Vaughan Lazar

Clay Conley Has a Secret Love for Skittles, Starburst, and Twizzlers

If you don't know who Clay Conley is, you're obviously not that into food. For the past two years, Conley has been nominated for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef in the South -- this year he was the only nominee in all of Broward and Palm Beach counties. The Maine native started off his culi ... More >>

Paul Castronovo: Give Him Pasta and Wine and He's Good to Go

If you've spent more than five minutes in South Florida, you know who Paul Castronovo is. As part of the Paul and Young Ron Show, Castronovo has woken up more South Floridians than a strong cup of Cuban coffee. The Paul and Young Ron morning radio show is much more than the usual comedic high jinks ... More >>

Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich: South Florida's Savviest Restaurateurs

To say the South Florida nightclub and restaurant scene would be a much more bland and boring place without Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich would be a huge understatement. While Mayo was opening his long-established West Palm Beach nightclub and live music venue, Respectable Street, in the mid-80s, f ... More >>

Ryan Sentz of Funky Buddha Brewery Wants More Breweries and No More Crappy Beers

As craft beer bubbles into South Florida's mainstream Ryan Sentz and the Funky Buddha Lounge & Brewery in only two short years have risen to the head of the pack. Maybe it's the Maple Bacon Porter that has craft beer enthusiasts packing their bar three deep. Maybe it's the speakeasy vibe of their B ... More >>

Nanci Alexander of Sublime Would Vote Foie Gras Off the Island

Quick! Name all the restaurants you can that donate all their profits to non-profit organizations? Sublime does just that. Sublime's owner, Nanci Alexander, is number five on our Tastemaker countdown. She founded the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF). The creation of Sublime is an ext ... More >>

Tim Petrillo of the Restaurant People Wants to See Edgier Restaurant Concepts

When it comes to downtown Fort Lauderdale restaurants, many have come and gone. If it wasn't lack of interest, it was the recession. If that didn't kill their business, changing trends did. Point being: it's a fickle business and you have to be on top of your game to stay relevant. In terms of the ... More >>

Steve Martorano Wants More Great Italian-American Places

A little over 20 years ago, Steve Martorano -- number seven on our Tastemaker countdown -- was on his way back up north. His dreams of opening a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale didn't work out and the cook (he doesn't like the word chef) was at the airport, waiting for a flight to Philadelphia. Then, ... More >>

Tom Moynihan of d.b.a./cafe Follows in His Father's Footsteps

d.b.a./café breaks the notion that good food and drink must be accompanied by a fancy setting and fancy prices. Cut up wine boxes line the kickspace under the bar. More of them form a New York City skyline at the far end of the restaurant, past the multicolored string of Christmas lights. Yes, Ch ... More >>

Lindsay Autry of Sundy House is South Florida's Top Chef

Being a finalist on season nine of Bravo's Top Chef, may have brought Tastemaker number 9, Lindsay Autry into our living rooms, but the chef had been working on her culinary career long before that. The Johnson & Wales University graduate's career started as a kid in North Carolina, trying to figur ... More >>

David Sabin of Brickhouse PR Wants to See More Celebrity Chef-Driven Restaurants

Not long ago the Palm Beach Wine and Food Festival was just a one-night affair taking over Palm Beach's very exclusive Worth Avenue. That is, of course, until our Tastemaker number 10, David Sabin brought it to another level. He's brought the festival from a one night event into a five day celebrati ... More >>

Jodi Swank of Swank Farms Would Vote Nutella Off the Island

Things are growing in Loxahatchee. That's where Jodi and Darrin Swank of Swank Specialty Produce grow some of the most beautiful and desired vegetables and herbs on their hydroponic farm. Though farming isn't easy in South Florida, the work pays off. The produce from the farm, which includes 200 v ... More >>

Cleve Mash of Dirty Martini Brings a Taste of Country to Palm Beach County

Before Cleve Mash became one of Palm Beach County's nightclub and restaurant owners, he was just an 18-year-old boy manning the door at his favorite South Florida nightclub. Sure, he wasn't old enough to be a bouncer -- but no one else knew it. Back then, he imagined opening his own club in that ver ... More >>

Lauren DeShields of Market 17 Is Done With Overrated Steakhouses

Lauren De Shields is a lifelong Florida native. She grew up in a Florida, food-centric family and even began her formal culinary education at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami. She cooked under Dean Max at 3030 Ocean for three years before heading out to California where she cooked at severa ... More >>

Tim Lipman of Coolinary Cafe: Serve Food That Is Honest, Fresh, Simple, and Refined

Tastemaker #14, Tim Lipman, and his wife Jenny, are the cool kids behind Coolinary Cafe, Jupiter's 47-seat eatery that is so often so packed, reservations are recommended for the nightly seatings. What's most impressive, however, is that Lipman changes his specials menu twice daily. Such frequent ... More >>

