Burger Tour Rolls On.. MGF&D

I continued my burger tour by finally trying the burger at Michael's Genuine. I'm a big fan of Michael's but find it very hard to order a burger there with so many amazing options on the menu. Nevertheless, in my quest to find the best burger in South Florida it had to be done. Per the menu, it's a Harris Ranch BlackAngus Burger, house ground & served on a brioche bun @$10.00. I added the Vermont white cheddar for an additional $2.00. The burger was very good. Flavorful, juicy, cooked perfectly and served on a solid bun. I would probably pass on the white cheddar next time since it slightly overpowered the burger. (for my palate at least) In a nutshell, it's a very good burger and may crack my next top five but not as good as Red
Light's. Fries were great too. Next up, Clarke's and Bourbon Steak.

Chipotle Fans Free Burritos on 4/29

Chipolte fans

On Wednesday, April 29, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the new Miami Lakes Chipotle will offer free gourmet burritos and bowls (burritos without the tortilla) and drinks at its new location just off the Palmetto Expressway at 8000 NW 154^th St. The grand opening on Friday, May 1, will include T-shirt giveaways and a contest to win free burritos for a year.

BURGER ALERT- Red Light

Had an awesome burger over at Red Light. Easily top 5 material. It was an organic beef burger with caramelized onions and sharp cheddar for $9.
Great meat + great seasoning + great bun + great cheese +great tomato = awesome burger.
Thanks to Miami D over at Daily Cocaine and Frod over at Food for Thought for the recommendations.


"Mmm-mmmm. This IS a tasty burger" -Jules

Petit Rouge (North Miami Beach)

Plein Sud in North Miami Beach recently closed and I noticed a new sign/name on the door when I drove by the other day called Petit Rouge. A little online research revealed that Chef Neil Cooper of Neil's and Il Migliore is the owner/chef. I'm not familiar with his past spots but Petit Rouge (french bistro) looks like my kind of place and the menu , courtesy of thrillist sounds great. I intend on getting over there soon and will certainly report back. On a side and French bistro related note, I revisited Gourmet Diner over the weekend and had a very good meal consisting of tenderloin tips, cauliflower souffle and asparagus.

Burger Tour

I've made a concerted effort over the past few weeks to visit my favorite burger spots in order to update my rankings. I must admit that this is getting real tough. Jack's Old Fashion really came to play as did Sonny's Famous Steak Hogies. Char-hut was solid as usual and the Le Tub experience never disappoints. I was initially anti Five Guys but they have really won me over.
Sighhh this is very tough even for the opinionated Chowfather

1. Char-Hut- staying loyal
2. Kingdom- the real deal.
3. Five Guys- appreciate it more with each visit
4. Le Tub- great spot with great burgers
5. Sonny's Famous Steak Hogies (Hwood)- Underrated burger thanks to the great cheesesteaks
honorable mentions
Jack's Old Fashion Hamburger-(Pompano and FLauderdale)
Kelly's Landing (FLauderdale)- underrated because it's not their specialty. Get some chowder, clam bellies and a burger and you will thank me

On the burger to do list- Bourbon Steak, Michael's Genuine, Red Light & Clarke's.
Avoid- Dogma- high school cafeteria burger-trust me.
Second chance- Will return to 8oz after reading Lax's recent rec on chowhound

"Spring Spice " @ Bourbon Steak

Bourbon Steak is offering a Spring menu a la the popular Miami Spice deal that runs over the summer. It's a three course dinner with some nice options for $36.00. This is one of Miami's best and another great way to try it at a reasonable price. It's Mina and it's not all about steak. Don't forget about the new bar and burger menus.

Spring Spice Menu

Free Italian Wine tasting @ Hollywood Vine 4/14/09

Indigenous varietals. We welcome Alberto Prealoni from Vias Imports. Alberto is anExpert on Italian wines having represented some of the most important wine estates in all of Italy.

HOLLYWOOD VINE WINE TASTING!

