j gilbert's

Beautiful birthday dinner tonight [yes, I am still milking that birthday with a $25 coupon] as a guest. We had an awesome meal. Started with the Shrimp Cocktail which is always my favorite. Then two entrées: the Seafood Combination which had a gigantic crab cake on sautéed spinach, BBQ shrimp skewer, salmon and chipotle mashed potatoes and my St George Scallops on Lobster Risotto, a very rich plate of 'I've been to the beach' goodness.

Cap's Place

Now this place is unique! Cap's Place Island Restaurant and Bar is in Lighthouse Point but that's the easy part. To get to this place that has been serving seafood since the 1920's you need to get the boat on the pier and get taken to the private site. The cap'n of the boat gives a good intro on the way over and announces the specials of the evening. For a starter I had 6 fine Oysters and then Sesame Crusted Dolphin [mahi mahi] in a soy ginger sauce with mashed sweet potato and string beans. The coating on the fish was powerful but added lots of flavor to the dish. The other entrées were Rib Eye Steak and Swordfish with a lemon caper sauce. The bottle of Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay went exceedingly well with dinner!

Moonlite Diner

Shopping day, shopping day! Not me but family I was staying with. So we stopped to eat something; what's new about that! Between hither and yon in Hollywood we stopped into the next available eatery and it was the Moonlite Diner.

Typical good diner food: Tuna Melt on rye with sweet potato fries for $9.99. The other two orders were a Santa Fe salad and a Ham and Swiss Panini with coleslaw.

Demo Kitchen at El Torre in the Parque Centrale Hotel

Ernesto Mesa, Chef

Denis Ruiz, Sous Chef

El Cayo Restaurant in Santiago Harbor

Dominica Restaurant in Old Havana

El Morro Restaurant in Santiago

Cuban Food at MIA airport

The very best way to start the day...

A café con leche and a guayaba empanada
from the Café Versailles kiosk...

Daiquiris with Hemingway...

db bistro moderne

 Have always wanted to eat at Daniel Boulud's  and so jumped at the chance to entertain there. He has establishments in Miami, Beijing, London, Singapore and Vancouver; we were in Miami in the Marriott Marquis. There was a birthday [not mine] and an anniversary for our party of three.

the inner workings of the $32 hamburger

I had heard of the outrageous hamburger of kobe beef, stuffed with braised short ribs and white truffles. It was worth it...delicious...outrageous...a meal in itself...garlic frites on the side. Cold broccoli rabe soup was the starter...strange and overpowering. The brioche were amazing. A strawberry mille feuille for dessert. Wonderful wine. The atmosphere and service were superb. 

blognote: I cannot even remember the rest of the meal or the entrées of the two guests [branzino and duck confit???]

Dolores, but you can call me Lolita

Yes, that is the name of the restaurant! 'Dolores, but you can call me Lolita' is so much fun and inexpensive for Miami. There are too price ranges on the menu: $19.95 and $23.95 and each comes with an appetizer. I had the Gazpacho and the Veal Churrasco with chimichurri sauce. I was given a birthday plate in honor of the occasion.

blognote: Can't remember the entrées of the other members of the party. But I do remember the mojito!