Iliya Dimitrov of Valentino's Cucina Italiana Has a Secret Weakness For Ben & Jerry's

Not to sound pretentious, but there are bartenders and then there are mixologists. Bartenders are perfectly happy pouring a beer or mixing together a vodka and soda. Mixologists, on the other hand, are like mad--drunken--scientists: mixing up concoctions that have never been seen before. Iliya Dimi ... More >>

Frank Coniglio of E.R. Bradley's Saloon: Tells Us About the Harvey Wallbanger and His Love of Horse Racing

The Palm Beach food scene wouldn't be what it is today without the Coniglio family and its most notable family member - number 16 on our Tastemakers list - Frank Coniglio, co-owner for a string of Florida establishments that includes Palm Beach Island's Cucina dell'Arte, Nick & Johnnie's and Cha Cha ... More >>

Marc Falsetto of Rok:Brgr Hopes to See More Chefs Taking Culinary Leaps

Tastemaker 17 is Marc Falsetto, founder and CEO of ROK:BRGR Burger Bar and Gastropub in downtown Fort Lauderdale. You've probably noticed that gastropubs serving up craft beers and hand-crafted burgers are pretty popular these days. And for good reason - craft burgers and craft beers are two of th ... More >>

Julieta Bocos of Casa Frida is South Florida's Mexican Ambassador of Food

At Casa Frida Number 18 on our Tastemakers list, Julieta Bocos wants you to taste Mexico. Not the Mexico fast food chains try to sell, and not the Tex-Mex most Americans mistake as Mexican food. Slow-cooked moles - a Mexican sauce made with chocolate and chilis - and fall-apart pork called cochinit ... More >>

Susan Kim of Gabose Would Vote Meatballs Off the Island

Thanks to Susan Kim, you wouldn't be out of line if you called Lauderhill, Florida's Little Korea. Though the west Broward enclave isn't quite as dense with Korean business as Little Korea in Los Angeles, Kim and her Korean (barbecue) restaurant Gabose have paved the way for the slew of Korean eater ... More >>

Eric Guerro, Mark Fee, and Jeff Evans of Angry Union Brewing: See Which One Chose Chocolate Chip Cookies Over Beer

About two years, Mark Fee started brewing beer on his stove at home. The firefighter paramedic took up brewing as a hobby to let off steam. It didn't take long for some of his friends and fellow firefighters to join in on the brew making. It took only a few tries for the guys to figure out that th ... More >>

Vaughan Lazar of Kapow! Says the Local Scene Needs More Locally Sourced Food and Zombie Killers

The exclamation point is an official part of the name Kapow! Noodle Bar in Mizner Park. That enthusiasm is brought in no small part by the CEO and co-founder, Vaughan Lazar. Although Lazar was once known for his skills as a DJ spinning house music at club parties across South Florida, today he's be ... More >>

New Spring Craft Cocktail Menu Debuts Today at Kapow! in Mizner Park

In the past year or so, the craft cocktail has been on everyone's menu -- but not every menu is truly craft. Not so at Kapow! Noodle Bar in Boca Raton, where cocktail menu creator Angela Dugan -- wife to Kapow! co-owner and Pizza Fusion CEO Vaughan Lazar -- recently stepped-in to revamp the establi ... More >>

Pizza Fusion to Open Flagship Corporate Restaurant in Boca Raton

Pizza Fusion, the South Florida-based pizza chain with the slogan, "Saving the Earth, One Pizza at a Time," recently announced plans to open two new locations -- one in Naples and a second in Boca Raton, which will be the brand's first corporate location. Currently the leading green franchise in Nor ... More >>

"No Kid Hungry"'s Great American Dine Out: Kapow, Pizza Fusion, Others Fight Childhood Hunger

It may seem incredulous to think that hunger is a problem in the United States -- especially when we simultaneously have an obesity epidemic -- but according to Share Our Strength, a national organization working to end childhood hunger nationwide, there are currently 16 million kids living without ... More >>

Fresh Seafood Markets in Broward and Palm Beach

There's buying fish from a commercial chain grocery store, and then there's buying fish from a local fish market. If you've ever walked past your local supermarket fish department and gasped for air, you know exactly what I mean.Especially after recent concerns of area fish fraud and mislabeling, we ... More >>

Where to Spend Super Bowl Sunday in South Florida if You Don't Care About the Game

​During a recent lunch meeting over tacos, the Clean Plate Charlie crew debated the relative merits of the entertainment juggernaut known as the Super Bowl. While some looked at the sporting extravaganza as a sort of second Thanksgiving -- wake up late, start drinking early, and stuff yoursel ... More >>

Villacrusis Has Left Kapow! Noodle Bar

​ Updated.Kapow! Noodle Bar has gone the way of Banana Republic by introducing sliders to the menu. This item signals a move to a conservatism to align with its Mizner Park location, prompting chef Roy Villacrusis to depart for other projects. The noodle bar conceived by Rodney Mayo and Scott Fri ... More >>

Kapow! Noodle Bar in Boca Raton: Engaging Menu, Ambitious Chef, but What Are They Doing in Mizner?