Tuesday April 14^th, 2009

6:00-9:00 pm

No charge for tastings

Suavia Soave Classico

Lots of lemon, white peach and mineral character, with hints of orange peel and dry almond. Medium-bodied, with good acidity and a crisp finish, leaving a lingering citrus aftertaste. Racy, nervy and delicious. Minerally, almost flinty. 90 Pts Wine Spectator

BTG $6.75 Retail $18.99

Terredora Greco Di Tufo

A very ripe style, with dried pineapple, apricot and hints of milk and vanilla. Full-bodied, round and fruity, with a long, flavorful finish. 90pts Wine Spectator

BTG $7.25 Retail $19.99

Castello Di Meleto Rosso Toscano

There's lots of bright blackberry character on the nose. Full-bodied, with soft tannins and a spicy, fruity and meaty aftertaste. A juicy, fruity wine. 88pts Wine Spectator

BTG $5.25 Retail $13.99

Terredora Aglianico

Shows rich plum, berry and chocolaty oak character on a full body, with fine tannins and a medium finish. Nicely structured. 88 Pts Wine Spectator

BTG $7.25 Retail $19.99

Damilano Barolo

There's plenty of crushed blackberry and flowers on the nose. Full-bodied, showing lots of bright fruit and clean acidity, with a medium finish.

BTG $14.00 Retail $ 39.99

Hollywood Vine

2035 Harrison Street

Hollywood, FL 33020

hvine@comcast.net

www.hvine.com

954-922-2910

954-922-7660 fax

Top Chef Masters

Top Chef Masters is coming to Bravo this June.

The show will pit 24 world-renowned chefs against each other and see how well they fare in the tried and true format of Top Chef. The first six episodes will consist of four chefs competing against each other to name one winner. The six winners of each episode will then meet up for the final four weeks when one person will get eliminated each episode until the finale where one winner is crowned Top Chef Master. The winning chef will receive $100,000 for the charity of their choice.

Top Chef Masters' Contestants

• Rick Bayless: Frontera Grill, Chicago
• Wilo Benet: Pikayo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• John Besh: Restaurant August, New Orleans
• Graham Elliot Bowles: Graham Elliot Restaurant, Chicago
• Michael Chiarello: Bottega Restaurant, Yountville, California
• Michael Cimarusti: Providence, Los Angeles
• Wylie Dufresne: WD-50, New York City
• Elizabeth Falkner: Orson, San Francisco
• Hubert Keller: Fleur de Lys, San Francisco
• Christopher Lee: Aureole, New York City
• Ludo Lefebvre: Ludo Bites, Los Angeles
• Anita Lo: Annisa, New York City
• Tim Love: Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Fort Worth, Texas
• Rick Moonen: Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
• Nils Noren: French Culinary Institute, New York City
• Lachlan McKinnon Patterson: Frasca Food & Wine, Boulder, Colorado
• Cindy Pawlcyn: Mustards Grill, Napa Valley, California
• Mark Peel: Campanile, Los Angeles
• Douglas Rodriguez: Alma de Cuba, Philadelphia
• Michael Schlow: Radius Restaurant, Boston
• Art Smith: Table Fifty-Two, Chicago
• Suzanne Tracht: Jar, Los Angeles
• Jonathan Waxman: Barbuto, New York City
• Roy Yamaguchi: Roy's Restaurants, San Diego

Unfortunately, South Florida has ZERO official representation. (Douglas Rodriguez is listed as a Philly guy) I'm surprised Michele Bernstein is not competing since she is affiliated with the show but I'm sure she is busy down here with both restaurants. I would have liked to have seen Michael Schwartz (Michael's Genuine) or even someone like Chef Allen give it a go. Maybe next time.

Watch out for Besh.

More Starbucks Closings

Starbucks just announced more store closings and two are in Pembroke Pines

Additional Starbucks Closings Announced April 09

Travel + Leisure 50 Best New Restaurants 09

Travel + Leisure just released their 50 Best New Restaurant list and there is one local restaurant on the list. No it's not Sra. Martinez... Unfortunately, the list is done in slide show format.


Travel + Leisure 50 Best New restaurants 2009

Lunch & Happy Hour @ Red Light

Updated menu

redlight little river

redlightlilriver@bellsouth.net

Happy Easter-Passover Week! soup: s / lg

spring pea soup & truffle cheese bread. 6/11

shrimp & crawfish bisque. 7/12

specialties:

morbier, asparagus, bacon & organic egg

skillet. 11

oyster pie on cash green spinach. 8

soufflé shrimp stuffed Chayote squash. 10

citrus steamed mussels and lemon aioli. 8/15

Fl. tomato salad, hot house cucs. basil

greens & chevre stuffed olives. 7

bbq Shrimp & dip bread. 9/17

grilled white stripe eggplant, arugula & feta. 8

crispy duck confit mullberry –pink lentil salad

& back of the kitchen pâtè . 12

grilled minute steak (filet mignon) earth

mushrooms & onions. (w/choice of side) 24

kris’s Hand rubbed, river smoked ribs & apple

slaw. (5rib / 10rib) 10/18

U.S. organic beef burger, caramelized onions,

sharp cheddar & house potatoes. 9

This Ocean:

