Postcard Inn at Holiday Isle

You're in the mood to get away. Like, fire-pits-and-tiki-bars-in-the-Keys-style get away.
Behold the Postcard Inn at Holiday Isle, a quietly sexy beachside resort in Islamorada, reborn after a massive renovation, ready to host your next barefoot weekend of paddle boarding and daiquiri-drinking.
The vibe here is upscale sleep away-camp with a dash of nautical swagger. Meaning that in addition to the outdoor ping-pong table, paddleboard rentals and Shulas2 burger restaurant (order the Chorizo with charred onions), you’ll also have a 19-slip marina to dock your leisure vessel for the weekend. After you’ve made the two-hour trek south from Miami to the handsome campus, you’ll settle into one of the new Lanai suites with patios that open directly onto the private beach. After a few rounds of Pac-Man and darts in the astroturf-lined lobby, you’ll make your way to the legendary Tiki Bar (untouched since 1969), where a tall Rum Runner will prepare you for a date with doing absolutely nothing.
It’s important to make time for that.
(More pics after the jump.)

Favorite Neighborhood Spot: Mina's Mediterraneo

There are so many reasons to love Mina's Mediterraneo, a Middle Eastern-Mediterranean mashup that inhabits a cavernous space (that used to be a Haitian Church) on 79th St. Causeway. There you'll find rustic Mediterranean home cooking in a sophisticated, neo-industrial spot. The steel and concrete dining room is outfitted with wood communal tables, old travel posters from the 1950's of Egypt, Syria and Lebanon and 8 foot-high windows that go to the ceiling. The place has been open for a few years and they just introduced this beauty of an outdoor patio with and an herb garden. 
Owner Yasmine Kotb is Egyptian and her mother Sonia helms the kitchen using her grandmother's recipes. Prices are reasonable with small plates $5-$8, larger plates $10-$17. Their weekend brunch features a great rendition of current "it" dish shakshuka - baked tomatoes with eggs, best washed down with one of their frozen spiked slushies. 

As for the rest of the menu: fresh pita bread accompanies dips of eggplant baba ganoush, tzatziki and "besara" made with fava beans, dill and parsley. Spanikopita shares space with stuffed cabbage, roasted brussel sprouts, and falafel sliders. Pizzas can be topped with exotic things like Moroccan merguez lamb sausage and basterma (Egyptian cured meat). The Baked Kibby is a Mid-East meatloaf made with cracked wheat mixed with ground beef, pine nuts and onions while the lamb tagine is spiced with harissa. Desserts include traditional baklava and Dark Chocolate tart with crushed almond crust.

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749 NE 79th St, Miami, FL 33138 (786) 391-0300

Matador Room @ The Miami Beach EDITION

Ever since Matador Room opened at The Miami Beach EDITION it seems everyone has been Instagraming a certain copper pineapple cocktail. This $30 elixir was all the rage when the swanky hotel opened its doors during the Art Basel crush this past December. Made with Absolut Elyx, Palo Cortado Sherry, salted caramel bitters, Bittermens Elemakule tiki bitters, house-made pineapple and rosemary syrup, and a torched sprig of rosemary that when the lid is removed, gives the guest a subtle puff of herby fragrance.
Yes, it's pricey, so while you're there you ought to stay for some avocado pizza, which is reason enough to make it to the gorgeous restaurant inside the restored Art Deco hotel.
Celeb chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten may no longer be at J & G Grill at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, but he has partnered with hotelier Ian Schrager at the Edition to create this spot, his ode to Latin cooking. Chef Jeremy Ford ( formerly of 15 Steps at the Eden Roc) heads up the kitchen.
"We knew we wanted to do something that reflects the area," says Vongerichten regarding the inspiration for the restaurant. "These are the flavors that belong in Miami. It's the Seville hotel and we kept the name Matador Room, so it's also inspired by that. Everything is family style, have some olives, tacos, a big bowl of arroz con pollo."

Brunch @ Vintro Kitchen, South Beach

A bit hidden, but that just enhances the charm of this spot on the Collins Canal. The self-serve bowls of nutella on the brunch buffet are GENIUS. Things like fresh made paella, grilled lamb chops and a live flamenco guitarist give the place a sultry Latin vibe.

