Usually I go into a brief spell of mourning when a chef I admire leaves a restaurant. But when Robbin Haas left Bex (561 E. Palmetto Park Rd., Boca Raton, 561-391-0000) for Red Square (an eatery in South Beach) four weeks ago, I wasn’t as upset as I thought I’d…
Weston freaks me out: the subdivisions, the shopping plazas, the hordes of race walkers. Pink stucco buildings notwithstanding, the unrelenting conformity gives me unwelcome flashbacks to my New Jersey childhood. The rock group Rush said it best: “The suburbs have no charm to soothe the restless dreams of youth.” Insert…
It was after dinner, while waiting for the valet to retrieve our car, that we got confirmation on what we already knew about Aquaterra, the much anticipated Palm Beach restaurant located on Sunrise Avenue across from the Palm Beach Hotel. As other patrons milled about, waiting for their cars, the…
I remember butchers. Where steaks and chops glistened behind glass. Where freshly ground chuck was weighed and wrapped in white paper, not some cellophane-strangled package dripping blood. And where a friendly, familiar face complied with special requests, saving bones for stock, slicing meat to specifications, stuffing a chicken. If you…
For months it was just a construction site in Pompano Beach, one that I knew would produce something wonderful. So every time I drove by, I practiced the art of patience. When the third independently owned East Coast Burrito Factory (614 E. Atlantic Blvd., 954-785-4111) finally opened on January 7,…
If you want to check out how well a restaurant is doing, visit on a Monday or Tuesday evening. Stop by an ethnic establishment, a place to which people go for particular flavors. Schedule your meal during prime-time TV hours, when the kids have gone to bed and most folks…
I suppose we should congratulate restaurateurs Carlo Vaccarezza and J.R. Bautista. It’s not often two male partners give birth to fraternal twins: Petaluma and Smoke, joint restaurants that opened two months ago at 2861 and 2863 E. Commercial Blvd., respectively, in Fort Lauderdale. Like many multiple births, the bouncing baby…
“Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me.” And that’s because, in Fort Lauderdale, you’re not just a song, you’re a bakery (2909 E. Commercial Blvd., 954-772-1529). “Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me,” and serve me all sorts of delectable baked goods. I especially love…
Let the naysayers natter: They declared the redevelopment of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale a lost cause; they considered the rehabbing of Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach a waste of time; and they dismissed the resurrection of South Beach as a pipe dream. (They’re the same ones who now…
Don’t let the name fool you. The tiny, counter-service eatery Empanada Only (119 N. 20th Ave., Hollywood) also sells individual-size gourmet pizzas, fudge-y brownies, cookies, cappuccinos, and Italian ices. But it’s those oven-fresh, stuffed turnovers that’ll grab your attention, particularly the ones bursting with chicken cacciatora; sausage with peppers and…
If you’ve ever thought about taking cooking classes but have been too intimidated to try, now’s the time to get over it. Edward List, chef-proprietor of the three-year-old New American restaurant Sprazzo (201 N. Federal Hwy., Jupiter), teaches a class at his establishment every Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8…
The guidebooks warn against it: Don’t hire a guide in Tangier. Don’t eat in any restaurants there, they also caution. In fact, according to the guidebooks, Americans shouldn’t even consider taking the ferry from the southern tip of Spain to the rocky northern coast of Morocco. Forget the beauty of…
After I read the latest article to extol Miami’s New World restaurants — the spread in the November issue of Gourmet magazine — I thought (and not for the last time, I suspect): Nice piece. But what about Fort Lauderdale? Long before local voters resolved to change Dade’s name to…
In Greece you usually walk into the kitchen of a restaurant and look into the bubbling pots to choose your meal. In the month-old Greek Depot Cafe (200 S. Federal Hwy. in Boca Raton), that step has been deleted: The prepared fare’s laid out behind a counter, and all you…
You might think that if you’ve seen one knish, you’ve seen ’em all. But then you certainly weren’t browsing at Benny’s Knish Factory (6680 NW 57th St., Tamarac), where if you see one knish, you’re likely to see thirty others. A veritable Baskin-Robbins of the stuffed pastries, the year-old Benny’s…
In most people’s minds, The Little Mermaid is an animated film based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. But to some of us, The Little Mermaid is also a wonderful Danish restaurant on NE Fifth Avenue in Delray Beach, albeit one with a fairy-tale history all its own…
David Williams says that six years ago, when he and partners Richard Chin and Ray Huang opened Emerald Coast on North Pine Island Road in Sunrise, the all-you-can-eat Chinese and American buffet restaurant was the first of its kind in the area. Since then, similar value-driven eateries have sprung up,…
If you’re anything like me, you haven’t caught many Dolphins games this fall, which is the 25th anniversary of the team’s undefeated season. But if you’re anything like me, you have caught some of those 1972 Dolphins — on a bottle of wine, that is. Delicato Vineyards in Manteca, California,…
Every August I fly up to New Jersey to search for good things to eat. Sounds odd, I know, in the state that’s sometimes referred to as “the armpit of the nation.” And having spent my entire adolescence imprisoned in the northeast Jersey suburb of Livingston, where the epitome of…
Speaking of Victorian tearooms (see “Dish”): South Palm Beach County isn’t short on charm either. Hidden behind the hulking Mizner Park, the year-old Boca Victoria, 125 East Boca Raton Rd., Boca Raton, 561-391-1310, serves brunch, lunch, and traditional high tea. The tearoom is actually several cozy rooms, and you can…
Longhorn Steakhouse, Lone Star Steakhouse, and Roadhouse Grill. The Olive Garden, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Tony Roma’s, Chili’s, Boston Market, Shells, Chowders, the Original Pancake House. I’ve never seen more chain restaurants squeezed into a square mile as I have on University Drive in Coral Springs. And…
You don’t hear much about the Italian contribution to the distinctive cuisine of New Orleans. You can discern the French influence easily enough, as well as the Spanish and African-American — cookbooks and historical tomes alike laud the region’s primary settlers and their edible offerings. But pasta and marinara sauce?…
