* * * Ruth Reichl, food writer and former editor of Gourmet magazine. * * * The annual Miami Book Fair International started yesterday.  This year the Book Fair is lean, but still strong.  For example, the International Pavilions, which showcase the literature, arts and food of different countries are on hiatus, as well as the [...] » Read more..

* * * White Water Farm clams in prosciutto-piave broth at Area 31./ David Samayoa * * * I find out where and how local restaurants get their ingredients in”Sourced,” a new Miami Dish column.  For the first “Sourced,” I spoke with Chef John Critchley of Area 31 about his five-course sustainable seafood menu. The menu [...] » Read more..

/Adam Larkey Photography Area 31 is a seafood restaurant in downtown Miami.  It is located in the Epic Hotel, which is part of Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants. The restaurant’s name refers to the United Nation’s designation for the marine area including the Southeast Atlantic Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and South America’s northeast [...] » Read more..

This Thursday, the Historical Museum of Southern Florida presents African Diaspora Culinary Delights as part of its ongoing exhibition on “Black Crossroads:  The African Diaspora in Miami.”  Three local cooks will present sample dishes and savory food history.  Brenda L. Jackson will discuss soul food.  She will showcase her cornbread casserole, collard greens with tomatoes [...] » Read more..

Saturday, I spent the morning and early afternoon at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for the 17th Annual International Mango Festival.  The heat was insidious and the crowds made me feel slightly misanthropic, but I enjoyed my day.  Fortunately, several events took place indoors.   One of these events was the Mangos [...] » Read more..

Tonight was the first pizza crawl organized by Frodnesor of Food for Thought blog.  He proposed the crawl after some animated discussion on Chowhound about the best pizza in Miami.  Tonight we focused on downtown.  We tried Joey’s, Pizza Volante, and Andiamo. It was refreshing to see a group of people execute something from idea to [...] » Read more..

Spent my Friday evening at Ayesha D’Mello’s house, learning how to make “Butter Chicken and the Works” with a group of seven other people.  I’ve tasted her amazing cooking before (when Brad Bryan and I filmed her Video Bite), so I’d been looking forward to her Indian dinner all week. We spent about two hours watching [...] » Read more..

In this Video Bite, Ayesha D’Mello, of Ayesha’s Kitchen, quickly prepares winter squash (in this case, butternut) with coconut sauce.  You can prepare this recipe with any kind of winter squash, including the kabocha and calabaza types, which believe it or not, are in season here this time of year.  Special thanks to Brad Bryan [...] » Read more..

Miami Dish loves a limoncello. We may have to send our John diRocco to The Tides Hotel to see if he approves of this unorthodox use of the yellow elixir. Chef Pietro Rota, of Tides’ restaurant La Marea, makes his own stash, which he uses for the genius invention of limoncello popsicles. The popsicles garnish [...] » Read more..

Last year’s Battle of the Chefs between Cindy Hutson and Jesse Souza Last year’s Battle of the Chefs was novel and entertaining. Advice: You might want to hit one of those Miami Spice preview restaurants afterwards, because all of that fine cuisine made me hungry, and the crudités available to audience members just didn’t cut it. [...] » Read more..