Siena Tavern, South Beach

Exuberant celeb chef (and former Top Chef contestant) Fabio Viviani has brought his Chicago-based Italian tavern to our beachy shores.
The former China Grill 400-seater is now transformed into an expansive playground of Italian delights. There's an open pizza kitchen, an expansive circular bar and a mix of high and low tables that breaks up the cavernous space, making it somewhat cozy. Yes, there's a signature beer on tap, made by Wynwood Brewing. As for the food.

The Best Things I Ate in Israel

Just returned from another epic trip to the Holy Land. Been three years since I'd checked in and yes, things have changed. Jerusalem is still the chaotic-lovely-congested-quiet-filthy-picturesque bag of contrasts that I love. But it's definitely gotten a bit more posh in certain areas, like the revamped "Tachanah," or Old Train Station with its industrial-cool restaurants and artisanal food market. The once-seedy Mahane Yehuda produce market is now on its way to being a cosmopolitan nosh-nexus similar to Seattle's Pike Street Market and San Fran's Ferry Building. Now amidst the stalls hawking nuts, pickles and figs there are trendy pasta restaurants and even a fish and chips place. I tried Georgian food for the fist time and was impressed with the strong flavors and hints of Eastern spices and influences. And while this trip was by no means an exhaustive tour of all that is current and trending in Israeli cuisine (I was traveling with two toddlers, meaning, I drank about a gallon of wine every night and it was a miracle my iphone was not covered in hummus and phyllo grease by the end of the trip), I was able to taste some spectacular things.

Herewith, my culinary adventures in pictures.

The menu at Azura, a Slow Food-approved spot and the first stop on my Sephardic soul food pilgrimage. It's a no-frills spot hidden inside the Mahane Yehuda market..

Nanuchka, Tel Aviv, home to Georgian cooking and funky decor.

Fantastic Khinkali - meat dumplings at Nanuchka.

Lunch at Hamotzi restaurant - owned by Avi Levy, winner of Israel's Master Chef (like Top Chef in the US).

Fried battered fish in a spicy Moroccan sauce at Homotzi.

Oh, just a little feast our Aunt Shoshana whipped up (while recovering from knee surgery no less!) consisting of homemade techina, fried eggplant, tomato salad and kubbeh soup (semolina dumplings, beets, lemon)

Fresh-pressed pomegranate juice at Mahane Yehuda market.

A salad topped with fried haloumi cheese - this one needs to make it on to the next Saffron Supper Club menu!

The beer garden and food court at the revamped Old Train Station in Jerusalem.

Epic baklava selection at the Old Train Station.

Look! Paletas in Israel.

Preservation, Sunny Isles

The motto of Preservation is “cured, pickled, smoked.”  Yes, this new spot in Sunny Isles is all about the brine. When I found out about this spot thanks to culinary super-sleuth Wokstar I was excited: finally a place that is as obsessed with pickles as I am. And indeed Partners Nicole Richaud and Ryan Harrison are interested in producing honest, well-sourced food that is both upscale and refreshingly unpretentious. They revamped a strip mall space into a stylish, slightly-zen dining room outfitted with reclaimed wood tables, concrete walls pressed with leaves and nine flat screen TV’s. A small retail area in the front stocks the kitchen’s homemade pickled vegetables and fruit preserves.

The menu comprises modern American cooking with a focus on smoked and cured meats. All bread is made in-house, including rye for sandwiches and buns for burgers. Smoked fish, sausages and condiments like ketchup, mustard and their house preserves are all house made. Harrison is the chef and has worked with John Besh in New Orleans as well as the Smoke Truck in Philadelphia. Prices are in keeping with artisanal fare with starters $8-$16, and mains $12-$25. A meal starts with battered pickles with a grain mustard dipping sauce. From there it’s on to the smoked tomato soup with basil mousse or the smoked salmon platter with dill cream and topped with bright pink pickled onions. Sandwiches include a brisket cheesesteak and a pastrami with smoked pickled slaw. Blackboard specials can include homemade ravioli stuffed with lamb or a Scottish salmon with sake glaze and a preserved Meyer Lemon quinoa. The place also excels at desserts, as exemplified by this towering carrot cake, which, like most of the offerings at Preservation was well-balanced and fresh.

Celebrity Reflection: Nitrogen Cocktails and Posh Bites

The culinary team in the main dining room.

