Miami Food Blog

Photo by Juan Monino

On stage at the Arsht Center: Jacques Pepin, Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert.

Jacques Pepin showed Eric Ripert a thing or two in a friendly cook-off at the Arsht Center Celebrity Chef series Friday night. With nine minutes to go on the 30-minute clock, Pepin, who found time to make dessert in addition to the two dishes he and Ripert were expected to prepare, proclaimed: "Do we have to wait until the end or can we start plating?"

After an introductory interview by Anthony Bourdain, the two French chefs were given a mystery basket with a whole chicken, a whole fish, fennel, asparagus, quinoa, cauliflower, oranges and a mango. Pepin, perhaps feeling as if he was in one of his TV shows, gave the play-by-play of everything he was doing, while a quieter (probably not by choice) Ripert looked focused. Both made chicken bouillabaisse as one of their dishes.

And while there was no winner in this cook-off, the audience got a good tease from the aromas coming out of the kitchen and a good laugh out of the chefs' candid answers to Bourdain's questions.

Continue reading for some sound bites:

Jim Winters

Hot spot.

​It's a pain in the butt to get into Burger & Beer Joint lately.  All that patty and pint have would-be patrons enduring one hour waits for tables at peak feeding times.  Add celebrities to the list, and something tells us the clamor won't be subsiding any time soon.
 
Owner Buzzy Sklar confirmed today that the star of HBO's Entourage, Adrian Grenier, stopped in for a beer last night with friends, but passed on grub. No word yet as to why he is in town. Sklar added that Pauly Shore, here for a stint at the Miami Improv amongst other appearances, paid a visit too and ate. 

Generation X and Y, coming together over the same taste in burgers and beer. So South Beach.

Burger & Beer Joint
305-672-3287‎
1766 Bay Road, Miami Beach

Wendy Maharlika is the manager/waitress at Naoe in Sunny Isles, and she took part in a hot dog throwing contest on the Jimmy Fallon show the other night.

This clip from the Jimmy Fallon show is from a feature they have called Hot Dog In A Hole.

In this episode contestants throw hot dogs into the mouths of Twilight stars Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart, Jacob Black played by Taylor Lautner, and Edward Cullen played by Robert Pattinson.

Jimmy Fallon and his announcer Higgins make funny wiener, tube meat, and hot dog references as part of the schtick of contestants throwing franks in the mouths of the Twilight movie stars.

Jimmy Fallon says "Wendy, you've got Jacob Black here. You confident you can cruise your meat sticks through that sexy hole?" Wendy says, "I'm cruising those meat sticks." Then Jimmy Fallon says "Sounds like you got hot dogs on the brain."

Wendy was in NYC on a foodie birthday vacation. Log on to naoemiami.com for more info on the restaurant she owns and operates with Chef Kevin Cory. Click here for Lee Klein's review of the joint.

Ingrid Hoffman

​Now here's a chef who knows the meaning of caliente. For those of you who may not recognize this hometown girl (which rock have you been living under, huh?), she's the host of Food Network's Simply Delicioso, as well as Galavision/Univision's hit series, Delicioso, and she's authored cookbooks of the same names. Or perhaps you recently spotted her premiering a new, vivid kitchen products collection with a Latin twist, Simply Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffmann, during HSN Cooks.

But Hoffman wasn't always the successful, graceful, talented gal we know today. "As a teenager working for my mom's catering company doing the inaugural ball of the governor of the Netherlands Antilles, I went to hang these flowers from the chandelier above the sweets and champagne table and lost my balance from the ladder and held myself from the chandelier only to come down with the chandelier," she recalled. "I ripped it from the ceiling while dangling over the table, then crashed through the table, champagne flutes, desserts, etcetera, 10 minutes before the party began. Mom fired me on the spot!"

We're glad she lived to tell the story. And even though we now know perhaps she's a bit of a klutz and she likes to eat ants and (more about that below), we still find Ingrid Hoffmann incredibly appealing. Here's what she had to say:

New Times: If you came back in your next life as a food item, what would it be and how would you like to be served?

Ingrid Hoffman: A mango, because it's sweet and tarty also an aphrodisiac, and would like it plated in a sexy way, like a Mango Rose Water Sorbet in a martini glass and decorated with edible rose petals.

Come to us Todd.

​Still not announcing any concrete plans to move into our neighborhood, Todd English continues to make us swoon from afar. Now that he's got da Campo Osteria in Fort Lauderdale, Figs in Palm Beach Gardens, and Wild Olives coming to Boca in the old Opus 5 location (oooh--was I supposed to let that cat out of the bag?), I'm willing to bet it's just a matter of time before he gets a hankering for the Miami lifestyle. Of course, there's also the matter of him being a singleton again... surely he knows all the hot chicks are down here, right?

In the meantime, as I yet again am encouraged to visualize him glistening from the sheen of olive oil (read on to understand where that comes from), here are this sexy celeb chef's top 10s:

New Times: What was your most embarrassing cooking-related moment?

