Subject: Food and Cooking

• Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

  ​ No wine gets a blanc stare faster than Chenin Blanc. It may be the white wine grape of France's Loire Valley, but in these parts, you see it about as often as snow drifts on Ocean Drive. It had a few minutes of fame in the 1960s and 1970s and showed up in more than its share of cheap white wine blends, but unless you go to South Africa or France, your chances of finding Chenin Blanc as a standalone varietal are pretty small.  This is really quite the pisser, as Chenin Blanc can be made

  October 12, 2009

• Bamboo Fire is Hot Stuff in Delray

  If you're not a subscriber to our weekly Café Bites dining newsletter for Broward and Palm Beach counties, here's a taste of what you missed this week. Click here to subscribe. Photo by Flickr user eastbayjay​You've probably heard about all hot stuff going on along Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. Linda Bean's (as in L.L.) Perfect Maine Lobster Roll just opened (check back for a First Look next week). David Manero's The Of-fice (in the old Louie Louie Too space) is under major construction,

  October 13, 2009

• Order Up: Mustard Seed Bistro

  John LinnOne of Mustard Seed's signature dishes is the roasted duck with cherry gastrique.​ On deck this week: our review of Mustard Seed Bistro, a quaint French-inspired eatery in Cooper City. It's the product of Tim and Lara Boyd, a pair of restaurateurs now in their second location since selling Plantation's Upper Crust Cafe in 2004. Like their last effort, Milk and Honey, the Mustard Seed makes use of timeless bistro dishes like tuna Nicoise and French onion soup, each plating with an extr

  October 13, 2009

• The Mustard Seed Bistro in Cooper City Works With a Very Specific Crowd

  October 15, 2009

• Latitudes Beach Café Makes Us Wonder About that Top Chef Thing

  October 15, 2009

• Lovin' Gets Greasy at Grampa's Bakery in Dania Beach

  Photo by Flickr user Bowhaus​OK, so he spent the night. Sue me. I'm a grown woman with needs, for goodness' sakes. Said "needs" also entitle me to three or more meals a day -- I'm hypoglycemic, so there's a legitimate reason for my steady appetite -- and by morning I was simply ravenous. For those of you who "forgot" to read last week's column or too quickly relegated it to become the liner for your pet iguana's cage, I introduced you to my new amour, a darling boy who suffers from one bi

  October 14, 2009

• Anatomy of a Bad Meal at Latitudes Beach Cafe

  John LinnMiso sea bass at Latitudes: Oh, the humanity.​Last week I checked out Ron Duprat's restaurant in the Hollywood Beach Marriott, Latitudes Beach Cafe. I high hopes for Duprat's food after catching the Haitian-born chef on this season of the Bravo series Top Chef, even if longtime critic Gail Shepherd had once ravaged the place with such a scathing review you can still hear her pounding on the keyboard as you read it. But that was years ago. Certainly the affable Duprat has come a long w

  October 14, 2009

• Todd English Moving into Seminole Hard Rock?

  Surprise! It's Todd English!​Jazziz Bistro, the swank supper club in the Seminole Hard Rock and sister "venue" to Jazziz magazine, closed in April of this year. Since then, the site has remained empty, with a lot of speculation as to what is going in there. Now the rumor mill is brewing, and some are saying celebrity chef Todd English will be the one to move into the spot with a brand new restaurant. At least, that would explain his number of recent appearances around South Florida. Spokespers

  October 14, 2009

• L'Hermitage Pairs Organic Veggies and Wine

  If you're not a subscriber to our weekly Café Bites dining newsletter for Broward and Palm Beach counties, here's a taste of what you missed this week. Click here to subscribe.Photo by Flickr user Mia Elliott​Organic. It's not just for vegetables any more. It's for wine too, and put both of them together and they're greener than a boatload of Priuses stuffed with free-range tofu. Which is exactly what Christine Najac and Marci Boland are doing with a tasting of organic wines paired to dishe

  October 15, 2009

• Doggie Bag: This Week in Charlie

  This week according to Chucky:Like we always say, "the greasier the spoon, the better."​Troy's Bar-Be-Que in Boynton Beach has great ribs and pork, but skip the sides.Women love the Frenchified eats at Mustard Seed Bistro in Cooper City.More eateries hit the skids this week, as Italian Oven Cafe and Frankies 124 shove off.Riki greasy spoons with her new beau at Grampa's Bakery.How bad is Top Chef Ron Duprat's Latitudes Beach Cafe? Here's the blow-by-blow.Is celeb chef Todd English opening a th

