Food at Talia’s Tuscan Table in Boca Raton Is Impressive

This cramped deli and restaurant looks straight out of a Bronx tenement, where every spare inch of wood and brick is covered with Polaroid photographs of patrons posing with their food. And that food is impressive: hulking sandwiches, platters of shrimp with broccoli and potato, and fat rigatoni pasta napped…

Gratify in West Palm Beach Should Be Better Than It Is

I’ve got some major beef with the potato chips served at Gratify. These chips, the bar’s equivalent of complimentary bread and butter, are crinkle-cut and fried in-house, which is admirable. But they’re also sliced so thick that, in order to get them to crisp, the kitchen has to practically burn…

Hot Wings at Art’s BBQ Are Smoky Heaven

I nabbed an order of “Smokehouse Hot Wings” from Art’s BBQ in Coral Springs yesterday. The place is a front-runner for our annual Best Of issue thanks to its intensely smoky ribs with genuine bark and a peppery rub. But I’d never before tried the wings, which Art’s smokes instead…

Monthly Beertasting Party at Checker’s Old-Munchen

It doesn’t have to be October to get a taste of good, German beer. You can do that on May 14 at Checker’s Old-Munchen. The German-American restaurant and bar in Pompano Beach is holding its monthly biergarten party from 9 to 10:30 that night. Put on your finest lederhosen and…

100 Favorite Dishes: Grilled Achiote-Rubbed Fish Tacos From Havana Hideout

As a countdown to the Best of Broward Palm Beach 2010, coming in May, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in South Florida. Send your own nominations to john.linn@browardpalmbeach.com.No. 18: Grilled Achiote-Rubbed Fish Tacos from Havana HideoutLake Worth’s primo dive bar, Havana Hideout, also…

Cinco de Mayo in SoFla — Time to Celebrate! (UPDATED)

Bust out the tequila and the limes, because tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo! The Mexican national holiday is a celebration of the country’s victory at the Battle of Puebla –but to revelers the world over, it’s just another excuse to eat chips and salsa and drink margaritas. You can join…

Order Up: Gratify Gastropub

This week in Dish: Gratify, West Palm Beach’s newest gastropub. The restaurant, which took over the Spoto’s location in February, has an onus on small plates and drinks a’plenty. There’s craft beer, an eclectic menu that includes bar food and local seafood, and a full service bar with wine. When…

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to: Traditional Eggs Benedict

When we’re kids, Mom always tells us not to buy her anything, that she is perfectly happy with whatever we make her. In my house, she was thankful if my three brothers and I let her sleep in. Mother’s Day has always proven to be the busiest day of the…

The Best Damned Chicken Caesar Salad Ever

There’s something furtive, slightly embarrassing, even shameful about it. Sort of like spanking the monkey to Sarah Palin videos or watching the goombah nitwits of Jersey Shore.      But we do it anyway, at lunch and even at dinner, unable to resist its base, carnal lure. Sure, we deny it,…

Five Broward Burgers to Eat for National Hamburger Month

In case you’re wondering, National Hamburger Month is May. It’s a special time of year when the smell of smoldering coals and charred meat can be noticed wafting through neighborhoods everywhere. So give in to your burger temptations and grab a few bites at these Broward burger joints. We’ll do…

100 Favorite Dishes: Almond Cookies From Gran Forno Bakery

As a countdown to the Best of Broward Palm Beach 2010, coming in May, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in South Florida. Send your own nominations to john.linn@browardpalmbeach.com.No. 20: Almond Cookies from Gran Forno BakeryIt’s lunchtime at Gran Forno Bakery, and I’m in…

Best Mother’s Day Brunches in Palm Beach, Broward

Check out the deals around town for those obligatory omelets and mimosas:Free night’s stay at the five-star Omphoy Hotel for Mom if you book three people at Michy’s (Michelle Bernstein) Mom’s Day brunch. Brunch comes with a fashion show at Bogart’s in Boca with free makeovers, etc. — a very…

Mint Julep Recipe: A Drink for All May Days

Before mojitos, there were mint juleps. Get over it, Miami. Drink one today – for the Derby – and if you’re of a mind, think of the early Virginians, who used to drink these for breakfast. My kind of people! Chris Morris of Woodford Reserve bourbon, gives the best explanation for…

Doggie Bag: This Week in Charlie

This week on the blog:A Haitian Top Chef partners with Whole Foods to cook for his homeland.Hurricane Grill and Wings debuts its newest store in Boca Raton.OG American restaurateur Fred Harvey gets profiled in a new book, examined in this segment from NPR.Our 100 Favorite Dishes this week include swordfish…

Beer of the Week: Dogfish Head Aprihop

Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it’s all about the love of the brew. If you…

100 Favorite Dishes: Nobu Snapper From Sushi Simon

As a countdown to the Best of Broward Palm Beach 2010, coming in May, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in South Florida. Send your own nominations to john.linn@browardpalmbeach.com.No. 21: Nobu Snapper From Sushi SimonA Sushi Simon in Boynton Beach, fresh mutton snapper arrives…

I’m Eating What?! Preserved Duck Egg

It looked disgusting on the package. And I had never known a living soul who had, admittedly, eaten so much as a bite of one. So what possessed me to pick up a box of six preserved duck eggs at the Asian market still remains a mystery. Now it also…

Ex-Café Boulud Sommelier Pours, Sips and Savors

If you’ve ever met Jenny Benzie you’d know that “sommelier” isn’t French for “pompous, arrogant asshole” but for “wine steward.” And a very nice one, at that.  Benzie, who spent three years as sommelier at Michael McCarty’s seminal Michael’s restaurant in Santa Monica before assuming the same position at Café…