Have you ever done a focus group? You know, when you share your opinions on a new product sell your soul to the Corporate Marketing Machine for a crisp $100 bill in an envelope?Melissa McCarthy (who made Bridesmaids so freaking funny) played a particularly enthusiastic ranch-dressing tester in the focus…
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’ve taken the liberty of finding the best places to eat, drink, and donate for a good cause.Here, a few local establishments that will be cooking — and pouring — for a cure:…
Patty Canedo is a chef in Palm Beach. She writes frequently about her kitchen exploits in this column, Half-Baked. Since I’m in the industry, I tend to take the three-strike approach to dining out. You have to consider all the components that factor into the process, from the initial orders at the table to plating…
Top Chef season nine is coming to Bravo, and this time, we’re in for beef, beef, beef as the cheftestants battle their way through the Lone Star State. Top Chef Texas promises to be more than “big hat, no cattle,” from the look of the promo, in which we’re promised…
Hot Chefs, the creators of the calendar that features local south Florida chef cuties, is having a blowout sale of their remaining restaurant coupons. Each certificate will get you $25 off a minimum $50 purchase (including alcohol) at participating restaurants. Hot Chefs is selling these certificates, which expire December 30,…
Prohibition, the latest documentary by Emmy-award winning Ken Burns that airs October 2 through 4 on PBS, focuses on how the law that tried to prevent drinking was based on an effort to “cling to the myth of an agrarian Jeffersonian America that never really was,” Burns told sister publication…
Josef and Beth Shibanetz have found a new location for Josef’s, the former Plantation restaurant that will debut in Boca Raton as Josef’s Table. The restaurant had earned the chef-owners accolades in the Miami Herald as a Broward top 20 restaurant and a Best Of in this paper in 2008 during…
If you like freaks and geeks, then you’re going to want to head out to Seminole Casino of Hollywood on Saturday for your fill of carnival delights when food trucks meet the HellzaPoppin Revue featuring the Lizard Man, a living breathing man/iguana. Other acts include fire-eaters, a wolf boy, and…
Beer, beer, and more beer – if there’s anything else on the menu this weekend, you’d be hard pressed to find it in this listing. OK, not true; there are several foodie events that don’t focus on barley and hops, but the overriding theme this weekend is certainly on brews…
September matches August for the numbers when it comes to restaurant openings and closings: slowed by the off-season, an iffy economic outlook, and the dog days of summer. This month, I’ve also included restaurants on deck, since a handful of restaurateurs aspire to October openings for in-season. Without further delay,…
Domino’s founder and former U.S. Marine Tom Monaghan, 74, announced over the weekend his plans to open the first Gyrene Burger in Naples, Florida, in two months, with the third slated to open in southwest Florida in January, announced Nation’s Restaurant News today.Branded the Marine nickname (G.I. and Marine),…
The typical food truck rally, with its throngs of hungry patrons and platefuls of sloppy tacos and shredded pork, probably doesn’t rank too high on the list of mood-setting date destinations. While Sunday’s Gourmet Truck Expo event at Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach isn’t exactly a candle-lit corner…
James Beard-nominated “Rising Star Chef of the Year” Michael Saperstein and partner Evan David signed a lease in Boca Raton this week to open a third restaurant by December 2011: a chef-driven, eclectic, small-plates restaurant that’s “unlike anything we have in the area so far.” Saperstein and David are the…
Anderson Cooper isn’t afraid of walking into a war zone, but he is afraid of most things us normal people put into our mouths — namely, coffee and spinach. A few days ago, Cooper revealed his dislike for “fancy” food combos like honey and peanut butter (really) to show guest Jerry…
Remember flair from Office Space? Jennifer Aniston’s character worked at a restaurant chain, Chotchkie’s, and had to wear a certain number of buttons (flair) on her suspenders.We bet that if she had some Ménage à Trois buttons, she would have totally loved her crappy job. Ménage à Trois wine is…
Sunset on a Wednesday at Longboards in West Palm Beach: Wicker table lamps glowed at place settings around the lacquered bar. Surfboards served as wall murals. Dick Dale’s reverb piped through speakers. The dinner crowd trickled in, but the bar was packed. A slim woman with long blond hair faced…
Georgie’s Alibi burger maestro Ron Kerr confirms that tomorrow, he’ll be serving his award-winning burgers in his new rig calledBites GastroTruck at the weekly food truck roundup at Seminole Hard Rock Casino beginning at 5:30 until 10 p.m. Kerr’s menu consists of flat-top cooked burgers for $7.50 offered with an…
Tap 42, the beer, burger, and bourbon spot that made an appearance at New Times Pairings a month before the place opens, is hiring front- and back-of-the-house staff today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Featuring 42 beers on tap and 100 bottles, Tap 42 has apparently hired an executive chef,…
Here’s a real-world scenario for you. You’re dying to get out of the house and grab a bite to eat, but finances are low and you just don’t have a hundred bucks to spend on dinner. Heck, even fast food is expensive, according to the New York Times. What’s the…
A neighbor told me there’s always a band and a ruckus at Old Heidelberg during October. Not so in the early part of last night, a rainy Tuesday with a half dozen people huddled around the square bar. Waitresses in dirndls and nurse shoes stood in a doorway whispering in German…
We’re doing a little housekeeping on the blog with a one-two punch. The first is a reminder to mark your calendar for October 6, Clean Plate Charlie Night at PL8, during which diners at the restaurant between 6 and 9 p.m. can weigh in on menu items to help shape…
Even if it’s a quiet hour between lunch and dinner, inside Deerfield’s El Jefe Luchador, it’s as animated as a Mexican streetfest. Tables and chairs wear primary colors like a box of fat crayons. Against one wall, flamboyant masks stare from empty eyes: a reference to its “chief fighter” name. A…
