tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83601803376482628182024-03-12T22:13:27.038-04:00food for thought | a miami food blogFinding good food in Miami and beyond. Reviews of restaurants throughout South Florida and elsewhere, as well as occasional blather about points more abstruse yet still food-related.Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.comBlogger678125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-44895842312957512562024-02-18T11:16:00.007-05:002024-02-21T07:05:57.387-05:00The Best Things I Ate in 2023 (Round 2)February isn't too late for "year in review" posts, is it? Not too late for me, anyway. Round 1 of my favorite dishes of 2023 actually made it up within a week of the new year. This sequel has experienced some delays, but is now resuming regular service. In the first post, we ventured through Oakland, Scotland, London, Lisbon and Marrakech before finding our way back home. Here, we pick up where Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-82305564987697760462024-01-06T08:43:00.005-05:002024-01-07T08:31:33.362-05:00The Best Things I Ate in 2023 (Round 1)"Year in Review" and "Best ..." posts are tired and lazy. I know. But in their (my) defense, they're also an opportunity for some reflection and perspective, a change of pace from the ephemeral but unrelenting blare of most food media these days. When writing these posts, I'm not just trying to tick off some boxes – there's some thought that goes into deciding what dishes really brought the most Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-7725729792650464082023-01-10T08:01:00.009-05:002023-10-18T16:45:15.106-04:00The Best Things I Ate in 2022 (Round 2)Happy New Year, all! I actually managed to post Round 1 of the Best Things I Ate in 2022 before the calendar flipped over, so that's progress over last year. This is how I intend to approach 2023: be grateful for any tiny modicum of improvement. Round 1 started in the Bay Area before making its way back to Miami, then returned west to L.A. as it wrapped up. Round 2 starts off back in Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0Miami, FL, USA25.7616798 -80.1917902-2.5485540361788459 -115.3480402 54.071913636178849 -45.0355402tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-4337826234304965742022-12-29T08:48:00.010-05:002023-01-21T14:10:15.628-05:00The Best Things I Ate in 2022 (Round 1)Hang on a minute, folks, just need to dust this off a little bit, maybe move some things around, look under this pile over here ... there it is! Found it. My blog. Hasn't seen any action in about half a year, but seems like it still works. Let's take this thing out for a drive.It's an annual tradition here at FFT to recap the best things I ate over the past year, even if sometimes it doesn't get Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0Miami, FL, USA25.7616798 -80.1917902-2.5485540361788459 -115.3480402 54.071913636178849 -45.0355402tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-66297780612598366882022-06-04T13:53:00.004-04:002022-06-09T12:25:58.824-04:00Michelin Comes to MiamiThe fat man’s coming to Miami. After various state and local tourism agencies paid the Michelin Guide undisclosed amounts which could exceed a million dollars, the star system will start coverage of Florida, with a big announcement of its ratings scheduled for June 9 in Orlando. So of course inquiring minds want to know: which restaurants will get the coveted recognition?In theory, the Michelin Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-75767642226711711192022-04-16T13:39:00.006-04:002022-04-16T13:53:54.255-04:00The Best Things I Ate in 2021 (Round 2)I know, I know. It's already April. "What are you doing posting a 'Best of 2021' list now?" Look: time is just a social construct. Stay up late. Eat breakfast for dinner. Publish your "year in review" posts in April. It's all fine.After more than a year of being homebound, we finally began traveling again last summer, so this list does venture outside of South Florida. But my primary purpose in Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-60557214041958205902022-04-10T14:42:00.005-04:002022-04-17T09:25:08.741-04:00The Best Things I Ate in 2021 (Round 1)So.The last post here was December 2020 when, with very mixed emotions, I continued the annual tradition of recapping the best things I ate over the past year. The exercise felt more than a bit frivolous in light of everything we'd gone through in 2020. And yet it also seemed important to recognize the contributions of those who helped make the year a little more bearable by feeding us and Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-75119757522335676372020-12-27T16:59:00.003-05:002020-12-27T17:04:26.191-05:00The Best Things I Ate in 2020 (Bonus Round)I originally thought I was going to keep this year's list of The Best Things I Ate in 2020 to 36 dishes over three posts (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) – enough is enough already, right? Can't we just be done with 2020? But in going back through my pictures, I realized that there were too many things I'd omitted that had brought me some happiness over the past doozy of a year. And the last thing we Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-31620583092131210792020-12-26T11:10:00.001-05:002020-12-26T11:21:30.834-05:00The Best Things I Ate in 2020 (Part 3)2020 may have been a generally lousy year, but we still ate well. Part 1 and Part 2 of The Best Things I Ate in 2020 are already up; here's Part 3. Avocado Tuna Bhel Puri - Ghee (Design District)One small thing that did not suck about 2020 was that as a result of the COVID restrictions, one of my favorite local restaurants, Niven Patel's Ghee, began doing takeout. Alas, in August Niven Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-61647088746563011562020-12-24T15:45:00.003-05:002020-12-24T23:00:11.575-05:00The Best Things I Ate in 2020 (Part 2)My last post, Part 1 of The Best Things I Ate in 2020, began in a blissful time before a virus turned the world upside and vigorously shook it. Restaurant meals! Tasting menus! Travel! Things I always appreciated, but also kind of took for granted. Not any more. It's been a crazy, brutal year. In the restaurant world, there have been some unfortunate losses along the way, but I've actually been Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-23495945310250873372020-12-22T17:05:00.007-05:002020-12-24T22:54:09.697-05:00The Best Things I Ate in 2020 (Part 1)Well.Every December when I do these "year in review" posts, I conclude with something my grandfather used to say: "Always better, never worse." Sorry, grandpa, but it didn't work this time. 2020 sucked. It's been a miserable year, for people who have lost their family members and friends, their health, their jobs, their businesses, their sense of security, their ability to enjoy companionship andFrodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-87091473997552431552020-05-20T12:10:00.002-04:002020-05-30T08:38:10.990-04:00What's Next?
I was very grateful to have been asked to participate in a Facebook Live discussion on “Check Please! South Florida” earlier this week with host Michelle Bernstein, Palm Beach chef Lindsay Autry, and Fort Lauderdale food writer Mike Mayo, to talk about the future of the South Florida restaurant industry in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to all who joined us live; if you missed it and Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-69829233625568586582020-03-18T12:55:00.002-04:002020-05-23T15:58:27.833-04:00Miami Restaurants Doing Takeout / Delivery During the Coronavirus Shutdown
Hope everyone's staying safe and healthy. Since many have asked, here's a quick and incomplete list of Miami restaurants that are offering takeout, delivery, prepared meals, cooking kits, groceries, fresh produce, wine and cocktails as we shelter in place during the coronavirus shutdown. If there's something good that's been left out, let me know. If there's an option to order directly from the Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-32384634674635350122020-01-06T08:16:00.002-05:002020-01-24T08:35:56.095-05:00deep thoughts: Silverlake Bistro | Normandy Isles (Miami Beach)The restaurant review is having a midlife crisis. So says this guy, anyway. While there's a kernel of truth in his identification of the symptoms, I'm far less convinced of his diagnosis as to the cause. At its heart, his claim is that the problem is the restaurant review format itself:
I just want to deal with one of the genre’s challenges — namely, its form. ... To be blunt, the Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com01211 71st St, Miami Beach, FL 33141, USA25.8546657 -80.1317172000000260.33263120000000157 -121.44031120000002 51.3767002 -38.823123200000026tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-10243408160183428592019-12-30T08:35:00.000-05:002020-01-21T08:40:41.046-05:00favorite dishes of 2019: worldwide versionI made a decision this year to split my "favorite dishes" list between Miami and elsewhere. You can see the 25 best things I ate in Miami over here. This list (All lists! All the time! At least until the end of the year!) covers the best things I ate everywhere else in 2019.
