A Seafood Hater's Guide to Eating in Key West: Part One

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Confession: I write for a food blog, but I can't stand seafood. Like at all. I just about refuse to eat anything that swims: fish, shrimp, lobster, and scallops are all completely off my menu. So when my girlfriend (who thankfully has the same aversion to eating things that swim) and I decided to take a weekend trip to Key West, we were a little worried about being able to eat well on an island filled with seafood restaurants. After reading John's gastro-tour of Key West, we decided to try to find the best of Key West's landlocked food and share it with the three other people in Florida who also can't stand eating ocean-dwelling creatures. Here part one.

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Old Town Mexican Café (609 Duval Street, Key West): This charming little restaurant located on Duval Street is a half indoor, half outdoor restaurant. Everyone dining here tonight was sitting outside, as the temperature hovered in the mid 70s. We decided to start out with a pitcher of Key Lime Margaritas, some chips and salsa, and a bowl of queso. The chips and salsa came out immediately. We were positively shocked at the quality of the salsa: fresh tomatoes, onions, lots of cilantro, and a healthy heat makes this some of the best salsa either of us had tried at a restaurant in quite some time. As we polish off the rest of the salsa, our waiter drops off our bowl of queso. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the salsa. In fact, it seems like they've just melted some cheddar cheese in a bowl, sprinkled a little cilantro on top, and threw it on our table. Every time we dipped a tortilla chip in, it was like cutting into a chunk of warm Velveeta, then wrestling with the stringy hangers-on until the chip breaks. After a few attempts, we both give up and peer back at the menu to order our entrees.

Reviewing the Chains: Firehouse Sub's Club on a Sub

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via Flickr user GrubGrade
When you're out looking for a sub, and can't find a local sub or sandwich shop in your area, you've got a few chain choices. There's the company famous for only charging $5, the one that started the whole toasted subs craze, and the lesser known chain that is known for steaming their sub ingredients: Firehouse Subs. This week, I decided to check out the steamed variety of our favorite over sized sandwiches. It only took me a moment of looking at the menu before I found exactly what I wanted: the Club on a Sub.

I order the sub and agree to have it "fully involved" which I later find out means they'll be slapping mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and onions on the sub and tucking away a dill spear on the side. I watch the young lady behind the counter place a few pieces turkey, ham, Monterrey Jack cheese, and bacon between some wax paper and place it all into a large metal box. She pushes a lever and steam pours out from the sides for a few seconds before she opens the lid and takes out the wax paper.

Beer of the Week: Bell's Amber Ale

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John Linn
Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.

I met Larry Bell at the Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival this past January. He was in the Bell's Brewery tent with two of his employees wearing a safari hat and thin, dark sunglasses, like he was about to embark on an expedition.

Bell started his Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1985, long before the craft beer revolution had moved east. I imagine he might have taken to wearing the safari hat back then -- an explorer in a World of Beer largely yet to be discovered. Today, Bell's is the largest craft brewery in Michigan and one of the most significant in the northern U.S.

Order Up: Bash Wine Cafe

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This week in dish, we take a look at Bash Wine Cafe in Sunrise. We first looked at the unassuming bistro a few weeks ago on the blog and found its key asset to be well-priced comfort food. Now, here's an excerpt from our upcoming review:
...Perhaps it's fate, then, that Bash's origins were as economically driven as it's menu. Owners Nikki Pettineo and Veronica Lopez essentially had no financial backing and limited budget, yet they've done an admirable job with their premier restaurant. Granted, the a design scheme needs work: My dining partner said the decor most resembled a scene from Moonlighting -- iron flourishes and decorative stars line the walls, and everything from the tables and chairs to the servers is draped in black.

Even so, Bash's overall effect is as comforting as a pile of kittens wearing hand-knit, woolen booties. Our waitress -- the same enthusiastic woman on both visits -- was excellent at getting our dining experience rolling, offering to start us out with plates of hummus or Parmesan spinach dip ($7 each). Both operate in the same way: The hummus -- creamy, lemony, and spicy with the addition of kimchi sauce -- is perfect for scooping with wedges of warm, grilled pita. The spinach dip is gooey and rich and great with a bowl of freshly-fried tortilla chips. A starter of house chicken wings coated in a unique sauce of garlic, vinegar, and black pepper ($8) is another bar food holdover that works as well, preferably with a crisp bottle of Brooklyn Lager ($3) or a glass of Mark West pinot noir ($9.50). The wine list is modest and inexpensive, and most selections are available by the glass and amply poured.
Check out the full review of Bash here.

