Web Site: http://www.zumarestaurant.com/zuma-landing/miami/en/welcome

Since I’ve moved down to South Florida I have been concentrating more on the “ethnic eats” rather than the fine dining aspect of food blogging. But as I’ve been having more and more business meetings in Miami, I’m starting to get exposed more towards the high-end cuisine offerings here.

I recently had the opportunity to dine at Zuma, which bills itself as “modern Japanese”. Zuma is part of the Azumi restaurant group, which has branches of Zuma in different parts of the world, including London, Hong Hong, Istanbul, Dubai, Miami and Bangkok.

My understanding is that the original Zuma restaurant in London was a partnership of two very wealthy Indian businessmen who had dined at the London branch of Nobu and decided that they could create a similar concept restaurant on their own. Certainly Zuma is very “Nobu-esque” in its menu format (including the miso black cod that every high-end Japanese restaurant seems to copy from Nobu these days) and also overall presentation.

I will also state I have no idea what anything at this restaurant costs. I was treated to lunch here by a very generous client, and I never saw any prices because I never looked at the menu, someone else did the ordering, and the online menu has no prices either. So if your interest is piqued in dining here, just take that into consideration.

The bar area of the Miami outpost of Zuma. This is one of the few dining room photos I was able to take, as the management got quite annoyed with me after observing me just taking a few casual shots of the general dining area and told me to put my camera away.

Nobu too rich for your blood? Well, so is this. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Zuma’s open kitchen.

Another shot of the open kitchen.

Edamame appetizer with chili and garlic. Really like this one.

A sashimi dish, I believe either seabass or yellowtail.

Rock shrimp with lime and chili mayonnaise. Excellent.

Ribeye steak with wafu sauce and garlic chips

Crispy fried squid with green chili and lime

Rice hotpot with wild mushrooms and Japanese vegetables. As a general rule I liked the vegetarian dishes here more than anything else.

These are sweet potatoes in a teriyaki-like glaze.

Tuna Tataki.

Miso Eggplant.

One of the signature sushi rolls. Spicy Tuna roll with green chili sauce and tobiko,

Spicy yellowtail roll with serrano pepper and wasabi mayo. While I thought all the sushi and sashimi dishes at this restaurant were solid, at the rather high prices Zuma is charging for straightforward preparations I am not sure I would consider this a destination sushi restaurant in terms of overall dining value. I’d focus on the appetizers and the mains.

Web Site: http://www.versaillesrestaurant.com

Full-size photo gallery available on Flickr

If there’s one iconic Cuban restaurant in Miami, and if you ask anyone where the center of activity is for food on Calle Ocho past 9PM, then that place is Versailles.

Like the French palace from which it gets its name, Versailles is a HUGE restaurant. On weekends and in prime dining hours the place gets absolutely packed with people, including large number of out of towners looking for authentic Cuban food.

This is where Cuban food gets real in Miami. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

This is what the dining room looked like on 9PM on a Sunday night. The 384-seat restaurant was absolutely PACKED with people. Yes, a lot of non-Cubans go there, but I like to think of it as like the “Katz’s Deli” or the “Carnegie” of Cuban food. Just because the place is really popular does not mean the food is not authentic and not good, it’s excellent and consistently good.

Versailles’ menu is massive. It covers the full spectrum of Cuban cuisine, and has something for everyone. It’s the Cuban equivalent to a Diner menu. I was handed a menu in Spanish but they have one in English as well.  Click on the photo to enlarge.

Garlic Bread made with fresh-baked pan de agua. Be careful not to fill up on this stuff.

I typically like to start off with a Presidente, a Pilsener-style beer from the Dominican Republic.

One time, after just getting off the plane, and absolutely starving since breakfast, I decided to hit the heavy duty stuff. This is the “Versailles Especial” which is a Cuban Sandwich with ham, pork loin and sliced Chorizo sausage. Not what the doctor ordered but what my stomach WANTED.

This is a “Fufu”  (Mashed fried green plantain) appetizer with fried pork chunks. In Puerto Rican and Dominican parlance this same dish is called “Mofongo”.

Cuban Black Bean Soup with raw onion.

Caldo Gallego, Spanish White Bean soup.

Here’s the Versailles dessert menu.

I opted for the Tocinillo del Cielo, which is a double egg yolk, super rich custard flan with caramel sauce, as if a regular flan wasn’t rich enough. I needed to enlist the help of a few Cuban grandmas sitting next to me to help me finish it.

What Cuban meal would be complete without a Cafecito? This is a double decaf — otherwise I’d never be able to fall asleep. Versailles also has its own bakery store and a walk-up cafe where you can get Cafecitos in little foam demitasse cups along with various Cuban munchies.

