Restaurant News and Fred Tasker’s Champaign Guide

NEWS FROM BROWARD

Whisky Tango

1903 Hollywood Blvd

Hollywood, FL 33020

954-925-2555

Vibe, YOLO’ S Music Lounge

333 East Las Olas Boulevard

Ft. Lauderdale,

Mojo

4140 N. Federal Hwy,

Ft. Lauderdale, FL,

954-568-4443

Il Mercadito

1454 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd.,

954-457-3700. No

Picnic at the Cordon Bleu Culinary School

3221 Eenterprise Way

Miramar, FL

954-603-3565

Dragon City

6708 Stirling Rod

Hollywood, FL 33024

Jonas Grill

2510 Northeast Miami Gardens Drive

Miami, Fl

305-466-0722

Matarano’s

Bongo’s

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Hollywood, fl

Market 17

1850 SE 17th Street

Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

954-399-0017

Rare Las Olas

401 East Las Olas Blvd,

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

954-527-3365

Rocco’s Tacos and Tequila Bar

5250 Town Center circle

Boca Taton, FL 33486

561-416-2131

Hong Kong City

5301 N. State Road 7

Tamarac, FL

954-777-3832

Silver Pond Restaurant

4285 N. State Road 7

Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33319

954-486-8885

Brother Tuckers

3332 East atlantic Blvd

Pompano Beach, FL 33062

954-785-1984

NEWS FROM DADE

1500° at Eden Roc

4525 Collins Avenue on Miami Beach.

(305) 674-5594

www.1500degreesmiami.com.

Wynwood Kitchen & Bar

2550 N.W. 2^nd Avenue,

(305) 722-8959

www.wynwoodkitchenandbar.com

DB Bisrto Moderne

255 Biscayne Blvd Way

Miami, FL 33131

305-421-8800

Eden

210 23rd Street

South Beach, FL 33139

305-397-8760

www.edensouthbeach.com

Sustain Restaurant + Bar

3252 NE 1^st Avenue in Midtown Miami

(305) 424-9079

www.sustainmiami.com

Magnum Lounge

709 Northeast 79th Str

Miami, FL

305-757-3368

Blue Piano Music Lounge and Wine Bar

4600 NE 2nd Ave.

Miami, FL

305-576-7979

Pubbelly

1418 20th St

Miami, Fl

305-532-7555

Fred Tasker’s Champaign Guide

New Year’s Eve is almost here, so it’s time to stock up on that bubbly elixir that helps you drown the sorrows of 2010 and give a toast – against all odds – for a better 2011.

Of course I’m talking about champagne.

Champagne can be confusing. Its nomenclature is so convoluted that it seems to have been made up by Rube Goldberg, or maybe the Marx Brothers. Here’s a quick guide to help you make sense of it.

If you’re drinking champagne all by itself, you might want the lightest-bodied one, something that makes a big pop when you open it, tickles your nose and turns to froth in your mouth. This would be blanc de blancs, which translates as “white of whites.” This means it’s made entirely of chardonnay grapes, which of course are white.

If you’re having champagne with hors d’oeuvres, you might want the next one up in body. That would be brut. It’s often made of both chardonnay, a white grape, and pinot noir, a red grape, so it tends to be medium-bodied.

Some people argue you can drink a different champagne with every course of a meal, from the delicate filet of sole first course to a big New York Strip steak. If you want a champagne for red meat, you want a blanc de noirs champagne. This means “white of reds,” because it’s a white champagne made of pinot noir, a red grape. The champagne still looks white because even though pinot noir is a red grape, its juice is white.

Finally you want to gauge the sweetness of your champagne.

Brut champagne is usually the driest. You can actually get one that’s drier, called brut nature. But this is so dry it can be harsh, so it’s an acquired taste.

The next champagne going up in sweetness is, counter intuitively, called Extra Dry. Yes, Extra Dry is actually slightly sweet. Go figure.

Next up in sweetness is Sec, which is French for Dry. So “dry” champagne is noticeably sweet. I never did understand the French.

Next up is Demi-Sec, which translates as half-dry but is even sweeter.

And finally comes doux, which means sweet in French, and is very sweet.

Don’t be fooled that, to be cool, you have to drink the absolute driest champagne you can find. I always say that the real reason people cry at weddings is that they’re served wedding cake with three inches of sugar frosting with brut champagne, one of the driest, most acidic champagnes on the planet. A demi-sec champagne would be a lot better match.

Whichever champagne you choose, here’s a toast you can say to see in the new and hopefully better year: Champagne to my real friends and real pain to my sham friends.