Green Papaya Vietnamese Cuisine in Coral Springs

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John Linn
The "BBQ" pork chop dinner at Green Papaya in Coral Springs.
For a fun, casual take on Vietnamese, Green Papaya Vietnamese Cuisine in Coral Springs is a great deal. The above dinner is called a Hau Giang "barbecue pork chop," but is actually a breaded piece of pork loin that's been seared on a flat top or griddle. The cutesy plate features (clockwise from the top) a bowl of pho-style broth with scallions, salad with sweet vinegar dressing and crispy shallots, the pork chop covered in peanuts and scallion, nuoc cham (sweet dipping sauce made with fish sauce), and white rice. The whole meal cost less than $10, making it one of the cheapest ways to get your Vietnamese fix in West Broward.
 

Beer of the Week: Avery Salvation

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John Linn
Drinketh of my cup, child, and be saved.
Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.

As a kid, I was forced by my parents into the most torturous of tortures: church on Sunday. While my other friends were out doing whatever it is heathens are wont to do on a weekend morning, I was reciting Psalm and struggling to stay conscious through sermon. The church we went to had a tenuously long service -- sometimes it lasted two hours or more. To pass the time faster, I would fidget and groan, make unnecessary trips to the bathroom, and linger outside the chapel doors as long as I could without prompting my parents to issue a search party. As service began to wind down I felt like an inmate about to be granted parole.

By the time I was 15 or so, my parents reluctantly decided that if I was to be damned for all eternity it was my own choice, and so they stopped forcing me along. Forever after, my Sunday mornings felt like a blessing. But I did miss communion. Communion was the only part of service that I didn't loath -- not only because it took up a sweet 20 minutes or so as the congregation filed up to receive it, but also because it culminated with a thimble-full of wine. To me, that sweet and acrid cup (and the fact that they'd give it to a teenager) was proof that Catholicism wasn't so bad after all.

Breakfast at Dyan's Country Kitchen - Updated

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John Linn
Dyan's pioneer breakfast features chicken-fried steak with country gravy, three eggs any way, home fries, and a bagel for $6.99.
I've been on the lookout lately for good breakfast places for an upcoming column, but for some reason I had forgotten about Dyan's Country Kitchen, a diner-style breakfast spot in northern Coral Springs. Now the place is firmly locked in my memory as a great neighborhood joint to nab the most important meal of the day. I went there this weekend with my fiance and wanted to order something light. But I couldn't resist "the pioneer," a plate that included chicken-fried steak and three eggs for just $6.99.

Update: Dyan's will be open for dinner starting in December.  

Reviewing the Chains: The Cheeburger Cheeburger Classic

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via Flickr user newsongNY
It's about three hours into a four-hour road trip, so I'm finally hitting the home stretch, but I can't wait another hour to get home and eat. So I pull off the Florida Turnpike into the Lake Worth Rest Stop (mile marker 94 for those deranged enough to follow along my gastro-journeys) and see a couple of the coolest names I've ever seen at a rest stop. Gone are the Sbarros and Burger Kings I'm used to seeing in rest areas. They've been replaced by the likes of Earl of Sandwich (which claims to have the best hot sandwiches ever, by the way) and Cheeburger Cheeburger. I've never had a Cheeburger, but I've heard plenty about them. So many people who've visited the chain sing its praises and call it among the best fast-food burger you can get. I decide to give it a shot. I order the Classic 5.5-ounce burger with banana peppers (one of about 30 toppings they offer on every burger) and an order of fries.

Order Up: Texas Hold 'Em BBQ

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John Linn
Texas Hold 'Em's black barrel smoker still churns out thick waves of smoke, but in a different location.
This week in Dish, we take a look at Texas Hold 'Em BBQ, that recently relocated Fort Lauderdale smoke shack. Now on Seventh Street downtown just a block from the Andrews Avenue Publix, Texas Hold 'Em is enjoying a renaissance thanks to more foot traffic and an invigorated approach to 'cue. Owner Jeremy Armstead has reworked the menu, adding creative items like Texas nachos and overstuffed potatoes with smoky meat and sour cream. And the ribs -- always Texas Hold 'Em's hallmark -- are better than ever.

The full review is up here. Feast on these pictures in the meantime.