On weekends, Spanish troubadours arrive to serenade you. You might need to shoo them away with a single or two.

Which is not that easy.

By contrast here is what Versailles looks like at 11PM on a Monday night. The restaurant is open until 2AM.

Jupina is a pineapple flavored soda that comes in regular and diet versions. Cuban-style diet soft drinks utterly blow away their American counterparts.

The time I took this photo a few years ago I was recovering from a pretty lousy bronchitis from the week before so I decided to go with some of their chicken soup, which is excellent. Cuban Penicillin.

Here is the “Criollo” combination plate, which has Ropa Vieja, a croquetta, a tamale, fried pork chunks, platanos maduros and yuca. I had trouble finishing the entire thing because my gut was about to explode.

Cuban Dried Beef (Tasajo). Similar preparation to Ropa Vieja, but the texture is totally different. This is more of beef jerky that has been cooked in a tomato/sofrito sauce.

Ripe Plantain Pie topped with melted mozzarella cheese (left) with Picadillo and Arroz Moro (right)

Cortadito, a Cuban Coffee with milk.

Apple Pie.

If you’re still hungry for dessert, or want to bring home some tasty stuff, Versailles has a bakery attached to the restaurant.

And you can get your Cortadito to go.

Along with pastries of all types…

And this Dulce de Leche napoleon…

And fresh bread and sandwiches of all kinds, not to mention various types of empanadas as well.

Web Site (Google+)

Twitter: @reydelasfritas

El Rey De Las Fritas has been a Miami favorite of mine ever since I started this blog back in early 2006. The Cuban-style  family owned and operated burger micro-chain (they have 4 locations in the Miami-area) has recently been profiled on George Motz’s Burger Land on the Travel Channel, and business has been a boomin’.

I recently visited the Calle Ocho location, and brought along my iPhone 5 to take some new photos. Here’s a consolidation of all my visits since 2006. Enjoy.

Miami Calle Ocho Storefront, late at night.

Calle Ocho dining room

The Bird Street location of El Rey De Las Fritas. Note that it has a walk up window, where you can get all kinds of empanadas and croquetas, plus cortaditos and cafecitos, Cuban coffee. Forget Starbucks when you are in Little Havana!

Prepare for burgers, Cuban-style. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

The menu

I always order a  Cortadito, a double shot of Cuban-style espresso with milk.

Ironbeer (pronounced EEE-Ron-Beer) is a Cuban soft drink, which is red colored and tastes like Cream Soda. Originally from Cuba, It’s now produced in Florida.

There’s also a diet version.

The Frita accouterments. That big pile in the back is frizzled, fried onions combined with shoestring potatoes.

You can see pictures of the stuff you want to order on top of the counter.

Fritas on the grill!

A Batido de Chocolate (Chocolate Shake) being blended.

A closeup of the grill prep area. Here we have highly seasoned burger meat, mixed with Cuban spices, seasoned and pounded steak, Light and airy Criollo bread, and American Cheese.

A Frita double order.

A Batido de Frutabomba. Probably the best Papaya shake, ever. We also got a Mango shake as well, which was equally awesome.

Batido de Mamey. Although that the fruit looks like a small papaya, it tastes very different.

All the different kinds of batido/fruit shakes.

Fresh-squeezed sugar cane juice.

Frita con Queso, with the frizzled onions and shoestring potatoes and “Secret Sauce”.

Another Frita con Queso closeup.

Interior view

El Rey’s pork sandwich (Pan Con Lechon) is fantastic. I order mine with extra onions.

Sausage sandwich, Cuban-style.

A classicly-styled Sandwich Cubano. Very ham heavy but the melted cheese on this is fantastic.

Pan con Bistec (Steak Sandwich) with everything.

Steak Sandwich closeup.

Tostones, fried plantains with garlic mojo.

This is a Tamal, covered with a fried egg and served with Masitas, fried pork cubes.

Bunuelos, fried dough flavored with aniseed/fennel.

Empanadas and Croquettas, freshly baked and fried on premises.

Mandalay Bay, like many of the casino resorts in town, is utterly gigantic. It’s a shopping mall and entertainment complex that has a wide variety of on-resort dining options. If you’re vacationing there or are attending a conference in their convention center, there’s really no reason to leave the complex. In fact, once I arrived, I never left until I had to go home. Which I guess is the idea.

Because I was only there for 3 days, I only got to experience a small smattering of what was available. But oh what a smattering it was.

You can really eat well at Mandalay Bay. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link for more.

Border Grill

Mary-Sue Milliken of Iron Chef and Two Hot Tamales fame has an outpost of Border Grill onsite at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. As dining options go, it’s one of the most reasonably priced considering there’s a number of fine dining options at the complex. One of the things that is really nice about this place is that it has an outdoor patio seating area (heated during the time I was there) that overlooks the palm trees and man-made beach and water park at the resort.

