Chef Laurent Tourondel’s South Beach outpost of the BLT Steak empire is most definitely a “seen and be seen” Miami Beach hotspot.  And while it’s an insider favorite for the fabulous food and tres chic al fresco dining, it is BLT’s first impression—the warm popovers— that sets the tone for the meal to follow.  They had [...]

Hail Bacchus! March 19th starts The Boca Bacchanal, a three-day wine festival benefiting the Boca Raton Historical Society. A weekend of great wine matched with delectable food prepared by acclaimed chefs promises to tempt the palates of foodies and wineophiles alike. The highlight of the festival is the Bacchanal & Auction which begins with a [...]

This cozy Coral Gables cafe is housed in the historic La Palma building that was originally opened in 1924 as a beautiful Mediterranean-styled hotel. Today, La Palma’s focus is on traditional northern Italian fare at a reasonable price. La Palma’s housemade pastas range from Fettuccine Alfredo to Pumpkin Tortellini with butter and sage. Their pastas, [...]

Inspired by Suzanne Goin’s Sunday Suppers at Lucques, this tart was the perfect ending to our Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 dinner.  I had to stray a bit from Goin’s crust recipe because the proportions were off– too much flour wouldn’t let the crust congeal. Martha Stewart’s pâte sucrée recipe has never let me down, so [...]

In the traditional method of cooking polenta, forty minutes of constant stirring is required to achieve a lumpless texture and fragrant flavor.  Italian-food guru Marcella Hazan has developed a method that involves very little stirring during this time. You can check it out here. However, for this recipe, we used instant polenta, which worked absolutely fine. [...]

This was the darling of the Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 dinner. I predominately used Emeril’s recipe and made a few changes by using a butter-based roux and buying premade polenta. The roux can be made ahead of time—just bring it to room temperature before using.  The polenta “tubes” made the polenta cakes a snap; they [...]