Wednesday, September 30, 2009

2009 NFL Suicide Picks Week 4

That was easy!!!!!!! For those just joining us, all you have to do is pick a winner each week but can only use a team one time.  If your team loses you are out.  Thus far, we have used Baltimore, Washington and Minnesota.
 
Week 4 provides us with some nice options.
The Giants are 3-0 and heading to KC.  The Giants are very good again this year and KC is  not.  I like the Giants again this week but it is their third consecutive road game so we will hold off on making them the official pick this week.

I fully expect San Fran to bounce back at home this week against the Rams. Gore is out but Coffey has looked good and I was impressed with the play of QB Hill last week.  Their defense is legit and should hold the Rams in check.  I seriously considered using this one as my official pick as well.

Peyton and the Colts are 3-0 and head home to face Seattle.  I liked Seattle's playoff potential at the start of the season but they are banged up and making the tough trip east for a 1pm kick off. Looks like Hasselback will be out again this week.  Regardless, Peyton will take advantage of the depleted secondary and go to 4-0.

I like all three games but the official pick is Indy.
Good luck

http://dforcella.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

2009 NFL Suicide Picks Week 3

Washington sure made that interesting last week. Glad we don't have to deal with them again this year. I'm sure a lot of people in your respective pools were knocked out thanks to Green Bay. I voiced some concerns over that game because Cincy was hard to get a read on.

Week 3 looks like a difficult week especially since we used Baltimore in week 1. Mangenius and the Browns are awful and Baltimore should win easily. If you still have them it looks like the best play.

My aggressive play of the week is Houston at home against Jacksonville. Jacksonville's offense will not be able to put enough points on the board to win this one. Hard to rely on Houston though.

Tampa Bay is not good and first year Coach Morris will have his hand full with Eli and crew. Giants win this one but it's hard to take road team this early.

I expect Dallas to bounce back against Carolina on Monday night but I don't trust Romo enough and Barber may be out.

Minnesota faces San Fran in their home opener. I expect San Fran to be competitive all year but I think Minny's run defense is too strong and should contain Gore. San Fran's passing game is not strong enough. Petersen and Favre prevail.

The Eagles would be my pick this week if McNabb was playing. Kolb's starting so I will hold the Eagles for a later date.

Giants are tempting but the official pick is Minnesota.

Spice It Up!!!!

Time is running out to take advantage of Miami Spice. If you haven't, I have a double header for you. Eos @ The Viceroy is only offering a lunch menu but it is worth checking out. I started with the grouper ceviche which had a tangy bite to it. It was good but the grilled flat iron steak with bone marrow and mushrooms was really good. Lunch also comes with generous and frequent complimentary pours of Boutari wine (me like).

I would follow Eos up with dinner at Scarpetta (Fbleu H). Scarpetta presented us with very difficult choices. Braised short ribs v creamy polenta? The famous spaghetti v scallops... I'm a short rib fan but the polenta with truffle mushrooms looked too good to pass up and it delivered. Just a great, tasty dish. I was all over the Scarpetta Spaghetti hype and convinced my table mates to order it. I really wanted to see if the hype was legit but figured someone had to try those scallops. They were very good but I wanted more polenta. I was able to sample a nice portion of the spaghetti and didn't find it to be anything out of this world. I ended the meal with a really nice panna cotta.

Both restaurants offered impressive spice menus and both delivered. Great settings and service. I would check them both out before Spice ends.





t Eos

Sunday, September 20, 2009

"Broward Spice" Starts 10/1/09

Dine Out Lauderdale, Broward's version of Miami Spice starts October 1 and runs through November 12, 2009. Participating restaurants offer three course meals for $35.00.

My recommendations based on initial review of menus.

CAFE MAXX (Pompano) is actually offering a four course meal and sounds like a real winner. Menu is available Sunday to Thursday. www.cafemaxx.com

FIRST COURSE
(choice of one)

Tempura Shrimp
sesame-panko crust with red cabbage slaw and miso mustard

Beef Tenderloin Tartare
grilled Portobello mushrooms, caper, basil, crostini and herb aioli

Grilled Chicken and Spinach Quesadilla
blueberry chipotle BBQ, roasted corn & tomato watercress salsa

Classic Café Maxx Caesar Salad
garlic croutons, Reggianno parmesan, extra virgin olive oil

SECOND COURSE
(choice of one)

Chopped Mediterranean Salad
mozzarella, red and yellow tomatoes, olives, red onion, cucumber,
feta & parmesan cheeses in balsamic vinaigrette

Braised Beef Bolognese
sausage, Verrazano tomatoes, basil, garlic and lasagnette pasta ribbons