  October 16, 2009

• Peniel's Palace in Fort Lauderdale Boasts Inexpensive Southern Cooking

  October 22, 2009

• Bamboo Fire Café in Delray Beach Is Worth the Wait

  October 22, 2009

• Reef Rd Opens on Clematis

  ​Can the folks behind Rocco's Tacos do for seafood and rum what Rocco's did for tacos and tequila? We're about to find out with the debut of Reef Rd Rum Bar, which opened right across Clematis Street from the wildly popular nouveau taqueria.   Local moguls Big Time Restaurant Group, Rocco Mangel and nitespot hotshot Cleve Mash are all partners in the deal, taking over the old Clematis Social and turning it into a moderately priced seafood shack with a laid-back Key West-y vibe. It do

  October 21, 2009

• Pete's Tuscan Hibachi Grill Closed, to Possibly Reopen in December

  ​Pete's Tuscan Hibachi Grill was the Joey Bishop to Cafe Bella Sera's Sinatra: classy, oddly entertaining, a good sense of humor. But now, the unique concept that fused Japanese hibachi-style cooking with Italian-American eats is officially closed.The Parkland restaurant, which sat right next door to owner Pete Lombard Jr.'s successful Cafe Bella Sera, shut its doors in mid September after struggling to pull its weight in difficult times. Lombard says the restaurant, which he opened in January

  October 21, 2009

• Bova Ristorante in Boca Raton Closes

  Florida Design​With all the restaurants closing their doors lately, it's easy to get a little jaded. But it's a shock when a powerhouse like Bova Ristorante quits, which, according to employees at the restaurant, is just what happened Saturday night.The restaurant, at 1450 N. Federal Highway in Boca Raton, closed for good following service on Saturday evening. It's unclear at this time exactly what led to the closure, but Clean Plate Charlie will keep you posted.Bova's loss is a big one. In 20

  October 21, 2009

• For Stone Crab and More, See the Captain

  ​Now that stone crab season is upon us, you gotta see the Captain. It's Florida lobster season too, so you gotta see the Captain. And if you want live softshell crabs, fresh Cape Canaveral shrimp, pumpkin swordfish, spear-caught hog snapper and more, you gotta see the Captain.  "The Captain" would be Capt. Frank's Seafood Market, an unassuming little place just off I-95 in Boynton Beach that, in an age when chain everythings swallow independent operators like a Great White with a mile

  October 22, 2009

• Butts and Cubes? Yeah, Those are Some Good, Cheap Meats

  Photo by Flickr user Maddog 20/20Cube steak: Tasty, yes, but cover it in something.​Just because it's spendy doesn't make it good, as the series of "Mummy" movies keeps hammering home again and again. But the reverse is true as well: it doesn't have to cost a ton of money to not suck. Witness the $15,000 film Paranormal Activity for example. What does this have to do with meat? Strictly speaking, not much. But as the old adage says, "as goes film, so goes meat," and this week I'm going to look

  October 23, 2009

• Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

  ​Three of the iconic white wine grapes in France's Goats Do Roam region are Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. Uh, actually, that would be Cotes du Rhone, but to a South African vintner with a sense of humor (and an apparent affection for mondegreens), it would be a cool thing to tweak the stuffy French wine world and give wine drinkers a giggle by naming his line of Rhone-style wines after the goats that do, in fact, roam on his Western Cape estate.  So Charles Back created Goats Do

  October 26, 2009

• LOLA Loves and Laughs in Delray

  ​As a philosophy, "Love often, laugh a lot" is not half-bad, certainly better than Jon Gosselin's "Loser often a little shit" or David Carradine's "Lonely onanist loves a knot." As a name for a restaurant it's not bad either; nobody gets into the business unless they love it, and if you don't have a sense of humor you'll go around snarling at puppies and flowers like Dick Cheney.  There's no snarling at puppies and flowers at Wendy Rosano's LOLA, her sleek new restaurant and ultra lounge