Chips and various salsas.

This is a shrimp Baja-style ceviche which I thought was really good.

Chicken Poblano Enchiladas, one of their more popular entrees. The poblano sauce accented with strips of roasted poblano pepper and wild mushrooms and sweet corn was nice and spicy, but also smoky. Not a traditional Mexican preparation by any means but very enjoyable.

Rick Moonen RM Seafood

RM Seafood is a very high-end seafood bar that features both raw and cooked seafood dishes and sushi, as well as a selection of terrestrial offerings such as lamb and kobe beef. The beverage program at this place is extensive, and if you have to ask what anything costs to eat at this place, you probably shouldn’t be eating here.

The restaurant features an open kitchen in which you can watch the staff practice their art.

This is a “Kitchen Sink” raw and cooked seafood tower which includes New England lobster, Jumbo Shrimp, Pacific Northwest Dungeness Crab, Oysters, Clams, Mussels and Calamari. A bunch of us dug into this thing, and I am ashamed to admit I probably consumed the largest amount of it.

The tower before it was stacked.

This is an amuse of raw albacore with a sliver of almond, microgreens and lichi nut. Refreshing.

A braised lamb shank ordered by one of my colleagues.

A portion of Kobe beef strip steak.

An order of sashimi.

A specialty sushi roll ordered by a colleague.

Another specialty sushi roll, “Tsukemono” that I ordered.

Aureole

On my final night just before heading to the airport I decided to treat myself to a really serious dining experience. Chef Charlie Palmer’s Aureole, with its extremely diverse wine offerings (and signature “tower” with “Wine Angels”) as well as a very foodie-oriented tasting menu called “Parallel” which pairs four flights of wine with four courses of “two-way” dishes piqued my interest.

Aureole is not cheap, but I happen to think it is an excellent dining value for the quality of cuisine you are getting, especially if this is a celebratory occasion. Like maybe you didn’t lose your shirt at the poker tables, something like that.

A view of the main dining room.

The “Parallel” tasting menu along with paired wines.

The wine tower as viewed from the main dining room.

The first wine was a Batic (pronounced Ba-teech) “Zaria” from Slovenia. This was a highly unusual blend of three old varietals which I had never tasted before. The closest thing I could describe this to would be a medium-dry sherry. Nice acid, heavy oak which gives it an orange color.

Bread service.

The first pairing was a tartare done two ways, one with beef and the other salmon. Both excellent but I felt that the salmon one paired better with the acidity of the wine.

Wine #2, A Louis Latour Chassagne Montrachet 2010. Can’t think of a better wine to pair with an all fish course.

The two-way theme on the second course was Zucchini. The diver scallop was cooked perfectly rare in the middle, just barely seared. However I was not crazy about the garlic sauce it was sitting on top of and I felt the zucchini & crab latke/pancake was a weird accompaniment and a bit oily.

The Sea Bass with the cannelini beans and the robust tomato sauce and zucchini flower, however, was perfectly executed and went very well with the white Burgundy/Chardonnay.

Sea Bass closeup.

Wine #3, Domaine du Joncier “Lirac” Cotes du Rhone 2008. Now we’re cooking with gas.

Veal two ways, a tenderloin herb encrusted with micro veg and a classic breaded cutlet milanese. Tenderloin was perfect, incredibly tender. No sous vide here, just plain old sear. The cutlet was nice, but it’s kind of hard for it to really shine when it is upstaged by the tenderloin preparation like this. Wine held up extremely well to both of these.

Wine #4, a Donnafugata “Ben Rye” Passito di Pantellaria. This is an extremely hard core dessert wine, made from an ancient varietal of Moscato that has been dried out almost to the point of becoming raisins and then juiced and fermented. So it has a lot of the characteristics of a late harvest and there’s definitely some botrytis there.

Final pair theme was chocolate. On the left, a white chocolate cheesecake ball that has been dipped in white chocolate making it into a gigantic white chocolate cheesecake truffle.

On the right, a classic dark chocolate ganache. The white chocolate cheesecake was nice, but a bit too sweet for my palate. Ganache was magnifique.

Petit Fours to finish a wonderful meal.

A quick peek inside the kitchen before my long flight home.

The Passover Roll, as seen above accompanying matzo ball soup, is a bit of a culinary enigma. Prior to having seders with my wife’s family, I had never encountered them before.

My family (admittedly reform Jews) on both sides traditionally would have matzohs during seder, and the kugels, and of course the matzo ball soup. But the idea of having ersatz bread or rolls during Passover was a bit alien to me, and questionably pesadich.

