via SodaHead

Fire burns tree. Fire wins?

​The other day in a meeting, the Short Order bloggers got into a tizzy about which holiday had the better bites: Christmas, AKA Santa's birthday -- or is it Rudolph's? -- or Hanukkah, the eight days of lights not being turned off or something. This actually got our two members of the Tribe, Riki Altman and Lesley Elliott, in a bit of a disagreement. Altman argued that Hanukkah meals are highly underrated, and Christmas dinner is basically a redux of Thanksgiving. However, Elliott claimed that as a child, all she dreamed of was a White Christmas with lots of pork-laden foods.

So, who's right? Well, we'll leave that up to you as both make their case is a special Christmas vs. Hanukkah edition of Blogger's Bout.

Christmas Meals are Overrated
Let me sum it up in one sentence: Hanukkah food is the freakin' best because the stars of the meal are either fried, full of sugar, or both. All diet bets are off.
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Blue cheese and chorizo empanadas.

​What's a writer to do when an interest piece has already been written and reviewed by a fellow blogger? Try a different angle. Just from the name Gelato Nostro, one can derive that Italian style ice-cream is the main attraction. Oscar, one of the partners of this establishment, recommended that the focus be on a lesser-known offer since the gelato was already the topic of a past story. Gourmet empanadas were that recommendation. The problem: there's nothing gourmet about them.

They weren't fresh. They had to be reheated from their room-temperature sitting state. When I asked Oscar what made his empanadas qualify for the title of "gourmet," he responded with a sure shrug of his shoulders, "the caramelized onions, of course." Sigh, there were no caramelized onions within my chorizo empanada; nor for my blue cheese one.

I was the lone patron in Gelato Nostro, located on a one-way street along SW First Avenue off Brickell, though a teenage girl came in panting and requesting some free tap water as a relief from the outside city heat. The stale empanadas left me unsatisfied. To revive my tastebuds I eagerly accepted samples of the main attraction -- the gelato, which is made fresh daily by Italian native Marco Marchi. He's the mastermind behind the refreshing various flavors of gelatos. My tounge was doing the "happy dance" once the cool savory bites invaded my mouth.

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Best in show.

As far as restaurants go, Midtown's Gigi is incontestably the hippest spot in all of Miami-Dade County. Who knew this city had so many good looking people until the big windows overlooking North Miami Avenue began framing their stylish faces?

The intimate, sleek layout, warm atmosphere, and delightful servers make every trip a pleasurable experience. The one barrier to perfection is the food.

Although it boasts former Top Chef contestant Jeff McInnis as its head chef, is affordable, and at times tasty, the quality of the product is inconsistent. Let's start at the bottom. (By the way, prices and offerings change often at this joint, so some of our listings might be outdated.)

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photo by Jillmott's

​In 1931 Irma S. Rombauer self published The Joy of Cooking. It became the United States' most published cookbook. One recipe in there is Chicken breast baked on a bed of mushrooms. A simple and tasty dish, I devoured it as a child (yes, even the mushrooms),

Fast forward to 2011. The recipe is the same, the ingredients the same and we followed all the same steps, so what went wrong? The chicken is not tender, mushrooms not moist and the sauce nonexistent. We look down on the oversize, plump chicken breast taking up 3/4 of the plate and have to wonder if herein lies the culprit.

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Nigella Lawson

​In an interview with Eater, Nigella Lawson promotes her new cookbook, Nigella Kitchen. Yet this curvaceous cookbook author, TV personality, and all around fabulous foodie who has a way of making even a grilled cheese sound sultry and sexy stands fast that she is not a chef.

Eater: Why do you shirk the title of chef?

Nigella: I am not a chef.

Well, what does a chef mean that you aren't?

Nigella: Chef means a degree of professionalism either because you've got the qualification or because you've worked in a restaurant kitchen. I have done neither. My only qualification is in Medieval Modern Languages at Oxford. A chef means in some sense that you are a professional and I feel like I am a passionate amateur. It's partly because I feel that the age we live in is the great age of expert.

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Photo by Michael McElroy

Chef Jeff McInnis in Gigi's exposed kitchen.

