Antico Forno pleasantly pleasing

This will be quick. Again, lots of things to do here.

Antico Forno, eat there.

Pizzas and pastas are perfect. The risotto on this particular evening was an asparagus something or other. Lovely. I had a tough time getting away from the calamari theme. Ordered the puttanesca with calamari. The squid was nice and tender. Not tough or rubbery at all.

Nobody had insalata so I can't comment on the quality of greens. Zagat reviews have criticized them in the past. What I could see at adjacent tables looked fine.

Have the tiramisu. It is as delicate as it should be. Too often I have had tiramisu and there is something out of balance, sometimes suffering from too much cream or too much cocoa or the lady fingers are soggy. Not so here. At Antico Forno the tiramisu was exquisitely well balanced. Light and airy as it should be.

Hooked on The Daily Catch, a.k.a. Calamari Cafe

Zagat reviews can be misleading. Some for The Daily Catch complain about the Hanover Street location being small and cramped. Umm...didn't you realize that before you sat down? Did you think that once you sat down the place would suddenly enlarge?

I'll keep this review brief. There's way too much stuff yet to be done here in Boston's fabulous North End.

The Daily Catch, a.k.a. Calamari Cafe, eat there. Have the calamari meatballs. Have the fish. I had monkfish marsala that was absolutely exquisite.

Drinks are served in plastic but so what. It is what it is and after eating my meal there, they could pour the wine in my hand and I would be happy.

Going Bananas-1.1

It's been a few days and the 'nanas are looking more like they should.

Some facts.

The common edible bananas belong to the genus Musa of the banana family, Musaceae. Although generally regarded as a tree, this large tropical plant is really an herb. That means it does not have a woody trunk like a tree. The stalk is composed of leaf sheaths that overlap each other and grows from an underground stem called a rhizome.

Enjoy as needed.

FoodMuse is going Bananas

Need I say more?

This is just one bunch of many that FoodMuse has growing in her backyard. Is there any wonder why she is my muse? I'll get in trouble for that. Fo-Sho. Yum.

There are also pineapples blooming here so I'm thinking we need to take a coconut, an umbrella, a straw, and make a drink. What you say?

We are all accustomed to what I now know to be the crappy bananas at Publix or your local supermarket. Yeah, when they are barely ripe, they're fine. But these little babies are absolutely the finest. Sweet, creamy, and bombastic on the palate. Too bad more of these aren't commercially available.

Click the pic for a most beautiful image of soon to be ripe 'nanas. I'll update when they are ready for the table.

Sakura in Doral is now Soo Woo, so sad

A quick lunch at one of FoodMuse's favorites today was no less than disappointing. FoodMuse particularly liked Sakura's edition of chirashi that substituted the traditional rice for a bed of fresh greens crowned with a quail egg.


Though the sign still says Sakura, the joint's been expanded and renamed Soo Woo Japanese Steakhouse. Added to the extra space are Benihana-esque hibachi griddles. The owner claims $1.5 million in renovations. If that's the case, he was robbed. But hey, that's routine business in Dade County. Our thought on the renovation and refit...Soo Woo is so sad.


First of all, FoodMuse's favorite was retooled into something that vaguely resembled the original. Gone was the bed of greens and the quail egg. In it's place was the traditional chirashi bed of rice. Strange really. It's fair to say that the Doral area population has a penchant for carbohydrate avoidance. So this change seems odd.


When we walked in, I was struck by the schizophrenia of the surroundings. The old Sakura was still intact. Added were three or four hibachi griddles. Also added were six to eight flat screen televisions and a loud sound system blaring club electronica. I didn't see a single Asian on the staff. Our waiter was a dopey Latin boy with the obligatory spikey hair. He fit right in with the rest of the predominantly male wait staff as they looked more or less the same. So what is that the former Sakura-now-Soo Woo is trying to be? I'm not sure and I don't think the owners are sure either. To make matters even worse, a flyer posted in the Men's Room proclaimed Thursdays as Karaoke Night. Woo-hoo at Soo Woo on Thursdays boys and girls! Sorry, I won't be there.


