Cha-Cha Chow

Bid farewell to American fusion cuisine, that tired trend, as you know it. Say hello to Latin fusion cuisine because, well, you’re going to get to know it. The place where you’ll begin to get acquainted, folks, is the Samba Room on East Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. The…

Win, Lose, or Thai

Used to be when you wanted good, cheap eats, you went ethnic: Chinese, Thai, Indian. The problem was that the reasonably priced food was usually accompanied by a distinct lack of décor. The meal might’ve been tasty, but the experience, for serious diners, wasn’t really complete. In recent years, though,…

I Smell Theme

My sister-in-law had an interesting experience at Darrel & Oliver’s Café Maxx in Pompano Beach the other week. She and her husband had gone to celebrate her birthday. They ordered a three-course meal and then, not feeling up to wine or champagne, decided to have a beer. But they changed…

The Cuban Meal Crisis

The phrase “90 miles” needs no explanation in Miami. Anyone from Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boat/poster boy, to Toni Takarada, the infamous restaurateur who was recently fined thousands of dollars for discrimination against an African-American diner, knows what it means. But if you toss around those words in any other…

A Brighter Yesterday

So despite the hype and fuss, Y2K came and went, and basically it was glitch-free. The only trouble I noticed was a brief power outage in my neighborhood that kept the traffic lights from functioning on New Year’s Day. Bet those survivalists camping in bunkers feel pretty stupid right now…

Dive In

To qualify as an authentic raw bar, a restaurant must meet certain criteria. Décor should be limited, ambiance rugged, and furnishings as worn as a mother of four, even if they’re relatively young in years. It has to offer a water view, be it only a manmade lake or a…

Escargots, Antipasto, and Betty Crocker

Under the “there are two sides to every argument” heading comes the following question: How important is it to know the race/ethnicity/sexuality/politics of the proprietor of a restaurant? Not at all, I usually think, other than for a passing note of interest. I don’t really care if a native Italian…

Belly Up to the Barbecue

You can find lots of fascinating dictionary definitions that start with the word Texas. For instance a Texas citrus mite is a red spider that causes injury to the leaves of citrus trees. Texas fever is a disease suffered by cattle and transmitted by the cattle tick. A Texas leaguer…

One Luxe Spot

I confess I’ve let the most recent issues of Vogue sweat on my coffee tables in their plastic wrappers, so I have no clue: Is fur, faux or otherwise, in or out this year? And how about animal skins — cow, alligator, zebra, leopard? I mean, these are serious questions…

Fear of Frying

I saw my first fire-safety video when I was in first grade. The graphic scenes in the movie made such an impression on me that I packed my toys in paper bags every night so I could grab them easily in case of an emergency. For a year I couldn’t…

An Alternative to Popcorn

Forget the worries about human genetic manipulation and controlled evolution. We should be more concerned about the unnatural adaptation of our movie theaters to 21st-century life. I admit I was glad, back in the ’80s, when the single-screen theater evolved into the more functional multiplex. I was heartened when the…

Down in the Boondocks

Question: How do you compliment a girl from Loxahatchee? Answer: “Nice tooth.” Question: How do you compliment ten girls from Loxahatchee? Answer: “Nice set of teeth.” Now, I don’t mean to deride Palm Beach County’s less-ritzy towns — well, maybe I do — but let’s face it: It’s Hicksville out…

Sweetly Hybrid

I demand a lot from my neighborhood diners. I count on brisk service, for one thing, whether I’m popping in for breakfast, late-night dinner, or a bottomless mug of coffee. For another I prefer that the décor be casual, even seedy (though not dirty); I’m weary of newfangled, prefab designer…

In the Pink

A couple of years ago, the wife of GQ food critic Alan Richman wrote an essay for Food & Wine. In it she defined her main purpose as dining companion: Richman instructed her always to carry a large black purse so that when he stole the menu he’d have somewhere…

A Thorough Grilling

I’ve always believed you can’t go wrong with bread and salad. No matter how much of a failure a meal might be — whether it’s served in a restaurant or in someone’s house — guests won’t leave a table hungry if they’re supplied with plenty of crusty bread and fresh,…

Bread Winner

A commercial on Comedy Central advertising The Daily Show gets me every time. The Daily Show, for those who haven’t watched it, is a no-holds-barred spoof of a news broadcast, and the commercial is just as snide as the show itself. The spot features a newsroom where everyone chases down…

Roadside Attraction

Ah, the dreaded flat tire. Since ours is a wheeled society, flats are inevitable. You can only hope one doesn’t occur in a truly dangerous situation, like on a freeway in Los Angeles after dropping a friend off at the airport. That happened to me years ago, when I was…

India Jones

Forget last year, when Pakistan and India were hurling nuclear threats at each other. This year, India is in. Bookstores are brimming with Indian literature — a trend that delights me, because I’m a big fan. Clothing designers are employing Indian fabrics, and DJs are spinning Indian synth-pop. Speaking of…

Fire in the Hole

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…

The Wolfgang Factory

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,…

Coming Out of Hiding

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…

A Real Pickle

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…