​Bloggers Paula Nino and Riki Altman disagree about the merits of exposed kitchens. What follows are their disparate views:

Paula's P.O.V.:

There's something exciting about watching a chef and his team working behind the line to create your food. It's a way to satisfy the curiosity of how the dishes at a restaurant are prepared and, in some cases, observe the deftness of the chef. But sitting at the counter of an open kitchen is not just a chance to watch. The fun also comes from interacting with the people who are about to feed you.

Whether it's a team cooking or a one-man operation like at NAOE, most times
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Starbucks.com

​Crystal, a sprightly server at Starbucks in Miami Shores, says the pumpkin spice latte, which is only available a few months a year and went on sale in September, is really popular. Why? "There's no fall here," she says, "so we give people a sense of the season." Bloggers Chuck Strouse and Carissa Chesanek do battle over the relative virtues of this nutmeg, caffeine-flavored stuff.

Miami New Times editor Chuck Strouse says:
Pumpkin space latte is a perversion. Coffee is not meant to be spiced and prettied up. Leave that to tea. Hot chocolate maybe. If you are absolutely desperate to spread that crap around, rum is even okay. But coffee. Ay, chico! We live here in Cuba, um Miami, where in many parts of the city you can walk to the ventanilla, order up your colada or cortadito, and chat for a few minutes with a friend in that crazy Spanglish that dominates this town. Down the Pilon and you you're juiced. Why in God's name would you spend $4.12 for a small (No I won't call it a tall. Call me a friggin curmudgeon.) or $5.30 for a large (and i sure as shit won't say venti, even if you give me five of em free.)? No spend a buck, down some sweetened motor oil, and head out with a smile on your face. Moreover, you don't have to give your money to some motherin' Seattle-based corporate behemoth. You help along a homegrown business. Pumpkin spice latte, fuhgeddaboutit.
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​Blogger Hannah Littman and New Times editor Chuck Strouse disagree about Design District pioneer and national powerhouse Michael's Genuine. What follows are their disparate views:

Walk into Michael's Genuine, the much applauded, infrequently dissed Design District restaurant and you note it right away. There's none of the pretense that so many of South Florida restaurants serve up. Here, instead, it's all about the food. And the food is unbelievably good thanks to the freshest ingredients, which are prepared and cooked so that they shine. Fresh, simple, pure? You betcha.

Let's face facts. Until recently, South Florida food--though the offspring of many regions-- was truly lacking. Here, there aren't even any good diners, few great bagel shops, and Thai food is always served up alongside sushi for some bizarre reason. And don't even get me started on the fine food side of things. But in 2007, along came Michael's Genuine.Two years later,m the place took a James Beard Award. And the New York Times' ranked it number 4 in America in 2008. Zagat has it as the third most popular restaurant in Miami.

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In the August issue of Travel and Leisure Magazine Miami Beach is touted as a tourist destination gone "gaga" for dogs. Lincoln Road is seen as the epicenter of fashionable canine flaunting. But is this four-legged invasion a nuisance or can we peacefully coexist with our neighbors' furry companions? Two opposing opinions:

Dog Dodger say:

Dogs and fine dinning don't mix. Everyone's favorite local restaurant strip for flauntin; Lincoln Road. The street often resembles a canine fashion show or parade of sorts.  Many store and restaurant fronts even offer water-filled dog bowls for overheated canine supermodels.

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Lee Klein

Sit down. What's your rush?

​The new Nespresso Boutique Bar on Lincoln Road is a stunning cafe where patrons can sit and enjoy any of 16 Grand Cru coffees. Nespresso is something of a pioneer in premium- portioned coffee (you know, the pods) -- it's as good a cup of espresso as you're gonna get. But what I really like is that they do not offer coffee to take out.

That's right -- no to-go. You've got to sit your rear end down at either the barista bar or at one of the bright, plush, incredibly comfortable seats, and enjoy the moment. No rushing off with Blackberry in one hand and coffee in the other, pretending that the world relies on the perpetuity of your motion. If you would just take a short break, relax, and set your mind free, you'll likely come to realize that this is why cafes were invented.

Plus coffee tastes better in a real cup than in paper, and, maybe most importantly of all, the environmental benefits are fantastic (imagine how many trees are used each year for paper goods at Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts shops worldwide). Good for the soul, and good for the earth. God bless Nespresso for shunning profits in favor of peace (of mind).

Tomorrow: El Jefe counters with the opposing viewpoint that coffee-to-go is a good thing.