A couple other issues: they were out of Kirin and Kirin Light. How's that? A Japanese joint out of Kirin. We settled for Sapporo but I was disappointed as I prefer Kirin. Also, after the chirashi was delivered, FoodMuse lamented to our waiter about the major change to the dish. He seemed mildly concerned and told us he would tell the boss. When he returned, he mentioned to us that he had been on duty for seven hours and really wanted to puff a smoke. I'm not sure why he thought it was important to tell us that but obviously he did and he did.


Sakura was well liked in the area for it's Korean selections. Seems like the management is smart enough to keep those around. The Japanese-Korean amalgam seems fine. But toss in the SoBe (electronica club music), some Latin (we spotted churrasco on the menu), Benihana, and the ADHD/OCD factor is just mentally tiresome and is a poor fit.


I suspect the joint will be initially successful as I'm not sure the vast majority of the locals really care about good food. Just adequate. That's unfortunate.

With that, I'll leave you with this sign of the times.

MOAFS 1.2 and 1.3 all together as one

The mother of all fish stocks has had two incarnations so far. And it's waiting on it's third life.

So I'm working yesterday.... It wasn't a particularly busy day but during the tour of duty, I received a few messages from FoodMuse. The timing wasn't quite right. I always seemed to be tied up doing something when the messages arrived. At some point later in the afternoon I receive a critical message, "Call me ASAP. It's about the MOAF."

Like a new father, I interrupt whatever it was I was doing at the time, I don't recall what it was really, it may have been CPR but honestly, I don't recall.

"What happened? Did she soil her first diaper? Did she say daddy or mommy?"

It really wasn't all that spectacular. The question was, "should I put the fish meat back into the stew?" Whew, was I relieved. I thought she had fallen down and gone boom. No, not FoodMuse. The freaking MOAFS.

It was decided to forego adding the fishmeat back into the stew. After all, we had already gently simmered all the flavor out of it anyway. FoodMuse told me she had added a few more things to the pot. Potatoes, shrimp, parsnips, carrots, tomatoes, and few other forgotten ingredients eventually made there way in. Suddenly, I had a new found respect for the proverbial Pavlovian response. Wiping the salivate from my chin I told FoodMuse I trusted her judgment. Hey, we're in this deep already right?

So it was with this brief incarnation of the MOAFS. What was once a beautiful stock had grown into a lovely little stew.

And then this evening, she remade herself. I'm beginning to think the MOAFS should be renamed Joan...as in Joan "this face has seen more knives than a Benihana" Rivers. I love that line.

Now the MOAFS has reincarnated once again into a most spectacular something-I'm-not-sure-what-to-call-it. The remodel was pretty easy. Toss in some chorizo, ladle out most of the solids and give them the blender treatment, pour back in and look what you have a MOAFS 1.3. Oh, almost forgot, there was also the beautiful flakes of coconut. Voila!
Served alongside a rustic five-grain bread and we called it a meal.

The MOAFS will endure one more incarnation and then I think it's on to bed for her. FoodMuse's friend is having a little something on Friday (tomorrow). We'll make a bouillabaise something or other by tossing in some fresh chunks of whatever seafood we can find and call it a day. The MOAFS has been fun. Something we'll certainly revisit when the opportunity presents itself again. Which I hope is soon.

Bon Appetit y'all.

MOAFS-1.1::Critical Update

So we're picking through the remains of the two fish heads in the MOAFS. I'm tidying up some dishes, standing to the left and behind FoodMuse. "Hey look at this...." I wheel around to see a lovely chartreuse Hank Brown Hookup Lure . I've used that beauty many times both successfully and not so successfully. Eats' old neigbor Bea would tie bucktails for Hank and I would occasionally receive the rejects. They worked fine. The fish didn't mind.

The plan is to return the jig to James in Conch Key when we get a chance.