It's obvious that Celebrity Cruises takes their culinary program seriously. Two years ago they tapped John Suley, a 2010 James Beard Foundation “Rising Star Chef” nominee and former Gotham Steak chef, to head up culinary operations. And their latest ship,The Reflection, is awash is "specialty dining" outlets. That's cruise-speak for smaller, more upscale restaurants where passengers dine for fee (usually $5-$40 per person) as an alternative to the usual buffet and mass dining rooms also available on the ship. We hopped on board to sample the goods at the "Taste of Modern Luxury Event" as part of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. The event was a round-robin of venues whereby event goers visited six spots on the ship and got to sample a dish, a cocktail and chat with the chef.
In a sign that cocktail culture is gaining traction in mass-appeal circles, the culinary roster also featured Junior Merino who goes by the name "The Liquid Chef." He developed the cocktail program for the ship's Molecular Bar and gave a crash-course on how he uses liquid nitrogen, fresh squeezed juices, and specially created syrups to put together drinks for guests who prefer not to pound 32-ounce daiquiris (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Junior Merino aka "The Liquid Chef"

At Blu, the Mediterranean-influenced spot espousing lighter "spa cusiine," we sampled lump crab martinis and blackened ahi tuna on Forbidden Rice.

Blue and white tables set the tone at Blu.

Lump crab martini, anyone?

The entrance at Tuscan Grille has the cave-like feel of a wine cellar, and the focus is Italian. There are authentic meat slicers and a bevy of cured meats available. The carpaccio di manzo with sun-dried tapenade and arancini risotto balls with basil ailoi greeted us here.

Arancini at Tuscan Grille.

Qsine is more of a whimsical spot with funky place settings, iPad menus and playful food presentations. There we sampled grilled zahtar lamp chops and almond-crusted French toast.

Funky place settings and furniture at Qsine.

We were pretty full but saved room for a bit of ducle de leche crepes at Bistro on 5, a dainty creperie offering half a dozen sweet and savory stuffed pancakes. As the event wound down and everyone gathered in the main dining room, I felt a little bit of envy towards the passengers we saw filing in for their seven-day excursion. Based on what we tasted that day, it was clear they'd be going on a culinary journey as well.

Gnocchi-Making With Fabio Viviani

Fabio Viviani gives good gnocchi.

Probably the only thing that could get me out and at Casa Tua at 9am the morning after the Burger Bash was the boisterous Italian chef Fabio Viviani. Along with a dozen other groggy food writers I settled in at the rustic communal table framing the open kitchen at Casa Tua to catch the former Top Chef star (and now Bertolli endorser) share some culinary wisdom and make gnochhi.

The finished product: pillowy dumplings.

First, there was lots of Italiano chit-chat: "I don't want to be an Iron Chef, I want to be your Italian grandmother," which sums up his approach to celebrity chef stardom and his choice to push homestyle cooking via Bertolli and his restaurants rather than shoot for more TV fame.
Then, some cooking tips. The first rule of gnocchi-making: "Buy the cheapest, nastiest potatoes you can find." Second, let's the dough sit overnight. "You need to be patient. Making gnocchi is like foreplay."
And he's still planning on opening a Miami spot, though he wouldn't divulge where or when. "It will be like my Chicago place Sienna Tavern but we're going to Miami Vice it," he explained.

And an added bonus: olive-oil poached sea bass with pesto and mango.

Casa Tua -- keeping it classy.

Burger Bash 2013

I don't have many photos from the Burger Bash, the annual burger-off put on by the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. That's because I was too busy double-fisting glasses of rosé and sliders and trying not to get grease all over my phone as I live-tweeted the event (for late-breaking burger news). But I did manage to taste at least seven (or possibly 12) burgers before I lapsed into a beef-induced coma and could only be revived by caramel truffles at the Godiva tent.
But onto the hard news: It was all about the crunchy burgers as Bobby Flay broke Michael Symon's three-time winning streak by taking home the People's Choice award at the 2013 Sobe Burger Bash. Flay’s signature green chile cheeseburger topped with potato chips bested Symon’s entry from B Spot Burgers, dethroning the Cleveland chef.

Flay's "crunchify" team.

