Sometimes rifling through the produce bins at the local Publix or Winn-Dixie just doesn’t cut it for me. So when I tire of bruised tomatoes, unevenly ripening apples, and rotting cukes, I head over to West McNab U-Pick (7800 W. McNab Rd., North Lauderdale, 954-726-5028). An old-time farm and fruit…
“Life’s passions” is the motto at the new food emporium Dancing Bear (333 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-779-7374), and it’s apropos. The enormous gourmet bakery/deli/eatery, which practically takes up a city block, offers everything from fragrant roses to sumptuous chocolates to fine wines (ask the full-time sommelier for…
How to scam a table at the restaurant of the moment: Be a celebrity, or just look like one. Stars always get star treatment. You can also try to pass yourself off as a restaurant reviewer. If you’re not tossed out of the place on your keister (some eateries don’t…
We’ve heard the prediction before: “It’s the new South Beach.” Hollywood, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach — it seems that whenever a section of a city is redeveloped, analogies to South Beach abound. But why any region would aspire to be a tourist-ridden stretch of sand is beyond me. Sure,…
Barbecue is the oldest, most universal cooking style in the world. After all, anyone can do it; all you need is fire, meat, and sauce. Doing it well, on the other hand, isn’t easy. Shue Mei Oriental BBQ (6529 N. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-229-9988) does it exceptionally well. House…
It’s a saying that usually conjures images of both tea parties and those cartoons in which characters bash each other over the head. But the cafe and bistro called One Lump or Two (2254 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors, 954-564-8727) may just erase such images. The place is a great little…
A couple weeks ago, I was just getting over a terrible case of food poisoning, and not even lunch at my favorite gourmet sandwich place, Johnny V’s Kitchen on South Beach, could tempt my appetite. At any other time, a light meal there would have been ideal, but the prospect…
It’s not often you find a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America running a mobile vending truck, unless you’re ordering from the “gourmet restaurant on wheels” parked across the street from the Broward County Courthouse (216 SE Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale, 954-779-7337). That’s how chef-proprietor Adam Schneid describes his…
When I’m a stranger in a strange land, the last thing I expect is a kiss on the cheek. I like to be welcomed by the natives of a foreign country, sure, but I certainly don’t anticipate being embraced, as I was recently by a Yagua Indian woman in Peru…
Is it too early to talk about the holidays? Walgreens doesn’t think so; pictures of snowmen and snowflakes are already pasted to the windows. Neither does Chef Jean-Pierre of the renowned French restaurant The Left Bank (214 SE Sixth Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-763-8861). The exquisitely refined restaurant won’t be indulging…
In times of stress, we eat. And most of us have “comfort” foods: chocolate-chip cookies, potato chips, a big steak. Sociologists and nutritionists concur that, although we may not always be better off healthwise afterward, consumption of these items improves our moods. We were programmed, they say, to desire certain…
You gotta admire — maybe even envy — Dennis Max. The South Florida restaurateur, along with his partners, wife Patti Max and Burt Rapoport, have created a veritable eatery empire. Their company, Unique Restaurant Concepts, runs more than a dozen dining emporiums and bakeries from Orlando to Miami. The restaurants…
Forget about eating pretzels to make yourself thirsty at happy hour. Durty Nellie’s (3051 NE 32nd Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-563-3222) has found a way to sell even more two-for-one drink specials: It serves free hot dogs Monday to Friday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Actually, the place sets up a…
For those inclined to think a certain way, The Bakehouse (834 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd., Hallandale, 954-458-1600) might sound like a good place to get high. And they wouldn’t be too far off; the bakery-cafe is an excellent source for munchies. Not only do the Old World, European-style breads (read:…
I was standing outside Hot Tomatoe in Lighthouse Point, rocking my cranky baby to sleep, when I heard gunshots — six of ’em, fired rapidly. I didn’t see who fired the gun or where the bullets went. But I also didn’t hear sirens or screams, or read anything about it…
“There are three kinds of oyster eaters: those loose-minded sports who will eat anything, hot, cold, thin, thick, dead or alive, as long as it is oyster; those who will eat them raw and only raw; and those who with equal severity will eat them cooked and no way other,”…
Like those at greasy spoons, truck stops, and coffeehouses, the employees at Laspada’s (4346 Seagrape Dr., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, 954-776-7893) have a vocabulary all their own. And customers can’t help but pick up the lingo. First-timers might find “a combo roundroll with no hots and extra sweets” (turkey and roast beef on…
Bookstores aren’t just for books any more. The front half of Clematis Street Books, for example, is otherwise known as Susan’s Bistro & Wine Bar (206 Clematis St., West Palm Beach, 561-832-5398), where you can linger, book-browse or people-watch at the cafe tables or marble-topped bar. The bistro serves up…
A restaurant that specializes in seasonal grub has three choices when it comes to the off-season: Close for a few months, jeopardize its reputation by serving frozen product, or rely solely on other fare to bring in customers. Last week Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach opened its doors to…
Are you going to Scarborough Fare (2650 N. University Dr., Sunrise, 954-746-4469)? If you’re not, you should be. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme may not be available, but the English market carries hard-to-find products, including HP brown sauce (the English ketchup), Branston pickle (marinated and chopped cauliflower and rutabaga, among…
Before I worked as a restaurant critic, I was a “spotter.” Hired by restaurant owners, I’d secretly visit their operations, document my experiences, then file exhaustive reports. In exchange for my toil, I was paid in meals rather than currency. I couldn’t make my rent, but, for a month or…
I read cookbooks like other people read novels. But I’m overwhelmed by the extensive choices at, say, Borders and Barnes & Noble. I want them all, and usually walk away with nothing. My solution? I joined The Good Cook, the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook club (call toll-free 800-348-7128, or…
