I was going to tell you about all kinds of Halloween wines, like Dracula Syrah, from Vampire vineyards in California. Then I realized you probably can’t find them in local shops, and you don’t have time to buy them online.
So I will tell you instead about some spooky drinks that you can make from materials available closer to home.
For the kiddies, it’s easy. Just make your own punch from a gallon or so of 7-UP mixed with cranberry juice, frozen drink mixes, pieces of fruit — whatever else you have on hand — and put it all in a punch bowl with a big chunk of dry ice. The dry ice will create an eerie, icy fog.
Where, you ask, do you buy dry ice? Go to www.dryicedirectory.com and punch in our area code, 305, and it’ll list a dozen places. Warning: Don’t put little pieces of dry ice in individual glasses. It can burn.
Speaking of burning, you can turn just about any cocktail into a flaming witch’s brew by ladling a tablespoon of 151-proof rum on top and lighting it. It works great in the dark. But please, please be careful. And have the sense to put it out before drinking. You’d look funny without eyelashes. In fact, check out this safety website before starting/
For a really clever adult Halloween drink, make an eyeball martini. It’s from www.whattodrink.com. Mix your favorite martini and pour it in a stemmed glass. Take a radish, hollow it out and stuff an olive inside. Then peel alternating stripes into the red skin of the olive so it looks like a blood-shot eyeball. Put in a bunch of them. There’s a picture of it on their website. If that doesn’t gross out your friends, I don’t know what will.
Oh, and if you want to find the safety website and the bloodshot eye website, go to my blog at miamiherald.com/wine this evening. It’ll have clickable links.
Fred Tasker’s Halloween Drinks
Restaurant Happenings South Florida October 29, 2008
ANTHONY BOURDAIN, MICHELLE BERNSTEIN AND ALTON BROWN LIVE IN MIAMI
Tickets available now: http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/
Anthony Bourdain will be at the Arsht Center’s magnificent Knight Concert Hall on November 14 and Alton Brown will be live on December 13 with Michelle Bernstein. Each engagement includes an intimate interview about the celebrity chef’s personal culinary journey hosted by one of Miami’s own top chefs, a mouth-watering live cooking demonstration, and a question-and-answer session with the audience. VIP ticket holders will mingle with the Chef and sample food prepared during the demonstration at the VIP party after the show. Tickets from $25-$150. (Giada De Laurentiis has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. Contact the Box Office for refunds).
AHNVEE RESTAURANT & LOUNGE: TASTE OF N’AWLINS COMES TO SOUTH BEACH
Ahnvee, located at 621 Washington Avenue on South Beach, is slated to open late-2008/early-2009.
Ahnvee (which is Creole for “a food craving”) will ably walk the line between fine dining and polished casual; serving traditional, affordably-priced, authentic Cajun favorites as well as an array of decadent specialties, accompanied by congenial service, live music and a setting as seductive as the South itself. And who better to dish out the delights than executive chef Tom Azar, a seasoned industry veteran with close to 20 years experience, 15 of which was spent working in the Emeril Lagasse restaurant empire. “Ahnvee’s menu combines rustic ethnic cuisine with fine dining,” enthuses Azar, who, prior to coming aboard at Ahnvee served as chef de cuisine of Emeril’s South Beach. “You can’t do a great Cajun and Creole restaurant without offering the classics, like etouffee, gumbo and jambalaya, but Ahnvee will also appeal to those looking for a more diverse dining experience as well.”
JOEY GOLDMAN OPENS FIRST NEW RESTAURANT IN THE WYNWOOD
Joey’s, located at 2506 N.W. 2nd Avenue, in Wynwood, is slated to open November 2008
Joey Goldman, a principal of Goldman Properties and president of Goldman Real Estate, has been applying his vision to the Wynwood. To serve as executive chef at Joey’s, Goldman has tapped Ivo Mazzon, a talented and passionate 29-year-old chef from the Veneto region of Italy, who graduated with a culinary degree from the Cooking Institute in Treviso, Italy. Simone Cattaneo, a knowledgeable transplant from Milan, has been retai
ned as general manager. The menu at Joey’s reflects Mazzon’s experience in the unassuming dining rooms of his small town in Venice and surrounding environs. There a small selection of perfectly executed dishes with fresh produce supplied by local purveyors, were on offer each day.
CHINA GRILL SOUTH BEACH INTRODUCES AUTUMN MENU
China Grill is located at 404 Washington Avenue, (305) 534-2211.