Amid predictably-long lines for popular spots like Burger and Beer Joint (I skipped that), The Forge (with a great truffle burger) and Shake Shack were TV personalities Iron Chef Morimoto and Guy Fieri churning out beefy goodness for the Amstel Light-swilling crowds that swarmed the tents on the beach.
New contenders in this year’s competition included Tampa-based Burger 21 headed by Chef Shane Schaibly with a Tex-Mex burger. Chef Paul Malvone, co-founder of Boston Burger Co., served up his "Hot Mess Burger," topped with bacon, jalapenos, sweet potato fries and dripping American cheese between two Thousand Island dressed buns.
But the buzz on the sand was for the double-patty on a toasted bun courtesy of Atlanta-based Holeman and Finch restaurant. Guy Fieri’s tent was doling out Jell-o shots (yes, I will admit I consumed one in the gluttonous frenzy) while Tim Love’s Fort Worth-based Love Shack topped their patties with crispy lamb bacon (loved it).
Best side dish goes to Ft. Lauderdale Rok Brgr for their mini-lobster corn dogs. New York chef Michael Whitel previewed a delectable burger from his soon-to-open The Butterfly, a Wisconsin-inspired cocktail bar and restaurant he's opening in Tribeca.
Local chef Hedy Goldsmith had an impressive pavilion piled high with her overstuffed “Nutter Butter” dessert sliders stuffed with peanut butter cream in a cookie sandwich.

Thea's Pizzeria

Restaurateur Thea Goldman (formerly of Joey’s) branches out Downtown with Thea’s Pizzeria, a handsome new spot for pizza and wine. The stylish bistro is located adjacent to the UM Life Science and Technology Park and is an ideal spot for power lunches near downtown. The neo-industrial space is outfitted with molded black chairs, polished concrete floors and a striking Bisazza tile mosaic of flowers behind the bar. A window into the kitchen allows for view of pizza-making at a marble slab. The restaurant is open right now for breakfast and lunch only, with plans to roll out dinner in the next month. The grub: Thin-crust pizzas and gourmet salads. According to Goldman, this is a friendly spot to grab a glass of wine (most are $6 a glass) and a bit of pizza and charcuterie without breaking the bank. Most of the staff are veterans of Joey’s and the menu is short and simple: ten pizzas, a handful of sandwiches, five salads and five entrees. Prices are reasonable with pizzas $11-$14, salads average $7 and mains top out at $16.
There’s gourmet detail here: the Italian bread that comes in the gratis bread basket is made by a former baker at Mario Batali’s Eataly, the pizza maker uses Italian flour for pizza dough and everything seems sourced with quality in mind. Besides the margarita, which is a scrumptious mélange of dough, cheese and tangy tomato sauce, there’s the artichoke pizza made with artichoke purree, grana padano cheese and fresh arugula. Salads include a roasted beet with gorgonzola and walnuts and a oven-roasted tomato with goat cheese. Charcuterie boards come piled with prosciutto, salami and mortadella while mains include a salad Nicoise and a skirt steak. Dessert includes traditional canolli and gelato sourced from Amore Gelato in Brickell. An espresso granita is a playful spin on the usual espresso digestif.
1951 NW 7th Ave Miami, FL 33136. (305) 777-3777

Shokudo Miami

The Asian street food revolution has spread to Buena Vista with Shokudo, a stylish outpost of sushi, dim sum and sake. After shuttering World Resource Cafe, owner Yoko Takarada transformed the seedy convenience store spot into a bright, airy space with an inviting backyard patio.
The menu includes belly-filling small plates and noodle bowls from Korea, China, Japan, Tibet, The Philippines and Thailand.The menu offers an extensive array of appetizers, six types of dumplings, a handful of buns and eight specialty sushi rolls. Drinks include 15 sakes as well as Thai, Japanese and Korean beer. Prices are neighborhood-friendly with most maki rolls $9, noodle and rice dishes $14-$18. A daily $9 lunch special is a nice touch.

Start with thin-skinned har-go shrimp dumplings, crispy pot-stickers stuffed with turkey, or the Tibetan "momo," filled with curried potato in a tomato dipping sauce. Ramen - the wallet-friendly dish of impoverished college students - gets the gourmet treatment here with a broth made of simmered beef, chicken and pork bones and topped with braised pork belly or shrimp tempura along with scallions, and tamago, half a hard-boiled egg cooked in soy sauce.

