Satoro Restaurant and Lounge (Hollywood)

Satoro Resstaurant and Lounge recently opened on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Dixie Highway in downtown Hollywood.  As I watched the process unfold over the past few months I was concerned that this would be another wanna be late night party spot that just happened to serve food like other spots around town.  However, my skepticism started to diminish when I heard that they hired the former chef from Jackson's Steakhouse on Las Olas, Alexander Dziurzynski.  Maybe they were actually taking the food thing seriously..

Anyway, I recently ventured over for my first visit and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of food.  They feature a Mediterranean inspired menu including tapas along with some steak options.   Ordering the  $22.00 delmonico steak was a no-brainer given the chef's background and price tag.  Several other items sounded great, such as the fresh Florida clams with onions, garlic and chorizo, the oxtail soup with manchego cheese, patatas bravas , grilled jumbo shrimp and lamb meatballs from the tapas menu.

I was intrigued by the menu and opted to try an assortment of their offerings.  I went with the patatas bravas, grilled Jumbo shrimp, lamb meatballs and the delmonico steak.  The delmonico was great.  It was perfectly cut, seasoned right, tender and flavorful.  A really nice steak and just $22.00.  You will have a difficult time finding better value than that in the area.  Nice to see.

I started the meal with the grilled jumbo shrimp which were marinated in garlic and olive oil and served with a horseradish gazpacho.  No issues with the size and freshness of the shrimp but the accompanying gazpacho didn't really work for me. A good dish but not a knockout.   However, the lamb meatballs which were poached in a roasted garlic broth were delicious and something I would easily order again.  The patatas bravas were traditionally diced and topped with a pickled tomato salsa.  Both components of the dish worked  well and they were hard to stop eating.

If you are in the area, I would stop by Satoro.  It's a welcome addition to the improving dining scene in downtown Hollywood.  Hopefully, they will continue to make serving great food the priority and avoid falling into the cheesy lounge trap.

(954) 374-9687

2050 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, FL 33020
www.satororestaurant.com

Islamorada 2009

Just got back from spending a great Thanksgiving down in Islamorada.  Enjoyed outstanding stone crabs and lobsters from the nearby Mr. Lobster (take home) for most meals but ventured out to a couple of local spots and had enjoyable meals.  If you are down that way I would recommend breakfast (not bunz) at Bob's Bunz, the tuna nachos and fresh fish sandwiches at Island Grill for lunch and doing dinner at the Hungry Tarpon. We stopped off at Hungry Tarpon for lunch on a prior trip home from Key West and really enjoyed their fresh fish sandwiches.  They have a new chef and started serving dinner about a year or so ago. Our Mahi and yellowtail snapper dishes were delicious.  If you are in the area, I would recommend trying all three spots plus grabbing stone crabs and lobsters at Mr. Lobster.

Mr. Lobster

Island Grill


Hungry Tarpon


Bob's Bunz

2009 NFL Suicide Pick Week 12

How 'bout them Cowboys!!!


Baltimore, Washington, Minnesota, Indy, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New England, San Diego, New Orleans, Miami and Dallas are off the board.

Green Bay heads to Detroit for the traditional thanksgiving day  game.  Green Bay should prevail but they are on the road against a division rival on turkey day.  I'm passing.

Cincinnati returns home to face Cleveland and should rebound.  Holding them for a home game.

Atlanta is home against Tampa Bay.  The Dirty Birds should get well against TB and keep us alive.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY and GOOD LUCK!!!!!
Official pick

Chef of The Year- José Andrés

Jose Andres is GQ's chef of the year.  Alan Richman wrote a nice article on him in this months magazine (on newsstands now)

Linked below is Alan Richman on his five favorite dishes by Andres
José Andrés: Small Plates, Big Talent

Turkey Day Wine Deals @ Hollywood Vine

SMART BUY ALERT:

 

What’s better for Turkey:

Pinot Noir vs. Beaujolais

 

Hello everyone and welcome to a special “Turkey Day” themed installment of Smart Buy. Thanksgiving is perhaps our favorite time of year in South Florida. It usually signifies the beginning of “bearable” weather, is a great excuse to eat voraciously and generally a time when friends from out of town will be returning home for a long weekend of get-togethers. We’ll help you stock. This year’s festivities happen to come during a time when Americans are suddenly drinking up Pinot Noirs “like it’s going out of style”. It’s not likely…unless someone makes a movie about Merlot ;) But we’ve awakened our palates to the subtlety of this softer style of red wine and today it sits right at the top of our list for T-Day faves. No less popular around turkey-time is Beaujolais. We know many of you have probably had to choke down an awful bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau every year because you thought: “(sigh) it’s a tradition.” Guess what, the real stuff, We mean real Beaujolais, blows the stuff from the supermarkets away. As such we’ve got a deal of a duo of wonderful wines that are also economy friendly choices under $15.

 

 

Pinot Noir :

Villa Mt. Eden “Bien Nacido Vineyard” 2005

 

Retail: $24.99

 

Discounted Price: $14.99

 

Founded in 1881 as Napa Valley's 11th bonded winery, the Villa Mt. Eden winery has been producing high quality varietal wines from grapes sourced from the regions best suited for each varietal for over a century. In a consumer market where Pinot Noir is in high demand, many wineries have been forced to take shortcuts to meet the demand, resulting in generally innocuously light, flavorless Pinots. Not here my friends. This Pinot is oozing with aromas of bright cherry, pomegranate, and cola mingle with dried spice and earthy notes. Sweet cherry fruit and cranberry flavors are wrapped in a blanket of soft tannins with a lingering touch of sweet caramel. The acidity remains fresh and as this bottle is an ’05, this wine is right at its peak and ready to be served with your holiday feasts; honey baked hams, turkey, etc….

Beaujolais :

Jean-Paul Brun “Terres Dorees L’Ancien” 2008

 

Retail: $19.99

 

Discounted Price: $14.99

Robert Parker 90 points!!!

High-toned cherry, kirsch distillate and cherry pit all typical of Gamay on Southern Beaujolais’s chalk-clay soils mark the nose of Brun’s 2008 Beaujolais L’Ancien Vieilles Vignes. A pure, bright, refreshing palate suffused with suggestions of chalk and salt and with its cyanic bitterness invigoratingly woven into its carpet of bright fruit, this finishes with riveting purity and rapier intensity, if not complexity. This will be worth following for at least 2-3 years.

Hollywood Vine

2035 Harrison Street

Hollywood, FL 33020

hvine@comcast.net

www.hvine.com

954-922-2910

954-922-7660 fax

 

Notorious P.I.G.

Swine is fine this Sunday thanks to Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog

piggie piggie piggie can't you see sometimes your meat just hypnotizes me  

2009 NFL Suicide Pick Week 11

Stayin Alive!!!! and I will leave it at that.   

Baltimore, Washington, Minnesota, Indy, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New England, San Diego, New Orleans and Miami are off the board.  Things are going to get even tougher now.  That said, there are a few good options this week.

Jacksonville returns home after stealing a win on the road against the Jets.  They face a Bills team that just fired their coach.  Jacksonville should win this one.

As you know, I don't like taking road teams but Pittsburgh should leave Kansas City with a W.  We already used them so it's a moot point.

New Orleans losing at Tampa would be a huge upset and I don't see it happening.  They are going to lose at some point though.  Not our problem since they are off the board.

Cincy heads to Oakland and should get to 8-2.  Road team on a long trip West so we will hold them for a home game.

I normally shy away from division rivalries but Washington is not good and I expect the Cowboys to win this one easily.

Official Pick