I mean, the whole point is that you are not supposed to eat bread during Passover, right? You’re supposed to want for it.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Indeed, Pesadich rolls are made with matzo meal, but they have the consistency, taste and physical properties of a cream puff — making them ideally suited for stuffing with tuna fish, cold cuts, egg salad, PB&J, cream cheese and smoked salmon, or even whipped cream or custard.

My favorite way to eat them, however, is dunked in the savory broth and broken up into matzo ball soup, where it sucks up the liquid like a sponge.

Passover Rolls (or Passover Cream Puff shells)

⅔ Cup Water
⅓ Cup Peanut Oil (Butter for cream puffs)
1 Cup Matzo Meal (use Matzo Cake Meal for cream puffs. If you cannot find Matzo Meal, buy a few boxes of whatever flavor of Matzos you like and blitz them in the food processor.)
1 tsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
3 Eggs

Healthier alternative version (ingredient weight instead of volume):

1 1/3 cup Water (152 grams)
2/3 cup Peanut Oil (76 grams)
2 cups Whole Wheat Matzo Meal (9 oz)
1.5 tsp Honey (7 grams)
1/2 tsp Salt (3 grams)
13 oz Egg Beaters

Follow instructions below. Use a scoop to make even rolls, each about 3.8 oz. Add a few drops of water to a tsp of egg beaters and use your fingertips to smooth the surface and brush with a bit of egg. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if desired. Cut a shallow X into the top before baking for 60 minutes.

As soon as they are done, poke a hole with a sharp knife in each and put back in oven with the door open so they cool slowly and don’t deflate.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Boil the water and oil together, add the dry ingredients, stir with a wooden spoon to mix well. Allow to cool slightly and, using a handheld beater, beat in the eggs, one at a time. Allow to rest for a few minutes.

Line a sheet pan with parchment or Silpat. Portion dough into balls using a disher, drop into wet hands (with oil or water) and gently roll into a ball.

For (about 20) bite sized cream puffs, use a very small disher and bake for 25-30 minutes; for (10-12) dinner rolls or larger cream puffs, use a medium sized disher and bake for about 40 minutes; for (5-6) larger rolls for sandwiches, use a large disher and bake for 50-60 minutes. Bake until golden.

For cream puffs, allow to cool completely, then cut open and gently hollow out the soft interior using a spoon. Fill with whipped or pastry cream.

Roast Beef Sandwiches with Whole Wheat Matzo Rolls.

Web Site: http://runchickenrun.com

Since moving to South Florida in July of 2012, I haven’t really done much with investigating the local fine dining scene. My food blogging activities have been more or less curtailed by my new job, and also by focusing more on technology writing.

But now that things have become a bit less crazy, I’m easing myself back into the food blogger seat again.

There was no better opportunity to do this than with a recent business lunch I had with two like-minded foodie colleagues, who suggested we meet at Yardbird, a modern Southern restaurant in South Beach.

Yardbird, which was a 2012 James Beard Award Semi-Finalist for Best New Restaurant, and was named one of the 50 Best New Restaurants in 2012 at Bon Appetit Magazine, is definitely a destination for anyone looking to indulge in updated, classic Southern American fare.

I would compare Yardbird favorably to places like the very excellent JCT Kitchen in Atlanta, as well as any number of well-known “New South” type places in New Orleans, such as Luke.

The main dining room at Yardbird is bright and warm, mixing southern hospitality with Miami chic.

It’s time to head to South Beach for the winter. Be sure to check out Yardbird. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

The menu, which is definitely on the whimsical side. This is not a restaurant for someone on a diet or in the vegetarian crowd by any imagination, and very much gilds the lily as almost to stick the middle finger at the gods of healthy eating.

I like that. Notice the “Warning, does not contain meat” advisory on the pasta dish.

Fried green tomato “BLT” appetizer, with pimento cheese, pork belly, frisee lettuce microgreens and tomato jam. Yes it does taste as good as it looks. As does everything else you see on this post.

Knowing full well this was going to stretch the effectiveness of my cholesterol medication, I pre-emptively ordered the Kale salad for the group to try. Which, by the way, was excellent.

One of my cohorts ordered the  ”Crab Salad Sally Sammy” with Texas toast and lemon dressing. Didn’t try this, but he loved it.

Home-made french fries. Oh yes.

Another colleague and myself both zeroed-in like a laser guided missile on the “Crunchy Yardbird Chicken Sandwich.” The web URL of this restaurant isn’t “RunChickenRun.com” for nothing.

This is an excellent interpretation of a Southern-Fried Chicken Sandwich that originates from a certain fast food chain that hates same sex marriage. This one also has a HUGE amount of fried pork belly on it, in addition to a Sweet Tabasco Hot Sauce and Buttermilk Dressing.

