Cadillac Ranch American Bar & Grill

|
Really super-upbeat upscale sports bar with a big-ass mechanical bull & the perfect pit for watching sports on the big screen.

Located in the new Villages @ Gulfstream shopping-plex.


What we had:

Most dinner items come served over a Demi glaze-WTF is a "Demi glaze"? Basically, it's slightly under-seasoned gravy.

I had the NY Strip & my DH had the filet. The steak was entirely decent. Better than Outback, and only slightly more expensive at $24/$27. The gravy wasn't terrible--I would have rather had more steak seasoning with a nicely-herbed au jus, bit it wasn't unpleasant. The mashed potatoes were creamy, buttery, and came from real potatoes. Yum. I missed something green--slack green garnish with 2 little tomato chunks doesn't count.

I also had an overpriced pear-tini with fresh pears and cheap vodka. For $12, I'd like something better than Smirnoff.


Décor:

Pretty cool with lots of red & blue lighting and guitars & such on the walls. Did I mention the huge mechanical bull? The multiple outside seating areas have fire pits, comfy lounge seating and the place has at least 4 bars. In the main dining room is a sunken pit with a jumbotron that would make an awesome spot to catch a game.


Service:

Okay. The bar was a bit slow.


Overall impressions:

Kind of frantically upbeat, but not a bad time for a sports bar. I'd love to hit up one of the fire pits or possibly the sports grotto.


Rating:

3.5 out of 5 salamanders





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Red Light, Little River

|
Cute little neighborhood eats spot tucked in the side of a waterfront hotel, whose chef recently got a James Beard nom.

We've been here for drinks a few times, but not for dinner (damn the taco shop) and stopped in for lunch.


What we had:

I had the Fontina & applewood smoked bacon grilled cheese sandwich with lentils--the sandwich, though a touch greasy, was cheesy goodness all around. The bread was kickass, and the delicate little lightly orangey, thymed lentils with small bits of at least 2 types of non-offensive onion made me a bit jealous, I must admit.

My DH had a deeply beefy burger with "special onions" and aged cheddar with house potatoes. Totally yum and the side tomato was actually grown under the sun, so i was all kinds of happy to unburden him of it.


Décor:

Cute & cozy inside with a nice waterfront deck in the back.


Service:

Not bad.


Overall impressions:

The food was pretty good. Since we've only eaten here for lunch, I'm holding out on a full rating until we come for dinner.

On a side note, the bartender here is an artist. I can't stand the taste of alcohol, and she has managed each time we've gone to concoct me a drink that has not only been not offensive, but has been strong and tasty. She made us an Absinthe & grapefruit concotion that rocked, and the last time our drinks had cucumber and some green tea liquer that was pretty tasty. And she has great taste in music.


Rating:

A tentative 3.5 out of 5 salamanders


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bulldog Barbecue

|
Contemporary BBQ joint owned/operated by a Top Chef contestant. I forget which one or from which season, but Bon Apetit sounded impressed in the BBQ issue.


What we had:

My DH and I both had the sliders--1 order of pulled pork with chipotle fries, and 1 order of brisket with sweet potato fries.

Disclaimer: We are from NC, the epicenter of all things yummy and piglike in the US. People come to blows over the definition of BBQ in NC. Sure, you can call roasted pork or roasted pork slathered with dressed-up ketchup BBQ, but nothing fits the bill like some good ole pit-cooked Eastern Carolina-style pig.

Having gotten that out of my system, this wasn't bad. Not Carolina style, but not an abomination. It did however, send my DH into diatribe about what is right and proper in BBQ--in essence, tomato alters the true taste of the pig, and all good BBQ is pit-cooked. The fabled pink smoke ring is just not optional.

We thought the chef was trying a bit too hard with the sauce on the pulled pork. The brisket however, was succulent and pretty great. I would go back for a full plate of brisket. Not sure I'd get the sliders again--the bun was grocery store quality.

The menu said the slaw was Carolina style--whatever that means beyond a name to lend credence. In reality, it tasted just like KFC slaw with pepper added. That's not to say the slaw was bad. I happen to like KFC's slaw.

The cornbread was good; it tasted exactly like Jiffy.

The sweet potato fries we're great. So great, DH kept stealing mine. The Chipotle fries were pretty, but lacking any real spice or smoke and only about half got eaten.


Décor:

Modern & clean, with reds, creams & black.


Service:

Not bad.


Overall impressions:

A bit over-reaching, but not bad.


Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

Michael's Genuine Addendum

|
I know I'm not in the habit of re-reviewing places I've already eaten, but I'll make an exception just this once. Michael's Genuine is one of those holy crap restaurants that is just so freakin good, you can't fathom why you don't go every week. In my case, I'm sorry to admit, its been a whole freakin year since I've been and I will not make that mistake again! 

We took the NY-escapee and this was by far her best meal here.  This was by far the best meal out we've had in months (since Michy's I think).

Not only is this the perfect spot to bring an out-of-towner for a nice low-key night, but it is so. freakin. tasty. that i'd love to go back on at least a monthly basis.  Now if only I can hold my drive to try new things at bay a little harder (we still eat at Ver Daddy's Taco Shop almost every Friday), I'd be all over Michael's more often.

This time around, we opted to dine at a table, rather than at the chef's bar, and it took us 4 days to get a reservation.  We had originally planned to go on a Friday night (I don't know what I was thinking either), and luckily my DH suggested making reservations early.  We looked that morning, and everything was booked solid until Tuesday.  So, Tuesday it was.

We got large plates this time (plus the hominy and potato chips with onion dip so good you want to slather it all over your face). 

I got the fan-freakin-tabulous grilled Fudge Farms pork chop--A nice big, thick, juicy chop grilled to perfection with a sunchoke puree, house smoked bacon & haricot vert hash and light apple salad. This dish was perfectly balanced, seasoned & cooked.  No complaints at all. I can't even think of an entirely valid change, except for maybe possibly some more apple--the apple was diced and cooked to perfection, but I might have added some raw strips to the salad for a punch of acid.


My DH got the slow-roasted Fudge Farms pork shoulder--A falling apart hunk of porky goodness topped with parsley sauce and served with pickled red onions and Anson Mills cheese grits.  This dish did my Southern boy some good.  This was food to feed the soul, and his portion was so large that he regretably had to leave a smidge behind. 

Our snow escapee friend had the pan-roased 1/2 "poulet rouge" chicken served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed escarole.  Again, I was concerned about chicken being boring, but I needn't have worried.  They say (who says? The cooking illuminati, that's who) that the true measure of a chef is how well he or she prepares a simple roasted chicken.  If that's true, Chef Michael and his brigade deserve all the hype & all the praise they already get and more.  Give that man some cash & prizes.

Being gluttons, we then opted for dessert(s).

We had the chocolate cremoso with sea salt, olive oil, sourdough crostini & an espresso parfait topped with bits of crunchy caramelized goodness.  A great dessert.  I'm glad we ate it second. The cremoso was velvety, decadent & fabulous, the crostini & toppings providing a perfect foil and the parfait played a great counterpoint to the dish as a whole.

But the real show-stopper, at least for me (yes, I did my happy food dance/wiggle, made inappropriate noises and thought hard about grabbing the plate and dashing away for a little me time with my dessert--luckily for all I was in tall heels) was the popcorn & peanuts--a chocolate peanut butter candy bar with buttered popcorn ice cream & caramel sauce.  Full disclosure:  Popcorn is one of my favorite foods, is my favorite snack by far, and I also adore peanut butter.  Having said that, I would risk days of ice cream sickness to eat a tub of this ice cream.  Holy freakin crap, this was good.  The candy bar was nice, but it couldn't hold a candle to the popcorn ice cream.  I must eat this again and I may now be in love with Hedy Goldsmith, the pastry wizard @ Michael's. Just a little.

Ooh, and joy upon joys, Michael's now has a food cart!  With my ice cream!  I'm hella excited and will now commence with the Twitter stalking.

Oh yeah, and we had beverages.  My girl had a Shiraz I'm not seeing on the online menu and cappuccino and I had the homemade local strawberry-basil soda and a macchiato.  She loved the Shiraz, and the sommelier was a great help. The macchiato was nice, but was completely eclipsed by the dessert. The soda was too sweet for me (I don't even like sugar, so I'm not 100% on why I ordered it), but the taste was nice.

We must go back & soon. 

Le Cafe

|
French punk-ish artsy cafe/bistro in MiMo.


What we had:

I think I had a crepe. I remember it was tasty, but that's about all I remember about it.

My NY escapee friend had a caprese sandwich, which she thoroughly enjoyed.


Décor:

We sat on the back deck, which was nice. The art when we went was Marilyn Monroe ala God Save the Queen style. Sweet!


Service:

So. Freakin. Slow, i wantedtoscratchmyeyeballsout.

Ok, truth be told, I was on my lunch break and am prone to lunch break time constraint meltdowns. My girl was on the verge of smacking me upside the head.


Overall impressions:

Interesting. I'll never go back for lunch during a work day, but I would love to check out some of the events at night. And I loved the art, so that's a plus.


Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

Gourmet Station

|
This place is kind of an odd duck. The sign says its a gourmet-to-go catering service that targets people who want fresh food without cooking. The hours are weird, though. I'm not 100% on what the hours actually are, since it seems like they are closed 7x out of 10 when we pass by. On this day, they were open for lunch.


What we had:

I had the portobello salad--a romaine salad with sliced portobello, mandarin orange segments, some other stuff I can't remember and balsamic dressing.

My escapee-from-snowmageddon friend had a steak sandwich.

Now, I know my concept of "gourmet" differs from that of the average joe on the street, but this was not gourmet. I think the bare minimum to garner the title of gourmet for your salad is mescalun greens. And that's just a bare minimum. Portobello does not a gourmet make.

The steak in the sandwich was cooked nicely, so that was a plus. But, my girl ended up peeling off about half of the cheese slices (I'm not sure what the cheese was--it was white with no holes and didn't look like muenster or the like. Kinda looked on the white american side, but I sincerely hope that it wasn't. she didn't know and I was trying to "behave" that 5 minute period).


Décor:

Minimal with quotes on a chalkboard wall.


Service:

So-so.


Overall impressions:

I don't know that I would ever go back. The salad was only $8 or $9, but I was starving again half an hour later. My girl enjoyed her sandwich.


Rating:

2.5 out of 5 salamanders

Wahoo's At Whale Harbor

|
Big-ass seafood and boat dock complex in Islamorada.


What we had:

I had the grilled mahi sandwich--although my fish was burnt, the non-burnt parts tasted nice and the fillet hadn't dried out too much. The bun was kinda wimpy (just a generic grocery store burger bun) and there was no dressing on the sandwich. Ok, now that I'm spelling it out, this wasn't a great sandwich, but I was starving and it was chilly on the deck, so I wanted to choke it down and get out of there.

My DH had a burger, which he seemed to enjoy.

We took the NY escapee, and she liked her chicken ceasar salad and loved her cheese fries (whale fries on the menu).



Décor:

We sat on the back deck overlooking the boats. It was kinda windy & cold in the shade that day, and I was already aggravated.


Service:

So-so.


Overall impressions:

This place is huge. Wahoo's itself is pretty large, with a good sized deck and a separate connector walkway/bar/seating area leading to the (2 stall only!!) bathroom. On the other end of the connector is a seafood buffet. Looks like a racuous place to grab a beer, but i'm not sure if i would like to stay long enough to pee. The food was serviceable but not special.


Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

DiLido Beach Club

|
Ok, I must admit I was originally excited to check this place out because the Executive Chef is Jeff McInnis from Top Chef Season 5. I loved his "creative monkeys" and how spastic he was in the kitchen. I figure the Ritz Carlton isn't going to put out crap, and if its overpriced, so be it.

One of my girl friends from college was in town (escaping snowmageddon in NY) and her must-dos included some sort of fruity alcoholic beverage on the beach, preferably with an umbrella. DiLido seemed like a natural fit.


What we had:

I had the lamb gyro flatbread--thin-sliced succulent lamb with a refreshing pickled mango salsa and light smear of raita topped with micro greens and fuschia flowers. This was a great dish and the perfect size and lightness for somewhere that overlooks the beach. And, at $14, not a bad price either, considering the atmosphere.

My DH had the lamb sliders with sweet potato fries--Also pretty great. The sweet potato fries were so good we had to get a plate for the table.

My girl had the chicken "under a brick" flatbread--crispy, juicy lemon chicken with an artichoke mousse-y, creamy base topped with micro greens and fuschia flowers. This was surprisingly good. I was worried--it was the most boring looking thing on the menu--but it was really succulent and the crispiness was a great touch.

We also had beverages. High-priced ($17) beverages. My girl & I had the Blue Basil (top shelf vodka, muddled blueberries, lemon & basil). A good drink, if a bit stiff for my tastes, though at $17 a glass it had better be. I left with a good buzz and didn't even finish my vodka-soaked blueberries.

My DH had the Lemon Verbena-Tini (citrus vodka, white grape, lemon verbena & orange blossom). He really enjoyed it and in the sip I had, the lemon verbena gave a great herby taste.

No umbrellas to be found.

Décor:

Very relaxing. This place is all outdoor seating under umbrellas, so be sure to check the weather--The restaurant is not open if it is raining. The view of South Beach was nice, and just what was needed.


Service:

Not bad. Its the Ritz Carlton, afterall.


Overall impressions:

A good relaxing place for a light bite or a heavy cocktail. I would love to go back on a Thursday or Friday night to check out the hookahs.


Rating:

4 out of 5 salamanders