Write to her at lbladholm@miamiherald.com.
Atelier Monnier French Bakery is a one-stop Pinecrest shop for Valentine sweets, chocolates and wines. The sleek space has glass cases filled with patisserie plus sandwiches on fresh-baked breads or croissants and quiche by the slice.
Alma Mexicana (Soul of Mexico) is hidden in plain view on Washington Avenue, its sign obscured by palm fronds. But those in the know are keeping this fast-casual spot busy serving home-style fare beneath the gaze of a Frida Kahlo-like beauty whose photos adorn the walls.
Get thin-crust New York-style pizza with gourmet toppings at I Love Pizza with two hip locations on Miami Beach. The pies, named after places in New York City, are one size only (16 inches) but can be ordered by the slice. There’s the Queens (no tomato sauce, mozzarella and ricotta), Little Italy (with Genoa salami, peppers and onions) and the Bronx (marinara sauce, garlic and oregano with no cheese).
Cupcakes capped with swirls of French buttercream lightened with egg whites sit beneath glass domes on a counter that also displays house-made granola, cookies and crackers at Bryan in the Kitchen, a bakery-cafe with a gourmet touch in downtown Miami.
Limon y Sabor Peruvian Seafood is a no-frills fonda (neighborhood eating joint) filled with Peruvian families. The name means “lemon and flavor,” although in Spanish limon can also mean lime, and both citrus are used here. Most of the tables are in front, but there is a communal table in back near a small lounge with a wall-size poster of Machu Pichu.
Gaysha New World Sushi Bar is open for dinner only in gay-friendly Wilton Manors, serving dishes made with seafood and organic produce selected by chef-owner Takeshi Kamioka.
Road construction has finally ended on the stretch of Northeast Second Avenue that runs past the Little Haiti Community Garden. Tucked behind a fence at the northwest corner of 58th Street, the 1/3-acre plot is planted with produce to support the local food network and encourage healthy eating in the neighborhood.
Celebrate the Christmas season Portuguese-style
Grill House is the newest kosher eatery on Miami Beach’s 41st Street. Owner Shimi Alon, a master chef who trained in Israel and France, runs the spot with his cousin Edith Shalom. Both are Israelis who now call South Florida home.
Express Bakery Café is a hangout for South Florida Venezuelans in a small strip mall behind a BP gas station in Miami Lakes. It has authentic dishes served fast.
Angelina’s Coffee & Yogurt is named for owner Donald Vernon’s 6-year-old daughter. The single dad juggles running the café and taking Angelina to school, and has friends who babysit when he works on weekends.
This holiday season, serve and snack on Shawnee’s Greenthumb Popcorn. The organic corn is tossed with nutty-cheesy tasting nutritional yeast high in B12 plus spices and spirulina flakes, a form of high protein algae harvested from lakes that contains essential acids. The low-fat popcorn is tinted green from the algae and has a satisfying umami taste with a hint of cayenne and garlic powder.
Hakin Hill has your health at heart at his vegetarian restaurant in North Miami Beach. The eatery, which doubles as a health food store, is filled with hanging plants and shelves stocked with shea butter, seaweed snacks and supplements.
The fourth location of Gyroville Really Fresh, Really Greek fast-casual chain recently opened in the Southport Shopping Center in Fort Lauderdale, joining similar Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Asian places in South Florida. The sleek space is done in warm tones with framed posters of Greek gods.
While many parts of the country are bracing for cold weather we can still enjoy frosty treats on a warm November day. Rosie’s Gourmet Italian Ices with two locations offers a dozen flavors of water ice daily from tangerine, root beer, cotton candy and coconut to pineapple, chocolate cherry, marshmallow and pink grapefruit to name a few of the roster of about 50 flavors. There’s also premium ice cream made by a company that supplies independent shops (try the pistachio with whole roasted nuts in a cup or cone).
The Union Jack lets you know you’ve found Elwoods Gastropub, a downtown Miami destination for elevated pub grub such as beer-battered cod loin with house-made tartar sauce, bangers and mash with spicy Cumberland pork sausage and sticky toffee pudding.
With its sponged yellow and green walls, Rose Mary is a small, bright burst of Brazilian sunshine on Washington Avenue where you can enjoy fresh-squeezed juices, coxinha (teardrop-shaped empanadas), salads, sandwiches and Brazilian daily specials that include a choice of two meats and two sides.
Daddy’s Soul Food moved into the former Washington Avenue home of Club Zoe a few months ago, serving Southern favorites like gravy-smothered chicken, black-eyed peas and sweet potato pie. The atmosphere is dark and clubby, and the signature drink at the bar is a blend of sweet tea, lemonade and Remy Martin cognac called the Uptown.
A trip to the Miami Outboard Club, with its funky decor and 1970s-era prices, is a pleasant time warp. The nautical-themed restaurant with Latin fare is open to the public for lunch and dinner, with views of Biscayne Bay.
Smoked and sizzled meats rule at Pincho Factory with kebabs, burgers and hot dogs served in creative ways.
Gables Aragon Cuisine is a Coral Gables newcomer serving authentic Mexican dishes and a few Dominican specialties in an Aragon Avenue storefront with spare, elegant decor.
Gabose means “let’s go” in Korean, and you’ll want to go to Gabose Korean & Japanese Restaurant in Lauderhill for do-it-yourself barbecue, jungol (hot pot casseroles), noodle dishes and other authentic fare.
Boldly flavored kebabs, buttery, phyllo-encased pastries and succulent dips await at a small South Beach eatery a block from the ocean. Turkish owner Bulent Yeter calls his food Mediterranean, but his dishes would please a sultan.
Roberto Santos is passionate about hand-crafted Naples-style pizza made with the best ingredients imported from Italy. The Cuba native named his 6-month-old place after the oven that a proper pizza Napolentana is cooked in and the year he was born. He had the sleek industrial place built from the ground up in steel, marble and glass with orange accents. The central bar holds glass vases filled with ripe tomatoes and a large bowl of marinated olives with herbs, lemon peel and paper-thin shaved fennel.
Keith Lorren, a local entrepreneur known as the “Spice Dude,” offers a line of spice blends on his website and at a store in Opa-locka. He is finishing classes at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and after winning school competitions in chowder (he added curry and plantain chips) and pizza (with ratatouille), he decided to give back by offering a $2,000 cash prize to the winner of his contest seeking the most creative use of any of his spice mixtures. It is open to any student, professional chef or home cook for the next two months and if it is a success he will hold the contest twice a year (apply on his website). Lorren started out teaching business classes and then followed his passion for cooking; he hopes the prize might help someone else make a life change.
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