Mac and Cheese. Oh sweet Jesus.

A Strawberry Shortcake, with a Clotted Cream. Came with Three forks.

Being 1,300 miles apart from all my friends in Jersey has been rough, particularly being away from those who I have shared my best foodie memories with.

One of those folks who has been in my thoughts a lot lately is my friend Christine Nunn, who recently had to close her restaurant, Picnic, as another casualty of the usual economic malaise hitting everyone nowadays. Christine has instead chosen to focus on her catering business, which is still doing well.

While Picnic got incredible reviews, and the food was utterly phenomenal the financials of the place did not work out. Sometimes this happens when restaurants get too ambitious, and indeed this was without question one of the most ambitious restaurants I had ever seen in New Jersey.

Picnic was a wonderful place while it lasted, and I considered it the best restaurant in all of Bergen County. I was extremely privileged to be able to document the start-up of the restaurant and to come in for periodic visits, and get access to the kitchen where I  probably shot the best food photos I’ve ever taken in my entire life.

Today while I was out shopping, I thought about Christine, her restaurant and all the good times we had.

While I was in the midst of my thought processes, I got the whiff of grilled beef, probably wafting out of a fast food restaurant near the supermarket. Hamburgers. Oh God, I wanted a hamburger, right then, right now.

The smell of burgers kicked off a taste memory in my synapses.

And then I remembered the Hamburger that was meant to end all hamburgers, the Burger Mountain. I’ve had posts about all sorts of hamburgers on Off the Broiler over the years, but none got anywhere near as much attention as that thing that Christine created.

People were emailing me (and Christine) from all over the world where they could get one, and where it was served.

The thing is, we only did that burger once, as a total goof. At her restaurant, a less complicated version was served once or twice, but it was a crazy expensive and labor intensive.

I could never attempt to make anything as sophisticated as Burger Mountain. I don’t have the culinary training like she does. But I could make a really freaking big hamburger that would taste good. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

First, I decided to think about the roll. Now, normally you don’t build a burger around a roll. The other components typically take precedence, like the meat grind itself. But this was going to be a very big burger.

Publix’s bakery had these pumpernickel boules used for “Bread Bowls”, the kind you hollow out and fill with soup or chili. So I picked up two of these.

Next, the execution. At Publix I bought some really high quality sirloin burger meat in 1lb packages. The intention originally was to make one giant, one-pound burger patty and grill it on my Weber.

But it got late and I didn’t want to fire it up, so instead I decided to pull out one of our griddles and threw it on the electric range.

I heavily seasoned the burger meat with sea salt and cracked pepper, and was about to put a giant one-pound patty on the hot griddle  when I realized I was going to have difficulty maneuvering it, so I compromised and made two 8-ounce patties, which I intended to layer on the giant bread bowl bun in some way.

See, when you don’t have proper culinary training you just have to wing it sometimes.

I also sliced up a nice big sweet onion of which half I reserved raw, and the rest to cook in the juices of the griddling burger patties.

As the burgers started to approach rare, I thew two slices of Pepper Jack on top of each patty and then thew a metal salad bowl on top to steam the big thick burgers, the onions and the cheese so it melted nice.

This is a technique called “Doming” which I first saw applied at Jackson Hole, a small burger chain based out of the New York metro area. I think Cheeburger Cheeburger also domes, but I can’t verify that for certain.

Burgers, Cheese and Onions post-doming.

Here’s our mega-burger ready for assembly. The bread bowl has been sliced through, and hollowed out some to make room for the ingredients. As you can see by kitchen portioning scale next to the bread bowl, this is a very, very big bun.

The bottom layer has a nice ripe Hass avocado that has been spread all along the bottom. This adds a creamy texture similar to what mayonnaise would be used for.

Next, the burgers and the griddled onions. One patty had to be cut in half in order to fit on the bun properly.

Next, thick slices of sweet onion and ripe, local Florida tomatoes.

Lettuce and some basil leaves fresh from our garden top this monster off, along with the top part of the bun.

I suppose if I was so inclined I could eat the entire thing myself. But I decided to share it with my wife.

And there you have it, Son of Burger Mountain. Arguably, probably slightly healthier than its predecessor and purist in its implementation with the use of lean ground sirloin and no condiments at all. I wanted the beef and the fresh ingredients to be the primary focus.

We didn’t use tons of butter in it or drench it in a Sauce Bearnaise with thick cuts of crispy bacon like the original, but I think it is worthy of its heritage based on pure size.

On a recent cold, clear night, Mr. Hot and I ventured to Jersey City to join a few friends at a press dinner at Maritime Parc.  In a steely, open kitchen, perched above Liberty Landing Marina, Manhattan’s pulse rippled across the Hudson, as chef and owner, Chris Siversen, created an evening of undeniable cuisine.

