Immunized from Criticism

I do so love a man with a sense of humor. Not that I'm going to harbor any illicit feelings toward the proprietor of the Harbor Grille (815 NE Third St., Dania Beach, 954-927-3232), Neil Zucker. But he's thoroughly won my admiration with his response to a critical review I...

By Jen Karetnick

January 23, 2003

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I do so love a man with a sense of humor. Not that I'm going to harbor any illicit feelings toward the proprietor of the Harbor Grille (815 NE Third St., Dania Beach, 954-927-3232), Neil Zucker. But he's thoroughly won my admiration with his response to a critical review I published in May of last year about his restaurant, during which I discussed the ramifications of having servers who wielded rusty corkscrews. Instead of weeping and moaning and writing to the editor, Zucker and his bartender immediately whipped up a new drink in our honor -- the "New Times Tetanus Shot," a blend of one half-ounce light rum, one half-ounce dark rum, one half-ounce Nassau Royale, equal parts pineapple and orange juice, and a splash of grenadine with a 151 float. Zucker assures me that not only is it a perfectly ugly rust color but that it "will end whatever ails you." Indeed the Tetanus Shot, along with Zucker's willingness to spin a negative into a positive, has no doubt helped cure the Harbor Grille, if the success of Zucker's second venture, Forte Jazz Café, is anything to go by.

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Jen Karetnick is an award-winning dining critic, food-travel writer, and author of the books Ice Cube Tray Recipes, Mango, and The 500 Hidden Secrets of Miami.

Contact: Jen Karetnick