Eats' has several good Hank Brown stories. We'll save those for another time. For now though, thanks Hank for another great fishing story.

The genesis of MOAFS-1.0

In a prior post, you were introduced to The Mother of All Fish Stocks. Eats loves that "Mother of All..." terminology. It has enough tongue in the cheek to be boastful without being too in your face. At least that's how it's perceived from this seat. Hope you agree.

As an aside, the most powerful hydraulic cutter used in vehicle and machinery rescue is made by the Hurst Company. It's official moniker is the MOC Cutters. As you might have guessed, MOC stands for Mother-Off-all-Cutters.

So the MOAF started with the heads and a bit of the body of the aforementioned red grouper and mutton snapper. Throw in some coarsely chopped onion, carrots, half a bushel of bay leaves (we'll 'splain later), some water, and set on the Weber grill. You could prepare this stock inside but a residential kitchen is a difficult prospect with this one. Unless you have cats and want to drive them absolutely bananas for a few hours and then have the lingering aroma (some would call it stank) of boiling fish in your house, we seriously suggest the outdoor method.

Some recipes call for a quick boil, one hour. There is a good amount of gelatinous substance to the fish bones that you want to extract for thickening purposed. Plus, it's really tasty too. So a good three or four hour simmer is more our speed.

The MOAFS is now cooling on the kitchen countertop. We'll pick through the remains of the carcass and report back later.

Oh, as for the bay leaves, FoodMuse thought there were too many bay leaves. I think we used six in a 12 quart stockpot. FoodMuse was concerned. I wasn't. But then again, I sometimes get carried away with herbs and spices so my lack of concern isn't necessarily a good thing. I like to use the redneck proportioning method. It goes something like, "if a little is good, a lot is surely great!" Though sometimes a worthy mantra, not necessarily words to live by 100% of the time.

Trip to the Keys yields fresh fish

Two of the Eats' favorite fish, red grouper and mutton snapper are in the refrigerator while the carcasses are already boiled down into what will soon become the mother of all fish stocks. The MOAFS will then become the mother of all fish stews. I'm sure of it. Foodmuse will make sure of it too.

We recently took a trip to the rock the wedding of some friends. What a great trip. While packing up for the short trip back, Neighbor Mark informs us the fishing boat just hit the dock with some fresh grouper and snapper. We couldn't resist the temptation. A walk netted us two worthwhile catches, both in the six to seven pound range undressed.

Neither were any match for the sharp steel wielded by my good friend Captain Bill. He made quick work of the whole fish and in a mere minutes we had several very nice fillets and couple fish heads for the MOAFS.

This morning we were busy with some chores. On the ride home it was tossed out there that grits and grunts would be a perfectly acceptable breakfast. The suggestion met little resistance. And so it was this AM (truth be told, it was closer to early PM but who's keeping track of time these days?) a quick little meuniere later with some favorite southern grits, two over easy huevos, toast and fresh orange juice and we were enjoying a little piece of the rock.

Though the presentation wasn't Ritz Carlton like (it needed a berry or a piece of fruit), nobody was complaining. I learned a new technique for this meal too, thanks to FoodMuse. Take your fork and knife and frantically start slicing and dicing and mixing and churning. Turn the entire contents of the plate, except for the toast, into a pile of flaky fish, busted egg yolks, chunks of egg white and grits. Then eat it all up. Anything that's left you can pile on the toast. Yum. Yum Keys style I should say.

Eating at home-1.0

No we don't just find groovy restaurants. We do eat at home. In fact, more often than not we eat in, not eat out. We being CosmicMiami and FoodMuse of course.

The other day we're kickin' it at FoodMuse's crib and guess what happens? We get hungry. Imagine that. A quick dash through the reefer and the pantry reveals a few ingredients that just might work. There are a few surry sausages, some squid ink spaghetti, a beautiful fire engine red tomato, some parmesan, salad fixins and a bottle of wine. What else do you need.

