Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

One of the best things about New York is the food signs. I love the happy pig carrying a sausage outside this charcuterie, like pigs think a butcher shop is just the best fun they’ve ever had. I guess our equivalent would be a picture of a jolly fat guy…

Guatemala Típico

Guatemalans have been much on my mind lately and much in the news. The account of a May 12 ICE raid on a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, written by FIU professor and Spanish translator Erik Camayd-Freixas, is making its way around the net. Camayd-Freixas was hired as a…

Donate Rice, Stave Off Senility

Improve your vocabulary while you feed the hungry. This game’s addictive. A new U.N. campaign donates 10 grains of rice for each question you answer correctly at http://www.freerice.com. It’s already generated enough rice to feed 50,000 people. FreeRice offers players multiple-choice definitions of a word, and each correct answer generates…

Food Porn: Watermelons & Jellyfish

Still from Israeli artist Sigalit Landau’s video installation “DeadSee” currently at New York MoMA. I’m posting from New York City this week, on a determined binge, ready to inhale my way across Manhattan and swallow everything in my path, from art installations to fancy martinis. I’ve already had a dozen…

The Service at Michael’s is Genuine

Whoa, here’s a new one for me. After a luscious dinner at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink last month, our delicious waiter handed us his business card and urged us to request, next time we booked, specifically that he wait on us. I have no problem with starting a fan…

Palace Intrigue

Last night’s dinner at India Palace West Palm Beach: Malai Kofta, Palak Paneer, Onion kulcha naan plus two samosas stuffed with potatos and faintly scented with cinnamon. I’ve written about them before, but if this isn’t the most delicious Indian restaurant in two counties I’ll eat my words. Never had…

Florida Most Dangerous State For Eating Out

Pictured above: Common microbes causing food poisoning. Ain’t they cute? From www.healthinspections.com: The most dangerous states for eating out are Florida, California, Minnesota, Ohio, and New York according to the most recent federal data. Restaurants in these five states spread bacteria such as E.coli and salmonella, making nearly 3,000 customers…

Summer Q-Tips

Johnny V’s Kicks BBQ Up a Notch Don’t try this at home. On Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas, on the last Thursday of every month, Johnny V is staging Barbequlooza for $4 per person. Oops, must have mis-read – that’s $40 per person. Sound a little dear for barbecue? Maybe not,…

Weirdy Edibles, Round 3

I’ve seen this in two separate markets this week. At one, an elderly Filipino couple stopped me to oooh and ahhh over the plant in my cart. They told me they grew it back home and loved it. So here’s your 2 billion dollar question: WTF IS IT??? Here’s the…

Week’s Top Food-Related Headlines

above: Shar-Pei en brochette Recipes: Fourteen Passive-Aggressive Appetizers The New Yorker News: Wis. woman accused of placing dead rat in restaurant food, demanding $500,000 in hush money Associated Press Disguised Dad Clobbered Trying to Rob Daughter’s Restaurant KTLA.com McDonald’s robber is finalist in jingle contest — for McDonald’s Sun Sentinel…

Florida Citrus Growers Switch to Organic

CENTRAL FLORIDA: More Citrus Growers Make the Switch to Organic From Florida Trend: Matt McLean, founder and chief executive of Uncle Matt’s Fresh, the organic-produce side of Uncle Matt’s Organic citrus-juice business in Lake County, said Wednesday the number of organic growers and the amount of acreage dedicated to organic…

Light My Fire?

We SoFloridians have got to make the best of our rainy, hurricane-whipped summers, so it makes sense that we’re suddenly all about barbecue. Even upscale restaurants like Johnny V in Lauderdale and Oakwood Grill in Palm Beach Gardens have jumped into the game, to say nothing of the old standbys…

Beer, Ball, Burgers

If it’s one thing we Americans know how to do, it’s fry up a perfect burger. The French oughta take a page from the Brass Ring’s cookbook. So the New York Times food section today leads with this story: In Paris, American-style hamburgers are the new Homard a l’Americaine. “Celebrated…

Tipico! An Authentic Guatemalan Restaurant

Thanks to local advice and a couple of friendly posters on chowhound, I’ve found my Guatemalan restaurant — and practically right in my own back yard. El Chapin in Palm Springs has fabulous tamales, homemade tortillas, and meat-heavy breakfasts. Review next week. –Gail Shepherd…

Rare Fruit Council Sale, West Palm Beach

[above, Pam RuBert’s quilt, “Banana Split Pose.” See more here.] Argghh, I can’t believe I’m going to miss this! And on my birthday! I leave for NYC Saturday morning — will somebody PLEEEEEEASE pick me up some banana trees???? Gail Shepherd Tropical Fruit Tree Sale / South Florida Fairgrounds (West…

Recycled Finger Food

At one Palm Beach restaurant, that dirty martini might be REALLY dirty I’m about to lose one of my best sources for insider restaurant dish — a friend of mine is retiring, at least temporarily, from her job as a server to get married. But she’s stored up enough tales…

Dean Max’s Heirloom Bloody Mary

[Ed. note 7/15/08. This recipe, I found, leaves you with a brew too thick to drink as a cocktail. But it makes a fabulous cold soup — a Bloody Mary inflected gazpacho, thanks to the horseradish and Worcestershire. Just add a shot of vodka to each bowl before you serve…

Burger King Pitches Penny To Tomato Pickers

You say tomato, I say “Show me the Money” From The Economist: “After one embarrassment on top of another”…. [ed note: like being caught SPYING on Florida Student/Farmworker activists in Fort Lauderdale] “Burger King backed down last month and reached a ground-breaking agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, representing…

WTF Is It?!? Round 2

Evidently last week’s entry in Short Order’s weekly contest, WTF Is It?!?, — was child’s play for our MENSA-class readers. Half the world, it seems, knows what to do with a bitter gourd, while we’d been using them as foot massagers. This week we’ve got TWO summertime edibles and the…