Reviewing the Chains: The Bacon Melt at Checkers

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It's a classic example of the bait and switch. During one of my recent late night television binges, I found myself drawn to a commercial that seemed to repeat during every break. It was for some kind of cheesy, bacony, Texas toasty burger at Checkers. Despite seeing the commercial at least a dozen times, I couldn't remember exactly what it was called, only that it looked delicious and I could get two of them for four dollars. Never one to pass on a deal that involves liquid cheese smothering bacon, I made it a point to visit my local Checkers for lunch.

Unfortunately, the Checkers on Federal in Dania Beach did not have the sandwich I'd seen advertised quite yet. They told me they recently started carrying wings, which I took mental note of, but the commercial burger was still just a pipe dream as far as I was concerned. They did, however, have something similar in the Bacon Melt: two beef patties, smothered in cheese sauce, onions, pickles, and bacon then stuffed between two slices of Texas Toast. That'll work.

Beer of the Week: Delirium Nocturnum

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John Linn
Pink elephants dance in your brain.
Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.

If you want to see pink elephants, go Belgian.

Not only does the iconic pink elephant adorn the bottles of both Delirium Tremens (the world's best beer in 1998 according to the World Beer Championships in Chicago) and its sister beer Delirium Nocturnum, but you'll be seeing hypercolor pachyderms floating around your skull after a few pulls from the bottle.

Not that we're advocating drinking Delirium straight from the bottle -- that would be a crime. No, this triple fermented Belgian ale needs room to breath, preferably in something bulbous and wide-lipped. (No offense to the Rush Limbaugh fans out there.)

Order Up: Callaro's Prime Steak and Seafood

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I expected not to like Callaro's Prime, a very old-fashioned steak house in Manalapan and subject of this week's Dish review. But my friend and New Times' theater critic Brandon K. Thorp convinced me the 8-year-old gin joint can cook the hell out of a steak. We dined there a couple of weeks ago before an opening at the Florida Stage next door, and I have to admit I was won over by the wet-aged, USDA prime, 24-ounce porterhouse I ordered. (The play we saw? Not so much.) The full review drops tomorrow. Until then, here's an excerpt to sate your appetite:
At nearly two inches thick, my porterhouse came hoisted on a super-heated metal platter, hissing and popping in protest as if the cow was, in some way, still fighting back. Indeed it was an angry piece of meat: It had seared to the tray in places, forming a brilliant black char, and spat juices across the tablecloth for a good five minutes after being set down. I cut off a hunk from the tender filet side and alternated that with bites from the strip and bits of baked potato oozing with whipped butter and sour cream.
Callaro's Prime
264 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan
561-588-9730
callarosprime.com

Order Up: Carousel Can Can in CityPlace

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This week in Dish, we take a look at one of CityPlace's nightspots, Carousel Can Can:
Any respectable Frenchman would probably shoot bouillabaisse through his nose at the idea of comparing West Palm Beach's CityPlace and Paris' cancan heyday, but there are a few similarities. CityPlace sure is bumping these days, filled up with touristy types looking to do some high-stepping of their own. And joints like Taverna Opa are doing big business combining the thrill of carnal entertainment with casual dining. But most important, the folks congregating at the juiced-up shopping mall are all sexed up. Decked in short skirts and sparkly muscle T's, nearly everyone is looking to get liquored and riled and, if all goes well, a little lucky too.

In that light, the addition of Carousel Can Can to that caustic soup should make sense. The French-themed brasserie looks out over CityPlace's second floor, its side-show carnival lights humming like bug zappers aimed squarely at your nether region. It's draped in gold and porcelain, and the whole façade practically sports a pair of fishnet stockings. Imagine if P.T. Barnum opened a cabaret in the Moulin Rouge and you've got a decent approximation of its character. Toss in a menu that makes T.G.I. Fridays look like the French Laundry and you've got a decent approximation of its food.
Hungry for more? Check out our full review of Carousel Can Can when it hits tomorrow in Dish.

Beer of the Week: Abita Turbodog

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Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.

When it comes to pairing beer with food, some combinations are mysterious and exotic, or require extreme knowledge to ascertain ("this malt was produced next to an orchard, so it goes great with fruit," etc. etc.). Others are more straightforward, such as "bold beer favors bold flavors." Then there's Abita's flagship brown ale, Turbodog. Pairing it is easy: it goes well with everything.