Read all about our meal – especially the pork belly – on Hot From The Kettle!

Lotus of Siam
953 E Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV
(702) 735-3033

Web Site: http://www.saipinchutima.com/

I freely admit that Las Vegas is not one of my favorite cities. It’s brutally hot, its out in the middle of the freakin’ desert and the airport is one of the worst I have ever experienced. The overall aesthetic and demeanor of the city is tacky and skeevy beyond belief in the most un-endearing way, not to mention the fact that the sound of the ever present slot machines drive me to near psychotic insanity whenever I have to go there, be it for some computer trade show or seminar.

Now, that being said, as soon as I heard I would have to go to Vegas for a few days this week, I immediately said to myself, “Cool! I get to eat at Lotus of Siam again!”

Lotus of Siam, which is located in an undistinguished commercial strip mall, has frequently been cited as one of the best, if not the best Thai restaurant in the country.

Is Lotus of Siam the best Thai restaurant in the United States? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more

Lotus of Siam could hardly be characterized as a Las Vegas restaurant — in fact, it doesn’t look out of place in San Francisco or New York City. Completely un-touristy, if you’re looking for a way to escape the hotels and casinos, this is an oasis of great and reasonably priced Thai food where primarily locals eat.

The walls are adorned with photographs of all sorts of celebrities who have come for what is without question some of the best casual Thai dining to be found anywhere in the country.

Lotus of Siam has a huge, incredibly comprehensive Thai menu, with the usual and not so usual suspects  included among its many pages. However, what the restaurant is particularly known for is its Northern-style Thai specialties, which comes in a separate laminated two-sided handout. Northern-style food differs greatly from the Isaan-style that has become popularized in the United States, in that it is not dominated by the use of lime juice, peanuts, and coconut milk, and is generally characterized by the use of herbs and green chiles.

The second page of the Northern-style menu.

Thai Iced Tea. Lotus’ version is both sweet and smoky.

Northern-style green chili dip, Nam-Prik-Noom, which appropriately rhymes with DOOM. Essentially, this is a Thai take on chips and salsa, except that the salsa is nearly 100 percent chile, and the chips are made out of fried pork skin. There’s also a red chile version of this dip available. Break out the Nexium and Prilosec for this puppy — its going to set the tone for the entire meal if you order it.

The fried pork skins that go with the chili dip.

Green Chile Dip on fried pork skin.

Northern-style pork larb. Unlike the common Isaan version, this doesn’t use lime juice or shallots — its also considerably hotter and has a different herbal profile.

Pork Larb, plated.

Kang Hoh, a “Dry” pork curry with glass noodles and mixed vegetables. Lotus’s version of a street vendor or “hawker” dish.

Panang Curry

Mussels Appetizer

Grilled Pork Appetizer

Japanese-style Tempura Appetizer

Curry Fried Rice

Web Site: http://www.13coins.com

You may have heard lately that I changed jobs. Part of that will entail occasional travel to the Seattle/Redmond/Bellevue metro area.

I’m just starting to get familiar with the food scene in Seattle. Fortunately I have a bunch of foodie friends on Twitter who have been really helpful in pointing me to some good places to eat.

However, sometimes you find stuff just by pure luck. Or in my case, the Google Local app for iPhone.

See, I was going to meet a bunch of folks for an early dinner on my last night in Seattle, but State Route 520, the main artery that connects Bellevue and Redmond with Seattle decided not to cooperate. The traffic was, shall we say, horrendous.

Not wanting to miss a 10PM departure out of SeaTac, I headed directly for the airport, hoping I would find a decent place to eat nearby. Out of pure luck, the Google Local app told me that there was a restaurant four minutes away from the rental car return facility that had a ZAGAT rating of 24.

Being that I was extremely hungry and any chance of a hot meal that wasn’t served in some crowded concession in SeaTac appealed to me greatly, I didn’t even bother to read the entry on Google. I just plugged in the address on Google Maps for iPhone and headed straight there. In situations such as this, when research time is at a premium and you are stuck in your car, in ZAGAT we trust.

I’m not sure exactly how I would describe 13 Coins. It’s sort of a crazy meld between a 24-hour diner, a steakhouse, a delicatessen and an Italian-American restaurant. The menu is incredibly diverse.

One of the main features of the restaurant is a huge bar that faces an open kitchen. I have to estimate that the bar is about 50 feet long. The bar seats are actually massive leather captain’s chairs rather than barstools, and they will comfortably hold even the heftiest patrons. As they should, because the portions at this place are massive.

Some serious old school food awaits at 13 Coins. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

For those that don’t want to sit at the bar, there are also booths — which have 7′ high wooden backs, which make you feel like you are in some kind of Olde English pub or an earl at the VIP seating of the local local tavern on Westeros or Middle Earth. There is also the main dining room, but you would miss all the action if you ate in there. Definitely do the bar.