Duck and Smoked Mozzarella Ravioli
sundried tomato and basil brown butter

Asian Seared Tuna
Udon noodle and vegetable slaw, ginger, wasabi and citrus ponzu

MAIN COURSE
(choice of one)

Petite Three Peppercorn Filet Mignon
over au gratin with blue cheese butter,
seasonal vegetables and red wine sauce

Double Lamb Chops
goat cheese & sundried tomato crumb, rosemary natural sauce,
roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables

Sweet Onion Crusted Snapper
Madeira butter, scallion mash and gaufrette potatoes

Jumbo Shrimp Scampi
fettuccini pasta, fresh tomatoes, garlic, herbs and button mushrooms

Breast of Chicken Milanese
with three cheese risotto, garlic broccollini and tomato-basil coulis

DESSERT
(choice of one)

Vanilla Crème Brulee Spoons
with cookies and strawberry

Apple Tart
with cinnamon ice cream and caramel sauce

Bread Pudding
with Anglaise and berry sauces

Trio of Ice Cream or Sorbet
in an almond lace cup

Cheese Cake
with mosaic of fruit sauces


3030 OCEAN'S menu changes daily.
Call (954) 765-3129 for the
Chefs Selection of the Day
www.3030ocean.com


APPETIZER

Anjou Pear Salad
greens, spicy pecans, maytag blue cheese, balsamic vinaigrette

ENTREE

Glazed Wahoo
baby bok choy, savoy cabbage, mushrooms, corn, sweet soy broth

DESSERT

Chilled Coconut Lychee Soup
summer berry's, cantaloupe sorbet



LOLAS ON HARRISON'S (Hollywood) menu features some of their signature dishes. (Sun-Friday) Don't miss the beef short ribs.
http://www.lolasonharrison.com/

APPETIZERS
(choice of one)

Salmon Tartar
hand cut Chilean salmon, sesame-lemon vinaigrette,
cassava crackers, red topiko caviar, black sesame seeds, jalapeno chili oil

"Falling off the Bone" Beef Shortrib
roasted aromatic vegetables, orange-horseradish gremolata,
natural pan juices, topped with ricotta salata

Caesar Salad
crisp romaine hearts, parmesan twists, shaved reggianito,
white anchovy, "classic" lemony Caesar dressing

MAIN COURSE
(choice of one)


Pan Roasted Turkey Tenderloin
caramelized brussels sprouts, creamy polenta,
pomegranate-sundried cherry gravy

Skillet Seared Salmon
organic wheatberry salad with roasted pistachio nuts,
black currants, drizzled with a cucumber-mint vinaigrette
and topped with fried shallots

Coca Cola BBQ Beef Ribs
slow roasted center cut beef ribs basted with Coca Cola BBQ sauce,
buttermilk onion rings, creamed yellow corn

DESSERT
(choice of one)

Warm "Rogue Chocolate Stout" Cake
chocolate stout frosting & chocolate sauce

"Classic" Carrot Cake
cream cheese frosting



JOHNNY V'S (Las Olas) joins the fun this year. (Sun-Thu)
http://www.johnnyvlasolas.com/

STARTERS
(choice of one)

Warm Wild Mushroom, Spinach and Frisee Salad
goat cheese, fresh grapes, toasted pumpkin seeds
and herb grape vinaigrette

Smokey Salmon Cake
dill cream cheese sauce, crispy bagel

Sherrie Lobster Bisque
shrimp flavored croutons

Baby Green Salad
jicama, tomato, avocado, red onion,
pickled corn relish, chipotle lime vinaigrette, tortilla garnish

ENTREES
(choice of one)

Sautéed Swordfish Medallions
pasnip~potato puree, succotash, lemon chili vinaigrette

Seared Duck Breast
dirty brown rice with duck sausage, choice of one sauce:
honey almond, fresh orange or bing cherry, spaghetti squash

Grilled New York Strip
veal marrow butter, truffle spinach twice baked potato
cauliflower florets with 4 year aged cheddar

Grilled Free Range Chicken Breast
topped with manchego cheese and
Jamon Serrano, green pea risotto, saffron chicken broth

DESSERTS
(choice of one)

Caramelized Banana and Butterscotch Crème Brulee
sugar cinnamon plantains

Assortment of Sorbets, Almond Tuile

Dark Chocolate Terrine
port poached pears, pistachio whipped cream

Brownie Duo, White Chocolate and Fudge Brownies
Nutella and strawberry ice creams and chocolate sauce



You can sample "Top Chef" Carlos Fernandez's food at HI-LIFE CAFE (Ft. Lauderdale)
www.hilifecafe.com