I've never tasted a beer that fits so well with so many different types of food as Turbodog. It's like each sip is a malty Tetris piece that enhances flavor in just the right way. I've drank it straight from the bottle alongside fried gator tail dapped in remoulade and burgers with jalapenos and sharp aged cheddar; I've chugged the blackish brew from frosty mugs with salad laced with gamey gorgonzola crumbles, sausages, catfish, and nachos. The best way to drink Abita Turbodog is any way; but my favorite method is swallowing it in big gulps while peeling and eating fresh-boiled Louisiana crawfish teaming with Cajun spices.
    

Order Up: Bamboo Fire Cafe in Delray Beach

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John Linn
Curried golden crab at Bamboo Fire Cafe is messy but flavorful eating.

Do me a favor: take a look at that plate of curried Florida golden crab pictured above and imagine a scenario in which you can eat it and stay clean. Then I'd like you to please share your findings with me. Because after I was done the savory, spicy dish I was literally covered in crab shrapnel and curry sauce. To get at the meat, you have to first extract it from the shell, which stewed in the delicious sauce. I had to get up to wash my hands two times during the meal and once after, and they still smelt like cumin and coriander for days. But I'd thankfully do it again to get a taste of that curry-tinged shellfish.

The meal in question took place at Delray Beach's most buzzed about new restaurant, Bamboo Fire Cafe. The Caribbean-inspired eatery is the passion project of owners Beverly and Donald Jacobs, a pair of first-time restaurateurs who make customers feel as if they've been invited to dinner in their home. Beverly is the chef and hostess, an inveterate foodie whose Guyanese heritage serves as the foundation for her culinary adventures. The woman can talk food as well as she can cook it, and she'll likely spend hours after your meal sharing her experiences and ideas with you. And that's what makes this restaurant so special: even more inspiring than the home-cooked food made fresh to order is the feeling that you're having a unique dinner experience afforded by two amazing hosts.

But as Bamboo Fire continues to get busier, can Beverly and Donald continue to provide the same homegrown experience, especially with Beverly doing double duty both in and out of the kitchen? Find out when our review of Bamboo Fire Cafe debuts tomorrow in Dish. In the mean time, here are a few more pictures from its recent "wild things" night, which featured exotic fish and game such as wild hog and iguana.

Beer of the Week: St. Rogue Red

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Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.

Look out, folks: Red is the new pale.

For years, pale ales and IPAs have dominated the craft beer market with their huge hop flavors and big bodies. Meanwhile, less-stylish red ales have seemed to dwindle in number. I remember that in college, Killian's Irish Red was huge -- you'd find it everywhere. Granted, Killian's is a crap beer, but its disappearance from most pubs and bars may have as much to do with the style as make (after all, it's a Coors beer, and Coors has enough retail clout to push it if it wanted to). Basically, reds haven't been too popular.

Enter St. Rogue Dry Hopped Red Ale, a big, bold, gloriously hoppy brew from Rogue that's gobbled up acclaim as of late. And... this just in, St. Rogue was today named the World's Best Pale Ale at the Third Annual World Beer Awards in London, England. Take that, Mr. IPA.
     

Anatomy of a Bad Meal at Latitudes Beach Cafe

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John Linn
Miso sea bass at Latitudes: Oh, the humanity.


Last week I checked out Ron Duprat's restaurant in the Hollywood Beach Marriott, Latitudes Beach Cafe. I high hopes for Duprat's food after catching the Haitian-born chef on this season of the Bravo series Top Chef, even if longtime critic Gail Shepherd had once ravaged the place with such a scathing review you can still hear her pounding on the keyboard as you read it. But that was years ago. Certainly the affable Duprat has come a long way since then, enough, at least, to get chosen to appear on one of the only truly real food shows on television anymore?

Sadly, no. As you can see from my capsule review in this week's paper, Latitudes is still not just bad; it's the restaurant equivalent of a David Lynch mind-fuck. Our meal was so awful, my dinner guest and I could do nothing throughout but sit there with our maws agape, just trying to decipher how someone classically trained and who obviously knows how to cook could allow this kind of garbage to pass through his kitchen.

Oh, and laugh. Laugh the pain straight away.

Truth is, though, if papa New Times not been picking up the check -- if I had been an ordinary customer drawn in by the promise of a Top Chef meal -- I would not have been laughing. I'd have been livid.