We started the year in Marfa, Texas[1] before taking a long drive to Austin, which is a really fun town where there's a Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-66769300157120349002019-12-26T11:33:00.000-05:002020-01-21T08:40:47.429-05:00favorite dishes of 2019: miami versionMore lists! I already spilled nearly 5,000 words in my last post recounting the decade of dining in Miami. I'll try not to do that for another ten years. But this one is an annual tradition: the best things I ate over the past year. I've always made clear that this in no way purports to be any sort of definitive "best of" type of list, but is based solely on my own personal experiences and as a Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-80826160907316090652019-12-23T07:55:00.000-05:002020-01-21T08:40:55.744-05:00Miami's restaurants that defined the decadeIt's nearly the end of the year – the end of a decade on top of that – which means it's a time for taking stock, for somber reflection ... and for posting lists. Yes, everyone hates lists, but here's the thing: everyone actually loves lists. A good list, anyway. Not the clickbait-y ones posted by uninformed bozos of places they haven't even visited and only read about on Yelp. But one that Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-30464477055633929512019-12-21T11:22:00.000-05:002020-01-21T08:41:07.372-05:00Cobaya Amarilla with Chefs Santiago Gomez and Carlos Garcia
One of our goals with the Cobaya dinner group is to provide an alternative to the typical restaurant experience, but even so, most of the time we're doing it within restaurants. We're usually working with restaurant chefs, they've already got their space and equipment and crew, and it's a whole lot easier for everyone. But some of our most interesting experiences come when we get out of the Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-78613216294781805852019-11-30T13:51:00.002-05:002019-12-27T10:05:55.037-05:00Cobaya Arson with Deme Lomas
Almost exactly four years ago, we did a Cobaya dinner with Chef Deme Lomas at Niu Kitchen, the small, Catalan inspired restaurant he opened with Karina Iglesias and Adam Hughes in 2014. Since that time, as Niu has continued to thrive, the team opened up Arson right down the block, a restaurant dedicated to cooking with live fire. We figured it was time for another round with Deme, and brought Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0104 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33132, USA25.7753935 -80.1904433999999920.25335899999999967 -121.49903739999999 51.297428 -38.881849399999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-9097780645955469272019-11-25T12:40:00.000-05:002020-05-04T17:16:01.088-04:00some thoughts on growing a Beard (Award)There's been some griping from some quarters – OK, from me, among others – about how Miami has been under-represented in the annual ritual of bestowing James Beard Awards. On one hand, maybe it's silly to pay any attention at all – that argument's been made pretty eloquently very recently by Ghee's Niven Patel, who always has such a good perspective on such things. But the reality is that most Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-56828273193993984672019-09-29T12:45:00.004-04:002022-06-01T05:39:28.489-04:00deep thoughts: Boia De | Buena Vista (Miami)
Earlier this week, I got to speak to a seventh grade class at North Broward Preparatory School about food blogging. A food theme runs through their entire curriculum for the year, so while they are writing their own food blogs for English class, they are also learning about food in science class, and tending an on-campus edible garden. It was a lot of fun to pass on a few nuggets of "wisdom" Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com05205 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33137, USA25.8242908 -80.1913478000000170.30225629999999981 -121.49994180000002 51.346325300000004 -38.882753800000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-21126528370143714012019-09-22T11:35:00.000-04:002019-09-23T23:28:49.382-04:00Cobaya Taymor at Three
For Cobaya Experiment #78, we had an out-of-town chef who came to Miami to immerse himself in the local flavors. For Experiment #79 earlier this month, we had sort of the converse: Ari Taymor, of Santa Monica's Little Prince, brought some Southern California to South Florida for our dinner at Three in Wynwood, where he is doing a stint as "guest chef." Two different approaches: two great mealsFrodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com050 NW 24th St Suite 101, Miami, FL 33127, USA25.7994006 -80.1961140999999880.27736609999999828 -121.50470809999999 51.3214351 -38.887520099999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-44074576230568529072019-08-23T16:59:00.000-04:002019-08-23T16:59:09.087-04:00Cobaya Isabela with Chef Jose Ramirez-Ruiz
Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the things you don't always see in yourself.
José Ramirez-Ruiz was a New Yorker through and through. He refined his cooking skills at some of the city's top restaurants – Per Se, Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, Isa – before going out on his own in 2012 with a pop-up in Williamsburg called "Chez José." Chez José eventually ripened into a full-blown Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com07357 NW Miami Ct, Miami, FL 33150, USA25.842886 -80.196980.32085149999999985 -121.505574 51.3649205 -38.888386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-46517068634124936282019-08-04T18:18:00.000-04:002019-08-05T16:11:33.568-04:00a decade of cobaya
It was exactly ten years ago to the day that Steven (a/k/a Chowfather), Steve (a/k/a Blind
Mind) and I hosted our first Cobaya "underground" dinner. Those were interesting times. Following the financial crisis of 2007-08, the food world seemed to be at something of an inflection point. Chefs like David Chang were pulling the chair out from the pretensions of fine dining and replacing it with Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8360180337648262818.post-70533801469887888722019-07-20T13:56:00.000-04:002019-07-20T13:56:15.657-04:00Cobaya Obra with Chef Carlos Garcia
For years, Chef Carlos Garcia ran what was generally regarded as one of the top dining destinations in Latin America in his hometown of Caracas, Venezuela. Between 2013-2016, his restaurant Alto was a regular on the Pellegrino "Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants" list. But Venezuela, wracked by political and economic strife, has been a challenging place to live, much less run a restaurant. Frodnesorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03830756373260010912noreply@blogger.com0Jade at Brickell Bay, 1331 Brickell Bay Dr, Miami, FL 33131, USA25.7599996 -80.18916289999998525.7591056 -80.190423399999986 25.7608936 -80.187902399999984