Miami Food Blog

Josh Woodward was arrested in the suspicious death of his girlfriend's unborn child, a 13 week old fetus. There was talk of a mysterious white powder found in her underwear.

According to TMZ, police investigators had cause to believe that the powder may be Misoprostol, which is used to treat gastric ulcers, miscarriage, and induce labor, and cause abortion.

TMZ also reports that one night Josh Woodward kept reaching into a plastic bag and then touching her sexually.

Joshua Woodward was arrested in an undercover sting that saw his girlfriend working with cops to lure him to her apartment. When he arrived police were waiting.

Josh Woodward is the Los Angeles-based restaurateur whose ties to Miami are the bankrupt Table 8 South Beach and his partnership in the company licensing out 8 oz. Burger Bar. Joshua Woodward has nothing to do with daily operations at the South Beach beer and burger joint.  

​Gerald Posner has a new book out called Miami Babylon. In it, he details Lee Schrager's having pled guilty to insurance fraud.

Lee Schrager is the local, socially-networked promotions powerhouse behind the success of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

Our paper-product recently profiled Lee Schrager in our Fall Arts & Eats Guide, but we decided to check out what else New Times has written about the guy. Here are the results of that search.

Jackie Sayet

When will it be our turn to chow?

Photo by Carlos Miller/NBCMiami.com

McFlood. Can you blame me for not heading over MacArthur to snap my own pics?

When things got a little more wet and wild than usual on South Beach this weekend, some restaurants rose to the occasion thanks to lucky locations, while others were bogged down in high waters.  And the Miami Twittersphere tweeted both real and rumor.

The Shore Club's Nobu was said to have taken on two feet of water, and the roof incident at the Fontainebleau rendered Blade Sushi soggy, even "destroyed" according to some tweet accounts. 

But a little torrential rain didn't keep the fine dining set from taking a dip in haute cuisine.  All dressed up with nowhere to go, some headed to high and dry BLT Steak at The Betsy Hotel.

"We actually were very pleased, since a lot of people ended up coming over to us when their reservations were cancelled at other restaurants," said manager Vanessa Vannaier on Saturday.  "We had about 20 come over from other places, a decent amount considering the circumstances."

As of Saturday, the Fontainebleau spa as well as some clubs, bars, and restaurants were fully operational at normal business hours, including Blade.  Lovely, another quick fix construction job.  And just in time for hurricane season!

A phone call to Sosta on Lincoln Road revealed perseverance and optimism through trying circumstances.

"We were 80 percent down, but blessed to be farther up on the road so we didn't take in any water damage," said GM Selchuk Once.  "People started to show up after 10:30 p.m.  I'll take the 20 percent, considering the circumstances.  My servers couldn't make it in, so the managers and captains ran the restaurant. One even took three hours to get here from Collins in the 100's, but he got here. It's extremely tough to be open, but the restaurant depends on us so we did the best we could."

"I'm new to Miami weather," he added. "People are telling me this is only a sneak preview. I can't imagine what's to come."

Yeah, you and the rest of us, Selchuk.  Pray the city gets its act together before the feature presentation.

Apple website

Rain check, please

Hailing from West Hollywood, CA, glitterati gastrolounge Apple is getting its first taste of living it up Miami.  And it's a wet one.

Thanks to our token inclement summer weather arriving on schedule, Apple's owners have been tossed off theirs.
   

Mexicans were representing heavy at Calle Ocho 2009. Check out this taco stand video. It's in Spanish. I can't understand all of it; if anybody does, leave a comment.    

Tacos With Mexicans from MiamiNewTimes.com on Vimeo.       

We've confirmed with executive chef Mark Liberman this morning that Stephen di Asprinio  has in fact left the restaurant he gave his name to, Forte di Asprinio, in West Palm Beach, "to pursue other opportunities." Liberman wouldn't, or couldn't tell us much more, except that Asprinio left sometime last week, but the coded language certainly sounds something like the ubiquitous politi-spin  "to spend more time with his family." Rumors that the West Palm Beach restaurateur of Top Chef fame left under a cloud of money problems have yet to be confirmed, but Liberman says he's staying on as executive chef and his brother Josh will continue to manage the front of the house. Liberman told us that he may shift the menu and presentation a bit to make the food "less edgy," but that he plans to keep a "farm to table" focus on local, seasonal produce, and intimated that he and Asprinio didn't always see eye to eye. The restaurant is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bob Cuillo, who also own wineries in Tuscany.

-- Gail Shepherd

In yesterday's Short Order I suggested that a major unnamed chef would be shortly leaving a major unnamed restaurant. I was alluding to Clay Conley of Azul, in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. When I contacted the chef to see if the rumor was true, he started off by stating "I'm not leaving." This seemed a fairly straightforward denial, until he added "I mean obviously I'm always looking around as a chef. But no plans yet."

While I had one of our most talented toques on the phone, I asked if he would share a Thanksgiving recipe with Short Order. He graciously has, and it looks like a great one. Hit the jump for: Butternut Soup with Nantucket Scallops, Hazelnut, and Brown Butter

I just love ethics questions, and lucky for me, there's an unending supply of morality dramas in the food biz. Like, for instance, is it ethical to put "grouper" on your menu when all you've got in the deep freezer is panga or swai, as dozens of restaurants in South Florida have been doing? (thanks for the tips, Channel 10 and Menu Pages). For example, we received a letter this week from a reader curious why a certain Deerfield restaurant was always packed with police and firefighters, to whit:

Last month, we reported the sudden closing of Maison d'Azur at the Angler Resort on South Beach. Some comments were left saying Maison d'Azur isn't closing but instead moving to the Sagamore.

Is the rumor true? Well, yes and no. The short-lived restaurant is looking for a new space and was/is (it's unclear at this point) in talks with the Sagamore to move into Social Miami's old space, but nothing has been decided as of yet. The hotel's media contact Jessica Pfeffer confirms that the hotel has been weighing its options and looking to find a suitable replacement that will appeal both to its guests and the South Beach set.

When asked if Maison d'Azur is still in contention to move into the hotel, Pfeffer said the hotel will decide in the coming weeks which restaurant will occupy the space, making it known that the hotel hasn't reached a decision.

-- Jose D. Duran