offered a sense both of familiarity and freshness. The menu

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-63958970671517203002010-10-11T00:17:00.009-04:002010-10-11T11:40:26.081-04:00

It's nice to see the spirit of cooperation overcome any rivalry among South Florida's food truckers: Grillers stick together, I guess. var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-14429300027308948232010-10-10T02:16:00.009-04:002010-10-10T02:26:12.780-04:00

Some upcoming events of note that should offer some good food and the chance to do some good, too: Ceviche Throwdown - October 17 Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill is playing host to a "Ceviche Throwdown" to benefit Friends of the Fishermen, a non-profit organization set up by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board to assist Louisiana fishermen impacted by the BP oil spill in the Gulf.

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-34878656659793768362010-10-07T01:15:00.003-04:002010-10-07T01:20:23.423-04:00

A freelance writer for the Miami New Times took it upon herself to give a "critique" of the Cobaya dinners in their Short Order blog today. I put "critique" in quotes because what was most interesting about her comments - to me, anyway - is that she has never actually been to one of our events. Unfortunately, New Times was too craven to publish my response, which I attempted to post on their

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-10453006782095858932010-10-04T00:01:00.003-04:002010-11-16T09:05:26.030-05:00

The last time we mentioned a "truck party" here, it was a two-part taste test featuring the gastroPod and Latin Burger. That was more than half a year ago, and since then several more food trucks have started up operations in Miami. In fact, the twitter list of South Florida food trucks I've compiled now numbers more than twenty, though not all of those are in regular circulation (and conversely,

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-9517470582276043652010-10-01T16:59:00.001-04:002010-10-01T17:07:46.496-04:00

How about some actual Miami foodstuffs as a palate cleanser between all these Spain updates?  A couple particular items of note: The South Florida Dragon Boat Festival at Haulover Park is always a fun excuse to spend the day outside by the water, but this Saturday (10/2/10) it will offer the additional, significant bonus of a gathering of some of our city's finest food trucks (many of which I've

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-32890528606270833302010-09-29T10:38:00.005-04:002012-01-27T08:16:12.717-05:00

It seems not even remotely coincidental that if you draw a line between Figueres and Cadaqués, the sites of two museums dedicated to the life and work of Salvador Dalí, you will come very close to going right through elBulli. There is more than a bit of surrealism going on at Chef Ferran Adrià's famous gastronomical outpost next to Cala Montjoi, along the Costa Brava. The stripping of objects

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-2071672560704178512010-09-27T01:21:00.006-04:002010-09-28T08:17:37.142-04:00

Asador Etxebarri and its chef Victor Arguinzoniz - the "Grilling Genius of Spain," as Anya von Bremzen dubbed him - have been known and adored by the food cognoscenti for some time. And yet in some ways, Etxebarri still seems to get something of the ugly stepchild treatment among the "destination" Basque restaurants. While Arzak, Martin Berasategui, and now Akelaŕe sport three Michelin stars each

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-49326249308899079152010-09-24T09:24:00.005-04:002010-09-27T09:48:28.953-04:00

Casa Senra is not the most celebrated of San Sebastian's pintxos bars. But after a couple of visits, it's proving to be one of my personal favorites. Senra is not in the scenic Parte Vieja, but in the more business-like Barrio Gros,[*] and its layout is simple and utilitarian: a long bar stacked with platters of pintxos, along with several picnic-style benches along the wall, plus a few tables

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-63995783342424976392010-09-23T23:29:00.000-04:002010-09-23T23:29:44.287-04:00

If you weren't able to catch Chef Katsuya Fukushima at our Cobaya Dinner earlier this month, here is another chance to see him cook: Sunday, September 26 at 9:00 p.m. on Iron Chef America. Allez cuisine! var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-20220138381886020382010-09-22T01:13:00.010-04:002010-09-22T10:48:57.762-04:00

There are enough Michelin stars in and about San Sebastian to make up a constellation, but some of the best eating in this food mecca can be found in its many bars and their seemingly infinite selection of pintxos. We first visited San Sebastian about a year and a half ago, and sampled several excellent pintxos bars. We had the good fortune to be back in San Sebastian recently, and made return

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-22284397541683860372010-09-08T00:18:00.000-04:002010-09-08T00:18:23.946-04:00

If you missed the last Cobaya dinner and want to get a preview of Chef Douglas Rodriguez's new restaurant, De Rodriguez Ocean, or if you just want to sample the cooking of four great local chefs, or if you want to support a worthy charity - actually, if you want to do all of those things - you may well be interested in the "Four Chefs for Success for Kids" event on September 15, 2010. I know,

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-28770051038111488452010-09-07T03:03:00.006-04:002010-09-07T15:11:51.536-04:00

On Sunday evening, Chef Katsuya Fukushima was the "Visiting Dignitary" for the latest Cobaya dinner. Katsuya for the past fifteen years has worked closely with über-chef José Andrés, including as head chef at the minibar and Café Atlantico in Washington DC. Local über-chef Douglas Rodriguez (Ola, De Rodriguez Cuba) was the gracious host at his not-yet opened new restuarant, De Rodriguez Ocean in

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-70616600044020424002010-09-04T09:41:00.001-04:002010-09-04T23:52:55.637-04:00

The Squire Tarbox Farm's produce is perhaps put to even better use at Solo Bistro, in the town of Bath about fifteen minutes away. Bath is one of these pristine, postcard-perfect old towns that seems to have not changed at all in about 150 years, but Solo Bistro is a surprisingly contemporary-looking place. It looks like it was furnished straight out of a Design Within Reach catalog, with

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-66969158045807108122010-09-04T01:16:00.004-04:002010-09-04T01:26:13.970-04:00

After a couple days in Portland, we worked our way up Maine's coast to less populated territory: Westport Island, where we stayed at the Squire Tarbox Inn. The town of Westport was formed in 1828 on a petition started by one Samuel Tarbox and signed by all 73 of the residents. In nearly two centuries, that's grown to a positively bustling 745 residents, and it remains primarily a fishing and

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-27825884336626975772010-08-30T00:01:00.001-04:002010-09-02T17:44:10.193-04:00

We had a couple nice dinners in Portland at Fore Street and Street and Company, but there are of course more meals in the day. When not scarfing down lobster rolls, we had one particularly notable lunch at Duck Fat. Duck Fat is a spin-off from Hugo's, whose chef Rob Evans was the 2009 winner of the James Beard Best Chef Northeast award. While Hugo's appears to play with many contemporary motifs (

Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1