APPETIZER

Southern Scallops
pecan & corn crusted bay scallops baked in a casserole

Shrimp Pil-Pil
jumbo shrimp in a spicy Spanish preparation

Eggplant Parmigiana
topped with melted Black Wheel Parmesan cheese

ENTREE
(choose one)

Hawaiian Butterfish
crusted in cashew & coconut, sautéed and served
over a mélange of fingerling potatoes, grape tomatoes,
cilantro, scallions & ginger with a mildly spiced red curry sauce

Braised Short Ribs
boneless short ribs braised for 12 hours
in a red zinfandel reduction, served over mashed potatoes
with honey/lavender baby carrots

Southwestern Bolognese
spicy Bolognese made with ground Filet & NY Strip steak
over angel hair pasta with Parmesan cheese

DESSERT
(choose one)

Orange & Coconut Chess Pie

Real Key West Key Lime Pie

"Naked" (Flourless) Chocolate Cake

China Grill's menu is not posted but they always offer a very generous menu.
I have not been to Bova Prime but they have a ribeye on their menu.

Beer Tasting @ Hollywood Vine 9/24

Saturday, Sept. 26th 2-4pm

$15.00

Amy Marcoux of Shipyard Brewery and Fresh Beer will guide a tasting of the coming season’s Fall seasonal and “Octoberfest” beers


Shipyard Brewery Pumpkinhead

Shipyard Brewery 4 X

Ayinger Celebrator Dopplebock

Penn Weitzen

Monk in the Trunk “Organic Amber”

Kaizer Imperial

Left Hand Octoberfest

Stoudt’s Octoberfest

Oscar Blues Mama’s Little Yellow Pilsener

+

Mystery Bonus Beers

$15 per person

(Includes your favorite 12 oz. brew)

Call to reserve a seat and make sure the CANE game is on...


Hollywood Vine

2035 Harrison Street

Hollywood, FL 33020

hvine@comcast.net

www.hvine.com

954-922-2910

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

2009 NFL Suicide Picks Week 2

Not a bad start to the year. Our official pick on Baltimore came through despite being closer than anticipated down the stretch. Win and move on. That's all this is about. My other four recommendations also came through. I hope everyone survived.

Week two offers some interesting choices.

Houston will attempt to bounce back from the J-E-T-S loss against Tennessee. Good luck with that. I expect Tenn. to shut them down and Collins to move the offense enough to win by double d's.

Green Bay is home against the Bengals. I like Green Bay at home and expect them to win this game. However, I do not have a good read on the Bengals team yet. I think they can be dangerous and an upset special. Green Bay wins but I'm not comfortable using them this week.

Minnesota looks like a great pick on paper this week BUT they are on the road facing a division rival. Big no no's. It's an aggressive play that should come in but I will stick to my rules. Avoid road teams and division rivalries.

Washington heads home to face the Rams. What more do you need? I know Washington is mediocre and trust Coach Spags will have the defense ready but Washington's defense will stuff them and the Rams will have a difficult time scoring even with SJax. Washington wins.

In a nutshell, this is a really tough week. I like all four plays but they all have some legitimate concerns. I'm rolling the dice with Washington at home over the Rams.

Good Luck

Sunday, September 13, 2009

NFL Suicide Pool Picks 2009

Back by popular demand.. well that's a stretch but I did receive an email requesting my week 1 pick. I wasn't going to post them this year but the season is here and it's Sunday so here we go.
I will post my picks as long as I survive since you should be following my picks and we will win or go down together.

If you haven't entered a Suicide Pool* aka Last Man Standing, Elimination, Survivor, all you have to do is pick one winner each week (point spreads are irrelevant). Win and you move on but you can only select the same team one time. Sounds easy-NOT.

Week 1 and 2 are always difficult weeks. This year there are a few strong plays.

The New Orleans Saints are at home against the Detroit Lions and are the largest favorite this week. The Saints should win this one but Detroit is starting a new QB and the Saints RB (Thomas) is banged up. Strong play but I'm staying away.

The Baltimore Ravens are a 10.5 point favorite at home against Kansas City. KC has a new head coach and a weak team. Baltimore lost their defensive coordinator to the J-E-T-S but that won't matter. Baltimore D is too much for KC. Baltimore rolls.

Seattle is home against the Rams. I like Seattle this year especially at home. I don't expect St. Louis to be very good this year but their defense should improve under new coach Spags and they have S Jax. This game received strong consideration since we may not have a better opportunity to use Seattle the rest of the way.

Dallas travels to Tampa Bay and I don't think the Bucs are going to be very good plus they have a new HC, coaching his first NFL game (Raheem M). Dallas should win this one easily BUT I never take a road team so pass.

