The Moderate Easy

I once got Paul Prudhomme so upset that his large, round, bearded face turned as red as a kidney bean. It occurred while I was interviewing him, in his K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and mistakenly referred to a certain Cajun dish as Creole. Prudhomme chastised me with so…

Nikki Does Hollywood

Everything about Nikki Marina is pretty. For instance, the marina provides a lovely Intracoastal backdrop for al fresco dining or sitting with a drink at a tiki-ish gazebo bar in the tranquil courtyard. This outdoor lounge area boasts a gurgling fountain, carved wooden crocodile benches padded with plush white pillows,…

Foodstuff

Each spring, more than 60 cities across the United States and Canada organize Taste of the Nation food and winetastings, seated dinners, brunches, barbecues, and all manner of gastronomic extravaganzas. Since 1988, these events have raised nearly $50 million, which has helped to support more than 450 organizations working to…

Not for Display

The first things you notice about Chitralada Thai Restaurant are the glowing reviews it has received from various Broward County publications. You can’t help it — they’re posted on the storefront windows, plastered on walls by the entrance, and slapped atop every tabletop, with sheet of glass above and wrinkled…

More than Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

The Florida Marlins have been hot-dogging it up on the field this year, so far looking every bit like a proud world-championship team. Pro Player Stadium (2269 Dan Marino Blvd., Miami, 305-623-6100), in tandem with Boston Concessions, enters the season with a less impressive record regarding the food served from…

Nontaxing Repast

If you haven’t yet paid your taxes, you’ve already pretty much botched things, so at this point, the best thing to do is avoid unnecessary fretting. Relax. Have something to eat, like a soothing, scrumptious bowl of chicken matzoh-ball soup at the Odyssey Diner (15200 Jog Rd., Delray Beach, 561-638-9393)…

Sol Shines

Sol Kitchen in Delray Beach is the sunny new sister of 32 East. Both are located on the same block of East Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, both are operated by the Straub restaurant team, and both offer menus orchestrated by Executive Chef Nick Morfogen, whose glowing résumé includes training…

Egg Hunting

In 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea decreed that Easter should fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, which would correspond to the height of the period of renewal of life after winter; in other words, the big day would come on one…

The Nonpassion of the Luce

One way to describe Luce, a recent arrival to downtown Hollywood, is to say that it is an attractive new bar that serves decent brick-oven pizza and better-than-average Italian-style bar food. Another description would be: a poorer-than-average Italian restaurant with a bar. In either case, Luce (pronounced “LOO-che”) serves as…

Foodstuff

The first two nights of the eight-day Passover holiday are celebrated with family get-togethers called seders, during which the history of the Israelites’ struggles for freedom is recalled. The uplifting series of stories describe enslavement, the insensitive Pharaoh Ramses II, Moses and his infamous “let my people go” speech, a…

The Bong Show

A new restaurant called Bong has opened on the site where Boca Raton’s popular Mezzanotte restaurant used to stand. The space has been totally revamped, allegedly at a cost of $2.7 million; after taking a good look around, I can only wonder where all that money went. It’s not that…

Foodstuff

Dick Cami has plenty of big fish tales to tell, beginning with his Cami’s Seashells chain of restaurants and Crabby Dick’s in Key West. Then there are the Islamorada Fish Company and the Oar House in Davie, which were opened by, respectively, his sons Richie and John. And of course,…

Hail to the Beef

My theory that the upcoming presidential election may be determined by an incident involving Cheez Whiz is admittedly something of a long-shot. The scenario began in Philadelphia, early on in the Democratic primaries, when John Kerry sauntered into the landmark Pat’s King of Steaks and proceeded to place an order…

Get Your Yabbies Out

What wine goes best with deep-fried yabbies on bush tomato fondue? With paper-bark-grilled Barramundi, Quandong chutney, and lemon-thyme butter? How about with King Island Endeavour blue cheese, quince paste, and lavender honey? To find out, you’ll have to attend the third installment of the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach’s “Visiting…

The Grand Banyan

It was in 1925 that Addison Mizner’s land purchases, resort developments, and fanciful Spanish Revival architecture jump-started Boca Raton’s transformation from tiny, unincorporated town to sprawling land of luxury, retirees, and strip malls. The Banyan Bar & Grill at the Addison is a new moniker for the swank American restaurant…

Foodstuff

St. Patrick’s Day means more than just wearing green clothes and drinking copious amounts of beer. It’s also about, um, uh…. well, OK, maybe that’s all there is to Saint Patrick’s Day, but choosing the right spot to celebrate is important too, and Rooney’s Public House (213 Clematis St., West…

Dragon Flies

Writer Calvin Trillin’s vision of purgatory is one in which he spends an eternity eating at the best Chinese restaurant that has ever existed, but his dining partners, “strictly meat-and-potatoes men,” do all the ordering for the table. “Maybe we should have some of that chop-suey stuff,” one of them…

Woodstock for Oenophiles

Most food festivals are pretty weak, but the “South Beach Wine & Food Festival” (March 5 to 7; info: 305-FIU-WINE; tickets: 866-333-SOBE) is fast becoming the most impressive of all South Florida fests, culinary or otherwise. The celebration begins with Friday evening’s “BubbleQ at the Delano,” where guests stroll on…

Foodstuff

Here’s a tip for handicapping the upcoming Oscars: No soup scene, no hardware. After all, Spartacus ignited the slave rebellion by drowning Marcellus in a pot of bean soup, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Jen Yu ordered shark fin soup before destroying the tavern and everyone in it, and Forrest Gump…

Zemi More

Belleme & Schwartz might sound like a law firm, but they are, respectively, the outgoing and incoming chefs at Boca Center’s highly regarded Zemi restaurant. Both men boast worthy credentials: John Belleme cut his chops at Max’s Grille before becoming chef/co-owner at Zemi when it opened four years ago in…