This is 13 Coins’ complimentary antipasto plate, which everyone gets. It comes with nice bread, which you should not stuff yourself with before the main fare comes. I’m warning you.

A view of the open kitchen in front of the bar. The reason why this picture is so blurry is because the cooks here move at blinding speed. This guy, named John, was the majordomo and head line cook on duty. This guy could have easily been an artillery commander in the Army, given how many orders he had to bark out and what he needed to keep track of.

The only way I could capture the true feeling of this restaurant was to shoot video. You’ll see how these guys dart in and out of each other’s way, juggling multiple pans at once, while John barks out orders like he’s trying to coordinate the aircraft landing and taking off on SeaTac’s runway. These guys have so much energy it’s utterly mind-blowing to watch. You’re gonna hear some interesting slang in this video that’s akin to diner talk, because these guys need to communicate very efficiently. If you look away, you might miss something really cool. So watch closely.

A stack of French Dips being readied on 13 Coins’ “Runway”

Spinach Salad with Bacon. Awesome.

The most popular dish ordered at the restaurant, known as “The Believer”. My server referred to this as “Chicken Parmigiana” and I didn’t even look at the menu because I was so hungry, so I told him to serve me the dish the restaurant was best known for, plus the salad above.

This is no Chicken Parm like you’ve ever seen; two big pan fried crispy chicken breasts, swimming in a parmesan cheese sauce and accompanied by a heaping pile of pasta with a massive amount of grated parmigiano cheese. This is not a diet entree. Suffice it to say I could not finish the entire thing.

Hot From The Kettle has been inside many kitchens, but few have left me in an absolute state of salivation like Chef Bill Zucosky at the Strip House.

The Strip House is located in the award-winning Westminster Hotel in Livingston.  Decked out in red, black and velour, the Strip House might be the setting for scandalous affair, but it is always the place for a phenomenally satisfying meal and excellent cocktails.

Chef Bill taught me how to cut the Strip House’s signature strip steak.  Check out the video!

Sure enough, he did! Lance cooked up a batch of Indigo’s signature, Company Fried Chicken, just the way his mother did when company came over!

Watch the video to see how it’s done:

How To Make Fried Chicken at Indigo Kitchen, Montclair

It’s healthy to enjoy your fried chicken with a side of vegetables.  For the recipe for  Lance’s Whipped Sweet Potatoes, visit Hot From The Kettle.

Nowadays, when you pull into 163 Baynard Lane you hand your keys to a valet, not a mechanic. Surprisingly, Elements, the acclaimed Princeton restaurant headed up by Chef Scott Anderson, is located in what was formerly an automobile service station.  Re-envisioned and re-purposed, the exterior of Elements – muted stone and shiny metal – hums with a sleek, steely coolness and refined, modern confidence.

Mr. Hot and I journeyed down Route 1 to meet Pat Tanner, the well-respected, NJ food writer and restaurant critic, and her husband, Bill, for dinner at Elements.

For a look at the menu, visit Hot From The Kettle.

Baked Alaska

The menu at The Strip House boasts the usual steak house offerings, Iceberg salad, oysters, potatoes prepared a variety of ways, crispy onions, and steaks with bones big enough to take home to the dog! In the era of New American cuisine, a steak house runs the risk of becoming staid and dare I say, boring. But under the direction of Executive Chef, Bill Zucosky, flawless execution and dedication to highest level of quality and service, has distinguished the Strip House from the steak house herd.

Read all about the cocktails, the bone-in filet mignon and 24-layer chocolate cake on Hot From The Kettle.

Pizza Tasting at Rome Pizzeria & Grill in Hoboken, NJ from Hot From The Kettle on Vimeo.

Melody Kettle visits with Scott Faherty, owner of Rome Pizzeria & Grill in Hoboken, NJ.

Web Site: http://www.otgmanagement.com

Since early summer, a lot of you may have been wondering “What the hell happened to Perlow’s posts?”

Well, the Jersey part of Off The Broiler has been run like clockwork by Melody Kettle, who has been updating you on all things delicious in the Garden State.

My wife and I moved to South Florida at the end of June, where I’ve gone into research mode in terms of the local restaurant scene. I’ve also been trying to keep my technology blogging on ZDNet up to regular levels, which has been a challenge in and of itself.

But many of you know I primarily work in technology consulting and I do a lot of travel. Since early August I’ve been commuting back and forth to Brooklyn on a weekly basis.

And that involves spending a lot of time in airports.

Specifically, New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, Terminal D. Which I depart from on Thursday nights to return home to the Fort Lauderdale area.