So, in the interest of those customers plunking down their hard-earned bucks, here's a recap of our experience with Latitude's four-course "Top Chef" prix fixe menu.

Order Up: Mustard Seed Bistro

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John Linn
One of Mustard Seed's signature dishes is the roasted duck with cherry gastrique.
On deck this week: our review of Mustard Seed Bistro, a quaint French-inspired eatery in Cooper City. It's the product of Tim and Lara Boyd, a pair of restaurateurs now in their second location since selling Plantation's Upper Crust Cafe in 2004. Like their last effort, Milk and Honey, the Mustard Seed makes use of timeless bistro dishes like tuna Nicoise and French onion soup, each plating with an extra helping of charm. The spot has quickly become a favorite of the society luncheon set, who pack in to sample Tim's deft cooking and chat with their host, Lara. But the Mustard Seed is not without flaws -- inconsistencies in food and service are slight dings in its otherwise shiny veneer, but more importantly, dinner prices veer towards down-payment territory in some cases. Still, there's a lot to be said for this little bistro. Read more when the full review debuts tomorrow in dish. In the mean time, check out a few photos from our recent visit.

Order Up: Creolina's Dixie Takeout

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Check it out, y'all: Davie's got the premier digs for Southern grub in Creolina's Dixie Takeout, the chicken-fried spinoff of the longtime Fort Lauderdale joint. After a year slinging Deep South cuisine way out west, how are Creolina's and its heralded wait staff faring? Check out an excerpt from this week's Dish review:

The shrimp and grits in front of me at Creolina's Dixie Takeout in Davie fill the entire white, oval plate. There are almost two dozen plump shrimp bathing in a pool of pink tasso cream sauce so abundant that it's managed to spread underneath the dish of collard greens on the side. At its center is a "cake" of fried grits that looks like a massive cut of filet mignon, three inches wide and nearly that tall.

I crack open the crusted tower like a crème brulee, and gobs of Monterey jack cheese and buttered grits ooze onto the plate. Despite my best efforts to sop up the cayenne-speckled cream sauce with the crunchy/gooey grits and bites of plush shrimp, I can get through only half of it. The sweet young waitress sees me struggling from across the small, yellow dining room lined with ragtime posters and New Orleans memorabilia and offers to box up the rest. When she comes back, she suggests I try a piece of Creolina's famous bread pudding. But I'm way too full to give it an honest attempt.

"Next time you come in, you'll have to try the bread pudding," she says to me assuredly. "It's worth it."

Want more? Read all about Creolina's when Dish debuts tomorrow.

Beer of the Week: Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale

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John Linn
Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.

And now for another edition of "You Know You're a Hophead If..."

  • You know you're a hophead if you have a section of your personal budget labeled "plugs and pellets."
  • You know you're a hophead if you identify citrus and pine in your breakfast cereal.
  • You know you're a hophead if you've started drinking everything out of snifters, not just beer.
  • You know you're a hophead if you jones for Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale like Kanye does stage time.
The term "hophead" at one time denoted a drug addict, someone who was hopelessly crushed on pot or opium. These days, it has a slightly less insidious meaning. It's someone who is so obsessed with the bitter, floral, honeyed flavors of fresh hops in their beer, that every single brew they taste needs to somehow be more hopped than the last.
 

Taco Bell's Half Pound Burritos will fill you up alright...

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It's official, there is some truth in advertising. Taco Bell's half pound burritos will indeed fill you up. But it's not a pleasant "I won't have to eat for at least six hours" feeling of satisfaction. No, it's more of "I can't be further than 50 feet from a bathroom for at least 12 hours" type feeling. At least the advertisements are very honest, warning that even a former heavyweight boxing champion's stomach, which is used to being pummeled with uppercuts from the likes of Mike Tyson, couldn't possibly accommodate more than one half pound of what Taco Bell is offering.



I decided to go with the Nacho Crunch variety which is advertised as "A warm flour tortilla loaded with a double portion of seasoned ground beef and filled with warm nacho cheese sauce, juicy tomatoes, reduced fat sour cream and crunchy red tortilla strips." For a burrito that weighs in at half a pound, it sure seems tiny. In fact, I remember getting quite a few bean burritos from the same restaurant which seemed heftier than this one.