New England faces Buffalo at home on Monday night. They can't lose this game, right?? It's a division rival though plus NE will have some strong plays during the year so I'm holding them.

I'm going with Baltimore. KC was bad last year and I see no signs of improvement despite obtaining Cassel. Baltimore is a playoff caliber team with too much on D to lose this game at home.

*-for entertainment purposes only of course.

I'm a huge fantasy sports dork so if you have any lineup questions shoot me an email.





Pool Image

Friday, September 11, 2009

New Zealand Wine Dinner @ Neomi's 9/14/09

Two great spots are teaming up (Neomi's and Hollywood Vine) for a New Zealand Wine Dinner on 9/14/09. The dinner is $79.00 inclusive of tax and tip. Chef Bernal of Oceanaire will be joining Chef Jantz and crew for the dinner. reception starts at 6:30 at Neomi's. (Trump Sunny Isles)
All wines served will be available for purchase at Hollywood Vine.

“Taste bud stimulators”

King crab causa, avocado, cilantro

Goat butter biscuit, passionfruit, asparagus

West coast oyster, green apple consomme, cardamom crisp

Charred Japanese Eggplant kimchee

Foie Torchon, Gooseberry Jam

Dinner:

Diver Scallop

Chilled gold pear soup, lemongrass-yogurt orbs, bamboo, honeysuckle, ginger flower

2008 Maude Pinot Gris

Brioche Crusted Halibut

Heirloom chicken rillete, florida peach gel, shaved hazelnut, black garlic froth

2007 Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay

Alaskan King Salmon

Honeybell brown butter, grilled nectarine

Pea tendril-allium salad

2007 Neudorf Nelson Chardonnay

Cheeks & Fries with Slaw

5 spice wagyu, sweet potato, brussel sprout

2007 Neudorf “Moutere” Pinot Noir

Oak Chocolate Cremoso

Pie crumbs, blackberry gel, violet-thyme gelato, plum paper

2008 Maude Pinot Noir

79.00 per person


For Reservations

(305) 692-5770



Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Berkshire Standout

The Wheatleigh Hotel in Lenox Mass. features two outstanding dining options. THE DINING ROOM features four and seven course tasting menus and the THE LIBRARY offers an abbreviated but great menu in a more casual setting. We opted for the casual route this go round and they didn't disappoint. I started with the perfectly executed wild burgundy snails and followed them up with a solid beef ribeye. I also got a small taste of the excellent Turbot. The food, service and setting are all top notch. Highly recommended.






Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Alinea v Yankees

Or should I say Achatz v Jeter?? I recently booked my FIRST trip to Chicago and was able to score a reservation at Alinea. (Excited would be a huge understatement) However, I just realized that I may be there during the world series, a potential Yankee world series (go Cubs.. Yankees/day game @Wrigley/Alinea would be an AMAZING bday) soooo if (an if but not a huge if) my beloved Yankees are in the series, do I skip Alinea??? This could be a really tough call. (Does the Peninsula have in-room TiVo's??)

On a side note, I will be there for three nights and I'm leaning toward Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill for night one and Graham Elliot for my last night BUT Kahan's Blackbird is gaining steam on them. Any thoughts/recommendations?

Alinea

Frontera

Graham Elliot

Blackbird

Monday, September 7, 2009

Publix < $10 Wine Winner




I was at Publix over the weekend and made a pit stop at the wine section. The 2007 Perrin Reserve Cote du Rhone jumped out at me and I recalled reading a positive review in Arthur Damond's Wine Discoveries recently. I can't take credit for the find but I can certainly pass on an inexpensive winner... I don't recall the actual price but assume it was under $10.00 because Damond's report only features wines under $8.00. It's Publix so it may have been $10.99 or so. Nevertheless, I would recommend grabbing some because it was really good and one of the best inexpensive reds I've tried. It's a typical southern Rhone blend, 60% grenache, 20% syrah, 10% mourvedre and 10% cinsault. If you are looking for a house red, look no further. Save some for meeeee

2007 Perrin & Fils "Reserve" Côtes du Rhône

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Mauro's Pizza (Hollywood)

If you live in South Florida and crave NY Style pizza I would highly recommend checking out Mauro's Pizza located on Hollywood Blvd in downtown Hollywood. It has been my go to spot for solid NY Style Pizza over the past couple of years and they never disappoint. It's a small spot with a couple of tables out front. The slices are large and the cheese/sauce/grease/ crust all taste great. I doubt you will find much better in South Florida. If you go at night, make sure you grab a beer at PRL Euro Cafe next door.

1904 Hollywood Blvd

Mauro Pizza on Urbanspoon