CandaceWest.com

Beer brewing student Arthur Best listening in class; Micro brews for sale at BX Beer Depot.

Basic beer brewing is a simple enough process that long-extinct civilizations in Egypt and ancient Sumeria were able to do it. A source of starch -- beer makers use anything from malted barley to rice husks -- is steeped in hot water to extract the sugars. The liquid is strained and poured over yeast, which eat the sugar and produce alcohol as waste. That's what gets you drunk -- microscopic yeast poop.

More »

CandaceWest.com

Salt Life Food Shack's Shrimp Bro Chette.

You know those Salt Life stickers you see everywhere? The idea for them, and the multimillion-dollar company apparel company they created came from Jacksonville.

Salt Life, the company, began in the early 2000s with a group of friends with a passion for fishing, surfing, diving and anything involving the ocean. Today the company's clothes are sold in countless stores across the country.

In 2010 it expanded into food, opening the first Salt Life Food Shack in its hometown. In 2012 they opened a second location in Coral Springs. Two more are planned for Stuart and in St. Augustine.

More »

It was shocking to find Kaluz packed and bustling on a Monday night. It was more shocking to find a chic, multimillion-dollar restaurant with a well-rounded menu and detail-oriented servers pop up from nowhere.

A bit of investigation found an experienced, well-funded team behind the waterfront eatery, which sits overlooking the intracoastal and Commercial Boulevard. Kaluz is partly owned and run by David Baldwin. The former Houston's (now Hillstone's) manager spent more than a decade in Argentina running a small chain of American-style steak houses.

See also:
- Jack Mancini Tests West Las Olas' Trendy Waters
- German Bread Haus Bakes Bavarian Delights in Fort Lauderdale
- 28. Fulvio Sardelli of Sardelli's Italian Steakhouse

More »

CandaceWest.com

Jack Mancini (left) and housemade agnolotti with roasted squash and lamb.

Jack Mancini's namesake restaurant on East Las Olas Boulevard was a rare, long-standing institution on a street where some restaurants depart faster than visiting tourists.

After a decade in business Mancini's closed its doors in 2011 when the 10-year lease expired. After trying his hand at a short-lived tapas-and-cocktails concept called M Bar, Mancini went back to Italian roots, sort of.

See Also:
- A Taste of Jamaica Without the Travel
- Make Your Own Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese With The Tipsy Boar
- Weston Dining Entrepreneur Plans Pizza Empire

More »

CandaceWest.com

Aunt I's co-owner Tanya "Top Cat" Cunningham; akee and saltfish.

There's a huge Jamaican and West Indian population in the western part of Broward County. While immigration to South Florida is perpetual, it seemed as though the seeds of this community began arriving in the late 1970s. As we wandered around Sunrise and Weston, eating everything from slow-cooked oxtail to salty codfish for breakfast, we learned many Jamaicans at first settled in Miami Gardens. Later Lauderhill became the destination, where a nearby bus terminal provided transportation. Soon after, restaurants and markets began cropping up, and a sort of Little Kingston started developing.

More »

CandaceWest.com

The Tipsy Boar's lobster mac 'n' cheese ($18).

At The Tipsy Boar Gastropub the Sardelli family, long known for refined Italian fare, has set foot on a new path. There are no meatballs, no pasta, and the beer- and fried-food-centric restaurant is a far more casual than the upscale Fulvio's 1900 and the recently opened Sardelli's, $1.6 million Mediterranean villa that overlooks Hollywood Beach.

"We were just looking to have a place where we can go grab a beer and something out of the deep fryer," said Fulvio Sardelli Jr., who runs prep at the Tipsy Boar in the morning before heading to Sardelli's to oversee dinner service.

More »

billwisserphoto.com

Chef and Food and Beverage Director Adam Postal; Grilled yellowfin tuna

If Mister Collins were a man and not a restaurant, he'd be the kind to give red roses -- but never yellow tulips or a single orchid. He'd favor ocean views and tea lights over cityscapes and Dixon lamps. He'd drink Manhattans. He'd wear black leather loafers, lavish women with compliments, and occasionally smoke a cigar. He wouldn't set trends, yet he'd be quite fashionable. Mister Collins would be a gentleman.

But Mister Collins is in fact a restaurant. On a balmy Friday evening, in a narrow entrance located at the back of the ritzy One Bal Harbour Resort and Spa, a hostess praises a lady on her choice of clothing. She gushes over the woman's tawny wedges, black silk scarf, and tight pencil skirt. She graciously leads other guests to the candle-lit outdoor patio, which overlooks the crisp waters of Haulover Inlet; or she takes them to the sleek dining room, which is painted white and has plush leather dining chairs.

More »

CandaceWest.com

Julieta Bocos.

Expect a crash course in authentic Mexican cuisine and wide smiles when you step inside Casa Frida Mexican Grill.

"Do you know what posole is?" asked co-owner Victor Bocos during one lunchtime visit. The blood-red soup, the day's special, came with slow-roasted pork shoulder, big tender kernels of hominy corn, oregano, and crushed chili. It dates back to the era before European explorers arrived. The Aztecs ritually ate an ancient version of this soup during special occasions. At times, it was said to have been made with human meat.

More »

CandaceWest.com

Voodka's $29 foie gras burger.

Voodka's interior, with its vaulted ceilings, glittering chandeliers, and oversized faux leather couches, catches the eye of almost all who walk by on East Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Inside, owners Dan Ellia and Michel Karsenti have composed a mashup menu with everything from burgers to pasta with cream sauce and truffles to tuna tartare in an attempt to lure in passing tourists. More »

billwisserphoto.com

Sticky guanabana-glazed ribs and Fluger Family Traps spiny lobster.

Florida Cookery's manager, an unflappable and poker-faced woman dressed in an austere black-and-white uniform, set a heavy spiny lobster dish on our table. Around her, the dining room lit up with that unique razzle-dazzle that South Beach restaurants often possess Saturday nights.

It had been 25 minutes since we inquired about the lobster entrée, 45 minutes since our appetizer course, and more than two hours since we had sauntered into the restaurant at the ritzy James Royal Palm Hotel.

The dish was late, late, late.

More »