I have this good friend who has bad asthma, which is a shame, really, because in addition to being an avid weekend warrior, he’s also a hearty eater. Overeating can complicate an asthma attack, and apparently there’s no worse sensation, when you already feel like you’re suffocating, than being so…
Tucked away in a little corner of the Polo Club Shoppes shopping plaza, the Crepes & Piccolo Caffe (5030 Champion Blvd., #D3, Boca Raton, 5619977900) features a beautiful, hammered-copper bar and Old World brick walls. But the unstuccolike décor is hardly the only reason to visit the eatery. I have…
Steep steps in the kitchen of the French restaurant Prunelle led up to a plush, plum-color dining room. Actually it was down those steps that Wolfgang Puck and Jeremiah Tower came to thank us, the chefs and culinary staff, for a job well done. It was in New York City,…
Vogue’s food critic Jeffrey Steingarten was angry a few months ago when his own magazine published the phone number of Balthazar, one of his favorite New York City restaurants. Until that time the number was unlisted and kept very close to the chests of devotees. In fact, the secret to…
It’s usually the case that you don’t get nothin’ if you don’t give nothin’, and Rooney’s Public House (213 Clematis St., West Palm Beach, 5618337802) is proof. According to the Irish pub’s “Frequent Guest Appreciation Program,” if you buy eight lunches, you get the ninth free. Unfortunately the program doesn’t…
Country clubs and bargains don’t usually go together. That’s why the Hillcrest Golf & Country Club’s restaurant, Montego’s (4600 Hillcrest Dr., Hollywood, 9549875000), is so unusual: A group of six can actually eat there for a total of about $40. Share two large pizzas, two pasta dishes, and two antipastos,…
I couldn’t help myself. I just had to follow tennis hottie Anna Kournikova, who’d bowed out of the U.S. Open with a leg injury, around Publix recently and see what she was putting in her cart. Although she was born in Russia, Kournikova lives and trains in South Florida. And…
Warning: This review has not yet been rated and may contain nudity and graphic language. Children are advised to read this review only under adult supervision. Either that or disregard it altogether — because minors aren’t allowed to enter the establishment. Why? Because Rachel’s, a steak house in West Palm…
Don’t give all the credit for the explosion of interest in Latin culture to pop artists like Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez. After all quite a few artists in South Florida have displayed crossover skills for years. Take chef Guillermo Veloso, who’s now working at Martha’s (6024 N. Ocean Dr.,…
To borrow a phrase from Martin Luther King, Jr. — and perhaps trivialize it just a bit — I have a dream. But my subconscious interlude isn’t about racial equality, or sexual equality, or any other kind of political correctness. My dream is about dining. I have a dream that…
Contrary to popular belief, First Frank of Delray (210 NE Second St., Delray Beach, 561-330-0022) wasn’t built on the site of a former bank. But this modern version of a hot dog stand, which includes a dining area with boardroom tables and highchairs for miniature frankfurter fans, takes full advantage…
A restaurant must meet only one requirement in order to qualify for the title of “neighborhood restaurant” — it has to match said neighborhood. That means the fare should appeal to the locals, the décor should neither disgust nor intimidate them, and the prices should be geared to reflect their…
A lawyer in Miami-Dade is suing some clubs for gender discrimination — he believes ladies’ nights, where women drink for free, exclude men. He’d have a field day in Broward County, where not only can women imbibe on the house in certain establishments, they can also dine without spending a…
I was ordering the house wine in a small outdoor café in Pátzcuaro, Mexico, where I was attending a writers’ conference, when I felt a hand on my arm. “Don’t do it,” a colleague warned, shaking his head. “You won’t like it.” Of course Mexico isn’t known for its vintages…
If you ever wanted to get a handle on the character of Boca Raton, just head over to Bagel City South (6006 SW 18th St., Boca Raton, 5613935383). It’s not the century-old bagel recipe, the mild Nova Scotia salmon, or the chopped liver that this busy deli offers that will…
I don’t like surprises. In fact, I despise them. I can’t stand not knowing something that other people know; whatever the secret is, I have a pathological need to be informed. I read the ends of mysteries before the beginnings. I got an ultrasound to determine the sex of my…
I’ve always wondered about the “power” in “power smoothie.” Does such a drink really give you a boost for your workout? I experimented at Power Smoothie (330 Clematis St., West Palm Beach, 5618209100), where the namesake concoction contains — in addition to strawberries, bananas, and sugar cane juice — more…
The whole media-watching, People magazine-reading world undoubtedly now knows the name of Essex County Airport, the modest airstrip in Fairfield, New Jersey, from where JFK Jr. took off on his final, fatal flight. And I don’t mean to sensationalize or trivialize the death of Kennedy, his wife, and his sister-in-law…
Looks like Mama Leone’s left a note on the door, saying, “Sonny moved down to Davie.” The yang to Mama Leone’s yin, Papa Leone’s (8922 Pine Ridge Plaza, Davie, 9544758877) takes the pizza recipe from the original New York tourist trap — of Billy Joel’s “Anthony’s Song” fame — and…
Having a hard time deciding where to dine? Not sure what you want to eat tonight? Try turning to your astrological sign. It gives dining under the stars a whole new meaning. Astrologer and columnist Sydney Omarr, along with the late chef Mike Roy, put together a cookbook of culinary…
Dave &Buster’s (3000 Oakwood Blvd., Hollywood, 954-923-5505) has always been known for its games, which range from traditional pinball to golf simulation in the Million Dollar Midway. But now these fun-lovin’ guys are taking virtual reality and applying it to the stage — by offering a three-course dinner that customers…
Somebody spank me. I’ve been a bad girl. Instead of waiting three weeks for the brand-new La Palma Grill, a nouvelle Mexican restaurant onClematis Street in West Palm Beach, to get its act together, I reviewed the narrow, high-ceilinged eatery only seven days after it opened. I usually like to…
