A Lucky Break: The Menu Is Printed [New York Times]

Yes we done growed up and moved, check us out at the new Find Paradise blog.

Loving Las Vegas – Our insider tells you how to tap into the city’s sophisticated side [MSNBC]

Yes we done growed up and moved, check us out at the new Find Paradise blog.

There should be a Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine in every town

My wife, brother and I headed down to the northern part of Ft Lauderdale last weekend for a comic book convention I was attending. Since we know little about the area and had free Wi-Fi at the hotel we were staying at, we poked around Google to find a half-way decent place to find dinner. We were surprised to find that Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, the Cuban restaurant we so frequented in our youth (my brother and I were born and raised in Hollywood, FL, south of Ft. Lauderdale) had an outpost a few miles nearby on Oakland Park Blvd.
We walked into the restaurant pretty late (the convention exhibition hall closed around 8 at night), and were greeted by a near empty restaurant. Normally in that situation my wife and I would tuck tail and run, because usually an empty restaurant means a crappy restaurant. But since we had prior experience with it’s sister restaurant near our old house, and since there was a brand spanking new Bentley parked out front we approached the host stand expecting a decent meal.
The restaurant itself was nicely furnished, nothing too amazing, with roughly 20 tables. The tables themselves were sort of diner style, with the “Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine” logo prominently lacquered to each table top. After seating, we were quickly approached by a waitress who eerily reminded me of my mother. We ordered drinks and a couple appetizers and while patiently waiting for our drinks we perused the menu.

A California Chocolate fest

The first major chocolate show on the West Coast in two decades takes place this summer at the San Francisco International CHOCOLATE SALON on Bastille Day Weekend, July 14 and 15, 2007 at the Fort Mason Conference Center in San Francisco. Chocolate aficionados, fanatics, buyers and journalists can experience the finest in artisan, gourmet & premium chocolate in one of the world’s great culinary metropolitan areas.Salon highlights feature chocolate tasting, demonstrations, chef & author talks, wine pairings, chocolate painting, a chocolate spa and makeovers, and ongoing interviews by TasteTV’s Chocolate Television program. The Salon will also include an evening charity fund-raiser featuring a Chocolate Fashion Show.

For some reason when I saw the words “Chocolate Television”, the image of Mike Teevee getting zapped by Willy Wonka’s ray that would send chocolate by television popped into my head.

San Francisco chocolate fest [LA Times]

Yes we done growed up and moved, check us out at the new Find Paradise blog.

Wine, chocolate, and cheese…what more do you need?

As I grew older, I began to tire of those packed, loud bars me and my friends would hit up late at night. Who hasn’t had this happen to them: fight for the bartender at a bar, order drinks (which is normally way too expensive for the experience), and have to truck back to the hidden alcove where the rest of your group has gathered to enjoy the drinks? Then you have to lather, rinse and repeat.

No I’ve learned to enjoy nice quiet hotel bars, not ghost towns mind you, but places where you can sit down and truly enjoy that $15 martini that goes down way too quickly. The Ritz Carlton Laguna Nigel just opened ENO, which is described at ENO’s official website as “a luxurious alternative to traditional Southern California wine clubs and bars”.

Long after “ritzy” became a synonym for luxury, the hotel chain that inspired the word has come up with a new idea of indulgence. Wine, cheese and chocolate come together on one menu in Eno, a new 36-seat tasting bar just off the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Nigel.

Ritz-Carlton’s Eno serves up indulgence [LA Times]

Yes we done growed up and moved, check us out at the new Find Paradise blog.

A $700 omelet?

Moscow welcomes a brand new $350 million dollar Ritz-Carlton, opening July 1st. The hotel will offer a $700 per person breakfast on the menu of it’s restaurant Jeroboam (will you also be able to order the breakfast through room service?).

The hotel includes Jeroboam the restaurant of three star Michelin chef Heinz Winkler. A separate wine room, Petrus, will be available for small groups to choose from the expansive wine and rare spirits collection such as a shot of Macallan Fine and Rare Collection vintage 1969 whisky for $400. The restaurant will serve the Tsar’s Breakfast which costs $700 per person and includes a bottle of Crystal champagne, an omelet with Kobe beef steak, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and truffles, foie gras with caramelized apple and pain brioche, 56 grams of Beluga caviar with blinis, sour cream and quail eggs and more.

Moscow’s Luxurious Ritz-Carlton Offers $700 Breakfast [Luxist]

Yes we done growed up and moved, check us out at the new Find Paradise blog.

Todd English and Eva Longoria to open restaurant

Todd English (of Olives fame) and Eva Longoria (of banging Tony Parker fame) has announced (is it really an announcement when the non-chef part of the celebrity restaurant tells Martha Stewart about it?) a Tex-Mex restaurant to be opened in Hollywood, California. I truly wish there was more to this “announcement” but that’s all we’ve got.

BREAKING: Eva Longoria and Todd English Together! [Eater LA]