Todd English: I was in an off-Broadway production called Chef's Theater where I actually sang and cooked on-stage, and at one of the performances I was so into singing my Dean Martin number--You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You--that I knocked over the dish I was cooking onto the stage.

NT: What food/utensil/technique still confounds you?

A rolling pin for pizza dough--it's gotta be hand-tossed baby!

Jackie Sayet

The President's "Sinking Chocolate Ball"? Nah, this one's from Meat Market.

​Health care reform may not yet be a slam dunk for the President, but sinking was a theme on the menu at the Democratic Party fundraiser last night at the Fontainebleau Hotel on South Beach.

A source present at the affair reports that guests enjoyed a three-course dinner, including tomato and eggplant terrine with white balsamic vinaigrette and goat cheese toast, filet mignon with wild mushrooms and gnocchi ragout, and for dessert, a "Sinking Chocolate Ball."  There was also a choice of fish, which we hear was very good. 

Having not contributed the minimum $500-a-pop to attend, it's hard to assess the performance, but menu design sounds about right.  No extravagant ingredients, no ruffled feathers.  And heck, we deserve some credit for working our connections on the inside.

UPDATE: The Fontainebleau just got in touch with the full menu, after the jump.

Kourtney Kardashian is naked, at her house, where she runs around all day with no clothes on, which is what she told media she likes to do. The reality television star of Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami fame is also pregnant. Kourtney spent the summer hot and wet on Miami Beach during the filming of the reality show she and her sister star in. She says she loves seeing the changes in her nude body.

Her pregnancy has given her health food cravings for fruit and smoothies. She's also more into breakfast now, saying "I eat breakfast the second I get up and I'm definitely hungry all throughout the day."

Above is a recent video of Kourtney Kardashian walking around pregnant at the Malibu Country Mart.

Photos by Jacob Katel

​ Joshua Gallander is a character. Literally. You and millions of other people around the world have probably seen him somewhere on VH1's reality show lineup (I Love New York, or I Love Money) in his better known as persona "Whiteboy." But when he's not working on tv, he's working at the landmark Cutler Ridge pawnshop his family has owned for the past twenty one years on US1 and Caribbean Boulevard (SW 200 street). Click here for a 1990 New Times article on the subject.

Short Order took the turnpike south and asked Whiteboy "What's in your fridge?"

Jackie Sayet

I declare this meeting chilled

​For those of you more excited than confused at the prospect of detoxing with mojitos, we're sorry to burst your alcohol-coated bubble. The mojito recipe in this post is - gasp - virgin!  Where is an Edvard Munch "The Scream"-style font when you need one?

If you're still reading at this juncture, we'd like to thank you for sticking around.  So did seven editorial staffers yesterday, when Chef Ingrid Hoffmann popped by the New Times office with food stylist, publicist and hunny in-tow, to whip up a frozen version of what's normally pounded at the bar. 

Would you believe that even this toxin-motivated (especially when free) crowd had taste buds fooled into believing Ingrid's Creamy Mojito Shakes were spiked with the naughty stuff?  Turns out that a handful of fresh mint, a squeeze of lime, and a splash of Latina flare will do the trick.  And they're mighty tasty, too.

So the Taco Bell dog is dead...supposedly. Here are Gidget's top 5 messages from beyond the grave in this ghostly Short Order exclusive. Enjoy.

image via televisionwithoutpity.com

Twitter

No surprise here folks... It's not the first time party princess Paris Hilton has been guilty of burger debauchery (think Carl's Jr. TV spot!)  This time, the scene of the crime is the Brickell branch of Miami's tame but trusty Deli Lane Cafe, confirms Miami Herald reporter Douglas Hanks via Twitter today.

Hanks had earlier tweeted a link to his story on the hotel heiress's breach-of-contract trial in a federal courthouse downtown:

We can report that Hilton's lunch order before she took the stand Friday afternoon was a double cheeseburger and a barbecue chicken sandwich, plus a salad with ranch dressing on the side. ''I'm starving,'' she whispered to the Miami lawyer fetching the food.

Hilton has built up quite the appetite refusing to promote Pledge This!, a terrible college movie she filmed on South Beach in 2006.

image via indywench's flickr

Saw this over at the Sun Sentinel food blog, Sup. Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is looking for diners to eat at the remade Fleming: A Taste of Denmark, across the street from The Falls.

If you haven't seen the show, Gordon Ramsay goes to a failing restaurant, yells a lot, makes somebody cry, and fixes everything. What used to be a restaurant so crappy they had to call a tv chef in to fix it is now supposed to be so great, maybe, that you'll want to go there and be filmed reacting to it.

Oh, by the way, you have to pay for your own meal. Hope Ramsay didn't adjust Fleming's price point upwards.

Those interested in the experience should email miamidine@yahoo.com

beyonce-source.com

Fresh off of us naming SoBe burger joint the Best Place to Meet (Let's Hope) Single Guys, Beyonce Knowles, pop diva and the (married) queen of single ladies, dropped by to pick up 2 hamburgers, 2 cheeseburgers, and a 6 pack of baby cheeeseburgers. According to owner Stephanie Vitori, "[Beyonce] came in and ordered herself. She comes in all the time, her and Jay-Z. We get a lot of celebs here and each one is super nice and no one bothers them."

