III Forks - Hallandale

Many people think that food bloggers are nothing more than frustrated, wannabe restaurant reviewers - that we all secretly (or perhaps not so secretly) pine to be the big-shot newspaper critic doling out stars every week. Speaking for myself, anyway, nothing could be further from the truth. First and foremost, I don't think I could support Family Frod in the manner to which they've become accustomed on a professional journalist's pay grade. But more importantly, this is recreation for me, an outlet. I eat where I want, I write what I want, and I do all of it when I want (and don't do it if I don't want to). The prospect of being obligated to go to particular restaurants and writing about them, on deadline, seems absolutely dreadful.

As a result, you don't see a ton of negative reviews here. I tend to have a pretty good sense of when I'm not going to like a restaurant, and can usually avoid those where I'm likely to be disappointed. Likewise, if a place is merely mediocre, there's often not much of interest to be said about it.

But sometimes my sense of foreboding is not enough to save me from a bad meal. Sometimes, even if you're not a professional critic, you can't choose where you eat. I recently had one of those times, when friends made a reservation at the newly opened III Forks in the Village at Gulfstream Park complex.

If you haven't been down that way lately, you will be astounded at what's gone up on the massive plot of land that houses the Gulfstream horse track. In addition to the newly renovated track and adjoining casino, there is a Vegas-scale shopping complex with several restaurants. Aside from III Forks, there is a new Douglas Rodriguez restaurant opening soon (Ola Cuban), a Texas de Brazil, and maybe ten other big restaurants in the development (most still not yet open). The magnitude of it is pretty staggering. And the track itself is really just beautiful. We recently brought the kids to watch a couple races, and it was a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Anyway, as I almost always do, I checked out the online menu for III Forks before our visit. I immediately started whining to Mrs. F that it was the most soul-crushingly boring menu I'd seen in years, and desparately tried to find ways to alter our plans. But sometimes there's no polite way to do so. So, into the abyss ...

(continued ...)

Ferran Adria to Open Burger Joint in South Beach

Chef Ferran Adria shook the foundations of the culinary world when he announced in January that his acclaimed restaurant, El Bulli, would be closing for two years after the 2012 season, followed shortly thereafter by the announcement that it would be closing permanently. El Bulli is widely regarded as among the top restaurants in the world, and is legendary for its cutting edge experimentation, regularly pushing the boundaries of the food universe.

The announcements regarding El Bulli were followed by much confusion and speculation as to Adria's future. Chef Adria subsequently explained that El Bulli was not so much closing permanently as it was reinventing itself as something more akin to a culinary foundation, though the nature and mission of that new incarnation remained unclear.

Inside sources have now clarified what to expect next: Chef Adria will be opening the first elBulliBurger in South Beach in the Spring of 2014. It would not be Chef Adria's first foray into fast food: his fascination with the hamburger has been well-known for years, and he's already opened a series of fast-food restaurants in Spain called "Fast Good."

According to Craig "Cootereli" MacShane, a line cook at a local restaurant who did a 1-week stage at El Bulli three years ago, "He's bored with the endless experimentation at El Bulli. I mean, how many different ways can you spherify an olive? Ferran actually told me a  couple years ago that he wanted to open a steakhouse in South Beach, but El Bulli was taking up too much of his time. Then last year he wanted to open a pizza place." Adria's fascination with pizza has also been the subject of much media speculation.

Says MacShane, "Now he's decided that what South Beach really needs is a burger place." After El Bulli closes in 2012, Adria will be applying his vast knowledge of molecular gastronomy to create the perfect hamburger. There's a good chance that his burger creation will be previewed at the 2013 South Beach Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash before the South Beach elBulliBurger officially opens for business.

Grossest Restaurants in South Florida

Not really the grossest restaurants, rather the highest grossing in terms of revenue. The annual report by Restaurants & Institutions of the top 100 revenue-producing independent restaurants in the United States in 2009 is out, and there are a few South Florida names on the list. You can see the full list here.

Joe's Stone Crab is in the same #3 spot as it was in last year, and it would seem the recession really hasn't touched it: 2009 sales of $26,272,000 compare pretty favorably to last year's $28,827,328, and the number of meals served (roughly 320,000) and average check size ($65-68) have both held steady.

Also holding firm is Myles Chefetz's cash cow, Prime 112. P112 is on the list at #14 for 2009, with $18,889,430 in revenue and average ticket of $115, again almost exactly even with last year's figures.

Meanwhile, DeVito South Beach is still on the list, but barely. DeVito, which made its first appearance on the list last year at #19, with $17,800,000 in revenue, dropped to #98 this year with $10,000,000. Of course, many of these figures appear to be based on estimates by R&I rather than information reported by the restaurants, so who knows what they really mean.

In the aggregate, the top 100 restaurants on the list saw a roughly 10% drop in revenue, and even the restaurant in the top spot on the list the past couple years - Tao in Las Vegas - was off by about 13%. There are some other interesting insights at R&I, including some anecdotal takes on the "new normal" and the prospects of restaurant business picking up this year, and on the success stories of 2009.

What does it all mean for South Florida restaurants? I'm not so sure, but possibly not all that much. In large part, I think the mega-restaurants on this list operate in something of a parallel universe to the rest of the restaurant world (though it's interesting that P112 is one of the smallest restaurants on the list with only 120 seats), though I am somewhat surprised that places like Joe's and P112 didn't show at least some impact from the recessionary climate. I suspect smaller operations are much more susceptible to the ebbs and flows of the economy and the heft of the wallets of their customers, and it was easy to see that last year, pretty much all restaurants locally were feeling the slowdown.

It seems, though, that things are picking up. It's purely anecdotal based on my own observations, but restaurants feel busier, reservations (particularly on weekends) have been somewhat harder to come by, startups like Sugarcane have found traction quickly, and stalwarts like Talula seem to be bouncing back. I've been out lately on some Mondays and Tuesdays (typically slow restaurant nights) and was surprised to see places bustling.

So perhaps the time is ripe for the pretty lengthy list of restaurants that are just opening or getting ready soon: Mercadito, The Forge, Zuma, DB Bistro Moderne, Norman's 180, plus many others I'm sure I'm overlooking.