China Grill South Beach introduces Autumn menu, a three-course meal for $39.00 per person (excluding tax and gratuity). China Grill’s Autumn menu will be available through November 30, 2008. Autumn menu appetizers include: California Roll- crabmeat stick, avocado, cucumber, sesame & masago; Tuna Osh-Tuna, tuna, crabmeat, sushi rice & wasabi guacamole. Entrée options include: Crunchy Salmon Roll-(avocado, tempura flakes, eel sauce; Dragon Roll- tempura shrimp, crabmeat stick, mayonnaise, cucumber, masago, mango & avocado; Barbequed Salmon with Chinese mustard sauce & stir fried greens; Sake Marinated “Drunken” Chicken -ponzu sauce, sweet crispy onions and Asian slaw; Sweet Soy Marinated Skirt Steak-wok sautéed lo mein noodles & tempura shiitake mushrooms and more.
CHEF JOHNNY VINCZENCZ TO OPEN SMITH & JONES BAR & GRILL
Smith & Jones Bar and Grill, located at 1313 Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, is slated to open mid-November 2008.
Restaurateur Johnny Vinczencz has remained one of the region’s foremost culinary innovators, wowing diners and critics with his robust, contemporary American cuisine. Currently, he’s dishing up delicacies at Johnny V Las Olas, his fine dining haven in the heart of Fort Lauderdale. Soon, foodies and fans will be able to get a Johnny V fix at his exciting new restaurant, Smith & Jones Bar and Grill, which is set to open mid-November 2008. “It’s going to be about quality food at affordable prices,” says Vinczencz of the new concept, which is also located on Las Olas Boulevard, seven blocks east of Johnny V Las Olas. “To this day people still ask me about Johnny V’s Kitchen,” he adds, referring to the casual concept he owned and operated on South Beach. “That menu, casual style and price points really struck a nerve. Rarely do you find a place with great food, reasonable prices and live music, especially one that’s chef-driven. Ultimately, Smith & Jones will be the type of restaurant I would want to eat at on my night off.”
THANKSGIVING AT NORTH 110
North One 10 Restaurant, 11052 BISCAYNE BLVD, 305-893-4211
North One 10 kindly invites you to celebrate our 5th annual Thanksgiving dinner. Reservations strongly suggested. The Thanksgiving celebration begins at
1:00 PM.
CHRISTY’S EXTENDS 30TH ANNIVERSARY MENU THROUGH THANKSGIVING
Christy’s, 3101 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables, (305) 446-1400.
In response to an overwhelming demand, managing partner Chris Klaic of Christy’s Restaurant is extending the 30/30 menu promotion at the top notch Coral Gables dining destination through Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 27, 2008. In honor of the restaurant’s 30th anniversary as a Miami fine dining mecca, a three course menu featuring Christy’s classic dishes such as filet mignon, prime rib of beef, and other mouthwatering specialties is offered at $30 for lunch or dinner, seven days a week. A stellar wine list, showcasing many fine wine values at $30 will also remain in effect.
Fred Tasker’s Italian Wine Suggestions
I spent a couple of hours Monday morning with royalty – the royalty of Italian wine. It was amazing to be in the same room with them – Piero Antinori, Pio Boffa, Alberto Mastroberardino, Sandro Boscaini.
The 18 winemakers there made up what they call the Grandi Marchi, a grouping of the producers who make the top wines, and, even more unusual, are all family-owned, with no corporations involved.
These are the people responsible for most of the really great – albeit expensive – wine of Italy.
Antinori in 1971 was one of a handful of winery owners who grew tired of working only with Italy’s sangiovese grape, the one that makes Chianti. So he started adding non-Italian grapes — cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc. On Monday he poured the wine that resulted – his Tignalello. It’s a fabulous wine – powerful and smooth, with flavors of mulberries and mocha. ($90)
Pio Boffa was there – the great grandson of the man who founded Pio Cesare, the great Barolo producer from Piedmont. He poured his 2004 barolo, full of raspberries and cinnamon. Also fabulous. ($65)
Chiara Lungarotti was there, who, with her mother and her sister, now runs the well-respected house of Lungarotti, in Umbria, south of Florence. She poured her Rubesco Riserva, soft and smooth and concentrated. ($70)
These are expensive wines – from $35 to $90 and above. But if you ever get to try them, try to do it better than I did. I got a little one-ounce sip of each in a guided tasting. You should roast a goose and spend a whole evening. It’ll be one of your top wine experiences.