Take note: Bey could have stopped at any of the foo-foo-la burger joints on the beach for an Angus or Kobe, luxury slab of meat but instead went to a spot with only a counter, a big screen, and a grill that produces some amazing burgers.

Twitter

We agree, Kourt

"I always get the same thing... proscuitto and fresh mozzarella on a french baguette with lettuce, french pickles, mayo and their special dressing... it is so delish!" Kourtney blogs. "I can't eat a sandwich without a bag of chips, duh! It's walking distance from Dash, what could be better..."

via Kourtney Kardashian website

You go girls.

We called up owner Olivier Sarrat who says Miss Kardashian "comes in a lot" and "is a very nice girl."   That's good to know, because offering those dreams on a baguette to any old meanie just wouldn't be right.

Jacob Katel

No tax payer dollars were used, nor special favors called upon, in the making of this series

"The New Times never calls me," Mayor Don Slesnick grumbled to a certain food writer one evening not long ago.  And if can I recall correctly, that same food writer quickly replied, "That probably means you're doing something right!"

Well in case you didn't get the memo, it's Coral Gables Restaurant Week until June 14.  So we present a multimedia series of culinary escapades with the inspirational head of The City Beautiful. There are culinary dine-amos coming soon to the neighborhood. There's a surprising large employer.  And most importantly, we'll describe what sea creature turns the mayor's stomach.  The Sles will even don an apron behind the line of Por Fin to make his favorite dish with Chef Marc Vidal...  You name it we ask it, debate it and film it all on the record.

Up first, a mayor's top 10 (plus one for good measure) to set the stage.

Arizona Star

Bottle rockstar

Musician Maynard James Keenan, of Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, is on a different kind of tour lately.  Whole Foods Market is his arena, and his art is wine making. You can even catch him live next week in Miami, signing bottles from his  Caduceus Cellars and Arizona Strongholds labels.

But what kind of rocker has time to be a winemaker beyond slapping his name on the label? One with the northern Italian tradition in his blood, as he only recently found out (after getting in the business.) I got a preview of what to expect when I tracked Maynard down on the phone to talk weather patterns, sustainability, the fans, and those trusty critics.

image via newstatesman.com

Obama in New Orleans

John Tanasychuk over at the Sun Sentinel's food blog, Sup, reports that Barack and Michelle ate at Blue Hill in NYC last Saturday for their date night.

Blue Hill is sposed to be some kind of local this, organic that, type of place, so Tanasychuk thinks that next time the Obama's are in town they should eat at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District.

Then he opens up the discussion to reader suggestions. Shouts of Le Tub, Manny's Steak House, couple Broward Bar-B-Que joints, couple ugly racist fried chicken slams, a soup kitchen on Sistrunk, Spanky's Cheesteak, Beef O'Brady's, and a bunch of other mostly Broward suggestions filled the comments section.

I'd recommend The Dude hit up the spot that most every chef in town shouts out when you ask em where they like to eat, Garcia's on the Miami River.

Where in Miami would YOU recommend the President eat?

image via myspace.com/paulvandyk

Since when did Palm Beach County radio host Rush Limbaugh become a diet icon? Apparently, since yesterday. I like to think of the guy as a hard-drinking, meat-eating, pilled-out fat dude who smokes a lot. Yesterday, Google reported "Rush Limbaugh Diet" as one of the top 100 searches during the hour that I checked. Well, June 1, Rush reported a net loss of 58 pounds over his radio show thanks to his top secret diet. He refers to a jigsaw like 1,500-calorie menu including frittatas and portioned meat and fish -- what a hippie. Check these transcripts from his show (available here). Since he's so proud of himself, we decided to give you our photo dramatized version of the before and after photos so you can see how far he's come.

Kim Kardashian Official Website

South Beach Diet a le Fontainebleau

In case you didn't see last night's teaser on E! or weren't invited to the launch party, Kim and clan have arrived in Miami to open up the first satellite Dash boutique and chronicle their antics for Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, a spin-off of the family's successful Keeping Up With the Kardashians series.  And guess what?  These divas are hitting up our finest, flashiest restaurants in true Kardashian form -- and blogging about it!  On the menu last week? Deep fried Oreos, a present from caretakers at The Fontainebleau, and Kobe from Prime 112.  Our sources say favorite dishes at the sceney steak joint are the Kobe meatball, cheese fondue, arugula salad with roasted beets, truffled macaroni and cheese, sweet potato mash, Kobe beef sliders and the seabass.

Prime 112

I promise the Kobe beef meatball's under there somewhere

"Me, Kourtney and Khloe have arrived in Miami," Kim blogs.  "We have been here a few days now and wow, every time I come I just want to move here! The weather, the people, the atmosphere, everything is just amazing!"

Thanks lady!  We can't wait to follow your gastronomic hijinks. Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami is slated to air in August.