Cooking With Ideas

South Beach Diet (AKA Restaurants in South Beach)

Some time ago I was in South Beach, aka Miami Beach, for a conference. It rained. It was not my idea of the best place ever to travel. There was slightly too much plastic on the main drag. And, the one day there was sun I got a bad sunburn. I could complain. But, there were at least two good things: (a) a very good bookstore called Books and Books; and b) some places to eat of varying prices and deliciousness. The walking was good despite the rain. I also admit to having gone on a food tour of Little Havana in Miami itself. More on that at the tale end of this biggish entry! 

Let me begin with the last place I ate: Joe's Stone Crab. Very famous. Very traditional. Tolerable, but not great. Yes, I said it: not great. The service was delightful, especially given I was on my own, but the meal was not over the top -- especially compared to some other places I wandered off to in the area. Don't get me wrong. It was fine. It was just not amazing. What did I have? A spot of a white wine, which was acceptable but there was not much choice in the splits. And, I had a more or less traditional set of foods: stone crabs, their famous hashed browns, creamed spinach, slaw, and key lime pie. Crab: pretty tasty, well cracked, easy to eat, and ok. Not as much taste of the sea as I anticipated. Creamed spinach: my absolute favorite. Competes well with creamed spinach I had years and years ago at Mike Ditka's Steak House Slaw: I admit I was not a fan of the heap of mayo, pickle relish, etc on top. I ate off the bottom, and got a tart, very thinly sliced cabbage which I liked. And the pie? Light, good crust, tart, too much whipped cream. 

So: ok. Not great. 

Elsewhere in the area I ate at: PubBelly; Yardbird; and Taquiza. Each was memorable in its own way and I would strongly recommend each. 

First: Pubbelly. I walked some distance to this from my hotel on Collins, and ate very early (yes, the early bird special) -- circa 6 pm I think (maybe even 5?). I sat at the bar. First: all of their cocktails involve sake. Not my idea of heaven, initially, but I had one anyway. It was delightful. I had two protein items:  the stone crab fettuccine and the tuna crude. The fettuccine was amazing - the crab was incredibly tasty, there was some heat to it coming (I think from the ginger and some jalapeño), and the pasta was the right combination of toothiness and soft, that is -- it had perfect mouthfeel. The tuna crude which came with wasabi that was thinly sliced -- was just perfect as well -- the right amount, the right level of spicy and tart, and the mouthfeel, again, perfect. This chef eats. Because I cannot navigate their website (yes -- hey -- that's you, pubbelly -- make it better!) I cannot tell you what I had for dessert, though it too was lovely nor can I tell you details about the drink. Alas. Would I go there again? Most definitely. The ambiance too, was nice -- not too loud, kind of rustic and hip. Bartender was a bit too chatty. Yes. Pubbelly. 

Second: Yardbird. This restaurant specializes in southern food, and is worth a visit. I had the "be plate special" which involved fried chicken, a biscuit, and chilled spiced watermelon. It was delightful -- and inexpensive! I love a good biscuit, and this was both light and the right flakiness. On the watermelon: this may be one of the oddest things I have ever consumed in terms of texture, but it was one of those tastes that causes one to persist in eating it. I could have used more. Of course, I added to the bill by having dessert -- southern cheesecake, which involved pecans. I admit it: I love pecans. I also had a pre-dining drink, which involved bacon bourbon. It too was swell, and not too bacon-y, if that is even possible. 

Third: Joe's Stone Crab set me back about $75 and yardbird about $35 The third place on my list, Taquiza was probably the best food I had. And, it was inexpensive. The tacos were - $3.50 each. Admittedly they were small, but they were amazing. I had several varieties: adobo, carnitas, and huitlacoche, corn fungus that I have always wanted to try. The tortillas -- which were blue -- were made in house and tasted delicious. I also had elite, which is a corn dish that comes with cheese and etc on it. In this case, you got two halves of a corn cob -- and the flavor was right there between charred and lime. Yum. The range of beers was also delightful. And, of course, the seating is outside, in a kind of patio that feels like someone's back yard, despite being right on Collins Avenue, which is very busy. I give this an A+ -- the food was over the top and the service cheerful, the music laid back, and did I say the food was great? Not to mention the price. Would I go back? I went twice while there, and would have gone back for more. 

Finally, on the food tour: I saw cigars being rolled, ate various things, including sugar cane juice and various other tidbits, and learned a bit. I think the most interesting two things were the place of dominos in Cuban male culture and the art museum we went in, which had some amazing huge bits. I did have a very light mojito at a place called the Ball and Chain, and I can sat the music was delicious. 

