Walls freshly painted a soothing khaki with cream trim? Check. Colorful paintings framed? Check. Gauzy curtains hung over the storefront windows, and table linens starched? Check. Gourmet, contemporary American menu in place, and chefs and waitstaff hired? Check. Fine, then. You’re the owners of Costello’s, a restaurant in Wilton Manors,…

I’m used to restaurants serving unlikely cuisine combinations — this one offers Mexican and Cuban food, for example, that one French and Spanish entrees. I even dined in a place that served Italian and Japanese fare. But talk about an odd couple: Willie’s Drive-Thru Ice Cream and Roti (500 E…

Barbecue is about absolutes. It’s either some of the best you’ve ever had or some of the worst. When it comes to the grill in the South, even in South Florida, there is no middle ground. Unfortunately, more often than not, the barbecue I’ve sampled ’round these parts has fallen…

You’ve got your Italian markets, your Asian groceries, your Spanish bodegas — all common sights in the Fort Lauderdale area. But if you’re looking for something really exotic, check out Dee Dee’s Meal in a Pie (4440 NE 20th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-202-9118). You’d never guess from the name that…

Fish shouldn’t smell fishy. Not the ones you’re going to eat, anyway — not if they’re fresh. And by extension a fish market shouldn’t have a questionable aroma, either. That’s why I was pleased to smell absolutely nothing besides the salt water from the live Maine lobster tank when I…

Hollywood’s hip. Hollywood’s happening. Hollywood’s Hungarian? The media and the local government have made much of downtown Hollywood’s “renaissance.” They claim it’s a nouveau world out there, with all sorts of chic folk roaming the gentrified Harrison Street and Young Circle, looking for good, stylish eats and places to swing…

When it comes to places to eat, appearances can be deceiving. The first time I saw Japan Hill, I drove right on by the five-month-old restaurant located on West Oakland Park Boulevard in Lauderhill. The squat, ugly, freestanding building, draped with banners, didn’t inspire my confidence. Nor did the nearly…

In other parts of the country, barbecue season is coming to a close. But here in South Florida, we’re just getting started. Particularly if you’ve been frequenting Emil’s Sausage Kitchen (1384 S. Federal Hwy., Pompano Beach, 954-942-3944), as I have, for barbecue pickings. The butcher shop offers as many kinds…

If Toni Bishop’s Restaurant & Jazz Club were to place a personal ad, it would read something like this: “South Florida sophisticate, worldly, passionate, and attractive, seeks soul mate(s). Must adore fortysomething, financially secure, urban professionals who enjoy fine food and drink, a refined environment, and men with turbans playing…

Know that old saw about how the nicest things come in the smallest packages? Works for restaurants, too. Senor Burrito (513 NE 20th St., Boca Raton, 561-347-6600) is a dinky little Mexican place — four or five booths and a table or two — that puts out some of the…

“I’ll never review one of his restaurants again.” When I first made that statement last fall, I was referring to renowned chef Robbin Haas, whom I’d tracked from the Colony Bistro on South Beach to BANG on South Beach to Bex up in Boca Raton, only to see him leave…

‘Tis the season to be steamy. But there’s no need to suffer store-bought ice cream to cool down. At Pine Yogurt (9114 State Rd. 84, Davie, 954-474-8966), you can choose from 22 homemade flavors of ice cream, yogurt, and ices ranging from old-fashioned pistachio to newfangled mango. The stuff is…

OK, now pay attention — this is bound to get confusing. Wolfie Cohen does not own Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House. Nor does he or his family own the original Rascal House in North Miami Beach. Cohen died in 1986, and ten years later his relatives, along with Cohen’s partner, Mark…

The question many diners have is not where to find a fabulous meal, but what to do afterward to prolong the experience. Scents & Cigars (2001 N. Federal Hwy., Pompano Beach, 954-784-1177) has a solution. Located next to Cafe Arugula, one of the best restaurants in South Florida, the cigar…

It all depends on how you take your coffee. I like mine with a dash or two of live music and a couple of lumps of poetry. So when I feel the need for speed, or at least for caffeine, I head over to Warehaus 57 (1904 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood,…

Chefs these days have two choices: Open up your own place, or work for someone else — restaurateur, hotel, or corporation. Both options require dedication and long hours, but the first also demands vision, good business sense, a well-trained staff, an eye for decor, and cash to make it happen…

In a city crammed with chain pizza joints that produce carbon-copy products, it’s an unusual relief to find authentic, Milanese-style pies. Caffe Amore (3313 NE 32nd St., Fort Lauderdale, 954-565-2100) bakes outstanding traditional, thin-crust pizzas in a wood-burning oven, topping them with any combination of ingredients — prosciutto, ricotta, arugula,…

Every once in a while, magazines like Conde Nast Traveller and Travel & Leisure hype the same vacation spot. In the early ’90s, for instance, Thailand made all the covers, becoming as familiar to readers as Cindy Crawford is to subscribers of Cosmopolitan and Glamour. The phenomenon is less the…

When Brooke Lee, a Hawaiian woman, was named Miss USA in 1997, pageant experts correctly predicted she’d also take the title of Miss Universe. Their reasoning was simple: Lee’s ancestry is multicultural, so her brunette good looks are at once domestic and exotic to people in several different countries. And…

Convenience is just about the biggest turn-on for me these days, but I find it hard to force myself to visit the drive-through windows of fast-food restaurants, even when I’m desperately hungry. Recently I solved that problem by putting gas in my car. At the Texaco Longstar Gourmet Deli and…

One of the biggest paradoxes in Boca Raton is the Royal Palm Plaza. Nicknamed the “pink plaza” on the sign, the shopping center pretty much characterizes the town: There seem to be more stores than parking spaces, and many of those spaces are filled with poorly parked luxury cars. Yet…

The namesake all-butter croissants are certainly one reason to frequent Croissan’ Time French Bakery (1201 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale, 954-565-8555). But they’re not the only one: The bakery also stocks some of the best napoleons and eclairs in town, not to mention wonderful cakes and pies, breads, baguettes, and…