  October 27, 2009

• Shula's on the Beach

  October 29, 2009

• Carousel Can Can in CityPlace Is All Sexed-Up With Nowhere to Go

  October 29, 2009

• Satoro Restaurant & Lounge

  October 29, 2009

• Top Chef 7 Florida Casting, In Pictures

  Jacob KatelProspective Top Chef contestants shoot the shit while they wait their turn to see the casting director.​Top Chef 7 is officially on its way to your signal box, and Magical Elves, the production company behind the hit Bravo series, was in Miami on Sunday looking for talent. Prospective contestants turned up for a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. casting call at Club 50 in Brickell's Viceroy. Chefs from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Coconut Creek, Tampa, Orlando, and even Jamaica showed up for the chance

  October 28, 2009

• Top Five South Beach Wine and Food Festival Events Worth Going To

  Courtesy of Melissa Horn for New York Magazine​Tickets went on sale Monday for the 2010 South Beach Wine and Food Festival, that annual event that keeps getting bigger, bigger, bigger. This year, there are nearly three-dozen events to attend, from wine seminars to a tribute dinner for chef Daniel Boulud. In the past, we've dissected the most popular event, the Dionysian free-for-all known as the Grand Tasting Village. This year, we're going to give our picks for the top five events that should

  October 28, 2009

• Dish Deconstructed: Matteo's Linguine Frutti di Maré

  Bill Citara​Matteo's is the kind of upscale Italian-American restaurant that's as common as Botoxed foreheads and lipo-ed thighs in its tony Boca Raton neighborhood. The menu doesn't plow any new culinary ground, but what it does it does pretty well, and one dish it does really well is the classic linguine frutti di maré.   Too many Italian-esque restaurants in these parts just sling a bunch of seafood into a marinara sauce and call it done, making what should be a dish of some deli

  October 29, 2009

• Elevation Burger Coming to Coral Springs, Grand Openings in Hollywood

  ​• Who says the hamburger has to be the symbol of American junk food? Not Hans Hess, founder of Arlington, VA based chain, Elevation Burger. The recently franchised burger hut pays much credence to its slogan, "Ingredients Matter," building its double-meat patties out of 100% organic, free-range, grass-fed beef. The company also promises all its ingredients -- including toppings like caramelized onions and hot pepper relish -- are fully sustainable, and local when possible. There's even a bu

  October 29, 2009

• Rock 'N' Roll Ribs Pairs Metal with Barbecue in Coral Springs

  Nicko McBrain behind the kit.​For nearly 30 years, drummer Nicko McBrain has toured the world as part of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Iron Maiden. He's played arenas and festivals, in front of tens of thousands of people in places Bangalore, India and Gothenburg, Sweden, and hundreds of thousands in Brazil. And throughout that time traveling from city to city, McBrain didn't just perform great; he also ate exceptionally well. Now McBrain -- who lives in South Florida when he's n

  October 30, 2009

• The Office in Delray Beach Snags Mark Militello

  Photo by Jacob KatelChef Mark Militello​Chef Mark Militello has left 1 Bleu at the One Resort and Spa (formerly The Regent Bal Harbour) to join The Office, a gastropub in Delray said to be opening in late November. Last December Militello took the reigns as executive chef of culinary operations at The Regent Bal Harbour. That was only six months after the last of his four namesake restaurants, Mark's in Boca Raton's Mizner Park, closed. The Regent Bal Harbour was sold in June. The Office is t

  November 3, 2009

• Callaro's Prime in Manalapan Serves Up Old-Fashioned, Beefy Indulgence

  November 5, 2009

• Chef Tommy Valdes at Trattoria Bella Cibo in Margate Makes His Pitch

  November 5, 2009

• Roxy's Rocks on the Roof

  ​If you want to get high at Roxy's, come Saturday, Nov. 28, you actually can. Legally, even. That's when the Clematis Street complex that includes Roxy's Pub, 10@2 Saloon and Rome Nightclub is throwing a street-wide beerfest to celebrate the debut of its rooftop bar and restaurant, Roxy's on the Roof.   The 7,500-square-foot space will feel like de islands, mon, complete with palm trees, waterfalls, bamboo, a gazebo, twin bars and 1,500-square-food teak dance floor. There will be liv

