Miami Food Blog

The Burger Beast plotting world domination.

​What's a four-pound burger to a monster? Nothin'. Who can pick a restaurant up by its fry chimney and shake out all its fast food through the drive thru window and into their mouth? The Burger Beast. Who else do you know that can scare a bull into pushing his cow girlfriend into a blazing fire just because the Burger Beast feels like eating some fresh BBQ? Nobody.

The Burger Beast comes from a long line of carnivores whose teeth display traits for flesh tearing and bone crunching. As a human, so do you vegetarian, might as well accept it, embrace it, and head up to Quickies Burgers & Wings in Hollywood (1000 South State Road 7) this Saturday to see the Burger Beast tackle a four-pound burger, and then try to eat it. Here's what the Beast himself had to say about it....

"I been training a lot this week....eating and eating to expand my stomach."

The Beast will also have his personal film crew there. That's because he just scored a deal with Generation ñ, a Latino broadband network where you can also find our friends Sound Theory Live, for his own show. The Burger Beast says:

Jacob Katel

Chef Kira Volz as backyard farmer.

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via Mike Torrey

Get high in the Andes.

​Mike Torrey is a San Diego based architectural photographer with a new book out called "Stone Offerings: Machu Picchu's Terraces of Enlightenment."

Mike will be in town for the Miami International Book Fair and will be on a panel with a National Geographic photographer and a pilgrimage organizer on Saturday, November 14, at 11:30 a.m. in room 7128 (building 7, first floor).

Short Order took the opportunity to ask Mike about his food experiences in Peru while he was shooting his book during the June and December solstices.

Here's what he had to say.

Courtesy of Lime

John Kunkel, CEO

​Lime Fresh Mexican Grill is a homegrown success story built on burritos, beer, and an "upscale interior," that has delivered double-digit rising profits every year since opening their South Beach flagship five years ago.

Recently they hired a former Starbucks executive as their new VP of Development, and their current media tack focuses on the companies aggressive expansion efforts.

Short Order rang up Lime Fresh Mexican Grill CEO John Kunkel to find out what that means for Lime's future.

Here are some questions and answers.

via wikimedia

​Cooked milk, get your cooked milk.

Whole Foods Market has officially dropped raw milk from its shelves in Florida.

Raw Milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized.

Pasteurization is a heating process meant to kill bacteria, and homogenization is the process of making the milk one consistency throughout. The fat of non homogenized milk collects as cream like head on beer.

Some people swear by the alleged health benefits of raw milk, a problematic sentiment for Floridians. It is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption in the sunshine state.

Until yesterday Whole Foods market sold raw milk with a pet food label. Human drinkers bought it for their personal consumption.

They think Whole Foods should continue to sell the product. Here is the company's response to them, and our questions, via their regional marketing director for Florida, Russ Benblatt.

South Beach Wine & Food founder and director Lee Schrager.

What began in 1996 as an annual one-day food and wine "extravaganza" hosted at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay Campus has morphed into a four-day culinary power summit on the sands of sexy South Beach. The man behind the South Beach Wine and Food Festival is founder and director Lee Schrager, who hatched the idea in 2002 for Southern Wines & Spirits.

"I never dreamt [the festival] would get this big, but I'm not surprised," he explains. "I try to clone myself during Festival time -- it doesn't work. I mainly look forward to thanking as many sponsors, chefs, etc. in person as I can. "

Jackie Sayet

Culinary's cool

How can you not fall in love with her? Besides the fact that she is smart and talented, she happens to be one of the kindest chefs in the business. Always professional and always charming, Michelle also has serious cooking clout. She has used her expansive experience to create food that is deeply personal, refined and perpetually delicious, without being fussy.

​Top Chef Co-Host Gail Simmons of Food & Wine Magazine is of course dishing on our Michelle, Chef Michelle Bernstein, who recurs as guest judge on the Emmy-nominated show, (watch her on Bravo at 10 p.m. tomorrow night, September 23, on Top Chef Las Vegas.)

www.paradisefarms.net

Green acres

​10 years ago, an abandoned avocado grove and lettuce crop was all that comprised Paradise Farms (19801 SW 320th Street, Homestead; 305-248-4181,) hardly what one would consider Eden. But Gabriele Marewski had bigger plans, and today her farm has grown into one of South Florida's agricultural success stories yielding more than 100 different products throughout the year and counting.

"In addition to our edible flowers, we are expanding production of our baby greens and adding a variety of oyster mushrooms. We'll be bringing a dehydrator on-line for more fruit and other items," Marewski explains. "Beginning in January 2010, surplus product will be sold at the Coral Gables farmers' market. But we want people to take food production to the ultimate level of growing their own."

www.truthabouttony.com

Have it Stewart's way.

​On October 20, NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart will test the authenticity of his preference for the WHOPPER® sandwich during a live polygraph as part of "The Tony Stewart School of Endorsements" ad campaign for sponsor Burger King. The one-hour webcast should be a hit with the driver's fanbase and is the crowning PR moment in a series of new TV spots by Crispin Porter + Bogusky that depict Stewart pontificating to his celebrity peers on the do's and dont's of being a corporate shill. 

The Miami-based burger giant has yet to disclose who will do the grilling, although "The King" would be an obvious candidate.  Too bad he doesn't speak.

Jacob Katel

Chef Sean Brasel passes on a photo op and asks his girlfriend to go one-leg-up for the camera instead.

​Chef Sean Brasel's popular Lincoln Road restaurant Meat Market is launching a new $10 appetizer menu at their bar daily from 5 - 8 p.m. starting tomorrow. Short Order ran into Chef at Taste of the Nation and asked him about charity and hurricanes. Here's the Q & A.

Image via myspace.com/bullfrogeatz

Hint: If serious wine lovers know the name Chris Ringland and his award-winning Australian Shiraz, you should too.  And now you can -- in person no less! Yes, this bloke from down under will be happy to pour you a glass himself at Wolfe's Wine Shoppe this evening. Thirteen different tastes, to be exact, if you're feeling adventurous and keen on the spit bucket. The best part is that it's all free!

Because we here at Short Order have your best interests in mind, we spoke to Ringland earlier in the week about cellar rats, his wine-making tween dreams, and how the green-washing of business for marketing is a crock. So you don't show up clueless, of course.

Chef Kermit has been running the Key Lime Pie racket in Key West for 17 years. He is a master of self promotion and after he's done baking pies, which he does every morning from about 6 to 9 am, he does a comedy schtick outside his shop for the tour busses that pass by.

All you economic nihilists out there take note, Chef Kermit says his numbers, and tourism in general are up so far in Key West this year. "It's picked up quite a bit, it's running ahead of last year, people don't wanna go to Mexico, they're afraid to go out of the country right now, and if you shop around down here you can get some good deals."

Short Order spoke to Chef Kermit by phone and asked him some questions about Key Lime Pie. Here's what he had to say...

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.

Hell's Kitchen is heating up and three of the six chefs left are Florida based. We spoke to Paula, Danny and Gio back when the first episode was set to drop, so being that all three are still in the running we decided to get up with them and see what was going on. We spoke to all three by phone and here are some memorable quotes.

"I haven't been on the whipping end (of celebrity), no hate mail, lots of support from fans of the show, it's really nice, it's different for me. Your life is kind of put out there, strangers think you're great and want to engage you in conversation, it's odd, the privacy end of it."
                            - Chef Paula Dasilva

Here's what Danny and Gio had to say...