The Hyatt Regency Miami, which underwent a $20 million dollar renovation last year, has unveiled its’ new Pure Verde restaurant. Executive chef Michael Morris will be in charge of the snazzily-designed venue, which just months ago was a dull, aging sports bar. Morris, who previously helmed Hyatt properties in Tampa…
On January 3rd, Starbucks rolled out a quintet of new Tazo full leaf tea beverages that are now available in all stores nationwide. Yesterday the coffee chain hosted “TeaTime events”, which is a civilized way of saying “free samples”. I headed to the most scenic of our Starbucks, at 14th…
Short Order has received word that Andrew Zimmern’s show-taping of Bizarre Foods, scheduled to take place at Jimbo’s tomorrow, has been cancelled. …
Andrew Zimmern, host of Travel Channel’s popular Bizarre Foods series, will be at Jimbo’s on Virginia Key tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday) in order to film part of the show’s upcoming Beach Special. Be there at 4:30 p.m. or later if you want to take part in the party — and perhaps…
Segafredo Zanetti Espresso has opened yet another café, this one at 124 Collins Avenue — they already operate one on Brickell, one in Bal Harbour, and about 570 more worldwide. Segafredo South Pointe will follow the same successful formula as the rest: Coffee, snacks, cocktails, a late night lounge scene…
*After years of my pooh-poohing parsley-speckled plate rims and mindless squiggles of mango and raspberry purees on dessert plates, it seems that both fads have faded into oblivion. Thank you, but please hold your applause until after the column is finished.*Norman Van Aken has laid low of late, no? I…
This coming Monday morning, January 12th, a second block of tickets for previously sold out events will go on sale. So if you were bummed at being shut out of Rachael Ray’s Burger Bash or The Best of the Best at the festive new Fontainebleau, you’ve been given a second…
I could never get it straight: Was Karu the restaurant and Y the lounge, or vice versa? No matter now, as the reopened venue’s newly christened restaurant name is Seecomar’s at Karu & Y, which I thought was a misspelling of Seacomber’s until I saw that the new owner’s name…
The din of our dynamic new wave of dining establishments has diverted attention from some solid stalwarts of Miami’s restaurant scene. These veteran eateries keep their rooms packed with that portion of the public that hasn’t forgotten, but one hardly ever sees their names in print anymore; the media has…
A call to Abokado, the sushi-ceviche restaurant located in downtown Miami’s Mary Brickell Village, yields a message saying “We are temporarily closed”. Their website adds this: “We look forward to bringing you additional information on re-openings and new locations in the new year.” This first restaurant casualty of 2009 is…
Alejandro (Alex) Pinero has just been named chef de cuisine at Fratelli Lyon, the great regional Italian bistro that opened last May in Miami’s Design DIstrict. Pinero, 35, is a Miami native who graduated Johnson & Wales University with honors. Between 1996 and 2004 he worked his way through the…
This Sunday evening, recording artist Farah Juste will be at Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant on South Beach for “a CD signing and celebration”. Ms. Juste’s career as a passionate singer of Haitian folk songs took off with her debut solo album in 1977, and since then she has performed from…
For those procrastinators yet to nail down New Years Eve dinner plans, may we suggest dialing 305-893-4211 and making reservations at chef Dewey LoSasso’s wonderful North One 10? There are still seats available, and the cost is a more-than-reasonable $60 ($75 with champagne toast) — especially considering how enticing the…
The three most important considerations when opening a restaurant are “location doesn’t matter, location doesn’t matter, location doesn’t matter”. Or at least that seems to be the operating principle of the folks behind Angelo & Maxie’s Steakhouse, who selected the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Coconut Grove as the site…
Criteria is simple:A great chef who made his or her mark in Miami and then moved on. David Bouley doesn’t qualify, as he wasn’t actually doing the cooking at Evolution. Carmen Gonzalez of the departed Carmen’s might make my top ten, but I don’t think of her as being in…
This poem by Calvin Trillin doesn’t have much to do with food — although there is a reference to reindeer cacciatore. We just like to include rhyme from time to time to make the blog seem classy. Christmas In Qatar Verse: The shopping starts, and every store’s a zoo I’m…
Restaurateur Brad Friedlander, owner of Red, The Steakhouse and Moxie, The Restaurant in the fashionable Beachwood, the Suburb, of Cleveland, the City — along with partners Peter Vauthy and Jonathan Bennett — premieres the second Red tonight at 119 Washington Avenue in South Beach. What to expect: “A unique blend…
There are bad ideas, very bad ideas, unspeakably horrible ideas — and then there is Burger King’s Flame, a men’s cologne being touted as “the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat”. The fragrance is currently being sold in New York and online for $3.99, and though the…
…is the answer to: What might you find at a Puerto Rican-owned piano bar/café? Merly Velazquez, niece of the late fashion designer David Fernandez, has partnered with Raymond Klein in opening Miami Arts Café across the street from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (255 NE 14…
This time of year brings all manner of helpful hints, like how to truss a turkey, or how to make your gingerbread men look like Scarlett Johansson (I made that second one up, but you know what I mean). Tips on avoiding food-borne illness are especially prevalent, as they should…
Two of our favorites, Sheba Ethiopian restaurant in the Design District, and Le Bon on Lincoln Road, called it quits last week. Prime Italian, from the Prime One Twelve folks, opened its’ doors across the street from its’ sister steakhouse. Barton G secured the concessions at the Adrienne Arscht Center…
Executive chef is Garrette Gray, whose eclectic menu includes starters ($6-$17) such as pan roasted scallops with smoked duck, shiitake mushrooms, poached pears and natural thyme jus; fish entrees ($24-$34) like grouper with braised callaloo, potato conch fritter, roasted red pepper and lemongrass broth; and meats ($24-$56) like grilled veal…