The sausages went on the grill. The noodles went in the boiling water. The tomato was diced and tossed in for a little saute with some garlic and diced red onion. Also making the toss were some home-grown-almost-ripe-red peppers.

When everything was ready for repast, the Gabbiano Chianti was popped. For the winos, it was a 2006 Gabbiano Chianti described as follows, "The nose exhibits fragrant aromas of violets and a fruity bouquet of red fruits. The dry, medium-bodied palate shows flavors that echo the nose along with round, supple tannins that envelope the mouth, and a finish that is fresh with a good length." Yeah great. Let's just say it was just fine with the quickie meal.

Plating was easy. As it should be with most pasta dishes. Forget the fancy crap here. Make a presentable pile of pasta, throw your personally prepared and inspired gravy mashup on the top, adorn with your favorite fresh grated cheese (in this case, it was the original parmesano reggiano), maybe toss on a fresh herb stem and your done. We added some crushed red pepper that added a touch of heat to the dish. If you're a fan of a spice, let 'er rip. As always, enjoy with your very own food muse.

Until next time, cosmic eats and Ciao Bella (or whatever they say)!

3.0--Fox's Sherron Inn a sly find in South Miami

Thursday, 22 May 2008

South Miami, FL--This bootleg photo from Flickr and it's accompanying one-liner says lots. If you haven't been to Fox's Sherron Inn, you won't get it. "Who knew there was enough light to take a picture in Fox's?" We visited on a bright sunny day in the early afternoon. Walking in from a sunny day instantly turns one to Ray Charles. Really.

After immediately bumping into my lunchmate, I quickly realized why. It was like walking into one of those Halloween haunted houses. You can't see a damn thing so you're a little hesitant to proceed. After a couple critical pupil dilating seconds, things began to come into focus. But not by much.

I know, the first thought that comes to mind when you walk into a dimly lit joint is "what are they hiding?" Not so at Fox's. I mean, they may be hiding something but I'm not sure what it could be.

If you're afraid of the dark, don't fret. You see, we walked right into the lounge. When you do the same, just step forward a few paces, give her a little right rudder and you'll find the two more well lit rooms at Fox's.

To make this brief, Cosmic Eats recommends Fox's Sherron Inn. Keep an open mind. Decor is not SoBe slick. But the food was quite good.

More to follow.

2.0-Run aground sweetly at Hollywood's Sugar Reef

Sunday, 18 May 2008

Hollywood, FL--Cosmic Eats was contemplating a run up the road to the free Red, White, and Bluegrass show on Hollywood Beach. We really wanted to see Ricky Skaggs. Unfortunately, Ricky played Saturday night. Sunday night's main event was Laurie Lewis. A very capable performer indeed just not of the caliber of Ricky. After a wee bit of cajoling, we made the trek up I-95. It was a Saturday night and what else was there to do anyway right?

Enroute, a 2004 Zagat guide offered a tasty temptation that was quite irresistible...and rightly so. Our attention was quickly diverted from pickin' and grinnin' to winin' and dinin'!

Sugar Reef Tropical Grill was already dialed into the GPS so it was clear we were north of our preferred location. With the dog in tow, we made our way down the boardwalk, stopping to oblige all the doggie lovers along the way.

We had tried to confirm that Hollywood Beach was a dog friendly place. Having been reassured that it was, the pooch took her normal position in the car. Unfortunately, we had bad intel. We were stopped by a very polite police officer who informed us that we were in violation and could very well be issued a citation. The officer was VERY nice. We told him we were just making our way to Sugar Reef and that we would have the dog off the boardwalk soon.

Thanks to the fine staff at Sugar Reef, we were able to park the dog next to our al fresco table without any problems. Within a couple minutes of our covert operation we were sipping a couple cold beers and looking at the undeniably compelling menu.

At the link above, there is an easily navigable website with links to the menu.

We started with the fresh beet, goat cheese and endive salad with mustard vinaigrette ($9.50). A basket of bread lightly toasted and judiciously spritzed with olive oil accompanied the salad which was plenty for two to share, which we did. No complaints here.