  November 4, 2009

• Unbelievable Dessert: Baklava Cheesecake at Satoro in Hollywood

  ​The best thing I ate at my recent visit to Satoro Restaurant and Lounge in Hollywood was dessert. Which is not to say the rest of the meal I enjoyed a few days back was a disappointment -- on the contrary, the meal whipped up by chef Alexander Dziurzynski formerly of Jackson's Steakhouse was exceptional. But I was blown away by the baklava cheese cake infused with goat cheese, a dessert so perfectly constructed it ranks among the finest I've ever tasted.First, you'll have to excuse the s

  November 4, 2009

• Even Fast-Food Giants Know: It's Not Hard to Make an Awesome Wing

  Photo by Flickr user sokolokophoto​I hate chain restaurants, and they seem to be multiplying. Every time I turn around, there's another squatting smugly across the parking lot from Best Buy or snuggled into the corner of a mall, waiting for trans-fat-hungry customers to order some sort of deep-fried, oversauced platter of bulk-purchased protein, served up by a toothy waitron wearing a metric ton of flair.Despite the best efforts of these culinary chop shops, there's one decent dish many of the

  November 6, 2009

• Six Things the Customer Should Always Do

  ​If you've ever wondered why restaurant workers sometimes want to gouge their own eyes out or shave off all their body hair and stow away on a tramp steamer bound for Guatamala, New York restaurateur Bruce Buschel's pair of blog posts that ran recently in the New York Times (part one is here, part two is here) should give you a pretty good idea.  Titled "One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do," it's a seven-page list of no-nos, better nots, and damned well ought-tos, some

  November 10, 2009

• Texas Hold ´Em BBQ Moves to Downtown Fort Lauderdale in Style

  November 12, 2009

• One Cooking Show You Can’t Tivo

  November 12, 2009

• A Big Fat Greek Letdown in Fort Lauderdale

  Photo by flickr user shesimmers.​For many of us unmarried gals, it can be particularly difficult eating alone in public. Now it just so happens that the boyfriend had to work late last Thursday after I returned from a road trip and the fridge was so bare that I could actually see the items I should've thrown out years ago so [sob, sob] I was forced to eat out alone. I figured the only thing that could give me comfort would be a bowl of matzo ball soup. But where could I find that 'round here t

  November 11, 2009

• Restaurant News: Mango Gangster to Delray, Gourmet and Green, Lantana Bash

  ​•    Allen Susser, one of the original Mango Gangers (with Norman Van Aken and Mark Militello), will open a gastropub, Taste, in the Pineapple Grove area of Delray Beach sometime early next year. Look for small plates of comfy food and a roster of swell cocktails. •    Also in Delray, Joey Giannuzzi's Green Gourmet made its debut in the Shoppes at Addison Place. It features traditional and contemporary American dishes prepared with organic, all-natural ingred

  November 12, 2009

• Get Downtown, Good Taste on Clematis, Rooftop Par-tay, Mo-Money MoQuila

  John LinnHappiness is a full bottle at Get Downtown in front of YOLO this Friday.​• The 11th annual Riverwalk Get Downtown happy hour ramps up in front of YOLO tomorrow night at 5. The huge, outdoor party will feature music from Fourth Dimension as well as food from Big City Tavern, Chima, the Downtowner Saloon, Sublime, YOLO, and more. Get your tickets for $20 a head a goriverwalk.com, or for $5 more at the door.

  November 12, 2009

• Florida Doesn't Have a Top 50 Craft Brewer

  Source: Brewers Association​At least not according to the Brewers Association, the organization that advocates for the craft brewing industry. Out of the top 50 craft brewers in the country, Florida isn't represented by one. In fact, Florida is among the states with the fewest number of breweries per capita with one per 470,000 people.Which isn't to say Floridians don't like their craft beer. According to Adam Fine, President of Fort Lauderdale-based craft beer distributor Fresh Beer, Inc., th

  November 12, 2009

• Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

  ​When Piero Antinori produced the first Tignanello in the 1971, it was a real kick in the ass to rule- and tradition-bound Tuscan winemakers, most of whom had long been make Chianti in accordance with government regulation. At first 100 percent Sangiovese, later blended with varying amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, this debut "Super Tuscan" (so named by wine writer Robert Parker) created a whole new style (and profit center) of Italian wine.  Tignanello is an extraordinary wine that manifes