Order Up: The Restaurant at 251

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Shamin Abas
An excerpt from this week's Dish review on the Restaurant at 251, formerly da Francesco's:


Picture this: You've been invited for dinner at a friend's house. He prepared a lovely meal - a salad of baby lettuces and herbs from the garden, and a whole roasted pork loin dressed with sage and thyme. Midway through your pork loin - so juicy and tender - your host gets up. He removes the empty chairs from the room. He licks his fingers, snuffs out the candles on the centerpiece, and turns up the chandelier to its brightest setting. And then he hovers over you, waiting and watching as you chew your last few bites.

There will not be any dessert.

There's nothing worse you can do in a restaurant than make your customers feel unwelcome. Yet that's exactly what happened at the Restaurant at 251, a five-month-old organic Italian restaurant in Palm Beach.

The problems at 251 aren't limited to what's going down inside the restaurant. Since the beginning of September, the restaurant's owners have been in a bitter dispute with 251 Partners, the group that leases the space. There have been noise complaints, lawsuits, and visits from the Palm Beach police department. And now the restaurant team that launched it as da Francesco's in April is exiled. Even for Palm Beach, this situation is strange and scandalous.

Find out more when Dish debuts tomorrow. In the mean time, check out a little of the backstory here.

Beer of the Week: Lefthand Chainsaw Ale

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John Linn
A writeup on the back of this bottle of Chainsaw Double Sawtooth Ale confronts the old adage that less is more. It's claim: sometimes, more is more. Chainsaw Ale is definitely more. More hops, more malt, more big, badass flavor than it's little sister brew, Sawtooth Ale. But is that a good thing? Sawtooth is one of the most balanced, easy drinking session beers around. Just how does that translate to this limited availability, Imperial version?

Order Up: Charm City Burgers

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John Linn
Charm City's cowboy-style burger with a fried-egg addition is gloriously messy and delicious.

An excerpt from this week's dish review, on Deerfield's own Charm City Burgers:

The standard logic here would be to cut the packed burger in half and approach it a little at a time. But that only goes so far. The best tactic is to position your hands opposite your mouth so that when you bite one side of the bun, the fresh-ground patty doesn't go squirting out the back. But that just leads to gobs of freshly sautéed onions and mushrooms running out of the sides. As I bite into mine, the top part of the bun slides off along a thick wedge of tomato lubricated by "Charm sauce" (a sort of spicy thousand island that is hardly charming when it's splotched all over your face). When I shove it back in place, a slice of thick-cut, black pepper-studded bacon tumbles out of one side. I know better than to commit the foolish act of setting this hunk of steer down to readjust; getting it back up again in one piece would be futile. Instead, I attack the weak points strategically, spotting bits of fried egg about to spill out or points where the bun is about to collapse. By the time I finish, bits of burger shrapnel and soaked paper napkins litter the table.

There are a lot of great burger joints in South Florida, and Charm City has a place among the best of 'em. Read the whole review when it appears in Dish tomorrow. In the mean time, eat vicariously through us with this spread of photos.

Beer Liquor of the Week: Cruzan Single Barrel Rum

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John Linn
You know those little hexagonally packaged Tortuga rum cakes that people who get off cruise ships and airplanes tend to hand out the way fruitcakes go around at Christmastime? They're sweet and dry and taste like a distant relative to what someone's Bahamian grandmother might actually make and hand out to friends and neighbors. Well, I'm assaulted by that smell when I lift a rocks glass with a tiny pour of Cruzan Single Barrel Rum to my nose. It took me a while to place it -- I thought it had to be just coconut at first. But no, this syrupy, almond-colored aged rum smells just like Tortuga rum cake.

Not that that's a bad thing. Dark rum is a weakness of mine, and this one is especially potent. You might know Cruzan best as the name in front of the West Palm Beach amphitheater -- at least for the moment. Or as makers of those sickly sweet flavored rums infused with vanilla and banana and black cherry. But Cruzan is interested in changing its image from a partygoers drink to a fine product of some pedigree. This rum, a blend of rums aged four to 12 years in oak bourbon barrels, then another year in new American oak, is the maker's flagship in that effort.

Order Up: El Zocalo Authentic Mexican Restaurant

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John Linn
The pozole is undoubtedly the best thing I tasted at El Zocalo Authentic Mexican Restaurant, the subject of this week's Dish review. The dark red soup has thick chunks of pork and plenty of hominy, large kernels of corn with a potato-like texture. On its own, the soup is spicy and savory, the thin broth redolent of chilis and slowly simmered meat. But you can also add a squirt of lime or some fresh chopped cilantro and lettuce to flavor the further. A big "cup," like the one shown, costs $7.