Restaurant Happenings South Florida October 20, 2008
ANTHONY BOURDAIN, MICHELLE BERNSTEIN AND
Tickets available now: http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/
Anthony Bourdain will be at the
November 5: Post-Election American Wine Dinner with Winemaker Peter Figge
The
No matter who wins the
Miami’s own Chef Jeff McInnis, Contestant on Bravo TV’s TOP CHEF
http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/bios/bios.php?c=jeff
Jeff got his culinary start at age 15 by cleaning local fish while working on Florida fishing boats and a year later began peeling shrimp, cleaning squid and cutting fish for The Marina Café. Jeff embarked on his professional career as a Sous Chef at Atlanticville Restaurant and Café outside of
MARCO FERRARO IS THE NEW CHEF AT WISH RESTAURANT,
Wish at The Hotel, 801 Collins Avenue, (305) 531-2222 or (305) 674-9474.
Just months from it’s 10th anniversary, chef Marco Ferraro is the new Chef at Wish Restaurant, replacing Michael Bloise. According to Jessica
AU PIED DE COCHON SLATED TO OPEN IN JANUARY 2009 IN
Au Pied de Cochon,
Au Pied de Cochon, a Paris-based brasserie near Les Halles since 1947, is slated to open at
Restaurant Happenings South Florida October 14, 2008
GIADA DE LAURENTIIS, ANTHONY BOURDAIN AND
Tickets available now: http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/
Beginning October 24 with one of Food Network’s most recognizable faces, Giada De Laurentiis,
.
CELEBRATE DIWALI AT ISHQ SOUTH BEACH
Ishq Indian Cuisine,
Celebrate Diwali with us Starting October 22nd. We will be offering a special 3 course Diwali dinner menu on October 22nd for $30 plus tax and gratuity. Receive a complimentary glass of wine with each order. Join us for a celebration dinner with entertainment and party favors. Offer valid with confirmed reservations only. Price for walk-ins $40 plus tax and gratuity.
CAFÉ BUSTELO OPENS ON
In it’s 80th year of existence, Café Bustelo, owned by Miami-based Rowland Coffee Roasters, has opened its first flagship café-style dining and retail establishment on the main level of
WINE EXPO OCTOBER 25-27
The largest wine expo in
TUSCAN STEAK INTRODUCES TUSCAN AUTUMN NIGHTS
Tuscan Steak,
Tuscan Steak, the family style Florentine grill, introduces Tuscan Autumn Nights, a three-course meal for $39.00 per person (excluding tax and gratuity).
Diners will begin their meal with a choice of Insalata Caprese-vine ripe tomatoes, house made mozzarella basil pesto; Fritto Misto-rock shrimp, calamari, olives & zucchini, preserved in lemon aioli; or Penne Bolognese finished with Pecorino – Romano. For entrées, Tuscan Autumn Nights selections include Pan Seared Scamp Grouper-preserved lemon mash & roasted pepper tapenade; Char-Grilled 10 oz Flat Iron Steak-parsnip puree, Barolo sauce and crispy onions; or Roasted Half Chicken-artichoke & potato hash with a brown butter sage sauce. To finish off your meal, guests can indulge in a Warm Chocolate & Vanilla Bread Pudding-Tahitian vanilla bean gelato & Balvenie single malt scotch infused caramel sauce or Vanilla Panna Cotta-Rosemary Infused Berry Compote.
Escopazzo, 1311
Organic Italian restaurant offers Miami Spice menu for just $36 per person (excluding beverage, tax and gratuity). See menu choices at escopazzo.com.
Restaurant Happenings South Florida October 7, 2008
GIADA DE LAURENTIIS, ANTHONY BOURDAIN AND ALTON BROWN LIVE IN MIAMI
Tickets available now: http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/
Beginning October 24 with one of Food Network’s most recognizable faces, Giada De Laurentiis, Miami audiences will have the opportunity to spend one evening each month with their favorite gastronomic gurus in the Arsht Center’s magnificent Knight Concert Hall. Anthony Bourdain will be here on November 14 and Alton Brown will be live on December 13. Each engagement includes an intimate interview about the celebrity chef’s personal culinary journey hosted by one of Miami’s own top chefs, a mouth-watering live cooking demonstration, and a question-and-answer session with the audience. VIP ticket holders will mingle with the Chef and sample food prepared during the demonstration at the VIP party after the show. Tickets from $25-$150.
Spooktacular Halloween at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club 19999
West Country Club Drive, Aventura 33180. (786) 279-6800.