  November 16, 2009

• Green Papaya Vietnamese Cuisine in Coral Springs

  John LinnThe "BBQ" pork chop dinner at Green Papaya in Coral Springs.​For a fun, casual take on Vietnamese, Green Papaya Vietnamese Cuisine in Coral Springs is a great deal. The above dinner is called a Hau Giang "barbecue pork chop," but is actually a breaded piece of pork loin that's been seared on a flat top or griddle. The cutesy plate features (clockwise from the top) a bowl of pho-style broth with scallions, salad with sweet vinegar dressing and crispy shallots, the pork chop covered in

  November 16, 2009

• Order Up: Bash Wine Cafe

  ​This week in dish, we take a look at Bash Wine Cafe in Sunrise. We first looked at the unassuming bistro a few weeks ago on the blog and found its key asset to be well-priced comfort food. Now, here's an excerpt from our upcoming review:...Perhaps it's fate, then, that Bash's origins were as economically driven as it's menu. Owners Nikki Pettineo and Veronica Lopez essentially had no financial backing and limited budget, yet they've done an admirable job with their premier restaurant. Granted

  November 17, 2009

• Bash Wine Café in Sunrise Delivers Comfort Food at a Helluva Price

  November 19, 2009

• Green Papaya Vietnamese Cuisine in Coral Springs Is Worth Finding

  November 19, 2009

• Brunch Leads to Blissful Break at Aruba Beach Cafe in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea

  Photo by Flickr user moterrien​I knew it was bound to happen at any moment and, finally, it did: our relationship had gone from four-star steakhouses to budget beach brunches.But that's not necessarily as bad as it sounds. My job requires me to dine at some fancy-schmancy place at least once a week and, oftentimes, I drag my poor fella along. It's not always romantic. I spend some of the evening taking notes, our conversation mostly consists of culinary critique, and we are usually seated near

  November 18, 2009

• Restaurant News: Olives Going Wild in Boca, I'm Greek Today in Royal Palm Beach, Gulf Oysters Get a Reprieve

  ​•    By Dec. 1, Todd English's Wild Olives in Boca Raton should be going full bore. The former Opus 5 is currently transitioning to Wild Olives' Mediterranean-esque menu, with the full dinner menu said to be in place by Tuesday, Nov. 24, and lunch a week later. A few items on the menu: crispy skin Florida snapper, porcini-crusted organic chicken, house-made veal agnolotti and English's signature "carpetbagger oysters," fried bivalves with beef carpaccio and truffled whipped p

  November 19, 2009

• Sampling RA Sushi's New Menu

  Jarret StreinerRA's signature "RA"ckin' shimp, sweet onion salmon sashimi, RA chips and salsa, and kaisen ceviche in the center.​By Dori ZinnThe Outback of maki rolls RA Sushi unveiled it's new menu this week. All three South Florida locations - Palm Beach Gardens, Pembroke Pines, and South Miami - will be slinging new dishes, which Charlie sampled at media dinner this Monday. The menu rollout - an annual fall occasion - brings some kinky new names, but not all of them are anything special. N

  November 19, 2009

• Rocco's Opens in Boca, Mugs Moves into Christine's, Argentina Invades Springs

  A face only a mom and pop could love.​• The space that once housed Broward's Best New Restaurant is now a sports bar. Mugs Bar & Grill has taken over where Christine's used to operate on Oakland Park Boulevard. At one time, Christine's doled out contemporary American food to the sound of sultry jazz music. Now you can eat a "mound o' taters" and watch games on the tube in your old favorite seat. Mugs also serves burgers, pasta, and bar food, and has a sizable selection of draft beer. May

  November 20, 2009

• A Seafood Hater's Guide to Eating in Key West: Part One

  ​Confession: I write for a food blog, but I can't stand seafood. Like at all. I just about refuse to eat anything that swims: fish, shrimp, lobster, and scallops are all completely off my menu. So when my girlfriend (who thankfully has the same aversion to eating things that swim) and I decided to take a weekend trip to Key West, we were a little worried about being able to eat well on an island filled with seafood restaurants. After reading John's gastro-tour of Key West, we decided to try to

  November 20, 2009