A recent article in The New York Times’ dining section, entitled “Navigating the Bar When It’s Three Drinkers Deep,” offers the following advice on how to get a drink: “Seek out the shortest people and get behind them — same strategy as at a rock concert. Wave a large wad…
You might expect a place called Mimi’s Ravioli (5714 Johnson St., Hollywood, 954-983-6201) to carry fresh ravioli stuffed with everything from minced seafood to porcini mushrooms. You could also anticipate being able to buy just-prepared spaghetti and fettuccine. But Mimi’s goes above the call of duty by providing edibles that…
Wanted: Jack-of-all-trades for 24-hour-a-day, 52-week-a-year job. Must have knowledge of business management, interior design, and food and beverage purchasing. Required skills include accounting, cooking, and multitasking. Background in customer relations or human resources necessary. Large family and experience in damage control helpful. No telecommuting. Salary based on profits; benefits to…
It stands to reason that if you have a craving for barbecued ribs, you should seek out a joint that specializes in rib preparation. If you have a yen for some really fresh shrimp, stop in at a seafood shack. If you seek a high-quality steak, going to a steak…
Just by existing Goulash Charda (2215 N. Federal Hwy., Hollywood, 954-926-3355), one of the only significant Hungarian dining rooms in Broward and Palm Beach counties, is pretty special. Its status rises even higher if you add in the accomplished live musicians playing Gypsy music on ancient and authentic instruments. Now…
Summer specials are coming to an end, but there’s still time to grab one of the better ones in town. You have until August 31 to hit the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach (2800 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, 561-582-2800) — you know, the place that’s always just a little…
If you look for a definition of oversolicitous in a dictionary, you might read that the word means excessively filled with anxiety, concern, or eagerness to please. But if you’re looking for a literal example in restaurant service, your best bet would be to head to Au-Bar, a five-week-old Mediterranean…
If you’re anything like me, you have a bunch of different kinds of kitchen knives. Some you’ve been given as gifts. Some you’ve inherited from grandparents. Some you’ve bought yourself. All are good quality — too good, at least, to throw out or give away. Only problem is, none of…
Summertime’s so slow ’round these parts, at least in terms of what restaurants are up to, that rumormongers have nothing else to do but jump to conclusions. Some of the gossip has panned out as truth: Café Arugula did indeed close. Both ZAN(Z)BAR and East City Grill were forced out…
In an industry that takes itself far too seriously, I admire any form of irreverence when I find it. I appreciate dry humor or sarcasm. I can even go for a touch of cynicism. Perhaps that’s why I like Johnny Vinczencz so much. Johnny V, the executive chef at Astor…
Feeling fat rather than fit this summer? Pizza and other good stuff suddenly off-limits? No longer, thanks to Esposito’s Pizza Restaurant (2221 S. University Dr., Davie, 954-916-5667). Namesake proprietor Lynne Esposito, a veteran pizzeria owner from Long Island, bakes a “diet pizza,” which is made with low-fat cheeses and a…
In Miami-Dade Marc Soyka is known as a restaurateur with a real-estate agent’s instincts — he’s all about location, location, location. The proprietor of the international attraction News Café on Ocean Drive in South Beach (along with Van Dyke Café on Lincoln Road in South Beach and Soyka on Biscayne…
Though Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties are logistically very close together, each county has distinct characteristics and inhabitants. So it takes a unique restaurant to draw customers from all three areas. Most of the eateries that have succeeded in doing so have been très upscale spots with celebrity chefs,…
At Julie’s Italian Ices, Hoagies & Subs (508 N. Dixie Hwy., Lantana, 561-586-2030), the specialty is the last on the list — submarine sandwiches. A 12-inch sub, sliced meats garnished with your choice of cheese, onions, sweet peppers, jalapeño peppers, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and assorted condiments, weighs as much as…
How you view a cuisine in general often depends on your first exposure to it. Diners who have good experiences in restaurants exotic to them, like sushi bars, often become fanatically devoted to that type of fare. On the flip side, those who have the misfortune of encountering faulty ethnic…
Forget about having burgers your way; now you can order wings to your specifications — and not merely hot, medium, or mild. At Wings Place (7210 W. McNab Rd., North Lauderdale, 954-722-7878), you can choose from 13 different sauces, including hot (hot sauce and Tabasco), barbecue, honey mustard, teriyaki, or…
Bless other people’s rudeness, for it often sets up an antimodel for our own behavior. Too proverbial a message? Allow me to illustrate. I was witness to an extremely unpleasant scene on a recent Friday evening at a small, perhaps two-month-old South American eatery called Los Andes in Pompano Beach…
Folks are always bemoaning what we don’t have in the Broward/Palm Beach ethnic dining scene: No Nepalese food. No Tibetan. No Malaysian. Not a drop of Ethiopian, or any cuisine from the African continent, for that matter. One oversight has recently been corrected, though. Thanks to La Molienda (119 W…
Many restaurants are like adolescents — they suffer from identity crises. Who am I? Do others see the “real” me or just what I present outwardly? And while we’re at it, who am I going to be when I grow up?Nevis, in these terms, is clearly a budding teen. The…
I don’t usually devote this space to businesses that no longer exist, but Arugula Café and Darrel & Oliver’s East City Grille both deserve a proper postmortem. Along with Café Maxx, chef-proprietor Dick Cingolani’s Arugula Café was a New World groundbreaker back in the late ’80s. Cingolani recently closed his…
Curses on the foodie(s) who came up with the term Mediterranean cuisine. The tag sounds specific, as if this type of fare could be neatly identified and pigeonholed. But the label is actually nebulous, since it takes into account all the regions of southern Europe, northern Africa, and various other…
The Pineapple Grove District in Delray Beach is finally coming into its own. Just a touch north of Atlantic Avenue, the sleepy section was redone a couple of years ago but has only just started to attract business. And so far the attraction has proved ethnic: Joining Kyoto Sushi and…