Halloween Dinner on Friday, October 31. Enjoy a four-course Halloween-themed dinner at Cascata Grille in The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club. Menu features smoked salmon with black & orange caviar to start, pumpkin soup, a choice of blackened catfish or squid ink saffron pasta with spiny lobster, and blood orange crème brule. $36 per person, $18 per child ages 5-12; plus tax and gratuity. A la carte menu also available. Complimentary valet parking. 6 to 10 p.m.
CHINA GRILL SOUTH BEACH INTRODUCES ‘THE CLASSICS TASTING
China Grill, 404 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach, 305-534-2211
For those who want to savor what China Grill has been all about for the past 21 years ( in NY and 13 years in Miami Beach), China Grill South Beach introduces a ‘classics tasting menu’ offered for dinner and priced at $69.00 per person (excluding tax and gratuity). The ‘classics tasting menu’ begins with an chef’s “amuse bouche”, and is followed by a six course meal.
Grandi Marchi at The Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables
For the first time in the United States, the 18 members of the Grandi Marchi – Alois Lageder, Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari Tenute, Antinori, Biondi Santi s.p.a., Ca’ del Bosco, Carpenè Malvolti, Donnafugata, Gaja, Jermann, Lungarotti, Masi, Mastroberardino, Michele Chiarlo, Pio Cesare, Rivera, Tasca D’Almerita, Tenuta San Guido, and Umani Ronchi — will showcase their wines on Tuesday, October 21, 2008, in a day of events at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. $40 for the general public; $25 Premier and Cellar Club members and $20 for AmEx Premium Access Program . Tickets can be purchased at the door or RSVP to International Event & Exhibition Management at (877) 217- 9867 or by e-mail, RSVP@iem.it . Entrance fee for accredited media and trade professionals is complimentary.
LE PTIT PARIS, A FRENCH BRASSERIE LOUNGE OPENS IN COCONUT GROVE
Le Ptit Paris, 3464 Main Highway, Coconut Grove. 305-445-7331.
Bonjour Le Ptit Paris! French restaurateurs, entrepreneurs and music composers as well as co-owners of Le Bouchon du Grove, Shirley Huon Ducatillon and her husband Regis Ducatillon, have reopened the French restaurant on the corner of Main Highway and Commodore Plaza across the street from the Green Café. What used to be a sizzling Cuban café is now an indoor outdoor Brasserie Lounge with sofas, dining tables and a bar. “If you’re looking for a four star production you are in the wrong place,” he says. “We are all about the ambiance accompanied with simple and healthy food from early breakfast to late night tapas and everything in between.”
Slow Food Annual Members Dinner at the Standard October 22nd
Slowfoodmiami.com
Become a member of the Slow Food International movement and have access to different events throughout the year. On October 22nd, members will dine at the Standard on Miami Beach. Dinner will feature the Navajo Churro Lamb, prepared in the Slow cooking style of the Mediterranean kitchen. Slow cooking is a deliciously rewarding art and there is no one better to capture its sumptuous unhurried charm as renowned Chef Mark Zetouni. Tickets $45 per person all inclusive. Reserve early seating is limited.
Restaurant Happenings South Florida October 2, 2008
GIADA DE LAURENTIIS, ANTHONY BOURDAIN AND
Tickets available now: http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/
Beginning October 24 with one of Food Network’s most recognizable faces, Giada De Laurentiis,
This October at The Capital Grille: Giant Scallops from
Captial Grille, 2430 East Sunrise Blvd,
Hand-harvested by local divers in pristine tropical lagoons off
October 14th North One 10 Restaurant and Bar- Crime Fiction Evening with Edna Buchanan
North One 10 Restaurant,
Dubbed “the queen of crime” by the Los Angeles Times, Edna Buchanan has covered more crimes than most cops. Buchanan is back with LEGALLY DEAD (Simon & Schuster; August 12, 2008; $26.00), the first book in a new series headed straight for the bestseller lists. The inspired menu beginning at 6:30 pm October 14th.
1 BLEU RESTAURANT,
The Regent Bal Harbour has joined forces with Food & Wine in “Grow for Good,” a national campaign designed to help raise public awareness and support for charitable initiatives that strive to increase access to locally and sustainably grown foods. To that end until Sunday, October 19, 1 Bleu is offering a special prix fixe Grow for Good menu, offered with or without paired wines, $47 and $67, respectively; tax and gratuity are not included. Menu items were chosen because of their use of local ingredients and include dishes such as pan seared crab cakes, organic field greens, local Gulf shrimp and
Fine Italian Wine Tasting – Grandi Marchi
Grandi Marchi: For the first time in the