Terminals C & D are run by Delta, which is my carrier of choice.  I always start at D even if I have flights out of C, because there is a free shuttle bus between the two terminals and the only open SkyClub is currently at D.

So if I have a 2 or more hour wait before my flight, I grab something to eat and then hit the club for drinks.

There are a number of good places to eat in Terminal D, all of which are run by a company called On The Go Management, which owns high-end and creative restaurant concepts in a number of different airports.

One of the things that this company has pioneered is placing seating areas in the terminal gates which have specially-secured iPads where you can browse their menus and have food delivered directly to your seat.

I haven’t tried any of those offerings yet because I prefer a traditional sit-down dining experience away from the gates themselves, but if you’re in a hurry and want something better than pre-wrapped sandwiches from a kiosk, it looks like a good way to go.

The most prominent of the restaurants in Terminal D is A Taste of Prime Tavern, which opened in August of 2010, and  has a menu that was originally formulated by Michael Lomonaco, of Porter House New York in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan.

I’m saying that it’s the most prominent because it is directly behind the main security checkpoint, has the most seating of the other restaurants, the biggest bar area, and has a dramatic window view of the departing aircraft.

In terms of the prices, I think they are pretty reasonable given the overhead that this place has to deal with in being in an airport terminal. If you are expecting it to be a bargain, it isn’t, but I can guarantee you cannot go wrong with practically anything you order here, particularly if you want a place to have a civilized meal for an hour or more.

For the quality of the food you get, the value is definitely there.

The menu items change seasonally depending on what the restaurant can source and what is selling, but here’s a sample menu.

Bar Area/Main Dining Room.

Main dining room, window area

Airport food doesn’t have to suck. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Tables are decorated with fresh flowers, which I think is a really nice touch.

Here’s the primary reason why I go to this place: The Tavern Burger. This is a big half pound burger, using meat from what is considered to be one of the best meat purveyors in NYC, Pat LaFrieda. LaFrieda burger meat blend are used in many of the top Manhattan burger places, like Shake Shack and Minetta Tavern.

This burger has big strips of crispy thick bacon, with blue cheese and BBQ sauce on it, on a really nice brioche bun.

You’d be hard pressed to find a better airport burger on the entire planet. OTG also runs a Pat LaFrieda burger stand in Terminal D for those who want more of a fast food experience and more customization and toppings in terms of the burger options.

Here’s yet another view of the burger. Note the use of perfectly ripe red tomato and excellent home-made fries. My only advice to diners is that you order the burger one doneness level down from the way you typically prefer it. If you order it rare, it’s gonna come out medium-rare. If you order it Medium-rare, it’s going to come out Medium.

That’s just the way this kitchen seems to work. Medium-rare is correct for this thickness of burger, so ask for it rare.

And yes, they do have Turkey Burgers. Excellent ones at that. This one has melted Swiss cheese with a cranberry mayo dressing and alfalfa sprouts.

Sliders. Forget these guys and go straight to the full-sized burgers.  It’s the only item I’ve been really disappointed in at this place. Too much bun and emphasis on cuteness here.

If you arrive at a more breakfasty-brunchy hour, you can get all sorts of different eggy items such as various Benedicts and stuff. This is the classic Breakfast Sandwich on a big English muffin, with Canadian Bacon and Cheese with home fries. Hits the spot.

If you’re in a mood for a nice salad, here’s the iceberg wedge with blue cheese and bacon.

This is the restaurant’s Caesar, which is about as good as a Ceasar is going to get, with nice hearts of romaine lettuce and shaved Parmigiano cheese and anchovy fillets. I’m ashamed to say I yanked the anchovy fillets out. Anchovies are essential to making a good Caesar dressing, but I don’t like eating them whole.

This is a watercress salad with kalamata olives, feta cheese and slices of ripe watermelon. Was nice and cooling on a hot summer’s day.

Heirloom Tomato Insalata Caprese with balsamic reduction dressing. I’ve had this one a number of times and they’ve used different kind of heirlooms depending on what they have available including Green Zebras. I’d only order this particular dish in the summer, though.

Same salad but using New Jersey beefsteaks.

Chilled Cucumber Soup. This had a heavy dill taste to it. I’m not really a huge fan of dill as a primary flavor profile but the soup was very refreshing in late August when I had it.

Manhattan Clam Chowder. Classic preparation, with nice big chunky pieces of quahog in it.

Besides really good burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads the restaurant also offers main dishes, such as steaks, chops and fish. This was one of the more creative dishes, small scallops served in their own shells (a rare find even in NYC) in a saute with onion and sun dried tomato, rendering their own broth. This was accompanied by a big thick slice of toasted crusty bread to sop up the juices with. Wonderful stuff.