Chef Caleb Holman

Caleb Holman, executive chef of Kapow! Noodle Bar, has been into cooking ever since his lunch-lady mom would whip up great meals at home when not "bound by the government limitations on school foods." His grandma also worked in the restaurant biz, and these family ties instilled a love of cooking in Caleb.

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For more on South Florida's food scene, check out New Times' Taste guide.

Although South Florida may be a late bloomer when it comes to a lot of trends, we do catch up eventually. And sometimes, as with our food scene, the evolution is exponential. The past year or so has seen the culinary scene evolve more rapidly than Honey Boo Boo's heartbeat on go-go juice. From food-truck politics to hot new eateries, there's a lot going on in our own backyard.

Helping to lead the way into this new era of edibles are more than a few groundbreakers in Broward and Palm Beach. To get some insight into what's happening locally, we spoke with Robb Muise, the man behind the newly formed Food Truck Alliance; Oakland Park Mayor Anne Sallee; and Kapow! Noodle Bar executive chef Caleb Holman.

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Courtesy of Robb Muise

Robb Muise

For more on South Florida's food scene, check out New Times' Taste guide.

Although South Florida may be a late bloomer when it comes to a lot of trends, we do catch up eventually. And sometimes, as with our food scene, the evolution is exponential. The past year or so has seen the culinary scene evolve more rapidly than Honey Boo Boo's heartbeat on go-go juice. From food-truck politics to hot new eateries, there's a lot going on in our own backyard.

Helping to lead the way into this new era of edibles are more than a few groundbreakers in Broward and Palm Beach. To get some insight into what's happening locally, we spoke with Robb Muise, the man behind the newly formed Food Truck Alliance; Oakland Park Mayor Anne Sallee; and Kapow! Noodle Bar executive chef Caleb Holman.

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Courtesy of BaconFest

Is it possible to O.D. on bacon? Not according to the United States of Bacon host, chef Todd Fisher, whose job is to taste the pork product in all its magnificent incarnations, from one end of the country to the other. We're willing to bet most of this weekend's BaconFest attendees would agree with such a sentiment.

The festival, kicking off this weekend at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, will serve up all things bacon, from bacon milk shakes and bacon popcorn to Kevin Bacon himself. It's sold out, but for those who've already scored tickets to the pork-a-palooza, we spoke to Fisher for a little taste of what's to come.

See also:
- Win a Pair of Tickets to Sold-Out BaconFest Florida
- BaconFest Announces Restaurant Lineup

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The Taste

Sparks fly on The Taste.

Things started really heating up on The Taste, the new ABC cooking competition that has professional chefs and home cooks competing against each other in teams.

The first two episodes dragged in much the same way American Idol's audition pieces do. But, at least that show has singing -- good, great, and god-awful. During The Taste's trials, we only got choppily-edited sequences of celebrity mentors Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre, and Brian Malarkey eating while the poor chefs await their fate in little chutes. Out of that prolonged (and sometimes painful) process, 16 chefs were chosen by the mentors to be on their teams, one of them being Clean Plate Charile alum turned New York City blogger Sara Schiear.

Read Also: The Taste Premieres Tonight: Local Blogger Sarah Schiear is a Contestant

The show has two rounds of competition, much like Top Chef.  The first
round has all the contestants cooking a dish that has to include bacon, eggs, and cheese. While the mentors rally around their teams the camera finds and follows the most beautiful/funny/aggressive of the chefs. Among the standouts are Lauren, a 23 year-old home chef that lives in a trailer; Diane, a gorgeous, bitchy chef on Bourdain's team, and Sarah, blogger and fire starter (we'll get to that in a minute). Favorite moment of the episode, by far? When Sarah tries to high five mentor Ludo and gets a big diss in return.


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Dada

Chef Bruce Feingold.

Bruce Feingold's first job was in a bakery, washing dishes and decorating cookies with sprinkles and frosting. Little did he know it would lead to a future career in one of South Florida's most beloved restaurants situated in a historic home on the outskirts of downtown Delray Beach.

A New Jersey native, Feingold began cooking at an early age -- just 17 -- a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Fate brought him to Florida, when -- just three weeks before he graduated -- a friend called from Palm Beach. A month later he was working at The Colony Hotel on Palm Beach Island, where he cut his teeth at the resort's high-end steak house.

Today, Feingold is best known as the executive chef and part owner of Dada, the popular Delray Beach restaurant with an anti-establishment flare and cult-like following. Here waiters serve up some of the best food in town, while the bar whips up the area's finest mojitos.

Clean Plate Charlie had a chance to speak with Feingold about how he and his team built one of South Florida's most iconic restaurants.

See Also:
-- Best Places to Order a Mojito in South Florida
-- Dada Executive Chef to Bring Back Popular Wine Pairing Dinners

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