Mahi creole & Sabal market basmati rice. 16

grilled Fl. Pompano three orange glaze,

steamed boc choy, fennel potato hash. 18

pan fried Snapper, rosemary calabazza, and

salt cod-cream-steam spinach. 17

sides 4

wessel mac & cheese cucumber quinoa

steamed green veg & butter blue cheese grits.

Join us for our low tide lunch tue - fri. 12-3pm

& our high tide happy hour: thur & fri. 4-7

written and directed by: Kris Wessel

Easter Dinner @ Lola's on Harrison

Red Red Wine...Oh Me So Horney

Decanter is reporting that research has found that red wine increases the female libido.

A study performed at Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in Florence, revealed that drinking one to two glasses of red wine a day increases female sexual desire.

They concluded that drinking red wine not only helps to release inhibitions, but also has a direct effect on sexual activity. Moreover, women who drink one to two glasses of wine a day were found to be more sexually active than those who abstain.

Unfortunately, my wife prefers white....

Passover @ Lola's on Harrison

Easter Brunch @ Michy's

Welcome to Miami...Blue Bell Ice Cream

A little Will Smith never hurt anyone... Sorry couldn't resist. Moving on, as you may be aware, Blue Bell started selling their popular ice cream (3rd best selling brand in the country and only in southern states and their Vanilla is the best selling single flavor) in the tri-county area last month. I'm not a huge dessert fan but always enjoy great ice cream when I have a sweet craving. Ben & Jerry's and Haagan-Dazs were the go to brands UNTIL today. I actually forgot that Blue Bell arrived but saw it today at Publix and grabbed a pint of cookie dough and a pint of banana pudding and just tried both. Wow! GREAT stuff. Creamy and tasty without being too sweet. They also have a nice combination of ice cream and toppings/ingredients. Generous without being overstuffed. If you are an ice cream fan I would recommend picking some up. Let me know if you find some other great flavors. The Homemade Vanilla is next for me.

Top Chef Tour-Hollywood Broadwalk 4/5/09

The Top Chef Tour is coming to town... bringing your favorite cheftestants, their signature dishes, complete with cooking demonstrations, gourmet tips, and tastings with it.

At every tour stop, not only will you get to see the chefs in person but you'll also be able to buy exclusive Top Chef gear and win fun prizes by testing your Top Chef show knowledge. Be sure to look for the tour in your town.

Admission is free. Shows are 10:30, 12:00 and 1:30 on the Broadwalk between Michigan and Johnson St. Top Chef's Jeff McInnis and Nikki Cascone will be present.

This is a good opportunity for you to check out Josh's Organic Market which is also located on the Broadwalk behind the Ramada Hotel. If you get there early you can grab breakfast at Sugar Reef . I like their breakfast and lunch but don't love it for dinner.

Dragon City- West Hollywood

Dragon City is an authentic Chinese restaurant located in a strip mall just west of the Hard Rock Casino on Stirling Road. First thing you see when you walk in is several large tanks filled with various appetizing looking fish and huge crabs. You also see hanging roasted ducks. I immediately knew this had real potential. Staff was friendly and provided me with a really large Chinese menu (in English too) and a small lunch special menu that had standard Americanized dishes we all know and love. I wimped out primarily due to time constraints and the fact that it was my first time and opted for the Shrimp with szechuan sauce that was accompanied by fried rice and wonton soup. I know, I know, pages and pages of authentic stuff and I took that route. Nevertheless, it was very good. Nice sized fresh shrimp with a flavorful/spicy sauce. Not gloppy at all. Fried rice was also nicely done. Not heavy/greasy.

The Chinese menu is long and I didn't get through the entire menu but I noticed several interesting items such as jelly fish, pigs knuckles, shark fin soup, duck tongues, abalone ($$$) etc. This looks like a winner for anyone who enjoys authentic and interesting Chinese food. If anyone out there frequents Dragon City please send me some recommendations.

They stay open until 3 a.m. every day. I'm Looking forward to going back and trying some of the authentic Chinese dishes.