When I was living in California, back in the early ’90s, the competition for waitressing jobs was tough; the aspiring actors, singers, and dancers had more experience than I did. So when I was offered a position at Ricco’s, a new Italian joint, I broke a cardinal rule by taking…

I’m always looking for ways to improve my quality of life while continuing to indulge my laziness. So when I heard about Cyberchefs (www.cyberchefs.com), I thought I’d found the perfect solution to the work-at-home blahs: order lunch through my computer. The Cyberchefs Website downloads complete menus from local restaurants, and…

In Life on Mars, novelist-journalist Alexander Stuart’s nonfiction account of his somewhat bizarre experiences in eclectic South Florida, he dedicates one chapter to the romance of turn-of-the-century train travel. Having “chanced upon a gleaming, polished-bronze, private Pullman carriage from another era… unhitched to any engine” while waiting for a friend’s…

You’d think with the plethora of New Yorkers down here and the inundation of Italian restaurants that I’d have no problem finding one of my favorite desserts. But cannoli seem to be in short supply, and my longing for the pastries increases with each failed attempt to find one. My…

These days, unfortunately, South Florida is known as much for its strip malls as its palm trees. But let’s face it: While some of us bemoan these street-side monstrosities, we’d be hard-pressed to give up the convenience of one-stop shopping and go traipsing all over town in search of, say,…

Ginger, Sporty, Posh, Baby, and Scary. Yeah, right — those so-called “spicy” chicks are as bland as butter compared to the real Spice Girls: Fifi’s Nasty Little Secret, Bad Girls in Heat, Hot Bitch at the Beach, Lottie’s True Bajan, and my favorite, Mean Devil Woman. Along with Marie Sharp’s…

Forget about picking up a hamburger on your way back to the office. Now you can order an entire diner to go. A snap to assemble, a stainless steel Starlite Diner can be shipped anywhere in the world from Ormond Beach, Florida, where it’s manufactured. Just pour your foundation, put…

Weston freaks me out: the subdivisions, the shopping plazas, the hordes of race walkers. Pink stucco buildings notwithstanding, the unrelenting conformity gives me unwelcome flashbacks to my New Jersey childhood. The rock group Rush said it best: “The suburbs have no charm to soothe the restless dreams of youth.” Insert…

Usually I go into a brief spell of mourning when a chef I admire leaves a restaurant. But when Robbin Haas left Bex (561 E. Palmetto Park Rd., Boca Raton, 561-391-0000) for Red Square (an eatery in South Beach) four weeks ago, I wasn’t as upset as I thought I’d…

I remember butchers. Where steaks and chops glistened behind glass. Where freshly ground chuck was weighed and wrapped in white paper, not some cellophane-strangled package dripping blood. And where a friendly, familiar face complied with special requests, saving bones for stock, slicing meat to specifications, stuffing a chicken. If you…

It was after dinner, while waiting for the valet to retrieve our car, that we got confirmation on what we already knew about Aquaterra, the much anticipated Palm Beach restaurant located on Sunrise Avenue across from the Palm Beach Hotel. As other patrons milled about, waiting for their cars, the…

If you want to check out how well a restaurant is doing, visit on a Monday or Tuesday evening. Stop by an ethnic establishment, a place to which people go for particular flavors. Schedule your meal during prime-time TV hours, when the kids have gone to bed and most folks…

For months it was just a construction site in Pompano Beach, one that I knew would produce something wonderful. So every time I drove by, I practiced the art of patience. When the third independently owned East Coast Burrito Factory (614 E. Atlantic Blvd., 954-785-4111) finally opened on January 7,…

“Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me.” And that’s because, in Fort Lauderdale, you’re not just a song, you’re a bakery (2909 E. Commercial Blvd., 954-772-1529). “Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me,” and serve me all sorts of delectable baked goods. I especially love…

I suppose we should congratulate restaurateurs Carlo Vaccarezza and J.R. Bautista. It’s not often two male partners give birth to fraternal twins: Petaluma and Smoke, joint restaurants that opened two months ago at 2861 and 2863 E. Commercial Blvd., respectively, in Fort Lauderdale. Like many multiple births, the bouncing baby…

Don’t let the name fool you. The tiny, counter-service eatery Empanada Only (119 N. 20th Ave., Hollywood) also sells individual-size gourmet pizzas, fudge-y brownies, cookies, cappuccinos, and Italian ices. But it’s those oven-fresh, stuffed turnovers that’ll grab your attention, particularly the ones bursting with chicken cacciatora; sausage with peppers and…

Let the naysayers natter: They declared the redevelopment of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale a lost cause; they considered the rehabbing of Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach a waste of time; and they dismissed the resurrection of South Beach as a pipe dream. (They’re the same ones who now…

The guidebooks warn against it: Don’t hire a guide in Tangier. Don’t eat in any restaurants there, they also caution. In fact, according to the guidebooks, Americans shouldn’t even consider taking the ferry from the southern tip of Spain to the rocky northern coast of Morocco. Forget the beauty of…

If you’ve ever thought about taking cooking classes but have been too intimidated to try, now’s the time to get over it. Edward List, chef-proprietor of the three-year-old New American restaurant Sprazzo (201 N. Federal Hwy., Jupiter), teaches a class at his establishment every Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8…

In Greece you usually walk into the kitchen of a restaurant and look into the bubbling pots to choose your meal. In the month-old Greek Depot Cafe (200 S. Federal Hwy. in Boca Raton), that step has been deleted: The prepared fare’s laid out behind a counter, and all you…

After I read the latest article to extol Miami’s New World restaurants — the spread in the November issue of Gourmet magazine — I thought (and not for the last time, I suspect): Nice piece. But what about Fort Lauderdale? Long before local voters resolved to change Dade’s name to…