Entrees included the Tropical Fish Stew with coconut milk and green curry ($22) and the Sugar Reef Pho($19). Again, no complaints. The fish stew was hearty with an adequate balance of sweet coconut and spicy curry. In our opinion, nothing was overpowering. Like some joints that like to use their several day old fish in soups and stocks, this was not the case at Sugar Reef. Large chunks of fish were tasty and fresh.

The Pho was equally as happy at our table. Like the fish stew, this dish could have easily been overpowered by spice. Not the case. Judicious seasoning was both adequate and appropriate.

Sugar Reef bills itself as a French Caribbean grill. We wondered about the Pho and then remembered that Vietnam was a French territory. Why not take some of that influence and blend it with an island flavor? Again, no complaints here.

The wine list was tempting. When we return, we'll be sure to take advantage of the fine selection. It just seemed like a beer kind of night so that's what was in the glasses.

Service was outstanding. The included 18% gratuity was not an issue and we upped the ante a few dollars because it was very appropriate.

One notable notation at the bottom of the menu, "Remember Sugar Reef after the storm! We have a new 35k generator to run the hoods, refrigeration and AC if the power goes out."

Cosmic Eats recommends you discover this gem long before any storm comes ashore.

Graziano's is Cosmic Eats Gem 1.0

Friday, 16 May 2008

Miami, FL-First of all, the Gem 1.0 methodology is not a rating system. It's just a way of keeping track of what the heck is going on in my mind. And that, at times, is God's own mystery. Updates to this and future Cosmic Eats gems will follow standard version nomenclature, 1.1 would be an update or addition to this thread whereas 2.0 would be a different food joint.

Graziano's is a restaurant, market, and pizzeria. The Coral Gables location is a sit-down restaurant of the wood-fired oven genre. Cosmic Eats has only been to the location at 3922 SW 92 Avenue. There is a Hialeah location that we'll soon visit. We suspect though that we will be equally as pleased.

Various online reviews focus on the quality of the restaurant food and the service. We can't comment on that aspect of Graziano's. In our estimation, the charm of Graziano's is the absolutely market fresh meats and the affordable fine wine selection.

At the Bird Road location (3922 SW 92 Ave), the bakery has well over a dozen selections of perfect empanadas, fresh breads, cakes and pastries. A small case has an assortment of deli favorites. This particular day we enjoyed several of the offerings including a prosciutto and mozzarella stuffed cherry pepper and marinated lengua (beef tongue) with four different blends of tantalizingly tasty empanadas. Two breads accompanied our ad hoc tapas plates, a soft crust and a medium hard crust. Both were splendid while performing their assigned task of absorbing the assorted marinades. Finally, there was an ensalada mariscos and a mild, ever so creamy gouda. The mariscos salad was a fresh blend of marinated octopi. To wash it all down, a six-pack of Stella Artois suffered the same fate as our food fare.

Like many of our cosmic food favorites, empanadas began their life as sustinence for the working stiffs. In recent years, adventurous Argentinean chefs began experimenting with less traditional fillings. A whim we freely endorse!

Down the aisle from the empanadas is the meat case. This is a true meat market in the traditional sense. No carbon monoxide treatments here (see footnote). And slabs upon slabs of assorted fresh, homemade chorizos. Wonderful, beautiful meat. The way it was intended to be. I wish I had some pictures but didn't bring the camera. Next time, I promise.

Much like the other joints we find alluring, Graziano's is one of those places that must be experienced slowly. Though you may have precise picks in mind for your menu, do yourself a favor, slow down and savor the various selections at Graziano's. You may just find a hidden gem within this gem.

**FDA Is Urged to Ban Carbon-Monoxide-Treated Meat
**Seeing red: Spoiled meat may look fresh
**Which Cut Is Older? (It's a Trick Question)
**Supermarket Chains Refuse To Sell Carbon Monoxide-Treated Meat
**FDA asked to rescind use of carbon monoxide for meats