Kapow! Noodle Bar's Chef Roy Villacrusis Has Got A Problem

The wood-framed interior and an ocean of mural give the illusion of being on an old ship.​"I think I have a problem," said chef Roy Villacrusis of Kapow! Noodle Bar, the subject of this week's review. "I don't care what people think."He's not just talking about the menu the Mizner Park noodle hous ... More >>

Kapow! Noodle Bar: Restaurant Crib Notes

​Kapow! Noodle Bar chef Roy Villacrusis won the "Grand Chef Throwdown" at the fifth annual Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival last night, a five-day benefit for the James Beard Foundation. Villacrusis, who helmed the short-lived Kubo that earned New Times' Best Restaurant in Palm Beach in 2011, com ... More >>

Tap 42 and Kapow! Noodle Bar Open for Lunch

Melissa McCart​In the event you've made the rounds on our Fort Lauderdale lunch list, there's a new one in the queue.

Kapow! Noodle Bar in Boca Raton Opening November 23: A Sneak Peek Inside

Giving passers-by a peek inside Kapow! Noodle Bar. ​ Noodle fans in Boca Raton have been champing at the bit for the opening of Kapow! Noodle Bar in Mizner Park. The brainchild of Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich (of Dada, Tryst, the Dubliner, Respectable Street, and Vagabond, to name a few) and Vau ... More >>

Roy Villacrusis Named Executive Chef of Boca Raton's Kapow! Noodle Bar

​This just in: Roy Villacrusis, the man behind the innovative small-plates menu at the new Palm Beach Gardens hot spot Dirty Martini and the owner of North Palm Beach's Kubo, has been named executive chef for Kapow! Noodle Bar in Boca Raton.Villacrusis' brand of "Asiatic Cuisine" forms the ba ... More >>

Kapow! Noodle House to Open November 1

​The guys behind Boca Raton's most anticipated restaurant opening will narrow down their chef pick for Kapow! Noodle Bar this week, says partner Vaughan Lazar (Pizza Fusion), one of three partners behind the Asian fusion concept, a joint project conceived by Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich.The pool ... More >>

Restaurant News: Kapow! Noodle Bar to Hit Boca, Prime Offers $10 Lunch Deal, Asian Fusion Buffet Dishes in Royal Palm

​•    Hoping they're launching a really big hit, niteclub impresarios Rodney Mayo and Scott Freilich and Pizza Fusion proprietor Vaughan Lazar are planning to open Kapow! Noodle Bar in July in Boca's Mizner Park. "Fresh and sustainable" pan-Asian noodles, some dim sum items and co ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: No. 47 -- Bruschetta Pizza From Pizza Fusion

As a countdown to the Best of Broward Palm Beach 2011, coming in June, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in South Florida. Send your own nominations to Deirdra.Funcheon@BrowardPalmBeach.com.No. 47: Bruschetta Pizza from Pizza Fusion​

Pizza Fusion's Vaughan Lazar Cancels GoDaddy Accounts in Wake of Elephant Slaughter

Bob Parsons, right before he started losing money.​Vaughan Lazar is pissed. The Pizza Fusion czar is definitely not down with elephant slaughter, and when GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons bragged about killing a male on video in Zimbabwe (which experts say was actually a protected female), Lazar lost it. A ... More >>

[Updated] Pizza Fusion Fort Lauderdale Special: Trade Ed Hardy Gear for Pizza

Flickr: Gabriel Madrigal PhotographyDon't be like these douchebags from Ghost Adventures. Donate your Ed Hardy gear!Update: Check after the jump for the total amount of Ed Hardy shirts Pizza Fusion donated.​Vaughan Lazar, founder of the Pizza Fusion company, is trying to keep Fort Lauderdale class ... More >>

Pizza Fusion Founder Vaughan Lazar Talks Tattoos and Saudi Arabia

Photo by Devin DesjarlaisPizza Fusion co-founder Vaughan Lazar is humble about his success.​Vaughan Lazar, the man behind the legendary organic pizza chain restaurant, Pizza Fusion, happened to be at the Fort Lauderdale store last week. Granted it wasn't a far stretch since Lazar lives in Boca Rat ... More >>

It's Their Party, and They'll Spin If They Want To

Mark Vroman and Vaughan Lazar select tracks for the masses