There's a lot to like about El Zocalo's pozole, as well as its tacos, which come on fluffy corn tortillas that are made in house. Those tortillas have a great flavor, and the fillings they wrap around -- cochinita pibil, al pastor, barbacoa, lengua, and more -- are very good for the most part. Still, I wish the meat-packed tacos had a better ratio of cilantro and onion to filling. And at $2.50 each, they're not the cheapest tacos in the world. But they're the only authentic tacos around that you can eat in a restaurant done up like a courtyard straight out of rural Mexico.

How does El Zocalo fare overall? Find out when Dish debuts tomorrow. 

Order Up: Basilic Vietnamese Grill

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Vietnamese is fun food. Playing with the various condiments available -- fish sauce (nuoc cham), chili paste, soy, lemongrass and garlic spread, hoisin, sriracha, and more -- requires a bit of lightheartedness coupled with a willingness to experiment. But the results are very exciting, especially at Basilic Vietnamese Grill, a new restaurant in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. We previewed Basilic a few weeks ago on the blog, and we loved the fragrant bowls of pho and the light, healthy flavor shared by everything we tried. Even if some of the dishes feel just a touch Anglo-fied -- like the banh mi, which eschews pate and cold cuts for grilled chicken and steak -- they seem to work just fine. And there's plenty to love for those who are looking for something authentic. Not to mention the hip dining room with tall windows that look out over Commercial Boulevard, the cheap wine list, and the free flowing draft beer.

Check out our full review of Basilic when it debuts Wednesday in Dish.  

Beer of the Week: Brooklyn Lager

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John Linn

Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it: How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.

Call me a turncoat, but I just haven't been in the mood for big beers lately.

I know, it's crazy. I'm kind of mad at myself, because I have two bottles of Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale and a very special bomber of Left Hand's Chainsaw Double Sawtooth that have been collecting dust in my rack for a few weeks now. A few weeks. That's longer than any beer has a right to last in my house. Maybe it's the heat or the fact that I'm consciously cutting down on consumption of all sorts in the off time that I'm not snarfing down everything in sight at restaurants around South Florida. But when I reach for a beer these days, it's something crisp and refreshing, with the caveat that I still need some good flavors.

Brooklyn Lager satisfies those requirements completely.

Reviewing the Chains: Grilled Chicken at KFC

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Today, I'm trying to "unthink" lunch. KFC launched a line of healthier grilled chicken options a few months ago, and it's about time Clean Plate Charlie gives it a try. I've never been a fan of KFC. It's chicken is always far too greasy, sitting under heat lamps for a couple of days more than I'm comfortable with and often served in buckets. As a rule, I try to avoid eating anything that comes in buckets. Still, I'm hungry for lunch, and there's blogging material right around the corner.

My first surprise at KFC is the price. For a value box (much better than a bucket, by the way) of grilled chicken, I needed to hand over only $3. I ordered the grilled drumstick and received my second surprise: thinly veiled honesty warning me against my lunch plans. I should have taken it as a bad sign right away when the cashier asked if I was "sure you want the grilled chicken?" I assured her I did indeed want the unfried chicken, and she shrugged. I immediately regret not heeding her warning.

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Order Up: Sicilian Oven - Updated With Slideshow

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C. Stiles
The Perfect Pizza is an elusive animal. Mostly because everyone has his or her own idea of what makes a great pie. But I'd like to think of the pizza at Sicilian Oven as the Great Uniter; no matter what the preference -- Napolitan or New York style, wood- or coal-fired, thin and thick -- just about everyone I've brought to the Lighthouse Point pizzeria agrees it's fantastic stuff. Owner Andrew Garavuso is a firm believer in cooking with wood over coal; the stuff fires his twin stone hearths that serve as the restaurant's focal point. As a result, his pies are crisp without being overdone, with lovely bits of char that don't cross over to the burned spectrum. And pizza's just the half of it: Sicilian Oven serves some fine Italian food too, including marinara-smothered calamari, fire-roasted shrimp, mussels in white wine and garlic butter, pasta with pesto and cream sauces, and some truly amazing Sicilian-style rice balls.

Read more about Sicilian Oven in this week's Dish review, which will go live tomorrow. Now check out this slideshow of behind-the-scenes pictures from the restaurant. Mangia.   
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