Another slurp-worthy dish is the green tea soba noodles with seared duck breast in a dashi broth. The ahi tuna poke, a cone of diced fish with macadamia nuts and avocado, comes with home made taro chips. Korean offerings include a bibimbap rice hot pot with spinach and shiitake mushrooms as well as a Soon du bu, a spicy Korean soup with beef, oyster and shrimp. Korean "banchan," or small side dishes include picked radish, sauteed spinach and kimichi-marinated radish.
Desserts include a green tea matcha custard presented in a tea cup and a coconut cake topped brimming with shaved coconut.

All in all it's nice to see the Buena Vista 'hood diversifying with walle-friendly spots, it's just too bad it's at the expense of greedy landlords on Lincoln Road pushing out local businesses. But if the trend continues (as it has for the last few years), you'll need to venture over the causeway for good food in casual environments.

Dolder Grand, Precise Luxury in Zurich

We went on holiday. Well, I was on holiday. Husband was working and I took a much-needed break. Hadn't had an official vacation in two years. And I wanted something different. A place with deep contrasts to Miami. So we went to Zurich. First impressions of the city: it's like Germany but a little more polished, less harsh. Smooth. Elegant. Everyone speaks perfect English (even my taxi driver from Montenegro).
It's very clean and very quiet. People are soft-spoken. Cars murmur. Trains whisper. No one converses on the tram. There's barely a hushed din in restaurants. The Swiss must have amazing hearing. Or else everyone I grew up with was deaf. Probably a little of both. I definitely prefered the low tones but it's a little off-putting. Especially when you have a toddler toddling about shouting thing like “Truck!” and “Coffee Shop.”
But I digress, because the real star of the show was the place we spent a few glorious days at: The Dolder Grand Hotel, a luxury city resort with a massive spa, a ridiculously grand ballroom where we tried to crash a black-tie event (actually there was no way we would ever have blended in with the dapper-banker crowd), two restaurants and a highly-stylized cocktail bar. The hotel is located on a mountain above the city (we rode the old-school funicular train down the mountain for jaunts to the city) and flanking a nature reserve giving it an exclusive, hilltop hideaway feel.

Walking in to the chateau-like main building with its meticulously-restored marble entryway feels undeniably grand. But there are whimsical touches to this seemingly buttoned-up beauty that break the formality. Curved hallways, tree-branch latticework and a rock and roll-themed Rolling Stones suite lend the place just enough edge to keep things interesting.

An autographed Keith Richards guitar in the Rolling Stones suite.

Like the city of Zurich and the watch making tradition it’s famous for, the Dolder Grand embodies the precise, exacting detail that makes staying at a luxury hotel a worry-free experience. Elevators are appropriately muffled, lighting is well-calibrated, rooms are sound-proof, design is tasteful-yet-comfortable and everything arrives on time. Originally built as a “Curhaus” in 1899, the hotel underwent a massive redesign by famed architect Sir Norman Foster and reopened in 2008 after four years of renovations.

A typical room at the Dolder Grand is a streamlined affair with minimalist décor–dark hard wood floors, cream-colored furniture and marble bathrooms. The bathrooms are a study in Zen opulence with chocolate marble sinks, sparkling fixtures and floor-to-ceiling windows framing mountain views. Large white whirlpool tubs come with complimentary bath salts and soaking oils (with dried flower petals! le sigh).

There are two restaurants–the Garden Restaurant and chef Heiko Nieder’s two-Michelin star award-winning The Restaurant (lobster with shavings of tender strawberries, finely diced beetroot with pomegranate, that sort of thing). There’s also the tranquil lobby where afternoon tea is served in the winter and the noir-ish bar awash in candles and glossy black tables.

Since we were with toddler we passed on the Michelin-starred affair and opted for The Garden Restaurant, helmed by Chef Gion Fetz. It's the all-day restaurant on premises where quiet breakfasts are conducted in the serene dining room and dainty lunches can be had on the terrace. Jetsetting parents take note: toddlers here get to sit in Norwegian-designed Stokke high chairs, possibly the handsomest kid seats on the market.

A typical lunch includes a salad with chanterelles and spring chicken filled with ricotta cheese over tagliolini pasta with olives and tomatoes while dinner veers in haute territory with air-dried Grison beef with watermelon, summer venison patties with spaetzli and mountain cranberries. And for dessert–coconut pudding mixed with strawberries, cassis sorbet and kaffir-lime oil.

Sensational petit-fours for dessert at lunch.

The dining room at the Michelin-starred Restaurant.

More grooviness in the Rolling Stones suite.