- As part of the continuing Food Writers' Full-Employment Project, another restaurant has announced it's coming to Clematis Street. This one is Don Ramon, the mid-scale Cuban eatery that's pegged to debut in the old Paradise Bar spot in November. There will be no reinventing the wheel here, just all your Cuban favorites, moderately priced, with cocktails and a few specials to cater to the hip (?) downtown crowd.
- A pair of Mexican restaurants responsible for creating two of the world's most iconic dishes have gone under, victims of a universally rancid economy and the reluctance of tourists to get pig flu or have their pale, pudgy bodies well-ventilated by automatic weapons fire from Mexican drug gangs. One is Caesar's in Tijuana, where in 1924 Caesar Cardini first tossed romaine lettuce with croutons and a dressing of egg, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan and Worcestershire sauce. The other is Restaurant Moderno in Piedras Negras, where waiter Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya is credited with assembling tortilla chips, cheese and chilies into a dish that makes lovers of authentic Mexican cookery want to shove their heads into a mocajete.
- This time the mouse catches the cat. That would be Walt Disney World in Orlando snagging Iron Chef Cat Cora, who just opened the Mediterranean-esque Kouzzina (Greek for "kitchen") in the well-scrubbed BoardWalk complex. Proving that branding is truly the wave of the future, the restaurant will feature "Cat's Ouzo-tini" and her own wine lable ("Coranation") to go along with dishes like goat cheese-stuffed grape leaves, cinnamon-stewed chicken and grilled lambburger. Will her cuisine reign supreme? Frankly, who gives a shit...