Dead to the Last Drop

Cleo Coyle (aka Alice and Marc) sent me two books right before the holiday season and I quite rapidly consumed them both! The first, Once Upon a Grind, had just been issued in paperback. (I review it here.) The second was particularly delightful for two reasons: it had just been released in hardback. And, the plot includes Clare relocating to Washington, DC (see NYPD boyfriend had been relocated to work with federal agencies earlier in the series). The title? Dead to the Last Drop. 

Perhaps because of the changed setting, Dead to the Last Drop feels a bit more memorable than Once Upon a Grind (which I admit I devoured at a speed which may have interfered with absorption). The plot involves a young woman with a passion for music, presidential family politics (yes, the young woman is the daughter of a president), and much more. Suffice it to say that this Cleo Coyle plot veers a tiny bit in the direction of a thriller, and as is sometimes a cliche in such works, our favorite sleuth (and her boyfriend) are suspects in complex ways. 

I am not, I have to admit, much when it comes to music. I barely understand it -- though I do like some and I live with a partner for whom music is almost as important as food. Perhaps, music is more important in some ways. This book reminds me why music can be important because a major plot aspect has to do with playing the piano out of love for playing the piano, and playing jazz rather than classical out of love for that. Indeed, the book is, impart, about the place of improvisation with others as a critical part of life. This theme, woven as it is throughout the book, is part of what makes this a novel rather that a murder mystery if you are one of the sort of people who draw such (usually invidious) distinctions. The jazz enters the plot because rather than pretend that the opening of Village Bland DC automatically went well, they are struggling for dollars and clientele which leads to the opening of a jazz venue on the second floor. (And, by the way, eventually to changing of the chef, which is a good lesson in personnel management -- and self care -- for those whose lives involve hiring and/or firing.) 

As is the case with earlier parts of this series, location comes to play a major part -- elsewhere it is NYC with almost the centrality of a main character and in this case it is DC. And, the fondness and detail are there, just as they are when Cleo (yes, aka Alice and Marc) focus on NYC, where they live. 

And, here, too, the titular humor of Dead to the Last Drop points us in various directions -- the famous Maxwell House advertising slogan, and some vampire lore, where dead to the last drop has a very different meaning. On the Maxwell House slogan, and its complex history, click here. 

Thans Cleo. I love your work -- and I needed it! Happy 2016! 

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I am deeply fond of Cleo Coyle's work, and not just because she sends me her books but because she is also one of the first people (and I do mean a person!) I met through this blog. It has been delightful reading her work and, though we have never met, feeling like I "know" the author. (Okay, admittedly Cleo is actually two people, but. . . ) So, this is the first of two I shall write about her newer work, which arrived in the mail near the holiday season. 

Cleo Coyle is, of course, a pseudonym. for Alice Alfonsi and Marc Creasing, who write the Coffee House Mysteries. Each of the books focuses on a coffee shop located in Greenwich Village, and its manager, Clare, is an amateur who finds herself solving murders across the series. This is the 14th in the series, released recently in paperback. As always, there are recipes and coffee tips -- and, as always -- a delightful plot. In this case, Clare and her pals dress up a truck to be part of a fairytale event in NYC< and everything moves on from there. The ex-wife of Clare's beau, her own ex-husband and more populate the narrative, including a "magical" coffee bean that Max (the ex husband) has found in his travels in support of the coffee business. Though it sounds supernatural, this mystery's featured coffee bean has a fully natural explanation (and hence the role of a scientist who works on coffee -- would have loved to learn more about this). Drinking the coffee made from the bean has unusual effects, and this turns out to be useful in figuring out various clues. 

Like some of Cleo's other mysteries, this one features a mix of "real" features of the NYC landscape and figures who seem a bit like "real" features of the landscape, from well known restaurants to NFL figures. My personal favorite this time around is a former NFL player who runs one of those medieval fantasy villages. There is, though, a bit of local color, focused on Russian and post-soviet union immigrants, as well as a bit of focus on women as they age. I am I have to admit, a fan, for example, of Clare's ex-mother-in-law, who refuses to age quietly out of the picture. Thank goodness. 

Though I have said little about the mystery itself, I hope that you will do what I would suggest: get this book, hunker down in front of a fire place (if you live where that is reasonable!) and enjoy yourself. I did. It was one of the best things about the holidays (other than being home!). 

To visit Clare's virtual coffee shop, click here. To see earlier reviews of Cleo's work on this blog, including my glee when she acknowledged this very blog in a book, click here.